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Thursday, May 29, 2003
It doesn't really matter if you're a young star reaching out for the kids and tweens, if you look like Hillary Duff, you'll have stuff like this written about you and draw a small but considerable "wrong" fan base. I am bit thrown off by the fact that she thinks it's somewhat complimentary that people think she's had a boob job (i.e. facing the same questions as Britney Spears). I wish I could find the article that ripped Disney for casting her in the first place as Lizzie because the character was supposed to be an awkward-looking kid like the cartoon and instead you get a Britney clone.
Speaking of blonde teens (just in time to mess up Google searches, pervs), "American Anna" Ashley Harkleroad finally scored her breakthrough victory by upsetting Daniela Hantuchova, who is similar to Harkleroad in that she wore the same outfit, is in her teens, a rising star and supposedly challenging Kournikova in the looks department.
Trying to find the next Kournikova is starting to get tiresome. The hype over Anna's looks definitely wreaked havoc on her game, and you'd hate to see that happen to some of the rising young stars like Harkleroad or Hantuchova. A couple of years ago at the U.S. Open, Harkleroad turned heads when she wore an outfit obviously a couple of sizes too small for her when she played in the main draw. Yes, she's attractive, but the ploy was a bit over the top. Plus, wearing such small clothes had to be very uncomfortable when you're already nervous playing your first-ever non-juniors match at the U.S. Open.
Hantuchova was part of an ESPN The Magazine spread, and ads based off that feature sorta made her look like Kirsten Dunst (at least that's what I got from the shrunken down photos in the ad). Supposedly, her main draw is the long legs, which if she were a runway model. And unfortunately, she has Kate Moss' build, which can't be good in the long-term. Yet stuff like that probably draws a few more fans.
I hope for both of them that their tennis, not the forced episodes of Are You Hot?, will be the reason for their success. Sure, we can ogle, but wins are what count. To use examples from the past, let's hope both get a Gabriela Sabatini vibe instead of a Carling Bassett vibe.
posted at 2:26 AM
I may be suffering a slight bit of withdrawal now that 24 is done for the year. However, I still see some of the cast while watching the world of sports. If they ever decide to do a Mike Price movie (maybe it's First and Ten meets G-String Divas), they've got to cast the actor who plays embattled Chief of Staff Mike Novick. And while the tables are turned a bit, Yankees GM Brian Cashman seems to be a dead ringer for Ryan Chappelle. I can see Steinbrenner knocking out Cashman with ether and making that big trade to get Miguel Tejada or something like that.
posted at 12:38 AM
Wednesday, May 28, 2003
I was a bit confused on this geek quiz when it asked if you watched Food Network (and put it on the same line as Game Show Network, which really is geeky). But I guess too much Iron Chef can put you on that road. However, I think I've discovered how the two networks have started to meld into one another.
GSN already has some basic snacking quiz questions sponsored by a major food company. However, Food Network has gone beyond that by combining Iron Chef and Blind Date into one show. Thankfully, it's not as over the top as either show, and the guys do have to show some talent to get the girl. And at least the guys were better cooks than I have been.
posted at 11:39 PM
My friends, meet my new favorite minor league baseball team. Unfortunately, local residents aren't happy with the name, although I guess the Grits wouldn't have looked that appealing, and my choice of Lunch Counters is wrong on so many levels.
posted at 7:30 PM
Sunday, May 25, 2003
Assorted thoughts
-- It was probably worth the sunburn, yet I was disappointed to see Tom Glavine get rocked in his return to Turner Field. I was more disappointed to see the boos rain down on him first when he came to the mound and later when he came up to hit. First off, the Braves are doing just fine without him. Secondly, the way the team treated him last winter, you can't fault him for leaving. There may be something to be said for loyalty, but money does talk.
-- Speaking of baseball, it's time to start voting for the MLB All-Star Game. Online, they give you 25 votes to match the average number of home games you can attend during the voting process. However, how many of you pick up exactly one ballot when there's a display stand full of them at the park? I end up picking up about 5-6 -- some to give to friends, some to put together my assorted combinations of players. Mike has his Scrabble method of All-Stars. I've got a few: the "deserving" squad, my fantasy squad (or an amalgam of such, depending on the league), the all-suck team (you try doing it by not picking any Tigers), etc. The possibilities are endless. Besides, doesn't Andres Torres or Brandon Larson need your vote more than Alex Rodriguez?
-- On the other hand, it's amazing to see the Nets return to the NBA Finals, although the team has plenty of talent across the board (and even Jason Collins is playing very well). They should fare much better in the finals this time around, and maybe it's time to bring out the retro cap again.
-- How in the world does New Jersey have two teams in their respective league finals, especially after growing up when both were amazingly mediocre? Maybe that union with the Yankees holding company is working out just fine. Unfortunately, I don't have the same loyalties to the Devils like I used to years ago when they first moved to town and I got to see a bunch of games.
-- I may be a fan of Weird Al Yankovic, but unfortunately, the new album is pretty weak across the board. Maybe I'm growing up or something, but the stuff just doesn't seem as good or as funny as it was when I was younger. The Angry White Polka is funny, as are most of the polka medleys of whatever music he wants to target, but the parodies were pretty limp. The funniest part of the album was hearing a wild piano solo in the middle of a song and thinking, "This sounds like something Ben Folds might do." So I look at the liner notes, and, yup, there's Ben. I guess it makes sense, though, given that Al directed the video for Rocking the Suburbs.
Diving in a little late on these items, but what the hell ...
-- So Annika didn't make the cut at The Colonial. It was fun watching her for a while until she folded down the stretch in the second round. If she made any putts, she might be playing this weekend. So no one should say she shouldn't belong. It was fun as a lark, and maybe she'll play another tournament or two down the line. But for now we'll just completely ignore her on the LPGA Tour. Honestly, how many people cared about Annika when she was tearing up that tour?
-- The season finale of 24 was just as crazy as I thought, although I was just waiting for something bad to happen when the creepy, indistinct foreigners were hanging around. One of my co-workers made the observation that there would've been no way the president could call an impromptu news conference on the steps of a building in whatever city he was in (since it definitely wasn't Washington) that quickly at 7:30 a.m. and have lots of people around with access to even touch the president. I don't care how much you want to show that things are OK; there's no way the president is that visible that soon after a war was nearly waged. And for what it's worth, they got one more last jab in that women were evil by bringing back one of the original assassins from the very early episodes of Season 1.
Charles Taylor has a great piece in Salon saying that this season shows how bizarre the real events in Washington really were. However, what really struck me was that bizarre shootout at the L.A. Coliseum. I was half waiting for the Fleetwood Mac to show up with the USC marching band, then realized all of that happened at Dodger Stadium.
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