IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER SNOWSTORM is on it’s way later this week. People are already headed to the grocery store to stock up the pantry…and planning for Snowasaurace Giganticas!
Me? I’m taking the wait and see approach. It seems to me that half the time they predict a huge snowstorm it never lives up to the hype…or it misses us entirely. Maybe the local weather forecasters should check out this website.
It’s called the Snow Day Calculator. You enter your zip code, your type of school, the number of snow days you’ve had so far this year, the leniency of your school’s administration, whether there’s a special event the next day, and whether you’re in a mountainous region.
There’s also something where you enter the level of ‘hype’ for a snow day…meaning how much kids, teachers, administration, and the media are talking about a possible storm. Then click ‘Calculate,’ and the site grabs data from weather.gov.
The site was built by a 16-year-old kid in New Jersey. He came up with the algorithm when he was in the sixth grade…and he says it’s never failed him once.
KIDS ARE A LOT SMARTER THESE DAYS…but they’re also a lot dumber too. There’s a new studyout that analyzes how two-to-five-year-olds around the world are doing in ‘tech’ skills versus ‘life’ skills. And depending on your point of view, kids today are either prepared for a brave new world…or our priorities are WAY off.
The technology company AVG polled 2,200 mothers who have Internet access and children aged two-to-five in the U.S., Canada, Europe, Australia, and Japan. Here’s what they found…
19% of kids between two and five years old know how to play with a smartphone application…but only 9% can tie their shoes.
25% can open a web browser…but only 20% can swim.
And more children aged two-to-three know how to play a basic computer game than ride a bike…44% vs. 43%.
Call me old fashioned…but being able to tie your shoes seems like a very basic skill all kids should have. One of my biggest pet peeves is a kid walking around with their shoes untied. It’s amazing just how many you see in the course of the day.
There are 43 boys in first through fifth grade in my son’s Cub Scout Pack. It’s safe to say that during a typical one hour meeting I spend 10 minutes telling kids to tie their shoes. What’s even more amazing is how many of them say they don’t know how. I don’t blame the kids…it’s the parents fault. They either don’t take the time to teach their own kids a basic skill…or they don;t know how to do it themselves.
When I asked on parent why their 4th grade son’s shoes were constantly untied…and why he didn’t know how to tie them…the parent told me, “That’s what velcro is for.” To which I replied, “Then why isn’t he wearing velcro on his shoes?” The parent looked at me and said “We can’t find them.”
DOH!
KIDS AREN’T THE ONLY ONES without skills. If you believe The Courier Mail…women are in danger of losing their “female” skills. That’s basically a sexist way to say that women today can’t do the kinds of things in the kitchen and the garden that their moms and grandmothers did. For example…
Only 51% of women under 30 can cook a pot roast, compared to 82% of the women who are baby boomers. Only 23% can grow a plant from a cutting…which 78% of their moms and grandmothers could do.
And only 40% of women under 30 can drive stick, compared to 71% of older women. At the same time: Over 70% say they take out the trash, 77% mow the lawn, and 70% wash the car.
Hey, as far as I’m concerned…forget growing plants. Get out their and cut that grass…it isn’t gonna mow itself! But I wouldn’t mind a pot roast for dinner.
NOW THIS IS COOL…JOE NICHOLS’ song The Shape I’m In is about a guy trying to pick himself up after a nasty breakup. But when it came time to shoot the video, Joe decided to add another dimension.
He wanted to focus on the theme that you can overcome even the toughest setbacks. And what better way to showcase that than to feature three real military heroes who are doing just that.
The three military heroes in the video are…retired Navy SEAL MARCUS LUTTRELL…retired Army Captain CHAD FLEMING…and Army Captain IVAN CASTRO. Each of them was chosen for their inspiring story.
MEANWHILE, NO ONES HERO…CHARLIE SHEEN is back in rehab. There’s no word where Charlie is…but his mouthpiece says, ”Charlie is most grateful to all who have expressed their concern. Mr. Sheen asks that his privacy be respected at this time and that no additional information will be provided.”
His manager added, ”Charlie knows he has work to do and he is looking forward to regaining his sobriety. Charlie hopes to be back at work in the near future, but there is no time frame. Regaining his sobriety is what is most important.”
As you probably guessed by that statement, production on Two and a Half Men is on hiatus until whenever Charlie is ready to work again.
But Charlie’s uncle, JOE ESTEVEZ, thinks production should continue on schedule…with HIM in Charlie’s place! Joe’s manager sent a message to the shows bosses asking about doing a test episode of the show where Joe comes to housesit while Charlie is on vacation.
If …like me…you have no idea who Joe is…I’ve discovered that he’s the younger brother of Charlie’s dad, MARTIN SHEEN. His fine cinematic offerings include…Blood Slaves of the Vampire Wolf…Motorcycle Cheerleading Mamas….Autopsy: A Love Story…and my personal favorite….Beach Babes from Beyond.
Just a guess here…but I have a feeling the producers of Two and Half Men will take a pass on Joe’s offer…as hard as that may be!
SOCIAL NETWORK STAR…JESSE EISENBERG met Facebook creator MARK ZUCKERBERG for the first time over the weekend…during his Saturday Night Live monologue.
They didn’t actually meet at that moment. Mark also came out during the final dress rehearsal, so it wasn’t a LIVE surprise.
THERE ARE LOTS OF BENEFITS to living in a big city. Traffic is NOT one of them. Sitting in traffic sucks for a lot of reasons… but it’s also expensive. Something called the Texas Traffic Institute just released their Urban Mobility Report, and they break down the cost of traffic in 101 cities.
Basically, they looked at how many hours people sat in traffic jams in a given city…figured out how many of those commuters were driving cars or trucks…and calculated the average cost of wasted gasoline and time.
They found that the average commuter wastes $808 a year sitting in traffic. It’s about 40% more on average in large urban areas, where traffic costs you $1,166 per year in lost gas and time. When it comes to the cost of lost time…people who drive cars waste $16 an hour, and truck drivers waste $106 an hour.
Here are the ten worst cities, and what the yearly commute costs
in lost time and gas:
1. Chicago: $1,738…70 hours and 52 gallons
2. Washington, D.C.: $1,555…70 hours and 57 gallons
3. Los Angeles: $1,464…63 hours and 50 gallons
4. Houston: $1,322…58 hours and 52 gallons
5. Baltimore: $1,218…50 hours and 43 gallons
6. San Francisco: $1,112…49 hours and 39 gallons
7. Boston: $1,112…48 hours and 36 gallons
8. Dallas/Ft. Worth: $1,077…48 hours and 38 gallons
9. Denver: $1,057…47 hours and 38 gallons
10. Seattle: $1,056…44 hours and 35 gallons
Trucks obviously waste more gas than cars, so for some cities with equal amounts of traffic jam time…like Chicago and D.C….the average cost of the traffic was higher in Chicago, because there were more trucks on the road. New York wasn’t in the top ten, because the study looked at the whole New York area, not just Manhattan.
If you want to see how your city did, you can check out the interactive map HERE.
THIS WAS ALMOST DEFINITELY STAGED…but it’s still cool. During halftime at a recent basketball game, the Washington Wizards let four fans try trick dunks using a trampoline.
The first three guys failed miserably, but the fourth guy did a front flip dunk WHILE talking on his cell phone.
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FREE PIZZA? OK…you have my attention! There have been 44 Super Bowls, and none of them have gone to overtime. And Papa John’s is hoping that trend continues this year…or this publicity stunt is going to blow up in their face.
Papa John’s is one of the official sponsors of the Super Bowl this year, and they’ve just made a major announcement: If the game goes to overtime, they’ll give a free large pizza with up to three toppings to EVERY SINGLE American adult.
To be eligible, you have to register for Papa John’s Rewards Program before Super Bowl Sunday…on February 6th.
Registration is free.
The line in the Super Bowl is tight this year…right now the Green Bay Packers are two-and-a-half-point favorites over the Pittsburgh Steelers…so the game MIGHT be tight enough to go to overtime. But probably not.
If you want to register and get in on the contest, click HERE.
WHILE PAPA JOHN’S wants to give food away…the Girl Scouts are taking it away. The Girl Scouts are cutting back on the different types of cookies they’re selling. Right now they have 11 varieties…but this year, some troops are only selling SIX as a test. If the test works, they’ll officially cut down to six flavors next year.
By cutting flavors, they can save money on production, and also help the Girl Scouts focus their sales efforts. So which six are going to survive? Basically, it’s the classics.
