Happy Halloween From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Well, this certainly has the feel of a Halloween unlike any other. Whether travel plans included flying across the country or trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, the recent snowstorm has thrown the travel plans of millions into complete disarray.

Whatever your Halloween plans are, here's hoping that you're able to stay safe and warm. If you're travelling any distance, be especially careful.

And Halloween just wouldn't be Halloween without attractive women wearing not very much, wouldn't it? Even though there's technically no costume involved, one can't help but admire this Elvgren girl proudly displaying the fruits of her labor.

This is from a 1962 Gil Elvgren piece titled All Smiles (or Glamorous) in which the charming, scantily clad brunette still has the foresight to keep pumpkin guts off of her.

Squirrely Sports Chowdah Update For Oct 27th: Angry Birds- Cardinals Storm Back To Tie World Series on Final Out; The Tight End and the Tight End

WORLD SERIES: Without much in the way of exaggeration or hyperbole, this was one for the ages.

Postponed by rain on Wednesday night, Game 6 of the 2011 World Series got underway in St Louis 24 hours later and with the Cardinals in a must win scenario, often times trailing the Texas Rangers.

Texas got out to the early 1-0 lead in the top of the 1st thanks to a leadoff walk to Ian Kinsler and a single to Elvis Andrus before Josh Hamilton drove home Kinsler with an RBI double.

Tha Cardinals would take the lead in the bottom of the 1st with a 2-run Lance Berkman homer, but the Rangers would knot things up in the next frame thanks to an RBI Kinsler ground-rule double, leaving the game tied at 2-2 for a little while at least. Well- until the top of the 4th inning, which is when Nelson Cruz reached 2nd on an error before being driven home on a Mike Napoli RBI single. However, in the bottom half of the 4th frame, Lance Berkman would reach on an error and become the tying run on a Yadier Molina groundout.

The sloppy play and back and forth would continue for quite a bit, with Texas finally taking what seemed like a commanding 7-4 lead in the top of the 7th inning thanks to solo homers by Adrian Beltre and Nelson Cruz as well as a Kinsler RBI single for good measure.



After a solo homer by Allen Craig in the bottom of the 8th, the Cardinals managed to load the bases before Rafael Furcal grounded out to end the inning, leaving it still a 7-5 game. After a fairly uneventful top of the 9th where the Rangers didn't score, Albert Pujols hit a 1-out double to center before Lance Berkman was walked. Allen Craig then struck out and when David Freese stepped into the batter's box, the Cards were down to their last out- their last strike, even- in the World Series when he managed to send the ball all the way to the outfield wall to bring in Pujols and Berkman to tie the game up at 7-7.

Texas would strike right back with a 2-run Josh Hamilton homer in the top of the 10th, but the persistent Cards would come back in the bottom of the 10th after moving runners into scoring position and a Ryan Theriot groundout plated one run and Lance Berkman tied the game at 9-9 with a 2-out RBI single.

After some confusion in which Ranger's manager Ron Washington looked uncertain about who he wanted to send to the plate in the top of the 11th, the Rangers were really unable to do anything with a Mike Napoli single and finished off the inning pretty quietly.

In the bottom of the 11th inning, the Cardinals led off with Wildwood, Missouri's Lafayette HS graduate David Freese.

The 3rd baseman who grew up a Cardinals fan in the St Louis area helped propel his team to a Game 7 in the world series in the most dramatic manner possible, giving St Louis the 10-9 win over a reeling Texas [I get the feeling all those Freese-related puns have been done to death, and I figured I might as well give it a rest after the NLCS- NANESB!].

Freese's late-inning heroics set up one final game for the 2011 season and the first Game 7 in nearly 9 years. Freese went 2-5 with 3 RBI including the game-winning homer while Lance Berkman went 3-5 with 3 RBI on the evening. Jake Westbrook, the 6th pitcher to take to the mound for St. Louis Thursday night, was the winner while Neftali Feliz, Darren Oliver and Scott Feldman each had an opportunity to seal the win for Texas coming out of the bullpen, only to watch the Cards claw back each time. Feldman was charged with the blown save and Mark Lowe was hung with the loss.

Tomorrow night's game is set to get under way from St Louis with a first pitch at 8:05 ET and will be televised on FOX. Chris Carpenter is set to get the start against the Rangers Matt Harrison. It'll be interesting to see if Texas can bounce back from what must feel like a crushing loss on Thursday night.

OTHER MLB NEWS: The Boston Herald is reporting that the Toronto Blue Jays may be getting ready to aggressively go after Red Sox DH David Ortiz this offseason. The 36 year old slugger is a free agent and has been with the club since 2003, including two big postseasons that saw the Red Sox win the World Series in 2004 and 2007.

NHL: Damn it, damn it, damn it! I understood that there might be the risk of a Stanley Cup 'hangover', but why does it seem as though things have been going downhill ever since the banner raising ceremony?

And the damndest thing is, the Bruins are getting beaten by the few teams out there with worse records than them.

The Montreal Canadiens managed to hang on for a 2-1 win against the Bruins at the Garden Thursday night after the Bruins managed to get on the board thanks to a Tomas Plekanec own-goal against Carey Price.

The Habs would then get two unanswered goals (this time against the Boston goalie, Tim Thomas) including another Plekanec tally for the 2-1 final. Thomas turned aside 33 of 35 shots faced in the loss while Price stopped 29 of 30 shots faced (29 of them coming from Bruins players).

The Bruins will travel to Montreal (where they are no doubt ready to call the Sûreté du Québec on Zdeno Chara) on Saturday night with the game being broadcast on CBC beginning at 7:00 PM ET.

NFL: Oh come on now. This is getting a touch ridiculous.


New England Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski issued a statement saying that he didn't intend to hurt the team's reputation when he had his picture taken with porn starlet Bibi Jones. Gronkowski reportedly made the statement after meeting in private with owner Robert Kraft.

