I knew I'd have to get to this eventually...

After going off on my tangent about how many cool babes come from Tennessee, I had a feeling I'd be challenged to balance that with the people of the also oft-commented-on Canada. Sure 'nuff:

Canadian girls are the best buddy.

Sez Cal.

I'm sorry, but this list allegedly of the Top 25 Canadian Girls doesn't support that. I'll spot you Grace Park,

Emmanuelle Chriqui
Originally uploaded by friskytuna

Malin Akerman

and Kristin Kreuk.

However, points must be taken off for Nelly Furtado.

And might I remind you that still leaves my country with the likes of Lisa Edelstein,

Jennifer Connelly, Amy Adams,

and Rachel Nichols.

Hell, even Sienna Miller was born here; moved to England later.

That's what we got.

Top that.

Gauntlet...thrown.

What a creep.

Jay Leno Takes A Shot At Letterman

Jay Leno went after David Letterman last night, dropping a few Letterman jokes in his opening monologue. "If you came here tonight for sex with a talk show host," he told his audience, "you've got the wrong studio."

Leno then ended the monologue with "I'm happy to say that I've never had a sexual relationship with any of my staff members."

You may rightfully wonder why I consider Leno a creep for making jokes about something happening in the news, which is his job, when I don't feel the same way about:

Jimmy Fallon also took a swing at Letterman: ""There's a new book out called Why Women Have Sex that says there are 237 reasons why women have sex. And, folks, Letterman knows the top 10."

It's two reasons. First, Fallon's joke was funnier. And second, Leno owes--and to his credit, he's never denied this--much of his rise to memorable appearances on Letterman's Late Night show in the '80s. So this reads, to me, a lot like stabbing somebody in the back.

Or at the very least, kicking an old friend when they're down.

Oh, Courtney, (sigh) what have you done now, sweetheart?

Time to check in with one of this bloggers celeb soulmates...

Even though she sometimes has all the coherence of a bowl of alphabet soup, I've long felt a good "vibe" from Courtney Love. As I've said many times before, she has that white trash thing going for her that I find so attractive.

She symbolizes, or at least she has in the past, something about sex to me that for lack of a better word I'll call animal. But those aren't the only reasons.

For another thing, I actually think there was a pretty good brain in there, at least once--blown out as it now may be. And I still hold that it's preposterous she was never given her own reality show. Hell, I even think she should've been one of the "guest critics" for Roger Ebert on the TV show.

I've even flattered myself that she was a person who, in the unlikely event we were ever able to spend a day together, we might come out of it friends. I don't know why I should think that--it's at least as likely she'd mock me by dancing around singing "Goody Two Shoes." But knowing me, I'd find that sexy.

But...lately I've felt the need to look away, as you might from an unstoppable trainwreck. And here's why.

First of all, she's approaching a worrying proximity to Michael Jackson in the race of the changing face (and in her case, body). That article has a slideshow of Love's "looks" over the years--and I swear, as they go by, you can see the light also going from her eyes.

Maybe I over-poeticize, but t'hell with it.

COURTNEY LOVE was left so broke after her late husband KURT COBAIN's estate was allegedly looted, she relied on donations from strangers to pay her living costs.
The former Hole frontwoman was devastated to discover Cobain's legacy - at least $30 million (£20 million) in cash and a huge portfolio of property for his relatives - had been drained in a scam by employees hired to maintain the estate.

Her financial troubles became so dire, Love admits she and her daughter Frances Bean had just $14 (£9.30) to live on at one stage - and they had to rely on strangers to pay hotel bills while the family apartment was refurbished.
Love tells Britain's Style magazine, "When my bank account got frozen, we had $14.32 a week, so we lived off the kindness of strangers. The guy at the travel agency put his credit card down for the hotel. How insanely nice is that? And we are on the sixth floor. Not love nor money will buy you this floor."

You see what I mean re coherence. But this also engages my compassion for her, even though it makes her sound a bit like Blanche DuBois...but then, I have a feeling that's not too far off.

