Yank Girl Wins "Miss World!"

This was a surprise. This story seemed to come out of nowhere! 18 year old Alexandria Mills from Kentucky pulled off a major upset, this weekend, by beating out 113 other women to become Miss World! Mills is a professional model.

The odds-on favorite to win the title was Miss Norway. Some skeptics point out that the pageant was held in China. China is very, very uh, upset with Norway because the Nobel Peace Price (from within Norway) was awarded to a man who is doing hard time in a Chinese Jail!
The Nobel people are saying that the most significant peaceful person in the world was locked up by the Chinese! This would certainly be embarrassing for the Chinese.

However, take a good look at the pictures! Regardless of political issues, I think they got it right!

Return Of Estate Tax - Some Would Rather Die

It may sound weird, but some people are looking forward to dying before the end of the year, rather than have their heirs pay a significant estate tax!

Let's say that you spent your entire life building a business - a ranch, a farm, or a store - whatever. Let's also say that you are 88 years old and are being kept alive with dialysis or some similar treatment. If you die after the first of the year, your heirs will have to pay up to 55% of your estate's assets in taxes!

If you die this year, the kids get it all without paying any tax.

Before you click the "Absurd" button, below, consider three things. Consider the possibility of having a fortune to leave to your heirs, consider having paid taxes for your entire working life, and finally, consider your wishes for your kids.

NFL Picks - Week 8, 2010

What's with all of these close games? It's been a strange year in the NFL, so far. Of course, every year seems to be odd...but this season makes no sense at all!

Here are my picks:

denver at SAN FRANCISCO
JACKSONVILLE at dallas
MIAMI at cincinnati
buffalo at KANSAS CITY
washington at DETROIT
carolina at ST. LOUIS
green bay at JETS

TENNESSEE at San Diego
minnesota at NEW ENGLAND
tampa bay at ARIZONA
SEATTLE at oakland

PITTSBURGH at new orleans

houston at INDIANAPOLIS

Friday Foto - Larisa Riquelme

This week's Friday Foto features the top model in all of Paraguay - Larisa Riquelme! Larisa found her fame after capturing the TV cameras' attention at the 2010 World Cup. She is a huge sports fan. A Spanish newspaper called her "The official girlfriend of the World Cup!" She's done a great deal of modeling since.

As usual, click the picture to get the full effect and have a nice weekend!

"Book 'em, Danno" - James MacArthur Dies

The original Hawaii Five-O aired 1968 - 1980, And though we haven't seen a new episode of the show for more than 30 years, the expression, "Book 'em, Danno" is as fresh now as it was a generation ago. In the picture, Danno is on the right, Steve McGarret (Jack Lord) is on the left.

Danno, Detective Danny Williams, played by James MacArthur, died today in Florida - natural causes, he was 72.

MacArthur was the adopted son of Helen Hayes, considered by many to be the first lady of the American Theater. There's a Broadway theater named in her honor.

MacArthur had many acting roles, beginning with several Disney films.

Good actor, good man...he will be missed!

Mommy Mariah

News Flash? This just in...Mariah Carey announced, this morning, on the NBC Today Show that she and husband Nick Cannon are expecting a baby. Rumors had been circulating for quite a while.

Sex of the baby is unknown and due date was not revealed.

Best wishes from the Blog!

A Tree House Survives In Manhattan

I think that every kid should have a tree house! Melinda Hackett is a 49 year old artist. She lives on 12th Street in New York City's Greenwich Village and has three kids and two dogs. Now, this part of NYC is trendy, expensive and quite old. Her 4 story townhouse dates back to the 1860's. She has a tiny backyard with a really, really big tree. She paid a couple of carpenters $5,000 to build a real neat cedar tree house. You'll notice that it is completely round and sits about 10 feet off the ground. One problem: No building permit! Neighbors raised a stink and a legal battle followed. You see, there aren't a lot of tree houses in NYC and the building permit people didn't know how to classify the structure. In the end, it was called "recreational equipment." Case closed! The kids have their tree house!

And they all lived happily ever after!

Tubeless T.P.

Kimberly-Clark is coming out with a new variation on an old product that is sure to touch you. They discovered a way to market toilet paper without the center cardboard tube. They estimate that the world could save 17 billion of these little cardboard tubes from being thrown into the environment! If you're not good with numbers, 17 billion cardboard toilet paper tubes, placed end-to-end, would circle the globe 45 times! We should also point out that Kimberly-Clark will be saving a huge amount in production costs by not using the cardboard tube.

If you're interested, you can find these as early as November 1 at Wal-Mart stores and Sam's Clubs in the northeast. They will be marketed as "Scott Naturals Tube-Free toilet paper."

In the meantime, I'll be hoarding those little cardboard toilet paper tubes. They'll be worth big money, someday!

Tim Spear Goofs Up

I am sure that Tim Spear is a great guy. He's running for office in the North Carolina Legislature. He backs our Troops, especially our combat troops. Looking at the pictures, I see that he backs our combat troops even if they are wearing German WWII uniforms!

The ad agency, MSHC Partners, used a picture of German soldiers reenacting a WWII battle.

