- The
real news isn't that something in Detroit was detonated because it was useless,
decrepit and empty - it’s that there were actually buildings around it that didn’t
fit that description. So it was this weekend that Detroit's Park Avenue Hotel,
built in 1924, completed its inevitable journey from ritzy temporary downtown residence
for those unfortunate enough to visit the D before it was a post-apocalyptic
hell hole of bankruptcy and ruin and merely an ugly industrial city with zero
charm to post-apocalyptic hell hole of bankruptcy. In the years since it
actually mattered, the hotel became known as "Zombieland" and yet
even that - combined with America’s abiding love of all things undead - was
enough to keep it standing. Following stints as a senior housing complex and a
rehab center, it followed the example of so many iconic Detroit buildings,
becoming marked up with graffiti, devoid of inhabitants and turned into a pile
of rubble. Before its demise, "Zombieland" was written in huge
letters across the side of the building and this weekend, developers blew up
the downtrodden hotel to clear the way for a sports and entertainment district
featuring a brand-new Detroit Red Wings hockey stadium. Before its demise, the
only thing the building was good for was as a target for photographers,
filmmakers and artists looking to capture some images of something destitute,
broken and hopeless. It became, in a sense, "ruin porn." As the Motor
City tries to climb out of the bottomless valley of bankruptcy, such buildings
are both a reminder of a time when the city was actually halfway decent and a
sign of the new place on America’s socioeconomic landscape that Detroit should
probably get used to occupying………..
- There’s
just something wrong about an iconic nu-metal band like Korn having anything at
all to do with the music of a manufactured pop princess like Rihanna. Even if
it’s taking her latest crappy pop concoction, “Bitch
Better Have My Money,” and turning it into fodder for your next foray into a
mosh pit, it just feels wrong. The original track was released earlier this
year and even as they released it, Korn have given no explanation for why they decided
to rework the track. However it was chosen and for whatever reason it happened,
the revised version appeared on the band's YouTube account over the weekend. As
for the song’s original singer, Rihanna is set to release her new album “R8”
later this year with “Money” and another single, “American Oxygen,” both on the
track listing alongside the Kanye West and Paul McCartney collaboration
'FourFiveSeconds.” Both the song and the video have sparked quite a lot of talk
despite the fact that the song is utterly terrible and the video merely a vehicle
to crank additional life out of a truly forgettable tune and one of the
co-directors for the video for “Money” recently said that Rihanna wanted to
surprise people and make an impact with the controversial project. Of course,
hearing the umpteenth terrible pop creation from an overly processed,
artificial artist with little to offer the music world surprised no one, but it
was still a noble effort on some level, somewhere, in some alternate universe………
- It’s
long been an underserved market. That means it’s about damn time someone stepped
up and filled the void of illegally offering endangered
sea turtle hatchlings to whoever the hell actually buys endangered sea turtle
hatchlings. According to a conservation group in St. Maarten, a local Internet
marketplace there is offering up the tainted turtles and for some odd reason,
these shell-huggers have problem with that. The Nature Foundation nonprofit
says a "growing number of wild animals" are being advertised on local
online sites, but fear not, because the organization also said it managed to
intervene in the sea turtle sales over the weekend before the protected
creatures were harmed. However, local police did not announce whether any
arrests had taken place in conjunction with the case, though the Nature
Foundation - a name that doesn’t sound at all generic or made up as some sort
of front for a shady, possibly narcotics-related business - could have simply
made the arrests on its own after distributing screenshots of what appear to be
three leatherback hatchlings being offered for sale online. There have also
been local ads pimping raccoons in recent days and NF official Tadzio Bervoets said
the group closely monitors the Internet marketplaces for illegal wildlife
sales. The drama here took place on Dutch St. Maarten, which shares a tiny
Caribbean island with French St. Martin and everyone knows that if shady
business is going on and either the Dutch or the French are possible suspects,
put your euro on the Dutch………
- Many
in the hockey world would argue that Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin has
fallen well short expectations in the NHL. One of the league’s best and most
talented players for a decade, he has yet to reach the Stanley Cup Finals and
his teams have become known more for their playoff meltdowns than anything they’ve
ever won. As his team’s best players, Ovechkin has borne the brunt of the heat
for the Capitals’ playoff disappointments, but owner Ted Leonsis is trying to
deflect some of that heat by stepping in an absorbing a few of the punches. "I
feel I haven't met my commitment that we would build a team that would be able
to win Stanley Cups,” Leonsis said. "The consistency he's brought is
really historic. He plays hard all the time. We're in it together and he knows
we're committed. He can sense it and see it." The Capitals failed to make
the playoffs during the 2013-14 season, prompting Leonsis to hire a new general
manager (Brian MacLellan) and new coach (Barry Trotz). That braintrust then
added a pair of defensemen -- Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik -- via free agency
and the retooled team improved, making
the Eastern Conference semifinals and building a 3-1 series lead over the
Rangers before falling in overtime of Game 7. That failure to cash in three
straight chances to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals was the latest in
a series of playoff failures and led some to speculate that the Capitals with
Ovechkin simply cannot get where they want to go, but Leonsis would have you
believe that he’s largely responsible for how things have gone down……..
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