Really, my daughter didn't mean to dress up as Don King

She is actually supposed to be a mad scientist. But when we went to get a crazy white Albert Einstein type wig for her up at the Party Depot, she fell in the love with the crazy black* Don King special.

The funny glasses and bow tie were also her idea, as were the rubber gloves (which, as my brother-in-law noted, he does not remember Don King wearing).

Anyway, here's the damning evidence. You make the call: Don King, boxing promoter, or Mad Scientist?


































*as in hair color, people. Jeez.

Trick or treat: Which candidate or politician scares you the most?

Is it Barack Obama? John McCain? Sarah Palin? Nancy Pelosi*? Or someone else? Let me know which candidate or politician scares you the most -- and why.

Is it the exotic-looking black dude, who practically confessed to being a kindergarten communist?

Or the scary old white dude, my friends?

Is it the one from Wasilla who speaks in tongues?

Or the wench from Wellesley who the very idea of tonguing gives you nightmares?

The silver-tongued (and haired) devil whose tongue you really don't want to think about anymore?

Or the decider, whose decisions have resulted in a severe tongue lashing from his fellow Republicans?

I admit, they are a pretty scary lot, at least in Halloween mask form.

Which one scares you the most? Leave me a comment -- and tell me who scares you and why. Btw, feel free to write in your own candidate.

Have a safe and happy Halloween -- and remember to vote on November 4.

*I searched the Internet for a Nancy Pelosi mask but was unable to find one. Some might say her real face is scary enough.

So, can John McCain, like NY Jet Brett Favre this past Sunday, recover to the win the game, or...

is he more like QB Jim Kelly and the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII, when the Bills were blown out, 52 - 17, by Troy Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys (aka "America's Team")?

Or will John McCain -- or perhaps Sarah Palin -- turn out to be like Buffalo Bills kicker Scott Norwood, whose missed kick in Super Bowl XXV many say cost the Bills the game, to the New York Giants?

Or put another way, if John McCain were an NFL quarterback, who would he be? Thoughts?

And if Barack Obama were an NFL quarterback, who would he be?

Leave me a comment...

Week 8 Jets, Giants recap (with thongs!)

Yeah, the New York Jets eked this one out to beat the now 1 - 6 Kansas City Chiefs 28 - 24 at home. But the now 6 -1 New York Giants looked a heckuva lot better in their 21 - 14 defeat of the now 5 - 2 Pittsburgh Steelers, at Heinz Field, no less.

You would have thought after throwing three interceptions, THREE, Brett Favre would have committed the Jets to another loss, but no. And you know who the Jets and Favre have to thank for that? Laveranues Coles, who caught a not terribly well thrown 15-yard touchdown pass from Favre with one minute left in regulation. Favre, who will probably get most of the glory for yesterday's narrow win over the Kansas City Chiefs (though shouldn't), should get down on his knees and thank Coles (who probably still misses Chad Pennington) for that catch.

Meanwhile in Pittsburgh... Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger threw not one, not two, not three but FOUR interceptions in yesterday's game against the New York Giants, pretty much dooming the throwback-uniform wearing Steelers to another one in the loss column.

But unlike the Jets, the Giants defense really got the job done yesterday afternoon -- and the offense (despite needing the help of the field goal team) didn't look too shabby either.

For the record, I will take Eli Manning over (the 39-year-old) Brett Favre AND Ben Roethlisberger any day. Bring it on!

Next week, the Jets take on the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo, which should be an interesting matchup (especially as I will be among Buffalo fans, albeit in Washington, D.C.), and the Giants "welcome" the now 5 - 3 Dallas Cowboys to Giants Stadium. Should be two good games, though I will probably be unable to watch.

(Btw, using thongs, instead of helmets, was the spouse's idea, and I am not so secretly hoping that he will get me one or both New York teams for my birthday next week, so I can properly support our teams.)

What's new, pussycats?

Football updates to come later*, sports fans, but figured, who could resist a little pussy?

Felix undercover...

Good advice...

Flora's good side...

*Personally, I am very disappointed the New York Jets went with the green-and-white uniforms today as I had a fabulous (albeit scathing) post queued up in case they went with the teal-and-gold instead.

