off the leash

Whatever Happened To? George Foreman

Posted on August 18, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Some of you likely remember George Foreman for his illustrious boxing career. He won a gold medal. He was heavyweight champion. He was Muhammad Ali’s foe in the 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” (Ali won). He retired for ten years then famously made a comeback and would become heavyweight champion a second time at the unlikely age of 45.

Others may remember George Foreman’s signature on a pretty common 1990’s cooking appliance, the mean lean grilling machine, aka the George Foreman Grill. The TV ads that resulted in millions of sales showed a different George Foreman, a smilling, affable, big teddy bear.

What you may not know about George Foreman is, he is a preacher, he has 12 kids and a world class car collection, and has recently been the subject of sexual abuse allegations.

How is it that the guy who knocked out Joe Frazier ended up with his name on a countertop hamburger maker? Here’s the story:

“As it turns out, the George Foreman Grill was not actually invented by George Foreman. It was actually invented by Michael Boehm, and it was Boehm and his associates who reached out to George about becoming the grill’s brand ambassador. George was already an ambassador for several products, and he was reticent to take the offer, in part because they weren’t offering him any money upfront.

“Ultimately, a lawyer friend of his put him on the spot over the phone, and his wife, having overheard the conversation, decided to try the grill out for herself. She told George she liked its dual surface technology, and eventually convinced George himself by grilling him a burger on it. After trying a burger and seeing the grill, he was impressed, and decided that he would join the venture.” (Joseph Allen, Aug. 28 2023, disractify.com)

According to Foreman, who got 40% of grill sales, the deal netted him $138 million.

When he was not knocking out opponents or hyping his grill, Forman was building a family, A big one. He had 12 children, five sons and seven daughters. He has been married to Mary Joan Martelly since 1985. Two of his daughters are from that marriage. Before that, he had four other wives.

Foreman named all five on his sons after himself. He explained that to Yahoo Entertainmant:

“I chose to give all my sons the name George Edward Foreman to ensure they share a common bond. I often tell them, ‘If one of us achieves success, we all rise together, and if one faces challenges, we face them together as a united front!’” (Gabrielle Tazewell, June 17, 2024)

A couple of his kids took after their dad and found themselves in the ring. The George Edward Foreman known as “Monk” has fought 17 professional bouts and won them all. Now 41, he, like his father, retired and then made a comeback.

One of his daughters, Freeda Foreman, also became a professional boxer. She won her first five fights, then, after losing the sixth, retired and became a boxing promoter. Freeda passed away in 2019 at the age of 42 in what is believed to have been a suicide.

It was after one of the low points in Foreman’s career that his commitment to religion was born. In 1977 he lost a fight to Jimmy Young, the result of which was his first retirement. There were other implications. They are described below by Rob Weatherby in a Sept. 23, 2023 article in Pelham Today.

“After his last fight, Foreman became ill in his dressing room suffering from exhaustion and heatstroke. He had a near-death experience. He remembers being in a ‘hellish, frightening place of nothingness and despair.’ He begged God to help him and heard God say, ‘I don’t want your money. I want you.’

“After this traumatic experience, Foreman committed his life to Christ. In his words: ‘I dropped everything I was doing to tell everyone that Jesus Christ is alive. I had gone all over the world to exalt George Foreman. Now I want to go all over telling people about Jesus.’ He started by preaching on street corners and eventually became an ordained minister with the ‘Church of the Lord Jesus Christ’ in Houston.

“He now devoted his time to his family and congregation. He also opened a youth center for troubled youth and shared his story on Christian television broadcasts. Foreman often uses boxing terms in his preaching.”

An AP story from Aug. 8, 2015 offers an example:

“The Rev. George Foreman flipped his Bible open to the Book of Genesis, let fly with a left hook for Jesus and sent Satan sprawling into the ropes.

“‘You’ve got to learn how to fight!’ he exhorted. ‘If you believe in God, you’ve got to fight for him.’

“The Sunday morning faithful, warmed by a hand-clapping round of gospel singing, rocked on their hard wooden pews with the verbal punch.

“At 66, Foreman — a two-time world heavyweight champion and veteran of more than 80 scarring professional boxing bouts — might be graying, his card-topping pugilistic battles long over. But in his bout against sin as pastor of north Houston’s Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, he is still a powerhouse slugger.

“In a 60-minute exposition on God’s creation of the world, he touched on false philosophers; biology; Pluto; marijuana; boxing punches; getting lost in traffic; the morals of dogs; the morals of women who buy booze by the gallon; people who wallow; crops and weeds; and, of course, Adam, Eve, the Garden of Eden, a treacherous serpent and an angry God.”

Aside from the Bible-thumping, Foreman has put together an impressive collection of cars, including vintage Ferrari’s, Corvettes, Cadillacs, even a 1931 Ford. Nico DeMattia of Yahoo Autos (Nov. 18, 2023) has this to say about Foreman’s collection:

“Of all the celebrity car collections I’ve seen, this is one of my favorites because you can tell Foreman actually likes cars. There are just so many oddball vehicles in his collection that you know he didn’t buy them for status and prestige, he bought them because he liked them.

“Most of Foreman’s cars he bought new, making them one-owner cars with an incredibly famous single owner. They aren’t all perfect, either, and both Foreman and Hagerty are upfront about the flaws and issues with some of them. The overall quality of the collection is incredible, though, and there are some genuinely cool cars to comb through.”

