Friday Foto - Halle Berry

It's Halloween and I thought that this would be fitting. It's Halle Berry in her Catwoman outfit. As usual, if you click the picture, you will get a larger version.
Have a nice weekend!

NFL Picks - Week 9

Back to this NFL thing. Last week, I was 10 out of 14. For the season, 55 & 52. There are several closely matched teams playing each other this weekend. Teams' degree of dominance is changing at this point in the season. This is normal for the NFL, if not for all sports.

Here are my picks:

NY JETS at buffalo
detroit at CHICAGO
JACKSONVILLE at cincinnati
baltimore at CLEVELAND
TAMPA BAY at kansas city
HOUSTON at minnesota
ARIZONA at st. louis
GREEN BAY AT tennessee

miami at DENVER
dallas at NY GIANTS
ATLANTA at oakland
philadelphia at SEATTLE

NEW ENGLAND at indianapolis

pittsburgh at WASHINGTON.

Let's Talk About YOU!

That's right, let's talk about you! I've been doing this blog since 2004 and lately I've been keeping track of where in the world my visitors are located and what brought them here. I've discovered that most of you are from North America and Western Europe. I'm kind of light in South America and Australia. East Asia residents are frequent visitors. I don't ever remember seeing a hit from Africa. Maybe I should feature a beauty contestant from one of the countries, there.
I can tell if you reached this page by searching for something or if you are a "regular." Most of the visitors to this blog are searching for pictures of people. Rarely is anyone concerned about what I am saying. One possible exception is the time that I revealed the identity of the Deal Or No Deal Banker on the American version of the show.
All of the Friday Photo Girls have attracted visitors. The champs would have to be Hitomi Tanaka and Tera Patrick. Type their names in the search box at the top of this page to see their pictures.
Well, that's it. Please be assured that you are always welcome, here. Your opinions are always welcome - even if they disagree with mine and are obviously wrong...that's OK.

Elvis: Still #1

It's been more than 30 years since Elvis left us. To measure his impact as a performer and icon, Forbes Magazine has named him the number one, top earning deceased celebrity for the second year in a row! His estate earned $52 million in the past year. If you are a kid and never knew Elvis, you can compare his earning power, having been gone for 30 years, with Justin Timberlake's $44 million or Madonna's $40 Million.
No. 2 with $33 million in earnings was cartoonist Charles Schulz - best known for his "Peanuts" comic strip.
Australian actor Heath Ledger nabbed third spot at $20 million
Albert Einstein comes in at #4 with $18 million
#5 is Aaron Spelling with $15 million in earnings.

The full list can be found at http://www.forbes.com.

Friday Foto - Ji Mi Yu

So, I know it's three days late, but here is the Friday Foto.
She's Ji Mi Yu - not to be confused with the giraffe or the chimp at the St. Louis Zoo, with the same name.
Jimi is a model and singer and a sure cure for a blah Autumn day!

NFL Picks - Week 8

First, I should explain that I've been having some computer problems. Mostly involving repeated attempts to climb over a taller firewall. I find that I can post, but I cannot add pictures. The Friday Foto will have to wait until Sunday...but I promise that it'll be worth the wait!

NFL Picks? So far, I'm 45 & 48 on the season, 8 & 6 last week. It seems as if there are fewer and fewer easy picks as the season progresses. Here goes:

oakland at BALTIMORE
arizona at CAROLINA
TAMPA BAY at dallas
WASHINGTON at detroit
BUFFALO at miami
st. louis at NEW ENGLAND
san diego at NEW ORLEANS
kansas city at NY JETS
ATLANTA at philadelphia

cleveland at JACKSONVILLE
cincinnati at HOUSTON
NY GIANTS at pittsburgh
SEATTLE at san francisco

indianapolis at TENNESSEE.

Investment Advice

Chances are that if you are looking for investment advice on a blog like this one - you're already in trouble.

I received this tidbit, this morning, via e-mail:

If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Delta Airlines one year ago, you would have $49.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in AIG one year ago, you would have $33.00 today.
If you had purchased $1,000 of shares in Lehman Brothers one year ago, you would have $0.00 today.
But, if you had purchased $1,000 worth of beer one year ago, drank it, then turned in the aluminum cans for recycling refund, you will have received $214.00.

Based on the above, the best current investment plan is to drink heavily & recycle.
It is called the 401-Keg.

Friday Foto - Lindsay Schoneweis

Friday and in this part of the world it is getting cooler. Here's a quick reminder of summertime with Lindsay Schoneweis.
I saw her picture on a calendar in our service department. She's a former Deal Or No Deal Model. I guess the natural professional progression after being a model on Deal Or No Deal is to end up on the wall of a dealership's service department....

Have a nice weekend.

