Friday, November 29, 2013

Daily Duffster

It's the leggings fashion equivalent of the mullet -- party in the front (sexy leather):

hilary duff sexy leather leggings

Business in the back (comfy stretchy leggings material):

hilary duff sexy leggings

And check out those bad-ass kicks she's rockin'! I'm totally forgiving her for those rubber boots in the last post :-)

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving!


No profound thoughts (as if I had any, lolz), just enjoy the day, eat some good food, spend time with your family if you can :-)

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

There's the episode of AoS that we've been waiting for

This week's episode, Repairs, was easily the best of the season. It just goes to show what they can do when they're hitting on all cylinders with the production. Of course the season finale is in two weeks, so it's like damn, just when it starts getting good.

This week's show seemed initially to be about a young gal who developed telekinetic powers after an accident (a typical formula from the comics), except that it wasn't that simple. My initial thought was that she would turn out to be a conduit or magnifier for other's bad feelings or emotions. But instead there was a man who was trapped between dimensions from the accident who was actually trying to protect the young woman, but instead causing more harm than help.

That, in and of itself, was a nice thematic touch. They also had to bring in religion, as in the woman felt God had abandoned her or was punishing her, etc. I'm perhaps a bit hyper-critical of these themes because of my conservative politics and the never-ending bludgeoning we (conservatives, believers) take from the liberal media and entertainment complex.

I thought they missed just a bit on that part of the show. Too often liberals misinterpret belief and theology and the consequences in the lives of those who believe and practice. The girl's feelings and the resolution with her infatuated erstwhile protector felt a bit off to me, but not so much as to take away from the entire episode.

On the plus side, we learned that Agents May and Ward are having regular sex, so much so that they have to plan their arrivals/departures to avoid suspicion.  heh

And despite their closeness, Ward doesn't know the particulars of why May is called The Cavalry. But of course, Coulson does, and shares enough of the details with Skye to get her, and perhaps the audience, to see May in a different light.

A bit more fx in this episode, the acting and action seemed more solid, and the overall feeling was fairly poignant. Like I said, definitely the best episode so far. Worth watching on dvr before I passed out from another exhausting day at work.

And here's a few more pics of newby cutie Chloe Bennett, one from the Thor 2 premiere and the other from her post-coital lingerie scene earlier in the year:

chloe bennett lingerie
chloe bennett thor 2 premiere

For some hi-res Chloe Bennett hotness, check out my season ending review of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Sydney Leathers' got that shovel...keeps digging

Just when you think Sydney Leathers can't sink any lower -- from porn shoots/videos to stripping . . . she manages to find another level.

Rumor has it that the toothy, tattooed Ms. Leathers is going in for a labiaplasty (don't know if I spelled that right, and I'm throwing up in my mouth a little right now, so...) and has plans to auction off her . . . uhhhh . . . trimmings.

ick

Story goes that she's planning on encasing them in lucite or something, then will auction them off to whoever is so f*cking desperate to own something like that. I'm looking at you Anthony Weiner.

I don't know what's worse -- that this is a hoax and someone was sick enough to think it up or that she might actually be doing it.

*click for uncensored*

sydney leathers labiaplasty

Monday, November 25, 2013

The most unflattering pic of Kate Upton you'll see today

Just goes to show you that when mom nagged at you to stand up straight she knew what she was talking about:

kate upton fat

And a reminder about picking your plastic surgeon with due diligence -- Tara Reid:

tara reid melting ass

'Cause Tara used to look like this, remember?

tara reid hot

:-(

How 'bout them Bucs?

Yesterday's 24-21 victory over the Lions was the Buccaneer's third straight win putting the team at 3-8 for the season.

It's important to remember that these guys lost four games in the final minute during their awful stretch to start the season. They could easily be 7-4 right now. Local sportswriters such as Tom Jones and Gary Shelton of the Tampa Bay Times have savaged their home team, going as far as mocking the looks of quarterback Mike Glennon. Pathetic. I wonder if they would engage in that type of shameless, shoddy journalism if Glennon was a minority?

Coach Schiano has done a remarkable job holding the team together through quite a bit of adversity -- from MRSA to Josh Freeman to injuries, and now the team seems to be getting some breaks their way.

I doubt they'll run the table from here on out, but wouldn't it be funny to see them finish the season at 8-8?

