The Pittsburgh Zoo is no Columbus or Sand Diego Zoo, but it has its high points. The new Polar Bear exhibit is bad ass, and I am always amused at how lazy and apathetic our Rhinoceros looks. But, no animal draws them in quit like a baby Elephant. A couple years back I think we had a calf running around the zoo, so I am pumped that this month alone we have had two female calfs born to two different mothers. Man these elephants are fucking horny. On July 29th Svannah a 26 year old African elephant gave birth to a female calf, and on July 25th at 5:30 a.m. Moja, another African Elephant, gave birth to another female calf. Yes, we have two baby elephants less than a month old running around at the Zoo. Moja's pregnancy was the longest ever for a captive Elephant at 673 days. See, Pittsburgh isn't all stories of murder, old people, and Andrea Curry-Demus cutting babies out of dead teenagers. So its summer, go to the zoo and check out the incredible baby Elephants!! Slide show here. Video below
I like to watch Fox New's Red Eye when I am up that late - 3:00 a.m. Greg Gutfeld is a good enough host, but the guest comedians/ bloggers they have on are always worth a laugh. On very special occasions, Michelle Collins is on and sometimes hosts. You can thank me by coming back to this blog and clicking on the ads for letting you know Michelle Collins is hosting Monday night. The show started out in February 2007 as a kind of awkward conservative attempt at comedy, but it has developed into a very un-Fox News variety/ pop culture show. The transition in my opinion occurred after the now infamous firing of Rachel Mardsen. I have watched it since its beginning and can safely say that it is now very watchable. The show stands by itself, but Michelle definitely makes the show more enjoyable. Check it out.
Shia Lebouf pulled a Lindsey Lohan last night by getting hit by a vehicle, getting a DUI, and taking major steps to ruin his career. Nice. I guess getting hit by cars is all the rage in young Hollywood. LeBouf really screwed up this time by getting a possible Felony DUI. His car was hit after trying to make a left hand turn in front of a car from a lane that was to go straight. His car rolled over. He was taken to the hospital requiring hand surgery and his passenger has head injuries. Shia was said to be visibly intoxicated at the scene. High Five!! I love how stupid these actors are. Lebouf is on record saying that he avoids the pitfalls of becoming famous by being dedicated to his work. This coming from someone who was arrested for a smoking, had a bench warrant out for not showing up at court, and then who was arrested again at a Wallgreens for provoking a security guard when he was drunk. After that incident he said "driving while drunk is one thing but drinking and shopping is just as bad". Oh Shia you know it all. Shia has also said that he avoids the party and club scene because Hollywood only takes you as serious as you take the work. Maybe Shia, like most of Hollywack, should actually take some of his own advice and listen to his own opinions instead of just always giving them. Shia's dad was a drug addict and both of his parents were hippies. He said he smoked pot with his dad at 10. I've done a lot of stupid things when I was young so I can't fault LeBouf, I just hate when people act like they are all high and mighty and above it all. Lebouf over acts anyway. Well, whatever, whats next you ask? Rehab, DUI #2, and I Know Who Killed Me.
UPDATE: This post got me a comment so I did something right...
