Mishmash Musings

I was wasting some time on YouTube this afternoon and eventually came across this hilarious video of a minor league baseball manager getting ejected from a game. OMG, his antics go on for about 2 minutes, which is a loooong time when someone is on a tirade!! This guy’s name is Phillip Wellman, and he’s a manager for the Mississippi Braves (or at least he was back in 2007 when this happened). Just take a look at this for yourself. Have you ever seen an adult act like this in front of hundreds of fans???

I just read on Yahoo that Susan Boyle was involved in a couple of strange incidents recently — both of which included loud “outbursts” and “cussing” from the Britain’s Got Talent star. The Yahoo story didn’t give many details, so I went over to the Sun Online, the UK paper that originally broke the news.

Apparently, Boyle was being hounded by paparazzi or tabloid reports whose sole intent was to “wind her up” according to the Sun. She responded by uttering some choice words that included the f-bomb and complaining to a nearby police officer, all in the presence of numerous onlookers.

Later on, Boyle was allegedly involved in another cussing incident, this time when rival singer Shaheen what’s-his-name earned praise from BGT judge Piers Morgan. Boyle, who was watching the round on TV at a hotel bar, again unleashed the f-bomb in front of lots of witnesses.

I don’t know what to make of these incidents. I mean, on the one hand, Susan Boyle is just a regular person, and we would all probably get pissed off if some tabloid assholes were bothering us, right? So I don’t exactly blame her for this and don’t think it makes her any less of a person. But on the other hand, one of the things that really propelled Susan into stardom — besides her singing, that is — was the way she appeared so down-to-earth and humble during her audition. These outbursts clearly go against that image, and could end up losing her a lot of fans.

Personally, my liking for Susan Boyle has really cooled. I’d still like to see her win the competition because that Shaheen kid really bugs me, but I no longer view her as a poor, lonely, spinster who just wants to “sing in front of a large audience.”

Has the media created this monster, or is this simply the real Susan Boyle emerging?

Photo credit: The Sun (UK)

I’ve been playing around with Yahoo Answers recently, and have to admit that it’s kind of addictive. Basically, it’s an open forum type thing where other Yahoo users ask any question they want, and get answers from whoever decides to pop by with an opinion.

Some of the questions are pretty dumb and could have been answered if the person typed into the search bar instead, but some are interesting. People ask about everything from what to get a girlfriend for her birthday to which players to pick in a fantasy baseball draft or where to get cheap insurance online.

I’ve answered about 75 questions in the past week, which is a lot. I actually try to be helpful, but occasionally I can’t resist passing along a smart-ass remark or two. Seriously, if you go and look at some of the questions, you’d understand where I’m coming from!

I just watched Susan Boyle’s semi-final performance on Britain’s Got Talent. She chose to sing the Andrew Lloyd Webber tune “Memory” from the musical Cats. I don’t know anything about music, so I’m not sure if that was a good selection or not, but Susan seemed to do just fine with it. The beginning sounded a bit screechy to my untrained ears, and unfortunately the video clip I watched doesn’t feature judge’s comments, so I don’t know how other people felt about it.

Personally, the performance didn’t have the huge impact that “I Dreamed a Dream” had, but there was no way in hell Susan could top that moment.

I just wish I knew how Britain’s Got Talent works. Do the judges determine who advances from the semi-final, or is this up to voters, like on American Idol? If anyone has the answer to this, please let me know!

And if you want to see the Susan Boyle “Memory” video clip, click the link below to go straight to the Britain’s Got Talent website:

Susan Boyle Memory

Edit: Looks like the vote is already in (not sure how) and Susan Boyle did indeed make it through to the final! Yay Susan!!!

I saw a headline this morning that said something like, “Music’s biggest band in feud with Wal-Mart“. I tried guessing which band it was before clicking through to the article. Rolling Stones? U2? Coldplay? No, no, and no.

Turns out, music’s biggest band is… Green Day! WTF?? I know they’re popular and all, but calling them the “biggest band” is quite a stretch, isn’t it?

Oh, well, I guess I shouldn’t expect too much out of the Yahoo music blog!

So I started a new part-time job on Monday. I work in the writing center at the local community college and tutor students with their essays and other homework. It’s not very exciting, but it pays comparatively well, so I’m not complaining.

Thus far everything has been ok. The only problem is that most of the students would rather just have me feed them the answer than have me guide them along as they work it out themselves. Of course we’re told right from the beginning not to simply give answers, so I refuse to do so. But some of the students can get downright belligerent about it.

I only work four hours per day, three days per week because that’s all I wanted to take on. I probably could have gotten more hours if I had asked, but I thought it would be best to ease into it. Maybe I’ll boost my hours for the summer quarter if I feel like earning more money!

I usually don’t pay too much attention to broadcasters when I’m watching a sporting event. I hardly ever notice them, unless they’re extremely good. But Tony Kornheiser, who had been part of the Monday Night Football crew for the past three years, was noticeable because of how horrid and obnoxious he was. Thankfully, however, his stint in the booth is over.

I just read today that Kornheiser is leaving MNF because of his “fear of air travel” (sounds like John Madden). He’ll be replaced by Jon Gruden, recently fired head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. I don’t know how well Gruden will do in the booth, but I’ve always liked Chucky as a coach, so I hope he pans out.

As for Kornheiser, do you suppose he was actually asked to leave, and then everyone put this fear of flying story out there as spin? Because unless that fear developed within the past three years (highly unlikely), why is it just becoming a factor now? Doesn’t make sense to me. Oh, well… as long as he’s gone, I don’t care what the real reason is!

So I was reading today that there’s been a “boom” in the number of bedbug infestations reported around the country. According to the article, there has been a 70 percent increase in calls to pest control services about bedbugs over the past five years.

The problem is especially prevalent in places where there are lots of mattresses, such as hotels, dormitories, and apartment complexes. And experts believe that the problem is so widespread because bedbugs “travel” so easily. They latch onto clothes, suitcases, and other items, and can live up to a year without food.

Um, ewww!

What I don’t get is how you wouldn’t know that a hotel has a bedbug problem. The article I linked to describes bedbugs as being the size of a “grain of rice”. Well, you can see a grain of rice, can’t you? So you should be able to see if there are tiny red bugs crawling around on the white hotel sheets.

Oh, well, another reason for me not to travel anytime soon, I guess!