A young fan of Elgin City Football Club, celebrates her team through the medium of dance.
I’d certainly like to have some of whatever she’s on.
Bonus yaldi remix, after the jump…
Thanks to Parkhall2009, via Brian Sweeney and Alan McGee
Pimpinela Escarlata, “The Scarlet Pimpernel”
There are some things that enrich our lives so much upon learning of them, we wonder how we ever functioned without knowledge of their existence: Cross-dressing luchadors is one of those things.
In this video, we see “Pimpinela Escarlata” at her most fabulous, battling “Pasion Kristal” and “Yuriko,” alongside “La Braza.” I’m not totally up on every aspect of the gender politics of luchadors, but apparently cross-dressing is commonplace for wrestlers that are more charismatic than athletic, so to speak.
Like luchador culture in general, it’s very rooted in theater and spectacle, just with hefty dollops of added camp and the fabulosity of drag. Frequently, the drag wrestlers compete in women’s matches as well. Most recently, “Pimpinela Escarlata” lost to a woman wrestler called “Sexy Star,” which resulted in Escarlata’s head being shaved.
¡Viva Escarlata!
Real men do cry, as the legendary Rod Stewart proved last night, when he burst into tears after his beloved Celtic F.C. beat ‘the world’s best soccer team’ Barcelona, 2-1, at their stadium in Glasgow.
While some wags thought Mr. Stewart must have lost his wallet to elicit such a response, I can attest, as a fellow Celtic supporter, tears of joy were more than understandable after such a tense and exciting, Champions League game. Now, here’s to the next one.
Police in the Philadelphia area have busted a heroin dealer selling LeBron James-branded skag:
LeBron James has endorsed McDonald’s, Nike and State Farm, but there’s one product right now on the streets of Philadelphia carrying his name that he most certainly did not endorse - heroin.
Upper Darby police said that they busted a major heroin dealer from Philadelphia on Thursday who had 140 packets of the deadly drug - all of which were stamped with the silhouette of a basketball player and the name “LeBron James.”
“I don’t think LeBron James would be too happy with this drug-dealer dude using his name on these street bags,” said Upper Darby Police Superintendent Michael Chitwood.
Probably not. What’s next, Usain Bolt brand crystal meth? (“The Fastest Speed in the World!”)
And speaking of meth, since when is heroin blue? This looks like something Walter White cooked up.
The suspected dealer is being held on a $250,000 cash bond.
Via The Philadelphia Inquirer/HT Brian Tibbetts
Poor guy. I’m sure all he wanted was to talk to the founder of The Modern Lovers
For the record, I’ve seen Jonathan Richman twice (once for his Because Her Beauty Is Raw and Wild
A mockumentary in the style of an alarmist propaganda film, The Devil’s Toy, directed by esteemed Canadian director Claude Jutra in 1966, uses the beginnings of the skateboard explosion to satirize and critique society’s fear of youth culture. Dedicated to “all victims of intolerance.”
“Beware, the youth of the world is on the move and their aim is to take over!”
In addition to making salient points about the generation gap, the film is beautifully photographed.
Brendon Ayanbadejo sez NOH8!
The brouhaha about the idiotic letter that Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr. (D) wrote last month to Baltimore Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti regarding Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo’s outspoken advocacy of a Maryland ballot initiative legalizing gay marriage, inspired Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe to pen his own response to Burns.
It’s a doozy. A classic, even.
Burns original letter to Steve Biscotti urged him to “inhibit such expressions from your employee.” 36-year-old Ayanbadejo traces his support for gay rights back to his mid-teen years living with his family in a dorm for gay and transgender students at the UC Santa Cruz. Ayanbadejo’s step-father was the dorm’s headmaster.
In recent months, Brendon has taped a web-only video for the Maryland same-sex marriage campaign, written a Huffington Post editorial in support of marriage equality and offered a pair of tickets to tonight’s season-opening game against the Cincinnati Bengals to raise money for the cause. The backlash against Emmett Burns is largely seen as a “win” for supporters of gay rights.
Here’s a pointed excerpt from Minnesota Viking Chris Kluwe’s razor sharp open letter to Burns published on Deadspin. Extra points to Kluwe for use of the term “cockmonster” and for calling Burns a “narcissistic fromunda stain”:
What on earth would possess you to be so mind-boggingly stupid? It baffles me that a man such as yourself, a man who relies on that same First Amendment to pursue your own religious studies without fear of persecution from the state, could somehow justify stifling another person’s right to speech. To call that hypocritical would be to do a disservice to the word. Mindfucking obscenely hypocritical starts to approach it a little bit.
Wait, he’s just getting warmed up:
This is more a personal quibble of mine, but why do you hate freedom? Why do you hate the fact that other people want a chance to live their lives and be happy, even though they may believe in something different than you, or act different than you? How does gay marriage, in any way shape or form, affect your life? If gay marriage becomes legal, are you worried that all of a sudden you’ll start thinking about penis? “Oh shit. Gay marriage just passed. Gotta get me some of that hot dong action!” Will all of your friends suddenly turn gay and refuse to come to your Sunday Ticket grill-outs? (Unlikely, since gay people enjoy watching football too.)
I can assure you that gay people getting married will have zero effect on your life. They won’t come into your house and steal your children. They won’t magically turn you into a lustful cockmonster. They won’t even overthrow the government in an orgy of hedonistic debauchery because all of a sudden they have the same legal rights as the other 90 percent of our population—rights like Social Security benefits, child care tax credits, Family and Medical Leave to take care of loved ones, and COBRA healthcare for spouses and children. You know what having these rights will make gays? Full-fledged American citizens just like everyone else, with the freedom to pursue happiness and all that entails. Do the civil-rights struggles of the past 200 years mean absolutely nothing to you?
