Thursday, June 30, 2011

Sports and such

The Lightning made a good move yesterday and signed Dwayne Roloson to a one year deal for $3 million. That buys them some solid goaltending while they see if Smith is going to step up to the next level or one of their junior guys will actually be the next big thing.

They're still haggling with Stamkos though. With no details leaking out, I wonder where the sticking point is. I'd hate to think the kid or his agent is pushing for some unreasonable deal. I know he had a breakout year with the Bolts, buy you'd think there would be some loyalty at play after last season.

The Rays gagged another stellar outing by James Shields who struck out 10 in a losing effort as the Reds won 4-3. With Boston losing Dice K and possibly Lackey to Tommy John surgery, the Sox ought to back up a truck full of money to the Trop and pick up Big Game to fill the roster.

I mean, the local sportwriters, who as we know are the most knowledgable people in the world of athletics, have been saying all year that the Rays should trade the 3 complete game shutout pitcher for a couple of unknown prospects. So . . .

And, speaking of Boston, the Sox finally got back in the win column with a 5-2 victory over the Phillies as Lester notched his 10th win and the ageless Tek hit two home runs from the 5 hole. Running out of superlatives to throw at Varitek . . . just amazing!



And because we always love us some Tiz, here's Ashley Tisdale getting her naked on in a recent issue of Allure magazine:

ashley tisdale naked - allure magazine

Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Gotta love neighbors

So I'm sitting at home last night after work and someone knocks on my door. This usually aggravates me, because once I'm home -- I'm done. Don't call, don't bother me . . . I just want to relax and unwind.

But it turns out to be a couple of young dudes that work for a tree trimming service. And this is really timely, because I've been getting really fed up with how all my neighbors have trees growing into my yard and messing things up. And for some reason, all you have to do is re-roof your house, and trees go into growing overdrive and head right for the virgin shingles.

Anyway, I walk the dudes around the yard, tell them to cut away to their hearts content and get this nonsense off my property.

I get home tonight, pay the guys and we're standing around b.s.ing about stuff. The one guy tells me that my neighbor behind me saw the tree guys trimming his overgrown oak off my powerline and getting his cherry laurels off my property and talked to these guys about cleaning his tree mess down to size!

?!?

For years, every time we had a storm or a hurricane or something, my power went out because this douchebag wouldn't trim his effin' trees out of the powerlines. I finally spring to get something done, and now he's all big on cleaning up his property!

I guess better late than never, but come on . . .

Monday, June 27, 2011

When does the tease become something else?

A taunt, perhaps?

My friend at work, a female friend, and yes I do have a couple, showed me a magazine cover today. And she's saying how much she loves this chick on the cover.

I've said before that I don't find Katy Perry all that annoying. Certainly not as much as most celeb bloggers who rag on her endlessly. Her music is decent -- fairly generic pop. And her image? Well, that's where we're going tonight. Here's the picture:

katy perry rolling stone hershey's kisses bra
Yeah honey, I got it. You've got boobs. I haven't met a girl yet who doesn't. But Katy's thing is to relentlessly showcase them in daring outfits that seem on the edge of a wardrobe malfunction. Which is the point, of course.

And that's my point -- nothing's going to happen. Ever. Because she goes to great lengths to ensure that nothing slips out. It's a tease, you see. And with Katy, a neverending one. Because there's no payoff on the horizon.

If you go back and look at films of the old burlesque routines, the gals had a lengthy number where they slowly took off their clothes. Of course in those days, as Cole Porter said -- "A glimpse of stocking, was something quite shocking." or words to that effect. But at the end of the performance, as the dancer was slipping off stage, the audience would get the slightest peek at the lady's body. It wasn't much, but is was some payoff.

In Katy Perry's case, there will never be a payoff, because underneath it all, she's only pretending to be a hoochie. And that's when I begin yawning.

There is another gal at work. We've been attracted to one another for years. But she is married, so nothing is ever go to happen between us. My marriage broke up because my wife cheated on me multiple times on multiple levels, and I would never put anyone else through that.

But this gal at work is a flirt. Big time. She wants the guys, all the guys to notice her. She dresses to be noticed. And to her credit, for a 50 year old woman, she can rock the sh*t out of a pair of tight hip-huggers.

So we've had this "Where's Waldo?" flirtation thing going on for years between us. But as I pointed out to her recently -- why? There's never going to be any payoff for the flirting, so why are we bothering?

Because it feeds her ego, that's why. She knows that men are watching her, checking her out, and it makes her feel attractive and desireable. But to me, this is where we cross the line into taunting. She spends all day giving me the bedroom eyes, and the soft voice, and suggestive comments, that lead to . . . nothing. At the end of the day, she goes home to her husband, and I go home to my empty house.

Seems a bit cruel and self-centered to me.

And that is what I see with Katy Perry -- look at me, notice me, pay attention to me, . . .

