Welcome to Spam-a-lot!

This one is a twist on the Nigerian Treasury/Oil Reserve Spam/Phish designed to get hold of your bank account routing numbers.

Welcome to World Cup Scam...you'll probably see it a couple of times a month for the next couple of years if you are an active emailer.

Example follows:

FROM: MR. WILLIAM MUYEKE
DESK OF CHAIRMAN
Sub-Committee on Finance
South African World Cup bid 2010
24 Steven Bikko Blvrd Pretoria,
Republic Of South Africa.
Tel: 0027-78-393-0704
Email: w_muyeke37@hotmail.co.uk

Attn: Sir,

Greetings you must be aware now that my country The
Republic of South Africa
won the bid to host the world cup by 2010,prior to
this bid my committee was
mandated to lobby the members of board of Federation
International Football
Association (FIFA) on selection of the
country to host the world, the bidding was intensive
but at the end we got
the hosting right. Mycommittee was given the sum of
$29 million dollars to
lobby the members of the FIFA ruling body to make sure
that we win the
hosting right considering the gain that comes with the
hosting right like
South Africa?s economy will receive a massive direct
boost from hosting the
2010 World Cup,

financial impact report for South Africa's World Cup
bid committee shows
that the 2010 World Cup will pump R21.3-billion into
South Africa's economy,
and creating an estimated 159 000 new jobs.With the
help the living legend
of our time 85-year-old Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr.
Nelson Mandela who
made an emotive case for The Republic of South
Africa, we got the bid
without spending all the money, I and my committee
members saw this as a God
sent opportunity to secure our future and that of our
family therefore was
mandated by other committee members to look for a way
to move the remaining
money to a safe place with the help of a foreigner
who we can trust and is
ready to assist us to move the funds considering the
fact that we are
still members of the bid committee and in the eyes of
the public. we have in
our possession the sum $21millon since we spent just
$8million for lobbying.
We are ready to give you 20% for all your assistance
then me and my
colleagues will keep 80% lf you are willing kindly
reply to my letter for
further directive. we will want to invest our share
into Real-estate and
air taxi business in your country with your
assistance,bearing in mind that
confidentiality is of great essences so is time in
this project I will
await your response.

Best Regards,

Mr.Williams Muyeke.

All responses should be sent to:
w_muyeke23@hotmail.co.uk

Best Monty Python voice:

SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM!

SPAM! SPAM! SPAM! SPAM!

I DON'T LIKE SPAM!

Those of You With Children Will Appreciate This...

I glommed onto this via Peter David's blog.

Smoke Ring Reviews: Green Lantern #16

Publisher: DC Comics

Wanted: Hal Jordan

by Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Albert, Baumann, Leigh, Van Sciver, Gehrlein, and Tomasi



This was great.

It's got that "everything and the kitchen sink" feel.

I mean...Faceless Hunters from Saturn, the armored Russian Rocket Reds, the JLA, Dominators, Hunger Dog...who I wanna know more about, and Alan Scott, the original Green Lantern.

Wonder Woman's quip was priceless.

Amon Sur is a bad...shut your mouth, but I'm talkin' about Amon. The bastard walks into the comic book equivalent of Area 51 and starts blasting away.

Hope that Cowgirl isn't dead. She's a great character and we're getting to the point where there has been enough death and destruction in comics...for an issue or three anyway.

The whole "Hal Jordan buried his predecessor in the GL Corps in an unmarked grave in the Mojave and forgot about him" doesn't ring true for the character of Hal Jordan. It's a sour note, but it's also central to next issue's premise.

...and did I mention that Amon is a bad...

I give it Eight and a Half Smoke Rings out of a possible Ten.

Oh geez, Tom...

Scientology leaders have labelled Tom Cruise as their "Christ-like figure."

Show of hands...did it just get harder to take Cruise seriously on film.

I liked Top Gun...I liked the first two Mission Impossible movies...now it sort of creeps me out...

Ick!

Meth Coffee...

...not a joke...

It's a brand name.

Tijuana Police Force Armed with Slingshots...

...not a joke.



Wow!

So...the Mexican Army took the guns away from the Tijuana PD...and they gave them...

slingshots...

slingshots...



Viva la Mexico!

My New Favorite Song...1/24/2007

Came across this while perusing the Mashuptown website.

This song is one part The Trucks song "T&tt&es" and one part "I Was Made For Loving You" by Kiss.

Check out "I Was Made For Loving Your T&tt&es" mashed by Simon Idoll.