Earlier this week, Jones posted two photos of herself with Gronkowski on her twitter account. She was wearing the #87 jersey in both photos while Rob Gronkowski was shirtless in one of them. The pictures were reportedly taken during the bye week.

I'm not sure what the big deal is, to be honest. I mean, Gronkowski is young and single, and as long as it doesn't detract from his on-field performance, I don't really see the problem with having his picture taken with a porn starlet. According to Jones, nothing happened (much to her dismay) between her and Gronkowski.

Jones also stated in a radio interview that an unnamed MLB agent used her to entice potential free agents to the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2010. However, she insists she wasn't paid for meeting with the agent's potential clients in Phoenix area bars, but served as 'arm candy' pro-bono due to her affinity for athletes and baseball being her favorite sport.

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.

The Blogosphere is All A-Twitter With the News.

Start spreading the news- now you can follow me on Twitter as I bitch, snark and somehow remain even LESS productive than usual! Simply look for the Twitter handle Fenway_Nation and watch the irreverent 140 character or less goodness flow like water over Niagara Falls.

Actually- can I let you in on a little secret? I've actually been on Twitter for a few months now- since at least when Osama Bin Laden was alive and watching porn in his Pakistani compound and Fukushima-Daiichi was a nondescript, fully functional nuclear power plant in northern Japan. In fact, there's a little sidebar that contains my 10 most recent messages on Twitter off to the left- that's been there for awhile as well.

"So why bother following you?" you may be asking. Fair question; even if you don't like what I'm saying, Twitter requires that I keep it pretty short and sweet. But probably the most compelling argument is so that you can follow the same people that are following me or that I'm following. There's alot of good ones- many of them part of my blogroll or online communities like Correspondence Committee or Table 9.


This also is a very flimsy pretext to toss out some more eye candy in the form of yet another vintage Gil Elvgren piece. This one is from 1955 and is called Well Built (not to be confused with a later piece titled A Well Bult R-R-R-R-Roof) and features what could very well be the forebears to the Twitter logo.

Since many of Elvgren's pieces also served as templates for advertisements, the companies name, logo and phone number would often be displayed where you see the blueprints draped across the sawhorse.

Borderline Psychosis Update- Mexican Kidnap Victims Held in N.L. Jails; Cartels Luring Border Lawmen to Dark Side; Sofia Vergara Cameo at Drug Raid?

TEXAS: An increasing number of police officers on the US side of the border are being influenced by organized crime from south of the border, a recent Houston Chronicle article reports.

Nine South Texas lawmen have been charged or sent to prison in the past 16 months for using their badges to sneak drugs or guns through the U.S.-Mexico border region from Laredo to Brownsville.

The lawmen's downfalls, an indication of growing corruption prosecutions, are all linked to Mexico's lucrative drug cartels, which long have sought to infiltrate not only federal border guards but local officers patrolling U.S. towns along the Rio Grande.

"I thought we knew these people like the back of our hand," said Laredo police investigator Joe Baeza. "But then again, if you look at the back of your hand every five years, it changes."

Laredo officer Orlando Hale hyperventilated when federal agents showed him photographs of him meeting with a supposed cocaine trafficker he aided by escorting loads through the city, court records show.

So began a nightmare for Hale, whose parents are law-enforcement veterans.

He was convicted by a jury and got 24 years.

Others who got busted include police officers, deputies and constables, as well as one high-ranking official, Sullivan City's police chief.

None of the corruption cases appears to involve the classic cartel threat of offering "silver or lead," the practice of demanding the target "take our money and live, or turn us down and die." The tactic has devoured police departments in Mexico.

Instead, interviews and court records and testimony show the South Texas cases often involve one officer at a time pulled to the dark side by friends, family or associates offering quick cash.

Hale, 28, is to be released from prison in 2032.

He claims he was set up by fellow officer Pedro Martinez III, whom he knew since childhood. Martinez testified against Hale as part of a plea deal and got six years.

Martinez's father, who died in a suspicious suicide, was apparently a drug dealer who lured his son into the business.

Martinez drove his squad car to escort what he thought was 44 pounds of cocaine. The drugs were a sham. The dealers were federal agents and government informants running a sting.

Such tricks have worked repeatedly.

Pharr police officer Jaime Beas was busted for using his vehicle to escort a load of cocaine and for his involvement in a scheme to ship a grenade, semiautomatic rifles and body armor to Mexico.

Authorities went after Beas when he was turned in by an uncle in the military who said he repeatedly was approached about equipment.

As for the Border Patrol, it's been reported that as many as one in 100 agents are presently under investigation for corruption of misconduct.

ELSEWHERE IN TEXAS: Although she probably had an airtight alibi, actress Sofia Vergara made an appearance of sorts after agents from the FBI and DEA raided a used car lot and three different homes in the El Paso, TX area earlier this year.

Luxury watches, diamond jewelry, 20 vehicles, 30 firearms, framed "Scarface" pictures and an autographed nude photo of actress Sofia Vergara were among numerous items seized by federal agents as part of a drug cartel investigation.

Recent filings in U.S. District Court in El Paso detail a treasure-trove seized by FBI and Drug Enforcement Administration agents in a series of raids on used-car lots and homes in the El Paso area in February.

The wife and parents of defendant Alejandro Melendez are asking in documents that some of the goods be returned, claiming that they were bought years before any alleged criminal activity.

Melendez is accused of belonging to a marijuana and cocaine trafficking group linked to the Sinaloa drug cartel, federal agents said. Melendez is owner of Budget Auto Sales, one of three Alameda Avenue car lots raided in February by the FBI and DEA El Paso Strike Force.

Federal agents raided the Budget Auto Sales car lot and a $653,000 home in the 5500 block of Woodgreen Drive in the Upper Valley, documents stated. The home is listed in property tax records as belonging to Alejandro Melendez.