And in the end, Katy gets . . . more hits on her webpage, a higher google ranking, more celebrity, etc. And what do you get? The same thing I get with my flirt at work -- the feeling of being used, and nothing else.

That's why, when my friend showed me the cover with Katy on it, I had to disappoint her by saying it didn't do anything for me. She didn't understand why, but if you're reading this, perhaps you will.

Update:
So the flirty gal at work is now having an affair. And guess who it is not with? Granted, I wouldn't have anyway -- I don't do married, but still. No, some random grease monkey came into the office, gave her a wink and a smile, and she was hittin' his sh*t in about two seconds.

Go figure.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

So Huntsman is in . . . is Rick Perry?

So I see where former Utah governor John Huntsman has officially decided to run for President. It's getting to be pretty crowded for the upcoming debates.

I don't know a lot about him, gonna have to bone up a bit. I know that, from a fiscal standpoint, he did some good stuff as gov of Utah. He's also picked the wrong side on a few things -- global warming, Obama as a wonderful executive, etc. Things he's already begun to walk back. And he'll have to do a lot of dancing to cover. Though hearing him speak, he's a polished politician, so I've no doubt he can talk his way through various change of heart scenarios.

He reminds me, at first glance, of Mike Huckabee, whom I supported in the '08 primaries. I personally like former governors for the presidency as they've actually had to run something, not just sit around in committee and vote "present" like our current chief executive.

Oddly enough, that was conventional thinking until Michelle Bachmann got into the race. Now the same conservative pundits who championed the desireability of former governors, now dismiss that in favor of lifetime senators who they say have the preferred resume.

Guess it depends what horse you're backing.

Has Rick Perry decided to run? He's talking the talk. And I know that some conservatives are pointing out the flaws in his resume already. Like I said -- lots of homework to begin. And I don't think we're done with people jumping in this race as President Obama looks more beatable every day.



And just 'cause she's fairly wamdigeous -- here's Lucy Pinder testing the tensile strength of black tape of some kind:

lucy pinder

Monday, June 20, 2011

Tom Jones? Yep, still a douchebag.

Local sports tool, Tom Jones, the same jerk who said the other day that even if Kevin Youklis didn't mean to clip Casey Kotchman, it was good to see him drilled with a fastball, follows up with another winner in the Monday edition of the St. Pete Times.

Writing about former Rays now Red Sox player Carl Crawford, Jones says:

"No one should root for an injury, but I'm guessing not too many Rays fans were broken up when they saw Carl Crawford go on the disabled list with his .243 batting average."

C.C. spends nine years busting his hump for the Rays, and now that he's with the Sox, this *sshole is grinning because Carl tweaked his hamstring?!

I've said this many times before, but the Times has some of the biggest jerks and know nothings in the sports reporting business.

Sunday, June 19, 2011

Father


I've been blogging for about 7 years now, off and on, and I've tried for seven years to write this post. I'm going to try once more.

My father was, quite simply, the greatest man I have ever known or will ever know. He was my mentor, my best friend, my buddy, my idol.

He was truly a genius. An inventor, a tinkerer, a builder of anything he put his mind to -- from restoring a 1964 Corvette to building an airplane in our garage (from the actual forming of the fusilage pieces!), he was a creator.

That you are reading this post is directly responsible to his mind. My father created the prototype for plug-in electronics. Back in the 60's, electronics were all hard-wired and vacuum tubes. Working for a company in St. Petersburg called ECI, who did a lot of government work for the military, my father solved the problem of how to reconfigure radios quickly for the AWACS planes. As they couldn't do delicate soldering bouncing around at 30,000 feet, the airmen needed a way to reconfigure their radios and electronic devices. Dad envisioned, then built with his own hands, a modular system of individual components that could be taken apart and rearranged. Unheard of at the time. And now everything, everywhere uses this seemingly obvious design.

He designed and built equipment for the Saturn and Apollo missions for NASA.

And all this from the humblest of origins. Growing up during the great depression, he lived in a section of Pittsburgh called the Hill District. An area so tough that the police wouldn't come in there without a squadron of cars. He carried a gun to school at the age of 12 in a homemade holster. In fact, even at that age, he did his own gunsmithing! He ran with a gang in Pittsburgh they nicknamed the Fourty Thieves. Talk about a tough upbringing!

His father falsified his birth certificate to get him into the Navy underaged, and he was there for the entirety of WWII. The horrors of that war scarred him for life. As a child, I listened to his incredible stories of tragedy, and the occassional comedy, that he endured.

But that he endured tormented him to the end of his days. With the exception of one, all his friends died in the war, and Dad never forgave himself for surviving.

Like all true geniuses, Dad was beset with demons. And his experiences in the war just empowered those demons exponentially. He fought two long battles with alcoholism in his life. Not the sissified stuff you see in movies or hear your friends talk about -- "Oh, I get drunk every Friday night, I'm such an alcoholic!" No, I'm talking about 3 and 4 week benders. Cases of vodka consumed as the only beverage. Then two weeks of wretching sickness afterward as his body fought to recover.