10,000 fliers were mailed.

I'd vote for him...he obviously runs a tight, high quality campaign!

007's Aston Martin Up For Bids

It was featured in the movie "Goldfinger" and it could be yours! The 007 Aston Martin DB5 Coupe is being auctioned tonight and is expected to bring in more than $5.5 million!

This is the one with two machine guns in the front bumper, a rear bulletproof screen, an oil slick spray, revolving license plates and the famous ejector seat.

Originally, there were two of these cars. The other one was stolen in 1997 and has not yet surfaced.

Here is a link to a film clip on YouTube of Sean Connery being introduced to the car, by Q.

The production model could reach speeds of 145 MPH.

No figure is available on fuel economy.

Marijuana Soda

You'll need a prescription, and you'll need to be in one of the 14 states which allow medical marijuana to pass around a bottle of Marijuana Soda!

Dixie Elixers, of Colorado, says their sodas are meant to offer an alternative for users of medical marijuana. The carbonated beverage is advertised as being "convenient, discreet and potent."

The sodas come in 12-ounce bottles and are available in seven flavors: lemonade, sweet tea, pink lemonade, strawberry, orange, grape and root beer. Dixie stated that the marijuana-laced soda can be drunk alone or to enhance other medicinal marijuana.

If California voters choose to legalize the casual use of Marijuana...you may want to buy some stock in the company...

Wednesday Photo - Anna Semenovich

In an effort to mark the middle of the week and to get you through the rest of the week, we proudly present Anna Semenovich! Anna is a retired competitive ice dancer. She is also in demand as a singer, actress and model. She has her own web site: http://www.annasemenovich.ru/
Click the image to get a better look at Anna...and have a good day!

Italian Town Bans Mini Skirts

This is not really a ban on the mini skirt. It's a ban on "very skimpy clothes." Unfortunately, I don't have a picture to show you.

The city council of the southern seaside town of Castellammare di Stabia approved a ban on football (soccer) games in public parks and squares, blasphemy out loud, and "very skimpy clothes."

Conservative Mayor Luigi Bobbio said that miniskirts and other provocative outfits will still be allowed as long as they are not too revealing. "It's a matter of common sense, of common decency," he says.

A handful of local female politicians protested in front of the town's city hall during Monday's vote, (see picture) They were not wearing mini skirts.

The measures also include a ban on sunbathing or undressing in town, blasphemy and foul language in general. Men can no longer go around shirtless.
Violations can be punished with a fine of up to euro500 ($700). The measures go into force immediately.

What this means is that not everyone, there, can appreciate foul language, punks playing soccer in traffic, guys displaying their pot bellies or girls with their thongs and "tramp stamps" showing!

Shocking!

Obama Talkin' Slurpee

Seven Eleven has been getting a lot of "Product Mentions" lately from none other than our Chief Executive! In the past two months, President Obama has mentioned Seven-Eleven's Slurpee at least 20 times! In at least case, President Obama may have referenced the product in a negative way. He accused Republicans of standing by, sipping on a Slurpee.

I read about this, on-line, in a story written for AFP, a wonderful and highly respected news organization. They may have gotten it wrong. They were inferring that Seven-Eleven should be happy about the frequent product mentions by the Prez. Maybe AFP didn't notice the warning on the Slurpee cup concerning "Brain Freeze." I think this is what Obama is getting at...that people who sip Slurpees (Republicans) run the risk of "Brain Freeze!"

Me? I'm sipping a Budweiser...

Springer Starts Season 20

Jerry Springer, is he a jerk or a genius? I am absolutely certain that I'm not sure. His show is starting his 20th season and has been "sold" to stations for an additional 4 seasons! Most of us know the content of his show, CRAZY!

I remember, a few years ago, I was responsible for placing the advertising for a local car dealership, where I worked. We had one commercial scheduled, daily, in the local 10PM local news. Well, it was during the political advertising season and we did not have an "annual contract" with the TV station. We were bounced from the local news slot in favor of political commercials. I decided that we could put our commercial in the Springer Show which followed the local news. Well, the ad rates for Springer were a lot cheaper than for the local news. We saturated the Springer Show with ads in every break...and ended up with the best USED CAR month in the history of the dealership!

Rocky & Bullwinkle Creator Dies

Sad news for those of us who grew up and loved Rocky & Bullwinkle (& friends). Creator of the cartoon, Alexander Anderson, Jr. Died. He was battling Altzheimers. He was 90.

The following is the opening sequence to the Rock & Bullwinkle Show. It debuted on ABC-TV in 1959.



When I played the video, my co-worker, in the next cubicle, immediately recognized the music!

Great stuff! Thank you Mr. Anderson!

Good Year For Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's estate made more money in the past 12 months than any other singer or actor or model or any performer, living or dead, in show business!

Forbes Magazine says that Jackson made $275 million between October 1, 2009 and October 1, 2010.

Second place among deceased entertainers went to Elvis, $60 million.

Bloomberg Backs 2 Terms

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg says that he supports a maximum of two terms for NYC Mayor. One problem, he is serving his third consecutive term!

