Whine & Cheese

DWTS6: Not That There's Anything Wrong With That Edition

No one can ever accuse Dancing With The Stars of not being a tad gay every now and then (ok, definitely more than "every now and then" and definitely more than a "tad")...

But it was "instant classic" status on this week's results show with regards to the musical act/professional group dance number!

Pretty much half drag show (sorry ladies, but it's meant as a compliment of sorts... really!), half leather daddy/S&M scene....

I think only Tony (far right, for you non-DWTS viewers) could qualify as a ummm... errrrr... dominant.... but probably wise for me to just shut up now and save it for my gay porn fan fiction blog.

Beside the gay appeal of the show, another reason I love DWTS is the cheese factor... something that host Tom Bergeron warmly embraces (making it even better)...

So the "outfits" were only the start... since it was for a group paso doble (!!)... to a live performance from... Def Leppard (!!!)... singing their classic hit... "Pour Some Sugar On Me" (!!!!!).   

Loved. It.

UPDATE:  Here's another shot of the guys (Louis, Mark, and Tony) in a "behind the scenes" photo that I just caught over at the DWTS site on ABC.com.

King Of Clay

Since the last one was in January, I am pretty overdue for a Rafael Nadal post.

Last week kicked off the European red clay court season in Monte Carlo... and as has largely been the case for the past few years... the top 2 clay court players in the world met in the final with the best clay court player taking the title... Rafael Nadal defeating Roger Federer.

Of course, I have some pictures to share...

The left pic had me amused me since, if the photographer is anything like me, he/she probably kept waving Rafa over until he head was under the Rolex "crown" on the backboard.... and the picture to the right, is Rafa doing his traditional "bite" on the trophy... and well umm, it just got my attention.

Janko Very Much

I usually don't for guys with tattoos...
... or piercings
... or goofy glasses
... or facial hair
... or that wear black socks with shorts
... or that wear breathe-right nose strips in public

But then there's tennis player Janko Tipsarevic...

The 23-year old is part of the current Serb surge in tennis ... that includes highly ranked players like Novak Djokovic, Ana Ivanovic, and Jelena Jankovic.... this "vic" is currently ranked in the low 40s, but will likely be moving up as today he plays a quarterfinal match in the Sony Ericsson Open, often dubbed the 5th Slam in the tennis world.  (Update:  Janko got crushed by Davydenko in today's match, 6-2 6-1... ah, the W&C curse rears its ugly head!)

It's hard to see in the above pix, but Janko dos have an eyebrow piercing and I believe his belly button is pierce as well... not sure about anything else!   In the 2nd and 5th pic, you can sort of see a tattoo on his left forearm that reads "beauty will save the world" ... a quote from one of his favorite authors, Fyodor Dostoevsky!  He also has a pretty extensive tattoo on his back.

Like I said, not a fan of many of the "parts"... but the "whole" is pretty darn good!

Orange You Glad

I could go ahead and do the classic "knock, knock" joke... but it's just more pix of Rafael Nadal from the Australian Open

There's no missing Rafa with his bright orange attire... and he's blinding his opponents with his tennis as well... advancing to the 4th Round with relative ease. 

I went against my heart (yeah, ummm... my heart!) and predicted that Andy Roddick would beat Rafa in the quarters (and ultimately advance onto the Oz Open final)... but the American lost a 5th set heartbreaker early this morning tonight in Melbourne... so while a lot can still happen, Rafa's path is looking considerably clearer.

Oh, alright.... orange you glad I didn't say banana?

A Call To Arms

We interrupt regular programming to bring you this special weather alert...

Melbourne, Australia:  Hot hot hot... with an 90% chance of sweat.

It's a new year and you know what that means... a trip Down Under for the start of the tennis season!

Now, it did take me one extra day this year to post the first pix of Rafael Nadal here on W&C. 

Such restraint!

The "rafael nadal shirtless" pix (here Google, Google... and for even more, scan through my other Rafa posts) are Rafa warming up for the Australian Open, which kicks off Monday (Sunday night, here in the States).

QT QBs

For some ungodly reason, I watched a lot of football over the past week or so.  Responsible for this odd phenomenon was a virtually non-existent backlog on TiVo and that there seemed to be a football game on every other frickin' channel!

But before you think I got all hetero on your ass, I spent a good deal of time making the predictable jokes about "tight ends" and gigglin' like a school girl each time a commentator used any form of the word "penetrate."

However, the majority of my energy was pondering whether quarterbacks were required to pass some kind of male beauty pageant before earning their... umm... position.

Let's look at some of what caught my eye by category...

History in the Making Edition: Two favorites on the gay blogosphere are Tom Brady and Brett Favre.  As mentioned, I don't follow football all that much... and while I could obviously see the reasons why he would be "popular" I didn't get the spontaneous orgasm appeal of Brady...  but okay,  I saw much of the history making Patriots-Giants perfect season game... and I get it.

And while I knew Favre was a hottie back in the day... but lately I've thought he's been looking old and scruffy... and not necessarily in the good way... more like, any minute now he'll be doing commercials for penis-centric health-related/drug commercials or arthritis medication (granted he's already pitching the prescription heartburn med Prilosec) kind of way.... but now I find out he's two years younger than me... so okay, he's hot... and I couldn't find a bad picture to prove my original point anyhow!

Hometown Arizona Cardinals Edition:  I never got on the Matt Leinart (right) bandwagon.  He came off as sort of a prima donna when he was miffed that worse teams than the AZ Cardinals (which is saying something) skipped over him at draft time... and while being BFF with Nick Lachey during his USC days earned him some point in my book, he lost them immediately thanks to "friendships" with a pair of hotel heiress sisters.  The "golden boy" (another strike against him) has spawned with someone else and had a season-ending injury in the first game (or one of the first games) of this past season.  But that's okay... since I have grown to appreciate Kurt Warner (left).  While I can understand the boy-ish charm of Leinart, Warner is definitely "all man"... and in the very best way.

All Manning Edition:  While there's certainly nothing wrong with Peyton (left)... after watching that above mentioned Patriots-Giants game, I have to say younger brother Eli is my pick in the eye-candy department. In researching this topic, I have learned that attractiveness is not directly correlated with ability and skill as a quarterback.  But is it really such a bad thing that Eli is the easier brother to sack?

