In case you don't get enough of a sexy Chriqui

If anybody doesn't get enough Emmanuelle Chriqui (raising my hand to signify 'Me'!), I found this music video in which she as acceptably and wonderfully flirtatious.

Jeff Goldblum is in it too, but that's not why I'm excited about finding it.

And the music is kind of R&B quirky, but it's OK as an accompaniment to watching Emmanuelle.

I hope that's not the only reason

Hot on the heels of my posting about Gerard Butler dating the incomprehensibly gorgeous Madalina Ghenea comes this Daily Mail article stating the obvious - Gerard might just possibly slightly have been attracted to her for her physical attractiveness.

Yes, I indeed think that is possible.  (Ha ha ha.)


So THAT'S why he's going out with her! Gerard Butler's girlfriend Madalina Ghenea poses in revealing lingerie for a racy photo shoot

The third picture in this article nearly melted my screen, but specific parts of my physiology were affected reversely.

Is anybody paying attention up here?

I'm sure that those Down Under are noticing, but up (north) here in this hemisphere, climate skeptics are trying to find any scrap of cold and snow news they can find.

But Australia is nearing or setting temperature records during what is, of course, their summer.

Hmm... where have we heard THAT before?

How hot Down Under?

"In Western Australia, readings Thursday topped nearly as high as the vast state's all-time maximum temperature of 49.8 degrees C, or 121.6 degrees F.

The hottest spot, from data available to AccuWeather.com, was Red Rocks Point, which soared to 48.6 degrees C, or 119.5 degrees F. Red Rocks is located in the southeast of the state, right along the chilly waters of the Great Australian Bight."

Australia's [Tasmania's] Hobart experiences hottest day

"Australia's southern island of Tasmania has experienced its hottest day since records began, with the capital Hobart sweltering at 41.8 Celsius (107.2 Fahrenheit) on Friday.

The Bureau of Meteorology said the temperature in Tasmania, where records have been kept since the early 1880s, beat the previous high of 40.8 Celsius set in January 1976."

And not just by a little - a whole degree C.

Too bad we can't grab this one

Just found out about a really close pass (inside the geostationary orbit distance) of a small, but consequential if it hit us, space rock, also called an asteroid, of course.


Near-Earth Asteroid 2012 DA14 to Miss Earth on February 15, 2013 

Here's the pass configuration.

The thing is, NASA is floating plans to grab an asteroid using a big bag (no "Big Bag Theory" jokes, please), put into lunar orbit, and use it as a Mars mission jumping-off base.

Yup, really.

So even though this one's a little small, maybe it would be good practice, and also something to study for a bigger catch-and-orbit attempt later.

Downstream drought effects

The ongoing Midwestern drought is causing significant water level problems in the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, which in turn is causing barge transport difficulties, which could have economic ramifications.

Tell that to conservatives who don't think climate and weather are important economic issues.

Barge operators continue to sound alarm about low Mississippi River levels

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers say that they're going to keep the channel open and deep enough for traffic, but when you have to excavate rock (instead of just bottom sediments) to do that, well, that means the situation is getting serious.

This was unexpected, and interesting

I've written a few things about Padma Lakshmi on this blog.

Like this, recently.

And this, first time I commented on her pregnancy.

And then this, commenting on the possibility that billionaire Ted Forstmann was the father of her baby (as yet unborn).

Finally this, in which the father's identity was revealed, though at the time it was merely speculated.

Subsequent to the birth, Lakshmi and true father Dell had a bit of a tussle about his role in the child's life, ultimately settled.

But now comes this interesting article, in which it was revealed that Forstmann would have raised the baby as his and provided for her over her whole life - if Padma didn't tell the world who the real father was, and let the world think that the baby was his.

Ah the webs we weave when first we practice to deceive.  Ultimately Padma went with the honest route, which I think was prudent in this day of accurate DNA tests. 

I'm guessing she's not a virgin anymore

Julianne Hough several times indicated that she would likely not have sex before marriage.  But when you're in a pretty long term relationship with Ryan Seacrest, and you're young, hot, and sexy, that might not be possible.

First, some links about her stance on virginity:

Julianne Hough on her virginity and her fear of dating "powerful" Ryan Seacrest
(in this article she is quoted as saying that the Mormon religion says no sex before marriage, and that's how she was raised)

7 Celebs Who Vowed to Stay Virgins
Quoting Hough:  "I'm not trying to preach consequences here, but I think when you say no, down the line it will be a better decision.”

Julianne Hough "No Sex Before Marriage"
has the full quote:  “I want to be with that special person,” she tells CosmoGIRL! in excerpts posted on ET.online. “I think [the choice] to have sex before marriage is an individual one, but if you’re just with one person, it’s only for one good reason, and [waiting to have sex] will strengthen that relationship. I’m not trying to preach consequences here, but I think when you say no, down the line it will be a better decision.”
(note that this was in 2008)

And now, here are some pictures of her in a bikini from the movie Safe Haven,

which is coming out in February,

and which is why she's on the cover of the next issue of Cosmopolitan. (By the way, after seeing the outfits that she wore in the cover shoot video, I can't believe what they chose for her to wear on the cover.)

And the accompanying article starts with this anecdote:

"As Superstorm Sandy descended on New York City, rain and storm winds rattled the windows of downtown's Crosby Street Hotel. Inside, actress Julianne Hough and her boyfriend, Ryan Seacrest—Hollywood's fast-rising, workaholic power couple—were stranded and alone. Their cell phones were, for once, strangely quiet.

So they curled up in a king-size bed and hibernated with fellow bears: the potty-mouthed comedy Ted on the hotel TV and an enormous canister of gummy bears open on the duvet. "We couldn't work," Hough says, the next day. "We just got to stay in our bed and in our pajamas—until the power cut out."

Let's just say they probably never saw the end of that talking-teddy-bear flick. "It was great," says Hough, smiling conspiratorially. "We put on some candles, had some sexy time....Ha!"

OK, dear reader, you decide.  To V or not to V, that is the question.

Now, is it a big deal?  Not really.  But I have always thought that the fascination with celebrity procreation is that it partly proves the Beautiful People are indeed Having Sex, which we cannot otherwise prove except for the occasional accidental or purposeful sex tape leak.  Given the climate of the times, the atmosphere of Hollywood, and the fact that Ryan Seacrest is a young good-looking and wealthy silverback who has really staked his claim to the alpha female in the form of Julianne, I would be perfectly stunned if she hadn't already abandoned the V vow and got down to doing what comes naturally with Ryan.  Besides the fact that she says she loves him and he appears to love her and they are doing all the right things, relationship-wise (at least publically).  Which then makes one wonder why they don't get married.  But we have seen that marriage can screw up an otherwise perfectly good romantic relationship.

So I don't know if Julianne and Ryan are having sex, like many, many, many, many, many romantically linked couples are.  I suspect, based on the foregoing, that they are.

And if they are - damn, I'd like to see THAT sex tape.

(And this is still one of the main reasons why, even though the bikini shots are appealing, too):