I have taken time out of my busy studying schedule to post about one of the most important news stories of our modern time (well maybe not as important as Phoebe Price's rejection of admission to a Chanel party). No not Obama's Berlin speech, but rather the Kim Kardashian Shannon Moakler fight. I know, you have heard so much about it that you can't bear to read anything else, but hear me out. It may be just too draining to follow, but I promise I will be brief. Don't these two understand they are just supposed to look hot? Mouths shut- clothes tiny shiny, and as little as possible. Apparently Shannon Moakler called Kim fat, threw a drink on her, and caused a scene at some Carmen Electra douche party in Malibu...awesome (I know, a truly A-list affair of the first order. The Vanity Fair Oscar party has nothing on this soiree), and she said that Kim sent slutty emails to Barker when they were married. Kim of course denies the emails/ implication of skank, and argues that she modeled for Barkers clothing line and the emails were purely professional. Kim went to TMZ to defend her honor and clear her name (hahah TMZ I guess 60 minutes was busy). I just have to comment on this battle of intellect. Shannon Moakler seems to pick fights with every floozy in Hollywood, so I can't completely defend her, but this time I really think Kim is trying to come off innocent and all nonslutty/ small assed saying that she is in a committed relationship and would never do anything like that. I want to remind everyone about Kardashian before her Emmy winning show came on the air. Kim Kardashian was one of the queen of herpe skank filths minion's. Who is that you may ask? None other than Parasite Hilton. Yeah Kardashian hung around Paris Hilton for years trying to become famous. We all know that Hilton spreads her legs for anyone and likes doing it most to men who are married or date a women that she doesn't like. Hilton was in a very public fight with Moakler a couple years ago, and got a black eye from her at some douche club in LA. Paris was also spotted making out with Barker while he was still married to Moakler. So Kardashian was undoubtedly under the command and control of Hilton, so I am sure that Hilton influenced Kim and dragged her into the skank game encouraging her to flirt and send slutty emails to Barker just to piss off Moakler. I could just picture Hilton laughing ala the fire crotch incident when her and Kardashian discussed what Kim should do to get Moakler as fired up as the Tiger that ate the Puerto Rican. We all know that anyone who hangs out with Hilton gets her skanky black heartedness rubbed off on them. I am sure Kardashian is no different. Kim needs to realize that the reason people have the opinion about her that they do is because she ran the train on LA with Hilton. You can try to defend yourself all you want, but you can't make people forget that you onced named Paris Hilton as your best friend. And just like Herpes, that will never go away. I think the only way to really solve this fight is to have them both wrestle naked in pudding. Ok....I know that was typical and sleazy...then lets make it jello...NO? Mud? It doesn't matter anyway Kim is hotter than Shannon ever was or will be, and that is all that matters in their world.
So Europe has there own rich out of control trust fund brats that run around on the red carpet and do loads of drugs. No not the Royal family. Peaches Galdof ( the daughter of TV presenter and Heroin overdoser Paula Yates and Rocker world poverty fighter Sir Bob Geldof) is one of the up an comers who is quickly making her mark on celebratard media. After being caught buying drugs and saying "I am going to need some valium after this," ( I guess she was buying coke?) Peaches overdosed and was unconscious for seven minutes on Sunday night. When the paramedics arrived she reported yelled at them for invading her privacy. Nice. The damage control has ranged from claiming she passed out from dieting to passing out from dying her hair. Well, Peaches decided to take her pass out serious by attending the premier of Batman the next night in London. I understand that these people pretty much exist so we can hear about thier overdoses and bad decision making, but attending a premier of a movie where the star of the movie died of a drug overdose is awkward to say the least. It kind of shows how fucked up "Hollywack" is. Lets take pictures of someone who overdosed on the red carpet at a movie where the star died of an overdose. I am sure that Peaches didn't even think of this because...well Peaches doesn't think at all. Peaches mom died of a heroin overdose and Peaches was quoted as saying that only interesting people do drugs. Awesome.
In other Anglophile news, The identity of Banksy has been revealed again. There has already been theories and denials on this recent indentity reveal. Culturegirrrl claims to have uncovered a death notice of one Robin Gunningham.
I don't understand how his identity is being revealed, when I have seen at least three stories claiming such in the last year, and posted about them. Apparently he is a 34-year-old native of Bristol, England, named Robin Gunningham, Britain's the Mail on Sunday reported on July 13. The thread that may have unraveled the mystery was a 2004 photograph taken in Jamaica, which many — including photographer Peter Dean Rickards — say is the only known picture of Banksy. The Mail used the above picture to track down the person in it, and low and be hold it ended up Banksy. Read the whole article for a more responsible explanation. Didn't I already report this? Anywhocares, will this effect Banksy's art and the ridiculous amount of money that Agelina Jolie spends on it? Probably not. I am sure that this was well calculated so that Banksy could Trademark his work and protect it from infringement. Its all about the Benjamins. Hey I don't blame em. I tend to think that Banksy is a bunch of different people anyway. An art collective if you will.
