Critical Mass Cyclist Flattened by NYPD

Bloged in News, Video by Vinnie Vegas Wednesday July 30, 2008

I’m with the NYPD on this one

One of the nuisances of big-city living is the ubiquitous presence of bicyclists. Not content with simply obeying traffic rules, following traditional standards of courtesy, and getting their daily exercise by zipping around town, many bicyclists are bent on pushing the envelope.

It’s not enough that these characters are so obnoxious - shaving their legs to minimize wind resistance (as if that’s a big deal when rolling down 2nd Avenue), dressing like court jesters, sticking their derrieres out like the Fleet is in town, and giving dirty looks to drivers and pedestrians as they show little respect for traffic rules.

Enter Critical Mass, a grassroots event that started (where else) in San Francisco. Essentially, on the last Friday of every month, a bunch of bicyclists converge and make a mockery of traffic laws, for the purpose of raising awareness of the self importance of bicyclists.

A common practice is ‘corking,’ a bicyclist stopping the flow of traffic at an intersection so the Critical Massers can roll freely. I suppose to the simple minded this is all cute and defiant, but if there is an ambulance or other emergency vehicle 12 cars down, I am sure the passengers in that car don’t find it very cute or amusing.

So recently, this lawlessness was going on in NYC, and one of the NYPD had enough and body checked one of the court jesters to the ground. This is long overdue - they brazenly break the laws and create a public hazard. While some may see the video and find their sensibilities shocked, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt to the cop - that cyclist may have said something untoward or otherwise antagonized the police officer.

This reaction by law enforcement (and indeed, the law-abiding citizenry) is long overdue!

In solidarity with that NYPD officer (who has been benched pending an investigation), I say we each body check or otherwise attack an obnoxious bicyclist. If we each did it once a day, every day, many 1,000s of these assclowns would be shelved and they might develop a healthy fear of breaking the law.

Excelsior!

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Senator John Kerry partying with the chicks

Bloged in News, Politics by Vinnie Vegas Wednesday July 30, 2008

Senator John Kerry loves to party!

"Hey!  Popps is buying the drinks!"

Looks like that guy from 2004 managed to sneak away from his old lady long enough to hang out with the kids and party it up! TMZ.com has more pics, but here are some choice ones…

The Boston Herald reports that the senator’s office insists that these pictures simply reveal ‘a chance encounter on a dock.’ This coming from the guy who defended his clumsy comments about US soldiers being stuck in Iraq because they didn’t do well in school by noting it was ‘a botched joke.’

Leave it to a liberal to try to talk his way out of a jam by reminding us that everyone knows he has no sense of humor.

Kerry’s office: Senator wasn’t partying with women
By Joe Dwinell | Tuesday, July 29, 2008

An embarrassing gallery of photos showing Bay State Sen. John Kerry surrounded by young women partying on Nantucket was a dockside encounter and nothing more, the senator’s office tells the Herald.

TMZ.com posted images today of Kerry surrounded by young women, including one drinking what appears to be a can of beer. Other photos show the women, sunburned and partying, mugging for the camera.

The senator’s office said the images of Kerry are nothing but a chance encounter on a dock, and Kerry kept on walking after being caught on camera, according to a statement sent to bostonherald.com this afternoon.

Kerry’s office demanded TMZ.com change the way it was posting the matter.

“The caption on this TMZ gossip website is completely erroneous and insulting, and it should be immediately corrected. As Sen. Kerry and two friends left dinner at the Straight Warf restaurant on Nantucket and walked down the dock, a large group on a boat recognized Senator Kerry and asked if they could have a photo taken. The group came off the boat and onto the dock, took a photo with Sen. Kerry and his friends, and then Sen. Kerry and his two friends immediately walked away. End of story,” said Kerry spokesperson David Wade.

A Massachusetts Republican Party member pointed out the pictures today on Fox News.

Frankly, I think he is in hot water what that effervescent bride of his, Teresa Heinz-Kerry.

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China ’sets up Olympic sex determination lab’

Bloged in News, Sports by Vinnie Vegas Tuesday July 29, 2008

They should subject the ‘male’ figure skaters to tests in 2010, too!

