Welcome to the MarlinBlog - unvarnished, unedited and uncensored comments from your host on just about any topic you can imagine. Fishing, sports, celebrity, politics, religion - all those topics they tell you to stay away from in polite conversation. Not here, baby! I make you no promise but this - we may agree, we may disagree, but you'll always get the truth - as I see it ...
Friday, December 29th
Eye Candy For A New Year
Good lord - another year comes to an end. Can it possibly be that twelve months have passed so quickly?
This year has brought me ups and downs, but I'll remember it as a good year. Among the many highlights, of course, was the establishing of this blog. I had no idea what the experience would be like, but I can say it's been a positive one. Having to write about topics so frequently has forced me to think about many things, and I've often found that my feelings on different issues have changed as I've gone through the process of thinking them through. Growth is good - even at my age.
As for the new year, I resolve to continue this experiment. I'll work hard at producing interesting, relevent - and frequent - updates, and hopefully our readership will grow in response. I guess we'll see!
Oh yeah - the hottie. This is Kira, better known as "The Little Redhead". Like me, Kira was an internet pioneer. Hers was one of the early "boutique" soft porn sites that drove the early growth of the internet - just a girl and her camera. She retired several years ago to raise a family, and presumably is doing so today. For our last weekly eye candy, we go back in time to celebrate the new year with Kira.
Word came down about an hour ago that Saddam Hussein, one-time despot leader of Iraq, has been hanged as punishment for his orchestrating the murder of nearly 150 Iraqis back in 1982. I'm not a big eye-for-an-eye guy, but if anyone ever earned a trip to the gallows, you'd have to figure it's Hussein. Now that the deed is done, the real interesting part begins - the reaction.
Anti-death penalty activists didn't want him hanged on principle; those who believe that America is pulling the strings on an puppet Iraqi government didn't want him hanged because it served America's propaganda interests. Even those who supported hanging Hussein for his crimes didn't want him hanged now - they wanted him to have to face some of the larger crimes awaiting him, like the killing of nearly 200,000 Kurds after the failed overthrow attempts in the wake of the first Gulf War. It's all moot now.
Several points I think are important. First, no matter what you think of the trial or the proceedings, he was tried, convicted and ultimately executed by a sovereign Iraqi government. Unlike the Nurenberg trials, Hussein was forced to face the same people he ruled. I think there is a certain closure that can be gained from this. Second, the death of Hussein represents a final chapter in the "old" Iraq and clears the way for the kind of change that is needed to resurrect the country. Those last holdouts hoping for a return to the "good old days" clearly know now they won't be coming back.
There will doubtless be retribution, most likely by those who see the death of Hussein as a convenient excuse for pre-planned violence. But I suspect there will be many more Iraqis who react as those who witnessed the execution and danced around the body in the aftermath. The last impediment to moving forward has been removed; it is now up to the Iraqis to determine their future and act to make that future reality.
In the runup to the holiday shopping season, all we heard was that there were all these iPod killers coming - Zune, Blackjack, etc - and that Apple Computer's highly-touted iTunes Music Store had suffered a massive decline in usage in 2006. So much for the predictions.
So many people got new iPods and iTunes gift cards for Christmas that the rush of traffic to the site to download new music - more than four times as much traffic as the same time last year - that brought the server to its knees.
Frazzled users began posting urgent help messages Monday and Tuesday on Apple's technical forum for iTunes, complaining they were either not allowed into the store or were told the system couldn't process their request to download songs and videos.
"It's actually created more positive buzz among analysts -- traffic was so great it blew up the site," said Gene Munster, senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray. "If anything it could be a positive -- demand was better than they were expecting."
Analysts said they didn't anticipate a rash of iPod returns because of the delays.
"What you're seeing is the tremendous success of the iPod," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president and research director with JupiterResearch. "No doubt it was a very, very popular gift, and no matter how well you plan on the server side of the equation, there are always times when you get caught short."
I get most of my music from ... other sources (hey, I was an Internet pioneer - we hate paying for anything!), but I've probably bought around 500 songs via the iTunes store. Apple deserves kudos for solving the digital music equation at a time when everyone else was throwing up their hands in defeat. Even now, with critics complaining that the Digital Rights Management philosophy adopted by Apple to appease the music companies is too strict, no one else has come close to repeating the success of iTunes - or the iPod, for that matter. The fact that so many people are lining up to download legal songs from iTunes for their iPod must really sit well with the folks at Microsoft ... especially as they look at the palletloads of unsold Zunes they're stuck with ...
