Fat Tuesday

Tossing cubular beads your way this Mardi Gras...

Aussie Tourism

No, not a plea from The BLOG for more comments,
but a new campaign to lure international tourists to Australia.

After reading about the 61-year-old Australian grandmother who was recently honoured with a bravery award for wrestling a giant saltwater crocodile as it dragged her friend from a tent here , I can see why they want more tourists...

The crocs are hungry.

Double Ow 7

Ow Ow 7. A license to be ill. Puns abound at the expense of the new James Bond in this article from The Sun online .

Daniel Craig, the jinxed James Bond, of the recently-bonded front teeth, has now suffered a bad sunburn and has a bad case of sunburn rash. Awww, he's all itchy and scratchy.

According to the article, Craig has revealed he can only drive an automatic car — so the traditional Aston Martin DB5 had to be converted. Also, he doesn’t like guns, and speedboats make him feel queasy.

The casting of this new Bond has become a comedy of errors. The casting director should be taken out and flogged until he or she drops ;-)

Bonehead Beckham

Soccer superstar David Beckham, has said his six-year-old son's math homework leaves him baffled.

"Their homework is so hard these days," Beckham, 30, said in a recent interview. "It's totally done differently to what I was teached when I was at school, and you know I was like 'Oh my God, I can't do this'."

Hmmm. Teached? Sounds like English isn't his forte either.

Darren McGavin 1922-2006

I was saddened to hear of the death of yet another TV icon, Darren McGavin, on Saturday at the age of 83.

Looking at his obituary, I was astonished to see how varied his career had been with roles in film and TV and ranging from comedy to drama. Of course, he was wonderful as the grouchy father in "A Christmas Carol"...remember "Not a finger!"... I had forgotten his Emmy-winning role as Murphy Brown's dad.

As a sci fi fan, I thought his most memorable role was the Night Stalker, as the porkpie hat wearing, monster chasing reporter, Carl Kolchak. Night Stalker fans delighted in his X-Files appearance as Arthur Dales, an agent retired from the X-Files, but who we all saw as Kolchak.

*sigh*

All in all, it was a very sad weekend for TV fans everywhere

Don Knotts 1924- 2006

I was saddened to hear that Don Knotts died at 81 on Friday.

From the wimpy Mr. Limpet, to the jumpy Mr. Furley, I will remember him best as the jittery deputy, Barney Fife.

Greetings, Bi-Pedal Life Forms!

The Earth's population is projected to reach 6.5 billion at 7:16 p.m. EST Saturday, according to the U.S. Census Bureau and its World Population Clock.

Welcome to Earth!


Does the 6,500,000th human win a special prize?

Dirty Ice

Talk about EWWWWW!

Jasmine Roberts never expected her award-winning middle school science project to get so much attention. But the project produced some disturbing results: 70 percent of the time, ice from fast food restaurants was dirtier than toilet water.

According to ABC News: "the 12-year-old collected ice samples from five restaurants in South Florida — from both self-serve machines inside the restaurant and from drive-thru windows. She then collected toilet water samples from the same restaurants and tested all of them for bacteria at the University of South Florida" (ahem, my alma mater). The rest is history.

Read about this enterprising girl's science project here

Dog Book Does Good

"Marley and Me -- Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog" author John Grogan's account of his yellow Labrador retriever has been on The New York Times bestseller list for 17 weeks.

Wow. I haven't read it, but I thought it was just a book about a bad dog, but the Reuters article says, "It's about the human condition, it's about relationships, it's about family."

You know, you laugh, you cry.

Now why didn't I think of doing this first. I could write a book about my loony life with my dog Dax and her shinanegans alone, not to mention the 3 crazy cats.

Ghastly Business

No, it's not a horror movie, but it sounds like one:












From TheIndyChannel.com comes
this ghastly article about the owner of a biomedical supply house and three others who were charged with carving up corpses and selling the body parts for use in transplants.

Prosecutors say that the indictment was the first set of charges to come out of a widening scandal involving scores of funeral homes and hundreds of bodies, including that of "Masterpiece Theatre" host Alistair Cooke, who died in 2004.