Thongs for the memory, a brief history

So what I want to know is when did thongs go from this...

to this?
Fortunately, there is Wikipedia. You can tell some enterprising (no doubt male) writer/researcher spent many long, hard hours coming up with this entry for "Thong (clothing)."

(Who knew that thongs, the clothing, were directly descended from loincloths and jock straps? Or that the word thong is from the Old English thwong, a flexible leather cord? Learn something new everyday. Though I think I will pass on the leather thongs, thank you very much. Oh, and for my two female readers who might actually care about the history of thong sandals, and remember when we used to call them that, you can read more here. Not to ruin the excitement but they were derived from traditional Japanese sandals.)

So why do I care about thongs of any kind? Well, I don't really, except that I read this post on my friend Dave S.'s blog yesterday, about the Republican National Committee's outfitting of its "Caribou Barbie" (aka Sarah Palin) with $150,000 in new duds -- and thongs happened to come up (or down) in the comments, which got me thinking.

I admit, I have at times been a bit curious as to who or what kind of person (besides strippers, call girls, prostitutes, and unselfconscious Brazilians) wears thongs and why. Why bother wearing anything? And why would you want a piece of (often itchy) fabric wedged between your buttocks like a piece of dental floss (hence the term butt floss), which, btw, would probably be more comfortable. (Note: the answer "so Bill Clinton will nail me" is no longer valid.)

First, a confession: Around my birthday about five years ago, after losing many pounds and wanting to spice things up a bit/show off my svelter figure, I told my mother, who had asked me what I wanted for my birthday, and happens to live in Paris, the lingerie and sexy undergarment capital of the world, to get me some thongs. Clearly a sign of a mid-life crisis. However, my mother was happy to oblige and purchased several lovely pairs for me, which, I should note, would have barely fit Malibu Barbie let alone me (and I am pretty petite).

After trying on two of the pretty strips of fabric, and experiencing immense discomfort, I believed my thong-wearing career was over. Or so I thought, until a couple weeks ago, when I noticed (gasp!) unsightly panty lines after donning my new workout/yoga-style pants. Not wanting to go all Britney, and after trying on several more modest options, I reached far, far back into my underwear drawer and retrieved... the thong. Enough said. (And no, Tommy, I WILL not be posting any pictures of myself in any type of thong. EVER.)

Though the experience did raise the question: aside from Victoria's Secret models, does anyone (let's stick to females, please) actually look good in a thong? 'Cause most of the women I've seen sporting thongs on the beach or at some pool or in the locker room at my gym should definitely not be. While I applaud their self confidence (or are they just delusional?), I could not and will not be doing the same any time soon.

And with that, I thong you for your attention and will be getting back to work.

Just say "no" to designer dogs

Just like some hybrid vehicles, some hybrid dogs make sense. Others beg the question, why bother? (Or, What were they thinking?!) In many cases, the non-hybrid version was just fine or even better (and often cuter, in the case of dogs). I mean, whose brilliant idea was a chorkie? Does the world really need a yippier dog?

And, please, someone explain the point of combining a Bichon Frise and a poodle? Isn't that kind of redundant? (Though I will admit this particular "Poochon" or "Bichpoo" is pretty adorable.)

I know cockapoos have been around for a while...

And puggles are kind of cute...

Okay, really cute.

But airedoodles? Augies? Baskimos? A Bowzer (Hey, wasn't that the guy from Sha-Na-Na?) Chimation? (Is that some new form of digital animation out of Chicago?) A chiweenie? (That is just wrong on so many levels.) Cojack? (I think someone's been watching a little too much late-night TV.) Dorkie? (No comment.) Pekepoo? (Yeah, I see you.) The list goes on and on (literally).

This kind of canine engineering is almost as bewildering (and troubling) as those asinine Brooke Shields commercials for the new Volkswagen Routan promoting German engineering. (Btw, anyone else out there freaked or creeped out by the words "German engineering" in regard to bearing children?)

So, please, dog fanciers, I beg you, let dogs be dogs. If your poodle wants to get it on with that long-haired chihuahua down the block, fine. But let us not encourage or profit from such unnatural (and perhaps dangerous) liaisons.