samhexum

THE GREEK FREAK! a great kid, a great story, a great nickname, & (of course) a great athlete Giannis Antetokounmpo: The Most Intriguing Point Guard In NBA History On the worst nights, when the fadeaways are short and the pocket passes are late, Giannis Antetokounmpo skips the showers. He storms out of the Bradley Center in full uniform, from home locker room to player parking lot, and hops into the black Explorer the local Ford dealer lent him. He turns right on North 4th Street in downtown Milwaukee, steers toward the Hoan Bridge and continues six miles south to the Catholic seminary in St. Francis, where the priests pray and the Bucks train and The Freak dispenses his rage. Alone, Antetokounmpo reenacts the game he just played, every shot he clanked and every read he missed. Sometimes, he leaves by 1 a.m. Other times, he stays until three, sweating through his white jersey for a second time. “I get so mad, and if I go right home, I’m afraid I’ll never get that anger out,” Antetokounmpo says. “This is how I get the anger away.” He used to administer his form of self-flagellation on the court, because that’s what he saw Chris Paul do after a Clippers loss in L.A. But he noticed some fans lingering in the lower bowl with their cellphone cameras and he didn’t want anybody to think he was putting on a show. So he retreats, in space and time. Here he is not the $100 million man with the catchy nickname and the barrel chest who studies Magic Johnson’s fast breaks and Russell Westbrook’s mean mugs, who wrestles LeBron and mimes Dirk, who hears MVP chants and references 40-balls. Here he is not even the spring-loaded first-round pick who arrived wide-eyed in the United States three and a half years ago, tweeting breathlessly about his first smoothie, refusing to use the auto-pump feature on his gas nozzle because he was so excited to pump it himself, chirping after a burger at In-N-Out in Westwood Village: “This is America right here! The real America! Isn’t it beautiful?” No, here he is the lanky hustler from Athens, peddling watches, sunglasses, toys and video games, on the streets near the Acropolis while his parents feared that police would demand their papers and deport them back to Africa. Much of his backstory has been told, how Charles and Veronica Antetokounmpo emigrated from Nigeria to Greece in 1991 for a better life, had four boys there, and bounced from one eviction notice to another. But the further Giannis gets from his childhood, the more it resonates, in different ways. “I can’t push it to the side,” Antetokounmpo explains. “I can’t say, ‘I’ve made it, I’m done with all that.’ I will always carry it with me. It’s where I learned to work like this.” He could sell all day, serenade tourists with Christmas carols at night, and return home without enough cash for dinner. Still, he laments, “The results were never guaranteed.” Therein he finds the biggest difference between his life then and now. “If I work here,” he says, “I get the results. That’s the greatest feeling ever for me.” It keeps him coming back to the gym—straight from the arena after losses, straight from the airport after road trips, straight from the bed after back-to-backs. Antetokounmpo stands 6' 11", with legs so long opposing coaches constantly complain that he is traveling, until they review the tape. “He’s not,” says Wizards coach Scott Brooks. “It’s just that we’ve never seen somebody with a stride like this.” Among the NBA’s legion of stretchy giants, Kevin Durant is the scorer, Anthony Davis the slasher. Antetokounmpo is the creator, traversing half the court with four Sasquatch steps, surveying traffic like a big rig over smart cars. Durant and Davis try to play point guard. Antetokounmpo actually does it, dropping dimes over and around defenders’ heads, leading the Bucks in every major category; 23.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 2.0 blocks and 2.0 steals. This season he will be the team's first All-Star since Michael Redd in 2004, and before you learn to spell his surname, he will be much more. STACY REVERE/GETTY IMAGES Growing up, his customers occasionally mentioned his cartoonishly long limbs, but he shrugged. He didn’t need a 7' 3" wingspan. He needed a sucker to buy those knockoff shades. He viewed himself less as The Greek Freak than a Greek grinder. “I didn’t really look at my body and think about what it meant,” Antetokounmpo says. “I didn’t figure it out.” He glances down at his 12-inch hands, bigger than Kawhi Leonard’s, bigger than Wilt Chamberlain’s. He finally knows those names. “A lot of players will tell you, ‘When I was a kid, I watched Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, LeBron, Magic, and I wanted to be just like them,’ ” Antetokounmpo says. “For me it wasn’t like that at all.” He laughs, because at last he grasps the magnitude of his gifts and the ways they can be unleashed. He understands that a 22-year-old with his build and his drive should never go home hungry again. Antetokounmpo lives in a modest three-story townhouse near Saint Francis de Sales Seminary, in the same complex as his parents. Like any hoop phenom, he subsists on Wingstop and NBA TV. But when he needs to steady himself amid his unimpeded ascent, he heads west to Omega restaurant, where 24 hours a day he can order gyros and lamb chops with sides of nostalgia and perspective. “I think about where I was four years ago, on the streets, and where I am today, able to take care of my kids and my grandkids and their grandkids,” Antetokounmpo marvels. “I’m not saying that in a cocky way or a disrespectful way. But it is a crazy story, isn’t it?” On March 28, 2013, Bucks general manager John Hammond sat in a dining room at the Bradley Center before a game against the Lakers and explained why his team could not acquire a superstar. Hammond was in his fifth season, with a record of 181–206, never good enough to contend and never bad enough to tank. The stars he had brought to Milwaukee, if you can call them that, were Brandon Jennings, Monta Ellis, John Salmons and Carlos Delfino. Hammond outlined the two most obvious ways to land a prospective headliner: Finish on the fringe of the lottery and turn a lucky Ping-Pong ball into the first overall draft pick, which has about a 1.8% chance of occurring. Or pitch a premier free agent on a small market with a frigid climate and a mediocre roster, which comes with even steeper odds. Milwaukee went 15–67 in Antetokounmpo’s rookie season, which dampened his enthusiasm not a bit. He memorized lines from Coming to America andNext Friday. He learned to throw a football with Morway’s sons, Michael and Robbie. He begged teammates to play the shooting game two-for-a-dollar that he picked up from power forward John Henson. When a Greek TV station came to visit, he told Geiger they would need a customized handshake, “so we look like we know what we’re doing.” The Bucks were brutal, and The Greek Freak averaged only 6.8 points, a reserve small forward who spent most of his time marooned in the corner, probing for open spaces and put-back dunks. But he provided highlights and hope. “I love Milwaukee!” Antetokounmpo told teammates over lunch at the facility one day. “I’m going to be in Milwaukee 20 years! I’ll be here so long they’ll be sick of me!” He feared that somebody would wake him from his dream and send him home. “That they’d take it all away from me,” he says. JEFFREY PHELPS/GETTY IMAGES To Bucks vets, Antetokounmpo supplied comic relief during a dismal winter, but Geiger sensed he was capable of more. One night they were watching a game on television when Antetokounmpo shouted, “Whoa! Did you see that?” Geiger hit rewind. Antetokounmpo was always amazed he could rewind live TV. “There it is!” Antetokounmpo yelped. “Look at the action on the help side and how that opens up the whole play!” Another night Geiger invited him to dinner at a friend’s house and Antetokounmpo barely uttered a word. On the way home, he told Geiger, “You’re really close with Erik, but you’re not that close with Matt.” “He was right,” Geiger says. “He knows how to read people and situations. That’s because of how he grew up. He couldn’t waste his time selling you something for five minutes if you weren’t going to buy. He had to read body language and move on.” When Antetokounmpo reminisces about his rookie year, he sounds as if he is talking about another era and another person. “I was like a kid in the park, seeing all the cities, seeing LeBron and KD, having so much fun. But that kid—the kid with the smoothies—I’m not really that kid anymore.”