While the authenticity of the signature of the Vergara photo wasn't immediately confirmed, the FBI and DEA claim that the Vergara fanboys were members of the Juarez cartel.

CHIHUAHUA: Four people, including two Americans were killed earlier this week when gunmen opened fire on an SUV in Juarez.

The four were riding in a blue Dodge Durango with Texas plates peppered with gunshots from assault rifles Friday evening on Eje Vial Juan Gabriel and Zaragoza boulevard, the Chihuahua state attorney general's office said.

An official with the U.S. Consulate in Juárez confirmed two of the dead were U.S. citizens. They were identified as Pablo Noe Williams, 19, and his mother Rosa Williams, 35, and are listed as being from Kansas.

A spokesman for the Chihuahua state attorney general's office said the young man was from El Paso. The other people killed were Alberto Nieto Nieto, 24, and Alma Yesenia Flores, 21.

NEW MEXICO: On the heels of the arrest of the mayor and police chief of the border village of Columbus, NM on weapons trafficking charges, two former law enforcement officers turned whistleblowers have claimed that the FBI and Texas Department of Public Safety have ignored their findings on sweeping corruption in Southern New Mexico and the El Paso, TX area.

Two former law enforcement officers allege that they cannot get anyone to investigate allegations that the Mexican drug cartels have corrupted U.S. law officers and politicians in the El Paso border region.

Greg Gonzales, a retired Doña Ana County sheriff's deputy, and Wesley Dutton, a rancher and former New Mexico state livestock investigator, said that instead of arrests and prosecutions of suspects, their whistle-blowing activities have resulted only in threats and retaliation against themselves.

Both men were confidential sources for the FBI in El Paso and assisted with investigations over an 18-month period.

Gonzales and Dutton allege that the FBI dropped them after "big names" on the U.S. side of the border began to surface in the drug investigations.

Gonzales and Dutton said both or either one of them helped with federal investigations that were successful, including the arrest of Special FBI Agent John Shipley. Shipley was convicted of weapons-related charges after a weapon he sold someone turned up in Chihuahua state at a scene where a firefight took place between Mexican soldiers and drug traffickers.

However, they said, they are concerned that other serious allegations have not found their way to court.

"One of the street gangs that works for the Juárez cartel put a hit out on FBI Special Agent Samantha Mikeska, and I told the FBI as soon as I heard about it," Dutton said. "We also had information on campaign fundraisers and parties in La Union that the cartel held for officials from New Mexico and El Paso. A lot of important people were at those parties, such as bankers, judges, and law enforcement officers."

Mikeska is a high-profile agent whose investigations of the Barrio Azteca gang led to prosecutions of gang leaders. The gang, which has members in West Texas and New Mexico, is linked to the Carrillo Fuentes drug cartel.

Gonzales said a U.S. law enforcement officer was suspected of selling to a street gang with Juárez drug cartel ties a list of U.S. Marshals that included their telephone numbers.

"With their number, the gang was able to 'clone' the agents' cell phones and intercept their calls," Gonzales said. "That way, they would know when one of the agents was trying to serve an arrest warrant against one of their members."

Dutton and Gonzales said small aircraft regularly drop drug loads on ranches or other properties along the U.S.-Mexico border, and that some U.S. law officers escort the loads to the next stop.

The two whistle-blowers said that drug cartels have managed to obtain computer access codes to U.S. surveillance systems that let them see where and when Border Patrol agents are monitoring the border.

They also alleged that drug cartels have given big donations to politicians, which are unreported, to influence appointments of key law enforcement officers.

As a former livestock inspector andDutton also claimed that drug smugglers would often try to sneak contrabad into the USA from Mexico by using saddles and tack equipment.

NUEVO LEON: Police officers in a suburb of Monterrey repotedly allowed kidnap victims to be held in local jails while their abductors negotiated a ransom with their families, according to state prosecutors.

The scandal at the northern prison came to light this week when state and federal police freed two kidnapping victims from jail cells in Juarez. Investigators believe that the victims were abducted by the extremely violent Zetas cartel and that the officers were working for the Zetas, Domene said.

Four police officers from Juarez, a suburb of the city of Monterrey, are being held pending further investigation, said Jorge Domene, the security spokesman for Nuevo Leon state.

Local police in northern Mexico have often been bribed or threatened to work for drug gangs by providing them with information, protecting their activities or detaining and turning over members of rival gangs.

VERACRUZ: Police and Mexican Marines in the Gulf state of Veracruz have discovered an additional 32 bodies barely two weeks after gunmen halted traffic as they dumped 36 corpses in the middle of a busy highway during rush hour in what was apparently a gruesome and brazen challenge to the Zetas.

Just two days after the Mexican government unveiled a plan to lay down the law in the state of the same name, police and marines found the bodies in three separate areas of the city, the Navy said in a statement.

The bodies were in homes around the port as the military conducted operations under the new "Safe Veracruz" program, the statement said. Twenty bodies were found in one house that was searched after a tip from naval intelligence.

While the bodies found this week in housing developments in Veracruz have yet tp be conclusively identified, officials say that most of the bodies dumped on the highway in Septmeber had been identified as having a criminal background and associated with Los Zetas.



ELSEWHERE IN VERACRUZ: A spokesman from Mexico's Navy said that Marines had arrested nine Zetas who had escaped from prison last month. During the raid, they came across detailed information documenting bribes paid out to at least 18 municipal police officers throughout the state.

MEXICO CITY: Two severed heads were found on a street adjacent to Mexico's defence ministry in Mexico City on Monday. A statement left at the scene suggested the gruesome display was from a fairly obscure organization known as 'Hands With Eyes', an offshoot of the Beltran Leya cartel.

Thrice As Nice- A Rosh Hoshanah Tale From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Because I'm not the most ambitious person in the world to start off with- plus I'll be even further out in the boonies than usual over the next couple of days- I started out thinking I'd do something similar to my blog entry last year for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hoshanah. Basically some generic wishes peppered with some olive drab clad Rule 5-bait of the Israeli persuasion.

