Pin-Up Bettie Page Lands on List of Top-Earning Deceased Celebrities

Late pin-up model and centerfold Bettie Page has landed on a recent Forbes' list of top-earning (dead) celebrities for the first time since her December 2008 death [and you know what that means, right? If you said 'A completely gratuitous opportunity to adorn your blog w/more vintage Bettie Page imagery' give yourself a gold star!- NANESB!]

With an estate worth an estimated US$6 million, Page was tied for 13th place overall with artist Andy Warhol and former Beatle George Harrison. The iconic model had lived in relative obscurity in Southern California for most of her latter days.


However, beginning in the 1980s the pin-up enjoyed a resurgence in popularity- something she was unaware of for the better part of a decade. Writer Dave Stevens based the romantic interest of the title charachter in his Rocketeer comics on Page (although this did not show up in the 1990s film adaptation) and in the 1990s, Dark Horse comics had introduced a line of Bettie Page comics and merchandise.

After some litigation with her Chicago-based agent in 1997, Page began collecting royalties from her modelling and continued living off of those for the next decade. Aside from an official website, Page lent her name to lines of retro-style shoes, blouses, lingerie and swimwear.

Page's 2008 death did not diminish the popularity of the iconic pin-up in the least. Her estate is still collecting royalties and Bettie Page Clothing continues to sell 1950's style clothing online and from stores located in Las Vegas, Hollywood, San Francisco, the Twin Cities and San Diego.

Other recent additions to the list include actress Elizabeth Taylor and Swedish author Stieg Larsson, who penned The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo before his 2004 death.

Something to Fret Over: Feds Raid and Shut Down Gibson Guitars Over Imported Wood- Rival Company & Democrat Donors Untouched

Country singer Kellie Pickler flaunting contraband Gibson acoustic guitar at 42nd CMA awards in Nashville- Marsaili McGrath/Getty Images Entertainment

On Thursday, Aug 24th, agents from the US Fish & Wildlife Service raided Gibson Guitar corporation's Nashville, TN facilities, seizing massive quantities of wood and unfinished guitars. This is the second such raid on Gibson's Tennessee facilities in less than two years- in November 2009 federal agents seized files, documents and Madagascar rosewood used in the fabrication of guitars.



At first blush, this appeared to be a case of regulatory busybodies arbitrarily singling out a particular business for scrutiny. Like the 2009 raid, Gibson CEO Henry E. Juszkiewicz insisted his company was in compliance with both US and international laws regarding the harvesting and importing of rosewood.



The most recent raid apparently centers around the Department of Justice's interpretation of an Indian law (reportedly if the wood was finished by Indian workers are required in order for it to be legal).



However, last week enterprising bloggers took a look at the political contributions Gibson CEO Henry E. Juszkiewicz made over the last few election cycles on watchdog site opensecrets.org. The guitar company's CEO gave over $12,000 in contributions to GOP candidates as well as the Consumer Electronics Association, a PAC that contributed $92,000 to Republicans (Although the CEA also gave more than $70,000 to Democrats).

When warrants as ridiculous such as these are issued and executed, there appears no other reason than because the company or individual at hand is being targeted, not because there is any sort of wrongdoing. As a company, Gibson is a legendary. They’ve done nothing wrong, except, apparently, deigning to have a Republican CEO.



The plot thickens, however.



One of Gibson’s leading competitors is C.F. Martin & Company. The C.E.O., Chris Martin IV, is a long-time Democratic supporter, with $35,400 in contributions to Democratic candidates and the DNC over the past couple of election cycles. According to C.F. Martin’s catalog, several of their guitars contain “East Indian Rosewood.” In case you were wondering, that is the exact same wood in at least ten of Gibson’s guitars.



The Gibson facility wasn’t raided over allegations of tax evasion, charges of embezzlement, or even something as drab as child labor. Not even close. It was raided over what the DOJ deems an inability to follow a vague domestic trade law in India (one that apparently the Indian government didn’t seem too concerned about enforcing) regarding a specific type of wood. Not illegal wood, just wood with obscenely specific procedural guidelines.

