Season three -- Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Season three premieres towards the end of this month. I don't have anything specific to say just yet, but I do want to share this rendering of Daisy Johnson (Chloe Bennett) aka Daisy Quake in her finalized outfit:

Very close to the comic book imagery and still functional looking, in keeping with MARVEL's trend of making the hyper-reality of superheroes look normal-ish.

Two things about last night's debate

First -- yes, Carly did win that debate:

from Legal Insurrection.

Second -- we saw in the 2012 Primaries how the left wing media turned the Republican candidates into a bunch of clowns by throwing baited/loaded questions at them that set them up for relentless mockery. That and the constant pitting of one candidate against each other, the biased media was able to portray President Obama's challengers as a bunch on loose-cannon nutbags, enough so that independent and swing voters were turned off, even by the final milquetoast candidate Mitt Romney.

Jake Tapper tried to preemptively set things up prior to the debate by claiming that the Republican candidates would attack him with straw man arguments rather than talk policy or give straight answers. That wasn't needed as the constant tactic of Donald Trump says this . . . how do you respond? was enough to make the seemingly endless debate cringeworthy.

This group needs to remember what they're doing here -- not playing Trump's reality show version of campaigning, but running for President of the United States. Stay on point people, we're counting on you.

I think Maitland Ward is implying something here

My favorite redhead went to the Long Beach Comic Con and broke out her default costume -- Princess Leia. Which she fills out much better than Carrie Fisher (who still looked good tho).

I've never been to one of these Comic things, and we have one in Tampa every year. But the kitsch factor is dialed up to 11 here. I'm loving the red storm trooper with the stripes down the sides of his armor, the 1970's cassette on his hip, and the red Adidas shoes . . . lolz!

I saw other pics of Maitland trying on a Vampirella-type outfit, but instead she opted for this black number. It's not bad, but that wig is a crime against humanity:

And who in the blue blazes is this old fart dressing my girl!?

I'm totally gonna have to spend more time in California next time I visit the kids and get this situation straightened out.

Update:
I found a shot of Maitland in the Vampirella outfit minus that god-awful wig along with a little Poison Ivy number she worked as well:

Which all ended up in a head spinning mash-up of comic characters here:

A Vampirella leotard + Wonder Woman bottoms + Poison Ivy gloves + a Star Trek phaser . . . ?!?!?! I've got no idea how that all works together, but she totally out kitsched that storm trooper in the above pic.

David Ortiz hits #500

Congrats to Big Papi for hitting numbers 499 and 500 last night against the Rays. Ortiz joins A-Rod and Albert Pujols as the only active players with 500 home runs. Pujols being the only other player to get nos. 499 & 500 in the same game.

Papi's offensive outburst was part of a 10-4 drubbing the Sox handed the Rays one day after giving away a one run lead in their first meeting. With the Rays desperately trying to get a wild card birth, the Sox are simply trying to climb out of the cellar and give themselves some hope for next season.

GM Ben Cherrington is gone, with Detroit's Dave Dombrowski brought in to try and steer the team back into the playoffs. Sadly, after a season of abysmal performances, the team now is performing like the team Cherry had envisioned when he began this process. Sox starting pitchers are 20-8 with a 3.70 ERA, with Joe Kelly (1.85 ERA) and Rick Porcello (2.98 ERA) the most notable turn-arounds.

The young outfield of Betts, Castillo and Bradley Jr., are turning amazing defensive plays nightly and mashing at the plate. Were it not for a ghastly relieving corps., these guys might be making a run for the wild card themselves.

Wait 'til next year! a cry known well to us Buccaneer fans, is not unknown to Sox fans either -- we've had some dismal seasons. But with some good number one pitchers available in free agency and perhaps a pronounced effort to find some reliable relievers, perhaps this string of last place finishes will end.

Fun bit of serendipity

It's my three day weekend from work, so naturally I've been sick for two of them so far (tip: don't inhale whilst spraying poison at a bug over your head -- freaky dreams, dry heaves and the oddest sense of being disconnected ensues). But anyway, I'm cruising the vast wasteland of cable tv and I flip on the Golf Channel to check out the LPGA Evian Classic, which is a major I think. Anyway, my favorite golf cutie Morgan Pressel is in the lead in the third round:

Morgan's got one major already, but hasn't won on tour since 2008. In the observations of this casual fan, she seems to lack stamina for four round tournaments. Often being in or at the top of the leaderboard in the third round then fading badly on Sunday. This year she's done much better with top 5's in three of the year's majors, so maybe she's turning the corner a bit. At 27, she may be hitting her physical peak, so perhaps she'll go on a run of wins. That would be nice. She's not one of the tour's overt glamour girls -- they won't be shooting her in a bikini bending over a putt for some magazine (but I wouldn't mind that, IYKWIMAITYD) but she seems a genuine nice person and a good golfer, so I keep an eye out for her in the standings.

Update:
Checking this morning's paper, I see that Morgan is in third place at the end of the third round after a double bogie on 18 dropped her two shots back.

Update:
Morgan finished tied for 11th after shooting a 75 in the final round. Incidentally, the 75 was the worst final round score by a couple of strokes for anyone who finished in the top 28. Tough break for my cutie.

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And in other women's sports news, the tennis world was shocked as steroidal Serena Williams lost a semi-final match to the 43rd ranked Roberta Vinci 2-6, 6-4, 6-4

In her typically arrogant way, Williams gave a weak endorsement to Vinci claiming that she didn't really lose the match, Vinci simply "played out of her mind" on the court. William's agent blamed the weather (no not global warming, but I'm sure the President will say it was a factor), but a rain delay that disrupted Serena's training. Fans on Twitter are blaming Drake . . . so it's business as usual for the Williams clan -- they don't lose, it's always someone else's fault.

Wah wah

Update:
Congrats to Flavia Pennetta who won the finals of the U.S. Open over her fellow countrywoman Vinci. Pennetta and Vinci grew up playing with and against each other. After winning the title, the 33 year old Pannetta announced her retirement from the sport.

And another brief bit about Williams -- this is the second time this season that Serena has lost a match that on paper she should have won easily. In both cases, the players didn't allow Williams to dictate how the match should be played -- that is, to her own strengths, playing a thundering baseline game. Instead, Vinci mixed in an array of slicing backhands and drop shots that ran the solidly heavy Williams ragged. Much like the match earlier this year (I cannot remember which an am not going to waste time Googling it), where Williams complained that her opponent "played her like a man" i.e., with drop shots, volleys, and slices. I wonder how much longer women will continue to ignore this simple template for defeating Williams on the court. I mean, they are out there to win, right? Not just roll over when it's their turn.

Micaela Shafer not nude = enjoyable

Micaela Shafer has pretty much given up on not appearing fully naked in just about every photoshoot and promo appearance. But for this Nata Gobel layout, they got a few pics of her clothed and this one is very sexy:

Always nice to enjoy the beauty of the female form in all it's wondrous variety, but sometimes leaving a little something to the imagination can make for an awesome image.

Of course, that it's in black & white is always a plus in my book, because you all know how I feel about that   :-)

Hilary Duff in a bikini = awesome

All I can say is it's about damn time we got to see all the hard work my Duffster has put in the gym displayed in a proper, in-focus / not instagrammed, set of bikini pictures.

Now where's that assh*le commentor who kept saying I wanted all women to be skinny stick figures.