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Daily Duffster

Hilary Duff took her sexy profile out a visitin' recently:

hilary duff skin tight jeans

Soft fuzzy top, check. Skin tight distressed jeans, check. Rubber boots . . . uncheck! Deselect! Oh, I've got it -- reboot! Hahahahahahaha . . .
sorry

hilary duff skin tight jeans

And goodness, me oh my, is she packed into those jeans! Wow!

hilary duff skin tight jeans

Natalie Gulbis is hanging in there

Natalie Gulbis rallied from seven shots down at the start of the third round of the CME Group Titleholders LPGA event in Naples Saturday to tie for the lead at 11 under.

Gulbis hasn't won an event in six years and has spent most of this season battling malaria, of all things. Local cutie Brittany Lincicome is well off the pace at 4 over, and my other fave Morgan Pressel is at 3 under.

A victory for Gulbis after all she's been through this year would be a nice thing for her. And she looks pretty good in body paint too. Which is nice for us fans:

natalie gulbis si bodypaintnatalie gulbis si bodypaint
natalie gulbis si bodypaintnatalie gulbis si bodypaint

Update:
Natalie blew up in the final round, shooting an 82 to finish tied for 29th at 1 under. Morgan Pressel finished tied for 16th at 5 under and Brittany Lincicome finished tied for 51st at 6 over.

Not exactly a movie review...

... more like an observation, or perhaps a musing.

So, I'm home sick from work the other day, and while trolling the endless movie channels looking for something interesting to watch (all these channels and it's always the same movies on, what's up with that?), I see John Carpenter's The Ward in the listings. Now Carpenter is one of my favorite horror directors. I have my essential John Carpenter collection in my dvd's -- his remake of The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China (not exactly horror, but a great flick), the very underrated In the Mouth of Madness and my all-time favorite Prince of Darkness. So I'm thinking I've found a new gem here and settle in to watch.


First thing I notice about this 2010 release is that Carpenter didn't write this movie as he usually does. Also, he didn't do the music, which again, he usually does. He's only the director. No biggie, I figure.

So the movie is set in the mid-sixties, a girl, played by Amber Heard, burns down a house and is sent to a local asylum because . . . it's a movie, yo.

Now I kind of like Heard, she's attractive and seems a pretty decent actress. I first saw her in the execrable Drive Angry and thought there was something there. I've read she wants to do the superhero/kick-ass kind of parts and seems to have the vibe for it. But anyway . . .

Once in the nut house, the other girls in her lock down wing get killed off one by one, in generic gruesomeness, by the fairly typical mishappened/scarred spooky girl. The hospital's staff refuses to believe Kristen (Heard's character) about the killings, multiple failed escapes ensue, the usual stuff.

Finally get to the pay off for the flick, and I'm thinking Hold the phone! I've seen this before! Not this exact movie, of course. But:


Yep. Back in 2003, this underrated movie starring John Cusack and Ray Liotta came out. And "The Ward" is the same movie. Almost exactly. Missing only one concurrent running back story from "Identity." So what's up here? Surely, If I'm aware of what's going on here, someone as tuned into the genre as Carpenter must have realized the stunning similarities in this new project to a movie that came out only seven years earlier.

Is Carpenter that desperate for work? Run out of original ideas maybe? I don't know. Often times remakes are done because writers or directors think they have a new or better take on a theme. That certainly wasn't the case here, Identity is a much better movie in every aspect. It won't put me off Carpenter as a director/creator, but it sure was a bummer to get that let down at the end of the movie.


Did you find this discussion helpful? Check out my other not exactly a movie reviews for my thoughts on the flicks and the occasional gallery of hotness that accompanies them:



I usually try to put a gallery of related hotness with my movie reviews. And though this isn't exactly a review, I've got some images of Amber Heard lying around, so there ya go:

amber heard sexyamber heard sexy
amber heard sexyamber heard sexy
amber heard topless

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Well, that didn't take long, part 2

Kendall Jenner turned 18 like 5 minutes ago, and she's already released a picture of herself on Instagram in a see through top:

kendall jenner see thru nipple

Seriously honey, the candles on your cake aren't even cold yet!

And she's on Twitter telling folks to wait until they see the rest of the pictures. Jeepers, talk about fleeting youth.

sheesh!

Last night on AoS

Last night's episode, The Well, was a pretty decent show, especially compared to the clunker they aired last week. That particular episode seemed badly rushed, like they needed some filler or something...pretty cruddy. But last night's was kind of fun.

