Barbara Walters

Walters Bashes O'Donnell, Tries Preserving Dignity ... and Fails.

Like Elisabeth Hasselbeck, Barbara Walters acts so annoying. Here is the deal. Apparently, Rosie O'Donnell opened her big mouth about Walters and The View.

While promoting her Rosie Live prime-time special on NBC, O'Donnell said, "[Walters] wanted everyone to believe and think and act as if [the women on The View] get along and are really good friends and happy and hang out together, and, you know, that's just not the reality. I'm not saying they loathe each other, but the fact of the matter is there was not a lot of camaraderie off camera."

Essentially, this sounds like the truth from O'Donnell. Her claim sounds quite plausible. All she said was that there wasn't a lot of camaraderie off camera between the co-hosts and that Walters wanted the public to think otherwise. It really isn't a big thing.

So O'Donnell said what she said. Then Walters responded. Here is the annoying part: Walters responded, but she tried to play coy with her opponent's name by withholding it. She was talking about O'Donnell and, to some extent, Star Jones. Here is Walters' remark. "There are some people who have done this show and then for years feel they have to dump on it, maybe for publicity, and that not only hurts me, but I resent it. So if the shoe fits, lady—ladies—get on with your lives."

Look, if you're going to accuse someone of dumping on your show for publicity's sake, then have the guts to say that person's name. There is no tip-toeing though the rose garden with the grace and poise of Doris Day when you're calling someone out as a publicity junkie. There is no well-mannered way to do it. Walters bashed O'Donnell, and Jones, by suggesting that they criticize others to generate publicity for themselves. If Walters wants to go that far with it, then she needs to say names. It is pretty outrageous of her to elect not to. Why does this woman insist on acting like a problem?

People's Sexiest Man Alive

People named Hugh Jackman as the Sexiest Man Alive for 2008.

Well that's People for you. An actor is the sexiest man alive? Really? What a surprise.

Aren't all of People's sexiest men actors?

Yes. They are aren't they.

Even John F. Kennedy Jr. was an actor. He did theater, and he wanted to pursue a Hollywood career, but his mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, thought acting wasn't a good enough profession for her son. As we all know, John Jr. pursued law instead and turned himself into a successful magazine publisher. Like the rest of People's Sexiest Men Alive, John F. Kennedy Jr. had acting in his blood.

Since everyone on People's list is an actor, it kind of makes me scoff. If you listen to People, only actors have a chance at being the sexiest man in the world. What a crock.

I wonder what securities broker, accountant, real estate agent, semi-professional athlete or whatever out there is sexier than Hugh Jackman. Odds are there has to be at least one person women would prefer. There are a lot of men in the world People doesn't know about. What People should do is name Hugh Jackman and all of these other guys "The Sexiest Actor Alive" because the list covers only actors. There has to be someone in the world who is not a public figure who does not live their life in front of a camera with just as much merit as a Hugh Jackman or a Richard Gere or a Ben Affleck. If People doesn't like "Sexiest Actor Alive" it could opt for "The Sexiest Man That We Know About" because, as mentioned, there are a lot of people in the world. Odds are ...

Maritime Pirates

Pirates have hijacked a Saudi oil tanker, according to a report on CNN.com. The report says the tanker was attacked more than 450 nautical miles southeast of Mombasa, Kenya. The East African coast has seen 95 incidents involving pirates. Many of the stolen ships are taken to ports in Somalia, a wore-torn country ruled by lawless violence.

The pirate attacks make passage through the Suez Canal a dicey prospect. Warships from the U.S., the UK and Russia are patrolling the Indian Ocean, but that is not enough. Why aren't we doing more? Instead of wasting time in Iraq, we should be going after these pirates to put them out of the world's misery.

New-G iPhones, iPods

I will probably complain about iPhones and iPods the same way I complain about modern movies and modern athletic shoes. One day, I predict, Apple will mess up and put out a consumer electronics product with some useless, inane design detail in place of an old one that was better. And every Apple product in question will be sold with that same unavoidable detail. Consumers will have no say in the matter and no choice at all. They will be stuck with lame products that operate more efficiently but look like junk.

Compelling Nikes for November

The Blogadier General Lists Five Compelling Nikes for the Month of November.