It's worth noting that C.F. Martin & Co has not had the same visit from the Feds that their GOP-donating competitors at Gibson have received twice in less than two years.



Keep in mind this is the same Justice Department that allowed American guns to be smuggled to Mexican cartels, decided to sue Arizona after their state legislature passed SB1070 and declined to pursue a voter intimidation and civil rights violation case against the New Black Panther Party after members were videotaped wielding truncheons outside a Philadelphia polling station in the 2008 elections.



With any other Attorney General aside from Eric Holder, I would simply assume this was a case of anal-retentive bureaucrats and regulatory busybodies attempting to prove their relevance. However, this is the Department of Justice under Holder, so it's very difficult to see anything aside from Chicago-style politics in play as far as Gibons and C.F. Martin & Co are concerned.



UPDATE 8/30: In an even more curious development, Doug Ross' Director Blue blog was among the first to detail the political donations from CF Martin & Co. For a few hours on Tuesday afternoon, the blog had disappeared altogether before reappearing later on. Not just the post on the Gibson raid, but the entire blog.



UPDATE 8/31: In an interview on KMJ radio on Wednesday, CEO Henry Juszkiewicz said that he was told by government officials that his company's legal troubles would go away if he used Madagascar labor instead of US Labor at his factory.



[Hat tip: Dana Loesch; Director Blue; All American Blogger]

On This Day in 1926, Norma Jean Mortensen- AKA Marilyn Monroe- Born

Today would mark the 85th birthday of screen legend and blonde bombshell Marilyn Monroe. I went into some of her background (as well as the late Josephine Baker's as a bonus) this time last year.


This year, aside from the fact that I thought it was pretty awesome she went on tour with the USO to visit American GI's in the Korean peninsula at the height of the Korean war, I figured I might as well keep relatively quiet and take in the scenery.
For those of you who are so inclined, I also put up a trivia question at the top of the page. Feel free to try and take a crack at it without using Google or Wikipedia.

If you stop and think about it, it's still rather amazing that she is still recognizable (and emulated to a degree) in the entertainment industry nearly 50 years after her passing.

Cyborgs, Magical Schoolgirls Suffer Setback in Aftermath of Japanese Quake

Ghost in the Shell: SAC- Production IG Studios

Along with consumer electronics, semiconductors and a range of vehicles, one of Japan's best known exports lately has been anime. The term can usually be applied to just about any animated work from Japan ranging from marketing juggernauts like Yu Gi Oh to complex, dystopian and futuristic stories like Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex.

But like so many other aspects of Japanese life, the industry was thrown into turmoil in the immediate aftermath of the deadly earthquake and the massive tsunami and radiation leak at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that followed.

"The whole thing is having a pretty significant effect right now," says Christopher Macdonald, CEO and publisher of Anime News Network. "70% of Japan's animation studios are in the suburbs of Tokyo, and those are . . . the areas being affected by the rolling blackouts. That means it's very hard for people to do work. They don't know when their electricity is going to be turned off for three to six hours; the offices start shaking every 15 minutes [from aftershocks]. For the most part, most of those studios are at a standstill when it comes to their animation work."

Macdonald says some popular anime programs may end up having shortened seasons in Japan due to the disaster, but a lot of that programming has already made its way to international markets. "At this time we don't foresee any production delays for our series," says Jane Lui, publicity and events manager for San Francisco-based VIZ Media -- the largest North American distributor of anime -- in an email. "That fact . . . of itself is a testament to the incredible work ethic of our partners in Japan."

That being said, the situation at the anime studios remains in crisis. "Our parent companies, Shogakukan, Shueisha, and ShoPro (all based in Tokyo) and the studios . . . are extremely supportive of their staff," says Lui, "many of whom may be searching for missing loved ones, or taking care of those displaced or affected by the disaster. It will take a while for normal day-to-day business to stabilize."

