Actors’ Equity smells something fishy with Jeremy Piven’s sushi excuse

A few months ago, actor Jeremy Piven abandoned his contractual obligations on the Broadway revival of David Mamet‘s “Speed-the-Plow.” His silly-sounding excuse was that he’d been eating an exclusively sushi diet and got mercury poisoning, a claim that medical experts consider dubious at best.

So now he’s going to go before the grievance committee of Actors’ Equity tomorrow to defend himself and his sushi excuse.

“It’s my understanding that he’ll be there – unless he has too much sushi on the plane from LA,” joked a person involved in the proceedings.

Piven is said to have a note from his doctor in the form of a blood test, which allegedly supports his case. But according to the show’s producers, Piven had been taking steps to leave the show prior to complaining of any sickness.

He called several prominent actors on his own and begged them to replace him, sources said. He was also overheard telling people backstage that he was “bored out of his mind” in the show.

The producers also have a record of where Piven’s car and driver took him after performances, sources say.

I have a feeling that the sushi excuse won’t pan out and that Piven’s in some trouble, but we’ll all have to wait and see how this all ends.

Bobby Jindal battles Satan & cures cancer all in time for dinner

Yeah, the Louisiana Governor and “superstar” Republican is batshit insane.

Yeah, this is why I don’t vote for Republican. Any party that considers delusional, anti-science nut jobs like this a “superstar” is unworthy of my vote.

Calorie Restriction: Still the only weight loss plan that works

A new study has confirmed that weight loss is linked to calories in versus calories out. This study was put out by The New England Journal of Medicine. I’ve blogged about this issue before. It’s really nothing new, despite the fact that dozens of books come out each year peddling some other silly weight loss plan. None of them have been shown to actually work. But once again, this new study shows that it’s all about the calories.

Man stabs son after he refused to take off his hat in church

A man stabbed his own son after the son refused to take off his hat in church. Clearly this guy hasn’t read The Bible. If he had, he’d know that the proper punishment for a disobedient child is stoning them to death:

“If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:

Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him out unto the elders of his city, and unto the gate of his place;

And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.

And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he die: so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall hear, and fear” (Deuteronomy 21:18-21).

Fortunately, the father only stabbed his son in the left buttock, so all’s well that ends with a sore ass, I suppose. I guess the lesson of the story is that if you’re a pain in the ass, you should be made to have a real pain in the ass.

Part of the International Space Station may soon be democratically named after a certain Firefly-class space ship

NASA is letting the public vote on a name for part of the International Space Station, specifically Node 3. And right now it’s looking like Node 3 will almost certainly be named Serenity after the ship in Joss Whedon’s popular television series Firefly. I guess they really can’t take the sky from Joss.

Beavis vs. Butthead

When 2 complete morons get into a heated fight over who has the stupider belief, it makes for great entertainment. Apparently creationist Ray Comfort and professional complainer Bill Donohue of the Catholic League had a disagreement over Evolution. Donohue now claims to think it’s perfectly okay to believe in both God and Evolution while  Comfort is obviously not a fan of the Evolution.  Now I said Donohue now claims to think Evolution is acceptable, whereas he has mocked it in the past.

Yet another study that allegedly claims music makes kids like sex

As everyone knows, teenagers hate sex. Only after they listen to devil music do they suddenly feel the urge to do it. Well that’s what a new “study” that’s really just a survey would have us believe. Okay, I’m exaggerating a bit. The “study” claims it makes kids want to do it earlier. Earlier than what? I wonder if Mozart is on the list too because it was quite common for 12-year-olds to be married and having sex back in his day.

Researchers from Pittsburgh University quizzed 711 teenagers about their sex lives and music listening habits.

They found those who regularly listened to music with explicit and aggressive sexual phrases were twice as likely to be having sex.

Um, did it occur to them that it might just be that kids having sex were twice as likely to listen to music that relates to their already sexually active lives?

Researchers refused to name which songs would fall into the degrading category, but cited phrases such as “I’m gonna beat that pussy up” as the kind of lyrics that were being used.

Who would think? I know I thought the types of kids who listened to music with lyrics like that would be rather prudish.

Women working in lingerie shops–BLASPHEMY!!

Believe it or not but all Saudi lingerie shops are staffed by men. But keep in mind that this is the same Saudi Arabia that doesn’t allow unmarried men and women to be alone in a room together if they are not related. But soon the nation’s policy on lingerie shop staff may all change:

“The way that underwear is being sold in Saudi Arabia is simply not acceptable to any population living anywhere in the modern world,” says Reem Asaad, a finance lecturer at Dar al-Hikma Women’s College in Jeddah, who is leading a campaign to get women working in lingerie shops rather than men.

“This is a sensitive part of women’s bodies,” adds Ms Asaad. “You need to have some discussions regarding size, colour and attractive choices and you definitely don’t want to get into such a discussion with a stranger, let alone a male stranger. I mean this is something I wouldn’t even talk to my friends about.”

The Science of Watchmen

I am SOOOOO looking forward to this film. Loved the graphic novel.

Forbes gives creationists a platform…again

Only a few weeks ago, Forbes Magazine gave a major media platform to creationists from the Discovery Institute. Then when the complaints poured in, they gave Jerry Coyne a platform for a rebuttal. But it seems they didn’t learn their lesson as now they’re giving yet another creationist, Phillip Skell, the final word. Forbes, you’re dead to me.