People's Sexiest Man - Alex O'Loughlin?

People's Sexiest Man Alive is Bradley Cooper

No, it's not THE OBVIOUS CHOICE - ALEX O'LOUGHLIN. It's Bradley Cooper.

We love Bradley. He's a local guy (Philly) and he's nice and we love the Hangover movies. BUT...he's no Alex O'Loughlin.

Alex is easily the hottest thing from Down Under ever. And the ladies know that the guys from Australia are the sexiest in the world.

Picture of Alex O'Loughlin from Fitness Magazine's top 25 fittest bods

Seriously. Alex IS the Sexiest.Man.Alive.

Alex has a HUGE fanbase. We caught on to his vampire series Moonlight about 2 years after it was cancelled by CBS. Damn! Thank God for Netflix!

He was then cast in the even shorter lived Three Rivers, again a CBS show.

And now he can be seen every Monday night at 10 on the new (and AWESOME) re-boot of Hawaii 5-0. Again a CBS show. So, this calls for a shout out to Les Moonves, head honcho at CBS WHO OBVIOUSLY KNOWS A GOOD THING WHEN HE SEES IT. Thanks, Les for keeping Alex on TV!

Once again, if you're not sure if Alex is sexy or not:

from his GQ Australia shoot
convinced, now?

Does this do it?
Because he had us at hello

Oh, and People has about 125 guys on the list so Alex might be there after all but he's not even top ten, so FAIL. And to boot, they put Ryan Gosling at #10. Really, People? So not cool.


UPDATE: Alex DID MAKE THE LIST! They even used the picture from above. WTG, People. At least you remembered him. Next year Number One!

People.com's top ten men slideshow

And the Peacemaker of the Year Award Goes to...Vladimir Putin!

AWWW...who's a good boy and wants a peace prize?

China has given their equivalent of a Nobel Peace Prize, the Confucius Peace Prize, to be exact, to Vladimir Putin. They obviously love him.

Who doesn't? (well, except for all those people he tortured and killed. Perfect candidate for peacemaker...no?)

"A panel of 16 academics chose Putin ahead of other candidates, including German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and Yuan Longping, a Chinese agricultural scientist.

The tipping point appeared to be Putin’s role in Libya, where he opposed NATO’s involvement in trying to topple the Gaddafi regime. Critics say Putin’s stand had no bearing on the outcome of the north African conflict.

‘This April or May, Putin was against NATO’s idea to bomb Libya and he appeared to the world in a peaceful manner,’ said Qiao Damo, one of the organisers."

Daily Mail News Article

The Bob Barker Kicks Ass and Takes Names

Sea Shepherds tweeted this pic earlier today -
titled: ready for action

Follow The Sea Shepherds on Twitter for up-to-date, pulse- pounding action. @SeaShepherd

These guys and gals, God Bless 'Em, are FIGHTING AS WE SPEAK to SAVE THE DOLPHINS OF Japan from the sadistic and evil hunt that is taking place there.

Go to Sea Shepherd.org and donate generously. These people are on the front line protecting ocean life everyday!

Check out their new logo.

Do not fuck with the Sea Shepherds

Top Rammstein Videos

Rammstein is (from left to right):
Ollie Reidel, Paul Landers, "Flake" Lorenz, Til Lindemann, Richard Kruspe
and never last or least the drummer, Christoph Schneider

RAMMSTEIN, Germany's best band ever, released its new song Mein Land on Friday. We have of course listened to it 700 times in the last 3 days and WE LOVE IT.

The video is amazingly hilarious with the boys doing a 60's Beach Boys-esque homage ala Beach Blanket Bingo. Which makes us love them even more.

Here's Mein Land and a few other of their great videos plus a bonus fan made vid for Ich Will:

Mein Land




Sonne




Du Reichst so Gut




Du Hast




Mein Teil




Weisses Fleisch - Live au Berlin





Ich Will - Winnie the Pooh version!





Now we are free to "enjoy" our Monday morning at work..

NEW RAMMSTEIN!

Check out the video for "Mein Land" HERE!

Rammstein Beach Party video is HILARIOUS!

Celebrate 11-11-11, aka Nigel Tufnel Day:

Jeff Probst Getting a Talk Show

Jeff's 3 or 4th Emmy

Survivor host and Emmy Award Winner Jeff Probst is all set to launch his new talk show...next year.

"I’m fascinated with people,” (said) Probst. “And I love adventure. I can’t wait to bring these two worlds together in daytime, and the added bonus is I get to continue with Survivor in primetime.”

EW.com Article

The Sick and UnHappy Valley

Penn State has rightly forced Joe Paterno out of his gilded office. Like a Catholic Bishop, Joe Pa ignored the child for the "good" of the church or in this case college.

We've never worshipped at the altar of the Nittany Lion, so we can say here without any deep regret or remorse, that Joe Paterno has proved himself to be a despicable human being.

Far more than the hideousness that is Sandusky, the molester.

Why?

Easy.

Sandusky is a pedophile. Meaning, there is something mentally ill or ill-wired in his brain. He is, of course, still responsible for his heinous behaviour. But, it can be explained away that he's a sick motherfucker and deserves to rot in prison for his crimes.

What's Coach Paterno's excuse? Or assistant Mike McQueary's? Or president Graham B. Spanier's? athletic director Tim Curley's? Or vice president Gary Schultz's?

Why did none of these men immediately call 911?

The same reason Catholic Bishops don't call 911 when they learn of a pedophile priest. To protect the institution over the welfare of the child.

