Hump Day Hottie

Today's HDH is the scrumptious (sorry, but it's true) Shemar Moore.

Shemar stars on one of my favorite tv shows, Criminal Minds.

He was a model when he first started out, which it is plain to see why.

I remember him being on The Young and the Restless, and though I didn't watch that soap, I was still young - and he made me quite restless indeed.
He did win an Emmy in the role of Malcolm on Y & R...



Now he is the single best reason to watch Criminal Minds.

Sometimes, there isn't anything else to say, so you just have to look.



Shemar Moore/Wikipedia

Shemar/Criminal Minds

Hump Day Hottie - George's turn

Let me be frank when I say there are really no shortage of pictures of George Clooney on the internet. It was hard to choose just a few, so what you see is what I couldn't part with.

In honor of ER's final episode tommorrow night (which incidentally I have not watched since about the time Mr. Clooney took that extended coffee break...) I have reached into the black hole they call google and retrieved some fine looking photos of George.

Tasty.

I always like the black & white ones....

George has a running bet with Nicole Kidman and Michelle Pfeiffer that he will never marry again (having been married unsuccessfully from 1989-1993)... The initial bet (for $10,000) was that he wouldn't marry before the age of 40. When Nicole sent a check after his birthday, he supposedly returned it, saying 'double or nothing until I turn 50'.....

He's nearly 48....

George made one of my fave vampire movies way back in 1996 while still on ER.
From Dusk Till Dawn - written by Quentin Tarantino (pictured with George) and directed by Robert Rodriguez of Desperado fame...

It's a hoot!

George was born in one of my favorite places in the world, Lexington, Kentucky.

He had a string of small roles in random tv shows (such as The Facts of Life and Roseanne) before becoming the next big thing on ER.

When he left ER in 1999, it was said he was never going to make it big - that he over-estimated his star power and would wish he'd never left the small screen.

Yeah. Right.

He's had a laundry list of pretty big hits, including Out of Sight, Three Kings, The Perfect Storm, O Brother Where Art Thou, Oceans Eleven (and Twelve and Thirteen for that matter), Good Night and Good Luck (for which he was nominated for a directing AND writing Oscar), Syriana (for which he won an acting Oscar), and Michael Clayton (for which he was Oscar nominated for acting.)

So George pretty much gets his pick of projects these days.

Guess he really didn't need to stay on ER after all...

But he did have a cameo a few weeks ago to celebrate their final season.

I think one of the best things about him (besides his looks of course) is his sense of humor. He is always so funny and witty - and seems to be a genuinely nice guy.

He is also quite the humanitarian, and I would be remiss if I didn't mention how involved he is in social and political issues. He has made it one of his missions in life to bring attention to the crisis in Darfur, to the extent that he and his father Nick traveled there and made a documentary regarding the tragedy.

In 2008, the United Nations made him a messenger of peace. Guess he's right up there with Angelina now, huh? (LOL)

And let's face it, he IS pretty nice to look at, eh?

George Clooney/Wikipedia

RIP Alysheba

Another racing legend, gone.

Yesterday the great Alysheba was humanely euthanized at age 25.

Alysheba's sire was the excellent racehorse Alydar, most famous for his impressive rivalry with Triple Crown winner Affirmed. Alydar came in second in all three legs of the series, a feat which is most likely never to be repeated.

Alysheba is listed as #42 on The Blood Horse's list of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century and was the winner of the 1987 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes.
He was named Champion 3 Year Old Male that year.

He was even better at age 4, winning six Grade 1 stakes (the best of the best races), including the Santa Anita Handicap, The Woodward Stakes, and capping the year with the Breeders' Cup Classic. He was named Horse of the Year for 1988 as well as Champion Older Male.

Until the fantabulous CIGAR (and the awe-inspiring CURLIN this past year) came along, Alysheba held the record for the World's Richest Thoroughbred. His earnings came to $6,679,242. His record was 11 wins, 8 places and 2 shows out of 26 races.

