Cleveland officials want you to know: "We are not a bunch of unemployed douche bags"

It was only a matter of time before the woeful city of Cleveland tried to cash in on this hilarious faux-promo video that pokes fun at the hardscrabble burg's joblessness, pitiful, two-building skyline and "douche bag"-inviting downtown. Both videos are hilarious and now the city is trying to repair its image with of course, a feel good contest . . .

Maligned Cleveland makes most of comic's insults
20 hours ago
CLEVELAND (AP) — Come to Cleveland, where the economy is based on LeBron James, the streets are filled with drifters and broken-down homes can be had for the price of a VCR.
Those claims are made in sarcastic YouTube music videos produced by a hometown comic. But in the spirit of good faith, travel officials are asking him to help judge a contest they're responding with.

Read the rest here . . .

Here is one of the awesome videos . . .

Pretty boy to play world's most notorious killer guitarist

Cute little vampire boy Jackson Rathbone from the teenie bopper flick "Twilight" has been tapped to play killer Burzum frontman Varg Vikernes aka Count Grishnackh in "Lords of Chaos," a new flick based on a book about the blood-drenched, scandal-plagued Norweigian black metal scene of the 1990s.

Vikernes (that's him smiling in a Norway court as he was sentenced to 21 years) was released from jail this week after serving 16 years for brutally stabbing to death Mayhem guitarist Euronymous (above, in corpsepaint during better times) in 1993. Oh yeah, and Vikernes also burned down a bunch of churches.

Tough task for this kid . . .

Weekly Dig piece on Moderat

MODERAT
Plus 600 pounds of gear, equals one massive party
By DAVE WEDGE

Moderat didn't have a deadline to meet for their new record. But still, the notorious perfectionists nearly worked one member of their crew to death—literally.
"One guy was falling on the ground. He was so exhausted," Sebastian Szary says from his home in Germany. "They worked every day—20 hours per day. He forgot to eat."

Read the whole damn thing here . . .

This dude went down the wrong road - he should have grabbed a scouting job . . .

I don't remember this dude playing for the Pats, but he's in deep shit now. He makes Dave Megget's cases look tame. A former UConn runningback, he backed up legendary Pats Pro Bowl linebackers Andre Tippett, Vincent Brown, Johnny Rembert and Larry McGrew . . .

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. - A former Patriots [team stats] linebacker and his ex-lover were charged yesterday with killing a wealthy Orange County businessman for financial gain nearly 15 years ago.

Nanette Packard McNeal and Eric Naposki, who played in the late 1980s for theNew England Patriots [team stats] and Indianapolis Colts, were arrested and each charged with one count of murder.

Both had long been suspected in the December 1994 shooting death of multimillionaire William Francis McLaughlin, 55, but were not arrested at the time.

Read it all here . . .

Passion Pit review in Big Shot

Read my review of this Cambridge-based indie-electro band in Big Shot magazine . . .

Fatcats dare you to find out how much the hacks make - Boston Herald

Here's a shining example of the lack of transparency going on at the State House these days:

More than three-quarters of Beacon Hill lawmakers - including the House speaker and Senate president - threw up “a veil of secrecy” when pressed for the size and salaries of their taxpayer-paid staff, even as they are muscling through wallet-crippling tax hikes.

For nearly two months, some 155 of 200 House and Senate lawmakers have stonewalled a Herald request for a list of their staff and salaries - public information that should be readily available upon request.

“They have an obligation to the people who elected them to be forthright with their actions, how they’re spending money, and be accountable,” said Edwin Bender, executive director of the Montana-based National Institute for Money and State Politics. “If lawmakers are not willing to tell you something as simple as their employees and their salaries, what else are they hiding?”

Read the whole story here . . .

Two rings and there wasn't a job available in Pawtucket for this guy?? WTF???

Granted this isn't as bad as when Cecil Fielder turned up broke after making like $70 million or when Leon Spinks was found washing the glass at the St. Louis Blues hockey rink.

And it's not quite as bad as actually seeing former middleweight champ Robbie Sims just walking around Brockton aimlessly.

But still, this kind of sucks:

Doug Mirabelli has joined Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors as a full-time sales associate working out of the 522 East Front Street office.Prior to joining Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors, Mirabelli played professional Baseball, winning two World Series with the Boston Red Sox. A native of Las Vegas, Nevada, Mirabelli met his now wife, Kristin while both were attending Wichita State, where she was an All-American Softball Player. They have been residents of Traverse City for the past 5 years, and have three children.

Here's Wakefield's former catcher's new website . . .