1. Thin Mints 2. Do-Si-Dos…the two oatmeal cookies with peanut butter in between. 3. Trefoils…the shortbread cookies. 4. Samoas…also known as Caramel deLites. They’re the vanilla cookies covered in caramel and sprinkled with coconut. And MY FAVORITE! 5. Lemon Chalet Cremes…cinnamon cookies with lemon filling. 6. Tagalongs/Peanut Butter Patties…vanilla cookies layered with peanut butter and covered in chocolate.
Girl Scout Cookies bring in more than $714 MILLION every year, and usually make up at least two-thirds of every local Girl Scout council’s budget.
THIS WEEK’SNEW MOVIEShave Anthony Hopkins fighting Satan…and Jason Statham killing other hit men.
THE RITE…is rated PG-13. Anthony Hopkins is an experienced exorcist who trains a skeptical seminary student, until he himself is possessed. An unknown actor named Colin O’Donoghue is the young exorcist trying to drive the Devil out of Anthony Hopkins.
THE MECHANIC…is rated R. It’s an action flick starring Jason Statham as an assassin looking for some major revenge after his mentor, Donald Sutherland, is murdered. Ben Fosterplays the dead guy’s son, who convinces Statham to teach him everything he knows. This is a remake of the classic CHARLES BRONSON movie.
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT of movies…LA Weekly did a random sex survey of 175 students at UCLA, and yesterday they published the results online. One of the questions they asked was: What’s the Best Movie to Watch Before Having Sex?
The top three choices for women were The Notebook, Titanic, and Cruel Intentions. The most popular with men were Star Wars, American Pie, and 300.
For the WORST movie to watch before gettin’ it on…the most popular answer given by women was Schindler’s List, and guys said Jackass. I would have to concur on both of those.
However…might I suggest a movie GUARANTEED to help you score? This has been PROVEN to work EVERY SINGLE TIME…it’s a page from The Bill Fox Playa’s Handbook…so don’t take it lightly!
The movie is…DON JUAN DEMARCO. It stars Johnny Depp, Marlon Brando, and Faye Dunaway.
If you think I’m crazy…fine. But I’m telling you now…its NEVER FAILED me. Of course you aren’t me…but it’s worth a try. Unless you’d rather watch Star Wars or The Notebook…go ahead strike out…again!
Also…if you want to see the results for the entire sex survey then click HERE.
CHARLIE SHEEN was rushed to the hospital yesterday morning with severe abdominal pains. The word is that it happened after about 36 straight hours of partying at Charlie’s house that included at least two porno stars and three other women.
The 911 call was made by Charlie’s neighbors…Dr. Paul Nassif and Adrienne Maloof-Nassif from The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Apparently, someone at Charlie’s house had called them for medical advice.
Charlie was transported to the hospital via ambulance at about 6:30 yesterday morning. His parents, MARTIN SHEEN and JANET TEMPLETON, were with him at the hospital…as was his ex-wife DENISE RICHARDS. Charlie’s other ex-wife, BROOKE MUELLER, did NOT go.
TMZ is reporting that Charlie didn’t O.D. or anything like that. He has a hiatal hernia. That’s a condition that affects the upper part of the stomach and the esophagus. It causes acid reflux, and can also produce symptoms in the chest similar to those of a heart attack.
A friend of his claims that he aggravated it by…LAUGHING TOO HARD while watching TV. But there’s no doubt that some partying was going on. Neighbors say they heard women outside Charlie’s house singing RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS songs well into the morning.
Another so-called “sources” say somebody showed up at some point in the evening with a briefcase full of cocaine. TMZ says Charlie was snorting and SMOKING cocaine…and critiquing porn on his TV. Maybe that’s why he was laughing so hard!
Charlie’s expected to make a full recovery. In fact, he’s already had sex with three of his nurses!
WE ALWAYS ASSUME that professional athletes are greedy, self-centered, ego maniacs. Well…in this case we’re wrong. Kansas City Royals pitcher GIL MECHE decided to RETIRE from the game instead of having shoulder surgery and getting busted down to relief pitcher. In doing so, he gave up the guaranteed $12 MILLION he would have made in the coming year.
Here’s what’s really cool…he did it because he doesn’t think he would DESERVE the money if he wasn’t playing his absolute best.
Gil said when he signed his contract, his main goal was to earn it. Once he started to realize he wasn’t earning the money, he felt bad and that he didn’t deserved it.
He added, ”This isn’t about being a hero…that’s not even close to what it’s about. It’s just me getting back to a point in my life where I’m comfortable. Making that amount of money from a team that’s already given me over $40 million for my life and for my kids, it just wasn’t the right thing to do.”
BECAUSE I WAS TRAVELING…I missed American Idol this week. However, I heard there was an amazing singer with a gut wrenching story.
His name is Chris Medina. He’s taking care of his fiancée because she was left brain damaged following a bad accident just two months before they were supposed to get married.
Watch the audition…but be warned…it may make you cry.
Call it a hunch…but I have a feeling Chris is going to do VERY well in the competition. OK…dry your eyes and let’s move on to something else that will make you want to cry…from laughter.
A FEW MONTHS AGO….some cover band called The Time Machine Band posted a video of a gig at an Oklahoma casino. Now now it’s starting to get some attention online. But not because of the music.
It’s because a strange older couple did a hilarious interpretive dance to the Whitney Houston song I Wanna Dance With Somebody.
LOL…gotta find the Kleenex! WHEW! That cracks me up.
THANKS TO EVERYONEthat e-mailed, texted, and left Facebook messages giving me words of encouragement while I was on my most recent interview.
It went well. They offered me the job…but there are still some pretty big hurdles to get across in the negotiation phase. So we’ll see how it plays out in the next few days. I’ll keep you posted. But thanks again for all of your support and well wishes…I truly appreciate it.
Have a great weekend…and be sure to check out my Facebook page for more updates throughout the day.
WE ALL HAVE SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET…Oprah obviously has a REALLY BIG closet because she’s been keeping a sibling in there!
Yesterday, Oprah revealed her “hidden family secret”…a.k.a…”the miracle of all miracles”…she has a half-sister. Here’s the rundown of how it all came together…
Oprah’s mother, Vernita Lee, had a baby girl in 1963, but she gave the baby up for adoption. Oprah was nine years old, but never knew about the pregnancy because she was living with her father in Tennessee at the time.
The girl, who was later named Patricia, lived in foster homes in Milwaukee before finally being adopted when she was seven. A few years ago, she went to the adoption agency in an effort to find her mother.
The agency wouldn’t give Patricia any names, but they did contact her mother…and said she was NOT interested in meeting her at that time. Patricia didn’t want to give up, but all she had to go on was that she had three half-siblings….two of them had died, and the other was once in Tennessee.
And now, for “the miracle of all miracles” part…which is more like “the coincidence of all coincidences”…but it’s Oprah so we need to be extra dramatic here.
Patricia happened to see a local news interview with Vernita, in which she talked about how she had two dead children, who were half-siblings to Oprah. Their ages and death dates matched the adoption information Patricia had…so she took that and started to put the pieces together. Then, she saw a magazine story on a woman named Alisha, who was Oprah’s half-niece. She was the daughter of one of Vernita’s deceased children…a daughter named Pat, or Patricia.
Now here’s another crazy coincidence…Vernita didn’t name Patricia before giving her up for adoption…so it’s just happenstance that they had the same name.
The LIVING Patricia met up with Alisha…and she agreed to participate in a DNA test. It proved that they were related. Patricia then spent three years trying to contact Vernita and/or Oprah, but didn’t have any luck. Finally, talk within Oprah’s family began to heat up…and Oprah’s mom finally admitted that it was true this past November.
Oprah finallymet her half-sister when her family joined Oprah’s family for Thanksgiving in Milwaukee…and then Patricia appeared on yesterday’s show.
It was a touching reunion. When Oprah said, “Tell me something about yourself” the sister was like, “Well, I’m about to be really rich.” OK…I just made that part up but come on, you would think with all her money, Oprah could afford a full sister.
NOMINEES FOR THE Golden Raspberry Awards…a.k.a. The Razzies…were announced yesterday. This is the award show that celebrates the WORST in cinema from the previous year.
Twilight: Eclipse and The Last Airbender lead the pack with NINE nominations each. Both are up for Worst Picture, along with The Bounty Hunter, Sex & the City 2 and the parody flick Vampires Suck.
MEANWHILE…if you take your movies a little more seriously…
they announced the nominees for the 83rd Annual Academy Awards this morning. See the complete list of nominations HERE.