For that reason alone, Paterno is worse than a jack ass, he's a scumbag. Pure and simple. Whatever reasons he had to sit back and do nothing do not matter.

And to boot, this pedophile Sandusky ran a CHILDREN'S Charity. AND ALL OF THE ABOVE KNEW. THEY KNEW!.

End of story. These men knew that Sandusky had a history of harming boys and let him continue to prey on other victims and they did it without care.

How very Roman Catholic of them.

Its disgusting. As far as we are concerned this is like a criminal syndicate or something. A pedophile ring.

What good friends they were to Sandusky. They gave him a beautiful severance package with parking passes and a lifetime office in the building with other young people everywhere. They let him go and run his charity, dealing daily with even younger people. All potential victims. But hey!, they forced him to retire. Wasn't that enough? Not even close.

What lousy, despicable, enablers and sad excuses for human beings they are.

They are not Penn State.

The Nittany Lion cries for itself, its history and all the good and great people that distinguished University has turned out over the years.

But it will never cry for men that turned their backs on the children and enabled the rapist. Never.

And we don't cry for them either. In fact, we spit on them. We don't care how great a coach Paterno was, or how great a president Spanier was, or why McQueary called his father instead of 911. We.Just.Don't.Care.

The bottom line is that nothing was done to put Sandusky behind bars. And hey, maybe it's all the DA's fault that Sandusky didn't go to prison earlier, but once again we point out:

Sandusky ran a children's charity and the Penn State "Boys Club" did nothing.

Nothing to stop it.

News Article

The Edmund Fitzgerald

On this day in 1975, one of the United States' most tragic maritime disasters occurred on Lake Superior.

The Supertanker Edmund Fitzgerald was lost at sea with all hands. 29 men died in what would be one of the most mysterious Great Lake shipwrecks of all time.

Lake Superior, known for its rough seas and terrible winter storms, claimed the Edmund Fitzgerald in 80 mile an hour winds and 25-foot high waves. The supertanker was not unlike the Titanic as far as the notion of "it's too big to be lost at sea". It sank fast, without sending out a single distress call. This wasn't 1875 but 1975 and the suddenness of the tragedy surprised everyone. The ship was equipped with state of the art everything...radar, sonar, communications. To this day not one body has been recovered.

The ship, discovered at the bottom of the lake a few days later, sits a silent tomb. Home forever for the crew of 29 that perished so suddenly and horribly that November night. The Son of the Late Great Jacques Cousteau, Jean-Michel, brought The Calypso to Lake Superior and were the first crew to use a submersible to dive to the ship, in 1980.

What made the wreck so mysterious was the circumstances of how it sank so fast without sending a distress call. Not one SOS. It was so weird that people came up with every theory under the Sun including Alien Abduction.

It has been determined in the intervening years that the hatches were insufficiently closed and that water poured through them, compromising the ship. One thing led to another and within minutes, all were gone. The Captain, Ernest M McSorley, was a veteran seaman. It probably surprised the hell out of him, too.

In 1995 the beautiful golden Bell, engraved with the ships name, was brought to the surface. It is now housed reverently at The Great Lakes Shipwreck museum.

The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum is home to an entire exhibit for the Fitz. Be forewarned - "The Wreck of Edmund Fitzgerald" is on a loop. (God Bless Gordon Lightfoot!) If you can't handle the song...wear earplugs. But go. Whitefish Point, Michigan is as beautiful and wild a place in all of North America and it's AWESOME. We don't even have words to describe accurately the majestic views of Lake Superior.

The museum is hosting it's annual Edmund Fitzgerald tribute later today that always concludes with a prayer and a ringing of the original Bell 29 times, once for each man lost.

For those of you old enough to have FINALLY gotten the Gordon Lightfoot tribute song out of you head...sorry... Here it comes again. It's a friggin classic!

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
The lake, it is said, never gives up her dead
When the skies of November turn gloomy.

With a load of iron ore - 26,000 tons more
Than the Edmund Fitzgerald weighed empty
That good ship and true was a bone to be chewed
When the gales of November came early

The ship was the pride of the American side
Coming back from some mill in Wisconsin
As the big freighters go it was bigger than most
With a crew and the Captain well seasoned.

Concluding some terms with a couple of steel firms
When they left fully loaded for Cleveland
And later that night when the ships bell rang
Could it be the North Wind they'd been feeling.

The wind in the wires made a tattletale sound
And a wave broke over the railing
And every man knew, as the Captain did, too,
T'was the witch of November come stealing.

The dawn came late and the breakfast had to wait
When the gales of November came slashing
When afternoon came it was freezing rain
In the face of a hurricane West Wind

When supper time came the old cook came on deck
Saying fellows it's too rough to feed ya
At 7PM a main hatchway caved in
He said fellas it's been good to know ya.

The Captain wired in he had water coming in
And the good ship and crew was in peril
And later that night when his lights went out of sight
Came the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes
When the waves turn the minutes to hours
The searchers all say they'd have made Whitefish Bay
If they'd put fifteen more miles behind her.

They might have split up or they might have capsized
They may have broke deep and took water
And all that remains is the faces and the names
Of the wives and the sons and the daughters.

Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings
In the ruins of her ice water mansion
Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams,
The islands and bays are for sportsmen.

And farther below Lake Ontario
Takes in what Lake Erie can send her
And the iron boats go as the mariners all know
With the gales of November remembered.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The legend lives on from the Chippewa on down
Of the big lake they call Gitche Gumee
Superior, they say, never gives up her dead
When the gales of November come early.
© 1976 Moose Music, Inc.

