Jul 2007
Time news this week
28/07/07 Filed in: News
Looking through Time, you get a flavor of news around the world this week. There is no need to stick with just one flavor of news, though!
Drugs again rocked the sports world when the pre-race favorite Alex Albino Vinokourov was banned for probably having a blood transfusion before the time trial that he won by miles. He claimed he had excess blood in his legs due to a road crash earlier on in the race. Good one, not.
And it got very surreal when the yellow jersey, "Chicken legs" Rasmussen, was sent home by his team for lying! His colleagues didn't trust the chicken shit when he said that he hadn't taken drugs pre-season, so they voted him out. That was a welcome piece of self-policing, but a severe self-kick in the nuts for the poor cyclists who had burst their lungs thus far trying to help Rasmussen win the Tour.
Time had a more serious appraisal.
There is a rather chilling photo of a "good guy" holding a gun to the head of a blindfolded "bad guy" from the Khmer Rouge. At times, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, but in this case, the soldier looks more likely to pull the trigger than give a criminal a fair trial.
The UK Foreign Secretary is a fresh-faced politician who went to school at MIT. That snippet of info makes sense of his quote about a planned trip to meet with Condo Rice.
What a mess. A suicide bomber in Islamabad used the fury of a stone-throwing crowd to mask his murderous intentions outside the infamous Red Mosque. While the rioters were pummeling the police with rocks, he stepped in and blew 13 people up too. Way to go.
On a lighter note, Comic-Con was in full swing in San Diego. Although many participants were wearing home-made outfits, at the other extreme, technology and FX companies were there to show off their wares too. You know the on-screen world is becoming ever more unreal when you hear the differentiation between the "D" dimensions.
Tour de France drug scandal
Drugs again rocked the sports world when the pre-race favorite Alex Albino Vinokourov was banned for probably having a blood transfusion before the time trial that he won by miles. He claimed he had excess blood in his legs due to a road crash earlier on in the race. Good one, not.
And it got very surreal when the yellow jersey, "Chicken legs" Rasmussen, was sent home by his team for lying! His colleagues didn't trust the chicken shit when he said that he hadn't taken drugs pre-season, so they voted him out. That was a welcome piece of self-policing, but a severe self-kick in the nuts for the poor cyclists who had burst their lungs thus far trying to help Rasmussen win the Tour.
Time had a more serious appraisal.
Putting the Khmer Rouge on Trial
There is a rather chilling photo of a "good guy" holding a gun to the head of a blindfolded "bad guy" from the Khmer Rouge. At times, one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter, but in this case, the soldier looks more likely to pull the trigger than give a criminal a fair trial.
The Red Sox Fan From Britain
The UK Foreign Secretary is a fresh-faced politician who went to school at MIT. That snippet of info makes sense of his quote about a planned trip to meet with Condo Rice.
The full Miliband story from Time.It'll be strange to go to the U.S. as Foreign Secretary of the U.K. rather than as a schoolboy
Bombing, Riot Rock Islamabad
What a mess. A suicide bomber in Islamabad used the fury of a stone-throwing crowd to mask his murderous intentions outside the infamous Red Mosque. While the rioters were pummeling the police with rocks, he stepped in and blew 13 people up too. Way to go.
Where Iron Man and Beowulf Roam
On a lighter note, Comic-Con was in full swing in San Diego. Although many participants were wearing home-made outfits, at the other extreme, technology and FX companies were there to show off their wares too. You know the on-screen world is becoming ever more unreal when you hear the differentiation between the "D" dimensions.
3D, Real-D, IMAX-D — ...: "The Blow Your Mind Version," "The Intensely Blow Your Mind Version" and the "Your Head Has Exploded Version." ... those wanting to see Anthony Hopkins' actual facial features are advised to watch The Remains of the Day instead.
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. TDF - Tour de flop
26/07/07 Filed in: Sport
Tour de Drug test
The essence of this druggy crapola incident is that the anti-doping measures work in the worst cases, so no flop there! There were 189 men at the start of the Tour de France, and there was little reason to suspect they were ALL cheats. The forlorn hope was there were NO cheats.
Now we know that out of roughly 200, the competitors comprise 1% total pisstaker, 99% straight-to-unproven cheater. So that makes the tour competitors a big majority of honest folks? Ever the optimist, yes. I await the revelation that the whole lot of 'em are mobile druggies, but til then, let's keep to the sensationalism and focus on the known idiots.