Collegiate Edition:  When did college quarterbacks come with "ready to go" porno names?  Even in my wildest brainstorming sessions, I don't think I could have come up with John David Booty of USC (left) and Colt Brennan of Hawai'i (right).   These two were on opposite ends of Bowl routs yesterday.  Booty victorious in the Rose Bowl, while I think it would be "take a number" for those of us wishing to console Brennan after his first loss of the season at the Sugar Bowl.

Other Boyfriends

Just a quick note, to let you know that Todd arrived home safely.   Though we have yet to see much of each other since it was off to bed last night and we are both swamped with our own work thus far today... but it is still nice to be able to cross paths!

I am sure some of you didn't think it was a very warm welcome home to Todd that my sidebar of birthday studs features two guys that I refer to my "other boyfriend(s)"... but no worries, it is a bit of fun as we allow ourselves... what's the harm in having a few fantasy boyfriends!  Occasionally, we do have to share... and below are two guys that fit that bill.

Now, I don't know if I've ever purchased a copy of Men's Health... but I might just have to with the adorable John Krasinski on the cover... yeah, he'd definitely "strip away stress!"... but I would hope it wouldn't be "in 30 seconds or less!"

Next up, is Dave Annable ... aka Justin, the youngest legitimate Walker clan sibling on Brothers & Sisters... and this week recognized as one of this year's Sexiest Men Alive according to People magazine (or the publicists of the sexiest men).  I know Todd will like this one... he loves English Bulldogs, but I am not so sure he'll appreciate this one making the moves on the dunes.

Okay, I know we're not alone... so to my core W&C audience members... that'll be the ladies and my fellow gay guys... who are you (and, if applicable, your mate's) "other boyfriends."

Rafa-psody In Blue

After the verbosity of my earlier post, I'll cleanse the palette with some pictures of Rafael Nadal at the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup currently underway in Shanghai.

Rafa split his two opening round-robin matches at the TMC, so we won't know until tomorrow whether or not he makes it into the semifinals.  So, just in case, I figured I'd better post some pix before the holiday break... and then it starts all over again as the tennis world heads back Down Under for some sizzling summer-time tennis come January.

Crossing Jordan

Slightly misleading you, since this post is all about Bionic Woman and not that other NBC show the same name.  Bionic is still pretty much a mess (more about that below)... but what has made the last two episodes much more enjoyable is the addition of the dreamy Jordan Bridges as Jamie's new love interest, Tom Somebody, the CIA agent.   

I was disappointed when they killed off Jamie's surprisingly hot first boyfriend in the first episode, but if that loss was for the gain of Mr. Bridges... well, all is forgiven.

I had never heard of Jordan Bridges.  What to do?  Head over to IMDb and do a search, of course!  Mostly sporadic guest spots on network TV, a handful of Dawson's Creek episodes and, just last year, his first lead role in NBC's failed lawyer drama, Conviction.

If the pretty face isn't enough, I would have though he would have had more work just based on his name alone... a look at his personal info uncover that yes, he is a part of that Bridges family.... son of Beau Bridges... thus making him the nephew of Jeff and the grandson of Lloyd. 

Let's just hope he sticks around Bionic Woman since he's providing a nice distraction from a show that still need to get its act together.  I've read that there's been quite a bit of turnover behind the scenes, which has been pretty evident.  The whole transformation of Jamie into the the Bionic Woman was rushed through in the first episode and now, it's pretty much an "assignment" a week.  The whole "what is this secret/rogue organization" has taken a back seat and sadly Sarah Corvus, the first Bionic Woman (cheekily played by Katee Sackhoff), has gone A.W.O.L taking along with her own that sub-sub-secret/rogue sub-plot.  We'll see what happens... that is, if the Writers' Strike doesn't end up killing it first.

DWTS5: Eights Are Enough

It was the first "two dances each" night on Dancing With The Stars and the show seemed to suffer... dance-wise that is... with the writer's striker on, Tom and Samantha (Samantha Who?) had to ad-lib their lines (no wonder she didn't flub any... just the usual rambling)...

But back to the dancing, each couple seemed to have one not-so-great dance... which meant 8s and lots of them... 17 of them! but who's counting!

While I didn't think Mel & Maks' Rumba deserved a perfect score last week... their Paso Doble was incredible... and the dancing was pretty fantastic too.  I'm talking about the costumes... Maks in leather (grrrrr!)... heck, even Mel B's outfit made me taking a second (and third!) look. 

I would put a video link/embed, but I am getting frustrated with Y0u Tubes disappearing faster than you can say "energy-charged dominatrix"... but here are some screen-caps:

Maks is such a tool!  Of course, putting his Sabrina/Cheetah homage paw-print "tattoo" on his pec... and more than happy to show it off!

A look at the scores show that things are even closer than last week!  Only 1.3% separate the top and bottom couples... so anyone can go.

Mel & Maks 54 (17.3%)
Jennie & Derek 53 (17.0%)
Helio & Julianne 52 (16.7%)
Marie & Jonathan 52 (16.7%)
Cameron & Edyta 51 (16.3%)
Jane & Tony 50 (16.0%)

I am kinda rooting against Jane & Tony at this point.  Jane has turned into the crazy loon of the season, taking it waaaay too seriously and thinking she's now a dancer and that her sh&t don't stink.  And while she has had to deal with a good deal of real life stress this season (death, wildfire, "food poisoning"), it's all starting to feel like too much Dr. Quinn, Drama Queen. 

Plus Tony comes off as an arrogant ass at times... that said, I did happen to stumble across these photos... and arrogant or not... the chest and abs are pretty nice to look at... so in another DTWS edition of "Here Google, Google" (and boy howdy, Google finds you quick!)... I present:

Tony Dovolani Shirtless

Cheated Cheetah

I see the media/cyber-world is already inappropriately and overly outraged over last night's elimination on Dancing With The Stars.  Here at W&C, I would also like to have a moment of silence...

R.I.P.  Team Sabrina

Don't worry, I am not devastated.  Surprised?  Yes.  A little sad?  Okay, just a wee bit.  But this is a reality show and oddly enough my life appears to closely resemble what it was just 24 hours ago when I believed that Sabrina Duncan and her partner Mark Ballas would dance another day. 