Wiki article on the Edmund Fitzgerald

SURVIVOR: OutWit, OutPlay and Cut Someone's Throat

Te Tuna Tribe

The Merged Tribe has a new name. Te Tuna. That's pretty much all we have to say about that, other than, my cat thinks it's f'ing cool.

Last night's ep was one of the double elimination ones. Those are the best because as soon as the show starts there's an Immunity challenge and at the 20 minute mark you're already at Tribal Council. Then, when the show comes back at 8:30 there's ANOTHER Immunity/Reward challenge and then ANOTHER Tribal. It was just continuous awesomeness last night.

Cochran caught a bunch of shit from his former tribe because of his vote at last Tribal. He handled it okay and Coach's tribe tried to make him feel better.

So off to Tribal where Jim tried like hell to turn the tide against Cochran, painting him as the self-centered dishonorable player and the obvious choice to vote off. His argument went something like, "we have to make a stand on honor and integrity versus disloyalty."

Coach called him on it and said he rather vote for a person that could stand up for themselves.

Ozzy ended up getting voted out after Jim, the medical marijuana guy, won immunity. He said some snarky things on the way out. Whatever.

The best was yet to come.

One of the funniest things on Survivor is how people react to seeing food after being deprived for so long. At the second Immunity Challenge, Jeff explained the challenge (another balancing act which favors the women) and then unveiled a table full of food.

His choice to the Survivors was to either play for Immunity or fore go the challenge and eat some food while the challenge was in play.

Now, several times in Survivor history, we've seen Survivors not play in order to eat, taking the chance that they won't need Immunity at Tribal.

But we've never seen this.

The ENTIRE 7 person alliance, in other words, all of Coach's tribe plus one turn-coat Cochran, elected to sit and eat while only 3 people - the remainder of Ozzy's tribe - had to play it out for Immunity.

It was classic Survivor and proves, once again, that there is ALWAYS something NEW with this game and as many times as you think you've seen 'em all, NO YOU HAVEN'T.

The entire unprecedented voting bloc just sat there stuffing their faces while Jeff laughed at them and with them. You should have seen Coach's iced coffee mustache. Hilarious!

The poor remaining Savaii members tried their hardest. Dawn is one hell of a player. She even told everyone she'd stay longer in the challenge to give them all time to eat more. Aww! She's very impressive but failed this time to Whitney, leaving Jim as the obvious choice to vote out.

In fact, when Jim fell off the beam (see what we did there?), Brandon literally got up and cheered. How's that for in your face? It angered Jim who got all snippy with Jeff. Of course, Jeff laughed it off. He's been called worse by bitter starving Survivors.

And so Jim got sent packing to Redemption where he will duel with Ozzy and Keith. Only one winner gets to go back to the tribe. The other two go home. We'd never bet against Ozzy. Especially now that he has an axe to grind on Cochran's head.

Ozzy cries to Coach about how badly fucked over he is...
We just want Coach to take off his whole shirt

EW's 4Q's with Jeff Probst

CBS.com Survivor Site

Follow Jeff on Twitter during the show @JeffProbst. You can win stuff and some of the posts are hilarious!

Referee Attacked by ENTIRE team for Call

An Iranian soccer ref was attacked by the ENTIRE fucking TEAM and then the CROWD JOINED IN after he gave a yellow card at a match the other day.

He barely escaped after some officials rushed out to help get him off the field.

Watch the craziness unfold here:




News Article

Nittany Liars

Who? What? Where? Joe's suddenly clueless

The news coming out of Penn State gets more and more hideous every second. And it's got beloved coach Joe Paterno facing a firing squad. His job is literally on the line.

As is should be. Joe's gotta go. He's claiming he didn't know the details of what exactly happened. Not good enough.

Rush Limbaugh is arguing today that the press cannot wait to vilify 'ole Joe Pa fast enough. "Joe Paterno, up until now, has had something that very few people in this country die with -- and that's an impeccable reputation.

But that's gone now, and the media is going to see to it, and this is all part of a nation in decline."

Oh really, Rush? We thought the Decline of Western Civilization had something to do with YOU in all honesty. But it's really just the media, huh?

The bottom line is that Joe Paterno didn't go all red in the face calling this pedophile out and because of that it's implied that he was somehow complicit or has little moral standing on the issue.

We think the real problem is that all Joe can think of is football. The entire time the informant was blowing the whistle on this pedophile, Joe was just probably zoned out thinking of what players he was going to use in the next game. And that is what's irreversibly ruined his reputation, Rush. Not the media.

But the fact that Joe's old and he should have retired years ago anyway, doesn't change anything.

The bottom line is that there are men out there now dealing with what that pedophile did to them as kids. How about the poor 10 year old who had his rape WITNESSED and REPORTED and nothing was done? How did that kid feel?

We bet it's worse than Joe feels now.

We have no sympathy for Penn State, Joe Paterno or any of the adults who failed to report these crimes to the cops. In fact, we'd like to punch each one of them in the face for letting little defenseless boys get raped on campus or anywhere. Period.

News Article

ANOTHER Horse Falls in NYC - NEW Controversy

Lea Michele's PETA campaign

Friday night another horse made the NYC news wire. This time, the horse is still alive and seems to be okay, but ultimately what happened is just indicitive of the horse-drwn carriage issue.

This horse got caught up in the carriage mechanism and fell to the ground in front of a crowd of people in Central Park.