Although in recent years the industry has suffered losses thanks to bootlegging, competition from China, oversaturation in Japan's domestic market and outsourcing of some studio work to Vietnam, India or South Korea, anime is thought to bring an estimated $2.5 billion into the Japanese economy.

Cowboy Bebop- Sunrise Studios

Aside from the numerous card-themed anime titles out there, Disney [NYSE- DIS] has released a number of anime films from director Hayo Miyazaki in theaters and on DVD in North America over the last decade while Time-Warner [NYSE- TW] subsidiary Cartoon Network regularly features various anime titles in their Adult Swim block of programming.

Make Believe Leader Travels to Land of Make Believe, Asks for More Money

Concerned about his plummeting poll numbers and the perception that he's losing touch with the average American, President Obama flew off to a series of fundraisers in California this week, culminating in a meeting with the blue collar John Q. Publics and workaday Joe Lunchpails of the obscure, low profile burgh of Beverly Hills.

Speaking in a tiny room of the Italian restaurant Tavern to a an audience of 60 that included Steven Spielberg, Will Ferrell, Tom Hanks and George Clooney, Obama said he understood frustration with his compromises with centrist Democrats and Republicans on healthcare, ending the Bush tax rates for the wealthy and other issues.

Over the past two and a half years, Obama said, he was sure there were times "where you're reading the papers or you're watching TV and you're saying, 'Ah, Obama, you know, why's he compromising with the Republicans?' Or 'Aw, why did healthcare take so long? and I want single-payer plan anyway.' "

Obama, who returns to Washington from California on Friday, has held a series of fundraisers in the Golden State over the past two days as he completes a week of barnstorming across the country that foreshadows the presidential campaign.

The president has spoken to liberal supporters in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Palo Alto whose continued support will be critical if Obama's campaign is to meet a goal of raising $1 billion in campaign funds for 2012.

A big part of Obama's message on the West Coast has been that the White House has accomplished much, but that the president needs another four years to continue his work.

Fresh after addressing the audience of average Joes in Beverly Hills that were directly feeling the sting of inflation and rising gas prices and just struggling to get by, President Obama returned to Washington D.C. where he sprang into action regarding the escalating conflict in Libya, deadly West Texas wildfires and devastating tornadoes in North Carolina and Missouri.

Oh no- wait....I take that back, he went and played a round of golf at Andrews AFB. Close enough.

Dark Knight Kids in The Hall?

Ever get that feeling of deja-vu? Of course, in this epoch of sequels, remakes and movies based on TV series, that's not so unusual.

However, when I saw the opening bank robbery scene in Christopher Nolan's 2008 The Dark Night, I had a feeling that I had seen this somewhere before.

Not only that, but I could've sworn that it somehow involved bank robbers shooting their cohorts during the robbery to demonstrate their seriousness (or cunning) was being played for laughs.


Then it hit me- this skit from the 1993 season of Kids in the Hall.


The crux of the skit seemed to be the man with the list (Kevin McDonald) and his cluelessness about the dire situation he suddenly found himself in as much as the robber's (David Foley) ability to casually gun down his acomplices mid-crime to demonstrate a fairly unimportant point.

I'm not saying Nolan actually plaigerized the Canadian comedy troupe's skit line by line. Rather it almost seems like somebody challenged Nolan to incorporate a scene with a similar premise for Dark Knight, only to play it straight (and embellish it by having it be a mob bank complete with mafioso on the premesis).

Granted i'm nowhere near as well versed in matters of pop culture as some of the visitors to this blog, but what do you think? Am I imagining things?

UPDATE: Thanks to Pi Guy for showing me a (literally) side-by-side comparison of the two:

YouTube Doubler

Veenal Sins Update- Outspoken Pakistani Actress Recieves Death Threats From Taliban

Not surprisingly, in a country where religious minorities and moderate politicians are assassinated by radical muslims on a shockingly regular basis, Pakistani actress Veena Malik and her family have received death threats by militants from the Tareek-e-Taliban for her controversial appearance on the Indian reality TV show Big Boss (the Indian equivalent of Big Brother) and her subsequent smackdown of an Islamic scholar on a Pakistani talk show when she was accused of 'immoral' behavior and 'shaming' Pakistan.