Hall of Fame Jockey Chris McCarron (who also rode the great John Henry) was on Alysheba for all 10 of his career stakes wins.

He was trained by Hall of Fame trainer Jack Van Berg, who said "he stuck out like a diamond in a rock pile."
Alysheba has a stakes race named after him and was inducted in 1993 to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

He has a statue of his likeness erected in front of the AEGON Center in downtown Louisville, Kentucky.

He stood at stud first at Lane's End farm in Kentucky, then was sold to a breeding farm in Saudi Arabia, as part of the king's Royal Stables.

In 2008, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia returned Alysheba to the United States as a gift, stating his wish was to have Alysheba live out the rest of his days on his native soil. So he was brought to live at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, where he did just that.

Alysheba upon return to Kentucky in fall of 2008.

This past Thursday, Alysheba apparently fell in his stall and due to his advanced age and various health issues, they were unable to save him. He was having alot of pain, and was unable to stand. To a horse, that is unfortunately the last straw.

A memorial service is being planned for a later date.

Rest in greener pastures, Aly.

Alysheba/Wikipedia

Bloodhorse.com -death of Alysheba

article from the Lexington Herald-Leader

*info complied mostly from Blood Horse online and my fantastic memory:)

Wish they had these signs everywhere!

Hump Day Hottie - What a funny guy

Today's HDH is someone who is as funny as he is good looking.



I've been watching Paul Rudd since his role in '95 as Tommy Doyle in Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers (of course I'd have seen that!)... and his role as Mike (Phoebe's hubby) on Friends.
His big break was in Clueless (1995).



Frankly, I think you'd be hard pressed to find any funny guys as fine looking.
Generally, and I mean this in the nicest possible way, funny guys are dorky looking or outright unattractive. Maybe that's why they are so funny, I don't know.

If anyone can think of any more sexy funny guys, let me know - if I find them equally as fine, I'll post them in a future HDH.

But what we have here with Paul is brains, humor, and looks. Nice combo.
He's married though :(



He can act in dramas too, though - check out The Cider House Rules if you don't believe me.
He's also been lured to Broadway and done well there as well.



Recently he's been in a string of really funny films including The 40 Year Old Virgin - in which his karate kick at the end during the song Aquarius is one of my hubby's fave movie moments - Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Anchorman, Knocked Up, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story, Role Models, and the now playing I Love You, Man.




I read an interview somewhere in which he said he was a HUGE Pittsburgh Steelers fan, in particular the Steelers of the 1970's.
So if he's a Steelers fan, he's cool with me.



He is currently on the cover of Entertainment Weekly (limited due to the passing of Natasha Richardson... the news stand probably has her. I, as a subscriber, have Paul.)
The link to the article is here.

More on Paul: Wikipedia/Paul Rudd
Paul on the Steelers
The Many Faces of Paul Rudd

Hump Day Hotties - Twilight Edition

In honor of the release of the Twilight DVD this saturday, we're having an extended, all-twilight hump day.

I'd like to say I'm too old or too cool for Twilight-mania, but alas... I guess I am not.
So here goes:


Rathbone, Lautner
Gigandet, Pattinson, Lutz

(Too funny!)

I didn't quite catch on to how hot all these guys actually are till I put them all together.
Hmmm...

First up is Cam Gigandet (below), who played James - the bad vamp.
He really doesn't look anything like his character.




Then there's Kellan Lutz, who plays brotherly vamp Emmet Cullen.
He has naturally blonde (albeit dirty blonde) hair and had to dye his hair black for the movie.




Jackson Rathbone, on the other hand, had to dye his naturally dark hair blonde to play another brother vamp Jasper Hale.




Peter Facinelli plays father figure Dr. Carlisle Cullen - he also is a naturally dark haired guy, and once again, had to dye his hair blonde for Twilight.