There is an undoubtedly false rumor going around the tabloids and blogs that Madonna has a sex tape with A-rod. Some dude says that he heard that Madonna and Ar-rod were meeting up at some apartment, so he broke it set up a camera and taped it. Yeah right. Now he is shopping it around to tabloids. He better get a good price if this is true because his legal fees will be huge. Madonna's reps have said they are aware of the rumors, but that's about it. This is ridiculous. If there is a tape who would want to see? We can only hope that this does exist because this A-Rod divorce is already lining up to be way more entertaining than any Superbowl, Batman Movie, or prize fight.
I Saw Batman last night. There were some really awesome parts, some really bad parts, the plot had some loose ends and plot points that didn't go anywhere, and it was a bit too long. Heath Ledger was great. If you took him out of the movie, I dare you to give this movie a good review. Oscar material? maybe a nomination, but certainly not a winner. You give this role to any good actor they would have hit a home run too. It was like hitting the ball of a tee. With that said, I was nearly brought to orgasm (yes I am a nerd at heart) seeing that the trailer to the Watchmen was before the Batman movie. The Watchmen is my favorite graphic novel/ comic book of all time. It is incredibly deep, nuanced, brooding and well written. If you are a fan of Heroes then you will love the Watchmen. The trailer is soo bad ass that it nearly ruined Batman because it was more entertaining than the whole movie. It says that it comes out in 2009. That gives anyone who is not familiar with the comic to read it and become strangely obsessed with it.
A new day, a new owner of the Pittsburgh North Shore Casino. I see a trend beginning. This whole Casino thing is starting to bring back bad memories of laws school questions and bar exam scenarios. Who's mortgage is superior? What are the rights and obligations of all parties involved? You know there is going to litigation over this mess. The post construction lawsuits will be far worse than the pre-construction lawsuit. Anymess, In a statement released this morning, Pittsburgh Gaming Holdings L.P (Neil Bluhm, Carlin, and Barden or something) said that it had signed an agreement "with PITG Gaming, LLC to purchase preferred equity and 75 percent of the common equity in the Pittsburgh casino. Pittsburgh Gaming Holdings is a joint venture between, High Pitt Gaming LLC and Don Barden (that was last weeks big casino development story/ reorganization of ownership- I bet you are lost...I am so follow the links to get the facts). In the same statement, Greg Carlin, the new CEO of Pittsburgh Gaming Holdings, said "We have been working around the clock to reach an agreement that will allow us to quickly resume construction of the project and start generating tax revenue for the city of Pittsburgh and the commonwealth of Pennsylvania." For now... The news owners/ financiers have said that they will follow through on all prior promises that Barden made and has subsequently reneged (help to Hill District, amphitheatre, marina for boats). Of course, this all has to be approved by the state gaming board. There has been talk of revoking the license, so it will be interesting to see how the state views this new sale, and weather revocation will still be an option for the board. Please, no revocation!!!!!!! That would be too many facts for me to keep straight in this fact pattern, and without a doubt be an F on the bar exam.
This video, which has been turned into an add for Planned Parenthood cracks me up. First, it shows the hypocrisy in the insurance industry, and Second, it shows that McCain is completely out of touch with issues effecting run of the mill middle class people. When asked what he thought about the fact that Viagra is covered by most insurance policies while birth control is not, McCain responded with 8 seconds of silence. Good Answer. Survey Says...Zero!!!! Ooooh tough one. McCain voted against making birth control part of mandatory coverage, while Viagra is almost universally covered. Birth control may not be covered, depending upon what kind of plan you have. That makes sense make sure the man can knock a women up, then throw the women directly under the bus. Well this little exchange happened on July 10, but Planned Parenthood has turned it into a commercial that it will be running during Army Wife's and Oprah. Oh Shit.... McCain is fucked. To me Republicans kind of have a one track rich, white, christian, male mentality so this question shows a lot. I really think that he was silent for so long because he was trying to make sure that this was not a question about him taking Viagra. He was confused by the question. It was a senior moment. You can actually see him going through it in his head. He heard Viagra and was like Viagra what? He was about to answer Viagra should be covered, then he heard birth control and had to think about it for a second. It took him out of his white, rich, christian, male tunnel vision that he is used to. For a second, more like 8, he was like "yeah that is weird. Is this what the middle class has to deal with all the time? Fucked up insurance policies, hypocrisy, and stupid things that get in the way of living life?" Then he was like oh well whatever. I don't know enough about it, and I am damn sure not going to take the time to learn more. I'll just vote the same way next time. Don't worry those Army Wife's will take care of him.