HERE’S ANOTHER WAY that kids today have it easier than you or I could’ve ever dreamed…besides the fact that they don’t have to walk to school every day through ten miles of snow…uphill…both ways.
More and more schools across the country are sparing kids the torture of trying to learn cursive handwriting. Instead they’re having them learn a FAR more practical communication skill instead…typing.
In fact, cursive has been dropped from the Common Core State Standards, which is a curriculum standard that’s used by 40 states. In other words, cursive is going extinct. The reasons for focusing on typing over cursive are pretty obvious. Kids already know regular, non-cursive handwriting, which is usually more legible anyway. And according to my two sons…basically everything in school is typed anyway.
SO WHICH STATE has the smartest kids? The Daily Beastjust took a look at fourth and eighth grade standardized test scores around the country…and no state’s students were more advanced in reading and math…than Massachusetts. So just because a Boston accent makes you sound like you barely have a grasp on the English language…that doesn’t mean it’s true.
It was a clean sweep. The rest of the top 10 are:
2. Vermont
3. New Jersey
4. New Hampshire
5. Minnesota
6. Connecticut
7. Pennsylvania
8. Maryland
9. Washington
10. Ohio
Look at the complete list…including which state is a the very BOTTOM…by clicking HERE.
SOME GOOD MOVIES come out on DVD today…
RED. Bruce Willis plays a retired spy who reassembles his old team after the CIA tries to kill him. Mary-Louise Parker plays his girlfriend, and his team consists of Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren. Like almost everything else these days, it’s based on a comic book. I went to see it at the theater and loved it.
Saw 3D. The seventh and supposedly final installment of the Saw series stars Sean Patrick Flanery as a self-help guru, who gets rich by claiming that he was one of Jigsaw’s victims. He’s abducted by one of Jigsaw’s apprentices and put through a standard set of Saw challenges.
Secretariat. Diane Lane plays an inexperienced housewife who takes over her father’s stables, and produces Secretariat…one of the greatest racehorses of all time. John Malkovich is the guy she coaxes out of retirement to be her trainer.
Red Hill. A modern day western set in Australia. It stars True Blood’sRyan Kwanten as a young cop who transfers to a quiet town, just before an escaped prisoner comes looking for revenge on the cops who locked him up.
Client 9: The Rise and Fall of Eliot Spitzer. This documentary about disgraced New York governor Eliot Spitzer features interviews with his friends, the political enemies he made while fighting corruption on Wall Street, some of the escorts involved in his downfall and Spitzer himself.
THIS IS WHY ON MYTHBUSTERS…they always runs the disclaimer that their experiments are done by professionals and you shouldn’t try them at home.
Some idiot in Ohio decided he was going to try his own test to see if a phone book could really stop a bullet. So he put a phone book on the mantle above his fireplace, stood across the room, and opened fire with his nine-millimeter. All three bullets went through his shockingly thin wall…and ended up lodged in his neighbor’s house. Fortunately, no one was in the path of the bullets. The guy was arrested and charged with felony discharging a firearm into an inhabited dwelling.
Here’s how you really do it…
Man…I LOVE that show. And that Kari Byron is about the hottest nerd chick…ever. I wouldn’t mind studying chemistry with her!
WHAT’S GOING ON AT DORITOS? Here are two of the commercials they plan to run during next month’s Super Bowl.
Here’s the second one…
BRET MICHAELS HAD SURGERY YESTERDAY. Nothing to worry about…he just had a new bandana implanted. OK I’m joking.
Bret actually went under the knife yesterday to have a hole in his heart repaired. It was discovered last April, when he was being treated for a brain hemorrhage. Doctors went in and inserted a “closure device” into Bret’s heart. That device will remain in place permanently to stop abnormal blood flow between the two chambers of the heart. Doctors believe the abnormal blood flow caused the “warning stroke” Bret suffered last year. He remains in the intensive care unit for observation.
2010 was not the best year for that dude…medically speaking. In addition to the stroke, the hemorrhage and the discovery of the hole in his heart, he also had an emergency appendectomy in April.
But hey, he won Celebrity Apprentice…so he’s got that going for him.
Look for another addition of STRAIGHT FROM THE FOX HOLE on Friday morning. I’m taking tomorrow and Thursday to travel to the Midwest for an interview…so wish me luck.
In the meantime, leave your comments about today’s post here on the site…or go to my Facebook page HERE.
TIME TO CELEBRATE AT CASA DE FOX…the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to the Super Bowl! The Steelers defeated the New York Jets last night 24-19 to represent the AFC.
Jets quarterback MARK SANCHEZ had good moments and bad moments…but his NASTIEST moment came in the first quarter…
If the Steelers win the big game…let’s just home that running back RASHARD MENDENHALL finds a more appropriate way to celebrate…
Super Bowl XLV will be held in Dallas, TX on February 6th. It’s the third appearance for Pittsburgh in six years. A victory against the NFC’s Green Bay Packers will give the Steelers a record seven Super Bowl wins.
OPRAH WINFREYREVEALS an EARTH-SHATTERING “hidden family secret” on today’s show. There’s no word on what this is all about yet, but here’s the promo…
The family secret could be rooted in Oprah’s troubled childhood. She was born into poverty to two unmarried teenagers. The couple split up after Oprah was born, and various family members raised her. She was also molested as a child…then she became pregnant at 14, but the baby died just after it was born.
Personally, I’m not a big Oprah fan…just not my cup of tea…but even I’m curious about this. Don’t worry if you miss the big announcement today…I’ll fill you in with all of the details tomorrow.
THIS IS GR8 NUZ…kids who used texting abbreviations for ten weeks scored HIGHER on real spelling tests than kids who didn’t use abbreviations.
Most people thing that when kids send text messages using abbreviations with letters and numbers, like g-r-8 for ‘great’ and 4-g-o-t for ‘forgot’ that they’re becoming a brainless, English-mangling fools. But a new study by Coventry University in England found that when kids text message using abbreviations…that actually makes them BETTER at real spelling.
Here’s why. ..when a kid is figuring out how to abbreviate a word, it requires them to think about how the word is ACTUALLY spelled, so they can properly shorten it. And that makes the correct spelling sink in.
KEITH OLBERMANNHAS BEEN FIRED. On Friday, Keith suddenly announced that his MSNBC show, Countdown, was OVER…and that Friday’s episode would be its last.
MSNBC has confirmed that Keith is out…saying, ”MSNBC and Keith Olbermann have ended their contract. MSNBC thanks Keith for his integral role in MSNBC’s success and we wish him well in his future endeavors.”
There aren’t many concrete details on what happened, but it seems like Keith was either fired or forced out. Even though MSNBC suspended Olberman for a few days back in November for making unauthorized campaign contributions to Democratic politicians…the general consensus seems to be that the NBC/ Comcast merger had more to do with Keith’s exit.
In the tradition of fine journalism, TMZ is reporting BOTH that his new Comcast bosses fired him…and that he initiated his own exit, anticipating that it was only a matter of time before he was forced out.
If Olberman DID work out his own deal…TMZ claims he’ll still get the $7 million he was supposed to be paid over the next two years. In exchange, he’ll have to stay off TV for a certain period of time.
Entertainment Weeklythinks Olberman may be teaming up with AARON SORKIN…the guy who wrote The Social Network and the TV shows The West Wing and Sports Night… on a TV project. Sorkin has reportedly been developing a new show based on a cable news show…and Countdown is one of the shows he looked to for inspiration.
For the record…MSNBC says the Comcast deal had nothing to do with Keith’s departure…and that this situation is absolutely not a sign that they’re planning on toning down their liberal-leaning philosophy.
FERRIS BUELLER SCREWED ME OVER. We had another snow day last week so I was scambling to find a way to entertain my boys. After some discussion we we’d to do a movie day…so I started
combing through my collection of movies.
I wanted to find something that they had never seen…and something that I could actually watch without falling asleep. Of course making sure it was kid friendly was top of mind…so when I stumbled across Ferris Bueller’s Day Off I asked Charmen what she thought.
After some mental replay…she said it had very mild profanity and was more worried about the message that it sent about skipping school than we were anything else. So after some discussion we gave it the thumbs up.
Then it happened…the character, Principal Ed Rooney…dropped the F-Bomb! The kids howled with delight while Charmen I looked at each other shocked that we had forgotten that scene.
That got me to wondering what movies drop the most F-bombs. Well, Wikipedia has a list of them. Standing well above the rest of the pack at #1 is a movie whose title is the F-word itself. It’s a documentary about the F-word, and it uses it 824 times in a mere 93 minutes.
