Thursday, December 2, 2010

Nice Beaver!

Good Afternoon Ladies & Gentlemen,

I’m over the cold now. Yippee!!! And just in time for another storm this weekend. It’s not supposed to be as epic as the last one but… you know how meteorologists are. Besides, the ladies love my Barry White voice… so no problems there. Also, some potentially Earth shattering news may be forthcoming (for those that I haven’t already discussed with) so tune in… I don’t know, tomorrow maybe. In the meantime, here’s the news…

RIP Leslie Nielsen – One of the greatest comedic straight-men in the history of cinema has passed away. Leslie Nielsen, star of “The Naked Gun” and “Airplane!” movies, as well as countless other spoofs… and dramatic roles in the likes of “Forbidden Planet” and “Poseidon Adventure”, was 80. I completely spaced the Naked Gun movies (and the TV series before its time “Police Squad”) when I was making my Guilty Pleasure Movie List the other day… but that’s probably because I don’t feel guilty about it. We’ll truly miss you… but will laugh at your legacy.

Neve Campbell’s SINGLE!!! – Somewhere in Idaho, The Mad Scientist is brushing up on his pickup lines (as am I, because she was on my Top 5 Hotties of the 90's list). The “Scream” star, 37, has quietly split from British actor John Light after three years of marriage, according to TMZ (so it has to be true). Citing irreconcilable differences, she secretly filed for divorce five months ago in Los Angeles County Superior Court. She asked that Light, 36, not receive spousal support. The two reportedly first met on the set of the 2001 indie, “Investigating Sex”. Engaged in 2006, they said "I do" the following year in Malibu. This is the actress' second divorce: She was previously wed to Canadian actor Jeff Colt. Campbell returns to the big screen in Scream 4, out April 15th… but that doesn’t matter right now, because she’s back on the market… and by my guess, probably looking for a good old fashioned American man… and I can be an actor if that would help… why not? Aren’t we all just actors on the big silver screen of Life? I guess what I’m trying to say is… holla!!!

Tallest Couple - Their height made Wayne and Laurie Hallquist seem like an ideal match when they met seven years ago, and on Thursday they were matched with something else -- the title of world's tallest living married couple. Guinness World Records bestowed that towering distinction to the Hallquists in a ceremony under the marquee at its Hollywood museum. The couple arrived in a white limousine, with Wayne sporting a tuxedo and Laurie in a white wedding dress. The Hallquists, who live in nearby Stockton, California, measure a combined 13 feet, 4 inches, or 407.4 centimeters, to be exact. He stands 6 feet 10.4 inches, she 6 feet 5.95 inches, the Guinness organization said. "It's a whole different perspective up here, and we can find each other quite easily in a crowd," Laurie told Reuters. "We can see several people going bald that might not know it at the moment," joked Wayne, 57, who works as a telephone company wire splicer (no ladder required). The Hallquists said that when they met at a church singles club in 2003, they could tell that others around them were sizing up a possible love affair because of their height. "She walked in, everyone looked at her, then they looked at me," Wayne said. But while Wayne said it was love at first sight for him, Laurie their first meeting came up short. "He talked about the size of my hands and feet, which is kind of a no-no," said Laurie, 46. "And then the second time we had a chance to talk, I figured out he was a really good guy." They have been married for seven years, but it took the Hallquists until this year to contact Guinness World Records. The couple said they were discouraged at first from making a play for world's tallest couple, because they read online that a man and a woman each standing over 7 feet had married in the 19th century. Only this year did they realize they could compete in another category: world's tallest living married couple. Guinness previously listed a couple in England -- Wilco and Keisha van Kleef-Bolton -- as the world's tallest couple at a combined height of 13 feet, 3 inches. The Hallquists knew they could beat that -- by an inch. So they contacted Guinness, and the organization had them measured by a doctor and a notary to make it official. Laurie, a former college basketball player who now works as a realtor, said she dated shorter men before Wayne (only a 99.9% chance of that), including one "kind of macho" guy who stood 5-foot-7. She described that pairing as "a little awkward" and said that she likes looking up to her husband -- at least physically. If recent history is any indication, the Hallquists may have a limited time to stand out. The van Kleef-Boltons were only named world's tallest couple last year, before the Hallquists stepped up to challenge them. "There may be people who are taller than the Hallquists, but unless we go out and can measure them, the Hallquists have the record all to themselves," said Guinness World Records adjudicator Stuart Claxton. Are you insanely tall? Do you know a girl you could marry who is also insanely tall? Well, come on down to Reno (or Vegas), get hitched, get measured, and get in The Book. I’m just saying… if you’re into that thing. I mean… Yao Ming would only have to marry a six-footer to get the title for the People’s Republic of China. Let’s keep it in America, ladies & gentlemen.