This story is really a tough one. Brian Lee, 19 of West Mifflin was murdered by an unidentified male at 12:40 on Saturday night as he was closing Damon's restaurant in the Waterfront. The tall black male entered the rear of the restaurant as it was closing an demanded money. He was met with no resistance, but unfortunately decided to shoot Mr. Lee while another employee was forced to let him out of the front door. It is unclear whether the restaurant has video surveillance or if there are any leads on the case. The Waterfront is a major entertainment and nightlife area on the edge of the city of Pittsburgh along the Mon river spanning over a mile of stores, restaurants, bars, movie theatres, including a water park. I used to work at a restaurant down there, and I have closed many of nights. I actually quit because of how trashy it was getting. It is nuts to me that someone would even attempt this at 12:40 on a Saturday night. The area is still heavily populated at this time, and it is anything but "quiet". Damon's sits kind of in the cut at the edge of most of the development near the river, so maybe this is why it was targeted. The Waterfront draws people from all over Pittsburgh including Shadyside and Squirrel Hill, but Duquesne, Hazlewood, and Homestead tend to mix in the riff raff. The area has been getting pretty ghetto lately. Earlier in June there was a murder outside the Eat n Park, and there was a shooting at Lowes a couple years ago during the 50 cent movie. There have also been some robberies, but this is still not the norm by any means. I feel bad for the family and can only hope the police will find the person responsible and he will be prosecuted for felony murder.
I love Spike Lee even know he has made his fair share of Turkey bombs, and he has a tendency to go on Kanye West Caps-blogging-rants. The Inside Man was an incredible movie (one of his best in my opinion), with one of those ohhhh ah ha moments at the end. You know, the ones I spoil for all my friends. So seeing that the two are being used to sell The Miracle at St. Anna movie makes me pretty excited. I think the movie is based on a book, which I didn't read of course, by James McBride that got some good reviews, while other reviews stated it was historically inaccurate. That being said, is it just me or is this trailer bat shit crazy?? I mean what the fuck is going on? Statue head, Nazis, Italians, boys with powers or something? This is like Saving Private Ryan meets Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull meets The Sixth Sense. This has the possibility of being one cool as fuck movie or a total shit mess on a M Knight Shamamamamlyn Lady In The Happening scale of a disaster. I mean train, plain, car wreck all at once with a giant fire ball explosion. I'm talking Amy Winehouse Saturday 3:00 a.m acoustic set after a free crack giveaway run on the pub. I love of good movie, but I am secretly hoping for scenario number 2. There is nothing like watching the press tear a movie to shreds. I haven't heard much pre release buzz, but the trailer in my opinion isn't doing much, and I think I can see the vultures starting to circle now. Watch the movie win best picture or something. Shows what I know.
Boing Boing is usually a website I frequent between the hours of 2 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. at work when the anticipation of lunch has well worn off, but it is too early to begin anticipating going home. I have not gone there lately, but boy am I glad I did. This is a video of cornstarch, water, and a subwoofer. No Shit!! I am willing to bet that one of two people, or a combination of both, came up with this idea. 1) A loser nerd chemistry dork at some math science school like MIT (who will, by the way, be way more successful in what he does than I ever will be) or 2) undergraduate coeds who have just finished getting freshly faced off of a gravity bong they made out of 2 liter of Sunny D (that thier mother bought them with hot pockets and ramin noodles no doubt) and their desk side dorm room garbage can. Whatever the origin it turned out to be a decent post.
