Bruce Springsteen, Roger Waters among the performers at this year's Stand Up for Heroes benefit
Friends, I feel that I have failed you. I didn't find out until tonight that this year's big Stand Up for Heroes benefit was going to be streamed live. For that, I apologize profusely. Had I known ahead of time (and it's my own fault for being too preoccupied with other matters), I would have immediately told you all where to go to watch.
Why? Because the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Roger Waters were on stage as part of the Bob Woodruff Foundation's annual benefit. And it was a grand event, to be sure. Now, for the time being, you can watch the entire show, so no excuses!
Mayer's performance was pretty solid (he sang a Beatles tune), but wow, Roger Waters is something else. Waters' set with a group of military veterans is astounding to see. FYI: Waters' set begins about one hour into the show. Don't miss it. The man is incredible and the performance is so, so memorable.
Now, as in years past, Bruce Springsteen was on hand to wrap the evening up with an acoustic set. Bruce has performed at this benefit each year, and this year's set was as great as ever. If you're looking for just Bruce's four-song set, it starts at about the two hour mark.
Once again, I'm so sorry I didn't post that this year's Stand Up for Heroes show would be live streamed. I won't drop the ball on it next year. At least for now, we can all watch the show though.
For more information on The Bob Woodruff Foundation and the wonderful work the ABC reporter and his wife are doing, you can visit the organization's official website here.
Brazil’s Ariau Amazon Towers
The Brazilian Amazon Rainforest is home to one of the most amazingly unique and beautiful hotels in the world - Ariau Amazon Towers. Located northwest of the city of Manaus, its position is so remote that you have to take a boat down the river just to reach it. Once there, you get the luxury of staying high among the trees, surrounded by the spectacle of the jungle.
The project began as an eco-friendly hotel in the 1980s. The idea was supposedly conceived by the legendary Jacques Cousteau, taken up and turned into reality by someone who shared his views. At first Ariau was composed of just one tower and four suites, built in a style modeled after the constructions of the indigenous people. It became so popular that expansion was inevitable and now there are 288 rooms spread across the site.
All the rooms, suites and tree houses are located above the tree-line. Each building is connected via catwalks that are around 70 feet above the ground. The honeymoon suite stands above them all at more than 100 feet in the air. Along with the exotic accommodation, Ariau provides all the traditional hotel offerings one might expect. There are two swimming pools, observation towers, restaurants, bars and even convenience stores. Together, Ariau is more like a small village than a simple hotel.
Being located so high in the trees, it’s not uncommon for visitors to see a fair deal of wildlife. Monkeys, sloths and several different types of birds all hang out in the trees with the hotel customers.
And if you get tired of the hotel, there are plenty of other things to keep you occupied. Tours up the Amazon River are available, as are walks in the rainforest, piranha fishing expeditions and wildlife spotting, both day and night. This also happens to be the place to see pink dolphins, one of the rarest species of dolphins in the world.
This truly unique hotel comes with a price, but it’s not as expensive as one might think given the popularity of the place. It’s about $200 a night for a single person, and well worth the cost for what is one of the most amazing vacation experiences ever.
My bike and bus riding daze
I avoid downtown Minneapolis like the plague these days, but once upon a time it was a place I frequented. In fact, I had to be downtown if I wanted to go out and about, because practically all bus routes in the western Twin City metro radiate in and out of there, including those I rode from my part of town out in the western suburbs. If I wanted to take Metro Transit across town, or venture into the southern suburbs, I was going to be downtown whether I wanted to or not.
This was back when personal transport was a non-existent commodity for me but I refused to be stuck in my neck of the woods by it. Metro Transit provided the best solution, but it helped to have a bike to supplement it with because, let’s face it, you can’t get everywhere around town on the bus. As far as the Twin Cities go, there are bike trails aplenty that could get me to where I wanted to go or provided a more direct route than the bus did. Nevertheless, you could count on finding me downtown waiting to catch the bus home towards the end of such sojourns.
If it was at rush hour on a weekday, I would hop the Route 674 bus that would take me all the way to my neck of the woods via the freeway. If it was a weekend, I would inevitably be on the Route 675, a combo express/local service that used the freeway out of downtown but soon left it to provide service to local neighborhoods as well as Ridgedale Mall in the outer suburb of Minnetonka.
So there I would stand in Nicollet Mall watching the conga line of buses belonging to Metro Transit and other lines plus the occasional public safety vehicle as I waited for mine to arrive. Frequently I would check my watch and/or consult my schedule, wondering where is it? Or worse did I miss it?!