Foreman recently put a part of his collection up for sale. Hagerty is the auction house selling the vehicles. Foreman told the Robb Report “I have been a car collector and enthusiast most of my life, but the time has come for me to share my cars with other like-minded enthusiasts.” (Rachel Cormack, Nov 20, 2023 )

Now 75, Foreman is facing a new set of challenges.

David Chen of the New York Times filed this story on Aug. 24, 2022.

“Two women filed lawsuits Wednesday in California alleging that George Foreman, the former world heavyweight boxing champion, sexually abused them when they were teenagers in California in the 1970s.

“According to the lawsuits, the women, using the pseudonyms Gwen H. and Denise S. to protect their identities, initially met Foreman when they were under 10 years old through their fathers. One man was a boxer and sparring partner of Foreman, while the other was a boxing manager and longtime adviser to Foreman.

“Foreman then groomed the girls for several years, according to the complaints, before forcing them to have sex with him in places ranging from a San Francisco hotel to an apartment in Beverly Hills. The two women, who are both in their early 60s, filed the complaints in Los Angeles County Superior Court.”

Foreman was adamant is his denials. He gave this statement to the New York Post (April 8, 2023):

“Over the past six months, two women have been trying to extort millions of dollars each from me and my family. They are falsely claiming that I sexually abused them over 45 years ago in the 1970s. I adamantly and categorically deny these allegations.

“The pride I take in my reputation means as much to me as my sports accomplishments, and I will not be intimidated by baseless threats and lies. I am, and always will be, guided by my faith and trust in God. I will work with my lawyers to fully and truthfully expose my accusers’ schemes and defend myself in court. I don’t pick fights, but I don’t run away from them either.”

Shortly after that another allegation appeared in USA Today (Josh Peter, April 26, 2023).

“A third woman has said Hall of Fame boxer George Foreman committed sexual battery against her when she was a minor and Foreman was in his 20s in the 1970s, according to a copy of a civil lawsuit obtained by USA TODAY Sports.

“The woman, identified as Jane Doe, said she was 15 when Foreman propositioned her with money in exchange for him sexually abusing her, according to the lawsuit.”

At time of writing, none of these suits have either been settled or gone to court.

(George Foreman passed away in March 2025, 7 months after this was published.)

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Whatever Happened To?

Posted in Sports | Tagged Boxing, George Foreman, George Foreman Grill, sports | 1 Comment

Whatever Happened To? Roman Polanski

Posted on August 11, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Roman Polanski is known for two things: great movies and sexual abuse Those two themes have followed him throughout a long career.

Born in France, but raised in Poland, Polanski survived the Holocaust as a child. He made his directorial debut with the Polish film Knife in the Water (1962), a favorite of mine. Many films would follow, some of which were masterpieces: The Fearless Vampire Killers (1967), Rosemary’s Baby (1968), Chinatown (1974), Bitter Moon (1992), The Pianist (2002), An Officer and a Spy (2019). And that’s just to name a few.

While working on The Fearless Vampire Killers, he met the actress Sharon Tate. They married in 1968. In August of 1969, Tate, in her eight month of pregnancy, was brutally murdered by Charles Manson and his cult. Polanski was filming in Europe at the time. Some have attributed what would come later to this horrific event.

“Polanski started his dangerous descent into depravity after the infamous and brutal murder of his wife Sharon Tate and their unborn son. In August of 1969, cult members of the Manson family attacked the eight-month pregnant actress and stabbed her as well as her friends around 100 times. Polanski was never the same, indulging in extensive drug abuse to cope with the trauma.” (Swapnil Dhruv Bose, Far Out Magazine, Feb. 1, 2021)

Another life changing event, one that would become inextricably tied to Polanski’s identify, occurred in 1977. “Roman Polanski conducts a photo shoot with a 13-year-old girl at Jack Nicholson’s house. As she later testifies, Polanski gives the girl champagne and part of a sedative during the shoot, then forced her to have sex. She says she repeatedly told Polanski no during intercourse, but says she did not fight him because she was afraid of him.” (AP, July 19, 2022)

Polanski was arrested and charged with unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, rape by use of drugs, perversion, sodomy, a lewd and lascivious act upon on child under the age of 14, and furnishing a controlled substance to a minor. He entered a plea bargain in which he would plead guilty to the first charge. However, he believed the judge in the case was not going to honor the terms of the plea bargain and was going to send him to jail. He flew the coup and has lived the rest of his life mostly in France, avoiding countries that might extradite him back to the U.S.

The girl, Samantha Greimer, would later sue Polanski, charging him with sexual assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and seduction. They settled out of court in 1993, five years after the suit was filed. Polanski reportedly agreed to pay $500,000.

