Whine & Cheese

Lost In Your Eyes

Look what just showed up in my mailbox!

I am not sure who is looking hotter on this week's Entertainment Weekly cover!

I have to say Evangeline Lilly might make me consider switching teams... and while I may be all about sex every minute of every day in that alternate universe... I will say I don't have an iota of an impure thought about Matthew Fox since he is one year waaaaaay (gasp!) older than me and fully clothed... even if he is quite successfully pulling off that rugged, come hither look!

Some Advice To Jen Aniston

Jennifer Aniston in a recent interview with USA Today:

“I think it’s ridiculous,” Aniston said. “There’s just this insatiable need… I am honestly getting sick of it, and I feel like telling people, ‘You know what? It’s none of your (expletive) business. Seriously, it’s enough...and (people have to) realize that I have a job, and I'm an actress."

Fast forward about a week...

Jennifer Aniston on and in the January issue of GQ:

Ok, Jen.... we like you, we really like you... and honestly, I don't mind these photos, but for chrissake you have to shut. up!  

In the whole Brangelina thing you won our sympathy... much like the Dolly Parton song, Jolie-ene seemed to take your man just because she can... could, whatever, you know what I am getting at!   But it is time to move on Jen, while people may admire Angelina's beauty or even acting... let's face it, she's not terribly like-able and she's pretty strange to boot (remember the whole relationship with her brother or the marriage, tats, and blood-carrying vials of Billy Bob?)...

...but Jen, you are starting to lose this goodwill with all this whining/"not cool" stuff about something that happened 3+ years ago smacks of schoolyard sniping/"they started it first."  Folks are smart enough to figure it at Jen, but like I said no one likes a whine, especially one that is beautiful and rich. So I say "no comment" on that pesky first marriage... and let your charm or heck even your "acting"... and yes, even your bod... do the talking... these pix certainly speak volumes (Look at me now!  How do you like these apples!?!?) without the need of opening your mouth.

Oh, and while I am here... the whole on-again/off-again thing with John Mayer isn't helping either... while I am a big fan of his music, when it comes to love and relationships Jen he seems to be a bit of a dog.  Not that I know him personally or anything, but just a hunch.

Anyhow, lookin' good Jen... and good luck with that dog movie.

Bette Bunyan?

Kudos to the person (my guess, an underpaid intern) over at USAToday.com who matched this particular picture and story about the Divine Miss M in yesterday's online edition.

(Link: Midler wrongly fells 200 Hawaiian trees - USATODAY.com)

Now all this sounds pretty bad, but even the headline suggests it is an honest mistake... particularly given Bette's pretty sincere commitment to the environment (campaigns for composting in LA and highway trash cleanup in NY).

I'm guessing the recommended $6,500 fine won't affect the 61-year old soon-to-be Vegas headliner's checkbook too badly... particularly when it's regarding your nearly 11-square mile piece of property on Kauai!

Bending Over For Beckham

The post title is a bit misleading... as a gay man, I am well aware I am supposed to be in a perpetual state of tizzy over David Beckham.  While I can admire his bod (that is, what I can see of it through the tatts)... as one of his fellow countryman once wrote, for me, it's much ado about nothing.

While I am fully aware that tennis is on the D-list of the sports world, this magazine cover still got my goat...

It couldn't wait another week?  I guess the country's premier sports magazine can't be outdone by W Magazine... though this is some serious journalism... Becks is fully clothed and Posh is no where to be seen (well, at least on the cover).   I guess I shouldn't be too upset... if you look really close... up in the corners are this year's Wimbledon champs.   

Roger Federer continued his charge into the tennis history books with a 5th consecutive Wimbledon title. It was one of those seemingly unbreakable records, accomplished just once in Open era by Bjorn Borg nearly 30 years ago... and he did it in a thrilling five-set match he probably should not have won vs. his nemesis, Rafael Nadal.  In an article I read this past week comparing Roger and his new BFF Tiger Woods, it mentioned that Roger has never made the SI cover... not sure if this corner shot "counts"... but that just seems so wrong.

Venus Williams captured her 4th Wimbledon crown. Despite her history at the All England Club, it was yet another unlikely title. Riddled with injuries and lack of match play, she became the lowest ranked woman to win (outdoing her previous "record" of being the lowest ranked player with her 2005 title).

Back in 1993, SI published an infamous cover story "Is Tennis Dying?" ... is it a question worth asking again in 2007... or not. 

If Roger and Venus get pushed aside for a pretty-boy Brit, getting paid an insane amount of money to play soccer (no less, in America!??!?!)... who will likely find his (and his wife's) picture more on the cover of tabloid magazines than the sports page as they host backyard BBQs with their neighbors, and fellow scientologists, Tom and Katie... well, some 14 years later after posing that ominous question, this cover may just be tennis' unofficial obituary.

But, as usual, tennis will get its due here at W&C.  Here are some shots of Roger and Venus looking all snazzy at this year's Wimbledon Ball.

Andy Gets Pumped Up

Since I semi-regularly blog about tennis, this one was just too good to pass up.  First, thanks to Kenneth for being my source on the latest "news" as well as being the first place that I ever saw this now in question magazine cover below... also, this breaks one of personal blogging cardinal rules... if it's been on Towleroad, everyone has seen and/or read about it already... so that usually means you don't have to blog about it (and the guy certainly doesn't need more traffic via you measly link).