While I wasn't aware of Sabrina before DWTS, I figured she was safe for awhile.  Besides being the best dancer... as a Cheetah Girl (apparently in the same popularity tornado realm of High School Musical and Hannah Montana ... which I know absolutely nothing about other than it's HUGE!), I figured she had a solid fan base... and one that would be more apt to vote.   

But I think it came down to the usual recipe for reality show "shocker":  a slightly "off" week, over-confidence that they would be safe, and folks rallying to save the bottom dwellers (Jane needing votes after last week's bottom 2 showing and the lowest score this week... and Marie still feeding off goodwill over the fainting spell, that is still being shown on a continuous loop).  Likewise, Sabrina may have been hurt if folks thought she had an unfair advantage as a singer/dancer (granted not "ballroom")... but still she lacked that "fish out of water" quality that folks love about this show.

For me, it still qualifies as the biggest pre-finale upset in DWTS history.  Sure there have been many couples who should have lasted longer over lesser competition, but I don't think there has ever been a couple I thought should have made it to the finale but didn't...

We will certainly miss Mark Ballas and admit to bit of school-girlboy crush. Lately, I have been referring to Mark as Todd's "other boyfriend"... a list that is somewhat lengthy, but tends to change frequently (in fact, today's "birthday stud" Dermot Mulroney is one of Todd's Hall Of Fame "other boyfriends"... no worries, I have my list too!).  Todd is going to miss the next two weeks of DWTS... in his own words, "there's no one good left" so the timing worked out pretty well.

Before we say goodbye for now (let's hope Mark will be back for future DWTS seasons), I did stumble on some Mark Ballas Shirtless (here google, google) pix.   Granted they are a bit Tiger/Teen Beat... but what the heck, he's of legal age so I'm posting 'em!

Maks Makes Me Want To (Hand) Jive

Ok, enough of the helping my fellow man... back to the "cheese"!

It was another great night of dancing on Dancing With the "Stars" on Monday.  But somehow I think the night is most remembered (especially for the ladies and us gay folk) for the jive as performed by the Spice Girl Mel B and her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy.  All the judges scored it a 9 making it the top dance of the night (along with two other couples)... but I still can't tell you much about it.

A shirt can be so pesky while trying to do the jive.

Maks does "button up" for the judges' comments.

But the real fun begins backstage...

Drew Lachey (whose co-host fill-in stint sadly came to end this week thanks to the bumbling Samantha "Don't Take My Job" Harris returns three weeks after giving birth) comically said to Maks something along the lines of...

"The stage manager told us they are looking for your shirt, because they know how uncomfortable you are without a shirt on.'   

Without missing a cue, Maks ditched the vest.

Always the ad-libber, when Drew tossed it back to host Tom Bergeron he said of Maks "We know they're not looking for his ego."

A few more of my over-eager screen-capping session of Maksim Chmerkovskiy Shirtless are available "after the jump"... 

Frisky Friday

... continues!  As does the letter "f" alliteration.

In this afternoon's entry, I'm leading you to a program on The History Channel. 

Yes, you read correctly.

Granted Todd is more of the history buff in the house, but this week's TV Guide had a blurb (and more importantly a photo) that tipped me off to this show Human Weapon (Friday nights at 10p, check your local listings).

I have absolutely no idea what it's all about, nor do I care... why?

Allow me introduce you to one the hosts... Jason Chambers

Mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce... wooooooo!

This certainly ain't your daddy's History Channel... though, oddly enough, the eternal question of "who's your daddy?" does come to mind...

...and at least Jason won't have to change his name if he decides to go into gay porn... haha!  (Great, I can just imagine the search hits I'm gonna get now!)

Okay, here's the description of the show:

The ultimate search of a Human Weapon, Each episode of HUMAN WEAPON charts an expedition through foreign continents, famous cities, exotic villages, back alleys and lush landscapes with hosts Jason Chambers – mixed-martial-artist and professional fighter – and Bill Duff – former professional football player and wrestler, who will learn how each individual location gave birth to its distinct form of combat and will study their form of martial art.

Hmmmm.... sounds like it may even be a bit educational... guess I'll still give it a shot!

Frothy Federer

Todd becomes a tennis widower The U.S. Open starts Monday... while 127 out of 128 chances seem like pretty darn good odds... if you are gambling on the men's field this year, my guess is that you would make more $$$ placing a bet on "the field" rather than Roger Federer.

A cyber hat-tip to Kenneth for alerting me to Roger's "ambassador" status with Jura-Capresso, a Swiss company that makes "the finest super automatic coffee and espresso centers." 

Here are the four tennis-themed print campaigns (available for closer inspection here).

Now, Kenneth thought it a bit ridiculous the image of Roger serving up a couple of cappuccinos...

... but I will shamelessly admit to finding the ads to be quite dreamy... ok, even sexy.

Now what this says about me... fantasizing about Roger Federer and premium coffee beverages (not necessarily in that order)... that I will leave up to you, my dear readers.    

Who Wears Short Shorts

Wimbledon starts Monday...

... and here's a pic of Rafael Nadal competing in a warm-up exhibition match today...

Is Rafa going to dare to show us (gasp!) some knee at the conservative All England Club?

... and fans of other Spanish male tennis players... you might want to head back to my Tommy Robredo post.  I just stumbled upon a larger version of the picture that ever so nicely shows off his backhand!

Emphasis on "See Me"

Thank to my friend Beth for directing me to this photo!

Yowza!  Tommy we can see you ... and I won't get into the "feel me, touch me, heal me" part just right now.

Not that many of you may care, but the guy in the photograph is Top 10 ranked tennis player Tommy Robredo.

This very nice display of his backside backhand is from the July issue of the UK edition of Cosmopolitan magazine.

...and all for a good cause to boot... it is part of an Everyman Male Cancer Campaign, which raises awareness of, and funds research into, testicular and prostate cancer. 

And yes, I think it will do a good job raising awareness... wink, wink.

The Spaniard is quoted saying: "When Cosmo first asked me to get naked, I thought 'No Way!'  But when I heard it was for charity I was like 'Okay, it's for a good reason.' "

Well, good enough reason for me too... and I know my other half will like it too, this is one tennis player he tends to pay attention to! ;-)   

Apologies for the size of the picture, its the only one I could find... but I have a feeling this one may start circulating around.