Danish brake on
Ras, the sizzling Danish athlete, who has been leaving the best climbers for dust in the heat of the mountains, has been stopped in his tracks by drug testers.
It appears that in an effort to keep cycling drug-free, pros are required to be contactable during the whole year. Rasmussen was due for a random test, but the slippery worm claimed he was on holiday in Mexico, stoned on tequila, I believe, unconscious and untestable. In fact, he was sipping on chianti while getting synthetically enhanced in Italy. Tut, tut and hats off to the authorities for persisting with their investigations into Rasmussen. They got him, but at great cost to his competitors too.
The victims
A mix of shock, anger and embarrassment permeates from the peloton. They know millions of words will be written about the bad guys, while the honest cyclists will only get a passing reference tainted with doubt about their integrity. A shame.
The real victims
Forget the feelings and integrity of racers already at their peak, what about us keen enthusiasts? The main problem now for all cyclists is the pointing finger syndrome. I feel quite self-conscious now, because people I pass at 11mph flat out may be thinking that I am chemically enhanced. The shame, how dare they. I have worked hard to get down from 300 to 298lbs in the last month. Heart-wrenching! I can only imagine the dejection, if you have been training since age 14 only to be lambasted in the fall-out of some Scandinavian punk's attempts at cheating. Shame.
Conconclusion
The yellow jersey is the symbol of the race, worn by a warrior on 2 wheels, beating off all who try to take his lead. It is the aim of every team leader to wear the threads. Unfortunately, when you have an extra lung, it is easy to dominate the pretenders. Rasmussen was high on who-knows-what cow's blood performance enhancer, and Vinokourov took a blood transfusion during his supper, both trying to keep in contention. Luckily they both got involved in a contentious incident alright, being kicked out the race for cheating. So the race is a flop for them two, but let's not write off 186 other guys till we have proof positive.
No Starbucks franchise for Tommy Lee?
23/07/07 Filed in: Entertainment
Sounds like the Tommy Lee Starbucks franchise story I covered months ago was a little off the mark? Did they mean that he made a space in his lounge and the Starbucks guys moved in and installed a dedicated coffee shop with leopard skin seating and drum sticks for spoons? Makes a weird scene in my head.
Tommy Lee staggers into his lounge after a week out on the town, to be greeted by a steaming latte made by a young server with a band aid over their earring, nose ring and tongue stud. Or was that band aid crapola idea only a MacDonalds thing?
Whatever the truth is with TL, if you want a better coffee than a Starbucks, no strangers in your house at breakfast time, and a franchise of your own, check out the Coffee Beanery. Be ready to be amazed by the opportunities that come your way when you hand over $250k from your current account to get started as a Coffee beaner. As if a bright future off the back of 1/4 of a million bucks is news to anyone!
Finally, in closing, the only thing Starbucks truly excel at these days are cheap stocks.
JK Rowling cannot spell
18/07/07 Filed in: Literature
Did anyone not see the Harry Potter early book release story yesterday? A distributor has been charged with deliberately uploading a scanned version of the upcoming bestseller onto the p2p file sharing networks. Umm, say some, but to me it sounds like that person should be applauded and the pissed off folks at Harry potter HQ should take a lesson in marketing, 2007?
Viral exposure, especially via the pipes and tubes of irreverent Bit torrent outfit The Pirate Bay is the way to increase sales of books, dummy. Unless you are into crawling under bed covers with a laptop or PC tower, the bendy, tactile book is king. There is almost nothing but good coming from the digital revelation of a storybook ahead of real life launch time.
Personally, I don't care if anyone knows the ending before they read the last Harry Potter book (I thought all kids read the last page first anyway!). However, what concerned me most was the spelling ability of JK Rowling.
On the TV last night the cameras were focussed on a scanned page with NINETEEN something or other in the title. And the first line underneath started "Ninteen..." Sorry, as a former grammar nazi and king speller, that aberration jumped off the screen and bit me on the nose. Is the world's richest writer illiterate? That would be sweet, wouldn't it!
And I don't buy any defense that it is some sort of Harry Potter-esque wizard spelling. Just like I can't abide reading books with dialog written in Gaelic or olde Englishe. I am a 21st century reader, so give me 21st century suburban English words, please. Muggles and broomsticks to you too, Ms Rowling.
