Gia Allemand's Boyfriend Calls Her Suicide 'The Most Painful Experience of My Life'

It's been over a year since The Bachelor's Gia Allemand committed suicide at age 29 and her boyfriend, Ryan Anderson is still reeling from the loss.

In the Nov. 17 issue of Sports Illustrated (a sister publication to PEOPLE), the basketball player speaks out about the importance of suicide prevention and calls Allemand's suicide "the most painful experience of my life."

"I've been given a platform in the NBA," Anderson, 26, a forward for the New Orleans Pelicans, tells SI. "I know when I'm done playing, people aren't going to really care about me, the way I shot three-pointers. But during this time when I have a voice, I think it's really important for me to talk about it. People need to put a face to [suicide prevention and survival], and I'm O.K. being that face."

As the article points out, people who die of cancer are praised for their bravery in battle while suicides are portrayed as selfish acts.

"Anyone who knows Gia knows that selfish was the last thing she was," Anderson said. "She would never want to cause anyone suffering. She just wanted to escape the pain."

Anderson found Allemand on Aug. 12, 2013, after an attempted hanging in the New Orleans apartment they shared. She was rushed into emergency care, but it was too late; life support was withdrawn due to a loss of brain function and Allemand passed away on Aug. 14.

To remember her, Anderson often wears the key-shaped necklace she gave him; Allemand wore the heart.

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Al Roker Forgot To Turn Off His Mic, Broadcast Himself Going To The Bathroom

If you're looking for a zany update on Al Roker's ongoing attempt to set a record for the longest weather report, then urine for a treat.

On Wednesday night, more than six hours into the 34-hour attempt, the caffeine-fueled "Today" show host took his first bathroom break, but forgot to turn off his microphone while he did so.

We imagine he had a similar expression to this shortly after realizing his mic was on:

This is hour 5 of #rokerthon pic.twitter.com/cMkScwnsyw
— Al Roker (@alroker) November 13, 2014

"On my break, I went to heed nature's call, and uh ... we forgot that my mic was on," a slightly embarrassed Roker acknowledged to viewers afterward. "We gave new meaning to the phrase 'live-stream,'" he joked.

Judging by reactions on Twitter, his audience was similarly amused.

The rules of the broadcast grant Roker a 5-minute bathroom break once an hour. He cannot sleep during the 34-hour attempt.

We're rooting for you, Roker.

H/T Washington Post

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Memorial Planned for SoCal Mother, Infant After Heartbreaking YouTube Video Shows Grieving Husband

Ashley Picco was a mother for only a few short hours before she died November 8. She left behind “harmonies that will continue to resonate in our hearts and memories,” her family and friends posted online.

 

 

 

She also left behind her newborn son, Lennon, and her husband, Chris.

In August, Ashley and Chris Picco celebrated their seventh wedding anniversary by posting a photo to Facebook. In the image, a tiny pair of fur-lined baby booties stands empty between the Southern California couple. “Coming Soon” is inscribed above. It is still Ashley’s cover photo.

Lennon James was born by emergency C-section three months early, “fighting for his life,” Chris posted. Although Chris was grieving Ashley’s loss, he thanked those who had reached out in several online postings.

“It’s impossible to sum up what has happened in the past couple of days,” he said. “My wife, best friend and mother of my child passed away. I have a lifetime to grieve this unspeakable

loss, but I know that right now she would want me to focus completely on baby Lennon James Picco…”

On Wednesday, a friend posted a video of Chris in the hospital at Loma Linda University Medical Center, singing to his newborn son. The video shows Chris seated next to a whirring, clicking incubator, baby Lennon swaddled in blankets and surrounded by tubes. The video was recorded Tuesday, when Chris had posted, “Ashley would often feel Lennon moving to music, so I brought my guitar today and gave him a little concert.”

 

The song Chris chose, “Blackbird,” was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney during their time with the Beatles.

The song begins:

“Blackbird singing in the dead of night Take these broken wings and learn to fly All your life You were only waiting for this moment to arise.”

Little Lennon James Pico died a day later in his father’s arms.

Later Wednesday, Chris posted this update to a fundraising page:

“Dear friends, family, and supporters; it is with an unbelievably heavy heart that I write this.

Chris Picco holds his son’s tiny feet in a photo posted to youcaring.com.