UPDATE (6/22/07): No surprise, I managed to stumble onto a larger version of that pic... so CLICK HERE and it pop up! ;-)

Stop, Drop, and...

... ROLL !?!!

At least we can take some comfort in knowing that the 3-time French Open champion, Rafael Nadal, would know what to do in case he caught on fire and...

Much like his fetish tradition of biting down on his trophy, this form of celebration seems to be part of his repertoire... over and over again!   No complaints here.

Harry Hotter

No worries, this isn't another post about last week's much over-blogged about pix of the revealing stage debut of a certain wizard playing actor... nope, this is something a tad less dangerously age inappropriate (okay okay, so I have kinda sorta dipped into near jailbait territory before... Rafa can you hear me?!).

Anyhow!  Is it just me or is Harry Connick Jr looking especially dreamy on the cover of his latest CD - Oh, My Nola ?!   Oh my indeed!

Or, in the immortal words of Little Richard...
Mashed potatoes! Gravy!  And Cranberry Sauce... Woooooooo!

Josh Du-Ha-Swell

Work is being kind of a bitch today. I don't think I have a coherent post in me and even I did I fear it wold be too grumpy even for a blog called Whine & Cheese.

The fall back?  Eye candy, of course.  Admittedly, I am feeling a bit defensive since I have to restore the integrity of my blog.  On a recent post where I offered up my favorite Deal or No Deal ladies, I had a comment from Scott (not my two "usual" Scotts!) saying all the lovely gals on my page made him wonder what team I really played for.  Spit-take and my other half thanks you for the chuckle.  So nevertheless I feel the need to get back on track... no need to be throwin' around that "s

I watch NBC's Las Vegas for at least one reason: to sit doe-eyed in front of my television screen and watch Josh Duhamel.  Well, on last week's episode ("Wagers of Sin"), there was one scene that was more "deer in the headlights!"

Now on Vegas, it's usually the ladies that are teasing away. I am still waiting for the episode where one of Nikki Cox's boobs does pop out... but this time Josh was providing the humps.   

Anyhow in this very hard-hitting episode, Danny McCoy (Josh) has to go "undercover" to catch a room-key stealing ring... so naturally he does this out by the Montecito swimming pool.  Initially, he is in some conservative board shorts, but strips 'em off to this:

In the immortal words of Wayne & Garth... sccchwwing!

(Oh, these photos have been all over blog-land... so I am going to be a bad boy and not give credit...  and to tell you the truth, I kind of forgot where I saw 'em first!).

Of course, if a static image is not enough.. the scene is on YouTube (of course!):

tags:  josh duhamel

The Heat is (Back) On

Good news... the heat is back on in the house!

Now, I have to admit I felt pretty stupid about yesterday's post after watching the national news last night.  They had reports all about the big Midwestern winter storms... with tons of people losing power, deaths, injuries, people going to shelters, etc... and here I was merely sitting in somewhat chilly house drinking a vanilla-caramel Keurig coffee and watching the Golden Globe Awards.  Whoops!

Just keep in mind this blog is Whine & Cheese, so I do have a free pass for a "woe is me" post every so often!

So, one half of the house did not have any problem at all!   Silly me!  Apparently when it gets really cold outside, your heat doesn't work as well.  I know, common sense... right?!?

On the side of the house, where we really did not have anything happening... the culprit was a busted capacitator that was preventing the blower/fan from starting inside the house.

Total cost... $174.   Unbelievable. I figured the labor alone would be more than that!

However, the technician said that we should probably think about replacing our two heating/AC units.  I asked them what their typical life span was and he said 10-12 years.  The age of our units: apparently 12 years.  And how much do those run?   Umm.... around $4,000 each!    Yikes, but we'll just think about that another day (and hope that this one doesn't bit us on the butt).

Anyhow, speaking of heat (translation: any excuse to post the picture below).... it is mighty hot down in Australia.  The first Grand Slam of the tennis season, the Australian Open, started on Monday and temperatures in Melbourne are over 100 degrees... as you can see, my own personal space heater, Rafa Nadal, got a bit schweaty:

And speaking of Aussies and weather, another segue to one of my new blog finds (something that has been sorely lacking of late!)... Craig at Outside the Box.  Craig recently stumbled on this blog and quite nicely left a few comments.  I have since been checking out his blog (the have yet to break my commenter shyness).  An Aussie transplant now living in the Pacific Northwest, Craig is discovering all fun things about life in the U.S. and the joys of a Northern hemisphere winter and new stuff like snow!   

Tennis: Balls & Groin Pulls

To counteract my book-related post from earlier today, thought I'd share a couple of borrowed photos.

Over the holidays, this Wimbledon streaker suddenly showed up.  A bit strange since Wimbledon is in the middle of the summer... but I am guessing it was thought to be one of the "pictures of the year" (not a good thing for tennis, when there's not a tennis player in the frame!).  I generally don't post nudity here on W&C, but while this is a bit balls-y... no kibbles & bit is showing, so I figured what the heck!   If a co-worker is looking over your shoulder right now... my sincere apologies!

I think it's a pretty cool and fun picture, and actually pretty artistic... the "pose" and the timing of the photographer to catch it while it was PG-13.  If my memory serves me correctly, this "show" was during the Maria Sharapova and Amelie Mauresmo semifinal.  Usually these streakers are not the most attractive gents out there, but this guy looks to be in fairly decent shape.

And, in case you haven't noticed, the 2007 tennis season is already underway Down Under. 

Here is a little montage of what W&C mascot, Rafael Nadal, is looking like these days...

Yep, it looks like he totally slacked off on the workouts over the holidays!  Not. 

Anyhow, not good news today for Rafa.  After reaching the semifinals of his first tournament of the year, he had to pull out of his first round match in Sydney with a groin pull.  Hopefully, a few days rest will be good enough to get him in gear for the first Grand Slam of the year, the Australian Open starting on Monday.

Now... to enjoy avoid a groin pull of my own.

Federer Strikes A Pose

First off... Happy Thanksgiving!   There will be an Express Lane "update" posted sometime over the long weekend, but otherwise I'll be kicking back... likely recovering from a overeating, wine-induced haze.