Anyone who has been remotely following the mess that is Pittsburgh's casino would have seen this coming a mile away. Don Barden has given up majority control of the Majestic Star North Shore Casino. After continual finance problems, Barden has decided to reorganize ownership. I think that Barden is basically saying, "fuck this shit. I'm out!" Under a proposal presented before the state Gaming Control Board in Harrisburg today, Barden would become part of the management of new team called High Pitt Gambling. Barden created this new partnership with Greg Carlin, Real-estate magnate Neil Bluhm and his brother Andrew Bluhm. Carlin would be the new CEO under the plarn. While PITG Gaming would be the principle licensee and indirect owner of holdings, Barden's attorney told KDKA's Jon Delano that Barden will no longer be the majority owner of the new company. Does this mean that construction can continue? Who knows. At this point I don't think anyone is sure what will happen. I'm beginning to think that the license was given to the worst canidate rather than the best. They got confused somehow (Its not hard around here), and awarded the casino to the person who was actually least qualified. Barden couldn't get financing, can't pay the workers, and now is not even the owner. Call me cynical, but shouldn't there have been some notice that hard times were ahead? Business difficulties like this just don't fall out of the sky. If Harrahs would have gotten the Station Square license we would have been playing Little Green Men by now.
The Real World Hollywood ended last night, and although I thought it was one of the best Real Worlds ever, I am ready for a Real World Road Rules challenge. By the looks of it, the Island is going to be exactly what I have been waiting for. Basically it is the challenge gone Survivor Panama with all the cheap trash entertainment plus extra opportunity to connive and back stab. Hopefully we will see some of this Real Worlds cast on the show. Actually I hope I don't because I really wish the best for this cast (except Greg, Sarah, and Kim) . I would like to see them all succeed in Hollywood and not have to fall into the reality TV pitfall of celebrity. Will and Bree deserve a shot at success in the music industry and Nick, Dave, and Joey deserve a shot at acting or entertainment reporting. This season has managed to really show the true character of the cast, not just overly produced MTV characterization of each person. I also liked that they had 5 black cast members that were on the show because of what they offered not because they fit some stereotype of anger or token "black" role on the show. I really came around for Bree. At first I was bothered by her defensive desperate attempt at justifying stripping, but I soon came to accept the fact that any person who makes that choice struggles with it forever and I gave her the benefit of the doubt. Plus, her bad ass performance in the beat down of LA want to be douche hipsters outside of AREA gets my approval and support for whatever Bree chooses to do with her reality TV career. Hopefully Real World Brooklyn will pick up where this season left off and have more real people rather than people cast just to fit a character for the show. Confirmed Cast for Escape From Ghost Island RR/RR challenge:
This whole A-rod Madonna thing barely registers on my radar, but I can't help be somewhat cynical about the way the whole thing has unraveled. If you remember this all started with rumors that Madonna and her husband were divorcing. Guy Richie's mother even commented on it. We heard that Madonna was coming to America to save her marriage. How we knew weeks in advance the exact day that Madonna would arrive was my first clue that there was manipulation afoot. Next, Madonna shows up at Yankees games and is seen around town with a high profile baseball player in the midst of a continuing marital scandal. hmmmm. Not the best way to "save" your marriage. Next we find out that A-rod's wife is in paris with Lenny Kravitz spending all of A-Rod's money. Finally the missing puzzle piece is discovered: A-rod, Madonna, and Lenny Kravitz all have the same manager. NO, I do not think Madonna is above concocting a huge media scandal to get her irrelevant name out there to promote and increase ticket sales for her upcoming album tour. She has realized that people are not going to talk about her music, so if people are talking about her personal life that is second best. Page Six is reporting that Kravitz fired his manager (Guy Oseary) when he found out (through Cynthia Rodriguz's trainer) that Guy was going to leak and push the Madonna - A-Rod rumors to the press. Kravitz was disgusted that his manager would stoop to such a level to get press. In response to the firing, Kravitz thinks that Guy planted the stories about Cynthia and Kravitz in Paris running up A-Rod's credit card. I am not even remotely shocked by this. The fact that the press had Madonna's itinerary for the last month shows that someone is Madonna's inner circle has been feeding the press everything about her personal life. All of a sudden Madonna gets right in the middle of a high profile divorce? This was all planned and I hope it backfires on Madonna in her tour, and on A-Rod in his divorce trial. What a bunch of losers. Madonna really needs to go away. Just go somewhere where we never here about you, from you, and of you. Leave your music to be sung by better younger artists. I am surprised that through all that Kaballalalalllalala she has not realized how self involved she is, and how much her ego runs her life and bothers ours. She can pretend that she is a cutting edge relevant artist, but she is now nothing better than a page six story about some aging star that used to be famous and who is now sleezing around the upper west side. She should be in a Liz Smith column instead of a Richard Johnson item. They are both about the same age.
