The Stone Temple Pilots accuse former frontman Scott Weiland of misusing the band's name to further his solo career and want a judge to strip the rocker of his ability to use the group's name or songs.
Well, for most of us this is the beginning of a holiday weekend and I hope you have fun plans. There will be a lot of pool time and backyard grilling going on, but perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to recall, for just a moment, what the holiday is.
Will your kids know what we momorialize on Memorial Day? As I see flags lowered to half-staff or row after row of grave markers at Arizona National Memorial Cemetery or Arlington or Normandy, it's painful to reflect on how many of them didn't always understand why they were asked to sacrafice their lives.
But they did anyway, because they were soldiers and they didn't have time to debate whether a war was just or unjust -- or even whether it was a congressionally declared war or not. Great-grandfathers knew what WWII was about -- Hitler wanted to rule the world. Korea wasn't quite so clear. Vietnam created more questions than victories and those doubts have continued through confrontations in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The only constant is all those graves and that's who we salute this weekend.
I sat down with Derrick Hall, President and CEO of the Arizona Diamondbacks, to talk about a variety of topics about America's favorite past time. He talked about how the MLB compares to the NFL, how the new commissioner should continue Bud Selig's legacy but focus on the international part of the sport.
He brought up an interesting point on having teams play under the National League or American League rules depending on the division of the home team. I mean who wouldn't love to see Mariano Rivera hit?
Lastly, we discussed the decline in African American's, and the increase of Latino's playing in the MLB.
It has always been said that the only two things that will last forever are death and taxes. May I add a third: the Jodi Arias story.
Of course, that started out with death and our taxes are paying for justice to be served. But isn't it true? Just when you thought it was over -- the jury said guilty -- now comes the sentence and we can all go back to our pre-Arias lives -- what?
There is no sentence yet … the jury is deadlocked? A second jury may have to be called in to decide her future? There were only two choices -- life or death. Were some of the jurors swayed by her pledge to the jury that if allowed to live she would spend her incarcerated years in the service of mankind?
The example she used was that if she was spared she would design 'Survivor' T-shirts to benefit abuse victims. Jodi, if you're attempting to make amends for the 27 stab wounds, the slit throat and the shot to the face with a lousy T-shirt, you shouldn't be executed -- you should die of embarrassment.
Man, with all the dramatic news stories this week there's an endless amount to talk about -- from the Oklahoma tornado to the policeman and firefighter we lost to Jodi Arias. But here's one you probably didn't hear about.
The other day I saw a woman attempting to kill herself, and as if that wasn't shocking enough, she was in her car outside a local clinic that specializes in the treatment of heart disease. What was her chosen method of suicide? She was smoking.
I don't know why, but a woman smoking a cigarette before going in for a heart examination just seems so ludicrous. Think dark humor like Monty Python or South Park, only this wasn't funny. It would have been illegal if she had attached a hose to her exhaust pipe allowing carbon monoxide to fill the car. But no, this woman skipped the hose part altogether and just let the gases collect in her lungs directly. Efficient, but even she would acknowledge it's just a matter of time.
Don't get me wrong I've seen what might be called erotic entertainment that I liked. Some of the spectacular topless reviews in Vegas are well done, even Cirque de Soleil can get sexy. If you feel that a night watching pole dancers allows you to consider yourself an authority on the Warsaw ballet, fine, enjoy yourself but don't take a 14-year-old with you. Consenting adults means those over 21. People who are eligible to view entertainment meant for adults only.
Sunday night's lap dance by Nicki Minaj on the Billboard Music Awards is the latest example of networks desperately attempting to be as relevant as cable. Relevant apparently means "sexually provocative". And that doesn't bother me a bit unless you're presenting simulated sex acts to little kids who are watching the show for Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Taylor Swift.
Sunday night there was so much crotch grabbing I expected a doctor to walk out on stage and shout "cough". If that's the way dancers are going to perform, put it on cable, attach a cover charge and a two-drink minimum.
