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Overnight Briefing & General Reality Check - Jun 6, 2014
June 6, 2014
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What's the Buzz:
MAYA ANGELOU's memorial service is scheduled for tomorrow morning at Wake Forest University's chapel in Winston-Salem, NC.
A University spokesperson says Maya's family will have a private service, but Wake Forest will be streaming it online at go.wfu.edu/angeloumemorial. There will also apparently be other memorial events in other cities as well.Broadcast, cable and video news:
KISS' GENE SIMMONS is co-producing a new Lifetime series. It's called "Ugly Models." And true to the Gene Simmons aesthetic, the reality show will follow a U-K modeling agency that works with "character models with unique and unusual looks" as it makes its way into the U.S. market.
The report from Rolling Stone's website says the modeling agency's motto is, "Any beauty can be airbrushed but we want to have true character."
The agency has been in business since 1969, currently represents over 1,000 models between the ages of 18 and 100 and sizes six and 30. Among its models are the Guinness World Record's tallest man – SULTAN KÖSEN, who is just over eight feet tall – and a woman with 2,520 piercings. (Ouch!)
"Ugly Models" isn't Simmons' only TV series. He's also teamed up with fellow Kiss member PAUL STANLEY for an AMC reality series about the arena football team they own, the L.A. Kiss. That show, called "4th and Loud" premieres later this summer. (Bartha)Tampering with Mother Nature:
Warning: note sexual content:
Tech Times reports researchers at England's University of Sheffield found that smoking weed can warp a guy's little swimmers. They were looking at sperm viability in men who were trying to have a baby, when they stumbled on the marijuana connection.
The researchers discovered the males with abnormal sperm were those who'd smoked pot within the three months before providing the sperm sample. No link between abnormal sperm and other lifestyle habits such as smoking or drinking; the researchers say that might be because the men in the study quit those habits because they were trying to have children!
Researcher Dr ALAN PACEY hypothesizes that the weed affects sperm formation at a critical phase. "When sperm are made, the DNA they maintain has to be packaged in the head very tightly, and when that process doesn't work properly, you get an abnormal sperm. So the cannabis is maybe interrupting that DNA folding."
(Fun Fact: According to the American Society for Reproductive Medicine a third of all infertility issues are tied to the male partner. --Kaye)Horsies:
The Belmont Stakes is the third and final leg of racing's Triple Crown. The 146th running takes place this Saturday (Jun 07), after the ceremonial playing of FRANK SINATRA's "New York, New York" and the call to post for a $1.5 million first prize. California Chrome has looked unbeatable in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes and it will be interesting to see if anyone can challenge him in New York. Of course, if California Chrome wins the race, he also becomes the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 35 years since Affirmed in 1978.
Here are the odds to win this year's race (horse followed by post position in parentheses:
--Matuzak (6), 50/1 (longshot)
--Commissioner (8) and Matterhorn (3), both 33/1
--Samraat (7) and General A Rod (10), both 28/1
--Medal Count (1), 20/1
--Commanding Curve (4), 9/1
--Tonalist (11) and Wicked Strong (9), both 7/1
--Ride On Curlin (5), 13/2
--California Chrome (2), 10/11 (favorite)Last five Triple Crown winners:
1978: Affirmed
1977: Seattle Slew
1973: Secretariat
1948: Citation
1946: Assault -
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