Category: News Item

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We’re not all like this

I’ve come to the conclusion that this is the reason why grudges about all Americans being stupid, ignorant, stuck up, and all of the above exists.

Who said David Beckham’s arrival in America would attract no attention? Not only has the erstwhile galactico and England captain made it onto the US equivalent of GMTV and elicited praise from Sly Stallone, he’s attracted the attention of Jayceon Taylor, aka gangster rapper The Game.

Showing a not entirely cohesive understanding of the game Americans call soccer, the South Central-based rapper (Beckham’s new side, LA Galaxy, is his local club!) was not entirely effusive about the arrival of the face of Gillette razors in his hood.

“I’d kick David Beckham’s ass on any given day,” the Game said when asked about Beckham. “I’d just pick the ball up and kick the shit out of the stadium, game over.”

Quite whether the Game’s expletive was referring to the ball, Beckham, or simply the action he was planning to take against LA Galaxy’s Home Depot Center remains to be seen. But The Game was on less steady ground when a follow-up question was put his way.

When asked his thoughts on Beckham’s ability as a footballer he responded simply: “Pretty good”. [guardian]

Dear rest of the world,

All Americans are not like this. Please don’t let our piece of crap version of popular culture influence you. I dislike this junk just as much as you guys do. There are some of us who look past it and enjoy other things in life that is not related to MTV, reality TV, and tabloid media.

This guy, on the other hand, is a moron. Feel free to rip on him.

Thank you.

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The roof is exploding!

I have to state the obvious. Today’s collapsing of the roof at BC Place[wiki] was the hot topic across so many media outlets, and everyone in the world of blogging, at least here in Vancouver, was looking to be apart of the madness. Yes, Rebecca did make a post about it. I won’t deny that, but we were about 30 minutes late to the whole event as we were driving around the mayhem of slush covered roads in the GVRD. She just amended a post that she made earlier in the day to include a photo she snapped while on our return home.

The significance is nothing to sneeze at. I get that much. This is a huge landmark for Vancouver, and the issue runs deep. The winter olympics are coming, local officials might have over thought the longevity of the dome, and so on. I get it.

The inflated roof at B.C. Place stadium in Vancouver has collapsed, but no one is reported hurt.

The office of Vancouver Fire Chief Bob Smith says there are no injuries following the collapse of the roof of BC Place Stadium.

Emergency personnel are calling this a mechanical problem that caused the stadium’s fans to cut out and bring the roof down.

The fabric dome came down into the bowl of the stadium during a storm that brought wind and heavy, wet snow to the area. [cknw]

But holy crap, was there ever a rush to publish everyone’s vantage point of it all. While in the car, CKNW was doing their damnedest to cover the story to every last end of the catastrophe. Apparently someone made some sort of statement at some point just after the collapse that led one of their on air guys to to wonder about some cover up over some one somewhere being killed during the whole thing. Their coverage was a tad on the extreme, bizarre, and near insane side, but we were able to dissect the jest of the story from the outside in.

And honestly, what was the guy on that they were interviewing about the noise of the roof collapsing sounding like “zoo animals running through your kitchen”? I’ve never had the opportunity to have any sort of wild animal run through any of the households that I have lived in. I experienced some parties in college that might come close, but the sounds of zebras and elephants is something I’m not all too familiar with. He was on the field at the time of initial tear. Outside, people said it sounded like thunder. Inside, this dude was tripped out by the sounds of the circus parade punching a hole in the roof.

The various blogs from the area didn’t fail to amaze me though. I figured someone would, at the very least, have pictures on Flickr or YouTube when we got home late this afternoon, but this was nuts. The Vancouverite[1, 2, 3], Darren Barefoot, Breebop, Derrek Miller, Jeremy Latham, Metroblogging Vancouver, Beyond Robson[1, 2], and my good pals Dave Olsen and Alanah even weighed in. You all lived up to your expectations, and it was a rush to have your stuff up there as soon as you could. That’s what amazes me the most.