You had to figure that it was only a matter of time.


Malik, for her part, took it upon herself to point out during the interview-turned-shouting match that Pakistan has much bigger concerns at hand than what she wore while in India. It gets even more interesting when the mufti challenging her (via remote video feed) admitted that he hadn't even watched the Big Boss series where the Lollywood star was filmed cuddling and massaging the neck of one of her Indian housemates.

Malik is currently back in India taping for a show she is hosting called Big Toss, covering the Cricket World Cup through April 2. Her agent in Lahore, Pakistan was able to produce a copy of one of the threatening letters for the AFP, although the news outlet couldn't immediately verify the credentials sender.

"The letter says that Tehreek-e-Taliban has taken a decision as a Muslim to punish Veena Malik soon," [Malik's agent Sohail] Rashid told AFP.

"We want our daughters and sisters in our homes only and Veena Malik, who is humiliating Pakistan's name in India, will be punished soon," Rashid quoted from the letter.

"We are soon going to punish Veena Malik so that our future generations may be afraid of going to India. It is the responsibility of all Pakistanis and Muslims, but now we are going to accomplish it," Rashid quoted the letter as saying.

While testifying against ex-husband and Pakistani cricket player Mohammed Asif, before the International Cricket Council (cricket's international governing body) Malik's family reportedly received death threats last year. The popular Asif was implicated in a match-fixing scandal in September 2010 and Malik had provided the ICC with phone records proving that Asif had been in contact with an Indian bookmaker prior to a match with England.

Belated First Look At the New Wonder Woman- sans Christina Hendricks

Well- for those of you dreaming that the voluptuous Christina Hendricks would be coming to the small screen in the upcoming Wonder Woman TV series, sad to say but the dream is over. Adrianne Palicki was announced as the titular (tee-hee) character last week and the revamped Wonder Woman costume was also revealed in a publicity photo released earlier this month. I'll let you compare and contrast if you're so inclined. As Jammie Wearing Fool had pointed out, the newer version of the Wonder Woman costume is supposedly controversial because it lacks the stars and stripes motif of the classic version- however, I wouldn't be surprised if that was some sort of contrived 'controversy' to try and gin up publicity for the TV Series. Here are some 'before' pictures of Ms Palicki to give you an idea of what she looked like before playing the Amazon brunette. Adrianne Palicki had previously appeared in the Friday Night Lights TV series and the 2010 film Legion. Palicki also logged some time as a voice actress on Adult Swim's Titan Maximum and Robot Chicken. While there's no Christina Hendricks, British actress and model Liz Hurley (who's well into her 40s and still looking good) is slated to appear as Wonder Woman's nemesis in the pilot episode. And without the role of Wonder Woman to fall back on, how exactly is Christina Hendricks getting by? Well, when she isn't drawing attention as 60's secretary Joan Halloway, Hendricks is now the face of Vivienne Westwood's collection of Palladium jewelry. No doubt the market price of Palladium shot up when word of that got out. [hat tip- Wyatt Earp; Jamie Wearing Fool]

Horn of Africa Update- Who's Minding the Store? Maersk Alabama Saga Coming to Silver Screen? Attempt to Rescue Danish Family Botched

With all the naval assets from the USA and Europe being redeployed from antipiracy patrols in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea to the Mediterranian to support the blockade and no-fly zone overe Mumar Ghdaffi's Libya, one would think it would only be a matter of time before the pirates took advantage. Of course, even before the deteriorating situation in Libya, the pirates simply got around the increased international naval patrols by venturing further out into the Indian Ocean- from the Straits of Hormuz to the north, Mozambique to the south.

Photo- The Hindu

INDIA: The Indian Navy took 61 pirates into custody after the fast attack craft INS Kalpeni pursued and exchanged fire with a Somali pirate 'mother ship' earlier this month. The mother ship was the Vega 5, a Mozambique fishing vessel that was seized by pirates some 200 nautical miles southwest of the Comoros Isles in the straits of Mozambique in late December 2010.

