Following CBS’s long-standing “policy” declining to air controversial ads — yet opting to air Focus On The Family’s pro-life ad — CNBC’s Sports Business Reporter, Darren Rovell, reported via Twitter today that ManCrunch.com’s ad has been rejected. (Here is the original item from CNBC: http://bit.ly/9tc203)

Here’s the spot. What do you think? Acceptable to air during the Superbowl?

Since we’re counting down the days to the start of the 2010 Winter Olympics from Vancouver, I thought I would post some of my favorite memories from Olympics past. First up, The Miracle on Ice.

Bea Arthur and Rock Hudson? This has to be the strangest duet ever. And the subject matter? Can you imagine this making it on broadcast television today? Nothing like singing about recreational (and habitual) drug use on national television. Ah, the 70′s!

One more tribute to Bea Arthur, who effortlessly inserted herself into decades of American entertainment:

For those of you out of the loop, the Republicans/conservatives are behind the planning of tax day tea parties around the country.

As you might imagine, FOX news is all over this story, and as one reporter noted, “pretty much a co-sponsor” of the teabag revolt.

I, as you might imagine, along with every other liberal are getting a huge laugh out of the thought of a bunch of tight-ass conservatives “teabagging” all day long on April 15th! MSNBC host, Rachel Maddow does a great job of reporting this story, giving it the appropriate amount of respect. She can’t keep a straight face, and neither can I:

So to all those conservatives planning to spend their day teabagging, remember, breathe through your nose….

If any of you have a weekend habit of wandering through some of the foreign newspapers (or possibly local papers, depending on your location) online over a lazy Sunday, you may have come across nearly all of the British papers filled with stories of one Susan Boyle, a 47-year-old from West Lothian, a village just about halfway between Glascow and Edinburgh.

You see, Ms. Boyle took a turn on stage during the third season premiere of Britain’s Got Talent. Those of you not familiar, while shows like X Factor, American Idol, Pop Idol and the like, are searching for a “star” (or a brand, for that matter), Britain’s Got Talent is different. Anyone can win, and the “package” that the talent comes in can certainly be deceiving!

Ms. Boyle would not be described in any circle as a “looker.” She’s a slightly-overweight, frumpy woman who lives alone with her cat, Pebbles. Her appearance on the show marked the end of her nearly two-year stint as a recluse, suffering from depression over the death of her mother. Upon a little further investigation, I learned that she’s never had a boyfriend, and never so much as a peck on the cheek in her entire life. As one reporter summed it up, “Could it be more of a fairytale?”

You’ll see from the video that Susan’s walk onto the stage is met with great skepticism, dare I say, ridicule, but we soon learn that you’re never to old, you should certainly never judge a book by its cover, and all is not always what it seems.

Susan Boyle is, today, truly an overnight sensation. Hell, she even managed to surprise cynical Simon Cowell!

She dreamed a dream, and she sang about it, too!

Enjoy….

Today’s a collection of short items I’ve been meaning to get down, but have found myself with little time.

RIP Irving R. Levine

For those of you of a certain age — and for these purposes, I’ll go with anyone 35 and over — probably remember the NBC correspondent, Irving R. Levine, who so easily explained such complex issues as the economy, monetary policy, global finances, and myriad other financially-related subjects to the viewing audience, passed away last Friday due to complications from prostate cancer.

While Mr. Levine has the distinction of being the first network correspondent dedicated to economic news, he spent decades as a foreign correspondent, working in such places as Rome, Moscow, and London. During his 35-year career, he found himself stations in over two dozen countries. He was the first accredited journalist in the Soviet Union, witness and reported the erection of the Berlin Wall, and was noted by Time Magazine as being a “pioneer” in economics reporting on television.

Most will remember him as concluding his broadcast with the announcement of his name, placing the distinctive emphasis on his middle initial.

For those interested, here’s his obituary in the New York Times.

The Economy and Philanthropy

While it comes as no surprise, I was disappointed to see the Chronicle of Philanthropy announce that 40% of foundations anticipate a drop in giving during 2009.

Over a trillion dollars in government bailout to corporations, and the groups doing to most good in society are going to have to go back to holding bake sales. Sad….

A Twitter Funny

As seen on a Twitter post (tweet): Dear Person with the license plate frame in front of me: When you get raptured away to Heaven, can I have your gold Lexus SUV? God bless!

Quick Trivial Distraction – By The Numbers

Daily Data Explorations

Because Love Just Isn’t That Simple….

I’ve made a new acquaintance who has an insightful/humorous/helpful blog and bills herself as The Queen of Relationships.

She posted one recently, How To Stay Single Forever which I think you might find entertaining (and insightful). While you start out smiling — or even laughing — when you read something of hers, you usually get hit with the lesson somewhere along the line.

Read. Enjoy! And wander around her site a bit.

Have an Itch? A Drip? Does it Burn When You Pee?

Lastly, I wanted to point out that April is STD Awareness Month. While the heading may make you snicker, STD’s are no laughing matter. Get informed. Get tested. Tell your friends.

Why? You may ask… Here’s why:

- In the United States there is an estimated 19,000,000 new sexually transmitted infections every year — one of the highest rates in the industrialized world

- While STD’s affect people of all races, ages and backgrounds, over 9,000,000 cases are seen in young people ages 15-25. Think you teens aren’t in jeopardy of an STD? Think again!

- Often, a sign that there is an infection takes longer than a week or two to show up, so how someone feels is not the indicator to get tested.

- While “the pill” may help prevent pregnancy, it does not prevent the transmission of an STD. Use condoms, plain and simple.