These days, Greimer is ready to forget the whole thing. “The woman at the center of the 40-year-old sexual abuse case against Roman Polanski asked a Los Angeles County judge on Friday to end the legal proceedings in the case. ‘I would implore you to do this for me, out of mercy for myself,’ Samantha Geimer, now 54, told Judge Scott M. Gordon of Los Angeles County Superior Court, according to Agence France-Presse. Ms. Geimer has spoken out in recent years on behalf of Mr. Polanski.” (Sophie Haigney, New York Times, June 9, 2017)

In an interview last year, Greiner said: “Let me be very clear: what happened with Polanski was never a big problem for me. I didn’t even know it was illegal, that someone could be arrested for it. I was fine, I’m still fine. The fact that we’ve made this thing up weighs on me terribly. To have to constantly repeat that it wasn’t a big deal, it’s a terrible burden.” (Samatha Bergeson and Ryan Lattanzio, Indie Wire, April 14, 2023

I found the number and names of people in the industry who were willing to support Polanski pretty surprising. The story in Far Out Magazine cited above also noted “in 2009, an astonishingly large number of leading figures in the film industry signed a petition calling for his release including David Lynch, Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Wong Kar-wai and Woody Allen. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that even Harvey Weinstein came to his defence. All of this was a reaction to Polanski’s 2008 arrest at Zurich airport which was futile because he was released in 2010 anyway.” I guess we shouldn’t be surprised to find Allen and Weinstein on that list.

Not everyone is willing to forgive and forget. In 2018 he was expelled from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, along with Bill Cosby, citing that organization’s ‘Standards of Conduct.’ In 2021 he sued the academy seeking reinstatement but his appeal was denied by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge.

An award he was presented in 2020 led to an immediate backlash. “Roman Polanski, the film director who fled the United States in 1978 while awaiting sentencing for unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, was a big winner Friday night at the Césars, France’s equivalent of the Academy Awards, leading several actors to walk out of the ceremony in outrage.

“He was named best director for ‘J’accuse’ (The English title: ’An Officer and a Spy’). ‘Very few’ people applauded Mr. Polanski’s best director award, said Le Monde, the French newspaper.

“Adèle Haenel, one of France’s most prominent young actresses who said she had suffered from sexual abuse in the country’s film industry, was one of those who left the room at the César ceremony, waving an arm in disgust and appearing to say, ‘Shame’.” (Alex Marshall, New York Times, Feb. 28, 2020)

And this was the scene when Polanski’s most recent film The Palace appeared at the Venice Film Festival last year: “‘Island of rapists,’ ‘No Golden Lion for predators,’ ‘Sexist cinema/ feminist response’ read the banners, posted on the Lido near the Venice Film Festival on Sunday, an anonymous protest against the inclusion by the 80th Biennale of films from controversial directors Roman Polanski and Woody Allen.”(Ilaria Ravario and Scott Roxborough, Hollywood Reporter, Sept. 3, 2023)

Roman Pulanski — (photo by Georges Biard)

Meanwhile, more skeletons were emerging from Pulansky’s closet. In October of 2017 Sophie Haigney wrote this story in the New York Times (Oct. 3, 2017): “Renate Langer, a 61-year-old former German actress, has reported to the Swiss police that the film director Roman Polanski raped her at a house in Gstaad in February 1972, when she was 15.

“Ms. Langer is the fourth woman to publicly accuse Mr. Polanski of sexually assaulting her when she was a teenager.

“The police in St. Gallen, Switzerland, confirmed that they met with Ms. Langer on Sept. 26. Ms. Langer provided The New York Times with a copy of an email — sent by a Swiss police officer — saying that another office would make the determination as to whether she could pursue a criminal complaint.”

And that same month The Guardian ran a story of another transgression (Oct. 23, 2017 by Gwilyn Mumford): “A Californian artist has accused Roman Polanski of sexually assaulting her when she was 10 years old, the fifth such allegation of abuse made against the director.

“Marianne Barnard has told the Sun that she was molested by Polanski in 1975, two years before the director fled the US after pleading guilty to statutory rape. The artist claims that the incident took place at a beach in California following a photoshoot where the director asked her to pose naked.”

Los Angeles prosecutors decided not to bring criminal charges in this case because the allegations were deemed to be too old.

In 2019, a French actress told a now familiar tale. “The French actress Valentine Monnier has accused director Roman Polanski of raping her in 1975 when she was 18 years old. Monnier spoke about the incident to Le Parisien, and (as translated in Variety) said that she didn’t know the director personally before agreeing to go skiing at his chalet in Gstaad, Switzerland. ‘Life had not trained me to be suspicious,’ Monnier said. She claims he called her upstairs one evening, attacking and hitting her, and ripping off her clothes before raping her. The French newspaper spoke with several people who said Monnier had told them about the alleged incident shortly afterward.” (New York Magazine, Jackson McHenry, Nov. 9, 2019)

And how did Roman Polanski react to the MeToo movement? Well, you can’t make this stuff up. He blamed Harvey Weinstein for his problems! “…in an extraordinary twist he (Pulanski) blamed Harvey Weinstein for his woes, in an interview with Paris Match magazine published on Wednesday.

“He claimed that the disgraced Hollywood mogul tried to brand him a ‘child rapist’ to stop him (unsuccessfully, it turned out) winning an Oscar in 2003 for The Pianist. Polanski – a fugitive from US justice since 1978 when he absconded after admitting the statutory rape of a 13-year-old girl, Samantha Geimer – also dismissed the latest rape allegations against him as ‘absurd’.

