Impressive McKayla Maroney

To win gold in the 2012 Olympics, all McKayla Maroney had to do was to land on her feet. However she failed to do it, ending the game with a silver medal on vault. 

Her American team won gold and Maroney has the credit for qualifying the team to the Team Finals. After the competition, the 16-year old athlete stood on the media podium with a sour facial reaction. 

Maroney was photographed and later became an overnight internet sensation.

The Impressive Olympic Journey

Everyone was expecting Maroney, who stands 5’3”, to bring home a gold medal on vault.  She attended professional trainings and won big in international gymnastics contests like the World 

Championships, Visa Championships, Secret US Classic and the CoverGirl Classic events.

"My mother put me in gymnastics because I had so much energy and I was always running around, so she thought gymnastics might take away some of the insane amounts of energy, " recalled Maroney.

To prepare for the London Olympics, the athlete underwent an extensive training under the instruction of Arthur Akopyan and Galina Marinova. In June, she suffered a nasal fracture and a mild concussion.  She missed a landing while warming up during the Visa Championships.

Her training for the Olympics made her previous bone break in the toe of her right foot worse. She said her broken bone hurt but still managed to ignore the pain.

"Bad things happen, you just have to make the best of it," claimed Maroney.

In the Olympics, her team was qualified in first place and the team members were individually qualified in first place to the Final Vault. She won a silver medal with a score of 15.083, despite her fall on her second vault.

“You can't always be perfect. Sometimes things don't go as planned,” remarked the gymnast.

She admitted that her hands did not really touch the vaults. The gold medal was given to Russia’s Sandra Izbasa.

 “For every competition, I just went in there with confidence in myself and in my team, and each day it felt like I gained more and more experience,” shared Maroney.

The Unimpressive Meme

A picture of Maroney standing on the media podium with a sour facial expression went viral on the internet.

“A new Tumblr called 'McKayla Is Not Impressed' places the scowling teen wearing her silver medal next to some iconic moments in history, though none appear significant enough to break a smile onto McKayla's face,” reported in the Daily Mail Reporter.

Among the events showed in the pictures included the capture of Osama Bin Laden and the landing of NASA’s Team Curiosity on Mars. A Twitter parody account was also created by anonymous individuals to make fun of her “unimpressed” expression.

She uploaded a picture on Twitter showing her and two teammates in an “unimpressed” reaction after their attempt to take a dip in the Olympic village swimming pool was turned down.

Mike Blake of Reuters wrote:

“Maroney is talented, funny, charismatic, and is the owner of one of the all-time greatest bitch faces in history. I want to see what her high school is like: Is she the queen bee? Is she a dork? I don't know, and it's reality TV's job to tell me.”

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Snoop Dogg’s Transformation to Snoop Lion

Say goodbye to Snoop Dogg and give Snoop Lion a warm welcome. According to the American singer, he changed his name while undergoing a spiritual and artistic rebirth in Jamaica.

Snoop narrated how he acquired his new name: 

"I went to the temple, where the high priest asked me what my name was, and I said, 'Snoop Dogg'. And he looked me in my eyes and said: 'No more. You are the light. You are the lion.' From that moment on, it's like I had started to understand why I was there."

Upon returning from Jamaica, he did not just introduce a new name. He also announced that he was shifting his music genre from rap to reggae which he considers “fresh air”.

“As a 40-year-old man ... I've got to give them something, said he. That's what you do when you're wise.”

Before Snoop Doggy and Snoop Lion Were Born

Snoop was born Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. in California. His mother started calling him “Snoopy” because of his physical appearance. Singers Brandy and Ray J are his cousins.

At age 5, he was already playing the piano. After graduating from high school, Snoop was arrested for procession of cocaine.

He was frequently in trouble with drugs and the law as a young man. Even when he was rising to fame, Snoop was arrested several times. He was charged for the murder of a man who was believed to be a member of Snoop’s gang’s rival, and was later acquitted. Later, he was sued for assaulting a fan on stage during his concert in 2005.

Recently Snoop has been banned from entering Norway for two years, after he tried entering the country with eight grams of cannabis. He was also found to be carrying an amount of money more than what was legally allowed. Snoop’s lawyer noted that they will not appeal the ban and that Snoop could “live with the decision”.