Then I finally would spot my bus lumbering down the mall towards where I stood. After it pulled up beside me I would go to swing down the front bike rack, hook up my bike to it, board, pay my fare, and take my seat.
Now scenes like that pictured above are no more for me, because I now am a happy, carefree licensed driver who, while he still loves to ride a bike, does not miss the city bus one bit.
UFO infestation on the China-India border?
China has its fair share of problems, as can be expected from any country with the size and population that they have. From the economy to corruption in politics to the situation in Tibet, there’s always something for the Chinese government to worry about. Now it looks like they have a new problem - an infestation of UFOs on their border with India.
Apparently, glowing yellow spheres have been spotted by Indian border guards. They rise into the air on the Chinese side, cruise around in the sky for about three to five hours, and then disappear. These sightings have been made both at night and during the day, at both times the spheres appearing to glow. Over 100 incidents of this phenomenon have been noted over the last three months.
Without an answer to the question of what they are, many people speculate as to their true nature. Some suggested that they were Chinese drones or perhaps low-orbit satellites, but both these explanations have been dismissed. Others say that perhaps China is experimenting with some sort of psychological warfare technique or that they are probes of some sort, testing Indian defenses.
To figure out the answer to the mystery, India made a few attempts at using technology. They tried to scan the UFOs with radar and a spectrum analyzer. Neither worked, which suggests that whatever the UFOs are, they’re not made of any sort of metal. Some theorize that they are a balloon-based craft, thus explaining the lack of metal.
Of course, there are more exciting tales to be heard about the UFO origins. Some say that there are alien camps located within the Himalayas and that the government knows all about them. The Indian government has ties with these extra-terrestrials and is exchanging technology with them. There have also been flying robot sightings in the area. So maybe the robots or the aliens are the cause of the glowing spheres?
This UFO problem isn’t just a recent issue either. For several years people have been seeing the spheres, but most reports have been ignored or dismissed as hallucinations. Now that activity levels have risen, however, they can no longer be ignored.
No word from China yet on what’s going on, but likely they’ll have to spill the beans on this at some point or risk diplomatic relations with India. Of course, if they actually are UFOs, neither side is going to be able to say much about what they are and where they came from, which leads to even more interesting possibilities for the future.
Nippon Domannaka Matsuri
Nippon Domannaka Matsuri, or Domatsuri as it’s more popularly known, takes place in Nagoya in Central Japan at the end of August each year. This festival is a tribute to the many different cultural and regional traditions of dance that have evolved over the centuries. Thousands of performers congregate to show off their routines in front of huge crowds, each one hoping to take home the coveted Domatsuri Award.
The event was originally put together in 1999, organized by a group of college students with a love of dance. There are many dance festivals in Japan, but these people wanted something more local to them. The first year saw just 26 dance teams show up, totaling around 1500 people performing. Now, more than 200 troupes arrive and the numbers of performers exceed 20,000. Nearly 2 million people gather to watch these many dances, making Domatsuri one of the largest festivals of its kind in the country.
Dancers come from all over Japan to take part in Domatsuri. They bring their own music, dress in costumes that represent their home regions and each aspect of the dance reflects their particular regional culture. The rules of participating in Domatsuri require that every troupe must incorporate melodies from their own folk tunes into whatever music they use for their performance. Each dancer must also carry a naruko - a kind of Japanese clapper instrument.
Sometime during the event, the Souodori occurs. This is one giant dance in which everyone takes part. All the dancers and all the spectators join together in the celebration. And on the second day of the festival, the Domatsuri Award is given out to the dance troupe that put on the best and most authentic show.
If you’re a lover of dance, then Domatsuri is one event that you should put on your to-do list. With all the festivals in Japan, it’s easy to plan a vacation where you can attend more than just one and at the same time still see many areas of the country. If you’re in Central Japan, make sure Domatsuri is part of your journey.
France’s Museumotel
Located in Raon-l’Etape, in the northeastern region of France, the Museumotel is not your traditional accommodation. Instead of rooms in a building or bungalows, this motel is made up of nine separate capsules, each one resembling a bubble-shaped pod. And though they may look like something out of a cheesy science fiction movie on the outside, inside takes customers right back to the 60s with the strange and sometimes psychedelic décor.