Everyone has their view, but there has to be a point where a roof collapsing on a sports stadium can only be done to a certain extent before it’s saturated. This has happened back in my home state a few times to the UNI-Dome[wiki], but they fixed the issue by slapping on a metal roof. Not saying that this can be easily solved in a similar way for BC Place, but don’t worry folks. Life will go on.

If it only took a phone call to fly in replacement trees for Stanley Park and a few weeks to make that look normal again, then we’d totally be in business.

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“Kansas City Penguins”

Let’s be honest. The “Kansas City Penguins” has no ring to it. It cannot compare to the way the words “Pittsburgh” and “Penguins” rolls off your tongue. Four syllables versus six. I don’t like the idea of Pittsburgh losing their NHL team at all[cbc].

IMG_2459 However, I do love Kansas City.

I have a lot of family who live in and around KC. I grew up making many trips to visit my grandparents and seeing the sights where my parents first met(don’t ask me how they ended up in Iowa). The long stretches of interstate 80 and 35 were the way that I learned how to drive on four lane freeways. It’s probably the main reason that I have longed to live in a metropolitan area for most of my adult life.

The odd thing is, I have never been to a professional sporting event in KC. I have been inside Arrowhead Stadium for the city’s sesquicentennial celebration(got to see Little Richard and Kenny Rogers in the same night), but that’s about it. You cannot dispute that there are die hard Royals and Chiefs fans in the city, and the record of each respective team does little to change that. I really can’t be too sure about the Wizards of the MLS, but the following can be seen for those who love the futbol.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Penguins could play rent-free and be equal managing partners in the new Sprint Center if they move to Kansas City, under an offer unveiled Thursday by the arena’s operating group.

Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, said the Penguins would not have to buy into the management agreement. The $276 million Sprint Center is scheduled to open in October. […]

“They have told us they will make a decision within 30 days,” Leiweke said. “We will know within 30 days whether they are going to work out their issues in Pittsburgh and get an arena built, or whether they will ask the NHL for permission to move the team to Kansas City.” [espn]

There is no doubt in my mind that KC is fully capable of handling a hockey team. The Sprint Center[wiki] has been built specifically to lure a team from the NHL, there’s no disputing that. They probably would have lived with a minor league team, but the people behind the push wanted to go pro. Are the people of KC ready for it? I can’t be too sure.

IMG_2458 Chatting briefly with one of my cousins who lives in the area, he thought they already had a team there. And they did… up until about five years ago. Even then, the Kansas City Blades[wiki] were only an IHL team. Oddly enough, they were also an affiliate of the Vancouver Canucks until the IHL folded in 2001.

Is my fifteen year old cousin a solid source for the mindset of the entire Kansas City metropolitan area? Probably not, but it kind of shows you that this will be more like when the Nashville Predators started into the league. You’ll have to start teaching hockey to a new legion of fans if the Penguins move to KC.

The one saving grace in all of this is star power, and we all know that the Penguins have that. I can already see car dealerships in the metro area of KC with Sidney Crosby’s endorsement or the lighting of the Plaza lights being done by Evgeni Malkin at the switch. The Sprint Center being in the downtown core of the city offers numerous possibilities to market the team and city at the same time.

It’ll be a daunting move if Lemieux takes the team to the midwest, and I’ve been itching to see that happen. The bitter rivalry of having the St. Louis Blues come into town will already brew an attraction for fans to come out and support the local team for a long time. I do wonder if they’ll retain the name if they move, but “KC Pens” does pop up in my head. You can already hear sports reporters saying it.

Also, don’t think for a minute that Missouri having two NHL teams is an overkill. That’s like telling someone from Alberta that they should only have one team in that province. It actually takes less time to drive between Calgary and Edmonton than it does for St. Louis and Kansas City.

When it comes down to it, I would really like to see the Penguins stay in Pittsburgh. If they have to move, then make it KC. The midwest needs more hockey.

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It’s gotta be funky

The one thing to bring you down on Christmas Day, isn’t it? The godfather of soul passing away was enough to make me gasp and let out an, “Oh no!”

NEW YORK (AP) — James Brown’s music career will come full circle when his body is brought to rest on the stage of the legendary Apollo Theater in Harlem, where he made his explosive debut, and the world changed to his beat.