PS, take no notice of me, I have never read any Harry Potter books, and I am too scared to put any graphics here, just in case I get sued.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase The Pirate Bay or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
Viral exposure, especially via the pipes and tubes of irreverent Bit torrent outfit The Pirate Bay is the way to increase sales of books, dummy. Unless you are into crawling under bed covers with a laptop or PC tower, the bendy, tactile book is king. There is almost nothing but good coming from the digital revelation of a storybook ahead of real life launch time.
JK Rowling cannot spell.
Personally, I don't care if anyone knows the ending before they read the last Harry Potter book (I thought all kids read the last page first anyway!). However, what concerned me most was the spelling ability of JK Rowling.
On the TV last night the cameras were focussed on a scanned page with NINETEEN something or other in the title. And the first line underneath started "Ninteen..." Sorry, as a former grammar nazi and king speller, that aberration jumped off the screen and bit me on the nose. Is the world's richest writer illiterate? That would be sweet, wouldn't it!
And I don't buy any defense that it is some sort of Harry Potter-esque wizard spelling. Just like I can't abide reading books with dialog written in Gaelic or olde Englishe. I am a 21st century reader, so give me 21st century suburban English words, please. Muggles and broomsticks to you too, Ms Rowling.
PS, take no notice of me, I have never read any Harry Potter books, and I am too scared to put any graphics here, just in case I get sued.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase The Pirate Bay or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
UK terror plot - the bodysnatchers
The authorities are piecing together the movements of high flying but mal-intentioned Indian doctors who have been infiltrating the UK, Australia and possibly America, in order to perpetrate dastardly bombing deeds. But there is a worse threat going on almost unnoticed, until now - bodysnatching.
Watch the CBS news report very carefully at the point UK premier, Gordon Brown, is announced. Under the nose of top security experts at Downing Street, these renegade doctors have managed to snatch the PM and transpose every ounce of Brown's British being into the body of an Aussie leader.
Most scary is the lack of lip synching, because of all the things the docs could have improved, Brown's diction was it. Be afraid bonny boys and girls, nothing is as it seems these days.
Just a quickie about these video snippets: are they loading OK for you? Let me know your experience as a user. Thanks. On with the show.
Watch the CBS news report very carefully at the point UK premier, Gordon Brown, is announced. Under the nose of top security experts at Downing Street, these renegade doctors have managed to snatch the PM and transpose every ounce of Brown's British being into the body of an Aussie leader.
Most scary is the lack of lip synching, because of all the things the docs could have improved, Brown's diction was it. Be afraid bonny boys and girls, nothing is as it seems these days.
Just a quickie about these video snippets: are they loading OK for you? Let me know your experience as a user. Thanks. On with the show.
The Police in concert
05/07/07 Filed in: Entertainment | The Police
"Don't stand so close to me." You can imagine the irony of the song title when tens of thousands of claustrophobic Police fans cram into steamy Wrigley Field to listen to their aging heroes. Packed like sardines, the 40 and 50-something crowd with an interest in rock history will get increasingly irritated as the night rolls on and the stadium heats up. Tempers will fray when neighbors stand on toes and elbow each other by accident, reacting to the beaty tunes from the founders of white reggae. It could get ugly, with messages in a bottle flying all over the stadium. Plenty of Chicago Cops had better be on their guard to deal with it.
Everyone in the stadium will also be hoping the band can survive the night without incident.
The Police themselves aren't getting any younger, but they seem to be holding up, at least in small bursts. But what about lasting the pace for a whole concert? Despite wrinkles and greying hair, the band have managed to remember tracks they haven't played live in a decade or more. Will their amazing memories last though when the wheels start to fall off in the second hour?
Will anyone notice if Sting doesn't quite make the highest notes in ROXanne and sings Da doo doo doo in the wrong song? If the drummer misses a beat, will there be a riot? If the ripping guitar rifts sound a bit like a drunk mouse strumming on a cat's whiskers, will fans boo? Will the exhausted rockers slip into cardiac arrest? Let's hope not.
The two things I recall about The Police are: a friend of mine swapped two tiny Police decals for a big slap up meal at a service area. The girl's supervisor never got to know and my friend savored every mouthful of his free meal as we watched him in envy.
