I wasn't really that far off

After Alec and Hilaria Baldwin's baby was born, I predicted that the next notable celeb birth would be Fergie and Josh Duhamel's kid.  But as I noted in this post, the next noteworthy debut was the offspring of Michael Buble and Luisana Lopilato, born on August 28.  Well, I found out from this article that Fergie and Josh's son (monikered Axl) was born on August 29.    So I only missed that prediction by a day.

Obligatorily, I have to note that the Daily Mail suggested the Luisana can motivate herself to lose her baby weight and get back to her normal level of outstanding lusciousness by looking at pictures of herself modelng Ultimo lingerie.  Well, I don't know if that will work or not, but it does give me an excuse to link to the article.

Two Bills go Dancing

My first post of the month was about the somewhat remarkable casting for "Dancing with the Stars" this season.  Well, in addition to the cast listed in that first post, I didn't mention that they've also got Bill Nye the Science Guy to supply brainpower, and country comedian Bill Engvall for some laughs.

Dancing with the Stars Season 17 cast

I have to think the the pre-start favorites are Elizabeth Berkley, Christina Milian, and Corbin Bleu (most well-known for High School Musical).

Selena defines the dress

Took a little while to get to this, but I had to comment on the dress Selena Gomez sported at the MTV Video Music Awards.  At first glance, it looks like some of the seams have split, revealing her undergarments.  At second glance, this is how it's designed.  And she wears it well.  She's still nubile, but she's on the edge of marvelously desirable maturity.

Game of inches

Oh yeah, that's a cliche, but in this case, it applied.   Steve Lombardozzi of the Washington Nationals made a spin-and-throw play to first base, which was being covered just in time by Nationals pitcher Jordan Zimmerman.  The ball got to Zimmerman's glove at the same time that Zimmerman's foot stepped on first base, on step ahead of Cesar Hernandez of the Philadelphia Phillies.  I did a screen capture of the video to show how close this was.

Here's the video of the play.

This is getting REALLY tiresome

John Boehner is getting repetitive - and tiresome.

Boehner (R-Ohio) has proposed a short-term budget bill to keep the government open into the new fiscal year with relatively little fuss. But during a speech in Boise, Idaho, on Monday [August 26], he said House Republicans will draw a line in the sand over lifting the federal debt limit, demanding spending “cuts and reforms that are greater than the increase in the debt limit.” 

House GOP bracing for debt limit battle

The thing is - what he's proposing is impossible, so it won't happen.  It didn't work before and it won't work again.  And it especially won't happen if they make a movement like they're serious about it, and all of a sudden our markets tank and our credit rating takes another hit.

Boehner, is, in fact, predicting this:  "...Boehner said, predicting a repeat of the debt-limit fight of 2011, which tanked consumer confidence, along with the GOP’s approval ratings."

Seriously?   SERIOUSLY?

Can you see the Arctic Ocean?

We are near the annual sea-ice minimum (extent wise) in the Arctic, and I wondered what it looked like from space, considering how thin the ice is.  So I made a comparison of sea ice concentration and a real-time real-color view from a cool new NASA Web app called Worldview.   What's interesting is that in the areas where the sea ice concentration is being shown as very low (lower than 50%), it looks like areas of the blue ocean are showing through.  I also thought that this area of low concentration cutting through the areas of higher concentration could lead to a more rapid decline, but looking at today's image, it looks like there's been some fill.  Still, it shows how thin the ice is this time of year.  Full of holes - like Swiss cheese, as one scientist said.

Unbelievable DWTS casting

I don't know if this is final or not, but "Dancing with the Stars" is apparently going for serious ratings this next season with the casting of:

1.  Arguably the "Jersey Shore's" most recognizable resident, Snooki;

2. A beloved TV star currently treating inoperable brain cancer, Valerie Harper;

3. Ex-Scientologist (and controversially so), Leah Rimini;

 4.  'Teen Mom', porn starlet (one time), and implant queen Farrah Abraham;

5.  'Saved by the Bell' and 'Showgirls' star Elizabeth Berkley;

6.  Ozzy Osbourne's son Jack (who's got MS at a pretty young age); and

7.  One of the lesser-known guys from N'Sync (who might have a dancing skills advantage).

Dancing with the Stars includes Rimini and Harper