These pods were built in 1968 by the famed architect Pascal Hausermann. His idea was to pitch these little bubbles for urban use and the now-hotel was put together as a model of a “futuristic” village. It was originally named the Motel de l’Eau Vive and was quite popular for a time. But after a few years it fell out of fashion, to be left unused and in a state of disrepair,
In 2007, someone had the idea to renovate the place. Given the popularity of retro designs, Museumotel took off again as people searched for someplace different to spend their vacation stays. Each of the nine rooms is now ready to house between 2 to 5 people.
The interiors are best defined as “retro”. Each room has its own theme and is designed to look different from the others. Some have neon colors everywhere, others are filled with unique sculptures and paintings and some have walls decorated with 60s-themed murals.
And all this is still in-line with the hippie ideals that spawned its original construction. Museumotel is dedicated to being a green and environmentally friendly accommodation. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, a trip to the Museumotel may be a great alternative to your regular four-walls-and-a-bed hotel room.
My presentiment at Q Cumbers
When my grandparents lived with my family, every other branch of the clan would get together in our town for a get together. One of the biggest rituals of which was going out to dinner, usually at Red Lobster. When my grandpa died in February of 1992, the assembled family went out to eat the night before his funeral. I have not forgotten that night.
When my grandpa died in February of 1992, the assembled family went out to eat the night before his funeral. I have not forgotten that night.
For some reason, Red Lobster was not picked as the place to eat. Instead, we went to a place known as Q Cumbers, a restaurant located on France Avenue in Edina, Minnesota.
The picture is of how it looks today. While the surrounding shops in the mall it is located in have changed since 1992, the exterior of Q Cumbers has not.
Something was nagging at me about the upcoming funeral that night which dulled my appetite as it burned in my belly all throughout the meal, which must have been forgettable because I can’t remember for sure what I had to eat. A noodle dish of some kind it might have been. I do remember that I could not have a soda for some reason, which I did not like but my father did nothing to rectify. I had to settle for water.
I only forgot the feeling burning in my gut once, as I walked up to the buffet with an uncle avidly discussing Civil War history with him. Apart from that, I was a pretty subdued camper.
By contrast, all the other kids at the table (including my brother) were having a perfectly normal night out with their families. The youngest daughter of another one of my uncles even told him “Get a life” during some father-daughter banter between them.
“See you mañana,” he said to me outside when dinner was finished.
The burning feeling flared up in me as he walked off. Suddenly, I did not want to see him or anybody else tomorrow, much less go to grandpa’s funeral. I kept my mouth shut about it, though. Even as it grew to the point that when I was back home and in bed, I did not even want to fall asleep I dreaded the next day so. Alas, I had to take two Actifed that night so I soon fell into a deep slumber. Unaware that the burning feeling was a presentiment warning me that tomorrow would be one of the most disillusioning and painful days of my life because certain people at that dinner would say and do things at that funeral which would badly hurt my feelings. Unintentionally, to be sure, but still hurt them. What those words and actions were are immaterial to this bit of memoir; the fact that something in my soul detected that oncoming hurt in advance that night at Q Cumbers is.
Profile: Richard Ramirez
- Full Name – Ricardo Munoz Ramirez
- Nickname – The Night Stalker
- Born – February 29, 1960
- Location of Activity – Los Angeles, California, USA
- Years of Activity – 1984-85
- Number of Kills – 14+
- Date of Death – n/a
- Cause of Death – n/a
Richard “The Night Stalker” Ramirez is perhaps one of the most well-known serial killers of our time. Born in El Paso, Texas, one of five children, Ramirez’s strict and abusive father was, ironically enough, a policeman. Despite being raised under the influence of the law, Ramirez would grow up to be a brutal criminal and killer.
One reason for this is the presence of Ramirez’s cousin in his life. When Ramirez was 12-years-old, he took a liking to his older cousin. This cousin happened to be ex-Special Forces and a veteran of the Vietnam War. During the war, he killed and tortured many people and would brag about these events to Ramirez, showing him pictures he’d taken of his victims. Later, this same cousin would shoot and kill his own wife in front of Ramirez, further scarring the young child.
During his early life, Ramirez became a drug addict and claimed to be a Satanist as well. He was arrested several times for drugs and theft and finally left Texas to get away from his history. He moved to California, though still persisted in making his living through breaking and entering. At a certain point, Ramirez decided that robbing people wasn’t enough and began to rape and kill as well.