“He said he ‘absolutely denied’ beating and raping French photographer Valentine Monnier at his Swiss chalet in 1975.” (Agence France-Presse, Dec. 11, 2019)

His reputation as a brilliant filmmaker also has taken a hit with the release last year of The Palace.

https://youtu.be/SVq59g53Gis?si=chms6XB6roHWl0JF

I personally have not seen it, nor do I intend to, after seeing some of the reviews. Here are two samples.

David Mouriquand, Euronews, March 28, 2024

“The Palace is not the work of a great filmmaker.

“Granted, few filmmakers have a spotless filmography; however, it is no exaggeration to state that Polanski’s latest can’t even be qualified as ‘cinema.’ It’s a visual root canal

“As a fan of Polanski’s films – Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown and The Pianist are flawless films, and I have a particular soft spot for The Ninth Gate and The Ghost Writer – I can comfortably say that it’s the worst film the Franco-Polish director has ever put his name to.

“Take my word for it. I have suffered through this ‘absurd and provocative black comedy’ so you don’t have to.”

In a savage zero-star review for The Times, critic Kevin Maher branded the film Polanski’s “latest and worst opus, an eye-scorching atrocity that is instantly one of the most egregious film-making failures of the year, possibly even the decade.” (The Independent, Sept. 5, 2023)

Its rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which at one point was 0, is now 10%.

It’s 2024. Pulansky is 90 years old. As for the accusations and the court actions? There’s no end in sight.

The Los Angeles Times (by Christi Carras, Stacy Perman and James Queally March 12, 2024) reported in March about yet another case involving the rape of a minor.

“A trial date has been set in a civil case alleging that Roman Polanski raped a child in the 1970s, years before he was arrested for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl in a separate case.

“The trial is scheduled to take place on Aug. 4, 2025, following a lawsuit that accused Polanski of giving a child alcohol and raping her at his Benedict Canyon home. The complaint was filed last June in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

“The filmmaker wasn’t named in the case until July; the plaintiff remains anonymous as Jane Doe. The suit was originally filed without the plaintiff’s or defendant’s names made public.”

The Los Angeles Daily News reported a temporary settlement of this case last month. No terms were disclosed.

The AP has this story by Andrew Dalton (March 12, 2024):

“A woman has sued director Roman Polanski, alleging he raped her in his home when she was a minor in 1973.

“The woman aired the allegations which the 90-year-old Polanski has denied, in a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred, on Tuesday.

“The woman who filed the civil lawsuit said she went to dinner with Polanski, who knew she was under 18, in 1973 months after she had met him at a party. She said Polanski gave her tequila shots at his home beforehand and at the restaurant.

“She said she became groggy, and Polanski drove her home. She next remembers lying next to him in his bed.

“‘He told her that he wanted to have sex with her,’ the lawsuit says. ‘Plaintiff, though groggy, told Defendant ‘No.’ She told him ‘Please don’t do this.’ He ignored her pleas. Defendant Polanski removed Plaintiff’s clothes and he proceeded to rape her causing her tremendous physical and emotional pain and suffering.’”

The same month this news came out of France:

“Veteran Franco-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski will go on trial in France on Tuesday over allegations he defamed a British actress who accused him 14 years ago of sexual abuse in the 1980s.

“Charlotte Lewis in 2010 accused Polanski of sexually assaulting her ‘in the worst possible way’ as a 16-year-old in 1983 in Paris after she traveled there for a casting. She appeared in his 1986 film ‘Pirates’.” (Agence France-Presse, May 14, 2024)

Polanski was cleared in that case, a Parisian court ruling he did not defame Lewis.

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Whatever Happened To?

Posted in Whatever Happened To? | Tagged entertainment, movies, Roman Pulanski, Samantha Greimer, sexual abuse, Sharon Tate | 6 Comments

Whatever Happened To? Lance Armstrong

Posted on August 4, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Has anyone ever made the downward plunge from GOAT to goat faster than Lance Armstrong.

Possibly the most famous cyclist ever, Armstrong won seven consecutive Tour de France titles, starting in 1999. What made his story even move compelling was that he was a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1996.

The crown disappeared from Armstrong in 2012 when the United State Anti-Doping Agency concluded that not only did he use performance enhancing drugs but he was also the ringleader of a widespread doping program. As a result he was stripped of all his Tour de France titles as well as his Olympic bronze medal and he was banned from the sport of cycling for life.

The consequences came fast and furious. The following appeared on CNBC on Oct. 18, 2012 :

“Lance Armstrong started Wednesday morning with 11 sponsors listed on his website, LanceArmstrong.com. By 6 p.m. Eastern Time, all but three would renounce their relationship with the legendary cyclist.

“Some sponsors would take immediate action, some would choose to let current deals expire and some would condemn Armstrong’s alleged behavior but regardless of the path chosen the result would be the same: their ties to one of the most famous athletes in the world would be cut.”

Nike was the first to bail.

Where was Arnstrong while this was happening? Juliet Macur, who has written extensively about Armstrong in the New York Times, filed this report on Nov. 12, 2012:

“Last month, the United States Anti-Doping Agency made public its evidence in its doping case against Armstrong, saying he had doped and encouraged his teammates to dope so they could help him win races. He was subsequently barred from Olympic sports for life and was stripped of all the cycling titles he won from August 1998 on.

“Since then, Armstrong has spent several weeks in Hawaii, out of the public eye. On Saturday, though, he posted a photograph on Twitter showing him at home in Austin, Tex. He is lounging on a couch with his seven yellow Tour jerseys framed on the wall in the background.