You're very insensitive... his mother recently had a double mastectomy: Joanna Kerns is opening up about her double mastectomy after a scary breast cancer diagnosis. The 64-year-old actress, best known for starring as Maggie Malone Seaver on “Growing Pains,” was recently “given an all clear” after the surgery. “Had I not caught my cancer this early on, I would have had to have a year of chemotherapy, and because of the reoccurrence and aggressiveness of this particular type of cancer, which was non-invasive HER2, I chose to do the mastectomy,” Kernstold People. In November 2016, the star was diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ, a non-invasive, stage zero cancer trapped inside the milk ducts. She received the shocking news during a routine mammography screening. After two lumpectomies, Kerns chose to have a double mastectomy in December. “What was really interesting about this process is that breast cancer does not run in my family,” she explained. “I have been vigilant about screenings and exams, except this time I had missed a couple of years in there due to work and family issues, and suddenly I turn around, and it’s two years later, and I hadn’t done it and I have cancer — it was quite shocking.” Just one week after Kern’s mastectomy, Alan Thicke, who played her husband Jason Seaver on ABC’s hit sitcom, died from a heart attack at age 69. “Growing Pains” aired from 1985 until 1992. “It was so devastating,” said Kerns. “It was just a very, very hard time. I did go to the memorial four weeks out, and I was very happy to see my whole cast and my producers and dear friends.” These days, Kerns is feeling great again and has followed a “whole-food, plant-based diet” to stay healthy. “Today, I take care of myself and I’m vigilant — and I’m working out!” she said. “[My husband and I] went to Scotland and I played golf for nine days.”

Michelle Rounds, the ex-wife of Rosie O’Donnell, died earlier this week. She was 46. Sources told TMZ, which first reported the news, that Rounds died of an apparent suicide on Monday. “I am saddened to hear about this terrible tragedy. Mental illness is a very serious issue affecting many families,” O’Donnell said in a statement to Page Six. “My thoughts and prayers go out to Michelle’s family, her wife Krista, and their child.” O’Donnell and Rounds started dating in 2011 and married the next year. After just over two years of marriage, the television star filed for divorce in early 2015. The divorce was finalized in March of last year. The former couple adopted a daughter, now 4-year-old Dakota, shortly after they were married. Rounds, who was born in Corning, NY, was remembered in her obituary for “her beautiful smile and beautiful long flowing red hair; her signature some would say.” “The love she had for her family and friends was unconditional,” the obit reads. “Not to be fooled by her appearance; Michelle was a high-class ‘tom boy’ who was a sharp shooter, enjoyed boxing, golfing and the great outdoors.” Her family is holding a private memorial. There will be no public services.