My little fighter, Lennon James Picco went to sleep in his daddy’s arms late last night. He was surrounded by family, friends, and the best doctors, nurses and hospital staff in the world. He was dressed in an outfit that Ashley bought for him, with little guitars on it, and wrapped in a blanket made by a dear friend. I am so thankful for the four unforgettable days I got to spend with him. His mommy would have been so beyond joy to see him and to hold him, touch him, bathe him, sing to him – as I have had the privilege of doing. I have been so blessed and honored to love him before he was formed, to cherish him while mommy carried him, meet him face to precious face, and hold his perfect little body while we said ‘goodbye for now’. There are no words, but I wanted to keep you updated, as your love and support has meant more than anything in the world. All you need is love.”

A spokesman for Chris said he wants to tell his story but needed time with family and friends for now. A memorial is planned for Saturday at the Piccos’ church, Loma Linda University Church in Loma Linda, California.

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DIPLO STARTS THREE-WAY TWITTER BEEF WITH SWIFT AND LORDE

In the absence of Deadmau5 keeping everyone entertained on the Twittersphere, Diplo stepped up to the plate and aimed his sharpened wit at the posterior of Taylor Swift, before New Zealand’s sweetest pop pixie Lorde weighed in to counter him with a small penis dis.

Someone should make a kickstarter to get taylor swift a booty
— BABY DADDY (@diplo) November 12, 2014

A similarly click-fiending Diplo fan took the initiative to actually start a petition to add ‘Taylor Swift’s booty’ to the federal budget:

@diplo I started a petition on http://t.co/s7soIMFEo9 to include it on the federal budget
— Nick (@armonyo) November 12, 2014

And finally Lorde jumped in to her friend’s rescue and let rip on the genitalia of Diplo:

@diplo should we do something about your tiny penis while we're at it hm
— Lorde (@lordemusic) November 13, 2014

The debacle even seeped off into the opinion pages of Yahoo! News, where writer Kayleen Schaefer elevated the shit fight beyond its attention seeking origins and gave it some depth. She wrote, “What Diplo did to Swift is sect of body shaming, sometimes called 'thin-shaming', and proof that every woman’s body is policed as aggressively as if we were somehow enlisted in some beauty pageant that never ends.”
Anyway, could this be enough to stir the Mau5man from his home studio and spray the timelines of the rich and the beautiful with scorn once more? #dramamamma.

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Steve Carell and Channing Tatum in ‘Foxcatcher’

In “Foxcatcher,” an eerie horror story about one American have and one have-not, a startlingly transformed Steve Carell plays John Eleuthère du Pont, the chemical company heir. A dabbler extraordinaire and apparent fantasist whose family fortune was partly created on battlefields across the world — as a producer of gun powder, dynamite and plutonium — the real du Pont collected monumental amounts of shells, birds and stamps as well as guns and, as the wealthy can do, other human beings. Among the most remarkable of these was an Olympic wrestler, Mark Schultz, who, as embodied by Channing Tatum, is the latest in a seemingly never-ending line of poetic male primitives.

Much of what’s publicly known about the relationship between the real figures in this strange tale comes from news reports that broke after a catastrophically violent episode upended both their lives. Directed by Bennett Miller from a screenplay by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, “Foxcatcher” is prefaced by the common assurance that it’s based on a true story, although all the usual caveats apply, with changes, elisions and so forth. This is familiar ground for Mr. Miller, whose films include two fictions rooted in history, “Capote” and “Moneyball,” which, along with being just really good stories, take diagnostic pokes at the national character and its swamp of confusing, contradictory ideas about material success, hard work, self-invention and, inevitably, what it is to be a man.

Photo

 Steve Carell in "Foxcatcher." Credit Scott Garfield/Sony Pictures Classics

“Foxcatcher” has another good story, though it’s a slippery one. Beautifully acted and impeccably mounted, it is light on historical details and heavy on atmosphere, character and chintz. The first time you see Mark he’s alone in a gym wrestling with a grappling dummy, an apparatus that looks like an anthropomorphized boxing bag, complete with head and stubby arms. It’s a crude pas de deux, somewhat like watching Gene Kelly get frisky with a beanbag, and hypnotic because of its exotic choreography. It’s also off-putting because there’s something slightly comic and borderline pathetic about a man who is, for all intents and purposes, wrestling with himself. Soon after, Mark delivers a speech to some school kids — he wants to tell them about America — for which he earns a princely $20.

You don’t hear much of what Mark, who’s most expressive when he’s grunting and grappling on a mat, says other than in 1984 he was a champion, winning the gold medal hanging from his neck. The scene cuts away before he’s finished his speech, but like his solitary wrestling, it helps establish the narrowness of his world and the movie’s thematic terrain. By the time a school official is writing Mark his $20 check, Mr. Miller has announced at least some of what he wants to tell us about America. Mark is so isolated visually and narratively that even when he eats — he scarfs fast food alone in his car, and slurps instant noodles in his grim apartment — there’s no question that you’re watching the emergence of a character’s existential condition rather than some guy chow down.