But when the time came that he knew he had to quit for the sake of his family, he quit. Just like that. No poker chips. No crying confessionals. No weepy "I'm an addict" bullsh*t. Just a man saying enough's enough.

That's the reason why I have little sympathy for those who say they can't beat some addiction or behavior. You can beat it if you want to. My father did. Same thing with the whining about how someone's upbringing dooms them to a certain life. You can get over it if you want to. My father did.

He was one of those people who would literally give you the shirt off his back if you needed it. I cannot recount how many times he gave stuff away to friends without a moment's hesitation. We had a friend of my mother whose car blew up on her. Dad and I hop in our car and we're off to Virginia to give this woman our car. We fly back and go buy another used car for us to drive. There wasn't any question it was the right thing to do. Someone was in need -- we gave. End of story.

In the end, mom and I in the waiting room outside the ICU. I've worked in and around hospitals and their folks long enough to know what I was listening to. Over and over they coded him. The doctor came out and told us that he had the will to live, but that his heart wouldn't keep going. In the most perfect epitath ever written, though unintentionally, my father died because his heart was too big.

And I had to give the order to pull the plug. On my best friend. It haunts me to this day.

When my sister flew in after, we sat on his bed. I layed my head in her lap and cried. I said all I ever wanted was for him to be proud of me.

I don't know now, if I were to see him today, that I could look him in the eye. I feel like such a disappointment. He set the bar so high . . .

My sole accomplishment in this life is to have brought my son into the world. With any luck, I've set his feet on the path. I see so much of my father in him. And that pleases me. If he's only half the man my father was, he'll be twice the man anyone else on this planet is.

I know dad would be proud of my son. And that pleases me too.

I love you dad. And I miss you.

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Comments fixed?

Not sure if anyone has tried commenting here, but I've changed the set up on the comments and it looks like it might actually be working.

So if you want to give me a piece of your mind about one of my ramblings, give it a shot. The "hit/miss/meh" thing works too, if you just want to up-ding or down-ding a post. Feedback won't kill me . . . I think.

And just because . . . here's Vanessa Hudgens looking cute and sexy for Candies shoes:

Friday, June 17, 2011

Of Sox and Rays and bad sports writers and Kazmir

I was going to post this last night after the game, but decided to wait until today to have access to the paper figuring there would be some juicy quotes to back me up. I was not disappointed.

To set the stage -- the Sox come into town riding a 9 game winning streak to face the Rays. Nearly a month ago, Rays manager Joe Maddon adjusted the schedules of the pitchers here to get specific match ups for the three game series.

Game 1 has James Shields pitching a nine-inning shut out for the Rays. Tim Wakefield pitches into the eighth allowing only 1 earned run. It's a great game, a pitcher's duel, and after the game, the Sox players comment with appreciation for Shield's performance. Good stuff all around.

Game 2 has Josh Beckett pitching nearly a perfect game -- a 97 pitch, shut out that would have been a no-hitter had Reid Brignac not nine-ironed a changeup out of the dirt for a weak infield single. Rays pitcher, upcoming star Jeremy Hellickson kept it close until Kevin Youklis hit a three run homer to win it for Boston. Good stuff again, right? Not with the bad sports at the St. Pete Times.

After a two page article extolling the promise and ability of Hellickson, we get a "oh by the way" about Beckett's performance -- "He was...benefitting from home-plate umpire Rob Drake's high zone." That from Times writer Mark Topkin. Chiming in were disgruntled Rays Matt Joyce and Brignac -- "He was...getting some calls his way, so that made it even harder." "He was getting a few calls here and there, and that helps out a...pitcher like him."

Wow. Beckett's leading the AL in ERA, has won two World Series titles with Boston and is a two time All-Star. But apparently, he needs his own umpire to pitch a good game. And last time I looked guys, the umpire calls balls and strikes for both teams! So Hellickson was "benefitting" from the high zone as well. Only difference is that the hitters from Boston weren't whining like b*tches about it.

But then, because the local sports writers have to have something to gin up hatred for Boston over, we get Spike-gate!

Youk, who was having a tough night at the plate hitting into two inning ending double plays earlier takes off for first on another potential throw out. Running inside the line a bit, in my opinion hoping to get Rays first baseman Casey Kotchman to pull his foot off the bag, Youk tries to step over Kotchman and nips his foot. OMG!!! Youk tried to take out Casey!!!

Even though Kotchman said it wasn't intentional, even though Youk said it wasn't, the Times sports writer said it was. Having already been dismissive of Youk's home run -- the ball mysteriously carried over the fence, instead of dropping for an easy out, the local writers tried their best to depict Youk as a dirty player.