As in previous installments, they tied it in to something MARVEL, this time Thor 2. It opens as the gang are doing some clean-up after the carnage from the movie. Coulson makes a nice quip about wondering why Asgaard doesn't send down "the God of Cleaning Things Up" to help with the mess they keep creating on Earth.  heh

But the premise of last night's show was that a group of anarchist types were searching for, and finding, some remnants of something called a Berserker staff, that we learn was carried by a Berserker warrior from Asgaard who came to Earth ages ago to fight battles . . . etc. He decides to eschew battle to live the good life here, and breaks the staff into three pieces and hides them around the world. The staff, and even its pieces, bestow superhuman strength on any who touch it and also reaches deep into the dark places of the holder to gin up uncontrollable rage . . . hence the name.

Now I'm no super geek, but I used to collect comic books, and MARVEL is big on the word "berserk" and various permutations thereof. I was sure I had seen the name of a villian with that name and thought it might be from an issue of Thor. I was both right and wrong:


Not exactly the character the tv show is going on about, but then they've butchered the Asgaardian mythology anyway, so . . .

The show becomes mostly about the team finding the pieces and stopping the baddies. Agent Ward touches a part of the staff and becomes a really nasty person. We learn that his hidden trauma is something from his childhood where he was bullied (the current outrage de jour) and his brother dies in the process. But Ward channels the anger using the staff's induced power to fight off the bad guys.

We also see Agent May using the staff without the same side effects as Ward because, as she tells Ward, she lives with her demons/trauma every day. We also get some cute implied post battle bonding sex as May subtly invites Ward into her hotel room at the episode's end.

All around a nice fleshing out of the characters. Skye trying desperately to get inside Ward's personal defenses, but he instead trusts his fellow warrior (May), a nice touch.

Also more work trying to develop the snappy banter. When Coulson talks about searching for the second piece of the staff, which is hidden under a church amid a burial ground, he tells the team to head to the church and "...see what you can dig up." Then follows quickly with "See what I did there?" as he exits the room.  cute

A few grumbles -- they seem to be producing this show on a budget. They've dropped some coin on the plane, but everything else looks pretty inexpensive, especially compared to some of the effects-laden shows that are on commercial tv now. The fight scenes aren't particularly fabulous either. The guy who plays Agent Ward is certainly buff, we saw that last night in his shirtless scene, but he doesn't look authentic fighting. Same with Agent May. She's supposed to be some otherworldly killer, but her few fight scenes have been pretty bland. Don't know who the fight choreographer is, but he needs to up his game a bit. I mean there was a part where Ward is wielding two portions of the staff that screamed for some Kenpo action. Ever see The Perfect Weapon with Jeff Speakman? It can be totally awesome if you have someone who knows how to swing those sticks.

Also, a casting bitch -- Peter McNichol as the former Asgaardian Berserker?! Doughy, pudgy, tiny Peter McNichol?!?! Yeah, just not seeing that one. Now my choice would have been Mads Mikkelson. He's got the whole Nordic thing going on, plus he can do the world weary, old warrior just trying to life a quiet life thing. That would have rocked!

We also got another tease with Coulson and his resurrection. This time we see him on a table getting a massage, beach in the background, obvious island girl working him over, when she tells him "it's a magical place" he bolts awake in his bed on the plane, dripping in sweat. So we're still wondering.

The show's chugging along. It's not going to win any Emmy's, but it's decent commercial tv fare. I'm enjoying it.

And recently, new cutie Chloe Bennett (Skye) was at some function looking adorable:

chloe bennett cute

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Rule 5 Sunday -- Ella, part 2

ella

Another week from hell . . . such crazy long hours. So many things I wanted to talk about -- politics, sports, dumb drivers . . . and I'm just too worn out to spend time on the computer each night.
So instead I'll just go for some default hotness -- enjoy another dose of the varied sexy looks of lithe beauty Ella.

*click on the thumbnails for full-sized images*

ellaellaella ellaellaella ellaellaella

Rule 5 Sunday suggested by this.

Monday, November 11, 2013

Daily Duffster

This just in . . . Hilary Duff eats pizza in the park with her son -- adorable fun is had by all:



Also noticed -- a regrettable amount of ink beginning to appear on Hilary's arms. Seriously ladies, do you have to brand yourselves now? Isn't wearing the ring enough? Just sayin'

Celebrate Veteran's Day today

Because we owe them so much . . .


My son served two tours of duty in Iraq. One during the war with the Marines, and a second in the post-war period with the Army. After his four year hitch with the USMC, he took some time off then enlisted with the Army. He's now a Staff Sergeant with 1st Cav based out of Ft. Hood. Serving his country with honor and nobility -- I could not be prouder of him.

