- People don’t value spare change the way they should. Look
no further than unseeded Russian men’s tennis player Daniil Medvedev, who first
beat seeded Swiss player Stan Wawrinka in the first round, but saw his
Wimbledon come to a crashing halt when he was ousted by Ruben Bemelmans 6-4,
6-2, 3-6, 2-6, 6-3 in the second round. When a player loses a close match,
there is a tendency to assign blame somewhere - to oneself for good, self-aware
athletes and on opponents, officials or court conditions for excuse-making
losers. Guess which category Medvedev falls into? Before answering, know that
once the match ended, both players shook hands with chair umpire Mariana Alves.
However, Bemelmans did the normal routine of sitting down, collecting himself
and exiting the court, while Medvedev grabbed his wallet, pulled out some coins
and tossed them toward the chair. "I was disappointed with the result of
the match," Medvedev said. "It was frustrating after a big win I had.
All the match was not going well for me. So I was just very disappointing. In
the heat of the moment, I did a bad thing. I apologize for this." Yes, throwing
some coins at the foot of the chair umpire's chair isn't very classy, even if
you were unhappy with a call Alves made early in the fifth set, which Medvedev
was. He claimed he was just "packing my things" after the match when
he saw his wallet and acted "in the moment." The smartest thing this
dumbass said in the wake of his childish act that would have played much better
with a fountain nearby instead of an official’s chair was Medvedev saying he
would accept any punishment handed down. The punishment ended up being three
unsportsmanlike conduct penalties totaling $14,500 in fines…….
- Don’t let being an accused criminal wanted for rape and
kidnapping dampen your healthy self-image or hinder your social media presence.
One man who needs no reminders of that lesson is Derek Helms of Stanly County,
North Carolina, a man who is wanted by the Cabarrus County Sheriff's Office on
charges of first-degree kidnapping and second degree rape but refuses to allow
the haters to bring him down. Helms may not be making himself physically
available to sheriff’s deputies, but he connected with those pursuing him by
commenting on a Facebook post that included his mug shot. The sheriff's office
posted Helms' mug shot and description on Facebook in hopes that someone in the
community would recognize him and narc him out and while that didn’t happen
right away, the man at the center of all the drama may have made the first
major mistake in keeping ahead of the law when he actually replied to a comment
on the post saying he is a "great guy." Everyone likes their ego
boosted and when you’re accused of heinous crimes against another person,
having someone who may not even know you that well rally behind you on social
media can be a real encourager. Then again, posting something online and
providing a clue for police pursuing you tends to be a subpar life strategy……..
- Ah, the experimental phase. Everyone has it at some point
in their life and in the case of veteran punk rockers Blink-182, that point is
apparently right now. The overhauled outfit have just kicked off a United Kingdom
tour in support of their “California” album, not only their first new release
in five years but also their first in their new incarnation with Alkaline Trio
frontman Matt Skiba in the place of founding member and guitarist Tom DeLonge.
The relationship between DeLonge and his former bandmates has been salty at
best since his departure, but Blink is moving on and they saw they’re planning
to make their next album ‘more experimental,” whatever the hell that means.
According to singer and bassist Mark Hoppus, this experimental effort will
begin soon. “We’ve already started talking about what we think the next album
should be,” Hoppus said. “It’s been in very broad terms. We haven’t written any
new songs yet. Every new song we wrote for ‘California’ and the deluxe edition
is out now. We’re going to start fresh next year. I think this album took Blink
back to its roots and what it’s all about, and I think on the next record, we
want to push that boundary again. We’ll keep the core of Blink 182 but we’ll
get a little more experimental.” He noted that the band previously released an
untitled record that “still sounded like Blink and had that Blink feeling, but
it was different and a little more thought out” and suggested the new project
will be along those lines……
- Who’s at fault for the jellyfish? That should be a
secondary question, but it’s one a lot of folks want answered now that swarms
of jellyfish have descended on Egypt's northern coast, keeping vacationers out
of the water and reviving debate over a recent expansion of the Suez Canal. The
culprits are nomad jellyfish, Rhopilema nomadica, which are native to the
Indian Ocean and the Red Sea but have been turning up in the Mediterranean in
growing numbers in recent years. Knowing the threat that was lurking, bathers
largely avoided the sea during the long Eid al-Fitr holiday last month and
photos of the purple swarms and advice on how to treat stings were regular
features on social media, with many noting that the jellyfish have come through
the Suez Canal, which was first built in 1869. While the canal has been
expanded several times, it’s the most recent changes - made in 2015 - that have
raised ire. Those alterations were done through a multi-billion-dollar project
that the government touted as an historic achievement and in that spirit, Egyptian
officials deny the recent expansion is to blame, noting that the jellyfish
turned up in the Mediterranean as early as the 1970s. "It is not the first
time it appears on Egypt's north coast. This time the number was just larger
than previous years," said Mostafa Fouda, an adviser to the Environment
Minister. Still, he said the ministry has set up an investigative committee to
look into the "unprecedented phenomenon, though most believe the invasion
was likely caused by an abundance of food, an increase in organic pollutants
and a decline in natural predators. Either way, there’s danger in those waters
and you can add that to the ever-growing list of hazards for anyone who makes a
visit to Egypt these days…….
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