Mr Santhi Soundarajan?  Ms Santhi Soundarajan?

Mr Santhi Soundarajan? Ms Santhi Soundarajan?

Now, that’s an unusual headline! You don’t read stories like that every day! Yahoo reports..

China ’sets up Olympic sex determination lab’

Olympic host Beijing has set up a sex determination lab to test female Olympic athletes suspected to be males, state media reported Sunday.

Experts at the lab, located at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, will evaluate dubious cases based on their external appearance and take blood samples testing sex hormones, genes and chromosomes, Xinhua news agency said.

Sex testing has been routine at the Olympics and other sports events for decades, triggered by fears that male athletes sought to cheat by posing as women.

Indian athlete Santhi Soundarajan was stripped of an Asian Games silver medal in 2006 after failing a gender verification test.

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Earmarks: The Alien Menace

Bloged in Opinion, Politics, Video by Vinnie Vegas Tuesday July 29, 2008

Earmarks: The Alien Menace

The fine folks at Reason Magazine made this great video about some of Congress’s wasteful spending. It includes a special look at SETI, the long-time Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence project that hasn’t found any evidence of interplanetary communication signals since the late 1960s.

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Barack Obama’s Magical Banking Committee

Bloged in News, Video by Vinnie Vegas Thursday July 24, 2008

Another day, another flub

Barry Obama never fails to disappoint. We all know that the so-called great orator is lost without a teleprompter, and is very prone to making verbal flubs. Frankly, it’s clear that the more the Golden Child talks, the more mistakes he makes. Looks to me that in many cases he genuinely doesn’t know what he is talking about. This doesn’t seem to bother his constituency, as it’s clearer every day that they simply iget impressed very easily.

So here is, uh, ah, Obama’s latest flub. He casually mentions the Senate Banking Committee, noting that it is “my committee.” Only one problem - he isn’t on the Senate Banking Committee! Not even one of the Banking sub-committees. What a weirdo.

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To be absolutely clear, Obama mangles another sound bite

Bloged in Politics, Video by Vinnie Vegas Wednesday July 23, 2008

It’s absolutely clear, alright…

Uh, ah, er, uh…..the eloquent Barry Obama is at it again. That crackerjack orator screwed up another sound bite, this time intoning that “Uh, Israel is strong friend of Israel’s.’  Thanks for the news flash, Einstein!

Dan Quayle was never this inept without a teleprompter.

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Christian Bale accused of assault by sister, mother

Bloged in Cinema, People & Personalities by Vinnie Vegas Tuesday July 22, 2008

Hope this isn’t true

Welt Online reports that this week’s media golden boy, Christian Bale, is accused of assault by his own mother and sister.

Christian Bale accused of assault by sister, mother

Batman actor Christian Bale has been accused of assault by his mother and sister, and will face police questioning.

christianbaleattacksmothersister Christian Bale accused of assault by sister, mother‘The Dark Knight’ actor allegedly lashed out while staying at London’s Dorchester hotel on Sunday, where he has a suite. His mother Jenny (61) and sister Sharon (40) lodged a formal complaint against the star at a police station in Hampshire, Southern England. Bale (34) was permitted by police to attend the European premiere of ‘The Dark Knight’ - in which he plays superhero Batman - last night but will face questioning over the claims.

Police in London are expected to speak to the Welsh actor later today.

A police source told Britain’s The Sun newspaper: “It was a very difficult situation but it would have been wrong to have wrecked the premiere over a complaint which we don’t yet know is founded in truth. But Mr. Bale will be contacted at the earliest opportunity and be asked to provide an account of anything that happened.”

A spokesperson for London’s Metropolitan Police said: “We can confirm we have received an allegation from another force in relation to an alleged incident in central London.”

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Underdog (2007)

Bloged in Cinema, Music, Television, Video by Vinnie Vegas Monday July 21, 2008

Who needed Batman this past weekend?