Here’s the rest of the top 10…
1. Eff: 824
2. Summer of Sam: 435
3. Nil By Mouth: 428
4. Casino: 422
5. Alpha Dog: 367
6. Twin Town: 318
7. Running Scared: 315
8. Martin Lawrence Live: Runteldat: 311
9. (tie) Menace II Society: 300
9. (tie) Goodfellas: 300
This being Wikipedia, I wouldn’t necessarily trust this list to be 100% accurate or complete. But there are a TON of movies on it. You can check out the whole thing HERE.
WHILE ON THE SUBJECT of movies…the trailer for Scream 4 hit the web over the weekend.
NEVE CAMPBELL, COURTENEY COX and DAVID ARQUETTE are all back from the original trilogy. They’re joined by EMMA ROBERTS, HAYDEN PANETTIERE and RORY CULKIN.
NO ONE LIKES SHOVELING SNOW. Other than going to the dentist or getting Brazilian waxes…it’s one of the most horrible things that humans ever do voluntarily. But declaring a JIHAD on your snow probably isn’t the answer.
A guy in Abington, MA was arrested last week when a neighbor reported that he was using HOMEMADE BOMBS to blow up the snow banks in front of his house…so he wouldn’t have to shovel them.
Apparently, when he found out he’d been reported, he threatened to blow up the neighbor too. He was arrested and charged with threats to commit a crime and possession of incendiary devices.
When he gets out of jail he should probably considering moving to Florida! God knows I am.
HOW COLD IS IT? Well…the forecasted high for Portland, ME today is 7…and it’s expected to be minus 20 tonight! It’s SO cold outside in some parts of the country that if you leave a banana outside, it can freeze solid enough to HAMMER A NAIL. It works whether the banana is peeled or unpeeled. And it works with lots of other foods too… even eggs.
Warning: This video is long and pretty corny. The banana part starts at 1:48. I recommend skipping to there.
A quick note…there will be no Straight From The Fox Hole on Wednesday or Thursday. I’m headed to the heart of the Midwest for a job interview.
Check out my FACEBOOK page throughout the day for updates and new content.
AMERICAN IDOL HAS BEEN SINKING in the ratings for three seasons now, and with all the changes it’s gone through since last season, it was going to be interesting to see how many viewers are still on board.
I said yesterday that I think the new judges did a great job…but what did everyone else think? Now we know.
Ratings for Wednesday’s premiere were down significantly from last year, but it wasn’t an alarming drop-off. The two-hour premiere averaged 26.1 million viewers. That’s down 13% from last season’s 29.8 million. It was also down 18% in the coveted demographic of 18- to 49-year-olds.
The good news is…it’s still crushing everything else it’s up against, and should easily be one of prime-time’s top shows, if not the #1 show. The bad news is…Idol has now sunk to the point that this season’s debut was the least-watched premiere since the first season when no one knew what American Idol was.
The numbers from last night’s auditions in New Orleans aren’t available yet…but executive producer NIGEL LYTHGOE isn’t concerned. He says he’s “thrilled and delighted at the reaction to the new panel.”
He also pointed out that the premiere numbers were 45% higher than last season’s final performance show and 18% higher than the season finale.
And a follow up from Wednesday’s auditions…Yoji Pop…the Japanese guy who said he grew up impersonating MICHAEL JACKSON…wasn’t joking. Check him out…
MEANWHILE…the Idol blogosphere is accusing STEVEN TYLER of acting inappropriate toward the female singers on the premiere. One blog described him as “leering,” and pointed out that Idol even ran a montage of him flirting with the girls. They also called into question a comment he made to perky 16-year-old Victoria Huggins.
I don’t think it was too flirty at all…but maybe that’s because I’m not a 16 year old girl. I think if we want to really put Steven to the test, perhaps we should have this hottie audition for Idol.
She was crazy? Hmmm…
MORE WOMEN THAN EVER are in college. They outnumber the number of men in college, 57% to 43%. Women in the workplace are also achieving better positions and higher salaries than ever before.
With all this, you’d think that their self-esteem and self-confidence would be at an all-time high…and it would be harder for a bunch of unworthy guys to convince them to get-it-on. Well…NOT THE CASE! According to a study out of the University of Texas, the more ambitious and successful women get, the EASIER it becomes for guys to get-it-on with them.
Here’s why…
Since the beginning of time, men have had to compete for women. Women got to sit back and pick and choose the best guys. But now women are finding THEY’RE the ones who have to compete for the limited supply of men who are up to their standards.
Because of that, they’re doing whatever it takes to land those guys…and that usually includes jumping into sex quicker than ever before. In the study, 35% of relationships became sexual in two weeks, and 48%became sexual in a month.
The researchers say the best strategy for women is to resist the urge to compete with other women by having quick sex…and do what it takes to force yourself to go back to the old way of making a guy work for it.
LET’S FACE IT…there are two types of people in this world… those who think sex on the first date is okay, and those who don’t. Now, I’m not choosing sides here, but here’s seven reasons from Ask Men on why it’s better to WAIT.
1. Waiting Creates Anticipation. These days…between texting, instant messaging, and social networking…we live in a society of immediate gratification. Waiting to have sex gives you something to look forward to.
2. It Challenges Both of You. Waiting to do the deed makes you seem more challenging to win over. When you do it on the first date, you’re showing her you’re VERY interested right off the bat. What’s the fun in that?
3. It Shows You Don’t Think She’s Easy. If you get nasty the first time you go out, she’s going to think you just see her as a cheap date. She’ll assume you do this with ALL women you meet, and will worry that she looks too easy. Holding off on sex shows you respect her and want to know more about her than just how she looks naked.
4. It Keeps You Interested. When you go all the way on the first date, you run the risk of losing interest too fast.
5. It Shows You’re a Gentleman. Getting-it-on after knowing each other a few hours makes it seem like you’re only after one thing. Waiting makes you seem like a gentleman…even if you aren’t!
6. Good Things Come To Those Who Wait. Sex is obviously an important part of any relationship. But holding off will just make it even BETTER when it actually happens. By then you’ll know if you’ve got chemistry, you’ll know some of her quirks, and it’ll be something that cements your relationship, rather than the foundation it’s built on.
7. It Gives You Time To Evaluate Her. Since you just met, you don’t REALLY know her. If you add sex into the mix too quickly, you might miss out on some crucial info. Like, what if she’s the crazy chick who assumes that you’re a full-on couple after you’ve rubbed up against each…like the ‘Stage Five clinger’ from Wedding Crashers?
THERE’S ONLY ONE new movie in wide release today…but it looks like a really good one.
NO STRINGS ATTACHEDstars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher as a couple that enjoy a carnal relationship…with a strict “no strings attached” rule…until Ashton breaks the rule by falling in love.
It’s directed by Ivan Reitman, whose classic films include Stripes, Ghostbusters, and the Arnold Schwarzenegger comedies Twins, Junior, and Kindergarten Cop.Honestly…I want to see this movie. Come on now…don’t hate. Natalie Portman is SO cute.
THEY SHOULD USE THIS STORY on the TV show Cold Case. In July of 1987, Carlina White was born at Harlem Hospital in New York. When she was 19 days old, a fake nurse kidnapped her from the hospital. The police were never able to track her down and the case went cold. That is…until a few weeks ago, when Carlina cracked the case HERSELF.
She’s now 23 years old. She grew up in Bridgeport, CT with the name Nejdra Nance, and believed the woman raising her was her biological mother.
But Carlina always suspected something wasn’t right. So last year, she started surfing missing persons websites. And sure enough…her suspicions were confirmed when she found a baby picture that looked like her.
On January 4th, she contacted her birth mother. DNA tests proved they were daughter and mother. They reunited in New York on Wednesday night.
The police don’t believe that the woman who raised Carlina was the one that kidnapped her as a baby. They do have a suspect…but not enough probable cause to make an arrest.”
FOX REJECTED two potential Super Bowl ads yesterday.One ad was from the conservative comedy website JesusHatesObama.com.
AND THEN…in what is becoming an annual tradition…FOX denied an ad from AshleyMadison.com, an online dating site for people who want to have an affair. It features mattress actress Savanna Samson in her underwear.
WHEN I WAS A KID and asked my parents for a ride somewhere…I’d occasionally get a lift. Most times I’d hear about how when they were kids they walked everywhere…mostly uphill
…both ways. So consequently, I walked or rode my bike most places.
Now days…we haul our kids everywhere. For example…the National Household Travel Survey says 75% of parents now drive their children to school…even though at least half of the school-age children in this country live within two miles of their schools. In 1969, it was only 15%.
