The Fight of the Century

This week was the 4oth Anniversary of the first of three Mohammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier fights at Madison Square Gardens. I remember it well. It wasn't their best fight , the Thrilla in Manila was certainly better but it was certainly more than just a boxing match - it was an event! It has been called the Fight of the Century but could be the Sporting Event of the Century.

It involved two undefeated heavyweight champions. Frazier was the reigning champion only because Ali had been stripped of the crown and barred from fighting for three and one half years for refusing to be inducted in the U.S. Army over the Vietnam War.

It was this backdrop that made the fight such a significant event. The two fighters seemed to reflect the deep division in American society in 1971. Ali represented the anti-establishment members of society because of his brashness, religion and political views. Frazier seemed to rally conservatives and pro-Vietnam War supporters behind him. The atmosphere arouind the fight was both circus-like and electric.

The fight caught the interest of people around the world. It was shown in 35 countries which was unprecedented at the time through closed-circuit TV which preceded today's pay-per-view so it wasn't until much later that I actually saw the fight.

Early in round 15, Frazier landed a spectacular left hook that put Ali on his back (for only the third time in his career). Ali got up from the blow quickly, and managed to stay on his feet for the rest of the round despite several terrific blows from Frazier. A few minutes later the judges made it official. Frazier had retained the title with a unanimous decision, dealing Ali his first professional loss.

One Hit Wonder

Strawberry Alarm Clock - Incense and Peppermint (1967)

Interesting choice of clothing for court appearances by Lindsay Lohan

So what message is she trying to convey? Remorse? Respectful? Professional? Serious? Slut?

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Wow that was some earthquake in Japan

Smallest man in the world in trouble with police for not using child seat

The world's smallest man Khagendra Thapa Magar has had a run in with police in Australia, who wanted to know why he was not travelling in a child's booster seat.

At just 67cm high and weighing 5kg, Khagendra is around the size of a six-month-old baby.

While on a trip to Australia to raise awareness about sex trafficking and get donations for his charity, police pulled over the car he was travelling in for a random breath test.

Officers then questioned the driver as to why 19-year-old Khagendra was not sitting in a booster seat, only letting them continue on their journey after seeing his passport.

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Sign of the day

6 year old sent how with SpongeBob haircut because school thought it was gang related

Six-year-old Andrew Samuel is a big fan of SpongeBob SquarePants. But when he got the main character shaved into the side of his head, his school wasn't such a big fan. "His grandmother called me and she was like, 'The school called and said Andrew is gonna be put out of school because he has a gang-related sign on the left side of his head.'

According to several law enforcement agencies, the character is used as a gang symbol.

The school later told Andrew's mom that he would be allowed back in school without a haircut.

A serious contender for Mother of the Year

A mother who allegedly put her child in a locked dog crate for urinating and defecating in his bedroom defended the move to police, claiming that other behavior-correcting methods failed and toys made the cage “fun.”

According to her arrest warrant affidavit, Kathlyn Anthony made her adopted, elementary-school-age son sleep in the container for one to two weeks and took away his bed because it was too soiled to continue using. Anthony told police she had hoped to purchase a playpen for her son to sleep in to help his condition, but couldn’t find one big enough, the affidavit reads.

“Katy stated she then got the idea to ‘re-purpose a large pet crate that the kids had played in when we had litters of kittens in there.’ Katy also stated that the crate had ‘good memories for both of the kids and the family,’ ” it continues.

Authorities learned of the plastic, two-piece crate, which police say was 36 inches by 22 inches and 30 inches high, when the boy’s older sister told school officials in December she was tired from getting up at night to let her brother out of his “sleep locker,” the affidavit says. The boy has been diagnosed with reactive attachment disorder, which may be the result of being fostered and subsequently adopted by Anthony at a young age, according to the affidavit. The document notes the child would also “pick at furniture/walls/curtains, and his face” and defecated and urinated on the floor at school and summer camp.

source

What could be creepier than 82 tattoos of Julia Roberts' face?

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Sign of the day

Mug Shot of the Week

A 21-year-old man sitting down for a haircut allegedly grabbed scissors and slashed another in the back Tuesday in the South End, police said. David Davis, of Cedar Hill Avenue, New Haven, was arrested shortly after the incident when Stamford patrol officers and a police dog found him in a nearby Henry Street apartment.

That would explain the interrupted haircut in the mug shot.

‘Spider-Man’ opening delayed another 3 months

The producers of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” are planning a significant overhaul of the $65 million Broadway musical that would involve shutting down performances for two to three weeks, as well as delaying its scheduled opening on March 15 for about three months, according to people who work on “Spider-Man” or were briefed on the producers’ plans.

