Sunday, July 09, 2017

Russ Wilson eyes the future, Aussies find spare cash and Nirvana: The Musical


- It was one of the more bizarre scenes of angry constituents calling out a politician in recent memory. It was quite the sight as enraged citizens encircled Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton on Lake Mille Lacs after a temporary ban on walleye fishing went into effect. Dayton found himself literally caught in the middle as boat after boat full of protesters circled the governor’s boat as he tried to draw attention to the nationally recognized bass fishing in Lake Mille Lacs. Clearly, the kind of fish one is allowed to pull from the water matters and while fishing for bass is cool, these protesters oppose the current three-week ban on walleye fishing, which will be in effect until July 27 in an attempt to preserve the breed’s population. “We couldn’t catch a fish because we had these boats circling around us,” Dayton said. “I’m here to emphasize the positive. I’m here to talk about the positive fishing in Mille Lacs.” In defense of the governors, most of the boats and fishermen on the lake were not part of the protest, but for the walleye industry, recent bans and limitations have hurt business and local resort owners and other businesses in the area claim that profits were already on the decline in recent years due to an increased focus on bass fishing, which they say are largely about wealthier people and their giant, expensive boats as opposed to the more blue-collar folks who tend to come out in search of walleye. Still, any time there’s an aquatic battle between a governor and his citizens and no shots are fired, it has to be considered a fun time for all involved……..


- Because who else would you want to make the star of a musical other than the two gone-too-soon frontmen of iconic Pacific Northwest grunge bands from the 1990s? Thus, a musical about the grunge scene in Seattle in the 1990s has been commissioned by the Seattle Repertory Theatre, which wants to shine a light on bands such as Nirvana and Soundgarden. The setting will be a fictional story, but the show will feature pre-existing songs from bands of that era to be drawn from a publishing catalog owned by BMG. Producers will be able to channel the spirit of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and music from Smashing Pumpkins and Alice In Chains too. One of the big names attached to the development of this musical project is Janet Billig Rich, a former manager of Nirvana, so many she can help keep it authentic. All of the music will center on the story of a prodigious grunge musician and the rival who may have murdered him. All of this comes a few days after grainy footage of a pre-album Nirvana surfaced online this week of the band recording a music video for their first demo tape back in January 1988 and there will always be interest in Cobain and all things Nirvana because they’re one of the classic awesome bands that ended far too soon and given Cornell’s recent suicide, there will be a certain macabre vibe hanging over all of this………


- Australians are awesome - but even they have their limits. They love to drink, party and fight, but if you lose a mysterious suitcase with $1.6 million in cash inside within their borders, even they’re going to ask a few questions. That’s why the Australian Federal Police (AFP) authored a hilarious Facebook post asking if anyone had managed to misplace a suitcase with the aforementioned stash of cash inside. They were investigating a suspected drug heist in New South Wales when they found the suspicious suitcase. “We’ve kicked off a court process to have it listed as unclaimed cash – but if you reckon this cash is yours, we’d be very keen to speak with you,” police wrote in the post. “And by speak with you, we definitely mean to ask where you got a suitcase full of cash from. We have a sneaking suspicion this isn’t your average pay pack.” In response to a comment on the post, police noted that in cases with unclaimed money like this, all confiscated money and funds from the sale of confiscated assets are returned to the commonwealth and placed into an account that is managed by the Australian Financial Security Authority. “With the approval by the Minister, those funds are then reinvested into the community through a variety of means including local crime prevention, law enforcement, drug treatment and diversionary measures across Australia,” they added, presumably before turning away from the computer, clocking out and downing their fourth beer of the day……. 


- Always be building the brand. Seattle Seahawks signal caller Russell Wilson knows how true it is and while he has a Super Bowl win and celebrity wife in his win column, Russ knows he won't always be an elite quarterback at the forefront of the public consciousness…so he’s working to lay the foundation for what comes next - his quest to become the next Peyton Manning. Manning famously runs the Manning Passing Academy in Louisiana and Wilson attended as a high school player. In four days, he learned a lot and has held his own one-day passing camps every summer since entering the NFL. He’s now looking to expand that effort by partnering with former teammate Jake Heaps to create the Russell Wilson Quarterback Academy. He wants his to be not just a short-term camp, but one that offers training lessons, one-on-one lessons, private sessions, on-field training, elite summer camps and even classroom work in which instructors sit down with players and teach them different coverages and different looks and the thought process of what they go through during the key moments in a game. He’s planning on researching locations to potentially hold a camp for the program in China and having worked with 8,000 kids through his previous passing camps, and having a partner in Heaps who has coached 60 kids individually through his own passing academy, the two seem to have a good foundation. Current packages listed on the company's web site range from $125 to $300 and aspiring quarterbacks can be as young as 10 or as old as 22. Wilson knows he won't always be on the field with the students -- specifically during football season -- but insists he’ll find ways to connect with them……..

No comments: