CLICK ABOVE TO FOLLOW THE PROGRESS OF OUR CONTESTANTS AS THEY COMPETE TO LOSE WEIGHT
The Ultra Loser contest has begun. We have three contestants who are losing weight with Ultra 90, so that they can be the Ultra Loser. You can follow their weight loss journey, by clicking above. As they lose weight, we will have before and after pictures posted. You may even want to try Ultra 90 yourself and lose weight along with our contestants. CLICK HERE to find our more information about Ultra 90 and how it can help you to lose weight.
Check out pics from Robbie's backyard makeover by C&L Landscaping.Click Here
BIG SHOW INTERVIEW WITH JESSICA SIMPSON
CLICK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO THE BIG SHOW'S INTERVIEW WITH JESSICA SIMPSON
Jacksonville Big Show Halloween costume Photos Click Here Holiday Big Show Photos Click Here
ARRESTED FOR PASSING GAS ON A COP
Thursday, September 25
Late Monday night, 34-year-old Jose Cruz of Clarksburg, West Virginiawas driving down the road when a police officer pulled him over for not having his headlights on.
After talking to Jose, the officer suspected that he'd been drinking, so he had Jose perform a few field sobriety tests. But after Jose failed all the tests . . . the cop brought him down to the police station to take a breathalyzer.
No big deal, right?But here's where things get a little weird . . .according to the report, the officer was preparing the breathalyzer machine when Jose scooted his chair over, lifted his leg, and passed gas on the cop. Then he wafted it in the officer's direction.
Now, not only has Jose been charged with DUI and obstruction, but the cop added the charge of BATTERY on an officer, which could get Jose up to ONE year in prison. And get this . . . in the complaint, the officer noted that the odor was, quote, "very strong". Oh, that is just wrong.
PRESIDENTIAL FINGER PUPPETS Tuesday, September 23 Does the prospect of this Friday’s debate between Barack Obama and John McCain totally bore you? Would you rather stage your own presidential debate . . . using paper finger puppets?If so, you're in luck! There is a website where you can download paper cutouts of Obama and McCain . . . which you can fold into finger puppets. Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain are available as well. CLICK HERE to download your presidential finger puppets.
Then, if you need help cutting them and folding them properly so they’ll work, you can watch the following video:
HURRICANE IKE SURVIVOR
Monday, September 22
How about those pictures? Dontcha think they look fake . . . but they're not. It's a neighborhood in Galveston, Texas, where Hurricane Ike hit hardest last week. It shows a lone house with nothing around it but utter devastation. The house belongs to Pam and Warren Adams, who built it in February 2006 after their first home was destroyed by Hurricane Rita. They asked the contractor to build a house that could withstand a Category 5 hurricane.Looks like they got their money's worth.
SCULPTURE MADE FROM CHEWED GUM
Monday, September 22
That is a picture of a sculpture made by a 17-year-old British kid named Ally Rosenberg. He assembled 50 classmates in his school library, had them chew up a thousand pieces of gum, and then mixed it together to make the flesh-like skin for the bust of an old woman's head. Ewwww!
AN UPSIDE-DOWN RAINBOW
Thursday, September 18
That is a picture of an upside-down rainbow that recently appeared over England. Technically, it’s called circumzenithal arc. CLICK HERE to learn more about them.
THE "ANTI-THEFT LUNCH BAG"
Wednesday, September 17
Has your lunch ever been stolen out of the refrigerator at work?Well, maybe in the future, you’ll be able to pick up an Anti-Theft Lunch Bag to make sure it never happens again. As you can see from the pictures, the Anti-Theft Lunch Bag is a plastic bag that has green splotches printed on both sides, so it looks like your sandwich is moldy and disgusting. The Anti-Theft Lunch Bag hasn't actually hit the market yet, but if you email the inventor, Sherwood Forlee, at skforlee@gmail.com, he'll let you know when it does. I think the invention is genius!
A SALAMI "MARBLE" FLOOR
Wednesday, September 17
A conceptual artist from Belgium named Wim Delvoye created a piece that appears to be a marble floor, but is actually constructed entirely . . . out of salami.Look closely at the picture and you can tell. I think it’s kind of cool, actually.