I'd hire my late husband, Jon-Erik, the night before, just to warn him about the dangers of playing with prop guns. Then I'd let him show me his gratitude (all night long) for saving his life.

MARLON TEIXEIRA!!! https://www.companyofmen.org/threads/teixeira.127637/ http://ftape.com/media/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Marlon-Teixeira_LOfficiel-Hommes-Korea_02.jpg http://amsterdam-ftv-blog.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Marlon-Teixeira-2.jpg http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-50FdlGxGyJ0/UFLRgdaLw1I/AAAAAAAAHRE/6t4ssgS3y9Q/s640/Marlon+Teixeira+-WONDERFUL+FAKE.jpg

I wanted to see him on Broadway with Edie Falco in Frankie & Johnny, not because I had interest in the play, but because he got naked. Alas, I didn't have the funds. I first noticed him (& found him VERY attractive) as Richard Cross in MURDER ONE, for which he was ROBBED of an Emmy.

That was MY annual April Fools posting at Atkol. I 'got' several people each of the first two years, then everyone caught on after that.

No need to Walk the Plank!! Just make Plans to visit your nearest participating Long John Silver's on September 19, 2017! On International Talk Like a Pirate Day- we will be giving away a Free Deep Fried Twinkie in exchange for your best Pirate "Aarrrgggghhhh!" Prices and Tax may vary. At participating restaurants. One per person. See your restaurant for more details.

The Aussies cover it: They also cover Madonna:

I have this 45: It was co-written by Ms. Midler, Bruce Roberts, & the ex-Mrs. Burt Bacharach, who had her own version: Wonder Woman gets into the act: Even Norma Rae gave it a try: Let's try it with a Swedish accent: I once saw Bonnie Franklin sing it on a talk show, but can't find a video of it.

Why didn't you post the DEFINITIVE version of that song? Valerie Bertinelli's & Mackenzie Phillips' mom's version:

Why didn't you post the DEFINITIVE version of that song? Valerie Bertinelli's & Mackenzie Phillips' mom's version:

I didn't go through this whole thread, but did anybody mention THIS great cover? This is the entire 17:32 side of the album: or THIS one? How about THESE:? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjhSc1P5ONQ

Speaking of classic covers by The Carpenters: The original was by a group named Klaatu (Richard Carpenter saw Bette Midler singing this on The Tonight Show & thought it would be perfect for Karen.) (BTW, WE'VE ONLY JUST BEGUN started out as a bank commercial, before Richard saw it & asked the authors to adapt it into a full-length version..) (Elton was able to improve The Beatles AND The Who!) THE ORIGINAL: Olivia's sister, Juice Newton-John, did the cover:

Of course, anybody who covers a Beatles song is a good bet to improve it: Urethra Franklin: Elton John: The Carpenters (twice): The Chipmunks: (this entire album was a classic!)

how I LOATHE her destruction of that song. One NY radio station talked about the Whitney Houston car alarm... I-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI... will always love (LOATHE) you, I-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI-eI...

The original classic: The excellent cover:

Speaking of discount albums... I stumbled upon a classic... a brilliant comedy album... Totie Fields live in Vegas for 79 cents in the discount section of Sam Goody's (a record store... remember those?).

I remember when he was married to James Mason's sister Marsha. A favorite childhood memory... I went to the record department (remember those?) in Alexander's department store. At the register they were selling 'The Simon Sisters sing for children' for ten cents. Obviously, it was a big seller. They had a stack, but I stupidly bought only 2... they made great gag gifts. When gift-wrapped, the recipient obviously knew it was an album & got excited... until it was unwrapped!

David Robertson http://www.captainsblog.info/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/David-Robertson-stretch.jpg http://www.chicagosplash.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/David-Robertson-Kirsten-Miccoli-for-Sun-Times-SPLASH-01.jpg Cute tush, too http://bronxbaseballdaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/David-Robertson-2.png

THE TUSHIES OF SEATTLE: http://www.seattlepi.com/sports/baseball/article/Baseball-butts-Getting-to-the-bottom-of-the-11967132.php

I think Paul's siblings Neil & Carly are more talented than he is.

I just like seeing Alaina's eyes cross when she hits the high notes. By the way, with that voice, she's obviously going to college to study NEUROSCIENCE. I'm envisioning a medical version of COP ROCK in her future.

Funny, considering I started the thread... about delightful singing (duets). It's not about choreography that may or may not have been brilliant, but was definitely (at least at times) incredibly boring, or at least set to incredibly boring musical numbers. We just got off on a tangent when I was reminded of that horrible, psyche-scarring (and wallet-draining) evening years ago when I attempted to sit through an evening highlighting the career of a possibly over-hyped 'legend'. That's several hundred hours (or so it seemed) of my life I'll never get back.

I stand corrected. He directed and choreographed some incredibly boring material.