Greatness. It starts out slow...but stick around for the chorus.

Needless to say this is decidedly Not Safe for the Workplace...I recommend earphones if you have small children in the house...if you have teenage boys, however, this will be their new favorite song.

Great Car Commercial...

This could have been a Super Bowl commercial.

Tennis in Dubai...

Andre Agassi-Dubai - video powered by Metacafe

Wow...that's a long way down...I doubt I could relax enough to put my best game out on that court.

Smoke Ring Reviews: JLA: Classified #32

Publisher: DC Comics

The 4th Parallel:
Point of Origin

part 1 of 5

by Dan Slott, Dan Jurgens, and Trevor Scott



A good old comic book romp through multiple worlds, the dream dimensions, and the darker parts of the human psyche...featuring one of my favorite villains and a new one, who could become a favorite.

Dr. Destiny, he's the bony guy laying the wood to the Justice League in the pic above, plus the collective dream energy of six billion people equals big trouble.

There was another character a couple years ago, called the Gray Man, who collected the dream essences of the world's sleeping population for the Lords of Order and Chaos. Seems like Dr. D should have ran afoul of that dude at some point...may be a future story there.

This story is sort of one part The Cell, one part Nightmare on Elm Street, and one part Groundhog's Day. Makes for an interesting mix.

I hadn't realized previously that Dr. Destiny was an Arkham resident...makes sense. He is nuts after all...and has always been presented as such.

Six billion people, six billion possible worlds...the concept plays well against the upcoming reintroduction of DC's multiple earths/multiverse.

Darrin Proffit is a well thought out, well developed character.

A throw away mention of a thousand parallel worlds...this, also, supports the earlier speculation about the multiverse.

And the real big bad of this story is revealed...the Red King. This guy has been teased for a long time. He appeared in a profile page in JLA: Secret Files 2004. And his first story appearance is JLA: Classified #32, which just hit the stands this week.

And now the JLA faces the new realities of the Red King in the next issues of JLA: Classified.

Coolness.

I give it Nine Smoke Rings out of a possible Ten.

Comic Book Deviants...a Reason...#16

Hmmm...is that tentacle rape?

Not tentacles though...

Vine rape...?

An odd scene to be sure. And I believe this was from Detective Comics...so its not like it is a fringe, manga, weirdo comic or something. If I'm wrong, I'm sure someone will point out the correct attribution of the image.

I believe that is supposed to be Poison Ivy, long-time Batman foe.


Disturbing...

Check out all the CBD entries by clicking here.

Wow! Remind Me Not to Swim in the Deep End Anymore...

Swallowed face first by a 10 foot shark....and he survived...

Wow!

That is bad assed.

Is Your Computer Ready for Vista?

Click here to find out.

The Master of Smoke feels that the best, most considered thing to do vis-a-vis upgrading Windows is to wait 6 months so that the new release bugs have a chance to get worked out.

Additionally, we would recommend not going to Vista until you go to a brand new desktop/workstation...less likely to run into compatibility issues and such in that way.

...course, I just have a DeVry education...what the hell do I know.

If Someone Really Annoys You Today...

...click here and sing along with Ray.

Greatness.

JUC: Apparently...

The Evil Stepmother wants Cinderfella to remain with DEI after all.

JUC: Petty to TNT

Rumor has it that Kyle Petty is going to begin stepping away from the race car with another driver getting seat time in his Petty Enterprises machine.

Petty will be joining the TNT broadcast team when they do their summer run of races.

I hope this doesn't adversely impact the competitive growth the Petty Enterprises has shown over the last year.

JUC: The Apples Aren't Falling Far From the Tree

DEI, Dale Earnhardt, Incorporated, has signed a new driver to their developmental program...Jeff Earnhardt, that would be Kerry's son...Dale Jr's nephew...Dale's grandson.

My Favorite T-Shirt...01/18/2007

Order it here.

I knew there were Klingons in the White House...

...I just didn't know there were Star Trek geeks in Congress...

Click here and, then, activate the You Tube from the Daily Show featuring George Takei and Leonard Nimoy...or two great imitators.

From the Front Page of Today's Wisconsin State Journal...

The Favre watch continues...

Three Packers Make NFL All Rookie Team

A. J. Hawk at linebacker, Greg Jennings at wide receiver, and Daryn Colledge at guard made an impact in their first season. All three started all 16 games and were voted by the Pro Football Writers of America to the NFL All Rookie Team.