MOTHER IMPERSONATES DAUGHTER TO BECOME CHEERLEADER
Monday, September 15
Last week, 33-year-old Wendy Brown of Green Bay, Wisconsin, was arrested for felony identity theft . . . after she pretended to be her 15-year-old daughter, who wasn't named, and enrolled in high school.
Apparently, Wendy's daughter lives in Nevada with her grandmother.So Wendy, being the genius she clearly is, used her daughter's name and social security number to enroll at Ashwaubenon High School. Wendy even joined the cheerleading squad, and went to a pool party at the cheerleading coach's house.
But after Wendy skipped four days of class last week, school officials started looking into her background. When they learned what was really going on, they called the police and had Wendy arrested.
On Friday, a judge set Wendy's bond at $8,000. If she's convicted, she could get up to SIX years in prison.
So why did Wendy do it?Apparently, she felt like she missed out on her own high school experience, and it was something she regretted.
Also, get this . . . according to Wendy's math teacher, Wendy didn't look like a high school student, but she was so behind emotionally and academically, that it didn't seem like too much of a stretch that she was a high school student.
NY CITY TAP WATER FOR SALE
Monday, September 15
CLICK ABOVE TO ORDER NY CITY TAP WATER
It's no secret . . . New York City tap water isn’t the deadly poison you might think it is. In fact, it's consistently rated one of the cleanest tap waters in the country. In fact, any New Yorker will tell you, it's better to order regular tap water when you go to a restaurant there, instead of buying the overpriced bottled stuff the servers are always trying to push.
Well, now you can actually buy New York tap water . . . by the bottle.A new company called "Tap'd NY" has started purifying, bottling, and selling New York tap water.
According to their website, they, quote, "do not deliver to Fiji or France . . . they can keep their water and we'll keep ours."
CLICK HERE OR ABOVE TO GO TO THE WEBSITE to order some New York tap water here.
DINNER IN THE SKY
Friday, September 12
This sounds insane, but apparently, there's something called Dinner in the Sky where, basically, you and 21 of your closest friends sit down for dinner around a large table . . . which is then hoisted 150 feet in the air by a large crane.
Dinner in the Sky costs $225 apiece or around $5,000 overall. But make sure everyone uses the bathroom BEFORE getting on the crane, because if you have to use it while in the sky . . . the entire crane will have to be lowered.
CLICK HERE for the Dinner in the Sky website, where you can get more information and even rent the Dinner in the Sky crane.
SARAH PALIN ACTION FIGURES
Wednesday, September 10
CLICK ABOVE FOR WEBSITE TO ORDER ACTION FIGURE
Do you just love Sarah Palin?If so, you might want to pick up a Sarah Palin action figure. Seriously.
A toy manufacturer called Hero Builders has just released three, 12-inch Sarah Palin action figures. They are:
#1.)Sarah Palin the Executive(She's dressed in a formal business suit.)
#2.)Sarah Palin the Superhero(She has a long black coat, a mini-skirt and a gun strapped to her thigh.)
#3.)Sarah Palin the Schoolgirl(She's wearing a plaid skirt and a white shirt that's tied up so her belly is exposed.)
Not a Sarah Palin fan?No problem.Hero Builders also has action figures of John McCain, Barack Obama, John Edwards, and Eliot Spitzer.
CLICK HERE or above to buy your favorite political candidate’s action figure. They’ll run you about $30.
SHE’S GOT THE LOOK
Tuesday, September 09
John McCain’s running mate, Sarah Palin, has a pretty distinct look. One of the things she’s getting noticed for, in a big way, are her eyeglasses. According to Italee Optics, which is the company that makes the eyeglasses, requests for the $375 frames are off the charts. Palin's glasses were designed by a guy named Kazuo Kawasaki. Hers are the 704 series. CLICK HERE to see that line on the designer's website.
5-YEAR-OLD MAKES HOLE-IN-ONE
Monday, September 08
There are golfers who spend their entire life trying to hit a hole-in-one, and it never happens for them.