And the other more amusing ditty, is a scene in a comedy show called Only Fools and Horses. The two brothers are dodgy dealer, petty criminals who operate on the edge of the law in the East End of London. The younger one, Rodney, brings home a girl who is a policewoman, and neglects to tell his older brother her profession until later on in the evening. Of course, Del goes mad when he finds out and is instantly on his guard. It is so funny how he walks around his apartment chatting away while slyly packing away stolen goods and hiding anything suspicious under cushions.
Rodney is a bit dense, totally smitten with his girl and very proud of his criminal brother. Without thinking, he says all buffed up, Yeah, my bruvver's got a police record, 'aven't ye?" And quick as a button, Del replies, "Yeah, Walking on the Moon."
I expect the only record The Police will have by the end of the next couple of nights is a maximum heartbeat ever recorded for a rock drummer. That guy can play, but you have to worry! And I personally would be interested to know if the headband keeps his gray wig in place.
Finally, if they decide to play Message in a Bottle, at least keep it in key boys, and Sting, lose the pantomime outfit, man.
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Everyone in the stadium will also be hoping the band can survive the night without incident.
The Police themselves aren't getting any younger, but they seem to be holding up, at least in small bursts. But what about lasting the pace for a whole concert? Despite wrinkles and greying hair, the band have managed to remember tracks they haven't played live in a decade or more. Will their amazing memories last though when the wheels start to fall off in the second hour?
Will anyone notice if Sting doesn't quite make the highest notes in ROXanne and sings Da doo doo doo in the wrong song? If the drummer misses a beat, will there be a riot? If the ripping guitar rifts sound a bit like a drunk mouse strumming on a cat's whiskers, will fans boo? Will the exhausted rockers slip into cardiac arrest? Let's hope not.
Personal Police stories
The two things I recall about The Police are: a friend of mine swapped two tiny Police decals for a big slap up meal at a service area. The girl's supervisor never got to know and my friend savored every mouthful of his free meal as we watched him in envy.
And the other more amusing ditty, is a scene in a comedy show called Only Fools and Horses. The two brothers are dodgy dealer, petty criminals who operate on the edge of the law in the East End of London. The younger one, Rodney, brings home a girl who is a policewoman, and neglects to tell his older brother her profession until later on in the evening. Of course, Del goes mad when he finds out and is instantly on his guard. It is so funny how he walks around his apartment chatting away while slyly packing away stolen goods and hiding anything suspicious under cushions.
Rodney is a bit dense, totally smitten with his girl and very proud of his criminal brother. Without thinking, he says all buffed up, Yeah, my bruvver's got a police record, 'aven't ye?" And quick as a button, Del replies, "Yeah, Walking on the Moon."
I expect the only record The Police will have by the end of the next couple of nights is a maximum heartbeat ever recorded for a rock drummer. That guy can play, but you have to worry! And I personally would be interested to know if the headband keeps his gray wig in place.
Finally, if they decide to play Message in a Bottle, at least keep it in key boys, and Sting, lose the pantomime outfit, man.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase Cadillac CTS ad or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
Paris Hilton finds god
04/07/07 Filed in: Entertainment | Paris Hilton
Paris Hilton found god in prison and he responds in kind by making her a real-life multi-billionairess heiress at 32% above current value. How's about that for vindication of a higher being?
When Paris Hilton was fretting over make-up and making up with her maker, the wheels of high finance were turning and under advisement from god's bankers, The Blackstone Group were preparing to come down from the mountain and make the Hilton empire an offer it couldn't refuse. $26 bn packed quite a punch at many levels.
For a start, the insider news about this massive and generous offer clearly made a huge impact on the Hilton clan. Such an impact in fact that 3 bottles of pink champagne prevented Paris' mother from getting out the car to greet her daughter on release from jail.
And this payout coincided precisely with the famous religious experience that the demonised socialite, Paris, underwent in jail. As will be revealed later, she is a changed woman now, so there must be a god - and Paris is into him up to her neck now. So how did this happen?
When asked how she found god, Ms Hilton was frank.
"It wasn't easy, you know. First I had this calling, like a tap on the walls of my cell, and it was a sort of Morse code. At first I thought it was an SOS for help from my neighbor, but then I had this revelation that god was telling me to Save One Shoe. So I did, I put one of my high heeled Saatchi numbers to one side and held on to the other, waiting for another divine message.
