Last night, Ween continued on their tour with a date at Baltimore’s Pier 6 Pavilion. After their tour opener on Friday in Michigan, which saw the group bust-out “She Caught My Fancy” after almost eighteen years, Ween was ready to send it with a spirited performance in Charm City. Across their twenty-five song set, the band mostly stuck to songs that have been in recent rotation, which regularly played fan-favorites like “The Mollusk,” “Bananas and Blow,” “Voodoo Lady,” “Buckingham Green,” and “Ocean Man” sprinkled across the set. Perhaps most notably from the show, Ween dusted off their cover of David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance” for the fourth song of the night, appropriately getting the Baltimore crowd stoked for the group’s first return to the city since 2009. You can check out video of Ween’s cover of “Let’s Dance” below, courtesy of Youtube user monihampton.Ween’s performance of “Let’s Dance” marks the first time that the cover has been performed since New Year’s Eve of 2011 (and 38th time its ever been performed), with a gap of 233 shows between then and now. However, the tune was not the only special moment of the night; the group’s Sunday performance also saw “Boy’s Club” played for the 19th time ever and “Japanese Cowboy” played for the 26th time ever. Appropriately, “Joppa Road” made its way into the setlist (a main street in Baltimore is similarly named Joppa Road), which was last played in October of last year after a gap of 38 shows, marking the 25th time the number has been played for audiences.Ween Busts Out “She Caught My Fancy” After Almost 18 Years For Tour Opener [Full Show Video]Ween continues northward this week with a string of dates at New York City’s newly opened Brooklyn Steel. From there, they continue a brief tour of New England before picking up and hitting the West Coast leg of their summer tour. Thanks to Alex Leary, we can listen  yesterday’s show in Baltimore in all its glory below.[Photo: Erik Kabik]Catch Ween on the road in a city near you! read more

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‘I’m so proud of you’Virgin was struggling before the onset of the coronavirus crisis, posting an underlying before-tax loss of Aus$71.2 million last year.Richard Branson, the billionaire founder of Virgin Group, which owns a 10-percent stake in the airline, tweeted a message in support of the Virgin Australia team.”I am so proud of you and everything we have achieved together,” he said. “This is not the end of Virgin Australia, but I believe a new beginning. I promise we will work day and night to turn this into reality.”Branson also joined a chorus of voices taking aim at Australia’s government for failing to bail out the airline, saying governments in most countries had “stepped up” to help their airlines during the “unprecedented crisis for aviation”.The news from Australia follows the collapse of Britain’s biggest domestic carrier FlyBe last month as the collapse in air travel sends several companies into crisis.The United States has set aside billions of dollars to support the country’s airlines including giants American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines. There are concerns about what Virgin’s troubles could mean for Australians, who are heavily dependent on air travel in the vast nation, and for the future of a tourist industry already reeling from months-long bushfire and COVID crises.Australia has just two full-service airlines, Virgin and national flag carrier Qantas, which are complemented by their budget offshoots, Tigerair and Jetstar.Treasurer Josh Frydenberg insisted Virgin’s decision to enter voluntary administration was “not the end of the airline”, and the government would work with the administrators to get the best outcome. “Our objective is a market-led solution. Our objective is two commercially viable, major domestic airlines operating in Australia,” he said.The federal government had urged Virgin’s foreign investors who collectively owned 90 percent of the airline — including Singapore Airlines and Etihad Airways, which each owned a 20 percent stake — to come to the rescue. Ratings agency Moody’s said unsecured creditors would have to take “a significant haircut” if the restructure was successful.”Nevertheless, such an outcome may remain preferable to putting the company into liquidation with uncertain recovery prospects,” it said.The airline had already made 1,000 workers redundant and stood down 8,000 of its 10,000 pilots, flight attendants and ground crew.Strawbridge said the administrators would “seek to preserve as many of those jobs as possible”.Virgin suspended all international routes and scrapped all but one of its domestic routes after Australia shut its borders to limit the spread of COVID-19 and imposed tough restrictions on movement.The airline more recently began operating limited domestic routes, as well as flights to bring Australians home from overseas, with financial support from the government. The airline was more than Aus$5 billion ($3.2 billion) in debt and had appealed for a Aus$1.4 billion loan to stay afloat, but the government refused to bail out the majority foreign-owned company.Administrator Vaughan Strawbridge, from accounting firm Deloitte, said more than 10 parties had expressed a “keen interest” in being part of the restructuring plans.”There has been an extraordinary amount of interest in the business and in the restructuring of Virgin Australia,” he told reporters in Sydney.”And so we are confident that this will result in a restructuring being achieved in a short period of time.” Cash-strapped Virgin Australia collapsed on Monday, making it the largest carrier to buckle under the strain of the coronavirus pandemic, which has ravaged the global airline industry.In an announcement to the Australian Stock Exchange, Virgin said it planned to keep operating flights despite handing over the keys to administrators.”Our decision today is about securing the future of the Virgin Australia Group and emerging on the other side of the COVID-19 crisis,” CEO Paul Scurrah said in the statement. “Australia needs a second airline and we are determined to keep flying.” Topics : read more