Then there is 5-year-old Drew Gray of Belleville, Illinois (which is in the southern part of the state, just southeast of St. Louis) . . .Two weekends ago, Drew was out playing golf at the Yorktown Golf Club. On the fifth hole, Drew set up from kid's tee, which is 75 yards from the hole, and took his shot.
According to Drew, quote, "I didn't hit [the ball] really straight, but it bounced and it turned [and went] in the hole."
Several people witnessed the shot, and the course owner has verified it.According to officials at the golf club, Drew is the youngest person ever to hit a hole-in-one on their course.
IF HE NEVER HAD SURGERY?
Thursday, August 28
Michael Jackson turns 50 tomorrow . . . and one of the not-always-reliable British tabloids put together one of those computer-generated images of what Michael MIGHT have looked like if he didn't butcher his face and skin with numerous cosmetic procedures. It’s the first picture above, and frankly, if this is what Michael would have looked like, it's really not that bad at all. It's better than his current look.
A jury in Las Vegas found O.J. Simpson guilty on Friday . . . of EVERYTHING. O.J.'s co-defendant, Clarence "CJ" Steward, got the same.
The "everything" in this case means 12 charges, including kidnapping, armed robbery and conspiracy. Eleven of those charges were felonies. The jury deliberated for 13 hours before reaching a verdict.
By the way . . . Friday was the 13th anniversary of O.J.'s acquittal on double-murder charges. Literally, TO THE DAY.A Los Angeles jury messed up and set him free on October 3rd, 1995.
After the verdicts were read, O.J.'s sister, Carmelita Durio, collapsed and had to be treated by paramedics. Carmelita was in court with O.J.'s adult daughter Arnelle, who allegedly bloodied O.J. during an argument back in August.
Here are some pictures of O.J. from Friday:
O.J. arriving in court Friday.
O.J. reacts to the guilty verdicts.
O.J.'s sister reacts to the guilty verdicts.
O.J. taken into custody after verdicts read.
As for sentencing, that happens on December 5th, and both O.J. and Clarence will remain locked up until then. There's supposed to be a minimum sentence of five years . . . so we assume . . . although you never know with this legal system of ours . . . that O.J. will have to do at least that much time. But, as we've been hearing over and over again, both men could end up with life sentences.
There wasn't too much grandstanding during this trial, like there was during O.J.'s murder trial. Although one of the prosecutors did kind of unfairly bring up the murder trial in his opening statement. He hinted to the jury that they could make up for O.J.'s acquittal on murder charges, saying, quote, "You will be able to write that final chapter, the chapter of arrogance and hypocrisy and that will be the true verdict.The verdict you can feel good about."
After the verdict, O.J.'s attorney, Yale Galanter, said that's exactly what the jury delivered. He called their decision, quote, "payback" for O.J.'s 1995 acquittal, and he vowed to appeal.
Not surprisingly, Fred Goldman is in heaven right now, thanks to the guilty verdicts. On Saturday, he told CNN, quote, "We're absolutely thrilled to see that the potential is that he could spend the rest of his life in jail where the scumbag belongs. He's not [been found] guilty of the right crime. But he's guilty."
Meanwhile, the family of O.J.'s ex-wife, Nicole Brown, simply asked for privacy, to deal with, quote, "many mixed emotions".
O.J. was acquitted in 1995 of the murders of Nicole and Fred Goldman's son, Ron. But in 1996, O.J. lost a civil wrongful death judgment, to the tune of over $33 million. Goldman has been dogging O.J. ever since.
Goldman's attorney, David Cook, thinks that Fred's persistence in trying to get paid helped put O.J. behind bars, by motivating him to commit the robbery in the first place.
He said, quote, "We drove him into that room to grab the sports memorabilia before we could seize the stuff. Going to jail for beating Fred Goldman out of footballs and family mementos. Is this closure for Fred Goldman?No.Is this closure for America?Yes."
Cook also said he and Fred Goldman would continue to run O.J. down for every cent they can get out of him.