Last week, Roger Federer capped off another remarkable year by capturing the season-ending Tennis Masters Cup.  We'll take a look at his 2006 accomplishments in a bit...

But first, a little eye candy.  Now, while the #1 tennis player may not be a drop-your-jaw "hunk"... there is still something quite appealing about him... People Magazine agreed, including him the latest edition of their "Sexiest Man Alive" issue... but, today I am borrowing sharing these pix from Roger's recent spread in Vogue. I think it really shows off his classic (and classy) good looks.

... and just not another handsome face... here are some of his 2006 on-court accomplishments...

• First player to earn $8 million in prize money in one season
• Most ever ranking points in a season (8,370 ... some perspective, #2 ranked Rafael Nadal has 4,470 points, #3 ranked Nikolay Davydenko has 2,825 points).
• Has already ensured himself of breaking Jimmy Connor's record of 160 consecutive weeks at #1 next February
• First man to win 10 or more titles in three consecutive years
• First man in 11 years to win 12 titles in one season
• First man in 24 years to win 90 or more matches in one season (92-5, 2006 w/l record)
• First man to ever reach 6 consecutive Grand Slam finals
• First man in 37 years to reach all 4 Grand Slam finals in one season
• Only second man to ever win 3 Grand Slam titles in two different seasons
• First man ever to win both Wimbledon-US Open three years in a row
• Extended the all-time win streak on grass to 48 matches (last loss on grass was in 2002)
• Since the beginning of 2004, has compiled a 246-15 win/loss record.

Pretty amazing!

tags:  roger federer

Happy Birthday Birthday Studs!

If you look over to the sidebar (and it's Oct 12th), you'll see that Hugh Jackman and Carlos Bernard are celebrating their birthdays today... so what's so special about that?

Well, they were the inaugural birthday studs on W&C one year ago.  Hard to believe it has lasted a year... as I regularly say, I'm surprised this blog lasted a year... and we're in Year 4. 

Honestly it hasn't been too much of a chore to search for pictures of some of my favorite famous folk on their special day.  And with the one-year cycle over, the semi-hard work of tracking down all those birth dates is a thing of the past.  I will always be looking for new honorees... right now I have at least one celebrant for around 60% of the 365 days of the year.  Don't worry, I don't plan on re-treading all the pix on the second go-round... for instance, Mr. Jackman's pic is "new"... do you like the replacement?

This all started when I grew tired of my Fine Wine feature... this was a "main" blog feature where I highlighted some hot guy who had a new movie/tv show or was newsworthy.  While that FW category is still alive and kicking, I wasn't getting the turnover I wanted... so Birthday Studs seemed like a good way to get some new eye candy on a regular (and often daily) basis... and not to be totally shallow and sexist, I even expanded the showcase to include the ladies. 

So in honor of the one year anniversary of Birthday Studs I decided to do a "Men of The Year" re-cap.  I grabbed a stud a month (sorry, the ladies were excluded this time around).  Some months the selection was definitely more difficult than others... but I think I did a pretty good job.

Mr. January:  Big Brother's Will Kirby (Jan 2 - 33 years old)
Mr. February: A blast from the past, Melrose Place's Andrew Shue (Feb 20 - 39)
Mr. March: Rocker Jon Bon Jovi (Mar 2 - 44)
Mr. April: From Six Feet Under (and the upcoming season of 24), Eric Balfour (Apr 24 - 29)
Mr. May: Latin crooner Enrique Iglesias (May 8 - 31)
Mr. June: Diver Alexandre Despatie (Jun 8 - 21)
Mr. July: Lost's Matthew Fox (Jul 14 - 40)
Mr. August: Silver screen hunk Eric Bana (Aug 9 - 38)
Mr. September: Mr. Reese Witherspoon, Ryan Phillippe (Sep 10 - 32)
Mr. October: My other half's other boyfriend, Dermot Mulroney (Oct 31 - 43)
Mr. November: My other boyfriend, Josh Duhamel (Nov 14 - 34)
Mr. December: I'm tired of him, but he's still hot... Brad Pitt (Dec 18 - 43)

Here's to another stud-filled year!

Blow A Gasquet

Ok... so when you are a little light on blog topics...  always safe to use pretty boys as a fall back... right?

So I'm watching some of the Rogers Cup tennis tournament up in Toronto this afternoon... the featured afternoon match is James Blake vs. Richard Gasquet.  The American Blake, now the #5 ranked player in the world, was the easy odds-on favorite going into the match... so what happens?

The Frenchman wins the match 6-4, 6-3... though Richard (oh, if you're practicing your French that's... Ree-shard Gas-kay) should have won the second set in far more impressive fashion...

But on a purely surface level and throwing away any blind patriotism for Blake, I don't have a problem with the 20-year old Frenchman sticking around for another round.  As they say in France (or likely don't!)... ooo la la!   And besides, once I got that "punny" blog post title in my head I couldn't let it go... (though the "bonus"/naughty double entendre didn't initially hit me... honest!  I know... bad, bad boy).

Now don't get me wrong, James is a hot guy.  Blake, being the wonderful guy he is, shaved his head for charity a couple of years back... but I still find myself pining for his former dreadlock days.  Not that I am a big fan of dreads (I don't think it quite works as well for his brother Thomas, who still sports a full head of hair)... but James worked all that hair just right.   

So any dissenting, pro-bald opinions out there with regards to Mr. Blake?

tags:  james blake, richard gasquet

Rafa: Sex Sells

A shoutout to Towleroad for the tip-off to these pix (he has a few more shots, so click on over when you're done here) from Rafael Nadal's latest Nike campaign....

Ummm... talk about your morning wake-up call!  This certainly worked a whole better than my first cup of coffee!

Rafael is back in action this week playing at the Rogers Cup up at Toronto.  Nadal is the defending champ... and all eyes are already on yet another meeting with #1 Roger Federer in the finals... but there are a few more matches to go (both players have their 1st round matches today)... neither man has played since Wimbledon. 

To see a video ad of Rafa from this shoot... head on over to Nike Pro... the highlight being a artsy kind of shot of the Spaniard putting on one his trademark (and very tight) sleeveless shirt.

For more Rafa... just click my Rafael Nadal Category listing.

Tags:nike, rafa, rafael nadal

Fall Fresh Meat

This headline over at TVGuide.com definitely caught my eye... Lost, Housewives Up the Hottie Factor.