The shutdown is needed to give the cast a break and to hold new rehearsals are expected to cover late April and early May. The new opening night was also not clear as of late Tuesday; a shift to a time around the Tony Awards which are June 12. An official start in June would be the sixth delay to the opening of “Spider-Man”.

The endeavor has survived the death of its original producer Tony Adams in 2005, a near-bankruptcy in 2009 and a number of technical challenges involving its aerial stunts, which contributed to injuries involving four performers during the fall and winter and led to several findings of state and federal safety code violations. Now word has gotten out that Julie Taymor has been officially pushed out of her role as director of the disaster.

Yet the show is raking in money. It has recently completed its 100th preview performance, more than any other show in history. Ticket prices are twice as expensive as the next big-budget Broadway show, “Shrek the Musical.” Although the show is still in preview, Broadway critics recently reviewed the show and gave it a thumbs down which has had little affect on ticket buyers.

I thought only Max Bialystock could make money on a bomb.

Is there much of a market for canned cow farts?

Tins filled with the air sucked out of an ageing wooden stable, straw lined and filled with gas producing cattle has become an instant hit after it went on sale in Germany.

Managers of the 'Countryside air to go' project say their clients are mainly country people who have moved to the city and want to be reminded of home.

The cans cost $8 a pop and can be ordered from the web site www.stallduft.de

One advert boasts: 'Simply put your nose to the tin and peel back the lid for the authentic smell of the country'.

Designer Daniela Dorrer from the village of Adlkofen in Bavaria in Germany said: 'We hope to make people who miss the countryside happy and remind them of home.

'We are planning other smells such as horse, straw, pigs and manure. But most people miss the smell of the cows in the country, not really surprising as much of the smell is from cows.'

Cows' farting and burping have even been accused of causing global warming problems.

Just one cow gives off enough harmful methane gas in a single day to fill around 400 litre bottles, which is really bad for the environment, say experts.

I never realized you can make money off cow farts. This opens up an endless number of make money schemes. Jars of mice turds. Cigar smoke in a tin. Bottled water...wait I think someone got that one out already.

The Bosh-trich: A Must-See Documentary

This also could be used to describe this blog

You've heard of the Kings' Speech, this is the President's Speech

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Hump Day Hottie

Emmy Rossum

One Hit Wonder

Blues Image - Ride Captain Ride (1970)

How bad a stink will millions of dead fish make?

Millions of dead sardines have been found floating in a marina just south of Los Angeles, puzzling authorities and triggering a massive clean-up effort.

Footage showed masses of dead fish, said by a police spokesman to be about a foot deep on the surface, choking the waters in and around dozens of private boat slips in King Harbour Marina in Redondo Beach.

Biologists had tentatively concluded that the fish, initially identified by police as anchovies, died from oxygen deprivation after being driven by a storm into a closed-off pier area.

Who do you like better Enema Man or Snoopy Snoopy Poop Dog?

I want Elmo at my next birthday party

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So much for the 'Do-Not-Call List'

Only in New York would a woman be beaten into a coma trying to hold a parking spot

The brute charged with beating a petite young woman over an East Village parking spot reportedly whined that he only acted in self-defense against the 4-foot-11 victim's relentless attacks.

"Bang, bang, bang, bang, she's just hitting me, hitting me, and I'm like 'whoa, whoa," the suspect, Oscar Fuller, told WCBS/Channel 2.

The senseless violence occurred Feb. 25 when the victim, 25-year-old Lana Rosas, was holding a parking space on East 14th Street for her boyfriend and Fuller drove up in his silver minivan.

Fuller -- whose prior arrests include weapons possession and felony assault -- accused Rosas of being the aggressor.

Rosas has been at Bellevue Hospital in a coma since the attack and remains in critical condition.

A police source has said she suffered permanent brain damage and it isn't certain she'd survive.

I've always said that Darwin would have loved studying New Yorkers. This is a classic survival of the fitness scenario and what better way to illustrate it but two antagonists fighting it out over a parking space. It's not much better here in Toronto. Every time I'm beat out for a parking spot I just keep on going. Face it I'm a wimp. I wouldn't want to even take on an old lady in walker. It would be too humiliating to lose.
source

Marisol Valles Garcia survives 5 months but loses job, I lose death pool

Back in October a 20-year-old criminology student was named the chief of police in one of the most dangerous municipalities in Mexico's violence-wracked northern state of Chihuahua.

Marisol Valles Garcia, the only person to accept the post. The district has a population of 9,148 residents and comes with at least one police car.

I predicted she would only survive 60 days. Well I was wrong. Today she was fired.