That includes selling the stolen memorabilia that got O.J. into this predicament in the first place . . . as well as any wages O.J. earns in prison. Cook says, quote, "We'll look forward to collecting that 83 cents an hour.I could squeeze this guy for every penny."
Speaking of reactions to the verdict . . . Marcia Clark, one of the prosecutors who botched O.J.'s murder trial, had this to say . . .Quote, "Having attended the preliminary hearing and followed the Las Vegas case closely, I believe that the evidence did establish Simpson's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt and I am glad to see that justice has finally been served."
Rovert Shapiro, one of the attorneys on O.J.'s "Dream Team" during that trial, said, quote, "He got a fair trial from what I read." On one final note…. Here’s evidence of O.J.’s cockiness…
The "Las Vegas Review-Journal" says that O.J. was so sure he would skate on this latest round of charges that he had already planned his acquittal celebration.
O.J.'S buddy Thomas Riccio did an interview on a local radio station on Friday, before the verdict was read.
After the interview, he invited the host, one Anthony Crivello, and another man who was in the studio with them to join O.J. and his entourage for a party at an undisclosed location. Crivello says, quote, "That's how certain he was."
TINA FEY STRIKES AGAIN
As you can see, Tina Fey continued her spot-on impression of Sarah Palin on "Saturday Night Live" over the weekend. The show opened with a sketch parodying last Thursday's vice-presidential debate, and in my humble opinion, it was hilarious. Queen Latifah played moderator Gwen Ifill in the skit.
Speaking of the VP debate… it scored huge ratings on Thursday night. Just under 70 million people tuned in, making it the most-watched vice presidential debate ever.
The old record, ironically, was held by the only other vice presidential debate to feature a woman. It was the 1984 debate between Geraldine Ferraro and George H.W. Bush, which attracted an audience of 56.7 million.
John McCain and Barack Obama’s first debate a little over a week ago was "only" watched by 52.4 million people.
Check this out regarding the Palin/Biden debate…
If it had been a presidential debate, it would have been the second most-watched of all time. The presidential debate record is 80.6 million. That's how many people watched Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter’s only debate back in 1980.
Let's keep in mind, though, that there were, like, three channels to watch back then, and that debate was probably on all of them.
QUITTING?
Olympic volleyball gold-medalist Misty May-Treanor suffered an ankle injury during rehearsals on Friday, and she might have to bow out of "Dancing With the Stars".
There were reports that the ankle was broken, and that Misty was definitely out of the show. But that might not be the case.
Here's the official statement from ABC . . . "[Misty] sustained an injury on Friday and received immediate medical attention. Despite previous reports, she did not break her ankle. She is resting comfortably at home. Doctors will reevaluate her condition on Monday and determine the outcome of her participation on the show."
In the meantime, former “DWTS” champ Helio Castroneves was literally in shackles on Friday, as he pled not guilty to federal tax evasion charges in a Miami courtroom.
But he bounced back, and on Saturday, he was sitting in the winner's circle at the American Le Mans Series Petit Le Mans race in Atlanta. Helio didn't win the race overall, but he and his partner finished first in the Prototype 2 Class, whatever that means.
Helio, who won the 5th season of "Dancing With the Stars", is accused of creating a bogus company in Panama to hide $10 million in income from the IRS.
BIG BIRTHDAY BASH
Miley Cyrus doesn’t officially turn 16 until next month, but that didn’t stop Disney from throwing a big birthday party at Disneyland for her. Over 5,000 people were estimated to have been at yesterday’s event, which cost $250 per ticket to attend. Miley and dad Billy Ray both performed, followed by a fireworks display. Disney closed the park to the public and only concertgoers had access to the rides. Among the stars spotted wondering the park…. Cindy Crawford, Tyra Banks, Steve Carell, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Jennie Garth.
Here are pictures of Miley performing at her party:
NEW PARENTS
Dierks Bentley is now a dad. Dierks' wife Cassidy gave birth to the couple's first child, a daughter named Evalyn Day Bentley, on Saturday. Obviously, Dierks is quite proud, quote, "She is the most beautiful little girl you have ever seen. I'm so happy."