So now we get to Game 3. Right out of the box, David Price drills Youk on the first pitch he throws him, then steps off the mound daring Youk to come after him. And the sportswriters were ecstatic!

Sports tool Tom Jones said it didn't matter if Youk kicked Kotchman on purpose or not, "...it was nice that David Price plunked him [Youklis] in the first inning..."

John Romano said that "perceptions matter" and "slights must be addressed" by the Rays. Kotchman is still emphatically stating he doesn't think Youk's contact with him was intentional, but that doesn't matter to the doughy, desk bound sports writers for the Times. THEY KNOW Youklis is guilty of . . . playing rough . . . or something. They mention that Youk has a tendancy to act cranky and have a bit of an edge when he isn't having a good night.

Oh brother!

Price, who admitted his control was off, he threw over a hundred pitches in just five innings, doesn't have the juevos to admit he threw at Youk. But you have to wonder about the intelligence there. If he couldn't get the ball over the plate, should he have been sending a fastball towards a player's head? Youklis, to his credit, said he wasn't upset about getting hit, though he didn't understand why, but was concerned that Price came in shoulder high with the heater.

The Sox, as a team, behaved like the professionals they are, getting the ultimate revenge -- a 4-2 victory that put the Rays 5 1/2 games back.

But until the Rays quit allowing the local sports writers to run the team, stirring up controversy where none exists, the team and the area will always be second rate also rans.



And now to Scott Kazmir.

The Rays stole Kazmir from the Mets in 2004. He made the All-Star team in '06 and in '07 went 13-9 with a 3.48 ERA and an AL high 239 strike outs. Two years later he was gone, traded to the Angels who just released him after earning a 17.02 ERA in 15+ innings with triple A Salt Lake.

Kazmir's tenure with the Rays was the definition of perplexing. He would start off hot, go inexplicably cold at some point, then seem to get it together for a bit.

I took notice once, after he began making a seasonal come back, that in an interview he stated he had tweaked his delivery earlier on and was now back to his original set up on the mound.

?!?

This happened again and again during his stay with the Rays. And it kept coming up, that in the middle of a successful string of outings, Kaz would suddenly change his delivery trying to find . . . something.

How can someone reach the pinnacle of their chosen sport and not understand the basic tenet of having a grooved swing or delivery or whatever? Golf, bowling, basketball, anything . . . all athletes develope that muscle memory that allows them to accurately repeat a motion that is essential to their performance.

With the exception of Tiger Woods, who kept changing his swing at the top of this game (and where is he now?), I've never heard of anyone who kept monkeying with something that was working. Except Kazmir. And now he's out of baseball. At 27. Granted, the Angels are on the hook for the balance of Kaz' $23 million long term deal. But still . . .

If I could see what was going on, where were the pitching coaches? Why wasn't someone standing next to the mound with a cattle prod in spring training, jolting Kaz in the ribs and saying, "Get back on the rubber! Put your foot where it belongs!" etc?

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

I got nothin'

So today's my first day back at work after being crazy sick for one day -- toilet hugging, "everybody out...two exits...no waiting!" and I still feel like crap. Being sick in this heat and humidity is a real drag.

I have nothing clever to say. Nothing pithy or snarky or bitchy. My Sox are battling my Rays in a scoreless pitcher's duel at the moment. So in lieu of total silence, here's Nicole Scherzinger shaking her groove thang in some photo shoot.

'Cause let's face it -- she's the hottest thing going in reality tv right now.


Update:
Sox win as Beckett throws a one hit shut out! Youk hits a three run homer after Hellickson intentionally walks A-Gon to give Boston the 3-0 win. woot!

Time to start a new streak, I guess

The Sox got shut out by the Rays to end their streak, 4-0 last night.

"Big Game" James Shields pitched his third complete game shutout for the season (how cool is that?) and my boy Wake hung in there to the eighth allowing only 2 runs.

Like I said before this series started, it's lose-lose for me here. I don't want the Sox to lose their division lead over the Yanks, but I like to see the Rays play well too.

*groan*

Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Sean Bean is not a metrosexual pantywaist



Out having a drink with his Playboy playmate friend April Summers, Sean Bean who you've seen in Ronin, Lord of the Rings, and currently Game of Thrones took exception to some young jerk making a snooty remark while he and April were outside having a smoke.

Bean pursues the guy looking to call him out on his wiseassness, but of course the townie runs off. Only to return later and ambush Bean when he's outside again having a smoke.

Try to tell you guys those cigarettes are dangerous . . .

Anyway, Bean gets cut with possibly a broken bottle and gets a punch in the face. Instead of calling the paps and staging a photo-op of him going to the hospital. He goes back in the bar, cleans up his bloody cut and has a few more drinks.

Dude's badass rating just went up a bunch of notches there.

And at home, girlfriends and wives are giving their men the side-eye wondering what their man would do in the same situation.

Did John Ziegler beclown himself . . .


. . . or stab Sarah Palin in the back?

