August 2010

Filling the American food fight gap

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SUMMER MADNESS

America, not to be out done by the Europeans, specifically, by the people of Spain and their annual La Tomatina, a food fight festival held for decades on the last Wednesday in August, during which tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown by people in the streets at each other for exactly one hour, that great American city, Reno, Nevada, has begun La Tomatina in Reno, an annual festival where America is given the opportunity to demonstrate that American young people know how to tomato fight too. This past Sunday, Reno hosted the second annual tomato fight, with about 2,500 people showing that American young people knows what to do with a 150,000-pound pile of Roma tomatoes. Yes, these tomatoes become missiles that young Americans began to launch at each other -- so reported the Associated Press. See the video.

getting down with the Air Guitar?

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SUMMER MADNESS

It might look dumb. It might sound dumb. It might be something dumb to do, but it looks like fun -- air guitar playing. And there's a world air guitar championship!

A championship for invisible strumming, for just doing the faking out stuff --

Faking out stuff, now that is something politicians have been doing for years.

I digress. Back on topic. This air guitar stuff may be something that I can participate in. I can't play a real guitar, but I can get on stage and jump around, and boogie, with the rest of them. Maybe not keep up, with the rest of them, but I could get up there.

Air Guitar -- maybe I should give it a practice? Or I could try out for lip singing. I wonder if they have a world championship?

On Paris Too

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Okay, so Paris Hilton's claim to fame is that she is famous? The celebrity-heiress-Paris-Hilton is now just about her legal name. Celebrity, heiress, and, legal, trouble, and, more, legal, trouble, and, Paris, Hilton, have become a group of words that follow one another. This time Miss Hilton has been officially charged with cocaine possession. What is so embarrassing about this charge is that she was arrested in Las Vegas. I didn't know that they arrested celebrities in Vegas. I thought celebrities had celebrity immunity. Maybe celebrity immunity. only applies tor "Vegas stars" and to America's 'A' list stars.

Miss. Hilton's arrest is big news. The big news organization is covering the story big time and I know why.

Paris Being Paris

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What is Summer News Without Paris?

Paris Hilton has been arrested again, and she is out on bail. The charge is powered cocaine possession. The buzz across America and the gossipy world is: Will Paris Be Going Back to Jail?

My response is: What for? Paris is only being Paris.. She is America's premier naughty princess. What are you going to do America? Spank her? Please!

The Associated Press reports on America's naughty princess' explanation to the police:for the content of her alleged purse, which, according to the Vegas police, included a small bag of white powder. Princess Paris said -- quote the AP -- "The rolling papers, $1,300 in cash and several credit cards were hers, but not the purse they were in. And definitely not the bag of white powder that fell out of it." See the video.

The Benefits of Squat Toilets

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The first time I saw and had the opportunity to pee into a squat toilet, I wasn't exactly thrilled by the possiblity of pee splattering on my thighs, and the design of the urinal-like toilet sitting directly on ground offended my western sensibilities. Of course, as I got accustomed to squatting, I started to see the benefits in both my thigh muscles and in the total time it took me to "drop my kids off at the swimming pool" whenever the need arose. Now, researchers are claiming that squatter toilets have health benefits as well.

As this writer so eloquently states:

Trapped Chilean Miners

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I just watched the video of the thirty three Chilean miners, who are trapped half a mile underground, and who are keeping up their spirits by singing their national anthem. I am expressed by their positive attitude.

The men were discovered alive this Sunday, after being trapped for more than two weeks. Food, water and supplies are lowered to them through a tube. "Protecting " the men's "mental and physical health ... has become a major preoccupation of Chilean authorities, especially now that it's clear they could remain in their dark, hot, humid quarters for up to four months or more."

It will take four months for rescuers to cut through the 700 meters of rock to get to the men.

Fish Pedicure?!

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My provincialism is probably showing, but -- and BUT, and BUT, and BUT! I know that is a lot of buts. But, I would be kicked in the butt before I would let fish "pedicure" my feet. I saw this CBS NEWS video and I said -- Say What?!

CBS reports -- "Sole Sensation is one of a handful of fish pedicure shops to open in Britain. Customers immerse their feet in a tank of tiny Garra rufa fish which happily feast on any dead skin they can find." See the video.

My take on this is this -- Put my feet in a tank of fish?.Trust the fish to clean my feet of dead skin? I hear Steven King somewhere laughing.-- or is the voice I hear that of Wes Craven?

So what if "fish pedicure" is a time tested method? I don't trust the government, do you think I am going to trust some fish?

Kansas Combine Derby

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SUMMER MADNESS

Earlier this month, thousands of people made the pilgrimage to Abilene, Kansas for the Kansas Combine Derby, to watch big trucks crash into one another. It was BANG! CLANK! BANG! GEE! BANG, BANG, BANG! CLANK! See the video.

My lord! If that derby wasn't summer madness, is anything ever is?

Well, crashing trucks beat what people at that festival in India did. They threw stones at each other.Crashing big trucks beat throwing stones, right?

As for the festival in Spain, where people throw tomatoes at each other, each year, -- crashing trucks are for the people who can afford the big trucks, and can afford to crash them, --- tossing a tomato? Everybody can toss a tomato.

Stoning Festival in India

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FESTIVAL MADNESS

I watched the CBS News video of the Stoning Festival in India, a religious festival in Northern India, with the celebrants throwing stones at one another. My take on the event is that it is another example of summer madness. I know India is in the Southern Hemisphere and is having its winter right now. But this stoning festival is an outdoor activity.