“In the post, he said, ‘Back in Austin and just layin’ around.’ The photograph had more than 400,000 page views as of Monday evening, with many people posting negative comments on the page.

“‘Lance, you have no moral conscience and it’s obvious many of your followers don’t either,’ said one person who went by the Twitter handle ‘irobot,’ who also posted that Armstrong needed ‘professional help’.”

At first, Armstrong denied everything. ““I have never doped, and, unlike many of my accusers, I have competed as an endurance athlete for 25 years with no spike in performance, passed more than 500 drug tests and never failed one,” (People magazine, June 5, 2024)

Then, after initially spending his time attacking his accusers, he confessed in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2013. The result? More consequences. AP ran a story on Oct.15, 2016 reporting that “An arbitration panel ordered Lance Armstrong and Tailwind Sports Corp. (Armstrong’s team management company) to pay $10 million in a fraud dispute with a promotions company for what it called an ‘unparalleled pageant of international perjury, fraud and conspiracy’ that covered up his use of performance-enhancing drugs.” The money was a result of bonuses paid by SCA Promotions while Armstrong was winning titles.

He also was sued by a former teammate turned whistleblower Floyd Little. That suit was joined by the United State Postal Services, whose name was on the jersey he wore when he won his Tour de France titles. The settlement of that suit cost Armstrong $5 million.

In 1997, after his bout with cancer, Armsrong had founded the Lance Armstrong Foundation to help other cancer survivors. It later was rebranded the Livestrong Foundation. Following the doping revelations, Macur noted in the Times (Nov. 12, 2012), “In the wake of being stripped of his seven Tour de France titles for doping, Lance Armstrong last week cut all official ties with Livestrong, the charity he founded 15 years ago while he was treated for testicular cancer.

“On Nov. 4, he resigned from the organization’s board of directors; he had previously stepped down as the chairman of the board Oct. 17. He has distanced himself from the charity to try to protect it from any damage caused by his doping controversy, the new board chairman, Jeff Garvey, said in a statement.”

Armstrong’s fall from grace nevertheless hurt the charity. An AP report (Jan. 20, 2016) provided some detail. “According to federal financial records, Livestrong’s 2013 donations dipped from nearly $23 million to $15 million after Armstrong’s televised admission of drug use. It also took a 38 percent dive that year in commercial revenue after sponsorships were canceled or not renewed. Livestrong’s 2014 financial report, filed at the end of 2015, showed a further 29 percent drop in revenue and donations down to less than $12 million.”

Despite all this, Armstrong landed on his feet financially. He has said that an early investment in Uber that he made through a company called Lowercase Capital in 2009 “saved his family.’ It has been estimated that investment netted him upwards of $20 million. He also owns a small piece of the bicycle company Trek.

Armstrong has continued his investment activity. He is a founding partner of Next Ventures, a company that focuses on early investments in companies pursuing “whole person health.”

Earlier this year Pitchbook (March 11, 2024), a news service targeting private equity, included this report:

“Famed cyclist-turned-GP Lance Armstrong is targeting $100 million for Next Ventures’ second fund.

“The new fund is San Francisco-based Next Ventures’ first raise in nearly five years. Its predecessor, a 2019 vintage fund that had targeted $75 million, closed on $50 million with an additional $10 million in special purpose vehicles.”

Last year (Dec, 17, 2023), a story by Michale Venutolo-Mantovaniin in Women’s Health magazine took stock of the post-cycling Lance Armstrong.

“After a few years spent under the radar, Armstrong has been slowly making his way back into the public conversation. He hosts a popular cycling podcast called The Move alongside former teammate George Hincapie, their former manager Johan Bruyneel, and Austinite JB Hager. Armstrong has also appeared on a reality television show that sent several celebrities to a simulated version of Mars. He even got back into the bike scene, when direct-to-consumer brand Ventum announced Armstrong as one of their endorsees.”

The reality television gig apparently came to an abrupt end, per Entertainment Weekly (Aug. 7, 2023):

“On Monday’s episode of Fox reality show Stars on Mars, disgraced former pro cyclist Lance Armstrong made good on his previous threat to quit the competition.

“The decision came after the group successfully completed their mission to track down and expel an invader in their home. Armstrong was paired with Modern Family actress Ariel Winter, whom he’s clashed with all season long. The feuding pair put their differences aside to crawl through an air vent together without issue, but both landed in the week’s bottom three alongside NBA legend Paul Pierce. When it came time for each of them to plead the case for why they should stay in the competition, Armstrong bowed out instead.”

As you read about Lance Armstrong, what stands out is the character of the man. And not in a good way. Here’s a few examples:

Mike Anderson, Outside — The Tour de France newsletter, Aug. 31, 2012

“I joined Armstrong’s staff in late 2002 as a mechanic, trail builder, and all-around handyman and assistant. At that time, we were friends who had often been on mountain-bike rides together, and he had made a written and verbal commitment to finance my dream of opening an Austin bike shop once my work with him was done. Armstrong soured on me for reasons that had nothing to do with my performance as an employee, and when I was abruptly fired in late 2004, no clear reason was given for my termination. He reneged on the promise about the bike shop and started attacking me, personally and professionally, in a way that ruined my job prospects in Austin. I ended up moving my family to New Zealand to start a new life.”