But anyhow... here is tennis player Andy Roddick on the cover of this month's issue of Men's Fitness.  As mentioned, I first caught a look at it over on Kenneth's blog...

I did just a quick glance... despite being the apple of many a gay man's eye...  Roddick just isn't my favorite tennis player or person in the world...

(probably undeserved... but I find him to be annoyingly cocky and a whiner... which, for me, cancels out any cuteness factor.. and then there was the whole Mandy Moore break-up...)

.... but something just didn't seem right.  While he is a professional athlete and the body to go with it... something still seemed out of whack.  Since tennis players need to be fast, they tend not to be really built... sure Rafael Nadal has the biceps, but his chest is not  as proportionally huge... but Andy seemed strangely bulky on the cover.

Sure enough... even the cover boy agrees... he released this honest and good-humored statement on his website:

"I spent the last few weeks in Austin really focused on my training and getting back into shape, but pretty sure I'm not as fit as the Men's Fitness cover suggests... little did I know I have 22 inch guns and a disappearing birth mark on my right arm.  I saw the cover for the first time when I landed after Rome, it was pretty funny. I walked by the newsstand in the airport and did a total double take. I can barely figure out how to work the red-eye tool on my digital camera... whoever did this has mad skills...  maybe Rafael Nadal wants his arms back?  If you can manage to stop laughing at the cover long enough, check out the article inside, the photo shoot on the boat was pretty cool and I recognize the person in those photos."

I'm not sure what magazines think they are accomplishing by such obvious (i.e. bad) photoshopping ... and it is even more egregious since it is a "fitness" magazine. 

I guess "5 Easy Moves" to "How To Build Big Arms" just involves a fews clicks of a mouse?!

MisMatch #6: The View Edition

Not so much a mismatch, but a snort-worthy juxtaposition on Yahoo!... as always, absolutely no photo-shopping or other manipulation on my part (note the articles were posted just 16 minutes apart).

Is this Rosie news new?  I thought it was already pretty well-documented (okay, except for the hanging upside down part)... or is it just to piss off Star by stealing some of her publicity thunder?!

Links:

Star Jones Reynolds lands at Court TV - Yahoo! News

Rosie says she's treated for depression - Yahoo! News

MisMatch #5: O Edition

Caught this photo/story "MisMatch" today over at Yahoo!...

Now who's going to apologize to Sidney Poitier?  To the best of my knowledge, the Oscar winning actor is not 21 years old or has he committed that particular crime... if I'm wrong, maybe I should read O's latest book club selection!

(Link to actual story: Oprah helps man apologize for murder - Yahoo! News)

MisMatch #3

Technically this is not a "mismatch" (where the source messes up with the story/headline and accompanying photo combo)... this is a mismatch of a headline and my brain...

... and proof positive that my mind can be in the gutter even before 8 a.m.

Here is a screen-cap from this morning's front page of Las Vegas Review-Journal:

Oh yeah... rodeo... of course, rodeo!

(My reaction to the headline of the feature story...  about 7.8 seconds later)

MisMatch #2

WARNING: "Lost" Nov. 1st spoiler alert below.

Okay, it nearly took a month to have item #2 in my new "MisMatch" feature... but here is today's headscratcher....

We have a story about the television ratings from Wednesday Nov. 1st -- with CBS' "Criminal Minds" beating out the once nearly untouchable "Lost" on ABC...

So that brings me to my mismatch...what's up with the accompanying photo? 

Is Howie Mandel, host of an NBC game show airing on Mondays and Thursdays, going to show up on the island as ask Sawyer ... "Deal or No Deal?".... or put his fingers together and say "Jack, open the case!"... or did someone just mistake the bald guy for John Locke?!

Anyhow the actual story (link below) is a good segue to something else on my mind... given the decline in its ratings... do you think Lost has... well lost its way? 

I am still intrigued by the show, but it hasn't been doing all that much for me this season.  Sure the opening of the season, with The Others witnessing the Oceanic plane crash, was pretty cool... but there hasn't been too much else to grab on this season.  My biggest concern from this most recent episode was my indifference over the death of Mr. Eko... which only made me wonder about the focal point of last season... the "tail-ies" are now history... with Bernard being the lone survivor (though we have yet to seen him or wife Rose this season) from that quartet.  I still don't think the creators have a "big picture" scenario for this show.

I am going to keep on watching... it's still good.  But my enthusiasm level is not quite what it used to be (a syndrome that I am also suffering with Desperate Housewives)... but perhaps that will change with the cliff-hanger for next week's "fall season finale"... but it will have to be a pretty darn good one to keep me hanging for Lost's 3-month hiatus.

(Original link: CBS' "Minds" draws more viewers than "Lost" - Yahoo! News)

MisMatch #1

On a daily basis, I usually head on over to Yahoo to check out news items (ok, usually this is limited to the entertainment section)... and occasionally, there is a photo that doesn't really match, often quite comically so, to the story that is attached to it.  These graphics are not doctored/photo-shopped, etc... and oh, they also tend to be eventually corrected...

But if I catch them in time, I thought I would share them with you... so without further ado, here is my inaugural W&C mismatch:

While a $10 million libel suit related to American Idol is certainly news... I would think the bigger story here is that Elton John is apparently Fantasia Barrino's father!   Now that's interesting on so many fronts (race and sexual orientation immediately pop to mind)... and c'mon Elton do you really need $10 million more?!

(Link: Fantasia's father files libel suit - Yahoo! News)