So I had to do a little investigating of my own, and ... let me say... ahem!... I approve!

To the left, meet Rodrigo Santoro... dubbed the "Brazilian Tom Cruise" (or the "Brazilian Tom Hanks" depending on what article you read)...  Senor Santoro will be joining the cast of Lost as... c'mon, you expect a straight answer?   A "mystery role."

To the right, we have Josh Henderson... who will be joining the ladies on Wisteria Lane as Edie's "sexy, bad-boy nephew"... hmmm!

Rafael Nadal Shirtless

Bad News
Rafael Nadal had to retire with a shoulder ailment in his quarterfinal grass-court match (vs. Lleyton Hewitt) at the Stella Artois Championships at Queen's Club today.

Good News
We finally get some quality shots for the long overdue and eagerly anticipated...
Rafael Nadal Shirtless post!

Now... ahem... you'll have to excuse me... Enjoy!

Bobb(y)-ing For Bachelors

People Magazine has come out with their list of hottest bachelors... of course, this is not to be confused with the annual Sexiest Man Alive jamboree...

But it is still, for the most part, a beefcake parade.   Of the 13 single men featured on the magazines' website, there is the predictable and uninspired... Nick, Jake, Matthew... no last names necessary...

The usual round of quota filling by ethnicity... African American (an admittedly nice shout-out to Scrubs' Donald Faison), Asian (CSI's Archie Kao), Hispanic (24 year old golfer Camilo Villegas)... then its more Gilligan's Island-like casting ... the "older" guy (44 year old Jon Tenney from The Closer, but more infamously Teri Hatcher's ex-hubby), the young hunk (Chris Evans), and the country music superstar (Kenny Chesney).  This list is rounded out by dispropotionate amount of Idol-rific nods... Taylor Hicks (million dollar recording contract = hot), Ace Young (hanging onto minute 14), and host Ryan Seacrest.

But the very nice and surprise inclusion was Bobby Deen...

I have professed my love before for Paula Deen, the southern sweetie from Food Network's Paula's Home Cooking,  but it is always a special little hunky treat when her sons, Jamie & Bobby, make an appearance on the show.  And the Food Network ain't no dummies.  This summer, the Deen Boys get their very own show, Road Tasted...  and you know we'll be setting our TiVos for that!

UPDATE:  Road Tasted premieres on Tuesday, July 11th at 10pm EST... here is a link to the show's website (not much there right now)

Hawaiian Hunks

Don't you just hate when you're taking a picture and someone walks right in front of your shot?!?

Well, in this age of digital cameras, I guess it is not much of an issue... instantaneously you know whether you "got the shot."  Likewise, you can click away freely without worrying about running out of film... ah, technology!

So here I am tyring to get a nice picture of the ocean or the beach... and gosh-darnit look what happens!

Ok, I was a naughty boy...  it was a little nerve-wracking and a little exhilarating to capture (discreetly!)  some of the "scenery" on the beaches of Hawaii.  Thanks goodness for a zoom lens... and "faking" that you are looking through the pictures on your viewfinder (like I could see anything in that tiny screen in bright sunshine!).  There were a few more pix, but unfortunately they didn't quite come out... especially a D.I.L.F or two!   I guess some things are just meant to remain in the memory bank.

And, no... I didn't have the balls (figuratively speaking, of course!) to take any pictures at Little Beach... and besides, even I know that would have been totally not cool (well, there is a pic or two... but you ain't seeing those!)... but hopefully above photo montage doesn't cross the line too badly (we were in public, right?!). I was just admiring their swimsuits and fitness level!  They should be proud!

Finally, thanks to those who responded to my whine beg request in the previous post for some attention comments... always nice to hear from some of my "regulars" and know that you are still out there.   A guy can have a little bout of insecurity every now and then, right?!

Birthday Studs: Vacation Final Edition

We should be back (unless we decided to just stay in Hawaii)... but before we get back to every day blogging, here's one more round of W&C birthday stud(s) celebrations...

From left to right:

May 30:  How many years (decades!) have we been lusting over Ted McGinley (48)?  Happy Days, Love Boat, Dynasty, Married With Children, Sports Night... and most recently in the newly cancelled Hope & Faith... Ted is still looking mighty fine!!

May 31:  I'm sorry to tell you... you're 39!  Yes, the Philiminator, Phil Koeghan (and yours truly) are both in our final year of the 30s in this amazing race we call life!

May 31:  This summer, our TV screens will be a far less happy place without Debbie Novotny from Queer as Folk ... the woman who brought her to life, Sharon Gless, turns 63.

Birthday Studs: Vacation Edition II

Another round of W&C birthday stud(s) celebrations...

From left to right:

May 27:  Ah, Shakespeare in Love and the ever so lovely Joseph Fiennes (36)... haven't really seen much of him since... but this picture makes me think I should start looking around some more.

May 28: One of our household favorites, Gladys Knight (62).  It was such a thrill to have a front row table during her Vegas gig at the Flamingo... she literally sang right to us a few times.  C'mon Vegas... Gladys deserves to be somewhee!

May 28:  You loved him in HBO's Angels in America... but you are missing a nice treat if you haven't caught Justin Kirk (37) as Mary Louise Parker's brother-in-law in the Showtime comedy Weeds.

May 29:  It is an out and proud birthday today for gay trail-blazers Rupert Everett (45) and Melissa Etheridge (47).  We are looking forward to seeing Melissa in concert (again!) later this summer!

Birthday Studs: Vacation Edition I

Since I can't celebrate the W&C birthday stud(s) of the day as we go along... figured I'd do a couple of quick shout-outs in groups while we're away...

From left to right:

May 18:  Belated birthday greetings to Jack Johnson (31) and Matt Long (26).  There is just something really hunky about Jack... that gruff/rugged surfer type... maybe in Hawaii we'll see some guys like that... or else we'll just be sitting, waiting, and wishing!   While Matt is one of our faves from last season's WB series Jack & Bobby... the series didn't make it, but let's hope Mr. Long gets back on the airwaves soon!

May 20:  Do you believe... Cher is 60!?!   But there's no stopping the one-name wonder... it's official she will take over Caesars Palace when fellow gay-con Celine Dion leaves town in 2008.