Hard to believe but true - it's the weekend of Christmas. Time for all you last minute shopper types to get off the sofa and wade into the mall. For me, it's the end of a long, tiring, but very rewarding work year. Now I get the next 10 days off before it all starts up again.
Most of that time will be spent AFTK - away from the keyboard - so the entries will be spotty if anything. So just in case this is the last one beforehand, let me wish you all the merriest of Christmases. And if your religion, culture, or personal beliefs dictate that you celebrate a different holiday - or none at all - may you enjoy this time in the manner of your choosing.
Being a geek at heart, I love anyone who goes that extra mile to tech up for Christmas. No one has gotten more mileage out of a CPU, some lights and a really big electric bill than Carson Williams of Mason, Ohio. He's the guy whose home display became an internet sensation last year as well as the subject of a Miller beer commercial. His display, set to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's rocking epic "Wizards in Winter" got him enough publicity that this year he's had to move to an amusement park to accomodate the crowds.
We'll harken back to a simpler time with a tribute to his 2005 display, courtesy of YouTube. Enjoy the show, and the holidays!
(My advice is to start the video, stop it, and let it load before restarting. Once this baby gets going, you won't want to have to wait for the next segment to load!)
That's especially true in some parts of the country. Denver is digging out from three feet of snow, and Seattle is still reeling from the storm that blew through earlier in the week. Even here in SoCal we're in the middle of a big chill. Right about now, you probably need something to get your mind off the weather, and I'm thinking this should be just the thing to do it.
Of course, not everyone is feeling the Christmas chill. Last I heard, it's short sleeve weather on the east coast, and all of our friends in the Southern Hemisphere are in the middle of summer. But even if it's 85 where you are, I'm sure you appreciate the effort ...
Who knows ... play your cards right and maybe Santa will leave her in your stocking instead of the coal you probably deserve ...
The search for the last of a group of three climbers lost on Mt. Hood in Oregon has officially changed from "rescue" to "recovery", and most of the searchers sent home. Two climbers are presumed dead, and a third was found frozen to death in a snow cave. It's a very sad tale, made all the worse by the wall-to-wall news coverage for the last week. You know the drill - all blizzard, all the time.
I feel for the families, who are facing a trauma no one should have to face. I feel for the searchers as well, who put there lives at risk in the hope of helping others. But there's one group I don't feel sorry for - the climbers themselves.
Here's what I don't understand. In all the talk about the climbers' spirit, experience and survival skills, how come no one is pointing out what is obvious to me - they were selfish dumbasses for putting themselves in this position in the first place. Hell, it's two weeks before Christmas - could there possibly be a worse time for such a climb? Just to make it worse, it was a speed climb - light on equipment - as well. And don't forget they left the day before a massive blizzard hit - one that was well documented by the weather folks. Either they weren't nearly as experienced as advertised, or they decided the extra risk just added to the rush.
To me, it's all part of this thinking today that anyone can do anything they want with no regard to the consequences of their actions. It used to be that if you did something stupid, you paid a price. If it was really stupid, you just might pay with your life. Now, we have lawyers to get us a settlement if anything bad happens to us, and if we get in real trouble, we send in droves of rescuers to bail us out. And we know that the media will dog the effort, making everyone put out maximum effort to find us to keep from looking bad in the national media. No one ever has to face the results their actions have caused.
Remember back when the Israelis invaded Lebanon and thousands of American expatriates were trapped in Beirut? It didn't matter that they'd left their homeland to chase a buck ... as soon as they were in trouble, they were all screaming for the military to come save them. And if they weren't fast enough, they were on CNN to whine about it to Anderson Cooper.
At some point, you have to take responsibility for your actions. There is no safety net in life, and if you are foolish enough to believe there is (or should be), you'll end up one of two things - weak or dead.
Back in October, I wrote about Ron Fineman and his fight with cancer. At the time, I worried that things might be worse than he let on, and now, it appears my fears were justified. In this morning's entries at LARadio.com, Don Barrett included an item about Ron's imminent passing ...