Picasso JACKPOT!!! – Painter Pablo Picasso was both hugely prolific and famously generous with his work, but was he enough of a free spirit to give hundreds of his early works -- an invaluable collection -- to his electrician? That question lies at the heart of a court case over the origin of 271 Picasso works -- a treasure trove of original sketches, paintings and collages that was unknown to the art world a few months ago and unveiled for the public on Monday. Experts have yet to appraise the full collection, which has been placed under lock and key after a judicial appeal by Picasso's heirs. But there is little dispute so far over its authenticity. The works, many of which belong to the artist's Blue and Cubist periods, could fetch more than 60 million euros (about $79 million) at auction. More mysterious is how such an extensive collection could have wound up in the hands of a retired electrician in the south of France who once worked for the Picasso family, or why he chose to hold onto it for so many decades (wait until the artist was dead, the market was up & the time was right, simple enough). "We have questions, legitimate questions about where the paintings came from," Claudia Andrieu, legal counsel for the Picasso Foundation, told Reuters Television. "We are discovering new pieces, completely unknown pieces that had never been printed in any book." The mystery began when Claude Picasso -- son of the artist and head of the foundation named after him -- received a letter from a man who said he owned original Picasso pieces and wanted to have them verified for authenticity. Picasso convinced the man to bring the collection to Paris, saying he would be unable to verify it from photographs. The man arrived by car with the paintings in a suitcase and laid them out on a table. "I felt a great surprise, naturally, lots of emotion at the discovery of pieces with which we were not familiar. But also a deep disturbance," he told French daily Liberation. "Many of these pieces were not dated, which means they never should have left the studio." The man in question was Pierre Le Guennec, an electrician in his seventies who worked on Picasso's property in the south of France during the 1970s. He told Reuters Television that Picasso's wife gave him the artworks. "It's Madame (Picasso) who gave them. But if Madame gave them, Monsieur was aware of it. She wasn't going to do it just like that, was she?" he said, speaking through a gate in front of his property. "What did you want me to do with them? ... They stayed in a box with other boxes that I have, from my job." Yet Picasso's heirs were not convinced. While the artist was known to dash out sketches on napkins at restaurants and make spontaneous gifts to friends, he would not have separated with such a large store of work, his son told Liberation. "It doesn't hold up, frankly," Picasso said. Andrieu of the Picasso Foundation said that Le Guennec had changed his story many times, first telling them he had received the paintings from Picasso himself, then Picasso's wife, and alternately in a box or a trash can (the guy is in his seventies). Questioned by the police, he said the paintings were given to him by Picasso's wife, who died in 1986. Le Guennec denied stealing the paintings and told RTL radio he decided to ask about their value as a possible inheritance for his children. Unwilling to risk losing the works, Picasso's heirs successfully appealed to a judge to have the works placed under lock and key, where experts can study and care for them. Among the works are nine extremely rare Cubist collages, a watercolor from Picasso's Blue period, several painted hand studies, some 30 lithographs and over 200 drawings, as well as portraits of the artist's first wife, Olga Khokhlova. "Mr. Picasso is only interested in the history of art," Andrieu said. "We got the pieces secured, and now it is for the judge to determine how the pieces were obtained." So was this guy an art thief? Just a nice guy who accepted priceless works of art for payment as an electrician? Was he bangin’ Picasso’s wife? Did he find them in a trash can? A bank vault? Did he draw them himself and just bare an extremely similar style to a master painter? I guess we’ll find out… or perhaps the mystery is forever sealed in the mind of man in his seventies who made a long prosperous career on getting electrocuted & being around electromagnetic fields. The world may never truly know… but seriously, if they’re really gifts… JACKPOT!!! $80 million in dirty twisted blue cubic pictures? Damn bro, your kids are SET!!!

Anyway, on that note, I think I’ll end this post on a high note. Again, some possible HUGE news coming tomorrow… but I’m gathering information first… because that’s how I do it. You know me. Also, Eagles are playing tonight against the Texans. You know, I like that Andre Johnson fought back against Cortland Finnegan… but I was kinda hoping he’d get suspended for a game too… but whatever. Have a great night everybody!!! (said in my sexy Barry White voice)

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