The public will be permitted on Thursday to visit the Apollo to have one more look at a man who helped steer modern musical tastes toward rhythm-and-blues, funk, hip-hop, disco and rap, the Rev. Al Sharpton said Tuesday. The reverend has been a close friend of Brown for decades. […]

Brown, known as the Godfather of Soul, died of congestive heart failure on Christmas morning in Atlanta at age 73. He had been scheduled to perform on New Year’s Eve in Manhattan at B.B. King’s blues club. [cnn]

Doing the live, morning shows at The Java House in downtown Iowa City, my favorite CD to throw in as a preshow warm-up was none other than James Brown[wiki] himself. It wouldn’t make the annoyed crowd sing along over their lattes as much as The Beatles would, but I know we, the setup crew, loved it. Makes me sad, but I bet those guys are still using his tunes for pregame.

You have to admire the man. Not only did he make some great music, but he was simply crazy.

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Can’t escape the fire

Seriously, you stand no chance of avoiding it.

VANCOUVER/CKNW(AM980) – Back by popular demand…

Shaw’s holiday fire log is celebrating its 20th anniversary and will be rolled out again this holiday season.

No need to chop or haul wood or stoke the fire.

For those who don’t experience the crackling of a warm fireside hearth over the holidays, Shaw Communications is once again comforting TV viewers with its yuletide fire log.

Beginning December 23rd and continuing through to December 27th, fire log fans can cozy up in front of their television sets for what’s become a holiday tradition for many viewers. [cknw]

Ah geez. Alright, I can’t quite say why I’m waging my own personal war against this. Maybe it’s because I would love more than anything to have our own fireplace. I don’t know. All I know is that this bugs me to no end.

Seriously…

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Some things shouldn’t go to Broadway

I have an extremely soft spot in my heart for the film version of High Fidelity[imdb]. Yes, it would be in my top five, all-time favorite flicks. It’s clever, has a great soundtrack, and has John Cusack. Don’t know why, but that third ingredient always brings me to check out any project that he is involved in. I tried to read the book it was based on, but it was one of those many things that I picked up and simply failed to get past the first fifty pages. It’s not that it wasn’t any good. I just didn’t have the attention span.

But did you know that it was being made into a Broadway musical? I certainly didn’t, and it looks like not very many people will get a chance to see it.

It might not rank on the list of the Top 5 Broadway Flops, but it comes close.

Last Thursday the stage adaptation of Nick Hornby’s novel High Fidelity opened at one of the biggest theatres on Broadway. The story of a nerdishly dysfunctional record shop assistant, the hit novel had translated into a hit film. The hit stage musical, it seemed, was assured.

But on Tuesday, after just 14 performances, the show’s producers announced that it was closing. [guardian]

Ouch. I can’t say that I’m too surprised though. For the life of me, the character of Rob singing on stage, prancing around, and singing off his top-fives just doesn’t play out well in my head. In fact, I call the images of thinking about such things to be down right scary. There are certain things that work well for musicals, but I’m not sure why someone thought this would be one of them.

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This American Life going to the little screen

It almost seems like a trend right now. First, Garrison Keillor[wiki] took A Prairie Home Companion and turned it into a movie[imdb]. Now it’s This American Life, probably one of my most favorite programs in the world of public radio that I hardly listen to. But hey, it’s a podcast now, so I think I’ll have to subscribe.

That’s just one of the many odd discussions that took place in the process of transforming a radio program into a television series. The show is This American Life. The host is Ira Glass. The TV series will debut in March on the Showtime cable channel.

There’s a certain simplicity to the art of radio. At its heart, it’s all about storytelling. And This American Life is a radio show that revels in storytelling — quirky stories, sad stories, scary stories.

This American Life seems so wedded to the medium of radio that when the Showtime cable network first approached Glass about turning it into a TV show, he couldn’t imagine it.