Remember Lindsey Lohan? She is the daughter of the lady who has a TV show and that man who keeps talking about his illegitimate daughter. Well we officially have confirmation (sort of) of her relationship with a girl!!! Lindsay Lohan has apparently decided to retire from acting (she was an actress right- or a singer- or a drunk girl or something) to become the arm candy of some lesbian DJ. To each their own. If Lindsey was really smart she would have started dating and gotten knocked up by Flavio Briatore. He would have at least bought her a yacht or something. She is really letting me down. She is ignoring her inner Long Island. Lindsey- to stay rich when you've ruined your film career you go after old rich men not young lady-boys. Anyway, On her 22 birthday she said, "I just wanna live a happy healthy year, continue on the path that I've been on and be with the person I care about. And my family." I wonder who she is talking about? Samantha Ronson has posted the above picture on her myspace page. BTW- Its pretty sad when your dads illegitimate daughter aka, your nonfamous-super talented stepsister is getting more press than you. Lindsey's lesbian shenanigans can't hold a candles to the three ring circus that is Michael's manipulation of the press. DNA, Defamation, Gossip leak apology, this guy is his own one man band. I always thought his reality show was the true diamond in the ruff.
How fitting that on our nation's birthday we celebrate and chest thump the excess, waste, and gluttony that has come to define our great nation through exactly that- excess, waste, and gluttony. We commemorate our Independence the one way we know how...with a Nathans Hot God eating competition. Yes brothers and sisters the Nathans Hot Dog Eating Championship was held today at the legendary Coney Island, and boy did it pull through and entertain. It was by far one of the best eating competitions ever held. It had all the makings of a classic. The major players in the sport showed up and brought their A game. Sonya "The Black Widow" Thomas, Patrick "Deep Dish" Bertoletti, Tim "Eater X" Janus, Joey "Jaws" Chesnut (current world record holder with 66 and 2007 champion), and Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi all made the trip and brought their abnormally huge appetites with them.
The rules were slightly changed this year making it a ten minute competition instead of a twelve. To some, this put the legendary Kobayashi (who has won the contest 6 times only to be upset last year by Chesnut) at a disadvantage because of his slow methodical start. The gun fired and Chestnut quickly pulled ahead, with cheeks puffed, as he crammed hot dogs into his mouth. At one point, the 24-year-old Californian led Kobayashi 14 to 11. Kobayashi fell to third place, but ate his way back and the two went dog-to-dog in the final stretch. A photo finish declared that there was a tie of 59 hot dogs and buns after the initial ten minutes. This set the stage for one of the most thrilling and nerve racking events in sports, beating out penalty shots in Hockey and sudden death shoot outs in Soccer. The 5 hot dog eat-off. Whoever can eat 5 hot dogs and buns the fastest takes the title. After taking a pause to swallow between eating the hot dogs and the soaking wet buns, Kobayashi fell behind and Joey Chesnut took advantage of the slip up winning the title.Take that Fareed Zakaria!!! If there is one thing that the United States should be number one in and remain number one in, it is competitive eating!!! Chesnut retained his title, was awarded 10,000 dollars, kept the coveted Mustard-Yellow champions belt, and is guaranteed 7 consecutive days of diarrhea and heart burn. It should also be mentioned that Sonya "Black Widow" Thomas, who finished fifth, broke the worlds women record with 33 hot dogs, and this was the first time since 1916 that the original ten minute format was used.
I am giving an update on that bad ass principle from Mars because my previous post proved to be more popular with the Yinzers than anything else I have blogged about (sad I know). Well, it appears, from Butler County Court Dockets (which are public if anyone is interested), that Miss Saker posted bond and waived her arraignment. The first three (yes three, there were four total, Go Anna!!) disorderly conducts were dismissed by a lower court, but the last two charges were held for court. The charges that are still active against Saker are PA 18 § 5503 §§A4- disorderly conduct by creating a hazardous or physically offensive condition by any act which serves no legitimate purpose of the actor, and PA 18 § 5101- obstructing administration of law or other governmental function. The disorderly conduct is a third degree misdemeanor if the intent of the actor is to cause substantial harm or serious inconvenience, or if he persists in disorderly conduct after reasonable warning or request to desist.