In 1984, the killing began. The first one was a burglary gone wrong, taking place in June of that year. Ramirez stayed quiet for a while, but in March of 1985 he went on his murder spree in full force. He started quickly and brutally, killing three people in the same night. This was followed three days later with the murder of an 8-year-old girl. A week later, two more ended up as his victims. This continued for some time, until Ramirez was finally caught.
His victims were of all ages and both sexes, though most of them were older. Sometimes he would rape them and sometimes he would have sex with their corpse after they were dead. There was no seeming pattern to his crimes other than his love of violence. Eventually he began to leave his victims alive, which proved to be his undoing.
After one attack, his victim saw his car. The police tracked it and found it abandoned, but managed to get Ramirez’s fingerprints. His identity was released to the public and some people recognized him, forming a mob and chasing him through the streets. As Ramirez attempted to steal a car to get away, the mob grabbed him and beat him until the police finally came. He was found guilty of several murders and is currently sitting on death row.
The term "Flip" gets, um, flipped around a lot
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In the Zunino thread, G-Money was quick onto the implications of the Zunino situation. If Zunino is a top prospect, that is one thing. If Zunino is about to take over the ballclub, that is a different thing.
Flipping Montero would be weird, and without a lot of precedent. But Mike Zunino is an emerging circumstance, one that emerged after the M's pulled the trigger on Montero.
If Jesus Montero is going to DH/1B -- and with a potential Gary Carter parachuting in, that is going to be the case, well, Jesus Montero has been majorly discounted in value -- from the Mariners' perspective only.
Zduriencik traded for Montero on the premise that Montero is literally the next Albert Pujols, and Montero's rookie year didn't do much to contradict that. IFF (mathematical if and only if) there is any other GM in the game who feels similarly, I'd trade Montero for sure.
There are 29 other GM's. Probably 25 of them were encouraged, not discouraged, by Jesus Montero's hitting in 2012; to the trained eye he showed the ability to inside-out the jam pitch, showed the ability to drive the ball hard the other way, showed just all kinds of eye-popping talent and versatility.
Maybe 10-15 other GM's, just guessing, would be excited by the possibility of a cleanup hitter catching for them.
I wonder if any of those 10-15 (?) GM's share Zduriencik's sky-high opinion of Jesus Montero? The Marlins have 32-year-old John Buck catching and they could flip back J.T. Realmuto in the deal, or pair Realmuto off with Montero...
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=== Just Noodling ===
No idea where it even came from that the Marlins were listening to offers on Giancarlo Stanton and his .608 SLG last year at age 22. But if they were, they've got a 37-year-old at 1B ... something along the lines of Montero C, Hultzen SP and Carp 1B for Stanton and Realmuto might be a thought ....
Of course, you've got THE smartest baseball man in Seattle, bloggers most definitely included in that, saying that Jesus Montero is the next Albert Pujols. If Montero slugs .575 in the new park next year, and retains his Mike Napoli bonus value, nobody's going to want to deal him. For anything.
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Dubai Shopping Festival
If you happen to be one of those people that loves shopping and enjoys it a hundred times more when everything is on sale, the city of Dubai in the United Arab Emirates has the festival for you. The Dubai Shopping Festival is a month-long collection of festivities and deals designed to promote tourism within the country. From January 3rd to February 3rd, the city becomes one grand celebration with consumerism at its core.
Begun in 1996, the festival was originally just a shopping event where people could find good stuff at good prices. Since then, it has grown to encompass the entire city. Now, hundreds of presentations and activities accompany the shopping frenzy giving you plenty to do even if you have nothing you want to buy. This year parks the 18th year of this popular tradition and people from all around the world will be coming to Dubai to experience the celebration.
One of the reasons for such an event is the fact that Dubai is second only to London when it comes to having a diverse selection of international products all gathered in one city. During the festival, everything is tax-free and discounted, so the deals are everywhere. More than 70 malls take part, some of them even staying open all night for those 2am shopping sprees.
In addition to the shopping, there’s plenty more going on to celebrate the festival. Thousands of raffles and contests feature prizes ranging from cash to brand new cars. Many celebrities show up to make appearances during the festival. There are concerts, musicals, theater, film festivals, sporting events, fashion shows and regular fireworks and laser shows at night. The Dubai Shopping Festival Carnival features dancing, acrobatics and many other performances. The Global Village is a collection of pavilions from all over the world, each showing off products unique to their culture.
The month of the festival can be a great way to both see the city and stock up on whatever you might need. It’s not the cheapest of holidays, considering the theme, but if shopping is your thing, there’s no place and no time better to do it.