- Some nations use their independence day to celebrate the
past, appreciate the rights and freedoms they have as a country or to recognize
all who have fought and continue to fight for that independence. Armenia chose
none of the above, using its independence day to host a military parade in
which it proudly showed off state-of-the-art Russian ballistic missiles capable
of striking targets up to 186 miles with high precision. This was no
coincidental show of force, as the Iskander missiles displayed during the
parade were rolled out specifically to show the force of the Armenian military
amid tensions over Nagorno-Karabakh. For the geographically ignorant,
Nagorno-Karabakh is officially part of Azerbaijan, but since a separatist war
ended in 1994 it has been under the control of forces that claim to be local
ethnic Armenians. However, Azerbaijan claims those forces include regular Armenian
military, essentially accusing Armenia of cheating in the conflict. As we all
know, when someone accuses you of cheating, the only correct response is to arm
yourself to the nth degree and prove that you are ready, willing and able to
blow them to bits in order to win. The most recent outbreak of fighting took
place in April and killed about 75 soldiers from both sides. Believe it or not,
given Russia’s stellar track record of staying out of regional conflicts in
which it isn’t technically involved, Russia has a military base in Armenia and
counts Armenia as a member of Moscow-dominated economic and security alliances.
Yet Russia also has sold weapons to Azerbaijan, so it seems to cool with
whoever wins this one……..
- Bands grow to hate some of their most popular songs in
ways fans can't fathom. When the world knows your first and foremost for a
single track and that track becomes so ubiquitous that it borders on
oppressive, then the artists responsible for writing and performing it can grow
weary of hearing it. When fans demand that you play said track at every concert
you ever hold, the song almost begins to hold you hostage….and such was life
for Kings of Leon when it came to their track “Sex on Fire.” Six years ago, the
band described the song as a "piece of sh*t” and said they considered
dropping the track from their live set. "I just had this melody and I
didn't know what to say. Then one day I just sang "This sex is on
fire" and I laughed,” frontman Caleb Followill said. “I thought it was
terrible, but the rest of the band were like, 'It's good, it's got a hook'. I
was like, 'F*ck off!' but I ended up writing it.” The song became a huge hit,
fans were enamored with it and in a sense, Kings of Leon were stuck with it.
Somewhere along the way, amidst trips to rehab and intra-band drama, they seem
to have gotten OK with the song and now, Followill has done an about-face.
"I love 'Sex On Fire' at this point. It doesn't matter where we play in
the world, as soon as that starts, the place is gonna go nuts,” he said of the
song. "To see how successful it became was like, 'Whoa, this is not what I
expected.' But I look back now with nothing but pride." It’s funny how a
song that helps you keep making lots and lots of money can win you over……..
- Fair food is the devil, culinarily speaking. It’s
essentially built on finding new ways to deep fry and add cholesterol, calories
and fat to already-grossly-unhealthy food, but the (sort of) good news is that for
most people, this fair food is only available in a very limited portion of the
year, typically late summer and early fall. In other words, your chance to
sending your cholesterol levels skyrocketing to unheard-of degrees is confined
to a few weeks….unless you happen to live in or around Plano, Texas. Residents
and visitors to this area can now dine on elephant ears, deep-fried Twinkies
and the like all year round thanks to a new restaurant, State Fair Treat. “I
love our Texas Blue Bonnet, think of a scone with blueberries and chocolate
topped with whipped cream and more blueberries and white chocolate," said
Isaac Rousso, the man behind the concept. “In 2013 we won with our deep fried
Cuban roll, last year we won with our Smokey bacon Margarita and this year it’s
the cookie fries.” Fittingly, these lard-laden purveyor of heart-attack fodder
will be located inside the Plano Walmart, which is really the perfect place for
it. “Pulled pork sandwich on a pretzel bun, we'll have our cowboy corned
crunch, we’re going to have deep fried mac and cheese,” Russo added in
discussing the menu. Yes, he has won three state fair awards and he doesn’t have
to pay the medical bills of those who end up with diabetes, heart disease and
other obesity-related maladies caused by eating the types of food he serves,
but deep frying mac and cheese is excess in a way that humanity should never
have to suffer……..
- Suspend them? If United World Wrestling was smart, it
would make Tserenbaatar Tsogbayar and Byambarinchen Bayaraa its star
attractions. You might remember their actions at the Rio Olympics, but not
their names, so to refresh that memory, Tsogbayar and Bayaraa are the two rock
star Mongolian wrestling coaches who stripped to their underwear to protest an
officiating call at the Olympics last month, flying into a rage just moments
after referees awarded a match to Uzbekisatn's Ikhtiyor Navruzov against
Mandakhnaran Ganzorig. They were upset that the fined 50,000 Swiss francs,
which is about $51,000. The protest by the Mongolian coaches came The Uzbek,
trailing 7-6, was awarded a late point after the Mongolian wrestler fled a hold
and celebrated too early, with less than 10 seconds left. When they protested
the call and lost, the judges gave another point to Navruzov to make it an 8-7
final. What resulted was an epic scene in which Ganzorig rolled around the mat
in frustration, one of his coaches stomped to the judges' table and slammed his
hands on the mat and ripped his shirt off so he could flex his muscles and the
second coach came over, pulled his shirt off and then dropped his pants. The
second coach then picked up his pile of clothes and dumped them on the judges'
table. For those “infractions,” the coaches have been suspended for three
years. A letter sent to the Mongolian federation by United World Wrestling
details the ban, which is clearly the wrong call. The UWW should be promoting
these amazing entertainers, not banning them. But in the meantime, they clearly
have an obvious new home in WWE, where their talents could be more fully
appreciated………..
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