Chill The Whine!

Before the game began, Houston Astros' players were complaining that the the ball park roof in Houston would have to be left open. This mandate came from Major League Baseball. The result of having the roof open was that the playing field was a few degrees cooler (chilling the whine) and that the hometown crowd's enthusiasm was not echoed off a roof. Wasn't the roof designed to prevent rain outs and to allow air conditioning to cool off a hot Houston summer afternoon? But I digress....
Let's remember that the game is not all about the players. It is (or should be) all about the fans. The fans who sat and watched their beloved Astros strand base runners in a game which could have been won by Houston several times. What is the punnishment for taking a call third stike with a runner in scoring position? The punishment is being 25% closer to elimination from the World Series title.

Fox: Mute McCarver, Please

Tim McCarver has an Emmy. Did you know that? Well, he does. I wouldn't know that, last night, as he made some of the most innane comments that I've ever heard from a baseball commentator. We should remember that this is NETWORK TV as opposed to a local TV station. In local TV we can allow for certain flaws which are common to "our guy" in the booth. What was McCarver thinking when Chicago's Dye was hit (or not hit) by a pitch? He said that the ball would take a certain angle after hiting a bat and another angle after hitting an arm. What's that? Tim knows baseball. Please, then, why does he feel the need to make things up on the spot? There is nothing wrong with saying that you aren't sure of something. Sometimes I think he's doing shots between innings. (It was cold on Sunday night in Chicago, right?)
We should all remember that just because we put a microphone in front of someone, it doesn't make them any smarter.

The Megan Mullally Show

Here's what the world needs, another sycdicated, celebrity hosted, daytime talk show! This one would be hosted by "Will & Grace"'s Megan Mullally. No doubt, she can sing, she can dance and she's very funny. She admits to being bi-sexual and thinks that everyone else is, to some degree or another.
Back to the show, it will air in the Fall of 2006. It has not been named. It is being syndicated by NBC Universal Domestic Television and will air on the NBC owned and operated TV stations in NYC, Chicago, LA and San Francisco.
Here's what all this means...NBC is looking for the next Rosie O'Donnell Show. They may have it, but probably not. Maybe what they should be looking for is something "fresh." A variation on something that has been done, or is being done. Producers say that the show will be targeted for the 25-54 year old female. Most advertisers have the same target. Do I have a better idea for a TV show? Yes, I do. It is so good that the network would put it on at prime time. It would instantly be #1 in the ratings, with twice the viewers as #2. It would be relatively cheap to produce. What is it? If I tell you, the network will want to but it on three or four nights in a week. Other networks will copy the idea. It will self destruct. This is why TV is as bad as it is. There are only three or four real shows on TV. Everything else is a copy cat adaptation.
Thank God for old movies!

Trump, The Whole World Is Not Watching!

Donald Trump's Apprentice TV show is losing viewers. Last year it averaged 14 million viewers per week. The audience now averages 10 million. Not bad, but the idea is to gain, not lose, viewers. Here are some problems: The show can be hard to watch at times with the petty bickering that goes on, especially on the female team. It's apparent that these 20-somethings don't know a lot about how to communicate with each other. Trump, himself, doesn't seem to be having a good time. Perhaps everyone on the show is afraid of having a good time. Being a multi millionaire is supposed to be cool, very cool. Right? Business is business but it is best conducted with the human touch. This year's show lacks the personality aspect that we've seen in the past. Relax Donald, you're not fired, but we are keeping an eye on you.

Fishy PETA Sign Flounders In Utah

Half a dozen billboard companies in the Salt Lake area have turned down PETA's effort to advertize this anti-fishing billboard. FishingHurts.com. Comments?

A Change In The Weather (Person)

Good Morning America's Tony Perkins is calling it quits. Too bad. He did a good job for GMA as the show has slowly and steadily increased in viewers. Good Morning America is very close to matching the top rated Today Show in viewership. Tony's decision to leave GMA was more of a decision to leave New York City to be closer to his wife and family. He has a job in D.C. with FOX. His replacement has not been named.

If you read this blog with any regularity, you would kow that my #1 choice for the gig would be Marysol Castro, the current GMA Weekend weather reporter. Another name that has been mentioned is Sam Champion.


Sam is as handsome as Marysol is pretty. Sam also has a huge following in NYC. This should be an interesting decision for the network people to make.

Ashton's Deja Vu Production

They say "write" what you "know". In the case of Hollywood Producer Ashton Kutcher it might be "produce" what you "know." He's come up with an idea for a TV sitcom where a younger guy marries an older woman. Fascinating!
The Fox television network has made a committment for the pilot episode which is tentatively titled "30 Year Old Grandpa." (Don't we have some of those around here already?) The idea is that the younger man's step children have children at the same time that he and his new wife do. The series will be set in Chicago.
No word, yet, on if the step children will have funny names nor if the bride's ex will be a balding actor with a smokin' girlfriend.