In a recent article at The Daily Caller, Ziegler says that Sarah is unelectable. And not only that, if she foolishly enters the presidential race, she'll guarantee a second term for Barack Obama by weakening the entire field.

Now Ziegler, who shot to fame as the producer of the documentary Media Malpractice -- a damning look at the lengths the left-wing media went to to destroy Sarah Palin's political career, knows full well what he is saying will be the lead on every lefty newssite and tv show.

So what was he thinking? Is he really concerned about the upcoming election? Or is something else at work?

Ziegler has a history of burning bridges at radio stations and other places he's worked in the past, and then lashing out via manifestos and such to salve his wounded pride.

In 2010, he sent an e-mail to Sarah Palin giving unsolicited advice on some topic. In what may be Sarah's only e-mail gaffe that's come to light, she did the dreaded "forward all" miskey and attached a snarky comment about everyone having to endure Ziegler's e-mail. Of course, Ziegler got a copy of that and pouted like a little baby

And now it's payback time. Like a pubescent school-girl, he's lashing out at the varsity star who snubbed him by scribbling nasty things on the walls above the drinking fountains.

I'm surprised he didn't shop this manifesto to the usual George Soros run media outlets. My gut feeling here is that Ziegler thought that his amazing documentary entitled him permanent access to Sarah Palin's career . . . to be a sort of implicitly trusted advisor or Yoda figure for her. Think Karl Rove for George Bush.

But faced with the fact that Sarah Palin isn't doing anything by the numbers in her political life, including turning herself over to one or more advisors (the debacle of McCain's people backstabbing her probably helped this), Ziegler has decided to lash out, as he has for his entire professional life, at the one person who is responsible for him having any name recognition whatsoever.

pity

Update:
Okay, because I can't even comment on my own freekin' blog #@!!?*&%!! let me respond to my only comment --

My poorly written analogy goes as follows: Ziegler is the prepubescent girl (as in acting like a little girl) who feels snubbed by the HS varsity star - Palin. So in his op-ed at the Daily Caller, he's lashing out petulantly -- like a kid scribbling nasty things above the water fountain at school where everyone will see them hoping to embarrass the object of his infantile scorn. See?

Not a professional writer here folks, you've got to work with me a bit.

Monday, June 13, 2011

Game, set, match -- Taylor Momsen


So Taylor Momsen is now in England at the Download Music Festival, or something like that. And she's got her dark rocker thing going on. Nothing new there. Then she turns sideways . . .


And just like that, Taylor puts a fork in Miley Cyrus' - "Look at me, I'm so edgy, I'm rockin' in South America..." tour strategy. 'Cause while Miley's down south wearing Disney approved sexy wear, Taylor's in England letting everything hang of her top for anyone to see. Good thing the roadies didn't run out of electrical tape setting up or heaven knows what we would have been treated to there.

And to top it off, Taylor didn't just flash everyone at the interview, she took that sh*t on stage and flashed the crowd too. There's a video of her online just yanking her top up for the fans. I mean that's it, there's no topping that for poor Miley. She might as well put on a demure sundress and go back to doing church hymns with Billy Ray, 'cause she's got no answers for this chick in the bringin' the hoochie department.


Update:
Here's the money shot so to speak from the video I alluded to above. Like I said, Miley could be juggling chainsaws while wearing a bikini made of bacon on stage and no one's going to notice with Taylor doing this stuff night after night.

Game over, man. Game over!

Sunday, June 12, 2011

That's nine in a row

Boston completed the sweep of the Blue Jays with today's 14-1 win to give them nine victories in a row, the longest winning streak in the majors.

The guys are smokin' at the plate, outscoring Toronto 35-6 in the series. Jon Lester got his league leading ninth win as well. A-Gon is batting over .400 for the last month and abusing the stat leader board with hits, rbi's, and runs. Papi has a year's worth of homers and rbi's in the last month as well.

It took a while for these guys to get out of the gate, but they got it in top gear now.

They come to St. Pete this week to play three with the Rays. I think Wake's got the nod in the first game. His knuckler dances pretty nice in the a/c, but the guys here are used to seeing him, so anything can happen. Madden's juggled his rotation to get the pitching match-ups he wants, so it's going to be a fun series.

I hate to root against the local team, but with Boston in front, I'd like to see them put some distance between them and the Yankees.

Rule 5 Sunday -- Charlize Theron


This week's Rule 5 submission is the lovely Charlize Theron.

I've always found the South African born actress to be an ethereal beauty, and her otherworldly beauty is showing no signs of diminishing long into her career.

And, as I've mentioned before about other actors/actresses, I love the fact that she appears in a variety of roles. From her stunning turn as local psycho killer Aileen Wuornos, to light comedies and stuff like Aeon Flux and Hancock. In fact, my only gripe about the Flux movie was that she didn't wear the outfit from the 'toon. That would have been worth any price to see in a live action movie. Oh well.