She continued, her flickering eye welling up with emotion.
Unfortunately I was waiting for two days, before I had the final calling. It had nothing to do with the spare shoe, but it was totally wow.
A hunky prison warden was comforting me and we forgot ourselves and I was coated in this golden light and he, (I think it was a he, judging by the moustache) was shouting "God, I want you to do wonderful things to me." And God did his bidding through me and the next thing, I felt such a release of tension and ecstasy and then, like an hour later, I was free to leave prison too. This god dude works in mysterious ways and I am going to repay him by saving the world."
Certainly with all these extra billions from the recent buy-out, Paris Hilton has a chance to make a difference. In her enlightened state she promised that she would perform a twist on an idea from a former Vice president, and help the poor unliterate people in Latin America learn Latin.
But even Paris realises that there is more to the world than the Americas, so she also has a minor humanitarian project in mind for little American kids in Africa.
"I can adopt a few thousand, ship 'em over in a luxury container ship and house them in a new theme park . And like have Michael Jackson sing them to sleep every afternoon; and let them eat chocolate and surgically add fat on their cute skinny bones and check them out for diabetes and ADD and SAD and offer them all the drugs that kids in Africa don't have but we take for granted in America."
When it was pointed out that kids in Africa didn't consume Ritlin or insulin, and had plenty of sun, she acknowledged that she had a lot to learn, but god would help her move forward.
We hope so, Paris, god help you and all those you come into contact with. And surely he will work in ways that are so mysterious it will have us all scratching our heads in wonder.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase Cadillac CTS ad or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
A financial takeover of biblical proportions
When Paris Hilton was fretting over make-up and making up with her maker, the wheels of high finance were turning and under advisement from god's bankers, The Blackstone Group were preparing to come down from the mountain and make the Hilton empire an offer it couldn't refuse. $26 bn packed quite a punch at many levels.
Mrs Hilton legless
For a start, the insider news about this massive and generous offer clearly made a huge impact on the Hilton clan. Such an impact in fact that 3 bottles of pink champagne prevented Paris' mother from getting out the car to greet her daughter on release from jail.
Ms Hilton no longer soulless
And this payout coincided precisely with the famous religious experience that the demonised socialite, Paris, underwent in jail. As will be revealed later, she is a changed woman now, so there must be a god - and Paris is into him up to her neck now. So how did this happen?
God baits Hilton from within jail
When asked how she found god, Ms Hilton was frank.
"It wasn't easy, you know. First I had this calling, like a tap on the walls of my cell, and it was a sort of Morse code. At first I thought it was an SOS for help from my neighbor, but then I had this revelation that god was telling me to Save One Shoe. So I did, I put one of my high heeled Saatchi numbers to one side and held on to the other, waiting for another divine message.
She continued, her flickering eye welling up with emotion.
Unfortunately I was waiting for two days, before I had the final calling. It had nothing to do with the spare shoe, but it was totally wow.
A hunky prison warden was comforting me and we forgot ourselves and I was coated in this golden light and he, (I think it was a he, judging by the moustache) was shouting "God, I want you to do wonderful things to me." And God did his bidding through me and the next thing, I felt such a release of tension and ecstasy and then, like an hour later, I was free to leave prison too. This god dude works in mysterious ways and I am going to repay him by saving the world."
Hilton saves the world
Certainly with all these extra billions from the recent buy-out, Paris Hilton has a chance to make a difference. In her enlightened state she promised that she would perform a twist on an idea from a former Vice president, and help the poor unliterate people in Latin America learn Latin.
But even Paris realises that there is more to the world than the Americas, so she also has a minor humanitarian project in mind for little American kids in Africa.
"I can adopt a few thousand, ship 'em over in a luxury container ship and house them in a new theme park . And like have Michael Jackson sing them to sleep every afternoon; and let them eat chocolate and surgically add fat on their cute skinny bones and check them out for diabetes and ADD and SAD and offer them all the drugs that kids in Africa don't have but we take for granted in America."
When it was pointed out that kids in Africa didn't consume Ritlin or insulin, and had plenty of sun, she acknowledged that she had a lot to learn, but god would help her move forward.