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Well, the big crowds scared me away from the theaters this past weekend, so I missed all the Dark Knight action. It’s ok, I’ll go see it this week sometime when the crowds subside a bit. So with superheroics on my mind, I took the opportunity to pop in a DVD I had bought a while ago: the big screen adaptation of Underdog from 2007. While I don’t think the film is highly regarded, it made a modest $ 44 million at the box office and was quickly forgotten. Being a big oldschool Underdog fan, I had picked up the DVD with every intention of watching it but never did.

Well, I was pleasantly surprised that this movie wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared and nowhere near as bad as its reputation. Actually, i think it was pretty good in a lot of ways. It’s actually very faithful to most of the Underdog legend, and the filmmakers actually put effort into explaining a lot of the details from the animated series and have it all make sense.

Covered in the movie include references to, and explorations & explanations of:

  1. Underdog’s secret identity as “humble and lovable Shoeshine Boy”
  2. Why he chose the name “Underdog” as his superhero identity
  3. Underdog’s love interest “Sweet Polly Purebread” & “Where oh where can my Underdog be?”
  4. Why Underdog speaks in rhyme, but Shoeshine has no such limitations on his speech
  5. The origin and development of Underdog’s catch phrase, “There’s no need to fear, Underdog is here!”
  6. Underdog causes significant property damage during his exploits
  7. The secret of Underdog’s Energy Pill
  8. Shoeshine changes into Underdog in an exploding phone booth
  9. Underdog stops to explain to a crowd that he is “not plane, nor bird, nor even frog, just little old me: Underdog”
  10. Consistent with the original animated series, the main villains are the mad scientist Simon Bar-Sinister and his henchman, Cad.
  11. How the mad scientist Simon Bar-Sinister is deformed and why hates Underdog
  12. Underdog inhabits a world where humans and talking animals interact
  13. A couple of appearances by Underdog’s enemy, Riff Raff

There are more references and homages to the original series, which was great to see. It was all worked into the narrative very well. Indeed, I think Underdog was a lot more faithful to the source material than a movie like Superman Returns.

The thing to keep in mind when watching Underdog is that it is primarily a children’s movie. That’s not to take anything away from the film, but it helps to put it in context when you watch it. It’s a mean trick to appeal to both kids and the kid inside every adult, and Underdog certainly tries to meet that standard.

Speed of lightning, roar of thunder!

A bomb sniffing dog (voice of Jason Lee) for the poiice department of Capitol City is a complete washout in his chosen career field. After being embarrassed for the last time, he takes off in shame, only to be captured as a stray dog. Turns out he isn’t going to the pound, but to the laboratory of the Dr Simon Bar-Sinister (Peter Dinklage), who is bent on unholy research into animal DNA and gene splicing. Before the dog is subjected to his experiments, he attempts an escape, only to be accidentally bathed in a strange mixture of Bar-Sinister’s chemicals. The dog manages to flee, but a fire destroys the lab. Bar-Sinister and his henchman Cad (Patrick Wharburton) escape.

A security guard (Jim Belushi) at the lab picks up the dog thinking he is a stray, and takes him home as a present for his son Jack (Alex Neuberger), naming the pup ‘Shoeshine.’ Jack quickly finds out that not only is the dog now capable of human speech, but blessed with super powers! In no time, the dog adopts the superhero identity “Underdog.”

The movie pits Underdog against Bar-Sinister and Cad. Both Dinklage and Wharburton really shine here, really having fun with their characters. The cgi is excellent, really among the best I have ever seen. Underdog is a fun and funny movie for kids of all ages - anyone expecting great cinema is looking in the wrong place, but if you are an Underdog fan (like me), just kick back and have some fun with it. I give Underdog 3 stars out of 5.

Somehow the film got a PG rating, which just goes to show you how dumb the movie rating system is. No foul language to speak of and some cartoon violence add up to a “G” in my book, but what do I know?

To right this wrong with blinding speed!

I have included a video of the theatrical trailer to Underdog (2007) to give you a feel for the movie, as well as a music video of Kyle Massey’s “Underdog Raps,” which is featured in the film. “Underdog Raps” is an updated version of Underdog’s classic theme song. This is all part of the marketing of the film to young kids glued to The Disney Channel on their tvs, but it does demonstrate that even a rap update can’t ruin Underdog’s classic theme song!