The obstruction of administrative law is a second degree misdemeanor. I think cursing at the officer, saying you are the principal of Mars and that you know the officers in charge, and stepping in front of an officer trying to do his job qualifies. If not then, pulling a Bonny and Clyde and fleeing from a police officer should do the trick. The next court proceeding is scheduled for 7/07/2008, which will probably be the criminal hearing. Do I hear field trip??? I am sure there will eventually be some sort of guilty plea to some lessor offense. Fees paid and maybe community service. Anna should never take the deal. Fight for your name!! No one destroys the reputation of a Mars High School Principal and gets away with it. Not even a former student that she gave one to many detentions to (which is my theory on the police officer that got in the way of Anna and a sale at Walmart).
This lady is so awesome, how the hell did she not get her hot ass on Nancy Grace. If I was a student at Mars High School I would totally fuck with principal Saker. I would have the theme to Cops playing not stop in front of her office. If she gave me detention I would say shit like "hey at least I'm not going to jail." Zing!!!!
I've got an American birthday gift for you readers. If you are a fan of Girl Talk follow this link to download the new album for free ( or for a price a la Radiohead In Rainbows for the generous) before the September release date. Do it quickly because I think Illegal Art is not planning on doing this forever. I've heard the new album and let me tell you... It fucking hard. Sure Girl Talk is kind of a flash in the pan, and it seems to some like Night Ripper is the best and most creative album he is capable of creating, but any thinking like that is wrong and Feed the Animals proves it. The mash up gimmic on Night Ripper smacked most of the music nerd crowd in the face by showing that remixing and reworking popular tracks can create brand new music better than the individual samples themselves. Night Ripper was beyond anything created by remixers and mashup artists that came before it, pushing the boundaries of the genre to places unthinkable. Feed The Animals picks right up where Night Ripper left off and continues its assault of the way we traditionally understand the art of music. You may ask What more can Greg Gillis do? Isn't this album going to be more of the same? Didn't Night Ripper squeeze everything out of the Girl Talk "act"? Well the answer is much more, no, and no. With over 300 samples Gillis packs more tracks into the album and fuses them together in way that is far more reckless (in a good way) than any mash up artist out there. Girl Talk started out as more of a boom-bip noise outfit, but he has matured into an accessible-frenzied-fueled mainstream party maestro.
The genius of Feed the Animals is the ability of Gillis to stretch the musical gene pool he draws from to unfathomable distances. On "Like This," one 90-second sequence alone works in Beyoncé, Rick Astley, Nine Inch Nails and Yo La Tengo, among others. He mixes MIA's Boyz with the Cranberry's Dreams. The result is slightly sloppy, but the attempt is so praise worthy that any shortcomings are quickly forgotten. Sinead Oconnor and Lil Wayne? Yes he does. You can view all 300 samples, what artist's tracks are used, and at what point in the song they are mashed here at wikipedia. The best part about what Gillis does is that he doesn't feel the need to only take the hooks from songs. By taking the drum line or symbol crash from one song and hammering it into the vocals of another song, he produces the best of both worlds which sounds unlike either song, but still manages to keep the listener's emotional attachment (and build on it) to those songs they have grown to love. This is the ultimate 4th of July picnic party album, so download it, put on your stupid Kanye West glasses and be the coolest (or dorkiest depending on who you ask) kid at the picnic. If you don't believe me just listen below:
This shit is so fake it has approached and is surpasing camp levels of entertainment. MTV's mess of a bi-sexual dating show came to its disaster of finale last night in a way that it only could. Basically Tila dumped loser Bo, and asked Christy if she was interested in a shot of love (e.i. a shot of seeing Tila at the reunion taping and possibly seeing her once more before she dumps you and starts filming season three) and she said no. Yeah, just like that - no. Christy basically realized that this show was a total piece of shit and that there was no way she was going to be in a relationship with a piece of trash like Tila, so instead of doing the ceremonial yes we are in love until the reunion show and season three, Christy basically said fuck this shit- I'm out. I'm pretty sure the producers of the show were somehow involved in this "escandalo" because Tila is a terrible actress and her fake ass tears didn't fool anyone. There is no way I can take another season of people rolling around in food and pretending they could give two shits (shots? haha) about a trashy skank reality TV "star". They need to reformat the show and bring in a new trainwreck bi-sexual (Lindsey Lohan anyone? We all know she is looking for work). I do find it funny that someone makes it to the final two, then decides that they don't want a shot of love. I give Christy major props for fucking up the show big time. I am all about sabotage and that was a major mutiny against all of what MTV and Tila had invested in the show. Or, this is just MTV's way of having a third season. Whatever the reason, all I care about is that this crap fest is over and maybe we will be blessed with a Real World Road Rules challenge at 10 p.m. on Tuesday nights.