*click on the thumbnails for full-sized images*



Rule 5 Sunday suggested by this.

Friday, June 10, 2011

No pretense of objectivity now


So if you haven't heard -- it's full on Operation Get Sarah Palin!

The New York Times and the Washington Post have signed on hundreds of volunteers to pour through two and a half years of Sarah Palin's e-mail corrrespondence from when she was governor of Alaska.

The news media did a live feed from the document drop, announcing with breathless anticipation that a storm was brewing for the former governor and private citizen, as they are sure there must be some damning e-mails in there somewhere.

Now bear in mind, these are the same liberals that don't seem to care that a sitting Congressman was sending pictures of his penis to underaged girls while in his office. The same Congressman that coached recipients of his slimey tweets on how to lie to the media to cover for him.

This is also the same media that ignores actual science when it comes to climate, and put forth their chosen political talking points.

They also ignore nearly 10% unemployment, nearly 20% underemployment, $14 trillion in debt, a downturning economy, an undeclared war, a looming recession (again), a Democratically controlled congress that hasn't put forth a budget in 2 years, and on and on.

They close their eyes to our gaffe prone President who alienates our allies and sucks up to murderous dictators and tyrants. Whose bigotry is on display when he dismisses Israel and speaks of white police officers as "acting stupidly" and refers to white businessmen as "those people." Who keeps as close advisors convicted domestic terrorists, communists, and racist hatemongers.

Nothing to see here, move along losers.

But let's look into Sarah Palin's old e-mails. Let's rent the house next door and spy on her. Let's chase her around the country like rabid dogs. Let's make up quotes and publish them as fact. Let's ignore historical facts and claim she's a moron about our country's history. Let's make jokes on tv and on stage about killing her or raping her children.

In my lifetime, I have never seen such a concerted effort to destroy one person's reputation as this. And for what? Because she's a conservative? Because she didn't butcher her imperfect child in her womb? Because she doesn't believe in a cradle to grave nanny state government?

And where are the women's groups on this? Where are the enlightened female intelligensia?

Oh they're grabbing their pitchforks and torches and running along side the frothing mob. She deserves it, they say. She's dangerous, they say.

You disgust me, I say.

Update:
After one day of pouring through Sarah's e-mails with drooling intensity we find that she was excited to be named to the McCain Presidential ticket, that she's "Team Edward," that she was a busy, hard working governor and CEO of her state, and oh yeah, she got lots of death threats! Want to guess how many main stream news organizations lead with that last little tid-bit?

My money's on not a single one.

Taylor still pwning Miley

In the battle of overseas pop tarts, Taylor Momsen is still outdoing Miley Cyrus in the all important hoochie-wear department:


Honestly, this Taylor chick has the knack for knowing how to bring the uncomfortable naughtiness down pat. And I like the braids for the whole Swiss Miss look, since she's performing in Germany in this picture.

Miley ought to just give up and wear jeans and a t-shirt onstage, 'cause she's got no chance against this chick.

And frankly, I think Taylor's the better rocker anyway. Though Miley's voice isn't all that bad. It's a race to see who can come up with some decent music first.

But the image battle is pretty much over.

Broom-age

The Red Sox beat the Yankees early this morning 8-3, to take a 2 game lead in the American League East.

The three game sweep of the Jankees gives Boston a 8-1 record this year against New York and I think they've won like 6 straight in the new stadium there.

A little plunkage in the game as Beckett drilled Jeter in the first and Sabathia responded by hitting Papi in the fourth. I see where some are trying to make a deal out of that, saying the New York media was pushing the meme that Ortiz has never been hit by a Yankee pitcher.

whatever

It's baseball, folks. tit-for-tat You hit my guy, I hit yours. They've been playing the game like that for a hundred years. Nothing to see here.

Bottom line is that Boston's back on top in the division. Now they've got more work to do with a trip here to face the Rays who always play them tough. And as a fan of both teams, it's a lose-lose series for me.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

See, now she's just playin' with me

Mischa Barton leaving the Groucho Club in London:


Already had me hooked on your sloppy goodness . . . now you're out putting on the glam with your sexy little dress, and clean make-up and cute little wedgies . . . you're makin' me crazy here girly.

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

And that's game 1

The Red Sox beat the hated Yankees last night 6-4.

David Ortiz hit a monster 2 run shot and Pap ended the game with a strikeout of A-Rod.

Video immediately after showed Cameron Diaz ripping three phone books in half, bending a steel bar over her neck, then climbing the Empire State Building where she swatted at airplanes for a couple of hours.

Tito's moving of Carl Crawford into the 6 hole has paid dividends all around as C.C. has brought his average up about 50 points in the last month. And Oritz has benefitted because pitchers now have to pitch to him, much like when Manny followed him in the line-up. He's responded with a month so huge I think he was named offensive player of the month or something.