Oh, Margaret! You can't read this one without questioning the humanity of these degenerates who stop at nothing for a buck. It makes me wish I had the ability to plop these guys into one of those re-animated dead movies and have the desecrated corpses get their revenge...slowly...because sometimes prison just isn't punishment enough.

Yes, I watch too many horror movies...

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday...

cat bathing.

For everything you ever wanted to know about bathing your cat, and some funny wet cat photos and anecdotes, check out the cat bathing website.

Why? Because wet cats are funny.

New James Bond-O

Daniel Craig, the new Bond, suffered two broken teeth when he was punched in the face while shooting a fight scene for Casino Royale, in Prague.

Of course, this bolsters complaints by many that Craig is too much of a lightweight to play the strapping James Bond.

Not Sar!

A model presents a creation as part of Kei Kagami's Fall/Winter 2006-2007 women's collection during this week's Milan Fashion Week.

This contraption (I don't even want to call it a shoe) is not only hideous, but it looks like an accident waiting to happen.

Poop Galore

A Bavarian village was flooded by liquid pig manure after a tank containing the fertilizer burst, German police said Wednesday.

Sewage rose to 20 inches in the courtyards and streets of Elsa after gushing from the tank, which held some 240,000 litres of the green-brown muck.

Oh Margaret, imagine the clean up job.

Crunchy Cons

From the Wall Street Journal comes an article by George Nash entitled The New Counterculture which introduces a new book describing political right-wingers who have countercultural sensibilities.

In his book, "Crunchy Cons" (crunchy for granola and cons for conservatives), Rod Dreher says, "he has little use for the morally relativist and libertine tendencies of modern liberalism" and "the Democrats act like the Party of Lust."

He dislikes industrial agriculture, shopping malls, television, McMansions and mass consumerism. Efficiency--the guiding principle of free markets--is an "idol," he says, that must be "smashed." Too often, he claims, Republicans act like "the Party of Greed."

Mr. Dreher raises some interesting points. I don't agree with all of them, some are quite severe, but he does show that both sides of the political spectrum can stand some improvement.

Fat Cat

It's not Cat Blog Friday, but I couldn't resist this story about a 33-pound cat in China, with a 31-inch waist.

This 9 year-old fat cat eats 6 pounds of chicken and pork a day and, surprisingly for a feline, doesn't like fish.

Go here for the rest of the story.

Funny T

For this, and other funny, albeit decidedly-GOP inspired t-shirts,
visit The Authentic GOP.com site.

UBL Vows Never To Be Taken Alive

Okay.

Cat Blog Friday

For today's Cat Blog Friday...

Desperate housecats.

Wax PIAPS

The pant-suited one serves as inspiration for the newest dummy to grace Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum in Midtown.

Go to the New York Post.online if you want to read this puff piece.

Andreas Katsulas 1946- 2006

Veteran character actor, Andreas Katsulas, best known for his role as G'kar in Babylon 5, died Monday at the age of 59.

His career was a long and varied one, including numerous appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Commander Tomalak, and more recently, on Enterprise as the Vissian Captain.

As a long-time sci-fi fan, I am saddened by his passing.

Stop Arab Port Deal

Enough about Cheney's Fuddgate, here is some real news:

The chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee urged the White House on Wednesday to reconsider approval of a sale that would give a company in the United Arab Emirates control over significant operations at six American ports, including New York, New Jersey, and Baltimore.

The U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment, a secretive Treasury Department-dominated group which reviews foreign investments, has approved a $6.8 billion transaction between the ports' current British owners and Dubai Ports World, a government-owned United Arab Emirates firm.

This transaction doesn't pass the smell test for me. I'm not comfortable with outsourcing the control of major U.S. ports to a Middle-Eastern company.

The White House has the ability to stop this deal. I wish it would.

Spoiled Brat Media

Thomas Sowell, one of my favorite writers, has produced a superb analysis of the firestorm that the White House press corps has manufactured around the Vice President's hunting accident.

The column appropriately titled Spoiled Brat Media is short, but straight to the point: "the media love to wrap themselves in the mantle of "the public's right to know" but there is no such dedication to that right when it goes against the journalists' own prejudices.

Sowell goes on to add, "the 'public's right to know' apparently extends only to such things as will not cause the public to reach conclusions different from those of the liberal media."

