BABEWATCHOur own Kendra Wilkinson, now all of 23, will be getting her own reality series. The show, tentatively titled "Kendra," will follow Kendra as she lives life outside of the Mansion and prepares for her wedding to Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Hank Baskett.
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DAILY GRINDER: Declaring VictoryThe Grinder is getting pretty pissed at how the media is covering the elections in Iraq. Namely, how the media hasn't been interested covering the elections in Iraq. While the US has been obsessing over bailouts, and whether Obama's cabinet nominees have tax problems, millions of Iraqis went to the polls in elections that were absolutely extraordinary for being routine. Dull politics in Baghdad? That is a huge, huge deal. But did you see even one picture of an Iraqi voter with the telltale purple finger last week? Neither did we.
Certainly, good news always get under-reported. "A plane landed as scheduled" isn't going to raise ratings. But there's another dynamic at work here. Most people who work in media lean left, which is not a big secret, and most people on the left like to claim they opposed the war "from the start," by which they often mean "since things went south after the invasion."
The success in Iraq (finally!) leaves anti-war people in the unenviable position of either ignoring the good news or having to admit that George Bush was not always wrong, about everything, all the time. Most media people seem to have chosen the former, as Iraq has virtually vanished since thing started improving.
Frankly, it takes a very cynical person to be so wrapped up in the idea of being "right" about the war that they don't get excited about the prospect of a successful democracy in the Persian Gulf.
Certainly, there will be more violence in the short term and nothing is promised. Iraq may one day fragment, especially if the Kurds insist on statehood. But there is no denying that the seeds of liberal democratic capitalism have taken root. The Iraqis, to paraphrase Ben Franklin, have a republic and the question is if they can keep it.
If they do, the United States will have delivered an utterly devastating blow to Islamic radicals; militarily, politically and culturally. Across the Arab/Muslim world, young people will see in Iraq that they can live without tyrants and theocracy, martyrs and the veil. It's possible, or at least conceivable, that our grandchildren will never know a war-ravaged Middle East, just as most people alive today have never known a Europe that was anything but peaceful.
As more people realize that hope exists in Iraq, it will be fun to watch all those supported ousting Saddam Hussein in 2002 and changed when the occupation went bad, will change back to having thought it the war was the right choice all along. If the world does see a flourishing Iraq, it will shudder to think what would have happened if we merely "contained"Saddam for a decade or two. That was the plan proffered before the invasion by the current White House occupant.
Sometime in the next couple of years, in fact, Obama will probably make a speech welcoming the bulk of American troops home from Iraq, not only with honor, but with something that feels lot like winning. It might be the first time in American history that a president gives a victory speech for a war he was elected for opposing.
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JOCKCKSNIFFER: Cleaning Up After the Super Bowl, Kobe's freakout.Yesterday, in totally awesome and hysterical news, we learned that Super Bowl viewers in Tucson, AZ saw about thirty seconds of porn when their live game feed was interrupted by a clip from an adult channel. The cable company, Comcast, says they are "looking for an explanation."
Given that this happened in Arizona, and right after Larry Fitzgerald's massive fourth quarter touchdown, we can only assume that the explanation is a hugely successful prank, most likely perpetrated by a Steelers fan living in Tucson. We'll keep an eye on the story, though it's likely anyone smart enough to pull off this gem is also smart enough not to get caught.
An NBC affiliate in Detroit took the unusual step of using the news scroll at the bottom on the screen to insult one of their network's Super Bowl analysts. Then again, it was Matt Millen, who just finished his disastrous reign as Lions' team president with an unprecedented 0-16 record. You can see why Detroit fans would not be thrilled to hear "football insight" from the guy who devastated their franchise for the better part of a decade.
In case you've been tripping acid in an isolation chamber, you heard that Kobe Bryant went off on the Knicks last night in Madison Square Garden. Maybe he was showing how the Lakers would do without Andrew Bynum Maybe Kobe just likes to show off in New York City. Maybe we are totally full of spit, and Kobe wasn't thinking anything more than "ball, basket, score," like a jazz musician who doesn't plan what note he'll play. Bryant hit everything scoring 61, treating the Knicks defense like Christian Bale treats an underling. He drove to the hoop. He hit fifteen-footers high, high off glass. He dunked from left and right, and dribbled though double and sometimes triple teams for layups. Ridiculous. Here's a montage of the destruction. (As always, be sure to click the link that lets you watch in HD. Always)
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THE DAILY TUNE: "Teenage Rampage," by SweetToday we are looking at Sweet, one of the most kickass glam bands of the 70's; rivaling Queen in musicianship and Elton John in sartorial splendor. In this live version of "Teenage Rampage" you'll recognize the same distinctive vocal style as their biggest US bit, "Ballroom Blitz."
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LOL: "...I'd Rather Be In Philadelphia"Anybody can find humor in sex, politics and airline food. Only those with a truly well-developed sense of humor can laugh at death. Which is why we don't find these weird tombstones the least bit funny. On a side note, has anyone ever seen that part of the movie "Tombstone," where some of the town fathers are discussing the best way to help the town grow? Here's an idea: Don't call your city, "Tombstone."
As far as we know, every one of these unusual grave are real.
Is this because the guy had a favorite chair that looked like this one? Because that's cool in an Archie Bunker-ish sort of way. But if the idea is that people are supposed to sit and contemplate mortality or something, we are more than little freaked out.
In 1884 Charles-Joseph Pigeon invented the Pigeon lamp, a non-exploding gasoline lamp. It made him famous and wealthy enough to build this grave in Paris, with life-sized bronze sculpture himself and his wife in bed overlooked by an angel. The angel is cool, but it would have been cooler in they were watched over by a statue of Elvis.
We know absolutely nothing about Scott Silva except for what we see here. But it's enough to tell us that we would have liked him.
It'd hard to tell prom the photo if this is really a dog's headstone. at the very least we doubt that the wok story is true.
Wild guess? This Paul G. Lind was a huge fan of the board game "Boggle." Wait... What now?
Yup, it's real. It's in New Jersey somehwere. Hey, the man liked his Mercedes. You can't fault a guy for brand loyalty.
Sal had the right idea here, didn't he? Awesome. The question now is what would be the right symbol on the tomb of the World's Greatest Blogger? How does this sound? A marble sculpture of an open laptop with the playboy logo on the screen.Perfect. Now we just have to settle on a epitaph. This is a Grinder Poll. Leave a comment to let us know which one works best.
This..
.
Or this...