We hope so, Paris, god help you and all those you come into contact with. And surely he will work in ways that are so mysterious it will have us all scratching our heads in wonder.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase Cadillac CTS ad or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
Man Kills teenager in ice-cream truck
03/07/07 Filed in: Finance
Imagine a little girl sat in the back of an ice-cream truck that is not even selling ice creams, and some punk approaches and shoots her as the truck drives away.
To be honest, I find it hard to imagine. It is something you see in a sicko gangsta movie. Usually the main reasons why one real human would ever act like that towards another is if they were on drugs, or performing a gang ritual to earn their colors.
Or perhaps it was part of an economically motivated hit? And I am not referring to a need for a few quick bucks today.
Ice cream is big business this time of year. Maybe this guy was trying to scare the family away so he or his associates at the basketball court could make a few bucks this summer to pay for their many bad habits. Just conjecturing, you know, based on a case that happened in Scotland in the 80's during the Ice Cream Wars. This is so over the top it can't possibly be true? It is fact, sadly.
In the UK there were Hot Dog Van wars too, when hoodlums would turn up at a mobile food vendor's wagon parked in a truck stop and turn the thing over with the guy inside frying his greasy eggs and bacon and serving weak tea. All to intimidate and get them out so they could get their own vendor installed in its place.
And even last week, there is a real t-do going on between ice-cream and hotdog vendors on the sunny Newquay coast. Scratch those eyes out.
And the other gang-related hassles involved another a seemingly innocuous business - billboards. The sites at the sides of roads in prominent positions are worth a fortune and perish the thought you would erect your own billboard on what was considered someone's existing turf. Considered is the vital word, because even if your new billlboard was going up all perfectly legally, all hell would break loose if the billboard mafia felt threatened.
And in Silicon Valley, although no blood was shed, there were plenty of casualties in the billboard wars between Informix and Oracle. Highway 101 has never been the same since it all ended.
No pisstaking here, just pointing out that all may not be as innocuous as it seems.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase Cadillac CTS ad or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
To be honest, I find it hard to imagine. It is something you see in a sicko gangsta movie. Usually the main reasons why one real human would ever act like that towards another is if they were on drugs, or performing a gang ritual to earn their colors.
Or perhaps it was part of an economically motivated hit? And I am not referring to a need for a few quick bucks today.
Ice cream wars
Ice cream is big business this time of year. Maybe this guy was trying to scare the family away so he or his associates at the basketball court could make a few bucks this summer to pay for their many bad habits. Just conjecturing, you know, based on a case that happened in Scotland in the 80's during the Ice Cream Wars. This is so over the top it can't possibly be true? It is fact, sadly.
No business idea is safe these days.Petrol was poured into the tenement flat in Ruchazie where the Doyle family lived on 16 April, 1984. Christine Doyle Halleron, 25, her 18-month-old son, Mark, James Doyle Snr, 53, and his sons James Jnr, 23, and Anthony, 14, were killed in the resulting fire.
If you remove the Scottish accents and misty weather and think US yesterday, the principal reason behind the shooting may well be to secure an opportunity for drug pushing. Doesn't sound like anyone thought of that angle.The family were targeted because they refused to give up their van route in Garthamlock. Many ice-cream vans were believed to be used as a front for selling drugs, attracting the attention of gangsters keen to take a slice of the huge returns on offer.
Hot dog van wars
In the UK there were Hot Dog Van wars too, when hoodlums would turn up at a mobile food vendor's wagon parked in a truck stop and turn the thing over with the guy inside frying his greasy eggs and bacon and serving weak tea. All to intimidate and get them out so they could get their own vendor installed in its place.
And even last week, there is a real t-do going on between ice-cream and hotdog vendors on the sunny Newquay coast. Scratch those eyes out.
Billboard wars
And the other gang-related hassles involved another a seemingly innocuous business - billboards. The sites at the sides of roads in prominent positions are worth a fortune and perish the thought you would erect your own billboard on what was considered someone's existing turf. Considered is the vital word, because even if your new billlboard was going up all perfectly legally, all hell would break loose if the billboard mafia felt threatened.
And in Silicon Valley, although no blood was shed, there were plenty of casualties in the billboard wars between Informix and Oracle. Highway 101 has never been the same since it all ended.
No pisstaking here, just pointing out that all may not be as innocuous as it seems.
We've linked to several web search engines offering random payments & prizes! Click the icon & search the keyphrase Cadillac CTS ad or web search. It is a win-win, perhaps!