Basketball season is here, so Hyperdunks reign supreme. Honorable mentions go out to the Jordan III from the Jordan Collezione III/XX Countdown package and the Air Jordan II from the Jordan Collezione II/XXI Countdown package. The current makeups of the original Air Jordan fail to make this blog's list because Jordan Brand insists on adding a Jumpman logo to the heel counters, and the tongue tags are historically inaccurate and all wrong.

Nike currently offers a black canvas Air Jordan high top with a strap. The strap is a new and unusual addition to this historic shoe. As a purist, I should not like the strap. For some reason though, I find it to be a palatable and interesting addition, something different. Jumpmen and weird tongue tags do not agree with me at all.

Nike and Jordan Brand almost nailed this canvas Air Jordan, but they missed the branding on the strap. Since the shoe is a canvas Air Jordan, Nike should have revisited the AJKO branding that was used on the original canvas Air Jordans. An AJKO label would have enhanced this new shoe's authenticity and, hence, the shoe's value, making it more desirable. Nike and Jordan Brand miscalculated in a major way. This missed detail is tantamount to a mispelling on the top headline of a big-circulation daily newspaper. It is that big of a gaffe. The same error in judgement was committed on the shoe itself. All this does is create credibility problems for Nike management and the folks who manage Nike's branding.

This month's list contains the same models as October. The order has been rearranged in part because of the weather and the time of year, basketball season. Hyperdunks are the hottest general release athletic shoe on the market, and they hold the most relevance with the NBA season in full swing and college teams popping up on television.

The Air Pegasus celebrates its 25th anniversary. Nike has released new color schemes for the shoe and even a special edition 25th anniversary redesign with a Considered upper that resembles the original Air Pegasus from 1983. The Air Pegasus + 25 SE has the same sole as the standard Air Pegasus + 25 model.

Nike's third-generation Air Zoom Vomero makes the list because it fits the publisher's foot better than anything else on the market, save for the Air Zoom Vomero + 2.

The Jordan Ol' Skool II is a favorite on this blog because the design is rather clean and clever. It is too bad that the white, black and red version has to be defiled with vile white patent leather. How can you beat a shoe to death when it has prissy, glossy white patent leather that demands such respect and clean living? To top it off, the patent leather has glitter in the finish. Is this shoe meant for hard core ballers or eight-year-old girls in cute pink sweat suits and Cindy Brady pigtails? The leather looks great, but the Jordan Ol' Skool II is the wrong place to use it. Leave it up to Nike to do too much with a shoe when good old full grain leather would suffice.

The Lunar Trainer falls to fifth place on this list because it has a mesh upper and it is November. Mesh in November equals cold feet. This is why I chose to replace my second-generation Vomeros with third-generation Vomeros. I wanted the try the Lunar Trainer, but I am not putting up with mesh in the winter. It is not functional right now, and the Vomero has Zoom Air, which is still the best cushioning on the planet, beating Lunar Foam by miles.

Here are the rankings this month. All of these are men's sneakers.

1. Hyperdunks
2. Air Pegasus + 25
3. Air Zoom Vomero + 3
4. Jordan Ol' Skool II, black/varsity red/white in particular
5. Lunar Trainer (The publisher prefers the white version.)

The New James Bond

I haven't even seen Casino Royale yet. Octopussy was the first Bond movie I saw at a theater. Actually, I saw it at a drive in theater if you can believe that. It was the only time I had ever gone to one of those. After Octopussy I used to always catch the new Bond movie in the theaters.

Alas, I managed to miss Casino Royale. It's probably not very good anyway. It doesn't sound very good. Great title, but bad interpretation of the James Bond character, and the entire franchise for that matter. I still don't buy Judith Dench as M. A female M is a little ridiculous. The M character is supposed to be a man, not a woman. Dench's M is condescending and mean while previous Ms were condescending and worried. A worried and male M is much more appeasing than a mean and female M.

After watching Die Another Day, I figured these new Bond adventures could only get worse and worse. I think, still, I may be right. Ice castles and graphic violence just do not mesh with the James Bond franchise. These modern Bond projects do no justice to the character, the established style of James Bond filmmaking or the actors that played Bond in the past. These new movies should pay homage to previous ones. They should emulate for the sake of authenticity. They clearly do not. Unfortunately, the current Bond filmmakers apparently feel that they can't make anything that lives up to what's been done before, so they've gone off on their own ultra-violent, fast-paced, low brow tangent, creating a complete and total mess that will certainly annoy me.