For good measure, I included the opening of the Underdog (1964) tv series, featuring the classic theme and several of the characters who made it into the film adaptation. Enjoy!

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Obama’s 10 year Presidency?

Bloged in News, Politics, Video by Vinnie Vegas Monday July 21, 2008

Obama trips up again: so much for his eloquence and intelligence

Barry had another one of those mental lapses again. Evidently he sees himself as president two years beyond the Constitutional mandate.

“The objective of this trip was to have substantive discussions with people like President Karzai or Prime Minister Maliki or President Sarkozy or others who I expect to be dealing with over the next eight to 10 years.”

More evidence that the Golden Child is flat footed and slow on his feet. Without a teleprompter he’s lost. I find his comments particularly funny since he is trying so hard to sound intelligent but doesn’t actually say anything meaningful.

In other words, the basic Obama Strategy that got him this far!

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‘The Dark Knight’ breaks Box Office Records

Bloged in Cinema, Comic Books, News by Vinnie Vegas Monday July 21, 2008

I had expected The Dark Knight to do very well in its opening weekend, roughly matching Iron Man’s opening weekend box office of $100+ million. Well, I was wrong: Nikki Finke of Deadline Hollywood Daily reports the fantastic news…

batmandarkknight The Dark Knight breaks Box Office Records

‘DARK KNIGHT’ BREAKS EIGHT RECORDS; $155.3M Weekend

I’ve just been told by unofficial sources that Warner Bros’ The Dark Knight is playing to packed Sunday performances for over $40M and maybe as high as $43M.

That would mean a 9th record for the latest Batman installment since Spider-Man 3’s Sunday take in 2007 was a record-setting $39.9M. It’s also now abundantly clear that the Warner Bros caped crusader will crush the old 3-day weekend non-holiday record set by Spidey 3 last year.

So rival studios were wrong to question whether Warner Bros’ Sunday numbers were too aggressive! Also, Dark Knight should break its 9th record by beating the all-time weekly tally. Meanwhile, in its first six days, DK will have grossed more than the entire run of Batman Begins.

Media By Numbers’ OFFICIAL DARK KNIGHT RECORDS SO FAR (in order of occurrence):

1 - LARGEST NUMBER OF OPENING THEATRES WITH 4,366 (MORE THAN THE 4,362 DEBUT THEATRES OF PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD’S END IN 2007).

2 - BIGGEST MIDNIGHT PREVIEW GROSS WITH $18.489 MILLION IN 3,040 THEATRES (BEATS STAR WARS EPISODE III: REVENGE OF THE SITH AND ITS $16.9 MILLION IN 2,915 THEATRES IN 2005).

3 - BIGGEST IMAX MIDNIGHT PREVIEWS SET AN NEW RECORD WITH $640,000 (INCLUDED IN THE $18.489 MILLION PREVIEW NUMBER).

4 - BIGGEST SINGLE-DAY GROSS IN BOX-OFFICE HISTORY WITH $67.850 MILLION (BESTS THE $59,841,919 SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

5 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY WITH $155.340 MILLION (BESTS THE $151,116 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007).

6 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND GROSS FOR AN IMAX RELEASE IN BOX OFFICE HISTORY WITH $6,214,061 MILLION IN 94 THEATRES WITH $66,107 PER THEATRE. (BESTS THE $4.7 MILLION SET BY SPIDER-MAN 3 IN 2007.) IMAX SHOWING AT FULL CAPACITY $1.9 MILLION ON SATURDAY ALONE.

7 - BIGGEST OPENING WEEKEND OF 2008 WITH $151.340 (BEATS INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL‘S $101.137 MILLION FROM MAY 23-25, 2008)

8 - BIGGEST JULY OPENING EVER (BEATS PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST‘S $135,634,554 ON JULY 7, 2006).

9. BIGGEST OPENING SUNDAY BOX OFFICE: $40-43 MILLION

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