Continue reading the main story

Continue reading the main story

The checks have many more zeros after Mark is summoned to the du Pont estate, a vast swath of prime real estate in Newtown Square, Pa. There, John has created a wrestling facility that he’s baptized Foxcatcher Farm, and which, through his patronage, he hopes or more rightly expects will lead to Olympic glory. Mark accepts the offer to live and train at Foxcatcher, dazzled by John’s wealth and quasi-religious pitch — a hash of patriotism, paternalism, entrepreneurialism and old-fashioned hucksterism. Despite Mark’s appeals, though, his older brother, Dave (Mark Ruffalo), himself a gifted wrestler who doesn’t want to uproot his family, declines to join the crusade. When John learns that he’s been turned down he pauses so long that it’s clear the word no is foreign to him.

Much of “Foxcatcher” takes place at this increasingly unfunny funny farm, with its rolling hills, patrician veneer, expensive kitsch, tiptoeing servants, stable of horses and a wizened, wagging finger in the form of John’s disapproving mother (Vanessa Redgrave). Mr. Miller’s handling of the earlier stages in John and Mark’s relationship is impeccable and sometimes lightly, uneasily comic. Mr. Carell’s physical transformation is perverse, hypnotic and a touch distracting, and you may find yourself searching for the familiar face behind the pasty skin and large prosthetic nose that juts from John’s face like a cruel joke. Little by little, with long stares, an old man’s shuffle and strange phrasing, Mr. Carell transforms the character from a figure of ridicule into something truly grotesque.

Mr. Miller, however, wants more than just an ordinary American sideshow, and he unwisely tries to expand the story when just telling it would have been enough. At times he seems to be trying to resurrect the idea of two Americas that’s crucial to “Capote,” which tracks Truman Capote’s investigation into the murder of an ordinary family by a pair of killers. But there’s no one here like Capote to guide you through the murk and no one who gives the spectacle of human struggle its spark, as the baseball savant Billy Beane does in “Moneyball.” Mark and John make a fine odd couple in “Foxcatcher” (things get seriously weird at the farm), but they never evolve into the kind of deep, meaningful figures who can carry the weight of Mr. Miller’s symbolism and all those American flags.

Mr. Miller does his finest work with his three superb leads, though I wish he had made more room for Mr. Ruffalo, who enters and exits as Dave flashes in and out of Mark’s life. Some of the best scenes in the movie are of the brothers, including an early one in which they train in their old gym, hitting and grasping in a pantomime of aggression and affection, the crowns of their heads touching like the antlers of young stags testing each other. It’s rare to see such physical male intimacy on screen, especially among men not bonded by war. And it’s in the depictions of this intimacy, in its tangle of bodies and desires — the images of John squirming on top of and below other men say more than any of his pitiful speeches — that “Foxcatcher” rises to the occasion of real tragedy.

“Foxcatcher” is rated R (Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian). Gun violence and language.

Foxcatcher
Opens on Friday
Directed by Bennett Miller; written by E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman; director of photography, Greig Fraser; edited by Stuart Levy, Conor O’Neill and Jay Cassidy; music by Rob Simonsen; production design by Jess Gonchor; costumes by Kasia Walicka-Maimone; produced by Megan Ellison, Mr. Miller, Jon Kilik and Anthony Bregman; released by Sony Pictures Classics. Running time: 2 hours 14 minutes.
WITH: Steve Carell (John du Pont), Channing Tatum (Mark Schultz), Mark Ruffalo (Dave Schultz), Vanessa Redgrave (Jean du Pont), Sienna Miller (Nancy Schultz), Anthony Michael Hall (Jack), Guy Boyd (Henry Beck) and Dave Bennett (Documentary Filmmaker).

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Bills fall to division rival on Thursday Night Football

Final Score: Miami 22 – Buffalo 9

Location: Miami Gardens, FL – Sun Life Stadium

W-L records: Buffalo (5-5); Miami (6-4)

In a Nutshell:  

In an AFC East matchup that was expected to be a defensive struggle, Buffalo nursed a six-point lead into the third quarter (9-3) thanks to three field goals from

Dan Carpenter. Miami however, put together a touchdown drive to take a one-point lead (10-9), and the Dolphins defense shut the door from that point forward. Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins’ offense awoke to score 17 unanswered points to end the game with the defense contributing a safety in a pivotal 22-9 victory.

An intentional grounding penalty on Kyle Orton resulted in a safety for Miami to push the Dolphins’ lead to three (12-9) late in the third quarter. The Bills offense couldn’t muster much of anything in the second half as they went 0-7 on third down conversions over the final two quarters and 0-2 in the red zone for the game.