According to naval officials, the operation began when they received a distress call from MV Vancouver Bridge which was under pirate attack on Friday last. A naval Dornier maritime recce aircraft located Vega 5 in the area. Seeing the naval aircraft, the pirates abandoned their attack and tried to flee. While the Dornier continued to track the pirate mother vessel Vega 5, the Navy's missile corvette Khukri and FAC Kalpeni, which had been deployed in the area for anti-piracy patrol, were diverted to intercept and investigate Vega 5, the Navy said. The pirate mother vessel launched two skiffs which fired at Kalpeni, which was closing in on Vega 5 in Saturday night. INS Kalpeni responded with limited firing. By then it was observed that a fire had broken out on Vega 5, apparently originating from the additional fuel drums that the mother vessels of the pirates are known to be carrying to fuel the skiffs. Personnel were also seen jumping overboard. INS Kalpeni along with INS Khukri nabbed 74 men, including 61 pirates and 13 members of the original crew of the fishing vessel. Preliminary investigations revealed that the pirates were carrying about 80 to 90 small arms and rifles and a few heavier weapons likely to be RPGs, the release said. Indian Navy has already apprehended two pirate mother ships on January 28 and February 11 and had nabbed 43 pirates in those two operations.

According to Oceanus Live the turnaround time for the pirates using a captured vessel as a 'mother ship' is remarkable.

The most surprising aspect of Somali piracy this week has been the speed of turnaround for capturing a merchant vessel and using it as a mothership to conduct operations against other innocent seafarers. The Indonesian MV Sinar Kudus was hijacked by up to 50 pirates, taking the 20 Indonesian crew hostage. Within 24-hours the vessel had enabled the pirates to carry out an attack on the MV Emperor. The Sinar Kudus capture followed the release of the MV Hannibal II, which had been held for 4 months and used as a mothership, for a ransom of $2million.

PUNTLAND: Earlier this month, an attempt by Puntland to rescue a Danish family held captive inland after their yacht was seized failed as the would-be rescuers were ambushed.

An attempt by Somali security forces to free a Danish family being held by pirates failed yesterday after the rescuers were ambushed. One of the pirates, Bile Hussein, told the Associated Press that armed forces from the northern region of Puntland, which is where most Somali pirates are based, tried to surround the village of Hul Anod and free the Danish family. He said some of the government forces were killed and others were captured in the botched rescue attempt. “We defended ourselves and foiled their attempt to recover the Danish family,” he told AP. “We have killed and captured some of their soldiers and burnt two (government) pickup trucks. They have run away back to where they came from …The hostages are safe and still in our hands.”

The Danish family was seized by pirates on the open waters of the Indian Ocean last month and have since been taken inland.

Photo- U.S. Army Africa

MOGADISHU: The African Union announced that it was going to commit another 3000 Peacekeepers to the AU's Mission to Somalia (AMISOM) in support of the UN-backed Transitional Federal Government. The soldiers will be deployed from Uganda and Burundi, although the defense minister for Somalia's Transitional government said that Djibouti and Ghana were preparing to send soldiers as well.

TUNISIA: Somali pirates have released a Panamanian-flagged Tunisian tanker and it's crew after negotiating a $2 million ransom with the Tunisian government.

The Hannibal II, whose 31 crewmembers are mostly Tunisian, is currently on its way to Djibouti in the Red Sea, the ministry said. "This release comes after the success of negotiations undertaken by the Tunisian government with the Somalia pirates and the payment of a ransom estimated at $2 million," the official TAP news agency quoted the ministry as saying. It did not say who paid the ransom, or how. The Tunisian shipowner Gabes Marine Tankers (GMT) had announced that the release of the ship was imminent late Wednesday. "Negotiations have not been easy and we cannot be sure the ship will be released until it leaves Somalian waters accompanied by a naval protection vessel," said company owner Farid Abbas. The crew is composed of 23 Tunisians, four Filipinos and one each from Croatia, Georgia, Russia and Morocco. "All possible means of security has been provided, and a civilian plane will be sent (to Djibouti) to repatriate the Tunisian crew today," the ministry said in a statement. "All the crew are in good health," it said. The 24,000 tonne chemical tanker was carrying vegetable oil from Pasir Guadang in Malaysia to Suez in Egypt when it was attacked and boarded by pirates some 860 nautical miles east of the Horn of Africa on November 11. The area where it was attacked is considerably closer to India that it is to Somalia.