My father served in the US Navy during WWII as a chief gunner's mate. He saw a lot of action on a variety of vessels. I've found some pics online. We get so used to seeing these war movies where everyone is on these big, powerful ships...it needs reminding that these guys were doing a lot of fighting on some pretty vulnerable little boats as well:

uss quincy
uss iuka
uss sc 1302
uss kearny
uss frankin d roosevelt

The third pic down is a sub chaser, I cannot find an image of my dad's boat -- SC 1301, but that's the same class, wooden hull and all. He was at the Normandy invasion on that thing, imagine...

The last ship, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt is obviously an aircraft carrier and that bottom pic, is the first landing of a jet aircraft on a carrier in 1946. Dad was on board for that trial. Cool.

I'm finishing up with two letters from my father's packet of separation papers, the first is from President Harry Truman and the second from Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal:

"To you who answered the call of your country and served in its Armed Forces to bring about the total defeat of the enemy, I extend the heartfelt thanks of a grateful Nation. As one of the Nation's finest, you undertook the most severe task one can be called upon to perform. Because you demonstrated the fortitude, resourcefulness and calm judgment necessary to carry out that task, we now look to you for leadership and example in further exalting our country in peace."
Harry Truman

"I have addressed this letter to reach you after all the formalities of you separation from active service are completed. I have done so because, without formality but as clearly as I know how to say it, I want the Navy's pride in you, which it is my privilege to express, to reach into your civil life and to remain with you always.

"You have served in the greatest Navy in the world.

"It crushed two enemy fleets at once, receiving their surrenders only four months apart.

"It brought our land-based airpower within bombing range of the enemy, and set our ground armies on the beachheads of final victory.

"It performed the multitude of tasks necessary to support these military operations.

"No other Navy at any time has done so much. For your part in these achievements you deserve to be proud as long as you live. The Nation which you served at a time of crisis will remember you with gratitude.

"The best wishes of the Navy go with you into your future life. Good luck!"

James Forrestal

Add to that my thanks to all who currently serve, have served and the families that support them.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

Florida Legislature shows spine -- part 2

Thursday this past week, a panel of Florida lawmakers soundly rejected a proposal to repeal the state's "stand your ground" law despite hectoring and demagoguery from the usual groups such as the recently created (in the wake of the Zimmerman/Martin case) Dream Defenders.

The 2-11 vote was actually bi-partisan as one of the laws supporters, Dem. Rep. Katie Edwards was quoted thusly: "The people I represent, the people we represent, need not be required, or have imposed upon them, a duty to retreat...I won't turn my back on responsible self-defense laws."

Also included in the ruling was a bill to spare those who fire warning shots from being convicted under the state's 10-20-Life law. This bill was also bi-partisan as the bill's 28 co-signers were from both sides of aisle in the Legislature. Probably why you don't see a lot of ink about this in the liberal papers. Democrats and Republicans agreeing on a lefty hot button topic in favor of conservative ideals just isn't news in their opinion.

Final passage of that bill will be up to the full Legislature when it convenes in March of next year.

Nice to see some Republicans showing some spine when it comes to conservative ideology. Pity it's only at the state level. You'd think those wimps at the national level might take notice and straighten up and do what we put them there to do.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Like the phoenix cockroach it emerges once again

How does that expression go? After a nuclear war, the only things left alive on the planet will be cockroaches and Cher? Well, add to that Pontiac automotive division.

Yep, the most deserving automotive division ever to be shut down is being resurrected by GM. Out of the financial dungeon, with their government loan shark payments over, General Motors is bringing back Pontiac with a small selection of new vehicles.

What alerted me to this was seeing the famous "chicken nose" on a silver car coming towards me while I was at work today. Looked like a Camaro body, but that unmistakable front end . . . yep, when it went by I saw the "Trans Am" decal on the side. Google-ing with my cell phone, I saw multiple unofficial reports of the automaker's relaunch.

*groan*

Understand here that I've got plenty of experience with Pontiacs on which to base my dislike of their brand. To wit: I've owned four Pontiacs in my lifetime -- a 1969 Firebird, a 1978 Trans Am, a 1995 Firebird Formula, and a 1998 Trans Am. With the exception of the '69, all have been steaming piles of automotive excrement.

The "Smokey and the Bandit" model '78 looked great. Ran like crap. And man, did it rust. Like a cancer, it spread continuously and could not be contained or stopped. The last time I had it in the body shop, the guy there told me he went way past where the rust was, really dug out around the rear window . . . I shouldn't have any more problems. Yeah, couple of months later, there's the paint bubbling up again.