Stoning each other is much more serious than a food fight, and can and do cause injuries. Frankly, it doesn't look attractive. It looks like groups of villagers are at war, -- though the war is supposedly good-natured.

Mother of All Tomato Fights

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SUMMER MADNESS

What is a person to do in the summer? In the eastern Spanish town of Buñol, there is an answer: FOOD FIGHT!

Yesterday, Wednesday, the event for all the food fighters of the world, the battle known as the Tomatina -- with "more than 45,000 visitors from all over the world " clashing, hurling "more than 100 tons of tomatoes at one another for about an hour," the annual, friendly bout of summer madness! See the video.

Pilar Garrigues, the councilwoman in charge of 'fiestas”, said "This year’s event transpired without any serious incidents and the municipal services only had to treat about a dozen people for fainting and slight eye irritations."

Lindsay Lohan Out of Confinement

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Lindsay Lohan has left the confinement of UCLA's Neuropsychiatric Hospital, where she was in a court ordered rehab program, as part of her sentence for violating probation in a DUI case. Her doctor told the judge, handling Ms. Lohan's case, that her condition didn't justify inpatient treatment.

CBS reported, "Actress Lindsay Lohan was released from a 90-day court-ordered rehab after 23 days because doctors say she is not addicted to anything." See the video.

PEOPLE reported that sources say, "She's out and doing really well."

Good for her.

She is now in UCLA's out patient program.

"The outpatient program is just like the inpatient program, except you get to go home at night," a UCLA patient told PEOPLE.

Bieber As Ratings Magnet

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Last night  ABC Nightline ran a repeat "news" feature titled, "The Business of Being Bieber :We're backstage with teen idol and pop sensation Justin Bieber, " on who else but Justin Bieber. It seems some news magazines are doing features on the teen idol on a regular basis to pump up the ratings.

Gossip about Justin Bieber is easier to take than news stories on the wars in the Middle East, or on the wavering economy.

Well, everybody else is doing  Justin Bieber stuff to ride on his fan base, so why not ABC?  Kim Kardashian, the twenty nine year old, did a wet clothes, beach photo shoot with the sixteen year old Justin Bieber, for that reason.

Baby Rocker

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The Internet loves a jolly, dancing, happy baby. Who doesn't? Post a video of a happy little kid, dancing, and naturally, rocking to the music, and watch it go viral.

Little Sydney Foye, when she was eight months old, joined viral history. Her dad, musician Aaron Foye, was entertaining the then eight-month-Sydney, with some Bon Jovi, when she decided to rock out and dance along,

The tape of the kid's performance made it to YouTube. This week, the family, Sydney, her mom and her dad, made it to CBS Early Show.

A really big baby.

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An infant as big as a six-year-old

In Hunan province, in southern.China, a ten-month-old baby boy, who was born at normal weight (around 7.7 lbs) has grown to be as big as a six-year-old in a matter of months. ITN News reports, that the kid weighs around 44 lbs, equivalent to the weight of normal six-year-old child.

What does this mean? I'm sure that kid and his mama both will be studied. The fears are that he may have been exposed to tainted food. But his mother said, "I feed my son with my breast milk. I've never had him take any milk powder or anything that contains hormones."

Harold Dow, R.I.P

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Harold Dow, a reporter on CBS News 48 hours, died yesterday, Saturday morning. He was only sixty two. The Associated Press reports that Mr. Dow died suddenly. In the orbit, the AP lists Mr. Dow's numerous awards: five news Emmys, television journalism's Peabody Award.

He had worked for CBS for nearly 40 years. Mr Dow was one of network television's first African-American reporters. I remember seeing him co-anchor CBS News Nightwatch, reporting on the nightly news programs, CBS Evening News with Dan Rather and on the Sunday show, CBS News Sunday Morning.

Bill O'Reilly Playing for the Press

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Bill O'Reilly is back on the morality kick. Talking morality is a more popular topic than talking politics. He hasn't stopped running his yapper on politics. His butt is propped in one of Fox News chairs. O'Reilly is an entertainer. He is likely to say anything that will get him ratings. I mean, anything that pops into his head, whether its something rude about President Obama or something rude about a nasty wart that might pop up on his bottom. Any topic that he thinks will draw the eyeballs, it will draw his mouth -- to the topic.

J.D. Salinger's Toilet, Asking eBay Price $1million

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I know you really don't want to hear about it, but if you really do want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is, what is all this crap about? The J. D. Salinger throne is up for sale. The asking price is $1 million dollars.That is kind of a crazy. It is kind of lousy to take the toilet. People always think there's money to be found in anything, even in the toilet where Mr. Salinger took a crap. I could talk about this more, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth, the whole thing is crap.

Amy Winehouse & Pee...Wee

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Well, this is an oldy - but a goody... well grossy...

Im a huge fan of Amy Winehouse. In fact I aspire to be like her someday. honestly, who wouldn't want to be under the infuence, semi-conscious, out of control, and rich? I guess I do not want to be exactly like her though - I mean she does do and say some pretty bizarro things, but I like to think of them as British and "charming"... sometimes.

Mobile Phones: Where Will Technology Take Us?

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Once in awhile I like to imagine what my life would be like without my "smartphone" and because of the creepy crawly feeling I get I hold my phone close and hope that it never goes away. It has become an extension of my hand - not so much my face anymore because I rarely "talk" on it. My phone has really become more a part of me than... well actual parts of me. If I need some quick inspiration I open the 3G browser and surf to my hearts content, I can carry on multiple text and instant message conversations, and if I get that terrible "I forgot to pay a bill" feeling I can check all of my accounts with the touch of the screen.

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