'I'm ready for my close-up!'

HOLLYWOOD: Reports are circulating that actor Tom Hanks is set to portray MV Maersk Alabama captain Richard Phillips in an upcoming movie about the 2009 pirate attack on the vessel and ensuing standoff some 200 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia. The upcoming movie is being produced by the same team behind 2010's The Social Network.

ELIZABETH TAYLOR; 1932-2011

Cleopatra demands Mr Bubble!

Actress Elizabeth Taylor passed away at the Cedar Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on Wednesday. She was 79 and had been reportedly suffering from congestive heart failure for the last few years.

Born to American parents in London, Taylor started her film career early in life, most notably depicting a plucky teenager in 1944's National Velvet who trains an unwanted horse to compete in England's Grand National Steeplechase.

In the postwar years, Taylor made the transition to more mainstream, adult roles fairly smoothly and by 1960 had won an Oscar for her portrayal of a promiscuous bachelorette in Manhattan (even though she was unimpressed with the role) and signed a $1 million contract for Cleopatra, making her the highest paid actress in Hollywood at the time (she would reportedly double her salary to $2 million by working overtime on the set).

In 1967, Taylor would win a second Oscar for her role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolfe?, portraying the belligerent and alcoholic wife of a New England college professor. Taylor's box office appeal would fade by the 1970s, however, and she married a grand total of 8 times with 4 children.

Besides the divorces and treatment for alcoholism, she was seen in her later years making cameos on The Simpsons and the soap opera General Hospital while launching a line of jewelry available through Christie's and fundraising for AIDS research.

Actress, Pin-Up Jane Russell Passes Away

Jane Russell, the statuesque brunette who starred in films along with Marylin Monroe, Bob Hope and Frank Sinatra, passed away in her Santa Maria, CA home from a respiratory illness at the age of 89 on Monday.

Russell was born in Bemidji, MN in 1921 before her family moved to Southern California in the 1930s. Her breakthrough role came in 1943 in the Howard Hughes-directed The Outlaw in which she's involved in a love triangle between Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday. The Motion Picture Production Code, however, took exception to the lengths in which the film highlighted Russell's cleavage and aside from a limited release in 1943, The Outlaw wouldn't see the light of day until 1946.

However, promotional photos for the yet-to-be-released film featuring a buxom Russell on a haystack garnered her popularity as a pin-up with servicemen during WWII. Bob Hope even introduced her as 'The two and only, Jane Russell" on one of his radio broadcasts.

With the release of The Outlaw being delayed by the MPPC, the movie-going public was actually introduced to Russell in March 1946 after the release of the drama Young Widow in which she played a young journalist who's husband was killed in WWII.

Russell's best-known role was co-starring with Marilyn Monroe in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and the latter portion of the movie features Russell impersonating her platinum blonde co-star [h/t Althouse].
The Howard Hawks directed film was a huge critical and box office success at the time. Russell famously appeared with Monroe at Hollywood's Mann Chinese Theater where both of their handprints are still encased in cement on the sidewalk in front of the theater's entrance.
After 1957, Russell only appeared in five more motion pictures before retiring to the central California coast. She was a practicing Christian who hosted bible studies and was active with the Republican party in the 1950s, attending Dwight D Eisenhower's inauguration. Adopting three children of her own, Russell founded the World Adoption International Fund in 1955.

Christina Hendricks- Superheroine?