A lot of parents do it because they’re worried their kids will get hit by cars, bullied, approached by predators, or all of the above.
But there’s another reason the number has gone up…it’s because there are more two-car families now than there were in 1969, so there’s a car available to drive the kids to school. And even though half of kids live within two miles of their schools…the kids who don’t live within two miles of the school often live further away than kids a few decades ago, so driving them is a faster option than having them take the bus.
CBS CARES ABOUT YOUR TESTICLES. They just released a Valentine’s Day-themed public service announcement…about testicular cancer.
I love the first line…
Alright..on that note I think I need to get busy doing some early shopping!
Check my Facebook page HERE for updates and more fun stuff throughout the day.
THE NEW SEASON OF AMERICAN IDOL debuted last night..with new video graphics to open the show…new judges, that I think were awesome…and a renewed sense of energy.
But the one thing that we can always count on to stay the same at the start of any new Idol season…really bad singers! And of course…just enough really good ones.
I know there are a lot of nay sayers about the new line-up of judges…and lots of people think that the show has jumped the shark. Well I’m not willing to take that stand after just one episode.
I actually think last nights show was very good. Outside of Simon Cowell’s snarky comments…I didn’t really miss him. And I LOVE Simon! I certainly didn’t miss Kara or Ellen. I was surprised at just how sweet Jennifer Lopez was…and Steven Tyler really brought some credibility to the judging panel. Let’s be real…if I needed advice on the music business…that’s the guy I want in my corner. Steven Tyler has been there, done that…and snorted it…MANY times over in his storied career. I think these new judges are going to be GREAT.
I’m eagerly anticipating a great season of American Idol…and I can’t wait until they get to Hollywood!
WALMART MAKES YOU FAT! It’s true…according to a studyby the University of North Carolina…when a Walmart opens in town everyone in town gets chubbier.
The researchers found that a new Walmart translated to an average weight gain of 1.5 pounds per person over the next decade. It also boosts the area’s obesity rate by 2.3%.
They think it’s because food is cheaper at Walmart…and those cheap foods aren’t usually the ones that are good for you.
ANOTHER SIDE EFFECT OF CHEAP FOOD…is gas. And an abundance of flatulence can lead to death…at least it did in Connecticut.
On Saturday night, a guy in Bristol, CT stabbed four people at a party…killing one of them…because they were making fun of his gas.
He was at a house party…drunk…and apparently, he just couldn’t get his emissions under control. The other people at the party started mocking him. So he smashed a beer bottle…stormed out… then came back with three knives…and started stabbing people randomly. One guy died and three others were hospitalized.
The moral of the story? Don’t eat cheap food from Walmart because it can give you gas…and people could die.
IN GERMANY…EVERYONE gets drunk. Men get drunk. Women get drunk. And today a story that shows….even the BIRDS get drunk.
The police in Pforzheim, Germany recently busted an OWL for public intoxication. They caught the owl staggering around in the middle of a street, with drooping eyelids, and no care at all for the cars speeding around him.
They also found two small bottles of schnapps near him. He was taken to a local bird expert who hydrated him until he sobered up, then sent him on his way. There’s no word on where he got the alcohol.
With the reputation owls have for being wise…you would think he would have been smart enough to call a buddy to pick him up. Maybe a carrier pigeon?
ANNE HATHAWAY will play Catwoman in the third Batman movie…The Dark Knight Rises. Well, technically, it was announced that she’s playing Selina Kyle. But since Selina Kyle IS Catwoman, the assumption is pretty safe.
Since this is the last Batman movie CHRISTOPHER NOLAN is writing and directing, it seems ridiculous that he would introduce the Selina Kyle character and NOT have her be Catwoman.
Anne reportedly beat out Keira Knightley, Rachel Weisz, Blake Lively and Natalie Portman for the role.
Catwoman/Selina Kyle was played by MICHELLE PFEIFFER in Batman Returns back in 1992.
Then in 2004, the very super-sexy HALLE BERRY played a DIFFERENT Catwoman in the AWFUL stand-alone flick Catwoman. But did I mention that Halle was very super-sexy?
The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters in July of 2012.
MILLIONS OF PEOPLE in this country can’t find work…but guess who can? JON GOSSELIN. Life & Style magazine says that Jon is working for a place called Global Green Property Services…a company that helps properties and other companies become more environmentally friendly. Here’s their website.
Jon is in sales. He basically cold-calls people and tries to sell them Global Green’s services. A so-called “source” says, ”It’s a modest job. He doesn’t get a huge salary. Jon doesn’t long for fame at all. He’s much more content blending in and being able to live his life without the world watching.”
I realize this is probably more of a paycheck than it is his life’s calling. But still…here’s a way to be more environmentally-friendly…DON’T HAVE EIGHT FREAKIN’ KIDS.
I TRY TO AVOID talking about politics publicly. However, at home it’s a pretty regular subject of discussion. Afterall, my wife is a hardcore Democrat…her immediate family is hardcore Democrat…her grandfather was a California State Senator for 30 years. Politics is in their blood…so I can’t avoid it entirely.
One of the things that really bugs Charmen…and me too…is all of the controversy over President Obama being a U.S. resident. Well for all of those still in doubt…Hawaii’s new governor, Neil Abercrombie, has finally tracked down the president’s birth certificate. His legal, original, actual birth certificate that proves he was born in Hawaii.
Abercrombie says their investigation found the birth certificate actually exists in the archives…written down. Their next step is to actually get it out of the archives. Abercrombie didn’t say when that was going to happen.
Conspiracy theorists called “birthers”…have said Obama’s birth certificate is fake…that he was actually born in Kenya, or the U.K., or Indonesia…and that would make him ineligible to be president. In case you didn’t know…to be president, you must be born in the U.S.
Dear Lord, let’s hope this means we can put one of our country’s absolutely dumbest conspiracy theories to rest.
AND FINALLY…if you want to grow to be really old…try the BETTY WHITE diet. Betty turned 89 this week. What’s her secret? Junk food. At least that’s according to her co-stars on Hot In Cleveland.
JANE LEEVES and WENDIE MALICK say that Betty, ”eats crap. She eats Red Vines, hot dogs, French fries and Diet Coke.”
Well…who knows? Maybe she’s preserved because of all the preservatives. Come to think of it…a hot dog sounds pretty good right now. Time to fire up the grill!
Hit up my Facebook page HERE to get updates throughout the day.
SAVING MONEY IS GOOD. You can save a lot of money if you buy things when they’re off-season. So if you’re planning a big purchase, you might want to hold off for a few months. Here are the best things to buy throughout the year…
January…bikes and sporting goods because retailers have to bring in new inventory and slash prices on old stuff. It’s also a good month to buy an air conditioner, because NO ONE is buying an air conditioner this month.
February…digital cameras, because most of the big electronics trade shows will be over by then. That means all the new models will be available in stores, and the old models will cost less. Chocolate is also cheaper after February 14th…for obvious reasons.
March…winter clothing, because winter is almost over. And luggage, because it’s not a popular time of year for traveling. Boat show season also ends in March, so if you’re in the market for a YACHT, wait a few months.
April…car parts, sneakers, and vacuum cleaners go on sale because the new models arrive in June.
May…patio furniture and party supplies. Cookware also goes on sale because of all the upcoming graduations and weddings.
June…gym memberships, because the weather is nice. It’s also a good month to buy tools and men’s suits, which both go on sale for Father’s Day.
July…furniture, because stores start trying to push their old inventory.
August…camping equipment, because it takes up a lot of space, and stores won’t have room for it during the holidays. And laptops, which go on sale in August because that’s when recent high school graduates are about to leave for college.
September…cars, because you can still find last year’s model on the lot, but it’ll be a lot cheaper than earlier in the year.
October…jeans, because there’s always a lot of leftover inventory from the back-to-school sales.
November…a new TV, because there are good sales leading up to Christmas, and the technology isn’t outdated yet.
December…anything wedding-related, which is convenient if you’re going home for the holidays and want to do some wedding planning with your mom.
Get your calendar out and plan accordingly…Christmas is only 11 months away!
REGIS PHILBIN IS RETIRING from Live! with Regis and Kelly. He made the announcement on yesterday’s show.
Regis did clarify on The Late Show with David Letterman that he isn’t leaving show business entirely…just his daily talk show.