There's more! He was responsible for changing the law from 2 terms to 3 terms! Bloomberg says that he did this, essentially because, we needed him. Yup, we needed him so New Yorkers could make it through the financial crisis.

The matter of 2 or 3 terms is on the ballot, next week, in NYC.

Do you know what's worse than a phony hypocrite?
An egotistical phony hypocrite.

Favre Wrangler Commercial Parody

This is a Saturday Night Live Parody of the Brett Favre Wrangler Jean Commercial.

There's no guarantee on how long this link will be available. Please be patient, as this commercial is in high demand and the Hulu server's bandwidth has its limitations!

Monday Foto - Jessica Jourdan

Good Monday Morning! This week's Monday Foto features Jessica Jourdan. She's a model and, well, probably an actress. She is also known as Jessica Rabbit and calls herself "The Cuban Princess!" The important thing is that if you click the image, you'll get a much better look at young Jessica.

Have a nice week!

Siesta Championship - We Have A Winner!

Everyone is good at something! We congratulate 62 year old Pedro Soria Lopez of Ecuador for winning the first Siesta Championship at a Madrid Mall.

The competition lasted several days as 360 participants attempted to sleep their way to the $1,400 grand prize. Lopez, an out-of-work security guard, slept in a noisy mall for 17 minutes, beating out an 18 minute sleeper. You see, Lopez snored at 40 decibels, giving him an edge. Contestants were also graded on pajama attire and sleeping position.

The contest was designed to revive the Siesta practice in a modern world, and to bring shoppers to the mall!

Washington HS Refs Penalized

The world is not perfect. As a matter of fact, it is screwed up in many ways. Consider the plight of a group of Washington State High School football referees of the Pacific Northwest Football Officials Association who decided to donate their game day paycheck to the Susan G, Komen Foundation - the breast cancer awareness and research folks - and use PINK WHISTLES during the game. The Washington Officials Association is outraged! You see, they were not contacted about the PINK WHISTLES. The refs face a two week suspension. This suspension spills over to the playoffs. The playoffs are important to the refs, as they are to the players.

Todd Stordahl, chairman of the Washington Officials Association says that his group should have been asked permission to change the uniform protocol, to using PINK WHISTLES instead of the standard black ones.

What a crock! Black whistles? The WOA should get 15 yards and a loss of down for a personal foul - inhumane-like conduct!

Happy 79th To "The George!"

The George Washington Bridge, AKA "The George," "GWB" or "GW," was dedicated on this day in 1931. Traffic on the span began on the following day. The GWB is the major link between NYC and Jersey. In 1962 a lower deck ("The Martha Washington Bridge") was added due to high amounts of traffic. The lower deck has 6 lanes of traffic, the upper has 8. That's 14 lanes of traffic making the GWB one of the busiest in the world. Speed limit is 45 MPH. I have personally crossed this bridge many times and after 79 years, they are still collecting tolls($8)to pay for the thing! That's not entirely true, they collect tolls to pay for the upkeep and to pay for the toll collecting.

Original plans were to cover the steel supports with stone. Times were tough, back then.

I'm sure that there will be a large celebration, next year for the GW's 80th birthday...I thought I'd get the scoop and tell you about it now...

I Figured Out The Apprentice!

After watching the latest episode of NBC's Apprentice, I think I have the show figured out!

First, let me explain that a television network is like a restaurant. The shows are like menu items. Each entree is carefully created with the proper taste and appeal so as to attract the customer(viewer). This is true of the Apprentice. The show could easily be a bland offering. To avoid this, producers (chefs), spice up the show with certain seasonings or spices. The spice, this season, is David Johnson. His bio says that he is a father of 5 and that he once owned two houses, etc, etc. His bio also mentions that he has done Stand Up Comedy. This puts him in show business. It is my belief that he is a "plant," an actor - not a real candidate - a hired gun selected by the producers to stir things up and to act like an ass. He's doing a very good job! This way the authentic candidates have an additional obstacle - David! For this reason, I predict that they will keep David in the running until the end of the show.

As I reflect on past seasons, I realize that Omarosa, in season one, was the queen of hired instigators.

Let me know if you agree...

NFL Picks, Week 7, 2010

Last week was another tough one for me with the NFL Picks. On the season I have predicted more winners than losers, but the margin is slight. Here's an effort to widen that margin.....

cincinnati at ATLANTA
PITTSBURGH at miami
buffalo at BALTIMORE
jacksonville at KANSAS CITY
cleveland at NEW ORLEANS
washington at CHICAGO
SAN FRANCISCO at carolina
ST. LOUIS at tampa bay
philadelphia at TENNESSEE

arizona at SEATTLE
new england at SAN DIEGO
oakland at DENVER

minnesota at GREEN BAY

GIANTS at dallas

Underemployment: 5,000 PhD Janitors

Day after day we are reminded about high unemployment numbers. These numbers vary among states and ethnic groups. It's not pretty.

What is not often mentioned is the underemployment dilemma. The Bureau Of Labor Statistics says that 5,057 janitors have PhD's, doctorates, and professional degrees. They also estimate that 17 million Americans have college degrees they don't need for their jobs.

Things are worse than we thought.