Cutie Taylor Lautner just about lost his role as Jacob Black, resident werewolf, due to not being beefy enough. So I'm throwing out kudos to him for packing on 26 extra pounds since Twilight's filming finished - just so he could keep the role for New Moon (11/09)...



Lordy, look at those abs!





Bravo.


Lautner gets a few pics cause his role in New Moon will be expanded greatly...


And lastly, the dude my hubby thinks is downright unattractive.
Robert Pattinson, a.k.a. Edward Cullen....resident Twilight heartthrob/vampire.







The brooding vampire look is in.










Even when he cut his hair short the end of last year, he still looked pretty good.
Don't worry, I saw a recent pic of him in Vancouver where they are starting New Moon filming, and the hair is back.

He really does always has a half-creepy look about him though...
Guess it's perfect for playing Edward.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!

This pretty much says it all...

Big Derby Prep Weekend

This is a big weekend of horseracing for three year olds.

There are several major stakes races that are prep races for the Kentucky Derby (5/2/09)

I play several fantasy horseracing games and so many of 'my horses' are running today.

First up is a horse I haven't quite -as of yet- pegged him as "my derby horse", but I really don't know why because I like him ALOT.
Old Fashioned (below) is undefeated in four starts, which is always a good sign, right?

He's a beautiful grey, and is trained by Larry Jones, whom I have a great respect for.

Jones trained the ill-fated Eight Belles - the filly that came in second at the Derby last year but then collapsed right after the wire and had to be put down :(

So I'd love to see him win the Derby with this stunning horse.

photo by Coady Photography/Blood Horse

Old Fashioned runs in the Rebel Stakes today at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.
A brief reminder that it was the same exact route that Smarty Jones took just five years ago on his way to winning the roses (and then some...)

***

The Louisiana Derby (held at the Fair Grounds racetrack) has long been a pretty exciting Derby prep.
Two of my horses run there today:
Friesan Fire and Patena.

Friesan Fire (uncredited photo)

Patena (photo by Michael Burns)

Once again, Larry Jones is the trainer - of Friesan Fire.
Unfortunately, Richard Dutrow (not my fave trainer by any stretch of the matter) trains Patena, but I like the horse, dammit. If you'll recall, the annoying and obnoxious Dutrow trained the great Big Brown last year...
But it's not my horse's fault! Big Brown was in my stable last year and he did me well!

***

None of my horses are running in the Tampa Bay Derby, but I feel there are a few good picks there - some up-and-comers. Horses that I will no doubt be adding to my stable when we get to choose supplemental picks next month.
General Quarters and Hello Broadway.

GQ photo by Tom Cooley

Hello Broadway- photo courtesy Barclay Tagg Racing Stables

I don't know enough about these two to make any kind of educated guess. But they are two to watch.
GQ is by Sky Mesa - an impeccably bred horse, so I'll be watching this one closely.

Hello Broadway is trained by Barclay Tagg (of Funny Cide fame) and ridden by Edgar Prado (who needs no intro, but in case you live under a rock - he rode Barbaro)...
And you have to admit, from the pic above, Hello Broadway is one good looking horse!
Reminds me a bit of Curlin.

***

The horse with the strangest name in my stable, Pioneerof the Nile, is running at Santa Anita Racetrack today in the San Felipe stakes.

photo by Benoit/Blood Horse

It wouldn't be such a strange name if they didn't spell it that wacky way. Tacking the "of" onto the end of Pioneer and not letting it be its own word - what is up with that?

But one of my fave trainers for many many years, Bob Baffert, trains this beaut.
I would say this horse is currently the best from the West (coast).
That said, it does annoy me greatly that this horse's sire is Empire Maker - the horse that ruined Funny Cide's Triple Crown bid in 2003. Ugh. I always tend to get an attitude towards those horses (sorry.... I have no love for Victory Gallop or Birdstone either).
But in any event, I think Pioneerof the Nile (annoys me every time I write it) is a worthy Derby contender.

So there you have it...
Can't wait to see how all my picks do.

TBC.