Former KNX newsman Ron Fineman is resting comfortably while his family prepares for his passing. In the ICU unit at Henry Mayo Hospital in Santa Clarita, he is terminally ill as his cancer has spread through much of his body. Ron’s wife, family and Ron’s son are at his bedside.
It was through Ron and his outstanding site, On The Record, that I first discovered LARadio, and the two are on my very short list of sites to check daily. Ron was fearless when it came to holding the local TV newsfolks accountable, whether for stupidity on the air or off. Many items he first brought to light made news elsewhere, and often drove changes in the way they did business. His diligence will be missed.
Godspeed, Ron. May He bless you and your family in this difficult time, and ease your transition to the next level.
Who'da thunk it ... turns out the Donald has a soft heart to go with the hard ass. After being allowed to twist in the breeze for a day, the reigning Miss USA, Tara Conner - underage drinker, lipstick lesbian and all-around party girl - is going to get to keep her crown after all. After today's tear-jerker press conference, at which Trump played stern father to Conner's wayward daughter, Tara's off to serve the standard celebrity penance - a stint in rehab. After that, she moves back into the Trump Tower and resumes her duties as Miss USA - no doubt under a much brighter spotlight.
"She left a small town in Kentucky and she was telling me that she got caught up in the whirlwind of New York," Trump said.
"It's a story that has happened many times before to many women and many men who came to the Big Apple. They wanted their slice of the Big Apple and they found out it wasn't so easy."
While it's nice to think that Donald Trump might actually be thinking of the best interests of a young girl - for a change, one he's not planning to marry - I doubt good intentions had anything to do with his decision. Miss USA has always been the sleazy second-cousin to Miss America, all the way back to its breakaway from the bigger pageant back in the '50s. If you were the owner of the pageant, and famous for self-promotion, what better way to get the event back in the spotlight than a controversy. Throw in the fact that the center of the storm is hot, blond, and twenty, and I'm sure the Donald could smell a winner a mile away. The fact that the girl Conner's been seen kissing is actually the 18-yr-old Miss Teen USA - also a Trump property - and Trump probably couldn't wipe the smile off his face.
Look, I'd like nothing more than to see a happy ending on this one. Conner does her time, comes out a role model for troubled young girls, and goes on to success and happiness. Of course, if instead she ends up filling out the foursome with Paris, Lindsey, and Britney, I guess I'll just have more to write about ...
There are a lot of reasons I'm willing to pay extra to live at the beach. Yeah, the women in skimpy clothing are nice, but even higher on the list is the ability to laugh at the rest of the country when the weather goes to hell. We have the occasional fire or earthquake, but the weather tends to remain in that comfy band between 65 and 85 degrees. We hear about winter weather elsewhere, and just laugh about the wind chill - making it feel like 83 when it's actually 85.
So imagine my surprise when I woke up around two this morning feeling like I was sleeping in the freezer. Unfortunately, I own your basic beach house - not a stitch of insulation - and the inside temperature is about the same as the outside temperature. Normally, that's not a problem, but I knew something was a amiss when I started blowing smoke trails across my bedroom. I checked the temp when I got up - you can see the results to the right.
This isn't the coldest weather I've seen this year. I spent a week in Minneapolis back in February where the temperature dropped down to -4, but I was prepared for that. Wasn't prepared for this! They say it's going to be even colder tonight ... wonderful.
I used to have this big old tree that served like natural insulation over the roof of my house, but I had to have it cut down earlier this year. Sounds like my Christmas vacation project is going to be laying insulation rolls in the attic.
My life is almost back to normal, so I actually got to spend a weekend without thinking about my project. That means lots of sports, and lots of rant ...
- I was one of those who felt it was presumptious for people to start referring to Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson as "LT", given the Hall of Fame credentials of the last guy to have that nickname. But with all due respect to Lawrence Taylor, the kid's earned the initials. He shattered the record for touchdowns scored last week (with 4 games remaining), and yesterday broke Paul Hornung's 40+ year old scoring record. Best of all, he carries himself with class on and off the field - pretty rare these days. I never saw Jim Brown run the ball, but I feel like I'm watching the next great back every time LT gets the ball ...