May 23:  Another double.... first up is Eric Nies (35), who as a member of the first ever MTV's The Real World likely qualifies him as the first reality television hunk.  Next up, is the original (disputed?) winner of Dancing With The Stars, Kelly Monaco (30).  You can still see Kelly in the daytime on General Hospital.

Rafa Roma '06

Rafael Nadal has returned to the men's tennis tour with a vengeance!

After missing the first Grand Slam of the season due to an ankle injury, Nadal has won 3 titles and posted a 25-3 win/loss record... more impressively he has handed the virtually undefeatable and #1 player in the world, Roger Federer, his only 2 losses thus far this season (against 36 match victories). 

With his quarterfinal victory today at the Tennis Master Series Rome, Nadal also extended his win streak on clay... which now stands at 51 matches (and dates back to April 2005). If he wins Rome, the Spaniard will tie the nearly 20-year old all-time record of consecutive wins on clay set by Guillermo Vilas.

But who am I kidding with all these stats... I just wanted to leave you with some eye candy for the weekend!

Big thanks to an AP photographer for making the wise decision to not take a cigarette break during a changeover... we finally have the ever elusive photo of Nadal changing his shirt.  Not ideal shirtlessness, but I'll take it!

You Sexy Thing! 3: Jack Off Edition

Yes, another round of TV Guide's You Sexy Thing!  (That link will always take you to the latest YST poll, not necessarily this one)

And yes, this time around it's a Jack-Off!

Aww, get your mind out of the gutter... it's Bauer vs. Shephard... 24 vs. Lost....

Kinda like last time, there is not much (any!) debate about this one for me...

They are the lead sin two of my favorite shows, but as far as YST goes... its Matthew Foxy Fox all the way... though I guess Kiefer would work for the 5% 2% of the time... for those whole dominant / submissive "I've got the nerve gas, and how do you plan on getting it out of me" role-play moods.

Fox is currently beating out Sutherland with 70% of the vote... so the race is not that close in America's eyes either... any Kiefer supporters out there?

Nick Bares His... Soul

I have been getting a ton of Nick Lachey hits lately... mostly for shirtless shots... which, btw, can be found here and here.

But I think the increased hits has more to do with the extra press the former Newlywed-der is getting for his soul-bearing, heart-breaking personal "tell all" account of his break-up with Jessica Simpson... and, oh... if that wasn't enough, Nick obliges with another shirtless pose for the Rolling Stone piece as well...

In my opinion, Nick has become the most sympathetic figure in celebrity split-dom in recent memory... amazingly even eclipsing Jennifer Aniston...  who didn't look like she would be relinquishing the world title of "Most Offered Shoulder To Cry On."

But, Nick is certainly winning the PR battle in this one whether he intends to or not... not that I have any true basis to believe it, but he strikes me as a very sincere person, a genuinely nice guy... however, the cynic in me thinks that all this may all be the shrewdest move since Ms. Simpson played the "dumb" card.

Here are some cherry-picked quotes from the RS interview:

On the split not being a mutual decision:
"I'll tell you how I knew my marriage was over... I was told."

"I never wanted to be a divorce. I wanted us to be happy. I guess we differed on strategy.  It breaks my heart that I couldn't make Jessica happy. I wanted to be everything to my wife. I wanted her to look at me with love in her eyes, the way she did at the beginning, and have her feel like I was the most wonderful, awe-inspiring man on the planet. And when that stopped, it was the worst feeling in the world."

Dr. Phil Intervention time:
He wipes his face, eyes to nose to chin. "I'd marry her all over again," he says softly. "Because I still love her. It would be a lot easier to walk away if I didn't."

On meeting one of Jess' alleged lovers (and the not so comforting answer):
"Adam (Levine of Maroon 5) and I were in a club not long ago and he came over to me to clear the air," says Lachey. "It was a two-minute conversation. He said to me: 'Nothing happened while you guys were married.'

He looked me in the eyes and said that, so I chose to believe him. "Maybe it's naive of me," Lachey continues. "But I believe what comes out of people's mouths when they talk to me. Maybe I'm an idiot. But that's what I do."

On marriage counseling:
"On the day she filed for divorce, I drove to her parents' house and tried to change her mind. I had done the research and I had the number of the best marriage counselor in town. I thought we owed it to ourselves to try with a third party. You get to a point where there is so much animosity you can't hear each other. But she didn't want to go."

On his reported request for alimony:
"I haven't requested alimony at all," Lachey says adamantly. "I have no intention of filing for spousal support. And I've been clear with Jessica about not wanting it."

The full story is here: Nick Lachey: King of Pain.

Googlemania: Bradley Cooper Shirtless II

... or You Give Me Fever... in the right way.

I have been getting quite a few search hits for Bradley Cooper these days...

I am guessing it is the buzz from his role in the Broadway play, Three Days of Rain, opening tomorrow... though his female co-star making her Broadway debut seems to be getting all the press (Julia Roberts?  Anyone, anyone?).

Just last week, I stumbled across this picture of Brad... it is a fairly recent pic (though the text mentions his not so long ago cancelled series Kitchen Confidential)...and, heck  it was just too adorable not to post!

So to assist in my Google search hits:
Bradley Cooper shirtless
Bradley Cooper in a bathtub
Bradley Cooper bare feet (fetish alert!)

For my first round of BC Shirtless... click here.

You Sexy Thing! 2

My plan was to have You Sexy Thing! be a semi-regular feature here at W&C. 

TVGuide.com started this little feature back in November 2005.  I featured that first pairing... the tantalizing face-off of Jason Lewis vs. Josh Holloway.  But then TVG pretty much dropped the ball... not updating the poll for weeks at a time... or worse yet, having the combatants be <gasp!> of the female persuasion.

Three+ months later, they are back with another gut-wrenching dilemma (though I suspect the area being wrenched is a bit south of the gut)...

Duhamel is the star of NBC's Las Vegas, while O'Donnell continues to search for success on the small screen and hopes to do that with an upcoming guest-stint on Grey's Anatomy.

So while O'Donnell certainly made me momentarily go "hmm" (especially in my featured pic)... if you have been a W&C reader for any length of time, you know my vote squarely goes to... Josh Duhamel!

And my fellow voters seem to agree... Duhamel is currently dominating with 79% of the vote.