The loss dropped the Bills to 5-5 on the season, 2-2 in the division and 2-5 versus AFC opponents as they slipped perilously behind in the AFC playoff race. Miami moved into sole possession of second place in the division with the victory improving to 6-4.

How it went down: 
--The Dolphins got on the scoreboard first going on a 14-play 68-yard march before Caleb Sturgis put a 38-yard field goal through the uprights for a 3-0 lead with 6:40 left in the opening quarter.

--Buffalo also scored on their first possession with a 14-play 67-yard drive, which resulted in a 33-yard field goal from Dan Carpenter to tie the score at 3-3 with :18 seconds left in the first quarter.

--

Jerry Hughes forced a Ryan Tannehill fumble on a scramble run and Duke Williams recovered the loose ball and returned it to the Bills’ 12-yard line. Buffalo’s offense then went on their longest drive of the season taking 9:24 off the clock before Carpenter hit a 21-yard field goal for a 6-3 lead with 3:26 remaining in the first half.

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Bills fall to division rival on Thursday Night Football

Posted 8 hours ago

Chris Brown Bills Insider Email @ChrisBrownBills Blog: Inside the Bills

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The Buffalo pass rush was led by Mario Williams, who had 3.5 sacks in the game. As a unit the defense had five sacks on the night.

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Week 11: Buffalo Bills vs. Miami Dolphins highlights

00:00/01:56

Final Score: Miami 22 – Buffalo 9

Location: Miami Gardens, FL – Sun Life Stadium

W-L records: Buffalo (5-5); Miami (6-4)

In a Nutshell:  

View Gallery | 23 Photos

Game photos: Bills vs. Dolphins

In an AFC East matchup that was expected to be a defensive struggle, Buffalo nursed a six-point lead into the third quarter (9-3) thanks to three field goals from

Dan Carpenter. Miami however, put together a touchdown drive to take a one-point lead (10-9), and the Dolphins defense shut the door from that point forward. Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins’ offense awoke to score 17 unanswered points to end the game with the defense contributing a safety in a pivotal 22-9 victory. An intentional grounding penalty on Kyle Orton resulted in a safety for Miami to push the Dolphins’ lead to three (12-9) late in the third quarter. The Bills offense couldn’t muster much of anything in the second half as they went 0-7 on third down conversions over the final two quarters and 0-2 in the red zone for the game.
The loss dropped the Bills to 5-5 on the season, 2-2 in the division and 2-5 versus AFC opponents as they slipped perilously behind in the AFC playoff race. Miami moved into sole possession of second place in the division with the victory improving to 6-4.
How it went down: 
--The Dolphins got on the scoreboard first going on a 14-play 68-yard march before Caleb Sturgis put a 38-yard field goal through the uprights for a 3-0 lead with 6:40 left in the opening quarter.
--Buffalo also scored on their first possession with a 14-play 67-yard drive, which resulted in a 33-yard field goal from Dan Carpenter to tie the score at 3-3 with :18 seconds left in the first quarter.
--Jerry Hughes forced a Ryan Tannehill fumble on a scramble run and Duke Williams recovered the loose ball and returned it to the Bills’ 12-yard line. Buffalo’s offense then went on their longest drive of the season taking 9:24 off the clock before Carpenter hit a 21-yard field goal for a 6-3 lead with 3:26 remaining in the first half.

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Bills recover Tannehill fumble

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--Buffalo tacked on another field goal at the end of an eight-play 49-yard drive with Carpenter hitting from 46 yards out for a 9-3 lead in the third quarter.
--The Dolphins were able to retake the lead for the first time since the opening quarter when Tannnehill hit a wide open Brandon Gibson for a seven-yard touchdown strike to cap a nine-play 80-yard drive (10-9) with two minutes remaining in the third quarter.

--After a late intentional grounding call long after the play was over resulted in a safety for Miami, Buffalo kicked away. On the Jarvis Landry return

Nigel Bradham forced a fumble that was recovered by Nickell Robey at the Dolphins’ 39-yard line.

--Unfortunately Buffalo’s offense could manage just 10 yards on the drive and Dan Carpenter missed wide left on the 47-yard field goal attempt.

--Miami was then the beneficiary of a 24-yard pass interference call on the next possession that set the Dolphins up at the Bills’ 13-yard line. Two plays later Tannehill found Jarvis Landry for an eight-yard touchdown play to balloon the Miami lead to 19-9 early in the fourth quarter.