- The other show dropped this morning for Saturday's basketbrawl in New York. A fifteen-game suspension for Carmelo Anthony, lesser amounts for five others. We can debate the merits of the suspensions, but I have one question - what about Zeke? It's pretty clear that the hard foul that sparked the fight was done at the explicit behest of Knicks coach Isiah Thomas - where's his suspension? Thomas was a world-class jackhole as a player, and clearly he's not changed. Nuggets coach George Karl let him have it yesterday, and I'd have to agree with him. The league keeps taking steps to make their players act less like street thugs - maybe they need to look at the coaching ranks as well ...
- Terrell Owens demonstrated once again why he's the biggest ass in professional sports by spitting on Falcons DB DeAngelo Hall during Saturday's game. I'm not going to even waste words trying to explain that kind of action, but if any sports league is serious about curbing this kind of behavior, they're gonna have to do more than fine them $35K - TO carries that much in his wallet. If I spit on a coworker, I'd be fired - no ifs, ands or buts. I don't give a damn how much money an athlete makes or brings to the owners - if you don't take a serious action, you won't send a serious message. Worse, you'll demonstrate a tacit approval of the behavior, and I'm betting that's not the message they want passed on to their fans ...
- A runner who took the silver medal in the 800M event at the Asian Games was stripped of the medal after failing a gender test. Basically, she turned out to be a he. Considering how fast and loose we've become with our definition of what makes a man or a woman, and reached a point where the only real difference between the two is surgery and a liberal judge, the only real surprise is that we don't see this more often ...
Here she comes, just-a walkin' down the beach, singing ...
Actually, I have no idea what she's singing as she strolls down the beach in St. Barts, since I don't know Portuguese. But if you do, then maybe you can get into the mind of Brazilian supermodel Adriana Lima. Another in the line of Victoria's Secret models who've exploded into superstardom, Adriana is probably the hottest model on the planet right now.
Yes, you can try to get into her head, but I know where you won't be able to get - into those bikini bottoms. You see, Adriana is also the world's hottest virgin.
She announced earlier this year that, despite being linked romantically to several prominent men, she was a 25-yr-old virgin who had no intention of giving it up any time soon. I guess it's a sad commentary on our society that she was seen as some kind of freak, while the 15-yr-olds having sex are not. One more nail in our moral coffin, I suppose. Oh well, at least we can enjoy the view ...
Today marks the end of the pathfinder effort on my software project. For the last two weeks, we've been in the factory working with a group of real users in a real environment. We asked for feedback, and boy - did we get it! I guess it's like any kind of focus groups - you want and need feedback on the product, but it can require pretty thick skin sometimes to take the beatings they hand out. On the bright side, we haven't had any failures severe enough to end the pathfinder. We've definitely had our share of stumbles, though, and some have been pretty embarassing. The bottom line, though, is that the issues that were raised needed to come out, and now we can focus on fixing them. It'll take a while for my pride to heal, though ...
We talked earlier about the iPod and it's domination of the portible music player market. These days, it seems like everyone has one - or two! But it's one thing to say you're the leader - how can you really show it? Sales is one way, and Apple certainly has the facts and data to back that one up - last time I checked, they'd sold nearly 70 million of the things. But here's another way to show dominance - become that essential item people won't leave home without.
Years ago, there was a radio show called "Desert Island Disc". Listeners were asked what 5 records they would want to have with them if they were stranded a la Gilligan and asked to justify their picks. Now, most of us will never be stranded on a desert isle, and we certainly won't have a turntable with us. But we just might have a music player, and I'll bet I know which one ...
When I travel, packing is always tricky. You have very little room (and less all the time courtesy of the TSA), so you only bring what you really need. For me, that includes my iPod. But I'm not alone in that thought. Think of the ultimate packing challenge - selecting items to bring with you for a 6-month stay on the International Space Station. Talk about not having enough room for everything you need - you can bet only the essentials make the final packing list.
That's the challenge that faced astronaut Thomas Reiter earlier this year as he prepared to blast off to the ISS - what to bring, what to leave. Here we see astronaut Reiter hard at work in one of the ISS labs. Velcro'd to the bulkhead just beyond his laptop? That's right - it's an iPod! And I'm betting it gets more use than most of the items on that station ...
Remember all the whining the NBA players did at the beginning of the season because the league decided to replace the existing leather ball with a "composite" version (think playground ball)? I guess it did some good - the leather ball will return on January 1.
Commissioner David Stern has never been one to back down, so you can bet there's more going on than just the players being upset - and you'd be right.