And I am aware of a story arc for the Daniel Craig version of Bond in which the British government would like to see Bond dead. This is an absolutely inexcusible idea. It was insulting enough to have to sit through Die Another Day as the Pierce Brosnan Bond was captured and beaten. And to top that all off, the Brosnan Bond didn't even escape. He was set free by way of negotiation. This is absoulutely stupid and absurd, unconscionable, would never happen. James Bond isn't the kind of character that gets captured, beaten bloody and set free through a hostage trade. He effects escape on his own, bests his opponents and saves the girl. That is how the Bond story works.

Now the British government wouldn't mind if Bond were dead. Nice. This too is absoulutely stupid and absurd, unconscionable, would never happen.

Oh, and I also understand that Quantum of Solace is a sequel to Casino Royale. That means I have to see Casino Royale before I watch Quantum of Solace. I have been told that I will not know what is going on in Quantum of Solace if I skip Casino Royale. This urks me. I want to just run to the theater on my day off and watch Quantum of Solace. I can't do that. I have to rent and watch Casino Royale first. To top things off, I know there will be major style changes in both movies that will not agree with me.

I feel fortunate that a complete catalog of Sean Connery and Roger Moore Bond films exist for my enjoyment. If I feel annoyed enough by the the new Bond films, I can always resort to the archives and enjoy Bond the way Bond is supposed to be.

One last note: Anyone who thinks Daniel Craig is the best Bond ever is likely too young and dumb to know what they are talking about. Craig is third best at best. He will never be better than Connery or Moore. That is not opinion. That is established fact.

The Detroit Pistons and Allen Iverson

Wow. This season's Detroit Piston squad is so athletic. Joe Dumars is cooking up a new and unusual dish. He won with teamwork and execution. Now he is trying to win with athleticism and execution. Adding Allen Iverson helps immensely.

Iverson's presence makes the Pistons more interesting to watch. He lends a harried immediacy to Detroit's offense. Plus he seems to mesh well with the rest of the team. That is nice to see after the Denver experiment. Iverson and Carmello Anthony seemed like an interesting combination, but those two never meshed well. Denver's team chemistry always seemed awkward with Iverson in the mix. Maybe the Nuggets could have flourished if Iverson and Anthony had been surrounded by above-average defenders and a stronger center.

The Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins have a 6-4 record. That is a far cry from the 1-15 record the team recorded in 2007. The franchise has seen the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, going undefeated in 1972 and nearly winless last season. I hope the modern Dolphins are remembered not for winning one game, but for how they responded this season. What a turnaround they have made.

Floor Tile and Wood

I took these photographs at Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock during my recent visit to Banana, just Banana. The first four shots depict floor tile. The fifth is a flight of stairs. I wish I had a light ... and a tripod ... and a real camera. I took these on my first-gen iPhone. Iphones are hard to shoot with. The job takes a steady hand, which I don't exactly have.






The penultimate photograph shows a bench. The last one shows the wood grain finish on a support column. That one might be blurry. I can't tell.

Just Banana

Once upon a time, a coworker of mine referred to Banana Republic as "Banana," just Banana. I picked up on what she was talking about, but I had never heard anyone refer to Banana Republic as Banana only.























Now when I search Google to get to bananarepublic.com, I wish I could just type "banana" and pull up the site. That would be so cool.

Did I Mean Blogadeur?

No. Oh no. I'm pretty sure I meant Blogadier.

"Free Cre-dit Report Dot Com"

Say this in your electronic voice, like in the one where they're working the pool party. I love that one!

A Catalyst for Absurdity

Perhaps the images below will reveal the inspiration for the slogan that appears in this blog's header box underneath the title. No, the idea didn't come from a Wheaties box.

These tags are from vintage Nike running shoes. I blogged about them a few posts back. The tags serve as a reminder of the good old days when Nikes were made here in the United States and also in Japan. Today's Nikes are made in China and Vietnam, much to the disdain of human rights activists.


For some reason, I like to write some absurd saying in the header box. It amuses me. None of them should ever be treated seriously or factually correct. Obviously, none of them really ever are. An argument could be made that I have watched David Letterman way too much.