In closing, I would like to say that I hope this letter, in some small way, causes you to reflect upon the magnitude of the colossal foot in mouth clusterfuck you so brazenly unleashed on a man whose only crime was speaking out for something he believed in. Best of luck in the next election; I’m fairly certain you might need it.
Kluwe signs off by telling Burns:
P.S. I’ve also been vocal as hell about the issue of gay marriage so you can take your “I know of no other NFL player who has done what Mr. Ayanbadejo is doing” and shove it in your close-minded, totally lacking in empathy piehole and choke on it. Asshole.
The whole thing is absolutely worth reading.
Brendon Ayanbadejo says he plans to continue supporting same-sex marriage and has offered to assist Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley with more fundraising for the issue. Ten of his fellow players on the Ravens have offered their support. He says the change in attitude within the NFL (other players used to joke that Ayanbadejo was gay, but he’s married with two kids) “has happened faster than I ever thought it would happen.”
This morning, Emmett Burns appeared to take a step back from the near universal condemnation his letter has generated, according to The Baltimore Sun:
“Upon reflection, he has his First Amendment rights,” Del. Emmett C. Burns Jr., a Baltimore County Democrat, said in a telephone interview. “And I have my First Amendment rights. … Each of us has the right to speak our opinions. The football player and I have a right to speak our minds.”
Ayanbadejo hopes that Pastor Burns will “open his heart” on the issue. In the meantime, Ellen DeGeneres has invited Brendon Ayanbadejo to fly to California for a live appearance on her show. Ravens team president Dick Cass has indicated the team would respond to Burns “in time” and hoped that Brendon would continue to speak his mind about matters that are important to him.
Maryland will be one of four states to vote on same-sex marriage in November. The issue has never been upheld by referendum, which is why what Brendon Ayanbadejo (and Chris Kluwe) and other straight people—this is crucial—are doing and saying is so very, very important.
Emmett C. Burns Jr. has had to endure public mockery for his antiquated views. Public mockery seems appropriate to me in this case—after all Burns is the one who pulled the trigger on this in the first place—but it’s also the sort of experience that might change the man. If everyone seems to be pointing at you and laughing, maybe there’s a good reason for that. Maybe it’s because you ARE the idiot.
Maybe it’s time for a little soul-searching Mr. Burns.
To Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, you’re good citizens one of the highest compliments I have to offer. I’m proud to share a country with guys like you.
British Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne had no place to hide when the boos rang out around the Olympic Stadium today in London. It’s allegedly the first time boos have been heard inside the stadium, which says much about the loathing for the ghastly Osborne and the current Con-Dem Government. As Channel 4 News reported:
‘The first boos of the day ring out in the Olympic Stadium for George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who was presenting medals at the 400m T38 victory ceremony.’
Surprisingly, there was cheers for former Labour PM Gordon Brown, which suggests the public do have short memories.
Via Channel 4 News
It was because of Alan Anderson that my brother collected ‘My Favorite Soccer Stars’. Michael’s a Hearts supporter, and Centre-Half Anderson was the only Jambo amongst the 160 player cards given away free each week in the comics Buster and Jet, or Lion and Thunder, or Valiant and TV 21, or Scorcher and Score or, Tiger in 1971.
This was when soccer players were beginning to move away form looking like extras from The Sweeney to bass players for a teenybop band. Unlike today, most players earned a working wage, and usually retired with little more than their Cup Winner medals, that is, if they ever won any.
The game was more than “a matter of life and death” as Liverpool’s Bill Shankly once famously said:
‘Some people believe football is a matter of life and death, I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.’
Amongst the 160 cards were some legendary players, unforgettable characters like Francis Lee and Colin Bell for Manchester City, Derek Dougan for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Martin Chivers and Martin Peters for Tottenham Hotspurs, Arsenal’s Charlie George, and Billy Bremner from Leeds United
My brother collected 2 sets - one from Lion and Thunder and one from Buster and Jet. I knew why he picked the first, but the second made less sense, unless it was for Aberdeen’s chubby striker Joe Harper, or out of a sneaking respect for Leeds United.
My comic was Tiger, which featured a Native American wrestler called Johnny Cougar, and an unbelievably decent footie player, Roy of the Rovers. As I support Celtic, I had to forfeit my favorite comic to collect the one Celtic card featuring wizard of the wing, Jimmy “Jinky” Johnstone. For 4 weeks I collected the squares of 4 press-out cards from Scorcher and Score. It was worth it for wee Jinky and the bonus of George Best, although Scorcher and Score was shite compared to Tiger.
This is my brother’s 2 collected sets Buster and Jet (with cover), and Lion and Thunder (without cover) - a look back at sporting heroes (and their sideburns) from forty-years ago.
More of 1971’s favorite soccer stars, after the jump…
Previously on Dangerous Minds
Picture Postcards: 50 Famous Britons 1868-1968
With thanks to Michael Gallagher
Farmer Tom Robinson paid tribute to the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, by creating a giant maze in the sprinter’s image, on his land in Staffordshire, England.
Robinson says he is a massive fan of the Jamaican athlete, and had a dream Bolt would win the Olympic 100m in record time when building the maze.
The maze shows Bolt in his famous lightning pose, and was cut into a 15 acre maize field. The crop is currently at half its height and will continue to grow through the summer months.
The Amazing Usain Bolt Maize Maze is opened to the public until harvest time.
With thanks to Tom Law