But while doing a search for some IDF eye candy (and lets face it, they are to women in uniform what Brazilians are to female soccer fans), I came across the tale of the very lovely and unique Orbaum Triplets, pictured above.

"The concept of 'one for all and all for one' can get pretty absurd," the late Jerusalem Post staffer and columnist Sam Orbaum wrote about his identical triplet daughters 14 years ago.

Orbaum, who passed away in 2002 at the age of 46, went on in the column, entitled "The threeness of it all," to describe life as a father of identical triplets.

Not only did he sometimes mix them up, Orbaum wrote in his well-known wry, comic style, but he was also constantly impressed by their tight bond - when for example they stood up for one another in fights in the school sandbox.

The three blond 19-year-old sisters are still sticking up for one another, although this time not on the playground but in the IAF, in which they all enlisted a few months ago, making history.

While all three are in khaki-colored air force uniforms, they don't serve together. Odelia, the oldest (born a minute before her two sisters), serves as a control officer in the IAF's underground command-and-control center in the Kirya in Tel Aviv; Nomi is an air traffic control officer at the IAF's Palmahim Base; and Donna is currently in training for a different IAF position near Herzliya.

"Even though we are, in a sense, still together since we are all in the IAF, it was still difficult to split up to different positions and offices," said Odelia.

The sisters say that they think of themselves as one person, which might not make sense - until one sees how they complete one another's sentences or give the same answers during the interview.

Since elementary school the three have been together, going on to the same high school in Jerusalem's Ramot neighborhood and then to the same premilitary academy in the Jordan Valley.

It was there that the triplets decided to enlist in the IDF and not do national service like most of their female classmates.

"As religious girls we were confused about what to do," said Nomi. "But [we] decided to enlist into the IDF since national service, like working in an old age home, is something we can always do after our military service, but military service is right now. [It's] the only time we can do it and is what characterizes the state."

Once they made their decision, all they had left was to find fulfilling jobs in the IDF. Donna said she thought about trying out for the pilot's course; Nomi thought at one point about joining the Ground Forces Command and becoming an infantry instructor.

In the end, they all made their way to the air force, albeit on different bases.

"We didn't all decide to joint the IAF," explained Odelia. "That is just how it worked out."

Nomi, the self-declared "controlling" sister, said that becoming an air traffic controller fit in very well with her personality.

"I usually make the decisions so becoming an air traffic controller was natural," she said.

While the three are not currently together, they all plan on becoming officers and hope to be in the same course at the Bahad 1 Officer Training School near Mitzpe Ramon in a few months.

If that doesn't work out, there's always the post-IDF trip overseas, which they have no doubt they will make together.

The girls also don't doubt that their father would have supported their decision to join the army. When Sam came to Israel he tried to enlist, they said, but he was exempted on medical grounds.

"He supported us in everything we did until he passed away when we were 12," Donna said. "This is the seventh year since he passed away and I think about him all the time and see his smile and know that he would have been proud of us."

The story is from late 2009, so Odelia, Kirya and Nomi are probably 21 and could very well be junior officers by now if they followed through on attending the Officer Training School together.

Avast! Today Be International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

It also be me day off, so contact with other people be pretty minimal (Arr!).

The 'poster girl' for this year's talk like a pirate day is actually from artist Earl Moran. This 1956 work is appropriately enough titled Yo Ho Ho and a Bottle of Rum. Moran, like Normal Rockwell, Fredrick Remington and Gil Elvgren, Earl Moran signed a contract with St. Paul MN-based advertising firm Brown & Bigelow in the 1930s and was featured in a 1940 Life magazine article entitles 'Speaking of Pictures'.

As famous an artist as Moran was, one of his models was even more renown. In 1946, Moran was approached by an aspiring star and divorcee named Norma Jean Dougherty (nee Mortenson), who in a few short years would go on to be known as Marylin Monroe.


Monroe would later credit Moran's artwork with enhancing her appearence, as she thought her legs looked too skinny in real life.

But where was I? Oh yeah...back to the Piracy. It isn't neccecarily a good era in which to be a pirate right now- the Pittsburgh Pirates just came off a humiliating 15-1 loss to the LA Dodgers the other night, fading fast after a scorching hot start earlier this season. The East Carolina Pirates of Conference USA are off to an 0-2 start on the NCAA Football season, losing 17-10 to Virginia Tech last weekend.

And let's not even start on the Somali pirates, either.



Of course, with that in mind, some pirates have managed to land on their feet.

Sour Grapes: Much to Miss France's Chagrin, Miss Angola Wins 2011 Miss Universe Pageant

25 year old Leila Lopes, an Angolan presently living in the UK, won the Miss Universe title at the 2011 pageant in Sao Paulo Brazil this week. The business student, originally from rhe seaside city of Begeula, is the first Angolan to win the pagent's title.


Miss Ukraine- 22 year old law student Olesya Stefanko from Odessa (above), was named the pageant's runner-up.

Ms Lopes replaces last year's Miss Universe winner Jimena Navarette (Miss Mexico- above) .

The decision to crown Lopes Miss Universe didn't sit too well with some of the other contestants pageant. Miss France (above)- 20 year old Laury Thilleman- was particularly critical in comments to French magazine Premiere.

“She was the only girl I didn’t know very well. We didn’t see her much; she was very discreet. She was often in jeans and not wearing makeup. We were all surprised by her win. Many girls made efforts that were not rewarded. I don’t know, something is missing in her temperament. The fact that the competition was held in Brazil surely played a role.”

Miss Brazil- 25 year old Priscilla Machado (above)- was actually named second-runner up in the 2011 Miss Universe tournament.