These unfortunately are NOT isolated incidents. Just two weeks ago, Charlie the beautiful white horse, dropped dead on the street. Things like this used to just be swept under the rug, but in this media age of camera phones everything is being captured on "film".

More controversy surrounds Charlie's incident. From Daily Mail News Article:

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) paid for Charlie's initial autopsy, and released a statement saying that the horse suffered from a stomach ulcer and a fractured tooth.

Dr. Pamela Corey, speaking on behalf of the ASPCA, then released a statement saying that that they were 'very concerned that Charlie was forced to work in spite of painful maladies'.

Ms. Corey has since been fired from her job because she later released a correction, lessening the severity of the ASPCA's first statement, creating another drama amid the debate.

All of this is just dancing around the real issue.

Do you feel that horse-drawn carriage rides are romantic? Necessary? Vital to NYC's economy? Normal? The way it's always been?

We don't.






News Article

R.I.P Smokin' Joe

Former Heavyweight Champion and Olympic Gold Medalist Smokin' Joe Frazier passed away last night. He was a Philadelphia icon and he will be missed by all of Philadelphia and beyond.

Don King, the Thrilla in Manila promoter, put out a moving statement this morning:

"Frazier was "the embodiment of what a great heavyweight champion and person should be. Not only was he a great fighter but also a great man. He lived as he fought with courage and commitment at a time when African-Americans in all spheres of life were engaged in a struggle for emancipation and respect," King said of Frazier. "Smokin' Joe brought honor, dignity and pride for his people, the AMERICAN people, and brought the nation together as only sports can do.""

George Forman tweeted this: "Good night Joe Frazier. I love you dear friend."

Philadelphia's fictional boxer, Rocky Balboa, was totally based on Smokin' Joe, right down to the slaughterhouse slabs of meat that Rocky worked out on as Joe worked in such a shop back in the day.

Joe's Olympic Gold medal was chopped into 11 pieces by a jeweler so he could give a piece to each one of his children. All 11 of them.

Ali-Frazier-Forman formed a triumvirate of Boxing Glory that encompassed a Golden Age that America or the sport will likely never see again.

Philly Daily News Article

Marie Curie

Marie Sklodowska Curie, one of the greatest, most brilliant scientists of all time, was born this day, November 7th 1867, in Warsaw, Poland. She was the daughter of a mathematician who also taught her physics.

In 1891 Marie began studying at the prestigious Sorbonne in Paris, France in multiple disciplines: physics, chemistry and mathematics. She earned her physics degree in 1893 and her math degree in 1894.

That was the year she met Pierre Curie. Also a physicist, they shared a love of each other and science, marrying and working together for years until his untimely death in 1906.

They published a paper together in 1898 detailing the discovery of a new element, Polonium, that Marie named after her country of birth, Poland. That year they announced another discovery - the element radium.

Marie coined the term radioactivity at this time.

Pierre and Marie shared the 1903 Nobel Prize in Physics for their research into "the radiation phenomenon." Marie Curie became the first woman to win a Nobel Prize.

In 1911, The Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to Marie in recognition for the elements radium and polonium and her work in radioactivity.

She thus became the first woman to ever win 2 Nobel prizes and in two different disciplines!

Standards of the day paled ( as in non-existent) to modern protocol and Marie often carried around radioactive isotopes "in her pocket." Just like Homer Simpson. This directly contributed to her death in 1934.

Her lab and materials - even her kitchen cookbook! - are all super-contaminated to this day. Her lab notes, materials, everything is kept in lead lined containers and can only be opened under special circumstances with haz mat suits.

Marie Curie's contribution to modern science is incalculable. The barriers she faced as a woman and overcame are incredible. You can count on one hand all the women were earning masters degrees in physics in the 1800's.

She was the first female professor at the University of Paris. She is and will always be an icon to the scientific community and to women everywhere. She is the most famous and celebrated female scientist that ever lived.

In 2009, Marie Curie was voted as "The Most Inspirational Woman in Science."

Marie and Pierre are now interred at the Paris Pantheon, and of course, she is the first and only woman to be buried there.

The Curie (symbol Ci), a unit of radioactivity, is named in her and/or Pierre's honour.

Three radioactive minerals are named after the Curies.

Skłodowska-Curie's likeness appeared on the Polish late-1980s 20,000banknote.
Her likeness has also appeared on stamps and coins, and on the last French 500 franc note.

Marie Curie was voted the "Most inspirational woman in science" in a 2009 poll carried out by New Scientist magazine on behalf of the UNESCO 'For Women In Science' programme.

Polish institutions named after Maria Skłodowska–Curie include:
Maria Curie-Skłodowska University, founded in 1944;
Maria Skłodowska–Curie Institute of Oncology, in Warsaw.

French institutions named after Maria Skłodowska–Curie include:
Pierre and Marie Curie University, the largest science, technology and medicine university in France.
The Curie Institute and Curie Museum, in Paris.

In 2007, the Pierre Curie Metro station was renamed the "Pierre et Marie Curie" station.

End Note:
Unbelievably, not only did Marie and Pierre win Nobel Prizes but their daughter Irene, and son-in-law Frédéric Joliot-Curie won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1935, for discovering artificial radioactivity.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November

The Guy Fawkes, V for Vendetta Mask,
is the new face of Occupy the World

The 5th of November: the only night of the year where people everywhere openly celebrate Treason!

Remember, remember, the 5th of November
The Gunpowder Treason and plot;
I know of no reason why Gunpowder Treason
Should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes,
'Twas his intent.
To blow up the King and the Parliament.
Three score barrels of powder below.
Poor old England to overthrow.
By God's providence he was catch'd,
With a dark lantern and burning match

Holloa boys, Holloa boys, let the bells ring
Holloa boys, Holloa boys, God save the King!