Stern relented after a number of high-profile players, including Phoenix Suns guard Steve Nash, reported that the composite material — its surface meant to provide "superior grip and feel" — cut and scraped their hands.
It's OK to irritate your stars, but when you start causing injuries - no matter how minor - that's gonna be an issue ... especially in today's lawsuit-happy world. Of course, the players could always seek employment elsewhere. Maybe if they worked for a living, their hands would be a little tougher ...
Over the centuries, man has invented some amazing things: the wheel, the steam engine, the three-meat pizza. But all of those and so many others pale when compared to the first great invention of the 21st century - the iPod.
It might be hard to remember, but the iPod wasn't the first music player. Sony had been producing the Walkman tape and disc players for decades, and several companies had already produced devices that played a new kind of music format - the MP3 file. But Apple was the first to combine intelligent design with practical features, and had the smarts to make it all seem cool. It didn't take long for the iconic white earphones to be seen everywhere. True story: today, I saw a traditionally dressed Hebrew man - dark suit, long beard, yarmulke - walking in a crosswalk in front of my car. Sneaking out of the collar of his shirt? The earphones of his iPod.
I'm an Apple guy anyway, but I fell in love with the iPod from the beginning. I use one when I fly to pass the time, and on the boat it serves as music to go to sleep by. With the advent of the iPod shuffle, music was small and discreet enough to carry around at work. Since I work virtually most of the time, my office is a backpack, and you'll always find an iPod in there. When the latest version of the Shuffle was released last month, I picked one up. It's so small, I keep it permanently attached to my badge hanger. Others have their enamelled pins; I have my iPod!
Now if Apple would just come out with their version of the Crackberry ...
And now, for something completely different - at least for the Weekend Eye Candy!
Anyone could find a pretty girl to tide you over the weekend, but only the MB could find one with mad skills! I have no idea what her name is, but she's a Power Dancer - a member of the Houston Rockets cheerleading squad. I don't know about you, but this looks a whole lot tougher than "gimme an A". Clearly, this is a woman who knows how to handle a pair of balls.
Yesterday, December 7, 1941 – a date which will live in infamy – the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.
With those words, President Franklin Roosevelt began his famous speech to Congress to request a declaration of war. Still reeling from the shock and tragedy of the surprise attack on the military forces at Pearl Harbor in the Hawaiian Islands Territory, America rose up against an evil empire with the declared intent of destroying all the country stood for. It was a long hard fight whose outcome was often in question. But we perservered, survived and ultimately prospered.
Since 9-11-1, we have been at war once again with another evil group of individuals whose intentions are to destroy our way of life. The enemy is harder to find and the battle lines far less clear, but the threat is no less severe.
We find ourselves at a crossroads now, questioning the decisions, policies and plans of our government as we prosecute the War on Terror. To question the government, to hold them accountable for their decisions, is the absolute right of every citizen - some would call it an obligation. But no one should lose sight of who is fighting whom now. It's not the people versus the government, or Pelosi versus Bush - those are just skirmishes. No, it's America versus the terrorists, and if we ever let the lesser squabbles distract us from the big picture, we all lose.
On this 65th anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, read the rest of the Roosevelt Speech and feel the resolve. They were scared, they were worried, they were confused - but they were united. No matter what our political differences, we share a larger common heritage and common goals - and those common traits are never more important than at a time of war.
The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still in conversation with its Government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific.
Indeed, one hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States and his colleague delivered to the Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message. While this reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or armed attack.
It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many days or even weeks ago. During the intervening time, the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace. The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces. Very many American lives have been lost. In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high seas between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong.
Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam.
Last night Japanese forces attacked the Philippine Islands.
Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island.
This morning the Japanese attacked Midway Island.
Japan has, therefore, undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area. The facts of yesterday speak for themselves. The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the implications to the very life and safety of our nation.
As Commander in Chief of the army and navy I have directed that all measures be taken for our defense.
Always will we remember the character of the onslaught against us.
No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory. I believe I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but Will make very certain that this form of treachery shall never endanger us again.
Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger.
With confidence in our armed forces-with the unbounding determination of our people-we will gain the inevitable triumph-so help us God.
I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, a state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
There's an old saying that engineers love to quote:
One Test is Worth a Thousand Expert Opinions.