Mexicana Calendar Girls Make Playboy Debut as Former Co-Workers File Suit Against Equity Firm

Within a few months of their wildly popular 2011 calendar, the stewardesses from defunct carrier Mexicana took it off for their debut in the April 2011 edition of the Mexican version of Playboy. At present, there is no word whether or not a 2012 calendar is in the works.

Meanwhile, the 'Aeromozas' former coworkers have filed a lawsuit against Mexican equity firm PC Capital. Some 8000 former Mexicana Airlines employees filed suit against PC Capital after the firm was unable to come up with the US$200 Million it offered for the bankrupt carrier in March. The suit alleges that PC Capital delayed the sale by overstating the funds available and making an offer that wasn't backed up by available economic resources.

Mexicana ceased all flights a just under a year ago, with some of the routes being taken over by low-cost competitors Volaris and Viva Aerobus. Since late 2010, there has been talk among Mexicana's creditors and the government to restore limited service.

Today's Train of Thought- A (Gypsy) Rose by Any Other Name; July 15 2011

With a name like Lancaster & Chester, you would expect today's Train of Thought to highlight a bucolic shortline running through Pennsylvania Dutch Country. While the countryside the L&C runs through can be described as bucolic the railway actually runs through the northern reaches of the Palmetto State.

The L&C, also known as the Springmaid Line, started up from an 1877 charter to build a 29-mile rail line connecting Chesterfield and Chester counties. Given the inevitable changes that the larger carriers the L&C interchanged with over the last century, operations along the Springmaid Line itself was relatively unchanged until the last decade or so.

However, under the tenure of Elliot White Springs in the 1950s, the shortline embarked on a series of flamboyant and tongue-in-cheek promotions including appointing 29 different Vice Presidents- one for each mile of track.

Perhaps the most memorable was when striptease artist and burlesque entertainer Gypsy Rose Lee (above) was named Lancaster & Chester's 'Vice President of Unveiling'. The railroad also offered a fictitious menu for a number of entrees served on their nonexistent passenger trains, including items like 'Split Dixiecrats with Frozen Assets' or 'Back Bay Trollops with Harvard Accent'- despite the fact that the L&C didn't even own a dining car.

Over the years, traffic has consisted of coal, textile products, aggregates, fertilizer, wood products, sand and fiberglass, with a stable of powder-blue EMD end cab switchers doing most of the heavy lifting throughout much of the L&C's diesel era.

In the late 1990s, JP Henderson Inc set up shop on L&C property and began extensively refurbishing and restoring passenger cars. In 2001, the L&C entered into a lease agreement with the Norfolk Southern to begin operating additional trackage in Lancaster County between Catawba Jct and Kershaw. The expansion meant additional motive power for the L&C- first a pair of SW1200s followed by a pair of SW1500s.

However, in addition to borrowing some LLPX loaners the L&C made their first ever purchase of EMD roadswitchers with the purchase of a couple of ex Norfolk Southern (nee Conrail) GP38-2s that were eventually painted in Lancaster & Chester's powder blue scheme and lettered for the Springmaid Line.

In late 2010, the it was announced that Tenessee-based Gulf & Ohio railways would acquire the L&C. The Gulf & Ohio operates the Yadkin Valley and Laurinburg Southern just up the road in North Carolina. In June of this year, the G&O began sending motive power to the L&C starting with a former Kansas City Southern GP38-3. Apparently the plan is to replace the LLPX locomotives with power from other G&O operations as their leases expire.

Bringing us to the very top of the page, railpictures.net contributor Joe Hinson caught a trio of L&C GP38s working the Norfolk Southern interchange at Chester, SC in May 2011. The third unit in the consist is apparently one of the LLPX loaners still on property, although it's difficult to say if it was obscured by design on the photographer's part.

Happy 4th of July From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

Well...whaddaya know? Turns out the main streets of small town USA aren't the only think I like to see draped in the American flag. Looks like Stargate SG-1 actress Amanda Tapping has done a fine job of wrapping herself in the stars and stripes. I'm told this is what the kids call 'Rule 5' these days, although I'm simply familiar with it under the category of 'Eye Candy'.

	United States Marine Band - The Stars and Stripes Forever .mp3
	Found at bee mp3 search engine

However, before there was an Amanda Tapping and even before there was a Gil Elvgren, there was Rolf Armstrong.

This 1943 print by Armstrong is called Yankee Doodle Girl. While many other pin-up artists hadn't even started out by that time, Armstrong had amassed an impressive resume of magazine covers, theater posters and print ads to his credit. You might recognize another of his works- 1945's A Winning Combination. It apparead on the cover of some scholarly publications and was more recently mimicked by comedienne Tina Fey on a 2009 Vanity Fair cover.
But before I get any more distracted, I wanted to wish the visitors to Not Another New England Sports Blog! a safe and happy 4th of July. Personally, I didn't think it mattered whether or not you were Republican or Democrat to be able to enjoy the 4th of July, but apparently the folks at Harvard feel otherwise.

Jack of all trades- 4th of July as seen from a California citrus grove

Unfortunately it seems that a number of municipalities out west are unable to have a fireworks display this Independence Day because of either wildfire dangers, lack of funds or nuisance lawsuits.

Meanwhile up the road, a California Northern GP15-1 takes in a fireworks display in Tracy, CA. Railpictures.net photo- Eddie P Sarber

With that in mind, I hope that all of you have a good time with your family or friends this Independence Day- try not to blow off any fingers!

Best Wishes!
Fenway_Nation

Pakistani Actress Veena Malik Unscathed After Car Wreck

Those of you who had Veena Malik/May 2011 in the dead pool, you're out of luck.

Veena Malik- the outspoken Lollywood actress who delivered an epic verbal beatdown of an Islamic cleric on a Pakistani talk show- was involved in a car accident on the M2 expressway between Lahore and Islamabad last month. There were conflicting reports out of Pakistan that claimed the Muslima spitfire was hospitalized at an undisclosed location with shoulder and arm injuries and accounts from India that the actress and passengers in her car were unhurt despite the vehicle being totalled.