FOXX FILES
Thursday 10-02-2008 9:34am ET
TAPE OR NO TAPE? THAT IS THE QUESTION
There may not be a Britney Spears sex tape after all. Britney's slimy ex-boyfriend, Adnan Ghalib, now claims that he doesn’t have one, and he never said he did.
He tells the "Star" tabloid, quote, "There is no sex tape, and I never claimed there is one. I don't know where these quotes I'm supposed to have said have come from. What I do know is they certainly didn't come from me and they are completely false. I'm extremely upset and distressed and I'm taking legal action. This story has caused a lot of hurt to my family and people close to me. There is no sex tape. That is the end of the matter."
However, the not-always-reliable British tabloids say that Adnan has received an offer for the tape in the neighborhood of $9 million, from some porn website.
But at the same time, they say Britney's people are willing to pay, quote, "as much as it takes" to buy it from him so it can be destroyed.
RETURNING TO TV
Rosie O'Donnell’s variety show, which is inventively titled "Rosie's Variety Show", will air on November 26th, the night before Thanksgiving, on NBC.If it does well enough, it'll become a regular series sometime next year.
It'll include celebrity guests, musical acts, comedy skits featuring a regular cast of actors and contests for both in-studio and at-home audiences. Also, it'll be live.
One of the producers says, quote, "We want to show people that variety can be done in a new and inventive way for 2008. We hope to do it in ways you haven't seen before. It's going to be the YouTube of variety shows."
Rosie says the show will be, quote, "old-time variety, live from New York, with a nod to Ed Sullivan, Carol Burnett and memories of 'Sonny and Cher'."
Earlier this year, Fox announced a deal to do five variety shows, hosted by Ozzy and Sharon Osbourne.
SHUT DOWN POSSIBLE?
Something called the Copyright Royalty Board is ruling on an issue later today that could spell the END of iTunes. For real. It's fairly involved, but here's gist of it:
The National Music Publisher's Association is asking the board for a 66% increase in their royalty rate from the sale of digital music. Right now, they're entitled to nine cents per track sold, and they want that increased to 15 cents.
That may seem small, but Apple sells each song for 99 cents . . . and 70 cents of that, they pass on to the record companies. With other fees, Apple claims the increase will cause them to operate iTunes at a LOSS . . . unless they raise the 99-cent cost.
But Apple says it'd rather shut iTunes down than raise the cost of the tracks.I doubt we have to worry about iTunes actually closing, but whatever happens, we'll keep you posted.
FOXX FILES
Wednesday 10-01-2008 9:51am ET
WANTED BOTOX FOR HER SON?
Sharon Stone never lost custody of her adopted son Roan, but she did fail in her bid to get more custody. Apparently, the reason she failed is because she's a nutcase as a parent.
TMZ got its hands on a document from the custody case, in which the judge outlines the battle for Roan between Sharon and her ex-husband, Phil Bronstein.
In that document, the judge writes, quote, "Mother appears to overreact to many medical issues involving Roan."
In one case, the judge notes that Sharon insisted Roan had a spinal condition, even though there was no evidence to support her claim. But it gets even more insane.
The judge also says that Sharon wanted Roan to have Botox injected into his feet because they smelled. But Phil was able to correct the problem with, quote, "the simple and common sense approach of making sure Roan wore socks with his shoes and used foot deodorant."
The judge also shot down a claim that Sharon had put her career on hold to spend more time with Roan, saying, quote, "If Mother has, in fact, limited her career to make herself available for Roan, she has done little to make this evident to Roan, his school or this Court."
Roan, who's 8 years old, lives primarily with his father in San Francisco.Sharon wanted to move him to Los Angeles with her. It's probably a good thing for this kid that she failed.
TRIBUTES
On Sunday, October 12th, Turner Classic Movies will run a 24-hour marathon of Paul Newman movies. CLICK HERE for the schedule.
“People” magazine will release a 96-page soft-cover book about Newman’s life. That comes out by October 11th.
“People’s” next issue of their magazine features Newman on the cover, and includes a tribute written by Tom Cruise. Cruise co-starred with Newman in the movie, “Color of Money”, the only film that Newman won an Oscar for. He did receive an honorary Academy Award after that as well. The new issue comes out this Friday.