This gives the Sox a solid 1-6 lineup of power and average that will be good stuff for the rest of the season.

Now if they can only keep their pitchers off the dl *raps on wood*

Also worth mentioning that the Sox are up 7-4 as I write this behind my boy Wake and Papi's hit another homer. yippee!

Update:
Boston wins 11-6! This puts the Sox in first place in the East and gives them a 7-1 record against the Jankees. heh



And also for no reason other than her general hotness, here's an early released pic of the anti-Megan Fox, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley from her July layout in Maxim:


you're welcome

Monday, June 6, 2011

This is the hottest thing in the last decade?

So Spike TV held their annual awards show last night and feted Jennifer Aniston for a decade of hotness.

Really?

Not Mila Kunis? Not Eliza Dushku? Not Salma Hayek? Not Angelina Jolie? Not . . .*goes on ad nauseum*?

And as if to emphasize the head scratching nature of the award, Jen shows up looking like this:


Seriously, honey? You're being awarded for being the hotttest thing going for the last ten years, and that's the best outfit you can bring? And nice hair, by the way. Piss off your stylist?

I don't actually have anything against Jen, but the continuous whining about Brad & Angie, and the serial douchbag dating, and the endless magazine covers about how happy she is alone quickly followed by another stating she's in love again!

*groan*

Something tells me Spike TV needs a testosterone booster or something, 'cause at this rate, they'll be annoiting Florence Henderson as the hotty of the year.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Rule 5 Sunday -- Carmen Electra


This week's Rule 5 submission is the ageless Carmen Electra.

Of course I say ageless, but actually Carmen, born Tara Patrick is only 39. But still, when you look at how other celeb types are aging in dog years -- she's still bangin'! And we like that :-)

Her career isn't the stuff of legend, but she stays busy -- starting off in Playboy and moving into Baywatch and other tv and movie roles. I'm actually a fan of her work in 2005's Dirty Love with Jenny McCarthy. Carmen plays this ghetto-wannabe white chick, perfectly doing the exaggerated mannerisms you see in other white girls trying to act like sisters. It's a meaty role and she's pretty funny in it. Worth checking out if you see it on cable.

*click on the thumbnails for full-sized images*


Rule 5 Sunday suggested by this.

Friday, June 3, 2011

Oh hell yeah!

This is what I needed to get my weekend started -- some Duffster hotness:


woof, how about my Hilary rockin' the cut-offs with some stems that look like they could crack a couple of your ribs?

Hmmm, looks like she could use some help with that pesky shaving thing. See, if she wasn't married, this is where I'd offer my expert help in that area . . . hot bubble bath, candles, champagne . . . *thinks impure thoughts* . . . ummm, gonna need a minute alone here boys . . .

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Tell me again, why this isn't like socialism

From the early days of this administration, even back during the campaign, President/candidate Obama has made statements that had a socialist tinge to them.

He's spoken about "spreading the wealth around" and how there comes a time "when you've made enough money" and on and on. And concerned citizens have wondered aloud about the notion that a sitting President feels he has the authority, moral and legal, to decide how much money you can make.

Of interest to me is that he never makes these statements to his friends in the movie/music/sports industries, who are some of the highest paid people in the world. No, he only says this stuff to businessmen, entrepeneurs, and blue collar workers. Go figure.

But anyone who wonders about the socialist/marxist hue to policies from this administration are called racist fearmongers or told we're jumping to illogical conclusions, etc. But like they tell you when you're a child, the longer you try to keep a lie going, the harder it is to keep everything straight. It's just too complex. And we see another example of that today.

As more and more states object to the unconstitutionality of Obamacare, there are legal challenges everywhere. In the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Cincinnati, the president's acting solicitor general, Neal Kumar Katyal, under questioning made the following statement:

“If we’re going to play that game, I think that game can be played here as well, because after all, the minimum coverage provision only kicks in after people have earned a minimum amount of income,” Kaytal said. “So it’s a penalty on earning a certain amount of income and self insuring. It’s not just on self insuring on its own. So I guess one could say, just as the restaurant owner could depart the market in Heart of Atlanta Hotel, someone doesn’t need to earn that much income."

*emphasis added*

Got that? Don't like the individual mandate, just choose to make less money!

Everything conservatives have railed against in this legislation has been proven to be true -- you can't keep your doctor, there is end of life financial decisionmaking, the law will ruin businesses (over 1300 waivers granted and counting), medical care in general is being degraded, and more. And as Republicans found out in their meeting with the President yesterday on the budget, his answer to everything is raise taxes. Punish the job creators, redistribute wealth, control every aspect of your life.

That is not what government is for. The purpose of the Constitution is to keep the government out of our personal lives. That's why it allows us to worship as we please, assemble freely, be safe from unreasonable search & seizure, keep & bear arms, not be forced to testify against ourselves, etc. The government was not created by the founders to be our nanny. It is to provide general protection and services necessary for the country to function -- military, currency, infrastructure.