What is Behind the Name “Snoop Lion”?

News about Snoop Dogg changing his name broke with mixed reactions from the public.

“Say hello to well known ganja merchant and highly-paid singing whisperer Snoop Dogg, wrote Chris Starr of Heckler Spray. Or Snoop Lion, because the man has become leonine incarnate (or something).”

Author and fashion critic Derek Blasberg took to Twitter reacting "I just don't understand. When I got on the plane he was called Snoop Dogg, and when I got off the plane he was called Snoop Lion”.

Others were not shocked with the news report believing it was normal for people to change their name. One of the earlier celebrities who did the same was British singer Cat Stevens who is now Yusuf Islam.

According to Snoop, his transformation was inspired by reggae legend Bob Marley. Before recording his new reggae album “Reincarnated”, he even first got a blessing from Marley’s son Rohan.

"You can hear the message in some of the songs, Snoop told MTV News. You can hear the positivity and the strength and the struggle."

He concluded by saying he is the reincarnation of Bob Marley.

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James Holmes and the Nightmare

James Holmes finished an undergraduate degree in Neuroscience with the highest honors. He never had a criminal record and was never involved in a serious trouble. However he became a dreadful subject when he allegedly opened fire on a Colorado theater audience, killing 12 and wounding 58. Holmes is now facing 24 counts of first degree murder, 116 counts of attempted murder, possession of explosive devices, and inciting violence.

The Once Brilliant Student

Twenty-four years old Holmes was a big fan of superheroes. He decorated his apartment with Batman collectibles. He dyed his hair red believing he can be The Joker, Batman's nemesis.

Holmes enrolled as a Ph. D. student in Neuroscience at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus in Colorado. He won a government scholarship due to his outstanding academic achievements.

The son of a nurse and a mathematician was raised Lutheran. He played soccer, just like any other normal kid. It was reported that Holmes was a shy boy. His seniors said he was a stubborn kid.

"It was really hard for him to say anything, Jerry Borgie, senior pastor at Penasquitos Lutheran Church in San Diego, where the Holmes family worshipped, told the CS Monitor. You had to ask yes or no questions."

Weeks before the shooting, the once brilliant student failed tests and decided to quit schooling. Records have it that Holmes purchased guns and other weapons legally. He even applied to join a gun club, but never appeared for an orientation.

America's Nightmare

On July 20, 2012, movie-goers flocked inside a movie theater in Colorado to watch the midnight screening of the Batman film The Dark Knight Rises.

Police reports confirm that the perpetrator bought a ticket and went inside the theater, just like other viewers. After 20 minutes, the perpetrator moved out of the theater house using the emergency exit.

When the perpetrator returned through the exit door, he was already dressed in black. He was wearing a gas musk, a load-bearing vest, a ballistic helmet, bullet-resistant leggings, a throat protector, a groin protector and tactical gloves. Only a few in the audience thought the well-costumed man was dangerous.

The perpetrator then threw a canister emitting a smoke irritating the eyes of the moviegoers, then fired guns continuously. The worst gun-shooting incident in America took place.

The first 911 call was recorded at 12:39AM. Some people in the audience tweeted the ongoing incident, rather than calling the police. Police arrived within 90 seconds. The perpetrator was seized behind the movie house next to his car. He did not resist and allegedly introduced himself as The Joker. He was jailed and now facing multiple criminal cases.

The Shooting Aftermath

The Dark Knight Rises made it to the box office, gaining more than $30 M in midnight showings. It gained extensive international news coverage after the shooting.

Christian Bale, who played Batman in the movie, visited survivors in the hospital without announcing. He also joined a memorial service for the victims of the shooting. Meanwhile, Warner Brothers suspended TV ads and marketing campaigns of the movie in some countries.

Some critics put the blame on the effect of the movie. After the attack, cops arrested another armed man in Washington. The man was also saying he was The Joker.

The incident also sparked political debates regarding gun regulation in the United States. With critics calling for a gun ban, Senate majority leader Harry Reid told the press that it was too soon following the tragedy to have a discussion.

"I think we should just wait for a reasonable period of time before people are off making statements about what they should do and what they shouldn't do," said Reid.

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