--After Buffalo failed on a fourth down conversion deep in their own territory Miami kicked a short field goal to cap the scoring (22-9).

Stat lines:
--Kyle Orton was 22-39 passing for 193 yards and a passer rating of 69.7.

--Chris Hogan led Buffalo’s receivers with seven catches for 74 yards.

--RBs Bryce Brown and Boobie Dixon combined for 49 rushing yards on 16 carries for a 3.0 yards per carry average.

--After going 6-8 on third down conversions in the first half, Buffalo’s offense went 0-7 in the second half.

Quotes from the locker room:
“To get just three points off the two turnovers you can’t do that especially when the ball started in their plus 50 range and you can’t do that. You’ve got to be able to take advantage of those situations and finish and we were outscored. But it was a team loss. There’s no doubt about that when you look at all the things that happened out there.”
--Head coach Doug Marrone

“Our performance isn’t good enough right now. We’ve got to go back to the drawing board a little bit and just the only thing I know is to go back and work harder and try to work harder and try to get better and it starts with the quarterback. My job is to put points on the board and whatever I need to do to get the offense better that’s what I need to do.”
--QB Kyle Orton

“That’s pretty much what it was missed tackles. We had a couple of miscommunications and that was it. We’ve just got to make the plays when we’ve got the opportunity. We were in position. We’ve just got to finish.”
--LB Nigel Bradham

View Gallery | 13 Photos

Mario Williams crazy red contacts

Subplots: 
--The Buffalo pass rush was led by Mario Williams, who had 3.5 sacks in the game. As a unit the defense had five sacks on the night.

--The Bills won the turnover battle 2-0, but managed to score just three points off takeaways as their other possession after a takeaway resulted in a missed field goal.

--Leodis McKelvin left the game in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return. He appeared to roll his ankle inward when his footing in the turf slipped.

--Bryce Brown got the start at running back for Buffalo. He also served as the team’s kick returner with Marquise Goodwin out with a rib injury.

--Buffalo dressed WR Mike Williams who was targeted on a red zone play and also served on special teams.

--Nigel Bradham had his second forced fumble in his last two games.

--Fred Jackson was inactive due to his groin injury.

Inactives:  
RB Fred Jackson, CB Ron Brooks, RB Phillip Tanner, LB Randell Johnson, OL Cyrus Kouandjio, WR Marquise Goodwin, DE Jarius Wynn.

Up Next:  
The Bills have a 10-day window before they host another AFC East rival in the New York Jets, who are coming off their bye, on Nov. 23 for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

 

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Time for risks with comet lander

 BBC :

Scientists working on Philae comet lander say it is time to take more risks with the probe, amid fears its battery might die in hours.

There is an expectation that the robot may be entering its last day of useable power on the ice object 67P.

The European Space Agency (ESA) is due to upload commands to tell Philae to deploy its drill.

The hope is that it can pull up some samples to analyse in the robot's onboard laboratories.

It is a high risk activity, however, because the torque could destabilise the delicately placed lander.

Last contact

Philae is sitting in the shadow of a cliff, and will not get enough sunlight to work beyond Saturday.

Friday night's radio contact with the orbiting Rosetta satellite will be the last that engineers have a reasonable confidence will work.

The team is still not sure where on the surface the probe came to rest after bouncing upon landing on Wednesday.

Scientists have been examining radio transmissions between the orbiter and the lander to see if they can triangulate a position.

This work has now produced a "circle of uncertainty" within which Philae almost certainly lies.

Follow-up imagery by Rosetta should now find the little craft, says Paolo Ferri, the head of mission operations at the European Space Agency.

He said Friday's activities would be critical.

"We're coming to the end so we're taking more risks. But we're super happy with what we've done up until now. I can't tell you exactly how much this lander has achieved but it is close to 100%.

"What's missing is the drilling. But with time running out, we're taking risks."

Dr Ferri refuses to give up hope that some last minute solution can be found to solve the power situation: "I am sure our colleagues at the main lander control centre in Cologne will come up with creative ways to collect this energy."

One solution that will be tried on Friday is to turn the main body of the robot to show the largest of its solar panels to the Sun.

The idea is that this could eke out some more life for the lander.

One remarkable image taken by the "mothership" Rosetta shows Philae as a tiny speck, headed for history

Launched in 2004, the European Space Agency (Esa) mission hopes to learn about the origins of our Solar System.

It has already sent back the first images ever taken from the crumbling, fractured terrain of a comet.

Philae got to the icy 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko on the back of Esa's Rosetta satellite after a 10-year, 6.4 billion-km (4bn-mile) journey, which reached its climax on Wednesday with a seven-hour drop to the surface.

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