Like I've asked hundreds of times -- where are all the 60s hippies now? Where are all the "keep the man out of my life" protesters? What happened to you guys?

It's not exactly Weiner-gate



So the other day, celeb blogs were all a-twitter about some supposed nude self-shots of psuedo-celeb Blake Lively that appeared online.

And there was the usual righteously indignant claims of fake and so on by Blake and her publicists. Then another series of pics appeared, the image above is from that group. And suddenly all those other pics are looking a little more . . . authentic.

Here's my thing -- these young folks today think they are so worldly and savvy, and yet time and again they do foolish stuff like leave compromising images in their cell phones no matter how many times these devices and accounts get hacked and they get embarrassed.

Below are the original nudes -- not sanitized for your protection:

blake lively nude cell phone picblake lively nude cell phone picblake lively nude cell phone pic blake lively nude cell phone picblake lively nude cell phone pic

And I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that it looks like someone got some fake boobs for their 18th birthday or something, because Blake looks a little gravity defying here. Anything to help your career, I guess.

Update:

Rumors abound that the pics in question were taken to be sent to either another actor or a director or both. And with Ben Affleck out and about sporting a fresh black eye, inquiring minds think maybe he's one of the intended recipients.

Wherein I respectfully disagree with The Hammer

Now I'm always lovin' me some Charles Krauthammer -- he's witty, insightful, articulate, well informed to a freekish degree, and of course, a conservative. I also enjoy his self depricating sense of humor where he gleefully admits he's an effite beltway elitist. He has said he wears Sarah Palin's crack about him being hoity toity as a badge of honor.

But Chuck has a palpable disdain for the afore mentioned Governor of Alaska that is . . . well, palpable. The Hammer commands great respect among conservatives and lefties know it. And when they get him on their shows, they know all they have to do is mention Sarah Palin and they'll get enough dismissive rejoinders about her to fill a YouTube site.

And the intelligent commentator falls for it every time. The left plays him like a fiddle on Sarah.

The other night, I caught The Hammer on Bill O'Reilly's show. Now I rarely watch The Factor because I find O'Reilly to be tedious and a bit of a fake. He's no where near the conservative idealist firebrand liberals would have you believe.

But in a convesation about Sarah Palin, Chuck talked about how intelligent Sarah is, how her views fit perfectly with the Republican party and the new fiscal conservative Tea Party. He went on and on about how great she was. Then the "but" moment.

Charles said Sarah wasn't "schooled" enough in foreign policy. And if that wasn't bad enough, he said she seems to have no desire to school herself on those topics.

?!?

Where is that coming from? Since the campaign ended in the '08 election, Sarah has spoken out often and with informed certitude on everything from domestic policy to foreign policy. It doesn't take a great deal of effort to find op-eds and articles and speeches she has given on everything from Libya to Israel to Afghanistan to the START treaty.

And she's spoken out with enough credibility and often prescience on these topics that even lefty newspapers have been forced to admit she's been ahead of the curve on many situations.

Plus you have everything she's written/spoken about here at home -- border security, fiscal crisis, energy production, etc., she's given more intelligent and informed speeches on these topics than the President himself.

So . . . what up Chuck?!

The problem is beltway insiders like Charles, George Will, Karl Rove, Newt Gingrich and the rest would rather run a loser like flip-flop Mitt for President because he went to the right schools, comes from the right part of the country, he just looks so darn Presidential, and so on.

Plus, I wouldn't be surprised if there's just a little hint of mysogyny at work here. I don't think any of these "old boys" are comfortable with the idea of a woman in charge of the country. Oddly, these guys always wet their pants when they talk about Margaret Thatcher, or Golda Meir. Now those were real leaders who just happened to be women according to these experts. But a charming hockey mom former Governor who fought corruption within her own state and won, who ran her state with such fiscal astuteness that they have billions in surplus and who is savvy enough to run rings around the bloodthirsty press, well, she isn't properly schooled on the ways of the world. Not enough gavitas they say.

Whatever, I say.

Here's my thing -- she won't kiss these guy's asses. And they don't like it. She's showing she doesn't need them, and they hate it. They make their incomes as influence peddlers, and she isn't buying. And they can't stand it.

So, sorry Charles, not with ya on this one.

Update:

Here's the exact quote from Charles about Sarah's lack of "schooling:"

"The problem with her, I think, is that she is not schooled. I don’t mean she didn’t go to the right schools. I mean when you get into policy, beyond instincts — I like her political instincts, I like her political overall view of the world — but when it comes to policy, she had two-and-a-half years to school herself and she hasn’t and that’s a problem. … It’s not only the lack of schooling; it’s the lack of effort to school herself and the lack of insight to see that she needs it."

My mistake was to mis-remember this as a critique of her foreign policy decisions when in fact he's bemoaning any policy thoughts she's had . . . which sort of makes my points above even more valid.