“We basically said ‘no’ for a year and half,” Glass recalls. “And we kept saying we have no idea how to… be filmmakers. You have to hook us up with people who could design something that got across the feeling of the radio show.” [npr]

I’m not too sure how I feel about it. The beauty of radio is the theatre of the mind and how it comes across the airwaves. Being an audio junkie, you would think that my gut reaction would be to hate the whole concept, but I take comfort in the idea of Showtime(or potentially in Canada, Showcase) being the network to throw this on the tube.

Audio Doc - Ira Glass
Photo credit: transomradio on Flickr

I’ve had the brief, but not the most up close, pleasure of working with Ira Glass[wiki] during my days in public radio. In fact, it was just a one day sort of thing, but he really is a fascinating guy. Not in the omnipresent, starstruck sort of way, but he is a person that knows what he’s trying to do and how that should be done. Based on that, I know that he wouldn’t make a venture into television without making sure that the end result was going to be good.

I’ll say what I have always said about television. It’s five times as expensive and takes just as much time to produce worthwhile content. That’s not to say that working solely with audio is easy. Both mediums are their respective art forms, but you should never compare the two. If you don’t believe me now, then start listening to the This American Life podcast now and see how it compares to the TV program when it comes out. The effect will simply not be the same. We have yet to see if we can call it good or not.

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Students too busy being smart to rock

Maybe it’s because I like Clinic, but this is nuts. Apparently, St. Martins College, a small school in London, England, had students protest their upcoming performance there. The reason? They had too much school work to do.

As previously reported, the university was scheduled to host a sold-out Clinic gig on December 14, but due to “pressure from a small minority of students, who saw the show as a perceived disruption to their studies and were threatening to stage a sit-in protest” (according to the band’s website), the concert was canceled.

A sit-in protesting a rock show?! What decade is this again? The fifties?

Tickets for the canceled show will be honored at the band’s next London show, tentatively scheduled for somet time in February 2007. Tickets can also be refunded from point of purchase. [pitchfork]

Really, I don’t get it, and this is like a strange portrayal of a scene from PCU[imdb]. If there was to be a big show that I wanted to check out when I was in school, then I busted my butt to make time for it. More often than none, the main reason I would skip it would be due to lack of money. And it’s not like the band is setting up in your dorm room. Gigs like this last a couple of hours, not all day. There will be plenty of other time to do your school things. That’s what sleep deprivation and coffee is for.

“These, Tom, are the Causeheads. They find a world-threatening issue and stick with it for about a week.” – PCU[imdb]

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F NADER

I recall hearing about this story a while ago, but it appears that this guy lost the battle to keep the vanity plates on his Corvair.

Iowa man loses battle over F NADER plate

John Miller of Boone has lost his battle to keep the letters “F NADER” on the license plates of his 1966 Chevrolet Corvair.

A state administrative law judge has sided with the Iowa Department of Transportation, which contended the “F” was shorthand for a crude, four-letter word aimed at consumer advocate Ralph Nader.

Nader wrote a 1965 book, “Unsafe at Any Speed,” that criticized the safety features of many American automobiles, citing General Motors’ sporty Corvair as an example and damaging its reputation.

Miller said Wednesday he didn’t agree with the ruling, but he had no plans to appeal the decision to revoke his license plates. [desmoinesregister]

It gets better. I have nothing against the guy, but you have to love the beauty of Flickr(photo credit: beeseason).

Flickr: F NADER

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James Kim’s body found in remote Oregon region

I’ve been following this story somewhat closely over the past few days. As a long-time reader of CNet, the news about James Kim and his family being lost during a storm that hit the northwest didn’t sound good. His wife and two daughters were found in good condition nearly two days ago, but James set off on foot to find help after being stranded in their car amidst the Oregon wilderness for over a week. The news of his discovery is very sad.

MERLIN, Oregon (CNN) — The body of a San Francisco man who had walked into the Oregon wilderness to summon help for his stranded family was found Wednesday in a steep ravine where he had left clues for searchers.

Officials confirmed that James Kim, 35, an editor at the Web site CNET, had been found dead.

Brian Anderson, Undersheriff of Josephine County, broke down and could not finish speaking as he announced that Kim’s body was found at 3:03 p.m. ET.

Searchers were attempting to remove Kim’s body, and his family members have requested that their privacy be respected, officials said.