What I Heard This Week 08-01-2024
What is Slap Fighting? Slap fighting is a one-on-one competition in which opponents – a striker and a defender – strike each other in the face until someone is knocked out or quits. Chalk is provided to participants and is used to indicate where their strikes have landed on their opponent after they have thrown a slap. A competitor’s hair must also be tied up behind their head so as to not obstruct an incoming slap from their opponent. Yes, there are certainly dangers for the brain in slap-fighting bouts; safety is a concern with competitors using mouthguards, cotton balls to protect their ear drums, and allowing sixty seconds of recovery time before delivering the follow-up slap. In 2023, Artus ‘Walus’ Walczak suffered a stroke due to the blows he suffered at an event. I’m speechless. Oh, did I mention that you can bet on this “sport”?
Don’t handicap your children by making their lives easy. Robert A. Heinlein
Seen in a magazine…CUP NOODLES, Ramen Noodles in Sauce. What flavor were they, you ask? Ahhh. Thanks for wondering. Yes, they are a Limited Edition, Campfire S’mores with chocolate, graham cracker and marshmallow-flavored sauce (with natural and artificial flavors.) Maybe it’s just me, but that doesn’t sound good AT ALL. I think I like my ramen a little more earthy tasting with chicken broth, miso, cilantro, soy sauce, bean sprouts and scallions…maybe a boiled egg and some fish sauce… BUT NO marshmallows. I thought about this as I ate my bowl of Pho on Saturday afternoon. Gives me shivers.
Time is a created thing. To say, “I don’t have time”, is like saying, “I don’t want to”. Lao Tzu
Inside Out 2 is now the highest grossing animated movie of all time. That means it surpassed Frozen II, hitting the $1 BILLION mark, just 19 days after its release. Richard Gere is starring in his first major TV show. He will join Michael Fassbender in the Showtime spy thriller The Agency, which George Clooney and Grant Heslov are executive-producing. I would watch Richard Gere in anything. A German city, Gelsenkirchen, celebrated Taylor Swifts three sold-out concerts by temporarily renaming the city Swiftkirchen. In the summer of 1954 (70 years ago), Elvis recorded his debut single, That’s All Right. The upcoming Dolly Parton Broadway musical comedy and life story is called Here You Come Again. Did you know that Taylor Swift is the Godmother to Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ four children. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock are in talks to make a sequel to their supernatural 1998 movie, Practical Magic, where they played the witchy Owens sisters.
A 2,000 lb. vending machine stuck between an ATM and a row of ice machines in downtown Canyon Lake, Texas (and Alabama, and Oklahoma), now sells ammunition. Written across the front, it says, “Need to Reload?” …with the company’s motto… Ammo Sales Like You’ve Never Seen Before. Yes, it’s an ammunition dispenser right next door to a middle school. The owner says the devices that he plans to introduce to grocery stores across Texas make it impossible for minors to buy bullets. The machines include facial-recognition technology that verifies a customer’s age and identification, based on a driver’s license. They say that after a transaction, that information is not stored nor sold. Right… even some gun owners think this might be going a little far.
Gun control? We need bullet control. I think every bullet should cost $5,000. Because if a bullet cost five thousand dollars, we wouldn’t have any innocent bystanders. Chris Rock
Apollo 8 astronaut William Anders, who flew the first manned orbit of the moon in 1968, died at 90, when a plane he was piloting crashed into the ocean close to Seattle. Titanic and Avatar producer Jon Landau died at 63 after a short battle with cancer. Dr. Ruth Westheimer, the sex therapist who became a pop icon, media star and best-selling author because she was non-judgmental, funny, super-smart, and only 4ft. 7”- tall with a cute German accent, and looked like everyone’s grandmother, died at 96. She was a regular on the late-night talk shows and had her own local radio program. Richard Simmons, died at 76. He was formally a 268-pound teen who shared his successful food plans, diets and exercise videos with millions, hoping to make the world a healthier, happier place. Actor Shelly Duvall, one of the biggest film stars of the 70’s and early 80’s – best known for playing opposite Jack Nicholson in The Shining, died at her home in Blanco, Texas, at 75. Comedy giant Bob Newhart died at 94. Before he was a star, he was an accountant working in Chicago who made some funny comic tapes to amuse himself. An executive at Warner Bros. Records heard about them, which resulted in the 1960 release of his comedy album “The Button-Down Mind of Bob Newhart.” The rest was history, including the Mark Twain prize for American Humor. Lawyer and U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson Lee died at 74. She is only the second person to ever lie in state at the Houston City Hall rotunda. Quite an honor. She had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was undergoing treatment. Actor Bill Cobbs, known for Night at the Museum and The Bodyguard, died at 90.
NASA data shows that Monday, July 22, 2024, was the Earth’s hottest day on record… just last week. The most interesting part of this information is that on Sunday, July 21, 2024 – the day before – had just been declared the Earth’s hottest day since records began. So, in 48 hours, two records were broken and with 2023 proclaimed as the hottest year ever in modern records, I guess it’s safe to say that the Earth is getting hotter. Is human activity to blame? Yep.
A California hiker lost for 10 days in thick Big Basin Redwoods, found waterfalls and survived by drinking a gallon of water out of his boot every day before he was rescued. He found a few wild berries, but said he craved a burrito and a taco bowl. He left on what was supposed to be a three-hour hike (sung to the tune of Gilligan’s Island… three-hour cruise…) with just his boots and a pair of pants – no shirt… but he did carry a flashlight and a pair of folding scissors. He struggled to navigate because certain landmarks had been wiped out by recent wildfires in northern California.
The CEO of CenterPoint Energy, Jason Wells, came under fire recently as we all sat in our kitchens without power, because during an interview a picture showed him sitting underneath a thermostat set comfortably to 70F degrees. Wells defended the power delays but vowed to have better communication after Hurricane Beryl. He was without power only two days, but also had a backup generator. According to CenterPoint’s “Energy Efficiency & Summer Safety 101,” residents are encouraged to keep their thermostats at 78°F or higher when at home and between 80-83°F when away to save power. Mattress Mack has started a petition calling for the CenterPoint CEO and other executives to resign as backlash over the company’s response to Hurricane Beryl continues to grow.
As I write this, it is Tuesday, and there is a disturbance in the central tropical Atlantic Ocean showing a 40-60% chance of tropical or subtropical formation that could have Florida in its path. Lady Gaga is engaged! She introduced her longtime boyfriend as “my fiancé” to French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal at the Paris Olympics. Simone Biles got the GOLD. Have a great week.
LISA
Send comments to Lisa Baker at lisa@thesourceweekly.com
