October 27, 2014

Rest In Peace, Oscar Taveras

 

The 22-year-old St. Louis Cardinals outfielder and his girlfriend, Edilia Arvelo, died Sunday afternoon while driving from Sosua to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic. As Joe Strauss wrote in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch this morning, we’ll never know what Oscar Taveras could have been.

Juan Perez of the San Francisco Giants, a close friend of Oscar, was among the players that learned about his death during the game fiver of the World Series.  Carlos Martinez of the Cardinals tweeted a photo of Taveras’s body and was quickly chastised across Twitter. Some idiots were calling for the Cardinals to punish Carlos with his release. Those yahoos fail to realize in some cultures it is common to share those kind of pictures.

Cardinals manager Mike Matheny released a statement today about the death of his young outfielder. The closing of the statement is especially poignant.

In my opinion, the word “love” is the most misused, and misunderstood word in the English language.  It is not popular for men to use this word, and even less popular for athletes. But, there is not a more accurate word for how a group of men share a deep and genuine concern for each other. We loved Oscar, and he loved us. That is what a team does, that is what a family does. You will be missed, Oscar.”

 

Taylor Swift Releases 1989

Taylor Swift’s much-anticipated fifth studio album hit store shelves today. Here’s a review from The Guardian. If you feel like you need a physical copy of 1989, you can get it on sale at Target for $9.99. A Deluxe Edition is available at Target for $13.99 and includes three bonus tracks, three “voice memos” Taylor recorded while writing three on the songs on the album, as well as 13 photo prints. There are 5 different photo sets available.

Another Swift album was also released. David Rees, a cartoonist and host of Going Deep with David Rees on National Geographic, released an 8-track album that’s a mashup of music from Taylor Swift and Aphex Twin.

 

In other T-Swizzle news, Swift has told Baz Halpin, the production designer she has used multiple times in the past, that if he works with Katy Perry on her upcoming Super Bowl XLVIV Halftime Show he will essentially be dead to her.

CVS Comes Out Against Apple Pay

Apple’s latest offering, Apple Pay, isn’t getting the widespread adoption of some of the company’s other products. Walmart and Best Buy both announced at the time of the service’s announcement that they had no plan to use it. CVS came out over the weekend to also say they won’t be using Apple Pay. Oddly enough, Apple may have QR codes to thank in part for this. Wal-Mart Stores, Best Buy, Target, Sears Holdings and others are all partners in a mobile payment system called CurrentC. Merchant Customer Exchange, owned by a group of retailers, has been developing their own entry into the mobile pay arena since 2011.

While Apple Pay uses the NFC chip in its mobile phones, the CurrentC system uses QR codes, which Gawker was not fond of as early as 2012.

Mama June’s Poor Decisions Get Here Comes Honey Boo Boo Canceled

That level of how much as I wanted to puke last night hearing about the death of Oscar Taveras? Seeing this story play out gets me almost to that level in a different way. The fact the TLC canceled Here Comes Honey Boo Boo is far from being the sickest part of this story. In case you missed it, TLC canceled the show and announced they won’t even air the episodes already filmed amid reports Mama June (June Shannon) is dating convicted sex offender Mark McDaniel. It was originally reported that McDaniel was convicted of molesting a female family member of Shannon’s in 2004 while he and Shannon were dating. June’s oldest daughter, Kaitlyn confirmed to RadarOnline over the weekend that she was actually the female family member in question, taking this story from merely making you want to possibly throw up to an all-out sprint for the bathroom.

People published a story this morning with a quote from a spokesperson for Georgia’s Division of Family and Child Services implying that the office may look into this issue for the safety of the children.

Shannon is trying to deny the relationship, but TMZ keeps getting photos that at the very least she is exposing her youngest daughter, Alana Thompson, to the scumbag.

 

 

Amazon Releases Fire TV Stick

Amazon has released their answer to Google’s Chromecast, which basically turns your regular television into a Smart TV. The Fire TV Stick is retailing for $39. Amazon Prime members can buy the Fire TV Stick for $19 today and tomorrow only. Amazon’s version has four times the internal storage and twice the memory of the Chromecast, which is currently the best-selling electronic device on Amazon.

Federal Election Commission Wants to Regulate Internet

Some members of the Federal Election Commission (FEC) want to regulate videos put out by groups on the internet for free.

St. Louis Rams Fall Hard In Kansas City

Things started out well for the St. Louis Rams on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City. Quarterback Austin Davis drove the team on its opening drive to a touchdown and a 7-0 lead on the Kansas City Chiefs.

Things went downhill from there. The team’s performance was frustrating for Bernie Miklasz of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, who called the team “numbingly bad” in a column.

Alpha House Returns on Amazon

John Goodman plays Gil John, a war hero turned United States Senator who lives with three other Republican senators in Washington, D.C. The show, in its second season, is written and produced by Garry Trudeau, who created Doonesbury. Both seasons are available to watch for free with your Amazon Prime membership.

Jim Carrey Is Um… Interesting On Saturday Night Live

He was on in part to promote the upcoming Dumb and Dumber To.

 

Houston Mayor Pulls “2 Mom Card”

The Mayor of Houston tweeted that her daughter wasn’t allowed to take her driver’s license test because of her two moms. However, that may have not been the case exactly.

Missouri Tigers Top Vanderbilt 24-14 On Mizzou’s Homecoming

Missouri’s offense was a bit better this past weekend at home against Vanderbilt. Maty Mauk was 11-of-23 for 141 yards and two touchdowns and 58 rushing yards. Russell Hansbrough rushed 19 times for 87 yards and a touchdown while Marcus Murphy fell seven yards shy of the 100-yard rushing mark. Mauk touchdown pass to Bud Sasser in the third quarter was his first since September 20th.

The Tigers moved to 6-2 on the season and 3-1 in the SEC while Vaderbilt fell to 2-6 and 0-5. Vanderbilt players told The Tennessean they feel they are close to breaking through for their first SEC win.

 Aaron Lewis Had A Brain Fart While Singing National Anthem

I’ll admit I would screw up the National Anthem if I tried singing it in front of people. I also would sound terrible and would never try to do it. Aaron Lewis, the frontman for STAIND and sometimes Country artist sang the National Anthem before Game 5 of the World Series last night and didn’t exactly put the words in the right places. The singer apologized on his Facebook page. Watch the video here. Karma happens and Aaron Lewis kind of got what he deserved after he made fun of Christina Aguilera back in 2011 for messing up the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.

The Voice Season 7 Knockout Rounds Begin

NBC’s The Voice moves on to the Knockout Rounds this week. Local lady Bryana Salaz will sing “Heart Attack” by Demi Lovato and go up against Sugar Jones, who will sing “Love On Top” by Beyoncé. Salaz and Jones are both members of Gwen Stefani’s team. Taylor Swift continues her takeover of the world by being an guest mentor or adviser or something for the Knockout Rounds.

 

OK Go “I Won’t Let You Down”

 

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