And anything electrical refused to work. After the third entire air conditioning system I replaced, I gave up and drove without air or defrosters. Always fun to be driving down the road when suddenly billows of black smoke start pouring out from under the hood because the a/c compressor, which wasn't running btw, seized up for no reason and burned off the belts. Nice.

The '95 Formula ran like crap, when it ran at all. The dealer said there was nothing wrong with the engine, it simply didn't have any power or pick up or anything. But like I said, that was when I could actually get it running. I spent 1 1/2 years push starting my car out of gas stations or restaurant parking lots or down my street when trying to leave for work. The car actually qualified for the Lemon Law, but like a fool, I never invoked it. When the mechanics at the dealership finally paid attention to me and checked out the relays, they found the problem and fixed it. But I spent the next year and a half waiting for the other shoe to drop. The notice about the air bags randomly deploying and injuring drivers did it for me. I decided to unload it before it killed me.

Again foolishly, I went back to the same dealership and ordered a new car, a '98 Trans Am, from the factory. I'll get one untouched by human hands, I thought. That'll fix everything.

What a dope!

Six months after I put down a $4000 deposit, my car arrives. I pick it up. Take it home. And the next morning fire it up to go to work. I hit the wipers to clean off the windows . . . and they won't shut off. Back to the dealer with my car having only 5 miles on it, for a new wiper motor. But it's fine now, I tell myself.

Uh huh.

Over the next ten years -- 5 window motors, 2 headlight motors, a water pump (right after the warranty ran out), and much more. The synchros in the transmission went out one gear after another. The rear end constantly leaked and needed new seals. The t-tops leaked. The vaunted Monsoon stereo lost two rear speakers almost instantly. When I took it back to the dealer (still under warranty) the service rep tells me that they'll have to rip out the entire back end of the interior to fix the speakers. "Is it worth it?" He asks me. "It'll never be the same back there -- rattles, squeaks, etc." So I didn't get that fixed. Soon the cd player quit. Then the digital read out for the radio/clock quit. The leather seats began tearing up within months. Clear coat on the paint began pealing off. Getting the picture?

When they charged me $4500 to rebuild the differential and rear half shafts I told the service guy the car wasn't worth $4500! The he tells me that there's a mysterious oil leak in the engine. They can't find it, so they'll have to pull the engine to see where it is. That was the last straw. Traded that thing in for my '08 Charger SRT, and never looked back.

See the problem with Pontiac is that they don't actually create their cars. They borrow parts and things from other divisions and incorporate them into their designs. To be truthful, they have great designers. The cars always look awesome. That '98 as well as the '78 were two of the best looking cars I've ever seen on the road. And the '98 fit me like a glove. Most comfortable car I've ever driven. But a mechanical piece of sh*t!

The engine in the '98 is actually from Corvette. They de-tune it -- change the intake and exhaust manifolds, and the chip, so that it has less horsepower than the Vette. That was the only good part of the car. Everything bolted to the engine was garbage. The transmission wouldn't pass muster in a tractor -- absurdly long throw, bad gearing and as I mentioned, the synchros went out in a matter of months. Same with the driveline. Constantly replacing u-joints or seals in the differential.

My neighbor was a Pontiac mechanic. When he told me how many window motors he installed daily, I complained about how many I had installed in my car. His response? "Well, we've got to have something to do down at the garage." Yep. Planned obsolescence. There's a business model. But apparently not bad enough to keep GM from bringing the beast back to life.

It looks like Buick will be selling the new Pontiacs as an alternative to their more family styled vehicles. There will be a Trans Am. A Bonneville. A small compact car to compare to BMW's 3 series. Some sort of small sports coupe/roadster possibly called the Firefly. And even an update on the old El Camino that was in the works when Pontiac was shut down. It was initially called the Commodore Ute before. They may go for Star Chief in the new version. They'll be borrowing heavily from Australia's Holden for platforms. The Trans Am will as always be the f-body shared with the Camaro (as I saw today).

I don't know, maybe they've learned their lesson. But we as consumers thought that when Japan first started kicking Detroit's ass, and we were wrong then. I'm glad they'll be putting people to work. Re-opening some old plants (I hear one of the old vacated Saturn plants may be utilized) will help the economy both locally and nationally. But don't expect to see me in one of the new Pontiacs. They've soured me for life on their brand.



But one thing I'm not soured on -- Olivia Sprauer aka Victoria V. James aka The World's Hottest English Teacher®

olivia sprauer aka victoria v. james