Ultimately Ms. Malik linked to the Times of India write-up on her homepage, which I'm assuming is an endorsement of their version of events.

Pakistani media reported that Veena Malik was injured in an accident while she was on her way to Lahore from Islamabad and she is recovering well. Reacting to the report, the actress cleared the speculations by saying that those are not true and she is fine.

"I didn't even get a single scratch. It was a miracle. If you see the car I was travelling in, you'd think everyone in it had perished. The vehicle is completely mangled. But I escaped totally unhurt, and so did the people who were with me. I think there's a guardian angel who is watching over me.", the Times of India quoted the actress as saying.

In her native Pakistan, the crash had fuelled speculation whether it was merely a hit and run traffic accident or unsuccessful attempt on the actress' life [on a side note, have you seen IRT: Deadliest Roads? The random car careening out of control and crashing into her before speeding off hypothesis isn't as far fetched as you might think in that part of the world]. If that were the case, one would have to wonder why the assailants didn't bother using firearms, explosives or grenades like any radical islamist worth their salt. I mean....c'mon! It's not like there's a shortage of any of those things in Pakistan.

The Actress who had previously appeared in India on the Bigg Boss reality show and as a cricket presenter during the 2011 Cricket World Cup is set to make her Bollywood feature film debut, with filming to start shortly.

Happy Flag Day From Not Another New England Sports Blog!

And really- what could be more all-American than a member of the British Royal family at play on a beach in Thailand, clad in nothing but a star spangled bikini? This is the stuff of Norman Rockwell paintings, I tell ya!
I came across these 2009 images of Princess Eugenie (the kid sister of Princess Beatrice of the Doorknocker hat fame) while doing a cursory search of Beatrice without the hat and thought it was an interesting choice of apparel for the the 6th in line to the throne of Great Britain.

Apparently, the London tabloids and paparazzi considered her swimwear 'Very unpatriotic', seemingly a more pressing issue than the £100,000 tab for her security detail whilst cavorting in Thailand as the Asian nation was rocked by a series of violent antigovernment protests in the capital of Bangkok. That said, the vexilologist in me feels compelled to point out that if it were a simple red/while/blue swimsuit, the colors would've been appropriate for Thailand, Great Britain or the USA.

Photo courtesy MinneMom

But heading back to the USA, there isn't much else out there that I'm as happy to see as the Main Street of a small town adorned with the stars and stripes for any number of occasions such as Patriot's Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Veterans Day or even Flag Day itself. It's something that can't be obligingly summarised into a few short sentences, but I'm sure many of you reading this feel the same way.

For those of us with a worn or tattered flag- or one with not enough stars- that we need to part with, there is a certain etiquette involved in the proper retirement of the flag.

1. The flag should be folded in its customary manner.

2. It is important that the fire be fairly large and of sufficient intensity to ensure complete burning of the flag.

3. Place the flag on the fire.

4. The individual(s) can come to attention, salute the flag, recite the Pledge of Allegiance and have a brief period of silent reflection.

5. After the flag is completely consumed, the fire should then be safely extinguished and the ashes buried.

6. Please make sure you are conforming to local/state fire codes or ordinances.

A number of organizations are more than willing to properly retire any worn, faded or torn American Flags that are turned in. More often than not, your best bet your nearest Veterans of Foreign War Post- some VFW posts even have a drop box where you can leave the flag even when the post isn't open.

UPDATE- As soxfan4life pointed out, I neglected to mention that today also happens to be the US Army's 236th Birthday. Apparently the US Army decided to celebrate by reverting to the patrol cap in leiu of the black beret that has been the Army standard for the last 10 years. When I first heard of Gen Shinseki's proposal to have all members of the United States Army to be issued black berets as the default headgear for soldiers, I was against it because issuing it would diminish the significance of the berets issued to Special Forces, Airborne and Ranger units. Soldiers had complained that the standard black beret was difficult to adjust, was too hot (particularly in a desert climate) and appeared out of place while engaging in such tasks as filling sandbags or policing up trash.

June 12, 2011- Puerto Rico Day Parade in New York City

Aspiring waitress Melody Morales proudly displaying Puerto Rican flag

June 12 marks Puerto Rico day in that bustling, sweltering metropolis that's home to nearly a million Puerto Ricans- no, not San Juan! I'm talking about New York.

Neither enjoying the benefits of full fledged independence nor U.S. statehood since Spain ceded it to the USA in 1898 after the Spanish-American war, the commonwealth of Puerto Rico is classified as an unincorporated territory of the United States. Thanks to the Jones-Shafroth Act of 1917 residents of Puerto Rico were automatically given US citizenship. Migration to the US Mainland increased during WWII when factories producing war materiel needed manpower with most of the American men in the workforce now drafted into military service. The advent of commercial air travel made it easier for Puerto Ricans to travel to the continental US and back.

Interestingly, while the date of New York's Puerto Rican Day parade falls on the 2nd Sunday in June each year, it is not a holiday in Puerto Rico.


No word on whether or not 23-year old Puertoriqueña Melody Morales will be in attendence this year. In 2009, the buxom latina filed suit against the now-closed Hawaiian Tropic zone in New York's Times Square claiming she was discriminated against on the basis of her accent, which the manager considered 'too ghetto'. In it's defense, Hawaiian Tropic Zone had pointed out that they had employees from Puerto Rico, Russia and Nigeria at the time Ms. Morales sued them [this could very well be an instance 'Fran Drescher Syndrome'- i.e. an attractive woman with a voice like nails on a chalkboard- NANESB!].

While the ultimate disposition of the lawsuit remains unknown by yours truly, the curvy latina attracted the attention of Rick's Cabaret [NASDAQ: RICK] and local businesses within weeks of the lawsuit, who approached Morales' lawyer with a number of job offers.