Good news for those of you counting down the minutes until voluptuous actress Christina Hendricks squeezes into a Wonder Woman outfit. A series of seemingly unrelated events might end up making this a reality.
Now take idle gossip rag chatter for whatever it's worth, but apparently a rumor had been circulating earlier about Hendricks being one of the leading choices for the always upcoming yet never produced live action Wonder Woman film. When she was asked about it by TV hostess Rachel Ray, Hendricks said "I head that rumor too- I don't know where it got started, but I love it! I’ve been wanting to wear that outfit my whole life! That would be such fun! Let’s put it out there!"

Fast forward to earlier this month, where the buxom redhead got quite a scare attending the 2011 Golden Globes [Heh heh....globes- NANESB!]. Like many other actresses, Hendricks borrowed some expensive jewelry for the awards show- in this case, a pair of 200 carat diamond bracelets as well as a 49-carat emerald set in platinum. Moments before the show started, the actress noticed that one of the bracelets was missing and frantically began asking media and security if they had seen the missing jewelry.

An event worker was eventually able to find it on the red carpet outside and returned it to Hendricks as the show started, but the actress couldn't get the clasp to close properly. So she stashed the newly recovered bracelet in her cleavage before deciding to try to get it back to her publicist.

But security blocked her as she tried to leave the auditorium, as no one is allowed in or out once the show starts. She begged, "Please let me out, I have to give my diamond bracelet to my publicist!" The guard watched wide-eyed as Hendricks pulled the bracelet out from her ample cleavage. He opened the door a crack and she passed the jewels through to her publicist outside.

Besides being one of the luckiest inanimate objects on the face of the earth, the AWOL bracelet was worth an estimated $850,000 by Swiss jewellers Chopard.

Now even to somebody with a high net worth like Hendricks, $850,000 is a pretty sizable chunk of change. Let's say that bracelet was never recovered- her wallet would've taken a pretty big hit [I can't say her reputation would've taken a hit, since this is the same Hollywood that eagerly defends pedophiles, drug users, cop killers and foreign leftist dictators, so what's a little missing jewelry?- NANESB!].

Hypothetically speaking- what's a girl to do?

Live the dream, of course!

Almost as soon as Comcast [NASDAQ: CMCSA] completed their acquisition of NBC Universal, it was announced that a pilot episode for David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman TV series was greenlit.

Wonder Woman will fly this pilot season after all. New NBC entertainment president Bob Greenblatt capped a day of high-profile pilot pickups with a surprise order to David E. Kelley's Wonder Woman reboot. WBTV took Kelley's Wonder Woman spec out to the networks in the first week of January. At the time, NBC was the most interested but, with Greenblatt still on the sidelines, the network couldn't commit to the type of license fee that the studio was seeking in order to do the show Kelley had envisioned, and WBTV decided to shelve the project. With Greenblatt now firmly taking the reins and Kelley just delivering one of the most promising new series for NBC this season, Harry's Law, NBC stepped up to greenlight Wonder Woman. The project is described as a reinvention of the iconic D.C. comic in which Wonder Woman -- aka Diana Prince -- is a vigilante crime fighter in L.A. but also a successful corporate executive and a modern woman trying to balance all of the elements of her extraordinary life. "I had a lot of fun writing it," Kelley said of the script at TCA last week when the project had just been put on hold. "It's a huge project, and it was probably a bit too much to ask anyone to try to chew on it for next season. But I'm confident it will still happen. It's a very complicated piece, which is the most fun thing about it."

OK- so it isn't the live-action movie that had been alluded to, and it's never too late for this project to be a colossal trainwreck. But with that said, wouldn't you rather see it- trainwreck and all- with Christina Hendricks as the titular [hee hee, I said.......ah, nevermind- NANESB!] heroine than say.....Megan Fox?