Hip hip Hoorah!
Hip hip Hoorah!

A penny loaf to feed ol'Pope,
A farthing cheese to choke him.
A pint of beer to rinse it down,
A faggot of sticks to burn him.

Burn him in a tub of tar,'
Burn him like a blazing star.
Burn his body from his head,
Then we'll say: ol'Pope is dead.

To properly celebrate Guy Fawkes Day rent the movie V for Vendetta, prepare a nice bonfire and firework celebration for tonight with an effigy of 'ole Guy to burn, and don't forget to plot to overthrow your government of choice!

Occupy!

Facundo Arrizabalaga/AFP - Getty Images -
Demonstrators Occupy London on 11/1/11

WORDS WILL ALWAYS RETAINS THEIR POWER


1812 Overture, V for Vendetta Scenes A MUST SEE!

His Name was Charlie...Update on NYC Carriage Horse Death

The only known picture of Charlie
The horse that will never be forgotten and may yet
be vindicated. His death may change the world...for horses.

The Blogosphere is blowing itself up over the death of poor Charlie the New York carriage horse. AND FOR GOOD REASON.

Necropsy results are sort of in...no cause of death yet...but plenty to be upset about. The necropsy was conducted at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine and reported that Charlie, the gorgeous white horse, had been "suffering from a pronounced, chronic ulceration of the stomach and a fractured tooth."

Poor Charlie was in undeniable severe pain for God knows how long before he just collapsed and died on the street 10/23/11.

Animal rights activists are up-in-arms over this needless death. Especially in light of how poor his health had been. And rightly so!

Carriage horse owners have vehemently denied they mistreat their horses BUT THE PROOF IS IN THE AUTOPSY RESULTS! When was the last time Charlie had his teeth looked at? The one tooth was cracked open and the horse had a bit in his mouth. Undeniable cruelty.

We're calling for the neglectful owner(s) to be charged with cruelty, neglect and be shut down. We will not abide.

Huff Post News Article

Read Mayor Bloomberg's updated response at globalanimal.com! Hint: It's just as insensitive and outrageously stupid as his other comments.
GlobalAnimal.com

DNAinfo.com News Article

Humane Society's 21st Century Solution to "Horseless Carriages!"

Daily Mail (UK) News Article

COALITION TO BAN HORSE DRAWN CARRIAGES

If you care at all about these poor defenseless horses PLEASE visit the ASPCA against horse drawn carriages petition page! It only takes a second to add your voice to the growing chorus. Mayor Bloomberg needs to hear us!
ASPCA Petition Against HDCs

A candlelit vigil was held for Charlie on 10/27/11

SURVIVOR: The Dragonslayer Sees All

Coach "Dragonslayer" Wade
a.k.a the best dressed Survivor contestant in history

Last week Survivor contestant Ozzy went full-on balls out. He had his tribe vote him off so he could win at Redemption Island and give his tribe the numbers going into the merge. It was up in the air as to how brilliant or truly stupid this was. Would the tribes even merge? Could he survive at Redemption Island?

Last night we learned that his historic move WORKED! Ozzy won at Redemption, sending home 6-time winner Christine. The Tribes MERGED and all seemed to working for Ozzy.

Except for one little thing...Cochran. Yes, the Survivor fanatic who became a bullied contestant played a HUGE part in what went down last night.

So, Ozzy's plan is not only in full effect, it IS WORKING LIKE A DREAM. Even Jeff was shocked. But you should have seen Jeff try to keep a straight face as Ozzy lied about what happened at Tribal - the entire tribe was acting as if Cochran was ostracized so that he could infiltrate Upolu, Coach's tribe, and act as a spy.

In reality, Cochran, to his credit, actually did try to play along...but he hadn't yet dealt with Coach Dragonslayer, who apparently was NOT born yesterday.

2 seconds into giving Coach the prepared made up spiel, Coach called him out!

Coach spelled out the Savaii plan literally WORD FOR WORD. Cochran was stunned and couldn't recover enough to act. So he spilled the beans. Coach gave him an ego boosting pep talk and told him to pick a side.

Yes, it was a priceless Survivor moment. We are unabashed Coach fans, so while Ozzy is a kick-ass player, Coach is just an awesome guy and we just love him to no end.

At this point the tribes are evenly numbered 6 to 6. For someone to be voted out, somebody would have to switch sides. Coach was playing Cochran the way Savaii wanted Cochran to play Coach and it was hilarious.

Tribal came down to an even vote as Cochran did not jump tribes...until round 2 of the vote, in which he did in fact switch.

With Ozzy losing a tribe member it looks as if Coach will be able to pick them off one by one.

In short, Ozzy's historic kick-ass Survivor plan was foiled by Coach Dragonslayer! Honestly, we couldn't be happier about it.

Redemption moment of the night: Brandon Hantz literally took Cochran under his wing immediately after Tribal, telling the kid to stick close by him. Cochran's tribe is out for his blood - he sold them out after all - but Coach's tribe has been nicer to him in the 5 minutes they knew him then all 18 days he was with Ozzy's tribe. Karma is a Bitch, yo!

Oh and this guy, Rick, received a ton of votes last night but just one short of Keith who had to pack it up.

Rick has been here the WHOLE time
apparently wearing some kind of
Cowboy Cloak of Invisibility

Revenge of the Nerd -
Cochran plays The Game and screws over Ozzy.
SCORE for the devoted fan turned contestant!