WHILE I’VE NEVER been a HUGE Regis fan…he is very popular. But…who’s America’s favorite TV personality? Last month, the market research company Harris Interactive set out to find out the answer to that question. And the answer is…
NCIS star MARK HARMON. He surged to #1 after being #8 last year. Here’s the Top 10:
1. Mark Harmon 2. Oprah Winfrey tied with House star Hugh Laurie
4. Conan O’Brien
5. Jon Stewart tied with Charlie Sheen 7. Ellen DeGeneres 8.Bill O’Reilly 9. David Letterman 10.Steve Carell
Two people fell out of the Top 10 this year…and for what it’s worth…both of them were ranked pretty high. Last year, GLENN BECK was #2, and JAY LENO was #3. The year before that Jay was #1.
For a breakdown of the poll ..including previous years’ results… hit up Harris Interactive HERE.
NO WONDER COUGARS get so much attention from young guys. Men’s Health found that if the chemistry is right, women in their 40s are the most likely to have sex on the first date.
The survey found that 29% of women in their 40s regularly get-it-on on the first date. So do 28% of women in their 30s and only 17% of women in their 20s.
Women in their 40s also ENJOY sex the most…86% say they reached their moment of climax the last time they had sex. Only 48% of women in their 30s and 38% of women in their 20s said that.
Happy hunting!
ELTON JOHN and David Furnish are introducing their new baby boy, Zachary Jackson Levon Furnish-John, to the world on the cover of the new Us Weekly.
Zachary was born on Christmas Day…just like the kid in Elton’s song Levon. The mother has not been identified. Elton is reportedly Zachary’s biological father.
They also say they haven’t given up on Lev, the 2-year-old Ukranian orphan they once tried to adopt…and Lev’s 4-year-old brother, who’s HIV-positive.
By the way…Elton and David are donating all the money from Us Weekly to various charities.
YOUR KIDS DON’T WANT to be your friend…at least not on Facebook. According to a new surveyby Kaplan Test Prep…35%of teenagers say they’re NOT Facebook friends with their parents. Of that group, 38% say that their parents have tried friend requesting them, and they’ve just ignored it.
For the teenagers who ARE Facebook friends with their parents, 16%say their parents FORCED them to become friends as a condition of being allowed to use Facebook.
Both of my boys want a Facebook page…but there’s NO way that’s happening. That makes me a pretty unpopular with them and their friends…and even some of their friend’s parents…but I’m perfectly OK with that!
I’m not worried about appearing “cool” to my kids….because you know what’s really cool? Loving them unconditionally, providing for them, being physically and emotionally available to them, and taking an active part in their lives.
I prefer real facetime with my kids as opposed to virtual time on Facebook. So I can live with being uncool!
MOTLEY CRUE SINGERVINCE NEIL is going to prison…for
a grand total of two weeks…for driving drunk. He’s expected to accept a plea deal in his DUI case at a hearing next week. As part of the deal, he’s agreeing to serve 15 days behind bars, and another 15 days under house arrest.
Vince was arrested last June with a blood alcohol level that was nearly three times the legal limit. In a statement, he said, “I have recognized that you can’t drink and drive at all. I take full responsibility for my actions and will learn from this experience.”
Well duh! This is a lesson Vince should have learned 27 years ago, when his drunk driving KILLED A GUY.
Back in 1984, Vince got loaded, got behind the wheel and smashed his car into another vehicle. His passenger…HANOI ROCKS drummer NICHOLAS DINGLEY, a.k.a. RAZZLE…died. And the two people in the other car were seriously hurt. He served 15 days of a 30-day sentence, and shelled out $2.5 million in restitution to the victims.
THE NEW SEASON of American Idol starts tonight. It’s not secret that I love this show. I’m excited to see the changes they’ve implemented…particularly the new judges.
Even though I’ve had a long time crush on JENNIFER LOPEZ…and can’t wait to that booty…ummm, I mean, see her each week…I’m most excited to see how STEVEN TYLER does. A lot of people have doubts about both of them…and question whether or not the show has jumped the shark. Obviously that remains to be seen…but I can’t wait to watch.
BY THE WAY…a new book called American Idol: The Untold Story… which just came out…claims SIMON COWELL turned down a $130 MILLION-a-year from Fox to do the American version of X Factor AND re-up with Idol.Supposedly, he initially agreed to the deal, but then decided against it,…possibly because he no longer wanted to work with his former partner, Idol creator Simon Fuller. Supposedly they haven’t been on good terms for years now.
AFTER EVERYTHING that has happened with AEROSMITH over the past two years…the tour canceling, the public bickering and fighting, the break-up, the reunion…and basically, all that happening again when Stevenlanded the American Idol gig…it looks like Aerosmith is finally ready to get down to business again.
That’s because they’re going to begin collectively working on their next album this weekend. The plan is for them to be recording in L.A. while Steven is doing Idol…then hit the road during the show’s off-season.
By the way, on Letterman Monday night, Steven finally admitted to NOT being sober when he fell off the stage and broke his shoulder in August of 2009.
I’M GOING OUT ON A LIMB HERE…but I’m guessing this band will NOT be opening for Aerosmith. Watch what happens
after the guitarist plays an absolutely awful guitar solo.
THAT’S IT FOR NOW…but go to my Facebook page throughout the day for more posts and updates.
I’M SO GLAD TO BE MARRIED…because now I can just enjoy the pictures in by Maxim magazine…and not worry about the results of this new dating survey.
Maxim surveyed more than 2,000 men and women between the ages of 18 and 64 to find out what they REALLY think about dating in the year 2011. Here’s what they found.
There are plenty of people looking to date.38% of people say they’re looking to date…or at least hook up. And…10% of the MARRIED people surveyed said they’re looking to date or hook up.
Social media is a big part of modern dating. 25% of people use social media in their dating life, and 40%judge people by what’s in their Facebook profile. But 70% of people say that they’d rather meet someone in person than online.
You’d better secure your passwords.24% of people admitted they’ve spied on their significant other’s email, texts, cell phone calls, or social media accounts. Men are more likely to end a relationship over something they find.
People still like old-fashioned phone calls.75% of people say the best way to get in touch after a good date is by phone. Chivalry could be dead if men would let it die. 55% of women say chivalry doesn’t matter that much to them anymore… but 69% of guys say they consider themselves old-fashioned gentlemen who open doors and pay for dates.
Women like men who play video games? This is either a sign of the times or a sign of women getting desperate…but 39% say it’s a TURN-ON when a guy lists “video games” as one of his interests.
Everyone still lies and says they don’t care about looks. People rated personality as someone’s most important quality, followed by brains and shared interests. Looks came in LAST place.
Yeah right! Let’s just be real…looks may not be #1 on the list when looking for a date, or a partner…but they’re certainly NOT dead last.
What smart, hot, sexy woman is going to date an ugly, video game loving dork just because he has a great personality and they both love playing Halo? I can tell you…NONE!
AND DO THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE really need another thing to make their lives so much easier than the rest of us?
According to a studyat the London School of Economics, beautiful people aren’t just more attractive than the rest of us…they also usually have higher IQs.
The study found that attractive men have IQs about 13.6 points above average, and attractive women are 11.4 points higher. They’re also more inclined to achieve more success, and more likely to marry another beautiful person.
That means that, over time, smart and beautiful people have kept gravitating toward each other…and producing smart, beautiful children.
THE LATEST DVD’S hit stores today. Here’s what to look for…
Paper Man.Jeff Daniels plays a novelist whose only friend is the costumed superhero who lives in his imagination. Lisa Kudrow plays his wife, Ryan Reynolds is his imaginary friend, and Emma Stone is a troubled teenage girl he forms an unlikely friendship with.
Stone. Ed Norton is Stone…convicted killer who’s having trouble convincing his parole officer to endorse his release. Robert DeNiro is the parole officer standing in his way. And Milla Jovovichis the wife trying to persuade DeNiro to change his mind.
Jack Goes Boating. Philip Seymour Hoffman makes his directorial debut and plays a limo driver whose blind date inspires him to take romantic risks, despite watching his best friend’s marriage fall apart before his eyes.
Takers. T.I. plays a bank robber whose $20 million heist is interrupted by Matt Dillon and his partner. T.I.’s crew is Chris Brown, Paul Walker, Idris Elba, Hayden Christensen and Michael Ealy. Avatar minx Zoe Saldana is also in it.
Buried. Athriller starring Ryan Reynolds as a guy buried alive with a cell phone, a lighter and 90 minutes to figure out where he is before his air runs out.
ACCORDING TO A NEW BOOK…The Science of Kissing: What Our Lips Are Telling Us…we’re actually more likely to remember our FIRST KISS than the time they lost their virginity. And no, it’s NOT because most of us lose our virginity when we’re hammered on cheap beer.