Since I can't seem to find any video that clearly has her voice, I figure the best I can do is offer these photos of Ms. Morales that were circulating at the time of the lawsuit, including Melody's very admirable display of the Puerto Rican flag.

Marilyn Monroe Trivia Answer

Thanks to those of you who participated in the quiz- a number of you guessed Marilyn Monroe first appeared in the December 1953 edition of Playboy, which technically would've been correct.

However, Hugh Hefner had his doubts about the magazine catching on and left the first-ever issue undated. He only started dating them in January 1954, when it was becoming clear that there was demand for his publication after the first issue sold out in a few short weeks.

So those of you who guessed 'None of the above' would be correct.

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.

Happy 63rd Birthday, Israel!

This week marks the 63rd anniversary of Israel's independence. What can I say about Israel that far more swift, competent and knowledgeable bloggers haven't already said about the Holy Land?

Israel being surrounded by hostile nations and the sea has meant that she has had to be on guard for constantly changing and evolving threats throughout her existence.

But even with the proverbial sword of Damocles hanging over it's head, Israel has managed to develop a robust economy centering for the most part around the defense technology, pharmaceutical, telecommunications and tourism sectors.

The discovery of considerable natural gas deposits in the offshore Leviathan and Tamar basins earlier this year also is poised to put Israel at an advantage as far as energy is concerned, possibly making her a net exporter of energy for the first time in its history.

But there is so much more to Israel than thousands of years of history and a robust military industrial complex, there's also attractive young women in peak physical condition in snug olive-drab uniforms.

The Israeli military, known as the IDF, is the 11th largest in the world according to some sources. While some of the women depicted above would be ideal for IDF recruiting posters, it would actually be a wasted effort as the IDF has near-universal conscription for both men and women.

Yet the camera seems to love them nonetheless, and from the looks of it this is a relationship that so many of us can enjoy the fringe benefits from.

BREAKING: White House Situation Room Photos Indicate Bin Laden Raid Took Place Much Earlier Than Announced, Situation Room Photos Doctored

The successful raid of Osama Bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan had since been followed up by a number of contradictory statements from the White House and allegations that the situation room photo released by the White House was in fact staged.

Now a leaked photo from White House sources has not only called the Administration's timeline of events into question, but even the veracity of the situation room photo that was released by the Administration.

My highly confidential and trustworthy White House sources have hinted that the SEAL raid on Bin Laden's hideout actually took place earlier and coincided with another event that had generated much international interest; the Royal Wedding at Westminster Abbey.

However, the raid also overlapped with the official White House Royal Wedding viewing party, and guests actually watched both events unfold in real-time on multiple screens in the situation room.

The above photo, believed by many anonymous insiders to be the original and unmodified situation room photo, seems to confirm this version of events and it's likely the White House waited nearly 48 hours to make the announcement in order to disseminate the doctored photos showing White House Staff, Pentagon brass and Administation officials.


When reached for comment on how the Obama Administration and Pentagon officials were able to get so many copies of her now-infamous hat in advance, a spokeswoman for Princess Beatrice of York had no comment about the hat, but pointed out that the 23 year old daughter of Prince Andrew and Sarah Ferguson had lost some weight, was the first Royal to run in the London marathon and looks 'positively smashing' in a bikini these days.
Well- who am I to argue?

Back After Some Technical Difficulties That I Had No Part in Either Creating (or Solving)

Seems as though there was some sort of technical problems with Blogger the other day where one could view the pages on any given blogger or blogspot page, but visitors could not post comments and blogmasters couldn't log in to update, edit or add new posts. After some independent tinkering, I think I managed to isolate the source of the recent problems with Blogger, as shown here:
Still, reliable sources who also maintained their blogs on blogger were telling me that posts were disappearing and they had been unable to log in since yesterday afternoon.

But what better way to offset my cluelessness than to throw down some vintage eye candy featuring a girl who looks like she knows what she's doing.

This one comes from the late George Petty and was part of the Ridge tool company's (aka Rigid) 1956 calendar. According to the Pin Up Files, one critic opined 'When you touch the wrist of a Petty girl, you almost expect to feel a pulse'.

Wrenches and lugnits are one thing, but imagine being the artist comissioned to draw up similar ads for software or IT services.

Yeah....tough sell.

A Cinco De Mayo Train of Though- Beauties and (High Horsepower) Beasts South of The Border, May 5 2011

It's that time of year again- the 5th of May is an opportunity for Madison Avenue to try and sell the rest of America some marginal imported beer people to commemorate the May 5, 1862 battle outside of Puebla, Mexico where outnumbered Mexican farmers thwarted advancing French troops north of the town.

As romanticized as the tale of an underdog, poorly trained peasant army beating back a numerically superior foreign military making incursions into their country can be, there are a few common misconceptions about Cinco de Mayo and the Battle of Puebla here in the USA.

First and foremost, this is not Mexico's independence day. I'm pretty sure this topic has come up before on this blog, but I thought it would be worth revisiting. Mexico fought a decade-long war against Spain between 1810 and 1821, while the Battle of Puebla would take place some 40 years later against Napoleonic French troops. Mexico's independence day is actually observed on September 16 each year and is in fact a bigger occasion than Cinco de Mayo, which is mostly celebrated in the state of Puebla.

Second is that while the Battle of Puebla was a remarkable setback for Napoleon III's Army, French forces were able to overwhelm Mexico later on that year and install Austrian archduke Ferdinand Maximilian as Emperor Maximilian I of Mexico beginning in 1864. However, that wouldn't last very long as he was deposed by an army led by Benito Juarez in 1867 and was executed by firing squad. Puebla, the capital of Puebla state southeast of Mexico City also became home to the Mexican National Railway Museum.