Survivor Site at CBS.com

Ew.com's 3 Q's for Jeff Probst

We Miss The Pharaoh

Happier Times

"For me, archaeology is not a just a job. It combines everything that I could want - imagination, intellect, action, and adventure." Dr. Zahi Hawass

Alternative Title: An Open Love Letter to Our Former Pharaoh, the Good Dr. Hawass.

Good Lord help us, for today we are really missing Dr. Hawass.

A never-ending font of craziness, passion and zeal, Zahi Hawass was unceremoniously booted out of office in August following the Egyptian revolt last summer, AND...WE WANT HIM BACK!

We've always admitted our love/hate "relationship" with the good Doctor.

He stands for everything we hate about Egyptology...it's stodgy, antiquarian, close-mindedness. Its absolute and total dismissal of any progressive thought. Its "by-the-book" or else attitude. Not to mention, his actual archeology skills! What a decent archaeologist would take a year to excavate, Dr. Hawass would man-handle in 20 fucking minutes. *sigh*

We don't care anymore.

His fanatical passion for EVERYTHING EGYPT was awesome in itself. He is a force of nature and a gift to us all. Was he up Mubarak's butt? Sure. But that was part and parcel of being in "the regime." How else was he to get anything done but to put Mubarak in his back pocket or vice versa?

Dr. Hawass's unyielding enthusiasm was captivating. His short lived show "Chasing Mummies" showcased many memorable moments and our hands down favorite was when he took the archaeologists up into The Great Pyramid to the very top of the so-called "Relieving Chambers". This bad-ass old man climbed all the way up and though it was stifling hot and he was exhausted, you could plainly see the love he has for the monument.

And it used to be his! LITERALLY. For years Zahi had the yea or nay power to keep people out of his pyramid (some of the hate part of the whole love/hate thing). Who needed the Sphinx? Hawass was the Supreme Guardian of the Giza Plateau and of the Great Pyramid. Hence, his unofficial title of Pharaoh. The Last Great Pharaoh of Egypt to be exact.

He isn't dead, so this isn't a eulogy. But in a way it is. A Eulogy for The Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

Since his firing, Dr. Hawass was re-hired, fired again and the position has since changed hands at least twice.

Mohamed Abdel Fattah was appointed in August: "I am fed up,” Abdel Fatah said angrily. “All these protests stand against proceeding with archaeological works properly," and then he abruptly and promptly resigned in September after about a month or so in office.

The "new guy" is Mustafa Amin, who has been busy working on the new museum at the Giza Plateau as well as dealing with security issues and everything else. We'll see how long he lasts.

Dr. Hawass was there from the late 60's and in charge from the late 70's until August 2011. At least when Zahi was there we knew who was in charge...and who to blame!

He served for years and deserved to be retired in full glory and regalia, parades. The whole nine yards. And what he got was bloody fucking awful. We wished he would go plenty of times, but in the end, he really did deserve more fanfare than the kick in the ass out the door he got.

We miss how absolutely fucking bat-shit crazy excitable he was. He wasn't just the Pharaoh, he was a real-life Egyptian Indiana Jones. There won't be another like him. Ever.

Where ever you are, Zahi, we wish you a successful life with contentment and peace and we thank you for all your years of service. In the end, all we have is Love.

DrHawass.com

All Saints Day, World Vegan Day and Day of the Innocents

Roman Catholics are celebrating All Saint's Day today.


Mexicans are celebrating Day of the Innocents today.

And People everywhere are celebrating World Vegan Day.

Let the 2011 Holiday Season commence!

The Old Jail in Jim Thorpe, PA

The Old Jail Museum

The Old Jail Museum in Jim Thorpe, PA looms over the street from its location high up on the mountain. Built in the early 1800's the jail served the county until it was closed in the 1970's. It's almost impossible to imagine that men were sent here in modern times. The building sits like a medieval fortress.

One of the paranormal events that takes place here began long ago on June 21, 1877, the day four men were executed at the jail. The hangings were simultaneous - all 4 men died at once. One of the men, Alexander Campbell, left his hand print in his cell, #17, in protest of his innocence. A hand print that is visible to this day. Paranormal because the wall has been painted over and re-plastered and it returned. Today it is preserved and not even photos may be taken of it.

The place has a haunted atmosphere. Upstairs, in the main ward is a replica of the gallows from those infamous hangings. Downstairs, the basement cells which served as solitary confinement are chilling. Each cell a dark gloomy pit of fear and loathing.

Disembodied voices, apparitions and ghostly footsteps have all been reported here at The Old Jail. Omni staffers have first hand experience with something weird at the Jail, including hearing footsteps overhead - when the floor above was deserted - and pictures with orbs.

The Old Jail was open for over one hundred years and in that time saw thousands of men languish, fight, live and die there. Regardless of the validity of the Campbell hand print, we would bet it's haunted.

The Old Jail Museum
Jim Thorpe, PA

The Gallows

A basement cell - what do you see?

