Thursday, September 17, 2015

Gorrillaz founder goes art show, Air India says no fatties and a college hockey goalie's Keystone chug


- Wait….so being a typical college sophomore is suddenly a bad thing? Bros are supposed to do what bros are supposed to do, or at least that’s the way the world used to work. Based on the results of University of Virginia club hockey team sophomore goalie Jake Anderson’s action during his team’s all-around ass-kicking of in-state rival Virginia Commonwealth, the paradigm has shifted. Anderson was minding net for the Cavaliers and doing a damn fine job, as evidenced by the fact that his team led 7-0 after two periods. At that point, some frat bros on the other side of the glass - who for some reason were hanging out at a club hockey game on a Friday night - pulled out a can of Keystone Light and tossed it up over the glass to their team’s goalie. Having fans throw beer cans at a player is nothing new, nor is that can being full, but having it done with good intentions is a novel idea. So was the way Anderson responded, namely by cracking open that cheap brew and chugging the entire 12-ounce payload before the third period began. The Chi Phi fraternity brothers in the stands responded in raucous fashion, but the wet-blanket referees working the game weren’t as amused. They assessed Anderson a 5-minute major penalty and a game misconduct, sending him back to the dressing room for the rest of the game. The 6-foot-2 sophomore was still listed on the team’s roster two days later and on account of it being club hockey and not an actual varsity sport, maybe his unjust punishment for a hilarious and awesome reaction in a weird situation will end with those two in-game penalties………


- Neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow, nor a hail of illegal narcotics being funneled into the city by cartels and a postmaster willing to play an active role in the process will stop Pittsburgh’s post office from getting the job done. It will just be someone else doing that job instead of the man who has held the postmaster position since he transferred to Pittsburgh from Toledo, Ohio, last year. That would be Daniel Davis, who is charged with intimidating witnesses and official oppression among other things, after he allegedly threatened to retaliate against employees if they reported seeing him opening parcels and removing the illegal drugs inside.  Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. announced the charges against Davis, who has yet to comment publicly on the allegations and whose attorney declined comment as well. The district attorney's office is handling the intimidating witnesses and official oppression charges, but a spokesperson said any drug charges related to the case would fall under federal jurisdiction. That seems fairly likely given that state prosecutors say the drugs included cocaine and heroin. Not exactly yanking a few baggies of pot out of an envelope, eh postmaster? U.S. Attorney David Hickton said only that the case has been referred to the DA's office for prosecution, so everyone involved is keeping this buttoned up until they drop the hammer on a guy who took full advantage of his position and likely made himself a nice chunk of change with his illegal enterprise, money he’s going to need now that he has multiple nasty legal battles in front of him………


- Gorillaz co-founder Jamie Hewlett has made a lot of money and built quite an empire with a virtual band, but his first art exhibition is going to be very real. 'The Suggestionists' will take place at The Saatchi Gallery in London from Nov. 18 to Dec. 2 and it will be the first time the artist and designer has exhibited his work. Hewlett’s exhibition will serve up three new bodies of work, with the stages of the event titled 'Tarot', 'Honey' and 'Pines.’ According to a release, Tarot will be a very literally titled project including 22 oversized Tarot cards, while 'Honey' will explore 'the deliciously sleazy ambiance of an adult cinema lobby.' Ambiance? Of a porn cinema lobby? The “ambiance” that comes to mind in a place like that conjures up words like “unsanitary,” “HAZMAT suit,” “multiple showers required afterward” and “run away as fast as you can.” Pines will collect large-scale 'extraordinarily detailed illustrations of trees,” which sounds like the most interesting part of the entire show. Hewlett is already selling pre-exhibition prints on his website and the Paris-based artist is clearly going all-in on the next step in an artistic career that launched in earnest with Tank Girl, a cult comic strip that was adapted as a film in 1995. He founded the virtual band Gorillaz with Blur’s Damon Albarn in 1998 and the band’s eponymous debut album sold more than 7 million copies and plenty of critical acclaim. Having something tangible and non-animated to celebrate is always a nice addition to the portfolio and maybe Hewlett can bring some of the Gorillaz characters to his art in the future……..


- Don’t call it sexism or objectification of women, femi-Nazis of the world. Hearing that a debt-burdened, state-run airline carrier is dropping a set of intensified weight and fitness guidelines on its air waitresses is normally cause for haters to cry foul, alleging that said carrier is discriminating against the ladies and demanding that they all look like Victoria’s Secret models. Don’t bring that noise to the doorstep of Air Indian, which has demanded that 125 of its flight attendants lose a few pounds or get ready for an airport job. The reason this isn't sexism is because this policy applies to everyone, both male and female. Following fitness guidelines laid out by India's civil aviation regulator, which mandated a body mass index (BMI) of 18-25 for male cabin crew members and 18-22 for female cabin crew members, Air India is requiring those crew members to shed weight or lose their air time. "It is an opportunity for them to bring themselves back to the (required) fitness level. If they cannot because of any medical reasons, they will be offered ground duties," Air India spokesman G.P. Rao said. Men with a BMI of 25-29.99 and women with a BMI of 22-27 are classified as overweight under the new rules and many health experts believe the index, which is determined by a person's height-to-weight ratio, is an accurate indicator of someone's health and body fat percentage. Others disagree, but the airline insists the move to manage its employees' physique is not about appearances. "It's a safety issue," Rao said. "The crew has to be fit to be able to carry out their inflight duties, including emergencies." Simply put, no fatties. The airline isn't saying how long the shortlisted 125-odd crew members have to slim down, but Rao insisted this is not the first time Air India has advised its flight attendants to stay "fit." He deemed it “an ongoing process” and he’s right, because back in 2013 a large number of the employees refused to undergo medical examinations for their BMI as ordered by the company. Those bold crew members demanded that the airline pay for gym memberships prior to conducting any lab tests. Losing weight now would definitely be a huge help to an airline hemorrhaging money and would have save a few dollars on fuel costs if nothing else………..

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