More On Katrina

Here's an item that I just stumbled across. Great Britan donated 330,000 packaged meals for the Victims of Hurricane Katrina. The food is being stored in a warehouse in Little Rock, Arkansas. The U.S. Government wants to send this food to hungry people in other countries. The problem? The meals contain British beef and the possibilty of Mad Cow disease.
By the way, we haven't heard much about this, but more than 100 countries have offered assistence to Katrina's victims. Apparently good news does not sell.

The Pale Hose Are IN!

Congratulations to the players and fans of the Chicago White Sox! The Sox will be in the World Series for the first time in 46 years. It should be an exciting series either against the defending NL Champion Cardinals or The Astros who have never been to the World Series. Either way, I'm pulling for the Sox. Chicago's a great town...too great to have two major league teams and to have to wait for over 80 years for a world champion baseball team. Go Go Sox!

New Orleans, You're Welcome!

Have I missed this? Have any of the New Orleans Katrina victims ever pubicly thanked anyone for the billions of dollars in assistance? How about the local politicians? The hurricane was a force of nature. No one is responsible for the damage that it brought. The locals who decided to ride out the storm are or were (or should have been) responsible for their own safety after being told to leave. OK, you didn't believe the weather forecast. We rescued you, we fed you and housed you. Could you say "Thank You?" Or will you continue to complain? Oh, and one more thing, I've been hungry and I've been thirsty, but I never stole a TV.

Run Hillary, Run!

Hey New Yorkers! Do you know where your Senator is? She's busy raising money for her first re-election campaign. Because this weekend's fundraisers are in Hollywood, do you suppose that she's raising money for a run for the White House?
The former first lady was expected to attend at least three private fund-raisers hosted by various show business Democrats, starting with a $500-per-person reception Friday evening at the home of film director and political activist Rob Reiner.
A $1,000-per-plate brunch at the Hollywood home of Oscar-winning producer Bruce Cohen ("American Beauty") was scheduled for Saturday. And organizers said attendance for both events was expected to be "at capacity" with 100 to 150 guests accepting invitations to each one.
The joke is that there is a bumper sticker that says:"Run Hillary, Run!" The Democrats put it on the rear bumper. The Reublicans put it on the front bumper.

TOM BODETT, ReadThis!

A guy in Salmon, Idaho is renting out caves. For $5 a day or $25 a month you can stay in a cave overlooking the Salmon River Rapids near beautiful Salmon, Idaho. Of course, there's no room service, electricity, TV, wake up call, etc. You do get a mattress and a wood stove. Richard Zimmerman, an 89 year old retired construction worker is your host. Richard says that the caves can also double as bomb shelters and if you bring a pick, you can do some mining.
If Richard had a website, I'd provide a link. Oh, Richard, send me some pictures!

The Problem Ain't Torre

The Yankee Collapse is not the fault of manager Joe Torre. With runners on base, Joe had nothing to do with any lack of productivity. A casual fan might say, hey, aren't 8 consecutive divisional championships enough? Boss George would say no - not with a $208 million dollar payroll.
So, it's time for George to pull some weeds. GM Brian Cashman will probably go (quickly), his contract expires on Halloween. A number of teams want him. Some of the older players will not be invited back....Tino Martinez, Bernie Williams & Tom Gordon will probably be filling out change of address forms.
Yankee favorite Lou Piniella will probably be back in the Bronx. Personally, I think his fuse is a little too short to be a Yankee manager for George. Pitching coach Stottlemyre should stay, unless George wants to blame him for Monday's blown 2-0 early lead over the Angels.
Back to the money. George is a businessman....a very smart one. He is willing to pay the big bucks in salary for two reasons. 1. Because he has the fan support to justify the cost,and 2. He wants to win.
Hey George, you've won with Torre in the past, you can win with him again. The manager's job is not broken, don't try to fix it.

New Bond?

There's going to be a new actor to play James Bond. In a marvelous bit of promotion the movie studio has annonced this and little else. It is said that the lead candidate, out of the short list of 39 actors, is Daniel Craig. Of course for those of us who can remember when Bond Movies were fresh and new, there is only one and there will forever be only one James Bond...Sean Connery.