NFL Picks - Week 7

OK, Lets get this over with! Last week I was a dismal 3 & 11. I don't think I ever had a week like that, before. Hell, I did worse than Wall Street!
Here are my picks for week 7:

san diego at BUFFALO
PITTSBURGH at cincinnati
TENNESSEE at kansas city
baltimore at MIAMI
dallas at ST.LOUIS
san francisco at NY GIANTS
minnesota at CHICAGO
NEW ORLEANS at carolina

detroit at HOUSTON
INDIANAPOLIS at green bay
NEW YORK JETS at oakland
CLEVELAND at washington

seattle at TAMPA BAY

DENVER at new england

Ringo: Keep Those Cards & Letters!

This is probably a non-story, but except for the ups & downs of the economy and the race between McCain and Obama to see who can lie better, there's nothing much going on...except maybe...Ringo Starr. I think most of us will agree that Ringo is cool. Always has been. There's a little bit of shock in that Ringo is asking that we stop sending him cards and letters and stuff for him to autograph. Here's the quote, "I'm warning you with peace and love I have too much to do. So no more fan mail. Thank you, thank you. And no objects to be signed. Nothing." This quote was, of course, taken out of context. You can see the video at www.ringostarr.com.
Personally, I would think that with his amazing success over the past 40+ years, he would have a staff of people to take care of this stuff. On the other hand, we must remember that Ringo is a person, an individual. Just because you may have bought a couple of his songs doesn't mean that he has an obligation to acknolowlege any or all of his fanmail. I think it would be expensive (and cool) to do so, but I'm far from being "Rock & Roll Royalty!"

That's where Ringo and I differ. For a small donation, I'll sign anything.

Friday Foto - Sophie Monk

This week we appreciate Sophie Monk. She's an Austrailian singer, songwriter, actress, dancer, etc. I'm not familiar with any of her work, but being as old as I am, I appreciate the ability to be able to appreciate a beautiful woman when I see one.

Have a nice weekend.

NFL Picks - Week 6

Last week I went 10 & 4. To date, that's my best performance. Over all, my season is 43 and 31. I'll try to top that with the following predictions:

cincinnati at NY Jets
MIAMI at houston
CHICAGO at atlanta
detroit at MINNESOTA
CAROLINA at tampa bay
BALTIMORE at indianapolis
oakland at NEW ORLEANS
st. louis at WASHINGTON

jacksonville at DENVER
green bay at SEATTLE
DALLAS at arizona
philadelphia at SAN FRANCISCO

NEW ENGLAND at san diego

NY GIANTS at cleveland.

Please keep in mind that these games are being played by professional atheletes, may of whom enjoy physical development far beyond their mental capacities. This fact tends to affect the accuracy of my predictions.

Greed...It'sUgly

Greed. That's the reason behind the Wall Street Collapse. It would be convenient to be able to pin the blame on a single person or business. The greed has been widespread, and why not? Wouldn't we all love to earn twice the money in half the time? Multiply the reward and there you are...on Wall Street making doomed mortgage loans - looking to score as many foreclosures as possible until you and your company slam into reality and the bottom falls out. Joe Taxpayer is forced to bail your ass out and the company's owners - stockholders - see their lifetime investments wither.
Thanks, guys. I hope to see you, soon, living in the NYC Subway, stinking of cheap wine, lying in your own waste - you deserve it.

Friday Foto - Buffy

Keeping with the football theme, here's Buffy - rookie cheerleader for the Washington Redskins.
Did you know that the Redskins Cheeleaders have a calendar? Let's see, 40 cheerleaders and 12 months...life can be so unfair! You can also collect their trading cards. The full set of 40 runs $75. $150 if you want them autographed!
Have a nice weekend!

NFL Picks - Week 5

My season record is 33 & 27 following a tough 6 & 7 Week 4. I'll try to work some magic for week number 5:
tennessee at BALTIMORE
kansas city at CAROLINA
CHICAGO at detroit
atlanta at GREEN BAY
INDIANAPOLIS at houston
san diego at MIAMI
seattle at NY GIANTS
WASHINGTON at philadelphia

tampa bay at DENVER
BUFFALO at arizona
cincinnati at DALLAS
NEW ENGLAND at san francisco

PITTSBURGH at jacksonville

minnesota at NEW ORLEANS.

Mutual Broadcast Suicide

In the Kingdom of Terre Haute, Indiana there's restlessness within the broadcast/cable TV systems. Time Warner operates the only cable system in the city limits of Terre Haute. They have about 20,000 customers. WTHI-TV is the number 1 TV station in the market. The TV station's contract with the cable station has expired. The TV station wants just under $80,000/year for the cable system to carry its programming. The cable system says "No thanks."
Result: Half the TV households in Terre Haute cannot receive the #1 TV station. Cable is losing subscribers to satellite TV which carries local TV stations. WTHI loses, Time Warner Cable loses.
Other damage?
My boss advertises on both WTHI & Time Warner Cable. If both media are losing viewers, my boss is wasting part of his advertising budget.
General Tom's take: This is a man made problem. If I owned a TV station, I'd welcome any cable company to carry my act - absolutely free! I'd also boast to my potential advertisers that their message would be plastered over all of these cable systems!
But what do I know?