When you kiss, it’s so anticipated and brings up such new and complex feelings that your brain is at its absolute sharpest. Most people can recall 90% of the details of their first kiss…when it happened, where, with whom, and how you felt.
Having sex for the first time involves more nerves and requires your brain to focus on so many tasks that it’s harder to remember all the little details.
The study also found that women anticipate their first kiss more than men…and they usually end up feeling a little more disappointed than men after it happens, too.
I definately remember MY first kiss. Her name was Missy Mason…we were at the Parkersburg Actors Guild….taking a break from rehearsing A Christmas Carol. We went to get a soda and one of us grabbed the money from the other and we started chasing each other around a table. The next thing I know…we were lip-locked in front of the Pepsi machine. It was UNBELIEVABLE!
It’s been 30 years…but I still remember how soft her lips were and how she smelled. We spent a lot of time perfecting our kissing technique over the next few months. And to this day I can’t hear the song Babe by STYX without thinking about her.
These days she goes by Melissa, and lives in San Diego, CA. Thanks to Facebook we’ve been in touch and occasionally exchange messages. I’ve kissed a lot of girls since her…but she’ll always hold that special place in my heart as the first.
A BUS DRIVER in Brooklyn, NY could be in big trouble after he literally threw a female passenger off his bus. It happened when the woman lit a cigarette and refused to put it out. So the bus driver got up, yanked her out of her seat, and threw her out the side door. You can’t tell for sure from the video, but it looks like after she lands on the ground, he also throws a punch.
MEANWHILE…the mascot for the Utah Jazz got into a fight with a Cavaliers fan during a game on Friday. The whole thing was probably staged…but if not, the two security guards who let the guy charge the mascot at center court should be fired.
I hope you have a great day. Thanks for reading. Catch up with me on Facebook HERE…and check back there throughout the day for new postings and updates.
THE 68TH GOLDEN GLOBE AWARDS were handed out last night.
The Social Network won four awards in the movie category, including Best Motion Picture, Drama. Glee won three in the TV category…including a second consecutive win for Best TV Series, Comedy.
Elsewhere in TV, HBO’s Boardwalk Empirewon Best TV Series, Drama…that ended the three-year reign of one of my favorite shows…AMC’s Mad Men.
The very cute…and very pregnant NATALIE PORTMAN won Best Actress in a Drama for Black Swan. Sheand profusely thanked her baby-daddy, Benjamin Millepied…
As for the hosting duties, RICKY GERVAIS was gently insulting to numerous celebrities…whether they were present or not. Here’s the video of his opening monologue…
That sort of thing went on all night long. Maybe it’s just me…but I have a feeling Ricky won’t be asked back next year.
The high point of the night, aside from ROBERT DE NIRO receiving the lifetime achievement award, was a healthy-looking MICHAEL DOUGLAS coming out onstage to present the final award.
Watch a chronological, easy-to-follow list of the most memorable moments of last night’s show…complete with video links…HERE. And for a complete list of the nominees and the winners click HERE.
SOME PEOPLE FREAKED OUT last week when they found out their zodiac sign was all wrong. If you missed it…astronomers in Minnesota recalculated the zodiac signs, based on how the Earth’s axis has shifted…and it threw off the dates for all the zodiac signs.
Even though what those astronomers found is true, your sign hasn’t actually changed.
Here in the Western hemisphere, we follow the tropical zodiac, which is linked to seasons. The astronomers in Minnesota found changes to the position of the stars relative to the sun…that’s called the sidereal zodiac…and we don’t follow that.
The sidereal zodiac is followed in Hindu astrology and by a few hardcore astrologists here and there…but it’s MUCH less prominent than the tropical version.
In the tropical zodiac, the signs are tied to the seasons. Aries is tied to the start of one equinox, and Libra is tied to the other. And no matter how much the Earth’s axis has shifted since the Babylonians established the signs, those aren’t affected.
So just relax…there’s no need to run out and get that Pisces fish tattoo laser-removed from your right butt cheek.
IN HONOR OFMartin Luther King Jr. Day… Billboard has put out a list of their favorite songs that were either inspired by or dedicated to MLK. Here are the 10 songs they listed:
Pride (In the Name of Love): U2 By the Time I Get to Arizona: Public Enemy Happy Birthday: Stevie Wonder We Shall Overcome: Bruce Springsteen One Vision: Queen Like a King: Ben Harper I Have a Dream: Common MLK: U2 King Holiday: King Dream Chorus & Holiday Crew Dream Speech: The Gregory Brothers’ Auto-Tune the News
IN CASE YOU NEED A BUCKET of coffee each morning…Starbucks announced yesterday that they’re going to be rolling out a brand-new, super-sized drink to all of their shops in the U.S. by May 3rd. It’s called the TRENTA. And it’s 31 OUNCES.
The biggest size right now is the Venti, which is 24 ounces. It will cost you about 50 cents more, on average, than a Venti. Initially it’s only going to be available for iced drinks…iced coffee, iced tea, and iced tea lemonade. They’ll eventually add your favorite hot drinks.
ALL THIS TIME I’ve been thinking I should make more money and get myself a Porsche Boxster. Well…cars.com says I’m DEAD WRONG. They just put out their list of the best cars of 2011, and number one is…the KIA Optima.
It beat out the BMW 5 Series, which finished second…and it’s a LOT less expensive…selling for $19,000 to $26,000.
The five runners-up to the Kia Optima are the BMW 5 Series, Chevrolet Cruze, Chevrolet Volt, Honda Odyssey, and Nissan Leaf.
THE MISS AMERICA PAGEANT was on Saturday, and for the talent competition, Miss Arkansas…ALYSE EADY…did a ventriloquist act featuring two puppets and the country song I Want to Be a Cowboy’s Sweetheart.
As you might expect, she didn’t win. The winner was 17-year-old TERESA SCANLAN from Nebraska…who played the piano.
DONALD TRUMP has revealed the cast for the next Celebrity Apprentice, which premieres on March 6th. There are 16 contestants. Here’s the list:
Meat Loaf Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath Country singer John Rich Lil Jon R&B legend and former Psychic FriendDionne Warwick La Toya Jackson Star Jones Real Housewives of Atlanta star NeNe Leakes
Former juiced baseball player Jose Canseco Gary Busey Lisa Rinna Former Partridge Family child star David Cassidy The very first Survivor winner Richard Hatch Marlee Matlin Former model Niki Taylor 2010 Playmate of the Year Hope Dworaczyk
There were rumors that LINDSAY LOHAN…or a member of her family…may make the cut. That didn’t happen, but The Donald did say he considered them.
THIS IS WHY we don’t walk and text…
IF IT’S TRUE that running up a little debt can be good for your credit score…then the U.S. government is going to have the best score ever. The national debt just hit an all-time record high…$14 TRILLION.
The debt tends to go up during wartime…and since we’ve been at war for almost a decade…the debt keeps going up. Of course, the economy hasn’t helped either…between the war and the recession, the debt’s up almost 50% since 2005.
That calculates out to about $45,300 for every person in the country. For reference, the median household income in the U.S. is just slightly higher, at $50,233. So let’s put that $14 trillion in perspective. Check out these breakdowns…
One trillion has 12 zeroes…it’s a million million. Fourteen trillion one-dollar bills stacked on top of each other would be 950,124 miles. That’s enough to go from the Earth to the Moon…and back…
TWICE.
If the bills were all laid out, they would cover 55,888 square miles. That’s enough to cover Rhode Island, Delaware, Connecticut, New Jersey, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and West Virginia…all at the same time.
It would also be enough to buy 3.5 trillion Starbucks coffees, or one cup of Starbucks for every American…every single day for the next 32 YEARS.
Based on U.N. estimates, it would take $195 BILLION a year to end world hunger. So $14 trillion could feed every single person in the world for the next 72 YEARS.
It could buy your average golden-voiced homeless man 349,999,998,750 rocks of crack AND full tuition, room, and board to broadcasting school.
CHARLIE SHEEN could get 700 MILLION nights with high-priced escorts. It would also get him 3.5 BILLION nights with the kinds of escorts you find at the bus station!
With that money, you could buy Facebook 280 times over.
Clicke HERE to see a visual representation of what one trillion dollars looks like…imagine that 14 times over.
HAVE A GREAT DAY…and if you have the day off please take a moment to remember the reason that we have today runs deeper than just a man’s birthday.
GET MORE updates throughout the day on my Facebook page by clicking HERE. And look for another edition of STRAIGHT FROM THE FOX HOLE tomorrow morning.
I DON’T WANT YOU TO FREAK OUT…but there’s about a one in three chance your husband or wife lies to you…about money.