Pam's Slam On Fur In China

Chinese Government owned Telecom and PETA are putting Pamela Anderson's naked image on phone cards in an effort to convince the Chinese not to buy fur. Last year, a version of the same ad campaign appeared on billboards at Chinese bus stops. It took three edits to get the sign approved for the Chinese locals. Too much skin was the problem. The ad's theme is: "Give Fur The Cold Shoulder." On the phone card there's an image of falling snow above Chinese characters reading "Cold shoulders are nothing compared to the pain they feel" and "Please don't wear fur." 70,000 cards have been printed.
This makes me wonder.....how cold does it get in Malibu, where Pammy lives? In any event, she is obviously passionate about this cause....enough to take her clothes off in front of a camera!

Regis & The Donald...A Duet!

Maybe not a big deal, but certainly in time for Christmas.....
I just found out that Regis Philbin has Donald Trump featured on "The Regis Philbin Christmas Album," singing "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer."

Madonna: Like A Blasphamy!

Madonna (or Esther) has come under fire from religious scholars in Israel for using the name of a revered Kabbalist rabbi in a song featured on her upcoming album, Confessions on a Dance Floor.
According to local reports, rabbis charged with looking after the grave of Yitzhak Luria, a 16th century Jewish mystic buried in the northern town of Safed, criticized Madonna for supposedly defiling his legacy as one of Kabbalah's most renowned figures by titling her cut "Isaac," the English translation of his Hebrew name.

While Madonna might have thought she was honoring a spiritual leader, the Israeli rabbis say she crossed the line and is in danger of incurring God's wrath.

"Jewish law forbids the use of the name of the holy rabbi for profit," Rabbi Rafael Cohen, head of the seminary named after Luria, told Israel's Maariv newspaper Sunday. "Her act is just simply unacceptable and I can only sympathize for her because of the punishment that she is going to receive from Heaven. The Sage Isaac is holy and pure, and immodest people cannot sing about him."
Other ultra-Orthodox rabbis sought a more Earth-based penalty, calling for Madonna to be excommunicated from her mystical faith. "Such a woman brings great sin on Kabbalah," said Rabbi Israel Deri. "I hope that we will have the strength to prevent her from bringing sin upon the holiness of [Rabbi Luria]."
At the rate the 47-year-old singer's going, there aren't too many more religions left to offend.

Ah, But She Was A Real Gem!

This is a little eerie. But it's also kind of cool. The gem that you see on the left was made from the carbon found in the remains of a human cremation. The name of the company is LifeGem and it uses super-hot ovens to transform ashes to graphite and then presses the stone into blue and yellow diamonds that retail for anywhere from 2,700 to 20,000 dollars. Considering the cost of funerals and the cost of jewelry, this might catch on. This might also give the term "heirloom" additional meaning.

The Deal On Biel

Esquire magazine has chosen Jessica Biel to be the "sexiest woman alive." She'll be on the cover of their November issue.
The 23-year-old Biel, who began as a teenager on the family TV series "7th Heaven," plays a supporting role in the upcoming "Elizabethtown" and starred earlier this year in "Stealth." In case you don't keep track of these things, last year Angelina Jolie took the honors from Esquire. !

Does Current TV Have A Future?

Ok, this is new. I wasn't sure if I would write about this, but, for what it's worth, here goes. Al Gore and a team of investors have a new cable tv channel. They call it Current TV. It cost the investors about $70 million to reach their estimated audience of 20 million. That's $3.50 per viewer. Not good for starters. What is it? Current TV is, basically, a commercial community access channel. Since high tech equipment will be used to gather stories from plain folk (like you and me), we will be hearing mostly from the young affluent. Being older, I find this to be potentially amusing. You can find Current TV on DirecTV and on many cable services. If you are interested in seeing Current TV, you'd better hurry. Something tells me that wall to wall infomercials may be in Current's future.

Pass the gas (pumps)

With the retail price of gas increasing by 50% withing the past 10 months, it is good to see that the gas consumption in the US has recently dipped by about 3%. Sales of Sport Utility Vehicles are down. Sales of bicycles are up. If this trend continues, will the price of gas drop? Probably not. It might rise to compensate for the lower volume of sales. The bottom line is that a 3% drop in retail gasoline sales is not enough! We must do everything possible to buy and use less gas. I think I'll do my part this weekend and NOT mow the lawn.

Tom & Katie....why wait?

So Tom Cruise gets Katie Holmes pregnant. Fascinating! Some of us are old enough to remember a time when this would have been an embarassment...they're not married. Well, ok, they're engaged. Would it have been a problem to wait? No due date has been announced. Due to Tom's religious beliefs, Katie will deliver the child without the benefit of any pain killers. She will also not be permitted to moan or shout during delivery. Fascinating! This is Cruise's first biological child, her's too. Cruise has been married twice, this would be the first for Holmes. Love is a beautiful thing.