The June 30th deadline has come and gone for Don Barden to get financing for the Casino and pay contractors so that work will not come to a halt on construction of the North Shore Casino. Here is where we are at. Work has stopped, but Barden has kind of received nearly all of the 780 million dollar funding. The Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports work on the North Shore slots parlor came to a halt yesterday after Don Barden failed to come up with $10 million needed to keep construction going, even as he announced he had secured a $120 million investment in the project from a company headed by a Chicago billionaire and fellow casino owner. Even with the $120 million, Barden is still 30 million short of the 780 million that was estimated as the cost to build the entertainment center. In addition to finalizing the $120 million investment from Walton Street, Mr. Barden also will be working to close on more than $600 million in funding arranged through international lender Credit Suisse during the same time frame. At a late afternoon news conference, Bob Oltmanns, casino spokesman, estimated that the work stoppage would last from a "matter of days" to one to two weeks while Mr. Barden races to complete and close on $780 million in financing, a task that has eluded him for more than two months. The stoppage came even with the 120 million in equity secured by Walton Street Capital. The contractors had given Barden till the end of June, and since Barden's financing is not yet permanent all work has stopped. All of the funding still needs to be reviewed and approved by the states gaming board who meets again July 10th ( it is uncertain weather financing will be part of that meeting).
This may seem like good news at this point since all we have heard over the last couple months was concerns over the Casino's future, but Barden also announced plans on scaling back many amenities of the casino, which were the selling points for the State Gaming Control Board in awarding the license. Barden is delaying plans for construction of an outdoor amphitheater and boat dock at his North Shore casino and is altering the look of a riverfront promenade, all in a bid to save money. This is making the Riverlife Task Force (who?) upset and only adding to the general anxiety over the casino that is suppose to open in 2009. Pittsburgh was sold on a state of the art first class casino, and what we may end up with is something no better than the Bonanza Casino in Reno Nevada!!
KDKA is reporting that If the Pens can't come to terms with Marian Hossa, they're making plans for a second option. Pittsburgh Sports Insider has learned that Ray Shero has made a contract offer to former Pens captain Jaromir Jagr!!! The former MVP would be paired with Pens captain Sidney Crosby. Are they literally trying to recreate the success of the team in 1991-1993. Whats next Ron Francis. Details are sketchy right now, but we all know that Jagr, who is heavily booed when he plays against the Pens, would be welcomed with open arms by the fickled Pittsburgh fair weather fans. The best part about this deal would be my ability to post old school pictures every chance I can get. Jagr has remained coy about the possible deal. "I’ll tell you when I have something done,” he said, laughing, to the Daily News. All we do know is that the Jagr is not feeling love from the Rangers. In other Penguins news, the Penguins appear to have their biggest two stars under contract. Sources tell KDKA Sports, the Pens and Evgeni Malkin have agreed to a 5-year contract. The new contract will kick in for the 2009-2010 season, and it's believed to be around the same deal Sidney Crosby signed last year for $8.7 million dollars per season (hopefully Malkin will not continue his late playoff performance.. because it sucked). Also today, the Penguins re-signed one of their free agent forwards. Pascal Dupuis agreed to a 3-year contract that pays him $1.4 million per season.
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