Emily Bazelon, slate.com, Jan. 18, 2013:

“Lance Armstrong called himself a bunch of things last night—’jerk,’ ‘humanitarian,’ and ‘not the most believable guy in the world.’ But the word that stuck was bully. Is it the right one for a guy who, as my colleague William Saletan details, allegedly railroaded teammates who refused to dope, ruined people who told the truth about Armstrong’s doping, and sued so many people that by his own admission he can’t remember their names? Yes, bully is fitting enough. But it’s also nowhere near a complete description. When you match it up against Armstrong’s sorry record, it looks more like one more dodge than a confession. After all, admitting you’re a bully doesn’t expose you to legal liability. It’s a lot safer than defrauder and perjurer. For a kid, there’s plenty of exposure in being labeled a bully. For a man with Armstrong who abused his power in ways that did or could ruin other people’s lives, it’s a cop out.”

Nancy Armour, USA Today, Dec. 6, 2018:

“Lance Armstrong went on the Today show Thursday to lament how hard life has been since he admitted to being one of the biggest frauds in sports history, whining how unfair it is that other cheats aren’t the pariah he is.

“‘I do think there’s a double standard,’ Armstrong said. ‘But I’m OK with it.’

“Sure he is.

“The blind ego and arrogance that seeped through his interview Thursday is exactly why Armstrong remains so reviled.

“That he doped his way to seven Tour de France titles was bad, of course

“Had Armstrong only been a cheater, though, he’d have been forgiven long ago. But the cheating was never the worst of his sins.

“Armstrong was ruthless in his charade, ruining the lives of others to protect his. Former teammates, support staff, competitors, reporters — anyone who threatened to expose the Myth of Lance was bullied, discredited and defamed.”

Christina Macfarlane, CNN, June 4, 2020:

“For those who’ve followed the disgraced cyclist’s story of deceit, coverup and betrayal, it is never clear whether the Armstrong of 2020 is really any different to the one who masterminded the biggest doping conspiracy in cycling history. Especially when his bitterness towards former teammates who helped topple his empire pierces through.

“Speaking of his rise and fall, Armstrong says: ‘It could be worse. I could be Floyd Landis … waking up a piece of s**t every day.’”

And yet, we may not have seen the last of Armstrong competing. Here’s something I found in Canadian Cycling Magazine (April 1, 2024)

“The first major name for the 2024 Enhanced Games has been announced, and it’s none other than former professional cyclist, Lance Armstrong.

“The controversial event is the brainchild of an Australian entrepreneur who is creating an alternative to the Olympic Games. At these Games. athletes are free to participate without drug testing and are encouraged to embrace performance-enhancing drugs.

“There is no cycling, but instead the competition will include five sports disciplines: track and field, swimming, weightlifting, gymnastics and combat sports. The Games are planned to be held on an annual basis.”

Sounds a little like the novel Brave New World. But, alas, I could find no evidence that the Enhanced Games have either taken place, or even been scheduled.

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Whatever Happened To?

Posted in Sports, Whatever Happened To? | Tagged cycling, Lance Armstrong, Livestrong Foundation, Olympics, sports, Tour de France | 7 Comments

Whatever Happened To? Pam Grier

Posted on July 28, 2024 by Ken Dowell

A classic Pam Grier movie poster: the afro, the long legs, the hard body both sexy and strong. And the “you’ll be sorry if you mess with me” look on her face.

Grier’s acting career dates back to the 1970’s. She originally was cast in a series of “women-in-prison” films like The Big Doll House, Women in Cages and The Big Bird Cage. She would soon become the face of a genre of 1970’s films known as blaxploitation movies. Among the most popular of these was Coffy and Foxy Brown.

“Long before Angelina Jolie or Lupita Nyong’o were some of Hollywood’s go-to female action stars, Pam Grier was doing her own stunts, chasing bad guys and seeking vigilante justice in low-budget ’70s action movies. Known as blaxploitation films, these movies were sensational, a little campy, and they featured a lot of violence and nudity.

“Grier says the term blaxploitation ‘was basically like a conspiracy’ to keep her films out of theaters. ‘All the movies started being like mine because we were staying in the theaters too long,’ she says. ‘Coffy knocked James Bond out of first place [at the box office].’” (Vivian Rashotte, CBC Arts, Feb 26, 2024)

“You know, I had to bump heads with a lot of men in the industry,” Grier says. “They were not comfortable with showing a progressive black female in an action role. As a strong woman, I was seen as a threat. There was a fear that women would mimic me in real life. I remember certain people saying: ‘Oh, she’s taking our jobs, she’s castrating men’ – as far as I was concerned, I thought: ‘We don’t need to walk behind you, we should walk beside you.’” (Texas Metro News, Oct. 20, 2023)

The entertainment/celebrity/gossip press never grew tired of telling stories about Grier’s romantic trysts and encounters with other celebrities. At one time she was dating Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. She claims he proposed to her but it was contingent on her becoming a Muslim something, she refused to do.

There was this hilarious incident with Richard Pryor, who she was also dating at one time:

“Grier…recalled her former beau, comedian Richard Pryor thinking she was hilarious because she drove his injured horse to a hospital in the backseat of her Jaguar. During the frantic drive, Pryor was wearing a bathrobe and she was in tennis gear.