ACTIVISTS PROTESTING MOVIE
There's a movie coming out on Friday called "Blindness".It's about an epidemic in an unnamed city that causes people to go blind. The blind people are quarantined, and chaos, obviously, ensues.
Julianne Moore plays a woman who doesn’t go blind, but pretends she did so she can stay with her husband who did go blind. She ends up leading a revolt of the quarantined people.
Sound interesting? Probably not if you're blind. The National Federation for the Blind plans on protesting the movie at 75 theaters around the country.
NFB President Marc Maurer says, quote, "The movie portrays blind people as monsters, and I believe it to be a lie. Blindness doesn't turn decent people into monsters."
Christopher Danielsen, a spokesman for the NFB, adds, quote, "We face a 70% unemployment rate and other social problems because people don't think we can do anything, and this movie is not going to help at all."
Miramax, which is releasing "Blindness", expressed disappointment at the NFB's stance, calling the movie, quote, "a courageous parable about the triumph of the human spirit when civilization breaks down."
BACK ON TOP OF THE RATINGS
Although a lot of shows had their season premieres last week, none of them could compete with our unbridled lust for talent competitions. Monday's 7th season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars" easily won the week with 21.3 million viewers.
"Desperate Housewives" was the most watched scripted show. It came in second with 18.7 million viewers. Here are last week's Top 20 shows:
1.)The 7th season premiere of "Dancing with the Stars",ABC,21.3 million viewers
2.)The 5th season premiere of "Desperate Housewives",ABC,18.7 million viewers
3.)The 5th season premiere of "Grey's Anatomy",ABC,18.5 million viewers
4.)Tuesday's "Dancing with the Stars" performance show,ABC,18.3 million viewers
5.)The 6th season premiere of "NCIS",CBS,18 million viewers
6.)"Sunday Night Football",NBC,17.3 million viewers. The Chicago Bears defeated the Philadelphia Eagles with a final score of 24-20. As for "Monday Night Football", 18.6 million people watched the San Diego Chargers beat the New York Jets 48-29 on ESPN.
7.)The 7th season premiere of "CSI:Miami",CBS,17.2 million viewers
8.)The 4th season premiere of "Criminal Minds",CBS,17 million viewers
9.)Wednesday's "Dancing with the Stars" results show,ABC,15.9 million viewers
10.)The series premiere of "The Mentalist",CBS,15.6 million viewers
11.)The 6th season premiere of "Two and a Half Men",CBS,14.9 million viewers
12.)The 5th season premiere of "CSI:New York",CBS,14.6 million viewers
13.)The 17th season premiere of "Survivor",CBS,13.1 million viewers
14.)"60 Minutes",CBS,12.6 million viewers
15.)"House",Fox,12.4 million viewers
16.)"The OT",Fox,12.2 million viewers
17.)The 3rd season premiere of "Brothers and Sisters",ABC,12 million viewers
18.)The 6th season premiere of "Extreme Makeover:Home Edition",ABC,11.9 million viewers
19.)The 6th season premiere of "Cold Case",CBS,11.4 million viewers
20.)The 7th season premiere of "Without a Trace",CBS,11.3 million viewers
OUT OF THE HOSPITAL
On Monday night, Janet Jackson cancelled a concert in Montreal, after becoming "suddenly ill" during a sound-check. Janet was rushed to the hospital, but it wasn't anything serious, and she was discharged two hours later.
No one from Janet's camp has issued any specifics on her condition. Her publicist issued a brief statement simply saying that Janet is, quote, "recuperating".
--For what it's worth, a "source" told "People" magazine, quote, "She's definitely tired. It was probably exhaustion. She's doing back-to-back, three-hour shows, and her body isn't the same as it used to be."
She's 42 years old.
Yesterday afternoon, Janet postponed two more shows . . . a gig tonight in Boston and a concert tomorrow night in Philadelphia.
For now, she expects to resume her tour Saturday night in Greensboro, North Carolina.
© 2008