An orb floating over the floor

Top Horror Movies

The Omni Horror Movie Pick List
We've split the movies by release year into three catagories:

Classics 1920-1969

Nosferatu, 1922
Phantom of the Opera, 1925
Dracula, 1931
Frankenstein, 1931
The Mummy, 1932
Hound of the Baskervilles, 1939
The Wolfman, 1941
Them!, 1954
Invasion of the Body Snatchers, 1956
House on Haunted Hill, 1959
Psycho, 1960
The Pit and The Pendalum, 1961 (Classic Vincent Price. The ending still scares us.)
The Birds, 1963
Night of the Living Dead, 1968 (We're coming at 1mph to get you, Barbara!)
Rosemary's Baby, 1968

New Classics 1970-1999

The Legend of Boggy Creek, 1972 (One of our faves of ALL TIME)
The Exorcist, 1973
Texas Chainsaw Massacre, 1974
Jaws, 1975
The Shining, 1980
An American Werewolf in London, 1981
Wolfen, 1981
Poltergeist, 1982
The Thing, 1982
Creepshow, 1982
Evil Dead II, 1987 (Sam Raimi. Bruce Campbell - The world's greatest B Actor-EVER)
Hellrasier, 1987
Silence of the Lambs, 1991
Dracula, 1992 (We'd watch paint dry and the grass grow if it starred Gary Oldman)
The Blair Witch Project, 1999

Modern Classics 2000-2009

Shadow of the Vampire, 2000 (Three words: Malkovich. Defoe. Priceless.)
Fraility, 2001
Jeepers Creepers, 2001
The Others, 2001
The Ring, 2002
28 Days Later, 2002
House of 1000 Corpses, 2003 (Rob Zombie is a brilliant film maker.)
High Tension, 2003
Alien vs. Predator, 2004 (This movie ROCKS!)
The Grudge, 2004
The Exorcism of Emily Rose, 2005 (Tom Wilkenson is one of the 3 best actors of the modern era. Period. The other two are Viggo Mortensen and Daniel Day-Lewis.)
The Descent, 2005
Hostel, 2005
30 Days of Night, 2007
The Mist, 2007
28 Weeks Later, 2007
The Strangers, 2008
Cloverfield, 2008
The Happening, 2008 (Movie is so-so, but filmed a mile from Omni HQ. Pretty effing cool)
Drag Me to Hell, 2009


What are your picks?

Eastern State Penitentiary

We could hardly pick a creepier, scarier or more imposing place for our paranormal article this month for Halloween than Eastern State Penitentiary.

A lot of places report to be the most haunted. Eastern State is one and believe us, it's the REAL DEAL. Haunted to the T. Haunted up the wazoo. Pick your euphemism. It has ghosts.

Every manner of paranormal activity is reported here: unexplained noises, disembodied voices, orbs, flashing lights, strange mist, full body apparitions, EVP's, shadow people, abnormal EMF readings...you name it.

This building is so scary it's extremely difficult to walk around and tour it in the broad sunshiny happy light of day. It's long hallways and endless gaping black cells will test the heartiest of people.

It is historically famous as the world's first penitentiary. Prisoners were kept penitent through forced silence, which in effect made every single cell solitary confinement resulting in driving the prisoners stark raving mad from isolation. Doorways were kept low so prisoners would have to bow their heads in penance for their sins. The design for the prison and methodologies of incarceration were copied around the world and hailed as a brilliant alternative to the barbaric conditions of the prison standards of the day.

The prison was in operation for over a hundred years, 1829-1971 and housed a few notable inmates. Bank robber Willie Sutton was here and even staged an escape attempt through a 90 foot tunnel. Al Capone swore to his dying day that a former mobster was haunting him at night and constantly complained of paranormal events in his cell.

As the last of the inmates of the 1970's were transferred out to other local prisons, they complained that the dark shadows seemed to grow as their numbers shrank. They couldn't wait to get the hell out of there.

Several movies have had scenes filmed here, including 12 Monkeys with Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis.

Most of the prison is crumbling, peeling apart and is a mess. It is REALLY SUPER SPOOKY and CREEPY.

Tours are available daily so you can experience it for yourself. Bring your cameras and your digital recorders for an amateur ghost hunt. Odds are you will get something.

This is a typical inmate hood that was used for silence and isolation

A look down an imposing and sinister hallway

Unlike the other dank dark cells, Al Capone lived the life of luxury behind bars.
Lamps, special seating, a desk, a heater. And ghosts...

Eastern State in the 1880's when Philadelphia was still far away and mostly farmland

Have you ever been there? What did you experience?

Top Mystery Spots

Known as mystery spots or gravity hills, these are places in nature where the laws of physics do not apply as we currently understand them.

In these places, cars roll backwards uphill, brooms stand on end and people are able to balance themselves on a chair 3 feet off the ground perched on a one inch ledge. Amazing stuff.

We went to the Michigan Mystery Spot and witnessed this crazy phenomena for ourselves. Members of our party reported feeling lightheaded and sick afterwards.

We also went to the gravity hill in Moncton, Canada and were in the car when we put it in neutral and took a backwards ride up a hill.

Now, whether or not it's just optical illusion isn't the point. It's pretty awesome to experience it either way.

And, just for the record, some of these places ARE NOT illusions. Even the trees grow in weird, bent unnatural angles. There is definitely a weird force at work.

Take a road trip and see for yourself.

Magnetic Hill in Moncton, New Brunswick.

The Mystery Spot in Santa Cruz, CA

Gravity Hill in Bedford, PA

Mystery Hill in Blowing Rock, NC

Mystery Spot in St. Ignace, MI

Top 10 Haunted Places in America

Eastern State Penn - right in the heart of Philadelphia

# 10 Lemp Mansion, MO. This mansion in St. Louis is said to haunted by several members of the family that died there. And by several we mean at least 5. If we owned a kick-ass mansion, we'd never leave either.

# 9 Winchester House, CA - Mad Sarah Winchester built the craziest house in California. It was under construction 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for 38 years straight without any kind of letup. It is said the workmen still linger...