How true.

The press is throwing a petulant frenzy because they are slowly concluding that the world doesn't revolve around them or their liberal agenda. They are the ones in a snit about this, not the average American.

Milestone

Thank you all!

Puppyhead

Rufus, a colored bull terrier, won Best in Show at the Westminster Kennel Club, the first dog in his breed to win the prestigious show.

Rufus' selling point? His head — perfectly shaped like an egg. He beat out 2,622 entries in 165 breeds. When it got down to Best in Show, Rufus was picked over a golden retriever, a Rottweiler, a prize pug, a spirited Dalmatian, an old English sheepdog, and a Scottish deerhound.

Rufus, whose nickname is Puppyhead, is one good looking dog.

Batman v. UBL

From ContactMusic.com comes news that BATMAN will turn his attention to real-life bad guy Usama bin Laden in an upcoming comic book entitled, Holy Terror, Batman!

I hope Batman not only kicks UBL's butt, but also force feeds him a pork sandwich.

While you're at it, feed one to the hunger-striking Saddam, too.

WMD Man

I found this photo on Lucianne.com, but she got it from Free Republic.com.

Even a die-hard Republican like myself can see the humor in this compilation.

Valentine Greetings

This falls into the what was this guy thinking department...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Yellow Snow Alert!

While the northeast is covered by a blanket of snow, we had a bit of a cold snap resulting in a high of 47 degrees on Sunday. I was cold all day!

How do you northerners do it?

Akira Ifukube 1915-2006

Akira Ifukube, the music composer best known for writing the scores of the popular "Godzilla" movies, died in a Tokyo hospital on Wednesday. He was 91.

As a long-time fan of Godzilla movies, I am very saddened by his passing.

Cat Blog Update

Due to popular demand...this is a photo of the same cat in the previous post but this time it is unhandled by handlers...

and it still has GOOGLY eyes!

I don't know about you, but I love this cat.

Biblical Ass

I won't belabor Kanye West's latest foray into stoopid speech, let's just say he's once again proved himself to be an ass of biblical proportions.

Cat Blog Friday

For this Cat Blog Friday: looks like a cat in shock.

...maybe it watched the toe whistling video ;-)

Toe Jam

Betty Bell, from Tulsa, Okla., is trying out for the Stupid Human Tricks segment of the "Late Show with David Letterman" by whistling through her TOES.

Go here to see the video.

Consider yourself warned... it's not a pretty sight.

They're Back

I heard the metallic chirp of the cardinal before I saw it at the birdfeeder outside my front window. That's how I was able to take this photo of the female we call Claudia and later, the one of her mate, Claudio. They are beautiful guests who come by every year.

Pinwheel Sky

Sky divers from 31 countries, calling themselves the World Team '06, set a new world record of a 400-way formation free fall jump at 24,000 feet over Thailand's Udon Thani Province.

How cool is that?

Bottled Anger

A sailor, Captain Harvey Bennett, who cast off a message in 5 plastic bottles in August was stunned to receive a stinging trans-Atlantic reply.

"I recently found your bottle while taking a scenic walk on the beach by Poole Harbour," read the letter, which was signed by one Henry Bigglesworth of Bournemouth on the south coast of Britain.

"While you may consider this some profound experiment on the path and speed of oceanic currents, I have another name for it: litter," the letter said.

The irate Bigglesworth then went on to expound on his less than flattering view of the residents of the United States in general and said, "You Americans don't seem to be happy unless you are mucking about somewhere."

I wonder if Mr. Bigglesworth would be less irate if he removed the large stick that is blocking his anal spincter.

I think I'll send him a message...

Magic Eye Balls

You can get a set of "Magic Lens" soccer ball contact lenses for $54, or 45 euros.

I don't wear contacts, but if I did, I think I would prefer football brown to match my eyes.

Clash Of The Cultures

From the Opinion Journal comes an interesting article entitled Bonfire of the Pieties by Amir Taheri, a Moslem, who states that Islam prohibits neither images of Muhammad nor jokes about religion.

And from Townhall.com comes an equally entertaining article,
Controversy is about culture clash, not cartoons by Jonah Goldberg.