If you're looking for a place to go to get some great Dim Sum, look no further than The Great Wall on 35th Ave in Phoenix. I suggest arriving a little early because the line can be long, but boy, is it worth the wait.
The endless carts of food coming by your table will ensure you leave with a full stomach. There are too many delicious things there for me to be able to pick out just one of my favorites, but I do know I cannot wrap my head around those chicken feet!
Location:
3446 W Camelback Rd #155
Phoenix, AZ 85017
602-973-1112
Boy, have I ever been enjoying the Arizona Republic series on the Phoenix Suns.
For all of us this season who were able to identify more of the vendors than anyone on the court -- or in the front office for that matter -- it's a nostalgic ride that reminds us what Phoenix's first major sports franchise has meant to the community.
Not because of championships. They are, in fact, the winningest NBA franchise never to have won a title. Real Suns fans remember that they were in the big show twice.
First in 1976 against the Boston Celtics, which will always be remembered for the three-overtime loss in Beantown. The second in 1993 against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, which also remarkably featured a three-overtime game and resulted in another series loss.
But the most memorable event of that series didn't take place on the court. It was when 300,000 people assembled in downtown Phoenix on a 105-degree day to say thank you. I was there that day. Just as I was there in the Coliseum for the first Suns game ever played. I was there when the draft crowd booed the choice of Dan Majerle and the night the first Gorilla showed up to deliver a telegram. And I'll be there when we win our first title. Because, I'm a Phoenix Suns fan.
I sincerely wish "The 700 Club" was listed under TV comedy so that no one would ever take Pat Robertson seriously.
It would be so much easier than getting angry at whatever his latest effort is in the "Stupid Olympics."
By the way, have you heard the latest? A woman was asking Robertson advice on how to handle the heartbreak of an unfaithful husband.
Essentially, his advice to the woman consisted of a very long and accusatory monologue that could be boiled down to simply this: "Shut up. Quit whining and get off your husband's case."
Robertson excused the husband's adulterous behavior by saying, "He's a man. Men tend to wander a little bit."
He then suggested that he probably wouldn't have "wandered" if she had done a better job creating a home that would ward off the temptations of the evil outside world.
In other words, "Woman, fall on your knees... beg your husband for forgiveness and make him a casserole."
This is the same evangelist who blamed gays for the Florida hurricane. Hey, I know. Since Pat Robertson has spent his ministry asking viewers for money… let's all take up a collection to get him to just go away.
At 10:30 Thursday morning, 12 of our neighbors will assemble to decide whether or not they should kill someone.
The someone is Jodi Arias and the 12 citizens make up the jury that is charged with determining her fate. If it were up to you, what would you do?
Now I know that some of you, who have not been in the same room with her, whose only contact with her has been on a wall-mounted flat-screen TV, are quick to say, "Kill the monster." Of course, your words would be that much more convincing if you were holding a torch and marching on a castle. But, why not execute her? She did it. She killed Travis Alexander. And, she did it in a state where capital punishment is allowed.
Why wasn't that a deterrent? Why didn't the fear of execution prevent her from committing the crime? Perhaps, a murderer will take a chance because lethal injection is so humane. Who's afraid of going to sleep? Ah, but if we went back to burning at the stake or disembowelment, that would cause a criminal to stop and think. Now that's what the jury has to do.
Open letter to the IRS: Hi guys! This is Pat and I'd like to be your friend.
I just thought I would take a moment to call your attention to the fact that if you check my record of prompt payments, at no time does the personal information on my returns ever mention the words tea or party, separately or together.
I am now and always have been a coffee drinker, an American beverage, as opposed to any product beverage with Sir Thomas Lipton's limey name attached to it.
As far as your interest in any other kind of party I have had any involvement in, none that I've paid for have ever been used as a business write-off. I sincerely hope that this clarifies any confusion there might have been considering my unflagging support for all you stand for.
I mean, who doesn't like the IRS? On the trust meter, you folks have to be right at the top. After all, if you actually were ordered to play political favorites, why on earth would we want to trust you with our money.
