- What’s
more rock and roll than His Holiness?
Nothing, if you ask Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Patti Smith. Smith welcomed
The Dalai Lama onto the Pyramid
Stage during her Glastonbury Festival set this weekend, surprising the crowd as
she addressed them after her fifth song, “Pissing in a River.” She dedicated
the track to "all our friends in Wikileaks" and explained that it was
the spiritual leader's 80th birthday on July 6. "We are grateful to him
for all his love of humanity and making people aware of the importance of
saving the planet," Smith said, launching into a poem she had written for
him. A festival organizer bought the Dalai Lama onstage to huge cheers from the
crowd. "I think it would be nice if Glastonbury wished The Dalai Lama a
happy birthday," Smith added. She then led the audience in a rousing
rendition of 'Happy Birthday’ and in the sort of moment rarely seen in the land
of smelly festival toilets, wildly overpriced concessions, smelly and
un-showered attendees and yellow shirt-clad security staffers, the Dalai Lama
then blew out a single candle on a cake made of fruit and addressed the crowd.
"Thank you, thank you," he said. "Dear brothers and sisters, I
really appreciate so many people's expression of warm feeling. These singers
and musicians have white hair, but they look very youthful. That gives me
encouragement, I should be more like you - more active." Sadly, His
Holiness did not cap off his appearance with a stage dive or even by flashing
the horns hand symbol to the mohawked, pink-haired and tattooed masses……..
- Now
THAT is how you throw a party. Even if it was unintentional and the guest of
honor showed up without an invitation, a party that
stretched from late Friday night into Saturday morning near the campus of
Lehigh University ended with a roar when a local black bear - seemingly drawn
in by the scent of Natural Light and Keystone Light - lumbered onto the scene.
The furry invader. weighing between 300 and 400 pounds, crashed the part and
prompted a torrent of emergency calls to police around 2 a.m. in south
Bethlehem, about 50 miles north of Philadelphia. The bear "lumbered close
to the party and scared the living daylights out of people," police Chief
Mark DiLuzio said. Summer is usually a dead time for college parties but this
one was memorable enough that the university felt a need to post a "Bear Update" on its website
informing the masses that the animal was captured, tranquilized and removed
from the area a couple of hours later. It was a hell of a day for the bear,
which according to DiLuzio was also spotted earlier in the day near an arena
and the university's athletic facilities before fleeing into a nearby swampy
area. Tyler Krieder, district officer of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, said
that a routine inspection after the bear’s capture revealed a tattoo on the
animal’s inner lip indicating that it was from New Jersey. One theory is that the
animal swam across the Delaware River to find a new home. "The bear wasn't
any threat to anybody," he said. "It was just looking for somewhere
to eat, take a break." Yes, a break enhanced by cheap beer, beer bongs and
college hotties in halter tops. Bears know what’s up……….
- New
York Giants punter Steve Weatherford should probably know his role and shut his
mouth, but the offseason in the NFL is more interesting when he does.
Weatherford, who may simply kick the ball six to eight times a game for a
living, is known as the fittest man in the NFL and he seems to think that
status qualifies him to take an unprovoked run at one of his team’s biggest
rivals. During a radio appearance, Weatherford took multiple jabs at
Philadelphia Eagles quarterbacks Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez and Sam Bradford.
"I'm gonna give you a Ferrari [Bradford] that maybe won't be running all
the time, or I'm giving you a nice Cadillac sedan [Sanchez]," Weatherford
said. "It's not the fastest but you know what you're going to get out of
it. Bradford can go from zero to 60 in three seconds, but you don't know if
he's gonna start up some days." In fairness, no one really wants to defend
any of the three quarterbacks because none of them are that good, so
Weatherford is targeting low-hanging fruit here. The Eagles acquired Bradford
this offseason in a trade with the St. Louis Rams and despite being set to make
$12.95 million this season, he hasn't played since October 2013 because of injuries.
Sanchez, who went 4-4 for the Eagles last season, has been underwhelming as a
pro and Tebow….is a guy whose best contributions to the NFL so far have been
images of him running shirtless in the rain after practice. "I'm the
biggest Tim Tebow fan in the world," Weatherford said. "I mean, who
wouldn't want their daughter to date a guy like that? I'll tell you what, I
don't want him taking snaps for my team." An awkward throwing motion that
numerous coaches have tried to overhaul and a confounding inability to read NFL
defenses have been Tebow’s hallmarks as a pro, making him the easiest target of
the three. Back to drop-kicking the ball for a living, Weatherford………
- Riot
Watch! Riot Watch! Armenia is often overlooked on the world state, but a group
of enraged locals protesting higher household electricity rates
this weekend made sure that didn’t stay the case. In the streets of Yereven,
demonstrators blocked off the Armenian capital's main avenue for a seventh
straight day with the aim of getting President Serzh Sargsyan to suspend the
rate hikes. A full week of committed protesting proved to be just what was
needed to get the job done, as the president announced Saturday that the
government would bear the burden of the higher electricity costs until an
international audit of the power company could be done. That didn’t stop the
protestors from staying in place and raising their collective voice again on
Sunday as event organizer Vaghinak Shushanian said the assembled masses could
claim success in battle, if not a total victory. Shushanian said it made sense to take a break after
achieving the desired result, but left the decision on whether to halt the
protest up to those who had committed their week to camping out, rising up and
raging against The Man. Given the incomplete nature of the government’s promise
in regards to the rate hikes, it wouldn’t be a stunner to see these same people
have to take to the streets again in the near future for the next round in this
battle to prevent The Man from taking an even bigger fistful of money from
their wallets………
No comments:
Post a Comment