Well, this ought to make her the new pin-up girl for the lesbian set

...that's if she wasn't already. Oh, who am I talking about?

You know how Hayden Panettiere's character on Heroes is going to have a lesbian storyline this season, right?

But...did you know it was her idea?

The Canadian star, who plays cheerleader Claire Bennett in the sci-fi series, will fall for her college roommate, Madeleine Zima, in an upcoming plotline and she reveals it was her idea to get sexy with another girl.

She explains, "I kinda threw it out there... They (writers) put you in relationships and I was like, 'Can I just be with a girl or something...? Let's do that.'

"So they took it and ran with it. She's a great girl... and we have a blast."

(Daily Express)

I find this...not unexciting. For the record, I'm not referring to sexual excitement, I just think it's winning that a young actress, whatever her own sexuality may be, felt free to "have a blast" with such a storyline.

No, no, no no no, and no.

Esquire has named Kate Beckinsale "The sexiest woman alive."

Granted that she's a MiLF, she's still never really "rung my bell" all that hard. So you know what's next...

Women Who Are Sexier Than Kate Beckinsale:

anna faris
Originally uploaded by indoloony

Lauren Graham;

Rosamund Pike:





Megan Mullally



Bebe Neuwirth

These unknown young women, their names are Megan Aniston and Jennifer Fox, or sumthin. I think they just co-starred in a movie about a chemist,

who meets the love of her life in the last place she expected to find one. Not because it's another woman, but because the other woman is secretly dead.

Unfortunately--or appropriately-the zom-rom-com also died, at the box office. If I remember rightly it was called, I know I'm Horrible but I Love what's Happened to Megan's Body.

However, I may be confused.

Amanda Seyfried
Originally uploaded by JASON ANFINSEN

And Amy Sedaris.

Cool, man.

I think I just got a lesson in how neurotic some women are about aging

Ok. First, take a look at this. It's a Tab cola commercial from 1982; the eye candy is played by a very young (not even out of her teens) Elle Macpherson.



Now read this from early last month:

Australian supermodel Elle Macpherson has revealed she fears to look old at 46 because she hasn't had any plastic surgery unlike her contemporaries.

There's a contemporary picture that goes with it. Go on. Have a look. And see how much "the body" really has to worry about.

Sheesh...

This is beautiful!

Ok. You guys know by now that I enjoy taking the occasional shots at Canada. It's done with affection. The Saw movies are made there, for God's sake, how could I not love the place?

And until recently I had a friend from there (we fell out for reasons that are not to be discussed on this blog). I just enjoy aiming a guided missle now and then towards the home of Cal's Cave of Coolness.

However I'm seriously not one to, in the words of the South Park movie, "Blame Canada." But if I did, they could take it. They're Canada.

You will also have noticed that I enjoy taking harsher, more gleeful bashes at Tennessee, and you know that my mocking of that illiterate, stupid state is not done at all with affection.

I will grant you that many cute women have been born there--Megan Fox,
Cybill Shepherd (well, she was cute once), Shannen Doherty, Bettie Page, Tina Turner--but I would also remind you the reason we know these women are so cute is because they got the fuck out of Tennessee.

So anyway, what's all this in aid of? It's in aid of noting this: Remember Bob Corker? He's the insane Republican senator from Tennesee. He just...

...took his opposition to health care reform to new heights yesterday when he insulted a former Canadian Public Health Minister by telling her that her country, which has universal health care, has a “parasitic relationship” with the United States because of its supposedly inferior health care technology.

(Per Think Progress)

It's a twofer! I love a twofer!

Points to ponder

What is it about the name "Elizabeth" that seems to mean "fine boobs?"












Cases in point: Elizabeth Hurley...





...and Shannon Elizabeth.

Cut the girl some slack--if you'd been engaged to Marilyn Manson, you'd be a little marriage-shy, too

Rose McGowan and marriage just don't seem to mix.

For the second time in her life, the 36-year-old has backed out of plans to wed.