Valles Garcia was on personal leave because her 8-month-old baby was sick. When she failed to show up for work today she was terminated. That's the thanks you get for fighting crime.

Only 5'11" but the boy can jump

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Why the fuss over Brandon Davies?

College athletics in the U.S. is an absolute embarrassment. Coaches and trainers handing out hands full of pills. Donors handing out athletic bangs stuffed with $100 bills. Having problems with a course, it's taken care of. Haven't gotten laid in a while, there will be some lovely waiting for you in your dorm. Got too aggressive with a coed, someone will look after it. It's about as corrupt of a system as you could find. Canadian Major Junior players are ineligible to play in the NCAA because they are considered professionals. Junior players in Canada receive small amounts of money for living expenses. What a joke.

Collegiate athletes are pampered stars who are taught how to function in a world of entitlement. Sure there is a code. Go with the flow and no one will bother you. Go with the drugs, the brown envelopes, the cars, the booze, the women, the fixed grades and you'll get along.

So along comes Brigham Young University with a moral code and everyone is so shocked. At BYU being “honest,” using “clean language,” abstaining from “alcoholic beverages, tobacco, tea, coffee and substance abuse,” respecting others, regularly participating in church services and living a “chaste and virtuous life,” are how you are expected to conduct yourself.

Brandon Davies was aware of these rules when he signed up to attend BYU. He could have attended just about any other school and lived by their "codes." The fact that he is a star athlete has no bearing at BYU.

Public reaction is quite disturbing as well. I have heard countless people comment on the hypocrisy of Mormons who don't condone premarital sex but practice polygamy. Except Mormons no longer practice polygamy. And Protestants in New England no longer burn witches. That kind of talk is just ignorant.

One Hit Wonder

John Parr - St. Elmo's Fire (Man in Motion) (1985)

Happy 64th birthday to Kiki Dee

People who drive pickup trucks

Pilgrim fails to get cured at Lourdes instead suffers multiple factures

A pilgrim who broke her shoulder falling from a wheelchair on a visit to Lourdes is suing the church charity which arranged the trip. Bernadette Barton suffered three fractures when she fell out of the ‘rickety’ chair. The fall came on the last night of her week-long pilgrimage to the French shrine famous for ‘healing’ miracles.

She told Manchester Civil Court she was trying to get out of the wheelchair because her carers had failed to help her. Miss Barton, 58, from Burnage, said she was in ‘terrific pain’ after the fall. She is virtually blind and struggles to walk because of spinal problems. She also suffers from a condition which means she can sleep for only three hours at a time.

The £500 trip to Lourdes was paid for by her church, Catherine of Siena in Didsbury. It was organised by Salford Roman Catholic Diocesan Trustees, a registered charity, which arranged carers for the pilgrims on the trip. Miss Barton claims a carer Joyce Mellor pushed her back to her room in a wheelchair, but she was forced to try to get out on her own after being left alone for several minutes.

She fell and injured herself after tripping on a footplate. Miss Barton, who is being represented by Manchester law firm Pannone, is suing the church trustees for negligence over the fall, in August 2007. She claims they failed to provide help for her to get out of the wheelchair, to put the brakes on properly and to remove the footplates, causing her to try to get out of the wheelchair on her own. The trustees deny her claim.

Did you hear the one about the young couple in a small town that can’t have babies? After confessing to the town priest, he suggests they go to Lourdes and light a candle to get God’s help. Later the priest is moved to another town. Many years later when he comes back to his town, he remembers the couple and he decides to visit them. As he knocks at their door, a 10-year-old child opens it and the parish priest thinks: ”Well, my advice has been useful!”. Then he says: “Hello boy, are your mum and dad in?” The boy: “No, they aren’t.” “Do you think they are coming back late?” “I don’t know for sure, mum has gone to the doctor with my two younger brothers because she is pregnant with two twins…” “And you? Are you home alone?” ”No! There’s my elder sister who is feeding my little 7-month-old sister!” ”And your dad?” “I haven’t clearly understood, but he told me he would go to Lourdes to put out a candle…”

Angry woman goes on liquor store rampage

An angry woman on a bottle-breaking rampage swept through a West Nyack liquor store. Police said she didn't steal anything, she just wrecks the place.



The clerks on duty told police the woman came right in the front door and stormed right over to the counter, wanting to jump the line. They said she was very upset.

Surveillance video shows her arguing with the clerk about 30 seconds after she walked in. During this heated exchange, clerks said she asked to use the restroom and was told no, and that really set her off. She headed to the back of the store, then clears parts of shelf on her way out.

Local alcoholics were no doubt on their hands and knees with straws.

Sign of the day

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