According to a new Harris poll, 31% of married Americans say that they lie to their husband or wife about money. All of the people surveyed have combined finances, so the lies they tell are about hiding cash…keeping a secret, separate bank account…running up debt…making secret purchases…or not revealing how much they really make.
Hiding cash is the most common lie. Of the people who lie, 58% said it’s about hidden cash. There was no difference between men and women…both genders lie the same amount.
About one-third of the people surveyed also said that they know they’ve been lied to about money. Of those couples, 67% said it led to an argument and 42% said it permanently affected the trust in the relationship. AND…16% of those said that the lie led to a divorce and 11% said it led to a separation.
I know lots of guys that keep secret accounts. All of them have been divorced and taken to the cleaners by a money grabbing wife or attorney. They vowed to never get caught short again…so they stash the cash.
I divorced my first wife over lies and money. However…I’m not hiding cash from Charmen. At least as far as she or you know! But if one morning you wake up and read this blog…and I say it’s coming to you from the Mexican Riviera…well you’ll know why. Comprende mi amigo?
I’VE SPENT OVER HALF OF MY LIFE waking up before 4 o’clock in the morning. When most people hear that when I’m doing a morning show I get up at 3 a.m. and get to work by 4 they always ask the same thing, “How do you do that?” The answer is easy…the alarm goes off.
Really…it’s that simple. As a matter of fact, anew survey by Phillips Consumer Lifestyle found that 63% of Americans say that when their alarm goes off, they’re ready to wake up and get out of bed.
Only 37% of us don’t feel like we’re ready to get up when the alarm goes off. But even if people wake up to their alarm clocks, they’re not totally awake.
56% of people say they don’t consistently get a good night’s sleep. And about 25%, or one out of four, admit they’ve taken naps at work. 85% said they think they’d be more productive at work if they slept more.
And in my case…didn’t wake up at 3 in the morning! Because I’ll be honest…it wouldn’t matter if I went to bed at 7 p.m….I’m still waking up in the middle of the night. And that’s just not natural…
even after all these years.
THERE ARE A COUPLE of new movies that hit theaters today that are worth mentioning…
THE GREEN HORNET is rated PG-13. Seth Rogenplays a millionaire playboy who becomes a masked crimefighter after his father is murdered. Jay Chouplays his sidekick Kato, Cameron Diaz is his secretary and the bad guy is played by Christoph Waltz. He’s the guy that won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for playing the head Nazi in Inglourious Basterds.It’s based on the 1960s TV series that only ran for one season…but launched the career of Bruce Leeand inspired millions of kids to learn kung fu.
Usually this wouldn’t be my kind of movie…but for some reason I really want to see this.
BY THE WAY…Seth Rogan’s character is a spoiled, hard-partying trust-fund baby before he becomes a superhero. And he
based the character on PARIS HILTON. Seth said, ”We kind of based him off a male Paris Hilton, as embarrassing as that is to say.”
Director Michel Gondry says that in crafting the character, they looked to the offspring of people who have”accomplished great things”…but who themselves are known mainly for their misadventures.
Seth added ”We probably give them a little more credit than they’ve gotten in the past and we explore why they’re such jerks and why they act out. Maybe it’s because they didn’t get the attention they wanted.”
THE DILEMMAis the other movie that I HAVE to see. It’s also rated PG-13. Vince Vaughn is a guy struggling with how to tell his best friend that his wife is cheating on him. Kevin James plays his friend, Winona Ryder is the adulterous wife, and Channing Tatum is the guy she’s nailing. Jennifer Connelly and Queen Latifah are also in it.
A few months back, there was some controversy about Vince Vaughn’s character saying, “Electric cars are gay.” That line was quickly removed from the trailer, but director Ron Howard refused to take it out of the film itself.
IN CASE YOU MISSED THE NEWS…BRETT FAVRE’S sister, Brandi Favre, getting busted for running a meth lab. She and four other people got caught running a fully-functional meth lab out of a condo in Diamondhead, MiS.
From the mugshot you can actually see a resemblance to Brett…but it sure looks like her 34 years on this planet have been a tough 34.
Brandi and the others were charged with manufacturing meth, possession of a controlled substance, transferring a controlled substance, and generation of hazardous waste. All four are felonies and each count could get her 30 years …for a total maximum sentence of 120 YEARS IN PRISON.
The cops found the lab when they saw a drug deal go down and then followed the dealer back to the condo. When they busted in, Brandi and the crew were in the middle of cooking more meth.
They found ten grams of freshly-cooked meth in the condo…that’s a LOT.
Of course Brandi has since said she’s retiring from the meth lab business,…but we all know that’s probably not true! And Brett considers it such a tiny matter that out of habit, he texted pictures of it!
OK…neither of those last two things are true…but you know you were thinking it too!
BY NOW YOU’VE probably hear America’s favorite homeless voiceover talent, TED WILLIAMS, is going to rehab. Well evidently that has annoyed VICKI LAWRENCE . Remember Vicki? She played Mama on “Mama’s Family in the ’80s, and now she’s reprising her role to make fun of Ted.
WARNING: This video includes mild profanity.
WHAT’S AMERICA’S SNOWIEST CITY? Right now, the answer is ALL OF THEM. But, historically, some cities get it worse than others.
Forbes.com compiled this list based on historical records, which vary from city to city but go back anywhere from 50 to 150 years. These are the top 10 major metropolitan areas that average the most snow year in and year out.
1. Denver, CO: An average of 60.3 inches of snow every year. 2. Cleveland, OH: 59.3 inches 3. Salt Lake City, UT: 58.5 inches 4. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: 49.9 inches 5. Milwaukee, WI: 47.3 inches 6. Boston, MA: 43.2 inches 7. Pittsburgh, PA: 43 inches 8. Detroit, MI: 41.1 inches 9. Chicago, IL: 38.8 inches 10. New York, NY: 28.9 inches
MY KIDS THINK I’M TOO STRICT when it comes to what they watch on TV. Maybe I am…but this is a perfect example of why…
MTV is launching a new show on Monday called Skins. It’s a remake of a successful British series about a bunch of teenagers during the last two years of high school.
Just like the UK version, the kids in the MTV remake will explore dysfunctional families, mental illness, eating disorders, sexual orientation, substance abuse, and death. Or as MTV puts it, ”an emotional mosh-pit that slams through the insanity of teenage years. They’ll crush hearts and burn brain cells.”
So, sort of like Jersey Shore…only more intelligent.
Naturally, the Parents Television Council is all over it. Especially MTV’s online campaign WhereItWentDown.com…an interactive map where users, ”Post the truth about the biggest parties, heartbreak, friends, sex, and every kind of trouble.”
Based on what they’ve seen, the PTC says that Skins may be the most dangerous show for children that they’ve ever seen. Which pretty much just guaranteed that your kids are going to try to check it out.
Based on the trailers, it DOES look ridiculously over-sexed, like a teen soap opera, with amateur acting and bad lighting. In other words…kids are gonna love it.
Watch the trailers…BUT BE WARNED: it included uncensored F-Bombs and other profanity.
SPINNER MAGAZINE JUST RELEASED a list of the Top 50 Greatest Guitar Riffs in rock history…and JIMI HENDRIX did NOT get his usual spot at number one for Voodoo Child.
This year the honor went to ROLLING STONES guitarist KEITH RICHARDS for the riff from Satisfaction. Spinner calls it, ”The most iconic three chords in rock ‘n’ roll history.” Here’s the Top 10…
1. Satisfaction: The Rolling Stones 2. Voodoo Child: Jimi Hendrix 3. Iron Man: Black Sabbath 4. Heartbreaker: Led Zeppelin 5. Johnny B. Goode: Chuck Berry 6. You Really Got Me:The Kinks 7. Sweet Child o’ Mine: Guns N’ Roses 8. Back In Black: AC/DC 9. Money For Nothing: Dire Straits 10. Enter Sandman: Metallica
ON THAT NOTE…Charmen got an iPod Shuffle for Christmas and I’ve been tasked with loading it up with her favorite songs. Sadly…nothing on Spinner’slist made the cut with Charmen!
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Look for another STRAIGHT FROM THE FOX HOLE on Monday.
Call me old fashioned…but being able to tie your shoes seems like a very basic skill all kids should have. One of my biggest pet peeves is a kid walking around with their shoes untied. It’s amazing just how many you see in the course of the day.
Only 51% of women under 30 can cook a pot roast, compared to 82% of the women who are baby boomers. Only 23% can grow a plant from a cutting…which 78% of their moms and grandmothers could do. 