# 8 Stanley Hotel, CO - The inspiration for Stephen Kings "The Shining", this gorgeous and strategically placed hotel offers panoramic overlooks of the Rocky Mountains. Strange goings on are reported in several rooms on the 4th floor. Visitor beware...

# 7 Bobby Mackay’s House of Music, OH - A nightclub in the Midwest offering more than just alcoholic spirits. Reported to have a Gateway to Hell in it's basement. Fun!

# 6 Myrtles Plantation, LA - It was built on Indian burial ground, ransacked by Union soldiers during the Civil War and houses the vengeful ghost of a slave woman named Chloe - you know, just another boring bed and breakfast.

# 5 Alcatraz, CA - Al Capone stayed here. Now it's reported to be haunted with unexplained noises scaring the hell out of people to this day...

# 4 Queen Mary, CA - The RMS Queen Mary is a retired luxury liner, permanently docked off the coast off Long Beach. The pool area is said to have several lingering ghosts including a small girl and a woman who dances and dances around the pool. And.. a vortex of energy is said to emanate from the changing area. Last one in's a rotten egg!

# 3 Gettysburg National Historical Park - PA - Every nook and cranny of this small town is haunted. Every inch of the battlefields and woods are haunted and still resonate with the energy of that horrible 3 day battle in 1863. Haunted.As.Hell.Beyond.Doubt.

# 2 Waverly Hills Sanatorium, KY - If you've ever seen a picture of this place, you would automatically know it was haunted. Knowing that well over 5,000 people died here, and that number is rumored to be upwards of 60,000? Than you know. The strange goings on here are downright scary. EVP's, orbs, moving objects, strange noises and voices...Oh and the place has a "Death Chute". Cute, huh?

# 1 Eastern State Penitentiary, PA - This prison from the 1800's is still standing strong and creepy practically in the middle of Philadelphia and is reported to be the most haunted prison in the country. It is almost impossible to walk its long, dark hallways even in broad happy daylight and numbingly terrifying to stay overnight. The last of the prisoners in the 1970's reported that the shadows seemed to "take over" as they were transferred out everyday and as their numbers shrank - the dark sides grew. It reportedly has every single manner of paranormal activity that can be recorded and experienced. Oh and Al Capone stayed here. Some guys have all the luck!

All of these places have Halloween and ghost tours. So go have a scarefully fun time!

Sam Jackson is the Highest Grossing Actor of All Time

Academy Award winning actor Samuel L. Jackson is THE MAN.
He is, of course, awesome in whatever he is in.

His movies have raked in over 7 BILLION dollars.

What movies has he been in, you ask?
Here are some little ones you may have heard of. There are dozens more and that's not even counting his Broadway and TV stuff.

Goodfellas
Patriot Games
True Romance
Jurassic Park
Pulp Fiction
The Long Kiss Goodnight - one of our FAVES
Jackie Brown
Star Wars 2 and 3
Kill Bill v2.
Iron Man
Inglourious Basterds
1408
Unthinkable - <- Best of his career!
Captain America
Thor
(Motherfucking) Snakes on a (motherfucking) Plane
and The Avengers (coming soon)

Here are a few greatest hits and they mostly all contain "Motherfucker"




And thanks to the Internet we now have the Pulp Fiction short version with ALL the motherfuckers!




EW.com article

TAKE IT TO THE SUPREME COURT

What does this look like to you?
Rhymes with...ABUSE, maybe?

In a devastating setback to Animal Rights, yet ANOTHER court, the Appeals Court, has dismissed a case against Ringling Brothers for abusing its elephants.

This is ridiculously sad and tragic.

Obviously the 3-person appeals panel is ABSOLUTELY CLUELESS and/or hiding behind minutiae detail that in another day and age would be looked over. In an age when OJ and Casey Anthony were set free on society and Troy Davis executed, it's extremely difficult to get justice at all.

This lawsuit was brought by 2 independent animal rights groups that came together for the cause. Both the The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) and the Animal Protection Institute (API), we think, were in the rights here to make this case.

AND WE URGE THEM TO TAKE IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL,
THE SUPREME COURT.

"Never give up. Never surrender."

Elephants are highly social, emotional and smart animals. Beating them as babies to make them perform for the next 50 years is as unconscionable, cruel and disgusting as it gets. Ringling Brothers is a fucking nightmare. NEVER TAKE YOUR KIDS TO A CIRCUS. NEVER.

HuffPost News Article

CNN News Article

View Cloris Leachman's video PSA to stop circus elephant abuse

PETA - Circus action site

The Art Gallery: Jack Vettriano

The Omni Art Gallery is back! It's been a while.

We've only recently become aware of the fabulous artist, Jack Vettriano. He's been called "The People's Painter" and is apparently one of Britain's most loved living artists.

His works are incredible. We love them. And most are VERY Adult. And those aren't shown here...

You can visit his gallery here at: JackVettriano.com

Here are a only a few faves..

Waltzers

Untitled

The Singing Butler

The Letter

Table for One

Elegy for a Dead Admiral

Dance Me to the End of Love

Return of the Hobbits

As they were ten years ago

Empire Magazine is celebrating the 10th anniversary of Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings.

They invited the hobbits - Elijah Wood, Sean Austin, Dominic Monaghan and Billy Boyd to come back for a photo shoot.

Back in Wellington?

We heart Sean Astin who flashed us a peace sign once...
and his dad, John Astin, is like the coolest EVER

News Article