Intro
So, week two of the blog and I hope you're enjoying reading it, 'cause I've become invested in writing it. Also there's no order to what I write, it just depends on what I write first and if I can joke about it... mostly.
First this week, the Call of Duty (CoD) world championships took place, conquered by E-sports team Evil Geniuses, who won the $600,000 grand prize. While the prize is sizable, the tournament itself isn't very news worthy per-say, but the story preceding it has bred shock across the world.
Earlier this year, Douglas 'FaZe Censor' Martin made waves on the internet when he announced that he had broken up with his girlfriend of three years, weather-girl Yanet Garcia. At first sight, this seems like an issue that everyone has experienced at some point or another. However when one considers that miss Garcia is considered one of the 'top 10 hottest women on the planet' and the reason Martin ended things was to focus on his Call of Duty career, many would and have called him mad.
Arguably, Martin possessed the dream, rockstar-gamer lifestyle that every teenage boy could be EnVyUs of: playing videogames for a living and a supermodel on his arm. But while many would lambaste him as a noob, it is understandable. E-sports as a career, among others in the gaming world, can be incredibly lucrative, if one has the talent to back it up, and Martin, taking third place alongside his team and the $100,000 prize, clearly has the talent. So in truth, he's appears simply to be following his dreams over a relationship at the moment which is hard to argue with.
However, as he only came third after claims he would win in his video detailing the break-up, could the universe be sending him a sign? One that reads: 'Dude, just take take the L'.
(Source: Business Insider, Newshub)
Sports
I know I said not to expect a sports section but, much like the first story of this weeks post, my interest is not in the match itself, but more the participants.
YouTube heavyweights (masterful pun), Olajide 'KSI' Olatunji and Logan '-REDACTED-' Paul, competed in a highly advertised boxing match this week, the latest in a series of events, sparked after Paul's controversial vlog in Aokigahara Forest AKA the 'Suicide Forest'. In the down-spiral that followed, KSI proceeded to challenge Paul to boxing match during his victory over fellow YouTuber Joe Weller.
It could be that KSI sought to enact social justice upon Paul for his bad taste in vlogging location, that he intended to simply further his boxing career or to take advantage of Paul's current public focus. However, the reaction of fans and the outcome of the fight largely suggest the latter.
The fight ended in a draw, with both sides claiming they thought they had won. Many have since suggested the fight was staged in order to make money and with each walking away with around £30m-£40m or more, it's not hard to see why. The adage of an upcoming rematch in the face of this result, increasing that number exponentially, only seems to add fuel to the fire.
The two fighters are not the only YouTubers with skin in the game, however. Felix 'Pewdiepie' Kjellberg, posted a video weeks before the fight and regarded them both as 'Scumbags' for their respective chequered pasts, both of which seem to mirror the other on a number of issues. However, Pewds is not completely without sin himself arguably ruining the lives of many YouTubers by catalyzing the demonetization issue, and receiving reprimand for a number of inappropriate comments. This suggests that Paul and KSI aren't the only ones seeking to make something from this fight and that we're all just getting sidemanned.
(Source: BBC News, The Express)
Politics
This past week has been described as one of Trump's 'worst weeks' and its not hard to see why.
In a torrent of legal trouble, two major associates of the Trumpalump, his former campaign manager and his personal lawyer and fixer, went to court over eight separate felonies, each, Making for a grand total of sixteen. The campaign manager, Paul Manafort was convicted on eight felonies relating to various financial frauds while, on the very same day, Michael Cohen, his lawyer pleaded guilty to eight felonies of his own, two of which involved payoffs to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, regarding two of Donald's less pure moments.
Not only this, Cohen then went on to state under oath that payments were 'for the principal purpose of influencing the election' and were made 'under the direction of Trump', thus implicating the President as an uncharged co-conspirator on two admitted crimes.
Trump made a number of other blunders, in various interviews that seem to simply add fuel to the fire, but his week has been rounded off with something satisfyingly inane: at a visit to an Ohio children's hospital, he managed to colour the American flag wrongly by adding a blue stripe to his own version of the star spangled banner.
It seems the copious layers of fake tan he applies aren't the only things making him look like an orangutan lately.
(Source: Forbes, The Independent, Sky, GQ)
Religion
Over the weekend Pope Francis made a historic trip to Ireland, the first papal visit to Ireland since Pope John Paul II's visit in 1979.
However, the 90 minutes he spent on Saturday with the survivors of clerical sex abuse are the most striking. The leader of the Catholic Church in Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin, remarked that the Pope was 'moved and shocked' by what he heard and he told the survivors he though of the abuse suffered as 'filth'.
After the meeting, Pope Francis made a 'personal handwritten' prayer in which he begged for forgiveness for a number of abuses perpetrated by Church leaders.
It was read during Mass the next day.
(Source: BBC News)
TV
It was announced earlier this week that Declan 'Dec' Donnelly will receive a new co-host on the reality show to fill in for his long time partner, Anthony 'Ant' McPartlin.
McPartlin, earlier this year, was convicted on a drink-driving charge which led to a 20 month ban from driving and an £86,000 fine. In response to this, the presenter announced that he would be taking a year off from television, to attend rehab.
In the meantime, a number of shows have been affected due to Ant's hiatus from the screen. One example being Saturday Night Takeout, which bears the names of the duo, will not air during McPartlin's break. However, ITV have announced that Dec will continue to host I'm A Celebrity, with a new, currently unnamed co-host.
ITV's director of television, Kevin Lygo, stated: 'It's going to be Piers Morgan. No I don't know, it could be Jeremy Corbyn. I can't say'. This has led to mass public speculation, with bookies listing Scarlett Moffat and Stephen Mulhern as favorites for the position.
(Source: BBC News, Sky)