Oh Stop It With Palin

Stop. Stop. Stop it. Stop throwing Sarah Palin under the bus over the election. I love it how everyone is pointing the finger at her like she was the problem. The problem for Republicans was a majority of Americans preferred Barack Obama over John McCain. That is why the GOP lost. Anyone short of Jesus Christ reincarnated would have lost against Obama. Well, I think Pope John Paul II could have beat him even if he was the leader of the Catholic Church, which a lot of folks might not like, but he's deceased, too, and not likely to return.

This loss by the GOP can't be blamed on Palin. It shouldn't be anyway. She tried her best. Is it her fault her party didn't prepare her for Katie Couric? No, that's not her fault. That's the party's fault. You would think that the McCain campaign would have help from the most brilliant minds of the party. What was Karl Rove doing during all of this? Isn't he supposed to be a genius? Where was he? He sure didn't get his party in the oval office again.

Honestly though, the GOP's biggest problem was the cyclical nature of politics. The pendulum of momentum swayed left after swinging right for two straight elections. That's what happened. No one can control that. Too many voters wanted the exact opposite of what they had, so they voted for Obama, a black, bi-racial liberal with better diction and brighter promise as a leader.

Old Nikes Make Great Collectibles

Antiques are cool. Many adults have their own personal niche interest when it comes to vintage pieces.

Some like to collect quilts or rugs. Others have a passion for dolls, craftsman furniture, cars or pottery. I like Mason jars and vintage Nikes among other things. Vintage Nikes fascinate me to no end. The older the better imo, and they can be in the most ratty condition. It really does not matter to me. Vintage Nikes make for some cool antiques even if they are a quaint 30 years old or so.

Like coins, stamps and comic books and most everything else old and coveted, vintage sneakers hold value with respect to condition. The better their condition, the more they are worth.

Today, I found a vintage pair of Nike LD 1000 running shoes on eBay as seen below. I love the thin shape of the Swoosh logo. Modern Nikes are issued with Swooshes I find a little too thick for my taste. Anyway, the shade of orange and the thin material make the Swoosh on the original LD 1000 stand out nicely, boldly. That was the Swoosh's point back then right? To stand out and exude boldness? Swooshes meant more then than they do now, and that's a shame. The world is so familiar with this iconic logo, so over-saturated with it that the novelty has plain worn off. It wore off a long time ago.

I once bought a pair of vintage canvas Nike court shoes that were popular around 1980. I found them on eBay. They were very much like a pair I wore to school when I was much younger. I do not have the pair from school anymore, but I still own the pair from eBay. They appear in the photo below.

This pair has a rubber toe cap, vulcanized herringbone sole and a light blue Swoosh. If I am not mistaken, John McEnroe competed in this model against Borg at Wimbledon. At the time, I thought the shoes were revolutionary because they had a built-in arch insert. The insert was made of foam. No other shoe manufacturer had such in their products. Early on, I could tell that Nike was an innovator instead of a follower. It is no surprise that Nike rose to the market leader status it holds today.

Do Not Name Your Child After 44

Folks are naming their newborns after Pres.-elect Barack Obama. Please do not do this, for it is absurd, and we are talking about your child's name. Take it seriously.

Trends and "the thrill of the moment" should not factor into the naming of your child. His or her name will last long after Obama's four to eight years. Trends should never ever affect how parents name a child. Show some respect for the child. Treat this matter seriously and earnestly.

Obama Projected as Winner

It looks like Sen. Barack Obama will be the 44th American president.

Hillary Clinton is owed apologies for this result.

Historic Election ... Really?

Election 2008 is under way right now. John McCain is losing to Barack Obama 174-69 in the electoral vote tally, according to CNN. Two hundred seventy electoral votes are required to win.

Pundits keep calling this election historic.

You wanna' know something? It's a presidential election. All presidential elections are historic. It's like kind of their nature. It's not like historians don't bother to keep records on who wins and loses these things. It's not like they keep records of the big ones and skip less-important ones. They're all important. The word "historic" sounds rather annoying tonight.

Election Day

Election Day 2008 is here. This is the last day to vote for president!

Daylight Savings Time Begins

Today is the first day for Daylight Savings Time, which I like to refer to as Daylight Wasting Time. How are we saving time here? What are we saving it for? Let's use it lest we lose it!