Alice Neel

 

San Francisco Solidarity with Ukraine

 

Bernal Rock, San Francisco

Real or Fake Oscars Awards Slap

Eric Ting, a political editor for SFGate, is just one of many who believe the "Slap Heard Around the World" was staged. His article titled, "The elites are lying to you about the Will Smith-Chris Rock slap at the Oscars," might seem a bit conspiracy tinged, but I must say there is some meat on them their bones.

The one question that I completely agree with Eric on is this: 

"If it was real, why did it look so fake?" 

Sometimes it's best to go with your first impression of a person or event, and many of us concede that our first impression of the slap was a staged event for entertainment purposes. When you throw out everything that led to the slap, and everything following the slap, you are left with what many saw as over the top Hollywood trying too hard to capture their audience.

We may never know the truth of the matter. And because I feel bad for the unexpected violence impressed on viewers, I kinda hope the Oscars will apologize, while coming out and saying it was just a skit gone terribly wrong.

Scandalous happenings in Hollywood cater to a billion-dollar media industry covering it all. What's the old saying, "there's no such thing as bad publicity?" So why fake an insult and/or assault? 

The answer might just come down to the money. From what I hear, the Oscars have fallen flat in television ratings the past few years. Could it be possible, promoters of this traditional movie awards event, stooped as low as a lying politician in order to win back viewers and boost ratings? 

Is it possible, the American viewing public were the victims of a Will & Chris dynamic duo skit, that landed flat and morphed into a publicity monster for all involved? A monster that bites both ways? Possible? Probable? Unlikely?

I come back to the observation our political editor Eric voiced:

"If it was real, why did it look so fake?" 

Maybe it looked fake because fake is what Hollywood does. 

Reunited............and it Feels So Good

Nope, we aren't talking Peaches and Herb "Reunited" here folks. We're talking Fresno State Bulldogs football reunion.

Devante Adams and Derek Carr celebrate winning 2013 Mountain West Championship

All-Pro wide-receiver Devante Adams is coming to the Raiders to
"REUNITE" with his college quarterback Derek Carr. Just let that sink in for a minute Raider Nation. 

Finally, a top tier receiver in his prime is joining a Raiders team that's coming off an NFL playoff appearance. The fact that Adams and Carr are former college teammates and very good friends is just icing on the cake.

Though it hasn't been made official, I'm posting what might be the best Raiders quarterback + receiver pairing since ................ I don't know, Brown/Gannon, Branch/Stabler, Wells/Lamonica. 

I was already excited about the Raiders signing defensive pass rushing specialist Chandler Jones, acquired from the Arizona Cardinals.

But the game changer is getting a proven #1 wide receiver to go along with Waller, Renfrow and the rest of the offensive aerial attack.

excerpt from ESPN Staff Writer, Rob Demovsky

So Adams played out the season and had perhaps his best year, setting the single-season franchise record for catches (123) and receiving yards (1,553) last season. He became just the sixth player in NFL history with 120-plus catches, 1,500-plus yards and 11-plus touchdown catches in the same season and is the only player in NFL history with three seasons (2018, 2020-21) of 110-plus catches, 1,350-plus receiving yards and 11-plus receiving TDs.

Adams is the most accomplished wideout Carr will have had in his eight-year career.

Carr has played with talented receivers in previous years, but Amari Cooper was still early in his career while Michael Crabtree's best days were behind him. Both fell out of favor with Carr. Then there was Antonio Brown, whose self-imposed implosion got him released before ever appearing in a regular-season game. Henry Ruggs III was starting to come into his own last season before he was involved in a high-speed car crash that killed a 23-year-old woman in Las Vegas; Ruggs was cut.

Now with Adams in the fold, so long as the Raiders' offensive line improves, Carr should have no excuses not to thrive.

ESPN's Paul Gutierrez and David Purdum contributed to this report.

Raider Nation welcomes Devante Adams to the Silver & Black!

Reunited and it feels so good...........