Construction on Mexico's railways began shortly before the French Intervention and Battle of Puebla, with an emphasis on completing a line between Mexico City and the Gulf of Mexico port of Veracruz. Other lines radiated north out of the nation's capital, bankrolled by US, Mexican and European interests and linking the resource-rich nation with the US Border and ports along the Pacific Ocean and Gulf of Mexico. However, the network would deteriorate considerably during the Mexican revolution and be incrementally nationalized between 1929 and 1937.

It would take some 60 years for the Mexican government to follow through on privatization. In 1997, the government run Ferrocarriles Nacionales de Mexico (FNM) ceased passenger operations and was divided up. Much of the track to the north and west of Mexico City (as well as the Ferrocarril Sonora-Baja California and Chihuahua al Pacifico lines) went to Grupo Mexico's [BMV: GMEXICOB] FerroMex while the mainline between Mexico City and Nuevo Laredo to the north, Lazaro Cardeans to the South and (eventually) Veracruz to the east went to Transportes Ferroviaria Mexico, a joint venture between Mexico's Grupo TMM [NYSE: TMM] and Kansas City Southern [NYSE: KSU], although Kansas City Southern gained a majority stake in 2005 through it's KCS de Mexico subsidiary.

FerroSur, owned jointly by billionaire Carlos Slim's Grupo Carso [BMV: GCARSOA1] and Financiero Inbursa SAB [BMV: GFINBURO] would gain most of the trackage south of Mexico city, but in 2005 it would be acquired by a GrupoMexico subsidiary with the intention of merging it into FerroMex. Since this would give FerroMex a near monopoly, KCS de Mexico understandably objected and the matter was tied up in litigation until earlier this year when a tribunal from Mexico's Federal Competition Commission ruled in favor of GrupoMexico (but allowed KCS de Mexico to operate into Guadlajara via trackage rights on FerroMex).

While privatization has no doubt improved motive power, rolling stock, physical plant and right-of-way south of the border, like many other seemingly everyday activities in contemporary Mexico, railroading carries an element of risk to it.

With Mexican law enforcement tied up attacking drug cartels, free-lance crime gangs have become more daring and sophisticated, hijacking trucks and trains and stealing massive loads of steel, coffee and beans.

These gangsters are armed not only with guns but heavy machinery to unload industrial materials and bulk agricultural goods, deftly passing them off to the black market.

Mexico's third largest steel producer, Altos Hornos de Mexico, or AHMSA, has been victim of nearly 40 robberies since January 2008,

"This wasn't happening before," AHMSA spokesman Francisco Orduna said.

"To unload a 30-tonne roll of steel is complicated," he said. "Not just anyone can do that and to find someone who will buy that amount is not that easy either. You have to be really well organized."

Mexico's steel chamber said robberies skyrocketed by 250 percent last year, as 12,500 tons were carted off by thieves, sometimes truck and all. Losses totaled 150 million pesos ($11 million) in 2008 and have continued as a fast clip this year.

The robberies are raising the cost of doing business in Mexico as companies hire guards, expensive security consultants and specialized satellite positioning devices to track cargo.

Using intelligence gathered from employees either intimidated or paid off to leak transport routes, the well-connected groups can hijack a truck making a pit stop, empty out the cargo and dump the driver on an abandoned road.

Gerardo Bortoni, who heads an association of truck drivers in Monclova, said the thieves hand products over to corrupt businessman while authorities turn the other way.

"They are stealing everything, coffee, cacao, pistachios. Before it was just sporadic now its very common. We're afraid to haul a lot of products," he said.

Due to the murky nature of the crimes, it is unclear who the customers are for the stolen goods but Bortoni said in the case of steel, buyers would need the capacity to process raw materials. Wholesalers say stolen food products will show up at the same markets they were taken from, just at a lower price.

Grupo Mexico, which operates Ferromex, one of Mexico's main railroads, set up a system to pay government security forces to guard their trains after a spike in thefts.

In a series of hijackings late last year, bands of dozens of people, armed sometimes with machetes and rocks, sacked entire trainloads of corn and beans.

Illegal immigrants from Central America also attempt to hop rides on freight trains on their way to try and cross the into USA. Besides the risk of injury or death from falling off the train, there's also the hazard posed by railroad and federal police demanding bribes and Mexican gangs who have demonstrated a willingness to rob, rape and murder the migrants transiting through territory they control.


Southbound trains, however, are less likely to suffer from that problem. Here, railpictures.net contributor Alfonso Chumacero caught FerroMex C30-S7 #3745 on the point of a southbound freight chugging southbound out of the town of Acaponeta in Nayarit state on April 4, 2007 with train FXE 3745. The big 3000 HP GE on the point, a former Ferrocarriles Nacionales Mexico unit, is still wearing the faded two-tone blue of the final few years of FNM's existence.
As a bonus- and to demonstrate that it's still possible to travel by train in Mexico without a peril fraught journey, there's Chihuahua al Pacifico's Copper Canyon excursions between Los Mochis, Sonora and Chihuahua. From the state capital in Chihuahua, the line actually continues north-east to the border crossing at Ojinaga/Presidio, TX and on to Alpine, TX and points north-east via FerroMex subsidiary Texas Pacifico (although the bridge across the Rio Grande was damaged by fire and knocked out of service in late 2008). The Copper Canyon segment wasn't completed until 1961 owing to the on-again off again political instability in Mexico as well as the extremely remote and difficult terrain.

Here, enigmatic Railpictures.net contributor E Hames ModelFan has caught in his lens the angular and sturdy lines of FerroMex GP38-2 #2017 in the siding with a Copper Canyon excursion train at Divisadero, Chihuahua in October 2005complimented by some enticing curves closer at hand. The two lovely women in the foreground are identified as models from Playboy Latinoamerica, reportedly preparing to film a travelogue about the Copper Canyon.

Even without the alluring latina models (who, admittedly make a good thing even better) the Chihuahua Pacifico Copper Canyon passenger train is considered one of the world's premiere railroad excursions.