“I said, ‘I’m taking him to the vet.’ Richard didn’t have a truck or a horse trailer. So I put Ginger in my Jag. We’re going fast, sparks flying, hitting the hydraulics, my struts and shocks are gone. And white people on the side of us going, ‘Oh noooo! There’s two negroes in that car with a horse in the backseat.’” (Kirsten Fleming, New York Post, Dec. 22, 2022)

And Grier, in an interview with Andy Cohen on Bravo TV, tells the story of a dinner with John Lennon that turned into a brawl:

“She (Grier) reveals that she and John kept singing I Can’t Stand the Rain by Ann Peebles and they wouldn’t stop. Before she knew it, they were asked to quiet down by the Smothers Brothers’ manager during their performance, a brawl broke out and she hid underneath the table.”

And when Snoop Dog met Grier, he passed out.

“The pair first crossed paths on the set of their 2001 film Bones and the first impression Snoop left was a funny one. ‘I’m sitting down and Pam Grier walk up and she sit right next to me and start talking to me. My heart beating fast. So I’m like, OK. I hear what you saying, Pam. Give me a minute. I go to the bathroom and faint,’ the rapper revealed.

“I knew when it was happening. He was turning pale and he got up and he wobbled to the men’s room. I said, ‘Is he OK?’ He went in and fell down on the pissy floor and fainted,’ Grier revealed. ‘I was so upset that they cleaned him up and brought him back out and we sat together. I didn’t know I had that effect on him. He’s such a lovely person, I just couldn’t imagine him lying in urine,’ she continued.” (hotnewhiphop.com, April 18, 2024)

In so many of her movies, Grier’s characters seemed indestructible. In real life, she seems that way as well. In 1988, she was diagnosed with cancer and given 18 months to live. That was 36 years ago.

“Grier was in her late 30s, a self-described ‘health-nut,’ running six miles a day, not eating meat and ‘not abusing my body in any way.’ She’d gone for a routine cervical smear and got a call from her doctor who said they’d found abnormal cells in her test results. She was booked in for an operation to remove the abnormal tissue and told she’d be fine. But, afterwards, her pathologist called to say it wasn’t good news; the next day, her doctor sat her down to tell her she had 18 months to live.

“She credits a combination of eastern and western medicine for her recovery. Her doctor sent her to a Chinese herbalist after her diagnosis, where she was prescribed ‘herbs and tinctures. It also taught me to drink hot tea with my food to get rid of toxins.’” (Texas Metro News, October 20, 2023)

In a interview with AP (July 19, 2009) she said: `I’m so proud of my hair growing back on my legs after cancer that I don’t shave. … I’m very grateful to have a healthy balance.”

Grier’s star rose again in 1997 when she had the lead role in Quetin Tarrantino’s film Jackie Brown. That performance earned her a nomination for a Golden Globe for best actress.

Tarantino recently paid tribute to Grier in a unique way.

“Quentin Tarantino, a name synonymous with distinctive cinema, has ventured into the cafe business with the February launch of Pam’s Coffy, next to the Vista Theater in Los Feliz, Los Angeles. This isn’t just any coffee shop; it’s a tribute to Pam Grier, known for her badass lead role in the 1973 blaxploitation film ‘Coffy,’ and it’s brimming with retro vibes and custom-blend coffees. Originally meant to be a video rental store, Tarantino instead created a casual hangout for creative types in the former ice cream parlor, complete with Cap’n Crunch and swell merch.” (Rusty Blazenhoff, boingboing.net, April 19, 2024)

While so many of Grier’s movies were distinctly urban, that doesn’t reflect her preferred lifestyle. She moved from Los Angeles, where she built her career, to a ranch in rural Colorado.

“I commuted to work really hard for 50 years because I couldn’t have that lifestyle that I wanted of horses and ruralness. It would always be the city, hotels, room service,’ Grier said in a recent interview.

“My grandfather was the first feminist in my life, from Wyoming, who taught all of us girls how to hunt, fish and shoot, so I could bring that to this show, every element, and it just kind of fit.’”’ (AP 7/19/2019)

Whatever Happened to Pam Grier? She has continued to have a distinguished acting career to this day. In addition to her film work, she has appeared on numerous television shows, recently was a cast member of the Showtime series Bless This Mess, she was in a Sam Shepard play at the Los Angeles Theater Center and even did a music video with Snoop Dog. Just last year she was in two movies Cinnamon and Pet Sematary: Bloodlines.

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Whatever Happened To?

Posted in Whatever Happened To? | Tagged blaxploitation, movies, Pam Grier, Quentin Tarantino | 3 Comments

Historic Kyoto

Posted on July 21, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Heian Jingu Shrine and Gardens

Hoshun-in Bonsai Garden

Fushimi Inari Shrine

This is the most important of many shrines dedicated to Inari, the Shinto god of rice.

Bamboo Forest

Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments

Murakami’s Controlled Madness

Posted on July 14, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Takashi Murakami Mononoke Kyoto

Kyoto City KYOCERA Museum of Art

This is the 90th anniversary exhibition for the Kyoto museum.