The actress has called off her engagement to director Robert Rodriguez, Radar Online reports. McGowan previously cancelled her two-year-engagement to rocker Marilyn Manson.

She starred in Rodriguez's 2007 film,"Grindhouse," and has a part in his upcoming movie, "Machete," out in 2010. McGowan's also set to star in the Marvel Comics adaptation of "Red Sonja," which is being produced by Rodriguez, and is due to hit theaters next year.

Jennifer Aniston is just so cute

...or has anybody already noticed that?

You guys know I love Jon Stewart, but...

I'm starting to feel like he's a guy standing next to you as you both plummet to the bottom of a well, and says: "Would you like to hear a few jokes, as we go?"

Democratic Super Majority

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Ron Paul Interview

Long live wolves

Knowing my feelings on most things wolves, Corey sent me this really cute and happy video of a baby wolf learning to howl.

Do you get the feeling this guy was spanked too hard by his mother when he was a baby?

Say, remember John Derbyshire? He's the writer for the conservative National Review's The Corner who, a few years ago, actually said that the only women he find attractive are between nine and 16 years old.

A couple of years after that, his reaction to the shocking killings at Virginia Tech was to call the students cowards for not rushing the killer, as he's quite sure he (Derbyshire) would've done.

So what's he up to now?

He's saying (per Think Progress) women shouldn't have the right to vote, that's what he's up to now.

You gotta love this guy.

What she said.

Oh. Mi. ¡Dios!

Per the Wonk Room:

Today, the Republican National Committee (RNC) released a statement from Chairman Michael Steele announcing the release of a new video in celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month. However, though the press release emphasizes the Republican Party’s “commitment to the Hispanic community,” apparently that commitment does not include hiring a qualified Spanish translator. The Spanish translation of Steele’s statement is riddled with embarrassing typos and errors. Even Yahoo’s automatic online translator, Babel Fish, produces better results.

The substance of the accompanying video isn’t much better. Its main focus is on highlighting the accomplishments of conservative Latinos and completely ignores renowned Latino leaders like civil rights activists César Chávez and Dolores Huerta, and completely sidesteps the recent confirmation of Puerto Rican Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

When the Professionals and the Public agree, you'd think we'd be getting more done

Via MoveOn:

Poll Finds Most Doctors Support Public Option

And:

More Americans Believe In UFOs Than Oppose A Public Option

If you follow only one of those links, I recommend the first. That story has much more to say; is sourced and backed up.

That's not to say that the second one isn't, but once you've read the headline, you get that one.

Thoughts on reconciliation

If you keep your eyes on American politics, you've probably heard the word "reconciliation" used a lot in the last couple of months, and you will again. If you're like me, you have only a vague understanding, really, of what it means in this context.

This may help.

it takes 60 votes to pass anything controversial in the Senate, due to the threat of a filibuster. But in 1974, in an effort to cut the nation's soaring deficits, Congress passed a law creating a procedure that could NOT be filibustered and would only need a simple majority of 51 votes to pass.

Without a filibuster-proof procedure, lawmakers reasoned, the Senate would face difficulty passing bills that would make cuts in Medicare and Medicaid -- popular programs which take up a significant portion of government spending. In an "explanation" of why reconciliation is needed, the Senate Budget Committee wrote in 1998:

These changes are considered difficult because the very nature of the programs involved often necessitates changing tax rates or placing restrictions on very popular social programs in order to achieve budgetary savings.

While Republicans argue that the Democrats' health-care plan is as much as about social policy and big government, there is a fiscal component. Reconciliation has also been used in a similar ways by Republican leaders to restructure social programs like welfare reform.

Legends never die

OK. You know, by now, that I have fallen in love with the Saw movies. You may also remember that 34C-cup all-American girl Betsy Russell has been appearing in the films since


But whether you know and/or remember those things or not, I'm sure that you will understand my pain at seeing that Russell's biography on the Saw VI Official Site reads, in part,

"Betsy continued to work steadily until she took upon her most important roll [Sic]...mother to her two sons..."

Oh, for the love of god. Role!

Lori Drew update

You remember Lori Drew. She's the grown-up woman who in frontier times would probably have been run out of town, and definitely will burn in hell, for bullying a little girl into commiting suicide.

Her conviction was overturned a couple of months ago, but now:

Federal prosecutors have filed a notice of appeal in the Lori Drew cyberbullying case, which means they may appeal a judge's ruling in July to throw out her case after a jury convicted her of three misdemeanor counts.

Further updates if and when (please god) they happen.

She's BACK!

"She" being Shawnee Smith returning as Jigsaw's apprentice Amanda in ...



Fuck yes, this is cool...I mean, I know that as with yesterday's entry, you have no idea what this return means to Jigsaw-worshippers like myself. But, speaking of which, one or two of you might be surprised to know this:

On a message board for such worshippers,* "blood and gore" was voted the part of the series we could most do without; strong scripts and stronger dialogue was least. I'm just sayin' is all.

*every so many days or so, I like to talk Saw to people who get the references...

Second note to self

Things to do:

1. Move to (or more likely near) Beverly Hills.

2. Get job as waiter at Beverly Wilshire Hotel.

Why?

to attend Variety’s 1st Annual Power of Women Luncheon, beauties such as Christina Aguilera, Anne Hathaway

and Eva Longoria all made their way to the inaugural shindig.
Also on hand for the girl power fete were “90210” star AnnaLynne McCord,


as well as Olivia Wilde, Paula Abdul, Christina Applegate, Sigourney Weaver, Maria Bello, January Jones, among others.

That many curves; at so many different angles, all in the same place (and at the same time)?

I'm feeling faint at the very thought.

The good news and the bad news

The good news is: Emmy Rossum will soon be single.

Emmy Rossum's husband, music executive Justin Siegel, has filed for divorce after a year-and-a-half marriage.

The bad news is...

Rossum recently has been romantically linked with Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz, 45.

For Chrissakes, Duritz, she's half your age, you sick fuck...

The line forms behind me

Alyson Hannigan talks about how she lost weight after the birth of her daughter.

Once again, a really important poll

HuffPo asks: What woman has the best boobs in Hollywood? At present, the top 10 (get it?) include Salma Hayek, Heather Graham, Scarlett Johansson, Halle Berry and Christina Hendricks.



I could support that.



(tee-hee, get it, again?)



But if it were up to me, one name I'd add might be Sarah Shahi...





And if there were a special category for most overlooked of all time, two words: Molly Ringwald...

Good luck.

Fareed Zakaria:

[Obama's] betting that people will understand machismo is not foreign policy.

Another pic (from the upcoming Saw VI)

I know, it probably won't mean anything to any of you. But if you follow these links, you'll see why (character names) Mark Hoffman meeting with Jill Tuck is pretty badass for those of us who love the Saw movies.

I f—in’ love you for that, Jenny Slate

'Saturday Night Live' goes really live: The f-bomb used by mistake?
by Ken Tucker

Did the f-word get dropped on Saturday Night Live tonight? It sure sounded that way. At about 12:42 Eastern Time, during a sketch called “Biker Chick Chat,” new cast member Jenny Slate seemed to say the word that got SNL cast member Charles Rocket in trouble in 1981.

Yeah, she sure did. What I don't get is how I heard it on the west coast...

The sketch included host Megan Fox and Kristen Wiig as “biker chicks” along with Slate. All of them were peppering their mock-tough-talk with the phrase “frickin’” but Slate appeared to say, “I f—in’ love you for that” instead.

Doh!

Here’s hoping no punishment is meted out to the new cast member for what was clearly just a slip of the tongue.

Seriously--especially since that sketch seemed to be some sort of test, or hazing of the newbie.

Repeating a euphemism for "fuckin," over and over is a known danger area--and Saturday Night Live should've known it better than most. The same thing happened to Paul Shaffer back in the '70s, according to the book Live From New York...