That's because nothing speaks to the truth like facts and data. On my software project, we have very little data. Lots of opinions, crafted over the past year by both supporters and naysayers, but frighteningly little data.
That all changes today. At 6:30 this morning, or a little over 2 hours from now, we'll be turning on our system and going live into a production area of the satellite factory. We'll let real people use the system to try and do what they do - build satellites - and get real feedback on what we've done right and what we've done wrong. It'll be brutal, since we already know we have things to fix, but it'll be priceless in terms of telling us where we are with the development and how far we have to go.
Is it just me, or have professional team sports pretty much run their course? There was a time when towns would rally around their team, and the team took on the identity of the town and there was a great deal of loyalty between the two. Not much of that any more.
Once upon a time, Los Angeles had not one but two NFL teams - the Rams and the Raiders. Now, maybe the Rams played their last 10 years in Anaheim, but hey - it was near LA, right? And the Raiders - they were refugees from Oakland, but they brought us our only Super Bowl title, so that makes it all OK. That is, until both teams bailed out in the mid 90's for St. Louis and - amazingly enough - Oakland. The assumption was that there would quickly be an expansion team formed, much as had happened when the Colts and Oilers abandoned Baltimore and Houston.
But something different happened here in LA. As month became year and the seasons began to pass, we realized not only did we not need a football team, we didn't want one! A new team would mean a new stadium and new debt, and for what - a bunch of stiffs like the Texans? Hell, we get more games on TV now without local blackouts. So we're just fine without the NFL.
Can this level of indifference be far behind for the other team sports? Sure, the Lakers have Kobe, but can you name the other guys? How many were even here last season? It's Ocho ...er, Veinte-quatro and a bunch of stiffs - and we don't care! So long as they wear the purple and gold - and keep winning - that's all that matters. The Dodgers? Baseball is such a revolving door today it doesn't matter if a guy has a contract or not. Used to be you could lock a guy up for a career, then at least for a couple of years. Now you have guys like J. D. Drew voiding a $30 million contract - 30 megabucks! - because he knows he can get more elsewhere. And he probably will. We're left pulling for a bunch of uniforms.
And that's really what professional sports has become - cheering for the uniform of your team, and ignoring who's in them. After all, your current hero probably played for the enemy last season and may well again next year. Loyalty means nothing ... rivalries mean nothing ... only cash seems to mean anything.
Well, they won't be getting my cash. I'm officially boycotting professional team sports. If it's on TV, fine, but anything that would require me to put out money won't happen. I'll miss day games at Dodger Stadium, but ever since they butchered it to put in expensive seats - all about the money, baby - it's not the same anyway. It won't matter to anyone but me, but that's what's important. And if you choose to stage your own one-man protest, well all the better!
You'd think the hardest entries to make in this blog would be the ones where I spend a lot of time ponficating on some subject of great importance to us all.
And you'd be wrong.
No, the hardest ones are the eye candy. After all, I can't just pick some "skank of the week" to toss up here. I have to find someone who is topically relevant, pertinent to current events, and easy on the eyes. Hell, if all I wanted to do was toss up some skank, I could just post one of the three sets of paparazzi pics taken this week of a panty-less Britney Spears. I particularly liked the one with the fresh C-section scar visible - now that's entertainment.
But I digress. My schedule is pretty nutty right now, so I just haven't had the time I've needed to do justice to the Eye Candy selection, and we've gone a couple of weeks without one. However, I know how cranky you all get if you don't get your weekend off to a good start, so here you go.
She may not be in the news right now, but she'll always be known as Victoria's real Secret. Considered by many smarter than me to be one of the most beautiful women on the planet, I present the latest in a long line of bombshell Brazilians, model Alessandra Ambrosio.
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Back in October, I wrote about Ron Fineman and his 
Who'da thunk it ... turns out the Donald has a soft heart to go with the hard ass. After being allowed to twist in the breeze for a day, the reigning Miss USA, Tara Conner - underage drinker, lipstick lesbian and all-around party girl - is going to get to 
So imagine my surprise when I woke up around two this morning feeling like I was sleeping in the freezer. Unfortunately, I own your basic beach house - not a stitch of insulation - and the inside temperature is about the same as the outside temperature. Normally, that's not a problem, but I knew something was a amiss when I started blowing smoke trails across my bedroom. I checked the temp when I got up - you can see the results to the right.)
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