William E. Lyons Jr., age 78 of Brookville, Indiana died Friday, February 19, 2016 at Shawneesprings Health Center in Harrison, Ohio.Born March 25, 1937 in Cincinnati, Ohio he was the son of the late William E. Lyons Sr., and Elizabeth (Hertsenberg) Lyons. On July 7, 1989 he was united in marriage to the former Jamie Lee Staggs, and she preceded him in death on October 9, 2013.Bill was employed at JTM Food Group in Harrison, Ohio for over 30 Years. He was a Kentucky Colonel, and had also been bestowed the honor of Kentucky Admiral. In his leisure time he enjoyed Woodworking, Harley Davidson Motorcycles, and was an avid gun & knife collector.Survivors include two daughters & sons-in-law, Debbie (Pete) Strawn of Nashville, Tennessee, Darlene (Stan) Harmon of Dry Ridge, Kentucky; a son & daughter-in-law, Larry (Jenny) Staggs of West Chester, Ohio; 10 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren, as well as his beloved canine companion, Sugar.In addition to his parents, and wife, Jamie, he was preceded in death by a daughter, Donna Wright; two brothers Robert Lyons and Lenny Lyons, and his dog Squaw.Family & friends may visit from 1:00 P.M. until 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at Phillips & Meyers Funeral Home, 1025 Franklin Avenue, Brookville.Bob Lyons and Joe Moss will officiate the Funeral Services at 2:00 P.M. on Tuesday, February 23, 2016 at Phillips & Meyers Funeral Home in Brookville. Burial will then follow in Maple Grove Cemetery in Brookville.Memorial contributions may be directed to the American Cancer Society or Hospice of Southwest Ohio. Phillips & Meyers Funeral Home is honored to serve the Lyons family, to sign the online guest book or send personal condolences please visit www.phillipsandmeyers.com read more

Jim Furyk goes into the final round of the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am with the lead, following a third round 63. Jones looked in control of the California contest as he birdied six of the first seven holes in the third round – but his progress was checked by two bogeys. The leading European after the third round was Marcel Siem, who matched Furyk’s 63 to move to 12 under par, six shots off the lead. Ireland’s Shane Lowry was alongside the German after a 67. England’s Brian Davis and Ian Poulter were on five under after rounds of 71 and 73 respectively. They were joined by John Daly, whose challenged has faltered since his opening round of seven under – he could only manage a 73 in the third round. Ireland’s Padraig Harrington was four under and England’s Greg Owen three under – and it was a tournament to forget for Ireland’s Paul McGinley, whose third round 76 leaves him on 10 over. The former US Open champion produced nine birdies, seven of them in the last 10 holes, to take over at the head of the field on 18 under par – a shot clear of overnight leaders Matt Jones and Brandt Snedeker, who managed 67s. As a result, 44-year-old Furyk – competing for the first time since the Ryder Cup in September – is in a strong position to end a winless drought of more than four years. Press Association read more

This weekend past saw the launch of Chaos Theory, an esports organisation based in Singapore to keep an eye on. Founded by Drew Holt-Kentwell and Singaporean Hai Ng, the team plans to ‘revolutionise the esports landscape in South-east Asia’. This is a region with undoubted and significant potential in the esports space. Indeed, research analysts Newzoo pointed to South Eat Asia as the region with the fastest growing esports audience back in December 2016.Chaos Theory have launched with teams in both Overwatch and League of Legends. Notably, their League of Legends line up is all female. The org is aimed at ‘being a powerhouse multi-gaming professional team in South-east Asia’. Based out of Singapore, Chaos Theory will look to provide support to budding esports teams and ‘help them grow, manage and monetise themselves via a mix of training and development, work experience and various sponsorship opportunities’.Drew Holt-Kentwell, Chaos TheoryThere are reportedly 200,000 esports enthusiasts in Singapore, which is a 5.1% share of the total online population. The choice of Singapore over the Philippines (which hosts ESL One Manila and the Valve Manila Major) to base an esports org looking to dominate the South East Asian region may surprise some, but the country’s technological infrastructure and position as a business capital of the world (and all that comes with that status), make the decision fully comprehensible. It’s no surprise too that co-founder Drew Holt-Kentwell is a man who knows the business side of the industry. Holt-Kentwell is an esports veteran of 11 years and the former Head of Global Esports at Razer. Of the launch he said: “The esports industry is exploding, and there is a huge talent pool here with untapped potential. Chaos Theory was set up to establish new professional standards for the industry, and change the way esports teams in South-east Asia are seen and run. We want to equip esports professionals with the experience and skills that they need, to cultivate world-class players and show that a career in esports is viable.”Chaos Theory will offer full employment contracts for players competing at the top of their disciplines. Benefits include pension fund contributions, private medical healthcare for members, and a keen focus on specialist game and strategy coaching, alongside other benefits from partners and sponsors. Chaos Theory have a range of partners already on boarding including Foodpanda, medical concierge Zero Dot One, Corsair, Sector Six Apparel, and Singaporean LAN café chain Colosseum.The involvement of these partners is particularly cool with Zero Dot One they’ll provide access to an injury management program with a view to staving off injuries common in esports such as carpal tunnel. Whilst Chaos Theory has kicked off with League and Overwatch, it already had plans to enter PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Mobile Legends and Dota 2. In addition it plans to enter other countries in SEA such as Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines in the near future. As mentioned previously, Philippines is an obvious choice to expand into in this region with the major tournaments which take place in Manila, and moreover the government’s recent decision to back and support the esports industry. The League of Legends Chaos Theory team, formerly known as “Battle Bunnies”, is made up of six young upstarts with extensive SEA tournament experience. Team captain Zhang Ke Xin said: “We’re grateful to pioneer this exciting new venture with Chaos Theory. It’s encouraging that there is a support system in place, that will help us get closer to a fully-fledged professional esports career.”Esports Insider says: This is extremely exciting news for the South East Asian esports scene. Chaos Theory looks to be a thoroughly professional, motivated and ambitious new organisation with plans to start in Singapore but expand across the region. It’s moves like this that the scene needs and we wish them all the best! read more