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Are These April Fools Jokes?

1 Apr

I really can’t tell. Both would be horrifying (though one more so) if true.

1) Urban Improv Performer Attacked: This seems like something that could be a joke, but it seems horrifyingly real. The joke was supposed to be that an actor dressed like Jar Jar Binks jumped on the subway and began chatting with people on the car. At the next stop a character dressed as Darth Maul was supposed to board as well, followed by a fight. Unfortunately, a real fight broke out. Three guys were annoyed by Jar Jar and jumped him. Improv Everywhere employee Charlie added a disclaimer at the end of the movie and said the actor wanted to press charges. If you know anything about the incident, Improv Everywhere wants you to contact them.

2) Desperate Chefs’ Wives: So, renowned chef and restauranteur Jose Andres took to Twitter this morning, claiming that NBC ordered a show called Desperate Chefs’ Wives. It will feature the wives of Tom Colicchio, Anthony Bourdain, Eric Ripert, Andres and Conan O’Brien (?). Now, I would automatically assume this was an April Fools joke, but NBC makes such terrible programming decisions that there is small chance it’s true. Not likely though.

NEw Show Andres

Tik Root Released From Custody

1 Apr

Good news from Damascus this morning. Middlebury College student Tik Root has been released from Syrian custody this morning, according to a press release from the College.

Root had been held by Syrian authorities for over two weeks after being detained while taking pictures at an anti-government protest. Additional details are few and far between, but this is wonderful news for the Roots, Middlebury and the United States.

Tik Root

Gandhi Loved a Man Named Hermann Kallenbach

31 Mar

According to a new book, Mahatma Gandhi loved a German bodybuilder named Hermann Kallenbach. Though Gandhi slept in the same bed with naked women, including his naked great-niece, he rarely engaged in any sort of sexual activity with them. He left his wife in 1908 for Kallenbach.

In one letter, Gandhi told Kallenbach about “how completely you have taken ­possession of my body. This is slavery with a vengeance. Your portrait (the only one) stands on my mantelpiece in my bedroom.”

They were forced apart in 1914, but as late as 1933 Gandhi wrote Kallenbach about how much he cared for him.

Another “Pirates” Movie Already in the Works

30 Mar

We’re still a couple of months away from the debut of the fourth installment of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movie francise, but Disney already has the script for a fifth adventure written.

Starting with the fourth movie and continuing with future ones in the francise, the stories will stand alone as singular adventures of Captain Jack Sparrow. The first three movies contained the same general characters and thematic elements.

Johnny Depp will likely continue on as Jack Sparrow. Thew new movies will hope to recapture the magic from the first (and arguably the second) movies in the series. The third suffered from lackluster critical reviews.

 

 

Missing Student Tik Root Located, “Safe and Well”

26 Mar

Tik Root

Middlebury College posted an update from Tom Root, the father of missing Middlebury student Tik Root, this morning. Though he remains in the custody of Syrian authorities, Root has been located and is “safe and well.” Currently, the Syrian authorities are responsible for his well-being. In the update, Tom Root thanked Senator Patrick Leahy and Ambassador Imad Moustapha for their work on the case.

Professors Tom Root and Andi Lloyd participated in a wave of press interviews yesterday to spread the word about Tik’s plight. Those included interviews with WCAX-TV (Burlington), WBUR in Boston, and an interview with “CNN In The Arena” with Eliot Spitzer.

We continue to hope for a peaceful and happy ending to this situation shortly.