G.W.

Donald Rumsfeld is giving the president his daily briefing.
He concludes by saying: "Yesterday, 3 Brazilian soldiers were killed."
"OH NO!" the president exclaims. "That's terrible!"

His staff sits stunned at this display of emotion, nervously watching as the president sits, head in hands.
Finally, president looks up and asks, "How many is a brazillion?"

Stupid Beyond Belief!

SEATTLE (Reuters) - An Oregon woman whose doctor convinced her that he could cure her lower back pain by having sex with her is suing him and his medical clinic for $4 million, according to legal documents obtained on Monday.
The doctor, Randall Smith, who was 50 at the time, was stripped of his license and sent to jail for 60 days last year for charging the state's Oregon Health Plan $5,000 for his 45-minute "treatments" involving the woman.
"Dr. Smith's medical treatment included intercourse in which he told plaintiff was needed to help alleviate plaintiff's lower back and lower extremity pain," the former patient said in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit, which charges battery, negligence and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, was filed on Friday in Multnomah County court.

Though he pleaded guilty to submitting false health care claims, a felony, Smith maintained the sex with the 47-year-old woman was consensual.
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Apparently the treatment did not heal the woman. Too bad. Somebody should sue this woman for being stupid.

Superbaby?

Oscar-winning actor Nicolas Cage, 41, is a new daddy.
His wife, Alice Kim Cage, gave birth Monday to a boy, Kal-el Coppola Cage, in New York City. "Kal-el" wasn't that Superman's name at birth? The "Coppola" comes from the baby's great uncle, director/producer, Francis Ford Coppola.
The couple was married in July 2004. It was the third marriage for Cage and the first for his new wife, who was 20 when they were wed. They met when Cage visited a Los Angeles restaurant where she was working as a waitress.
Cage, has a son from a previous relationship. He was previously married to Lisa Marie Presley and actress Patricia Arquette.

Brad & Jenn: House 4 Sale

Well it's available for a cool $28 Million. Brad & Jenn bought the estate in 2001 for $13.5 million dollars. Actor Frederick March and his wife used to hang their hats here. Word is that the Pitts did extensive renovations, therefore the doubling in value. This is an old photo of when the March's owned the place. It reminds me a great deal of my place.

Smoking Chimp Kicks The Habit!

BEIJING (Reuters) - A chimpanzee in a northwest China zoo has quit smoking after 16 years with the help of her keepers.
The staff, worried about her declining health, weaned 27-year-old "Ai Ai" off tobacco by distracting her with entertainment and a tastier diet.
The zoo keepers tried every way to divert the chimp's attention from cigarettes: a walk after breakfast, a music session after lunch and gym after dinner.
She also got fried dishes and dumplings, as well as the usual diet of milk, bananas and rice, said one zoo keeper.
"I also put earphones on her so that she could enjoy some pop music from my walkman," he said.
"In the first few days, she squealed for cigarettes every now and then, but as her life became more colorful she gradually forgot about them altogether."
Living in a safari park in Shaanxi province, Ai Ai had taken up smoking in 1989 shortly after her mate died. She became a chain smoker after her second mate died in 1997 and her daughter was moved to another zoo. It is not clear how the chimp had access to lighted cigarettes.
The Xian Evening News said the zoo was trying to find another mate for her.

Oktoberfest 2005: The Numbers Are In!

At the Oktoberfest in Munich there was a noticable drop in beer consumption. This year, the party lasted 17 days instead of the traditional 16. While last year 6.1 million liters of beer were served, this year the number was close to 6 million. Observers say that the volume of live music was brought down during certain hours of the day. When the music is not so loud, people tend to drink less and eat more. Remember that the next time you go to a watering hole. By the way, a liter is what my young friend is hoisting.

Harriet Miers' Supreme Nomination

President Bush has nominated Harriet Miers' to fill Sandra Day O'Conner's seat on the Supreme Court. Miers has been Bush's Counsel. I always enjoy watching Members of Congress asking Supreme Court Nominees questions and then voting for or against the nomination. It's usually the case of a great legal mind at the mercy of many lesser legal minds, each with their own agendas....and an opportunity to get some prime TV time!
Oh, and before anyone calls this a "hasty decision", it's been reported that the President had a "short list" of 12 - 15 candidates. Six were women.

Paris Leaves Paris

Paris Hilton says she's not ready for marriage. I think we all thought that based on what we've seen. It's refreshing to see her come to that realization and for her to go public. Of course, when you are famous primarily for being famous, everything you do or don't do becomes the subject of news (and blogs.) In the picture, you see a $2 Million engagement ring. To me, the biggest question is: "Which Paris keeps the ring?"