Sure- the urgent monetary incentive (i.e. the missing platinum & diamond bracelet) isn't there anymore, and it would be presumptuous of me to think that Hendricks would be as concerned about losing an object loaned to her that's close to 10% of her net worth that I would be, not to mention Hendricks would probably have to do considerably more stunt work than she would as Joan Holloway, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[hat tip- Support Your Local Gunfighter; Hillbuzz]

LESLIE NIELSEN: 1926-2010

"Laurence Olivier of Spoofs" Passes Away in his Sleep at Ft. Lauderdale Home.

Nielsen, best known for his portrayal of bumbling detective Frank Drebin in the Naked Gun series of movies (as well as the short-lived Police Squad! TV series) was born in Regina, Saskatchewan and would go on to enlist in the Royal Canadian Air Force before becoming a disc jockey.

From there, he managed to land a number of roles in Toronto and New York, and starred in 'serious' films and TV shows like Hawaii 5-0, The Poseidon Adventure and Alfred Hitchcock Presents before leaving his mark in the disaster film parody Airplane! in 1980. Like his later work in the Naked Gun series, Nielsen's specialty seemed to be portraying a serious, stoic individual that was oblivious to the absurdity taking place around him.

Frostbite Falls in Mourning as Rocky & Bullwinkle Creator Passes Away

Alexander Anderson Jr, the creator of the Rocky & Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right cartoons, passed away at age 90 in his Carmel, CA home on Tuesday.

Anderson was the nephew of Paul Terry, whose Terrytoons included Mighty Mouse and were distributed in theaters. After working with his uncle, Anderson and his longtime friend Jay Ward got together and began producing cartoons for the emerging television market in the late 1940s.

Oh Crap! Comedy Central D.C. Rallies Find Themsleves Short on Port-o-Johns

From what little I've seen of the Colbert Report and John Stewart's The Daily Show, both hosts struck me as inusfferable, smarmy, know-it-all hipsters. Stewart in particular hides behind the 'Clown nose' defense, where after a vitrolic personal attack on the un-person of the week (either on his own show, or appearing on other shows) instead of defending his comments, he'll just say 'but I'm just a silly clown on TV', basically. From what I saw of last month's testimony before Congress, Colbert reverts to his show's faux conservative persona when challenged with any sort of serious question.

So naturally, I wasn't too shocked to learn that Stewart and Colbert were going to try and counter Glen Beck's 8/28 rally with one of their own. Stewart's rally is going by the name of 'Restoring Sanity' while Colbert's, in keeping with his buffoonish faux-conservative persona, is 'Keep Fear Alive'- both set to take place on The Mall in Washington D.C the weekend before the Nov. 2nd election. Heck, Oprah Winfrey even chipped in by purchasing plane tickets and accomodation for The Daily Show's studio audience.

First of all, I think the title 'Restoring Sanity' is rather presumptuous.....it's wordsmithing on the caliber of the September 11th 'Truther' movement, as in one group is claiming they have a monopoly on truth or sanity and everybody else has been duped or is insane (but will be restored upon hearing Stewart's soothing, yet smarmy oratory).

Unfortunately for them, the Marine Corps Marathon- set to take place on Sunday of the same weekend- had already arranged for 800 port-o-johns, essentially leaving Saturday's Comedy Central rallies without facilities. The organizers have asked the Marines to share the portable toilets for the weekend, but the Marines declined and may even lock the latrines until Sunday morning. And for those of you inclined to howl 'No fair!', why exactly should the Marines burden themselves because of Comedy Central's lack of planning? They made arrangements long before Colbert or Stewart's people, so they should be rewarded with a bunch of overflowing and nastier than usual, slightly used port-o-johns after running a marathon?


But remember- while calling for a rally of an estimated 60,000 yet failing to make any plans along the lines of sanitation or toilet facilities in the nation's capital, it's conservatives and the Tea Party that are stupid and irrational according to Colbert and Stewart.

Others have pointed out the irony of Oprah Winfrey (and apparently Arianna Huffington) paying the way for people to attend this rally who might not otherwise be interested in going. The port-o-potty fiasco shows that not only do the limousine liberal schills for the progressive Democrats have no sense of irony, but they can't even plan for crap.

Remind me again why we're supposed to vote for the candidates they support?