Korin's Flowers and Abstract Imagery — Korin’s Flowers and Abstract Imagery

Kyoto Korin Mononoke Flower — Korin’s Flowers and Abstract Imagery

Mononoke are vengeful spirits (onryō), dead spirits (shiryō), live spirits (ikiryō), or spirits in Japanese classical literature and folk religion that were said to do things like possess individuals and make them suffer, cause disease, or even cause death.

In creating the works for this exhibition, Murakami said he was beseeched to “express the wild contrast between the touristy Kyoto of today and the Kyoto of old, where people lived among terrifying monsters.”

Oddly, this exhibition is both on display and open to the public, while still being a work in progress. Murakami said: “This may sound like nothing but an excuse, but some of the works on display here are not yet finished. Starting on the opening day of the exhibition, we will be producing a separate set of works and will be replacing the works in the show with them on a rolling basis as they get completed. I apologize for such a peculiar exhibition format.”

Takashi Murakami Gives an Excuse for Why He Had to Produce a Chinese Lion Painting Packed to the Brim Like a Bento Box (the short answer is money)

CLONE X -- Lonesome Cowboy and Hiropon — CLONE X — Lonesome Cowboy and Hiropon

CLONE X -- MLC Style and Hiropon Style — CLONE X — Lonesome Cowboy and Hiropon

Eka Dampi ("Eka's Amputation")-My Heart Bursts with Adoration for My Master and So I Offer My Arm to Him — Eka Dampi (“Eka’s Amputation”)-My Heart Bursts with Adoration for My Master and So I Offer My Arm to Him

The Name Succession of Ichikawa Dajuro XIII, Hakeun, Kabuki Juhachiban

Posted in Art | Tagged art, Japan, Kyocera, Kyoto, Murakami, museums | 3 Comments

Cars 1894-1966

Posted on July 7, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Toyota Automobile Museum

Nagakute, Japan

All of the cars in this museum, and there are 140 of them, have been maintained in working order. The musuem itself was far more interesting than I expected. I was traveling with two persons who have minimal interest in cars. Both found the museum to be fascinating and were sorry we didn’t have more time to spend there.

1894 Benz Velo. One of the first commercially produced cars. Made in Germany and sold there as well as in France and the U.S. Top speed was about 13 mph.

1897 De Dion-Bouton. Yes, it’s a stretch to call this a car. Built in France. Has a 1-3/4 hp engine mounted onto a tricycle.

1902 Baker Electric. And you thought electric cars were a new thing. This U.S. built car could cruise along about 25 mph and would go about 50 miles on a single charge. That’s better than my Prius Plug-In Hybrid.

1902 Oldsmobile Curved Dash. The world’s first mass-produced car. Americans bought 5,000 of these in 1904.

1909 Stanley Steamer Model E2. Steam-powered, U.S. built. Now Stanley Steamer cleans my carpets.

1910 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. Nevermind that it’s fire-engine red, in the museum they say this U.K. roadster “drove as quietly as an apparition.”

1911 Delaunay-Belleville. The Rolls-Royce of France

1913 Morris Oxford. This was the British idea of a compact in the 1910’s.

1920 Daimler Type 45. The preferred car of the British royal family. Perhaps they were taken by the single-unit rear-view mirror, horn, headlamp situation.

The spiffy interior of the 1928 Hispano-Suiza. a French luxury car.

1929 Duesenberg Model J. Don’t be fooled by the name, this one was made in the USA.

1929 Ford Model A. This one was made in Yokohama, Japan.

1935 Hispano-Suiza K6. This beauty was the last of the line.

1936 Toyota Model AA. The first Toyota. (I’m on my fourth Toyota.)

1937 Cord Model 812. A front-wheel drive American car that was considered too far ahead of its time to be successful. Note the retractable headlights.

1938 Nissan Model 70 Phaeton. Nissan borrowed the design from the Kruseder made by the Graham Page Co. in the U.S.

1938 Peugeot 402. All about French style.

1939 Delage Type D8-120. Built by a French motor racing company.

1939 Packard Twelve. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s car.

1942 KdF-Wagen. The bug’s ancestor. Built by Volkswagen.

1948 Tatra Model 87. From Czechoslovakia. The V-8 engine is in the rear.

1951 Saab 92. Up to this point, Saab had been a Swedish airplane manufacturer.

1953 Chevrolet Corvette. The first ‘vette.

1955 Ford Thunderbird. Ford’s answer to the Corvette.

1955 Fujicabin Model 5A. A Japanese 3-wheeler.

1959 Cadillac Eldorado Biarritz. Can’t you just picture Elvis cruising around in one of these?

1966 Toyota Corolla. The Toyota folks credit this car with triggering a boom in private car ownership in Japan.

Posted in History | Tagged cars, Chevrolet, Ford, Hispano-Suiza, Japan, Rolls-Royce, Toyota, Toyota Automobile Museum | 20 Comments

Colors of the Fourth

Posted on July 4, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Fourth of July Parade, Montclair, N.J.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Fourth of July, Independence Day, Montclair, parade | 1 Comment

The everyday, enhanced: The works of Sakuji Yoshimoto

Posted on June 30, 2024 by Ken Dowell

Pictorial Pilgrimage, Sakuji Yoshimoto

Nagoya City Arr Museum

Sakuji Yoshimoto is a 65-year old Japanese contemporary artist. He is a professor at Nagoya Universitiy of Arts where he teaches painting theory and practical techniques.