Fit To Be Thai-ed

Or is it just a very fit Thai?!

Thailand's Paradorn Srichaphan has reached the semifinals of The Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells... by far his best result in some time.  Although he has been ranked as high as #9 (in 2003), he entered the tournament came into the tournament at pretty lowly #61.

Perhaps, it is an increased fitness level... given his shirt choice, it certainly appears "P-dorn" has no qualms sharing his upper body strength with the rest of us... though his victory celebration is certainly pretty atypical.

Googlemania: TAR9 Eric & Jeremy Shirtless

In preparation for tonight's new episode of The Amazing Race, last night had to catch Todd up on the two-hour premiere that he missed while he was away on his business trip.

While re-watching the opening sequence where we were introduced to the teams... I decided I must face the very grim task of creating some screen-caps of Eric & Jeremy as they cavorted on the beach and basketball court without shirts.  The things I do for this blog!

... and for Googlers too!  This lack of modesty from these Floridians (Can you blame 'em? If I looked like that someone would have to explain to me the whole "shirt" concept thingy!) generated some buzz on my search hits last week, too.

So without further ado, I present my montage of:

The Amazing Race 9 Eric & Jeremy Shirtless

(more stuff after the pix...)

Thanks to "J" in the comments for alerting me to some more non-TAR pics of this duo (click the link to "pop-up" the picture)... first we have the two of them just standing around in their underwear for some reason and also pretty yummy pic of Jeremy (I'm thinking he must work out).

Fine Wine: Eric Bana

A special bonus post today!

Find myself with some extra time this evening. Todd is on a quite unexpected (even for him!) business trip.  He came home for lunch, packed his bags and is headed to Texas as I type... he'll be back late tomorrow night.  But my loneliness is your gain!

Yesterday, in the sidebar, I was bemoaning that there has been a lot of buzz about the March 2006 Vanity Fair Hollywood Issue -- but all of it was all about the cover -- with two young actresses "baring all" -- but what I really wanted to see was the Eric Bana photo!   And, to no real surprise, it didn't take all that long to hit the Web.

It was hard not to have a thing for him after seeing the 37-year old Australian in Munich.  So while he is a bit more shy/modest than the ladies on the cover ... I still find this shot of Hollywood's "man's man" to be quite sexy!

Click on the pic... to make it larger!

Special thanks 'doubi dou' via Just Jared for the pic, this and many of the other photos from the issue can be found on his blog here.

I hear Bana wasn't thrilled with this shot... and likely not too happy to be floating around a pool in weighed down by a water-logged robe ... but I am sure Bana fans will be pretty pleased!

Google alert:
Eric Bana Vanity Fair
Eric Bana speedo

Zimmerman: Part Deux

Olympics, what Olympics?

We're still too busy still ogling John Zimmerman on Skating With Celebrities:

I was thinking I was over-doing it just a bit with John... but I got Todd to watch the past couple SwC episodes and he agreed that my admiration for Zim was not without merit. 

Again, many thanks to his "celeb" partner, Jillian Barberie, for being good enough to keep John in the competition... particularly this week, where we had this "Best Supporting Performance By A Sleeveless Shirt and Tight Jeans" award winner!

In the first W&C tribute to John,  I mentioned that I could not find any risque-ier pix of Zimmerman.  Well, I finally stumbled upon some. 

I certainly remember John appearing on an episode of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy a little while back (like he needed help?!).  Often on QE, there are gratuitous shirtless and underwear shots... thankfully, this episode it was no exception. 

I was surprised that I couldn't find any screencaps last week... but thanks to his appearance on SwC, they have surfaced!  Remind me in my next life to come back as Carson Kressley (well, on second thought, scratch that).

Google alert:
John Zimmerman shirtless
John Zimmerman underwear
John Zimmerman briefs

Click on the images, for a bigger & better view!

 

See also:
W&C Part One: Ice Ice Baby

Ice Ice Baby

Just in case you thought I was dropping the reality television ball... have no fear, I have been watching Skating With Celebrities on Fox.   After falling behind, I have finally caught up on all the episodes...

And let me say I am in love lust have renewed my admiration for...

No, no, no... not Jillian Booberie (though I admit, by a mile, this is her most tolerable television appearance ever!)... but for her professional parter, John Zimmerman.  Now, I usually don't go for redheads, but as you can see, it is quite wise to never to say never.  I remember John from his amateur and Olympic days... and he is still looking mighty fine at age 32.  Unfortunately for those of you looking for more risque shots (myself included), good luck finding them!  The best I could come up with was the see-thru shirt and the open shirt modeling shot.

Surprisingly enough, the show is not the train wreck (literally or figuratively) that I expected.  Not that I am saying it is good by any stretch... but it is quite cheesy... so that is where I find my affection for the show.

The show gets no artistic merits for its panel of judges... we all know how it works... boy, girl, boy... with the old curmudgeon, the nice (or should I say the "nice and easy") gal (Dorothy Hamill, who at age 49, really needs to avoid the plunging neckline top she sported in episode three), and the mild or wild flamboyant guy. 

It is a perk-fest of Olympic proportions in the hosting department between Scott Hamilton and Summer Sanders (pictured above)... though Scott definitely gets way more excited about nearly anything and everything than his skate-less co-host.  Their height difference just cracks me up every time, even on a pair of skates Summer still towers over Scotty... let's just call 'em the Sonny & Cher of the skating world.

Finally, I take comfort that Kurt Browning has lost his hair.  I was never blessed with a head of hair like he had in that upper picture... but it is gone, gone, gone.  I still think he is attractive, but it is mildly disturbing that he now looks like Scott's younger brother.

Do You Come From the Land Down Under?

A little while back I threatened to share some tennis player pictures with you from the Australian Open, so I figured it was time to finally get around to it!

The time difference makes it pretty tough to keep up with the tournament.  I have been catching replays aired during afternoons here in the States... otherwise, just some quick pre-bedtime viewing of the live coverage.

I had planned on sharing some Robby Ginepri with you... but unfortunately, the American blew a 2 set lead and lost in the 2nd Round... so I will direct you to Kenneth who nicely documented Robby's short stay in Melbourne here and here.

But alas last night, someone caught my attention...

Allow me to introduce you to Australia's Nathan Healey: