Monthly Archive: December 2009

Rather than look back on the Best or Worst of The Aughts or The Zeroes or the Two-thousands, we thought we’d look ahead to some predictions for 2010.Where to begin?

How come we’ve never heard of this guy before?After massive protests shook Iran this past summer, Iran singled out an obscure American political scientist in his 80s as a key figure behind the unrest.

While Americans are playing boring old football and Indians are dabbling in cricket, the Australians have invented a new sport: swimming into baited crocodile traps.It’s possibly not a good idea.The craziness of the stunt is matched only by the wonderful Aussie slang used to describe it:

Sebastian Janikowski of the Oakland Raiders kicked a 61-yard field goal today. In December. In Cleveland. The NFL has the video.

Happy holidays and a happy new year to all our readers, from editors Paul Hehn and Hans Holznagel, boiler room geniuses Mike Duffy and Ad

A boy taken to a foreign country by his mother, who dies. A father who wants to bring the boy back to their original home.It’s the Elian Gonzalez case, right? The one about the Cuban boy that sparked such bitter outrage in America and lost Florida (and the 2000 elections) for Al Gore?

90 days and 20 days behind bars: that’s what’s ahead for Richard and Mayumi Heene, the perpetrators of the Balloon Boy hoax in Colorado.Judge Stephen Schapanski handed down the sentences this morning as Richard Heene “choked back tears” in the courtroom.

Connie Hines, the Mister Ed actress who died on Friday, was 78 when she died, not 79.

President Barack Obama is taking his family home for Christmas.

According to a story in the Wall Street Journal this week, notorious financier and convicted swindler Bernie Madoff is just like any other inmate at North Carolina’s Butner Federal Correctional Complex.LIke every other federal prisoner there, he wears inmate khakis, works at various jobs, has a roomie named Frank and, according to a recently released inmate, doesn’t give a tinker’s cuss what his victims think.

Playwright, actor and songwriter Noel Coward was born 110 years ago today. Coward made his debut on Broadway in 1925, appearing in his own play The Vortex. You can learn more at this Playbill feature, Today in Theatre History.

Buzz Aldin gets around, as we pointed out last month.So naturally he turned up with in a shapshot with everyone’s favorite photo pals, Michaele Salahi and her husband Tareq.

The NY Daily News, your dependable leader in Tiger Woods gossip.

Christian evangelist and television star Oral Roberts has died at the age of 91.According to this report, he was admitted to the hospital over the weekend, after taking a fall at his home.

Dang it, I can’t believe I missed this year’s Steely Dan tour.Come to Cincinnati next time, boys.

Ludwig L. Zamenhof — the inventor of the “universal” language known as Esperanto — was born on this day 150 years ago.

We’ve just added a new profile of Kaiane Aldorino, the newly-crowned Miss World 2009.  She won the title last night in South Africa.She also won the “Miss World Beach Beauty” portion of the pageant — that is to say, the swimsuit competition.  Here’s her winning pose:

Ask Ashley, the New York Post’s new advice column, is hosted by none other than Ashley Dupré — the prostitute who brought down New York Governor Eliot Spitzer.Her first question, from Meredith in Queens: “How do I know if my daughter may be in trouble?”  Lady, you’ve come to the right place.See our full profile of Ashley Dupré.

In this brief video film director David Lynch tells the story of when George Lucas offered him the job of directing Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.

The GOP candidate for Ted Kennedy’s old Senate seat posed nude for Cosmo in 1982.

Caricature artist John Kascht draws and talks about the face of former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani in a very entertaining video, found here.Kascht also draws and talks in other videos about Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and others (links go to our profiles, not those videos).

A pilot’s hat owned for years by Sully Sullenberger, the “hero of the Hudson,” is up for auction on Ebay.Proceeds will benefit two schools in the San Francisco Bay area, where Sullenberger lives when he’s not piloting engineless planes to safety in major waterways.

The Guardian is worried about Iron Man 2:A tangled love story? Too many villains? A hero struggling with his demons? Unless I’m mistaken, that sounds just like Spider-Man 3 — a superhero movie legendary in its bloated naffness.

Jennifer Aniston was served with legal papers hidden in a bouquet last night.The evening ended on a sour note when Aniston left the Sunset Towers Hotel and was served with legal papers hidden in a basket of flowers, telling her she was to be a witness in a sexual harassment suit involving her agent, Todd Shemarya.I’ve always been a little confounded by the strange dance that is process serving.

That old, beat-up typewriter belonging to Cormac McCarthy, the author of The Road and No Country for Old Men, ended up selling at auction for $254,500 — way, way, way more than anyone predicted.The New York Times has the story here. The article is worth reading — there’s a great quote from the book dealer who handled the auction.

Jesper Parnevik had a few choice words about fellow golfer Tiger Woods in a conversation with The Golf Channel on Wednesday.

A former first lady of The Philippines, Imelda Marcos has filed as a candidate for congress for the Ilocos Norte district. Back when she was the wife of President Ferdinand Marcos she was known as the “Steel Butterfly,” presumably because of her determination and not because she drank nectar.It’s a congressional seat that’s being vacated by her son, Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., who is running for a senate seat.

We interrupt the saga of Tiger Woods, Elin Nordegren, Rachel Uchitel and Jaimee Grubbs for some even more exciting news: Cormac McCarthy is auctioning off his beat-up old typewriter!

Here’s the transcript of Barack Obama’s speech on Afghanistan tonight.Saying “Afghanistan is not lost,” Obama said he will send another 30,000 American troops to Afghanistan ASAP.