Goldberg goes on to state: "Overreactions are usually about something bigger. The whole point of the "last straw" metaphor is that small things can set off disproportionate reactions. One Muslim protestor in Britain held up a sign saying "Freedom Go To Hell!" Do we really think that a handful of cartoons in Denmark transformed him from a Jeffersonian democrat into a jihadi? Was the holder of the sign "Behead Those Who Insult Islam" a pacifist until recently?"

I agree with both of these articles. To keep saying that these riots are simply the result of cartoons published months ago, is shortsighted. This is a politically
motivated attempt by the islamofascists to manipulate western culture.

I can only hope western culture stands firm in the coming days.

Cartoon Contest

Out of Reuter's comes news that Iran's best-selling newspaper has launched a competition to find the best cartoon about the Holocaust in retaliation for the publication in many European countries of caricatures of the Prophet Mohammad.

The Brussels-based Conference of European Rabbis (CER) denounced the idea and urged the Muslim world to do likewise, but the cartoon entries are pouring in nonetheless...



I think Iran should be careful what it wishes for...

Mama Dumbest

Just in case you didn't already know she was a twit...

First, Britney Spears was photographed driving with her 16-week old baby IN HER LAP.

Then, once the photos were circulated all over the Internet, she defends the act by blaming the paparazzi for chasing her.

Just because some people are able to procreate, doesn't mean they should.


[The BLOG note: photo courtesy of justjared.com ]

Super Commercials

People are talking about the best Super Bowl commercials...

Of course there's the Magic Fridge, the Fedex dinosaur epic, the baby Clydesdale...

Which one made me jump up and do the Snoopy dance all over the living room?



Leonard Nimoy's Aleve commercial.

Live Long and Prosper.

Al Lewis 1923-2006

Al Lewis, the cigar-chomping patriarch of "The Munsters" whose work as a basketball scout, restaurateur and political candidate never eclipsed his role as Grandpa Munster from the TV sitcom, died Friday night at the age of 82.

You can read the details of his madcap life here , but he'll always be Grandpa to me.

Space-Time Continuum Rip

From MSN comes news of a spinning black hole in the constellation Scorpius that has created a stable dent in the fabric of space-time.

Scientists say the dent is the sort of thing predicted by Albert Einstein’s theory of general relativity. It affects the movement of matter falling into the black hole.

This is what happens when you use someone's Easy Button to find someone else's Easy Button.

Deep Doo Doo

OROVILLE, Calif. - A 24-year-old man could be shoveling horse manure as part of his punishment for punching a police horse.

Butte County Superior Court Judge Stephen Benson sentenced Robert William Huff to 20 hours of community service and 24 hours in jail after he pleaded no contest Tuesday to a charge of assaulting Bailey, a police horse.

District attorney Mike Ramsey said he hopes Huff's probation will be spent "shoveling horse manure at the Chico police mounted unit's training grounds."

When asked why he punched the horse, Huff replied, "Me Mongo".

Hill On The Hill

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) greeting people as she arrived for President George W. Bush's the State of the Union address at the U.S. Capitol.

Can you see the wad of gum in her mouth?

Yikes!

Dax

This is my dog, Dax, the trash-sniffing dog. She can't go past the kitchen trash can without giving it a perfunctory sniff.





She's no bomb-sniffing Rex, but we love her just the same.

Dignitary Dog

Did you see a German Shepherd sitting in the stands at the State of the Union? No, it wasn't my dog Dax, although it sure looked like her.

It was Rex, a 5-year-old bomb-sniffing German shepherd and hardened combat veteran from Peterson Air Force Base at Colorado Springs, who got a seat of honor at the President's speech with his handler, Air Force Technical Sgt. Jamie Dana, both guests of First Lady Laura Bush.

From the Denver Post: "Rex was with Dana in Iraq last June when the vehicle they were riding in was hit by a roadside bomb and she was wounded. Congress had to step in last year to let Rex retire with Dana."

Awww...a woman and her dog. Both heroes. Good story.

The really amazing thing was that Rex was better behaved during the speech than many of the Democrats in the audience. Go figure.

Rabbit, Rabbit?

Ribbit, ribbit sounds more like February here in sunny Florida.