- The CDC recommends that ALL women 25 and under get tested for chlamydia once per year. Older women with new or multiple sex partners, and pregnant women are encouraged to get tested also.

- Sexually transmitted infections even occur in people who have had very few partners, and it is not reflection on your characters or morals. In fact, the majority of sexually active people are estimated to have an infection of HPV (human papilloma virus (HPV) at some point in their lives and most will never know it. (Note: There is an approved HPV vaccine available for females ages 9-26)

- STD/STI testing is not painful or complicated. A simple blood test and/or peeing in a cup is about as complicated as it gets.

So, what’s the take-home point? DRAG YOUR ASS TO THE DOCTOR OR A FREE CLINIC AND GET TESTED! Visit the American Social Health Association for more information and where to find a testing resource in your community.

Screw around, have fun, just be safe and smart about it!

Ever have that television show theme song that you can’t get out of your head?  How about 8,871 of them?

From one of my faithful readers (and bless you for hanging in there with the sporadic postings lateley) — my cousin, actually — comes a recommendation: TelevisionTunes.com

What’s not to love about being able to pull up some of the gems from years long since past?

• The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis
• Wagon Train
• The Cosby Show
• Falcon Crest

If you can think of it, it’s probably on this site. Even the “Doink, Doink” from Law and Order!

Thanks, Teresa!

So I caught a segment on The View yesterday (no cracks, please, I was simply watching to see if the ladies would finally come to their senses and pummel the crap out of that nasty Elisabeth Hasselbeck), and Patricia Heaton (Debra from Everybody Loves Raymond fame) was on promoting her upcoming Hallmark Hall of Fame Movie, Front of the Class.

The subject of the movie caught my attention, which is the true story of Brad Cohen, an award-winning teacher with Tourette syndrome, his life, struggles, and triumphs.

Ms. Heaton previewed a snippet of the movie, which intrigued me enough to set the TIVO. Here is a segment which originally aired on CBS news that tells a bit of the story:

Front of the Class airs Sunday, December 7th at 9PM (8PM Central) on CBS. Check your local listings if you’re interested in watching.

While I’m recommending watching the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation, I wanted to share with you my amazement to learn that this is the 234th Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation! The first HHOF presentation was December 24, 1951. It’s been on the air longer than I’ve been alive.

What has always impressed me — and the critics and those responsible for handing out awards — is that HHOF presents interesting, thought provoking movies that tackle tough subjects, which are presented in such a manner that one doesn’t feel as if we’re getting the “hard sell” or being beat over the head with the message.

I can guarantee that there has been at least one HHOF presentation that has spoken to you. If you’ve never watched one, you either don’t own a television or you live under a rock. This Sunday may be the day you can change that and tune in CBS.

In the midst of the chaos going on in Mumbai, everyone seems upset and angry. CNN reporter, Sara Sidner, finds herself caught in the melee:

So it’s 15 and counting as Top Chef starts this week.

Quickfire Challenge:  Hot dogs???  WTF? So the Quickfire is to go dog-to-dog with a professional NYC hot dog vendor to see who can create a great dog that surpasses the gold standard.  For me, I’m pretty much a hot dog purist, so most of these attempts to beat a dog with mustard wouldn’t…cut the mustard! (you can all groan now)

45 minutes for hot dogs?  Loved that Stefan was slammed as one of the worst!  Radhica:  an Indian with an Indian-spired hot dog as the winner?  How original.

Is it me, or did Jill just arrive on the scene?  I don’t remember her from the first show at all.  Given that lame attempt at her hot dog, I don’t believe we’ll see her for long.

Elimination Challenge: I love the concept of cooking a three-course meal for the people who didn’t even make the cut for the show.  There has to be some nasty comments out of that rejected crowd!

Some of the food seems pretty interesting, but overall, I’m bored tonight.  Let’s just keep weeding the weakest of the herd, get down to a handful of interesting chefs, and enjoy the fireworks and knife skills.  (I do realize that we have to wade through the early shows in order to become interested in the “interesting chefs”)

Pack your knives and go: Seeya, Jill.  Well, I called that one… the bad hot dog was the indicator.

OK, so I’m a schmuck for not getting a post in sooner. We had a little fundraiser over the weekend for our nonprofit, and between getting ready, throwing the party, and cleaning up, time just got away from me.

As it is Top Chef night, I thought I better get my thoughts down about season premiere last week.

There’s no real favorite yet, but I do have some thoughts and we might as well get the nasty comments out of the way first:

Brutal: Quickfire Challenge kicking someone out right off the bat!  Also, Richard slicing up the apples AND his thumb!  He finished off the challenge, but that was gross.

Hate ‘em: Stefan and Fabio (what a couple of pretentious… well… schmucks.  They can’t “pack their knives and go” soon enough for me!  Also, Jeff can go home, too!

Love ‘em: Richard (who could not love this big teddy bear of a man???), Jamie, and Gene!

Odd: Carla (and she should run out and get her thyroid checked!)

Not Sure: Ariane, Hosea, and Leah.  I think I may like them, but don’t carve that in stone.

The rest of the bunch, I’ve got no real opinion of them, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens tonight.

I do love the teaser with Padma spitting out someones cooking (“a Top Chef first…” or so says the announcer).  Tune in tonight and see who packs their knives.

Again, sorry for being away for so many days!

Short and sweet… The new season of Bravo’s Top Chef starts this Wednesday (11/12)! Time is 10PM/9PM (Central).

This season takes place in New York. Stop back by on Thursday and I’ll toss out my thoughts (and you can do the same)!