I was surprised by the combined total of games started by Packer draft choices in the '06 season...66, with the offensive line featuring the majority of them. In addition to Colledge's play at guard, the offensive line, also, featured rookies Jason Spitz at guard for 13 games and Tony Moll at tackle for 10 games.

I think this bodes well for the Pack in seasons to come.

Love Cursor Mania!

Comic Book Deviants...a Reason...#15

Hey, Mark...you wanna help me bring in the wood?

Yeah, I know...I've commented on this before...but it's a classic and it belongs on the CBD list.

Check out all the CBD entries by clicking here.

Why Dogs Don’t Live As Long As People

Being a veterinarian, I had been called to examine a ten-year-
old Irish Wolfhound named Belker. The dog's owners, Ron, his
wife Lisa, and their little boy, Shane, were all very much
attached to Belker and they were hoping for a miracle.

I examined Belker and found he was dying of cancer. I told the
family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to
perform the euthanasia procedure for the old dog in their home.
As we made arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it
would be good the four-year-old Shane to observe the procedure.
They felt as though Shane might learn something from the
experience.

The next day, I felt the familiar catch in my throat as Belker's
family surrounded him. Shane seemed so calm, petting the old
dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was
going on.

Within a few minutes, Belker slipped peacefully away. The
little boy seemed to accept Belker's transition without any
difficulty or confusion.

We sat together for a while after Belker's death, wondering
aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than
human lives.

Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up, "I know why."

Startled, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next
stunned me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation.

He said,

"People are born so that they can learn how to live a good life
like loving everybody all the time and being nice, right?"

The four-year-old continued, "Well, dogs already know how to do
that, so they don't have to stay as long."

Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.


~Author Unknown~

JUC: Benny Parsons

Benny Parsons passed away Tuesday.

Benny was a great driver and a great racing color commentator.

JUC: 72...That's Not His Car #...It's His Age.

72-year old driver James Hylton will attempt the Daytona 500 this year.

He was Rookie of the Year in 1966. Over his career he won 2 races.

He figures his best season he won $150,000...43rd place at Daytona last year paid more than that.

More power to him.

My Favorite T-Shirt...01/09/2007

I thought this was visually very neat...

Order it here.

JUC: Update

Mark Martin's(#01-Army) '07 schedule through June 17th is up over at Jayski. He is only scheduled to miss 3 races through 6/17. The second half of the season hasn't been released yet. Doesn't look like much of a retirement year.

***

Ward Burton(#4-State Water Heaters) named to drive the #4 for Morgan McClure.

***

DEI's Director of Motorsports Richie Gilmore says that Jr's contract will be done by May, despite the tension between Dale Jr and his stepmother and DEI owner, Teresa Earnhardt.

***

Kasey Kahne(#9-Dodge) has been racing Sprint cars in Australia and, apparently, doing very well at it.

***

Ameriquest looks to be Biffle's primary sponsor on his #16 this season.

***

Schrader(#21-Little Debbie/Air Force) to run 27 races in the upcoming season.

***

Jeff Gordon and wife are expecting.

***

Larry Carter will be Jamie McMurray's(#26-Crown Royal) 4th crew chief since he took over the car...that's 4 crew chiefs in one year.

***

Kevin Harvick(#29-Shell/Pennzoil) has a new sponsor onboard as the Goodwrench logo slips out of the driver seat.

***

Matt Borland, the former crew chief who helped guide the early career of Ryan Newman, is the crew chief for Dale Jarrett's(#44-UPS) Michael Waltrip Racing entry into this season. Borland has been blamed for the failures of last season on the #12, so he has a lot to prove this season.

***

Jimmie Johnson's(#48-Lowes) wrist is ready to go for Daytona.

***

An 11 episode ESPN2 series called Michael Waltrip Racing: A New Era is now showing on ESPN2 Garage. The series follows the formation and development of MWR.

Congrats...

...to the Florida Gators.



And...for Randy who commented that this guy looked like Moe Doodle's Dad...or something...

JUC: Little E and the Evil Stepmother...

I can already see how this free agency year is going to look. The media is going to kiss the crown prince's butt again, like always. It'd be nice if he...I don't know, won a championship before we start treating him like he was the best driver in Cup.

Click here for the Yahoo story about Earnhardt Jr., DEI, and Teresa Earnhardt.

Dale Jr.'s contract is up at the end of the season...so is the Budweiser sponsorship deal.

JUC: Bobby Hamilton...

...lost his battle with cancer.



Bobby was the 2004 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Champion for his own team.

His son, Bobby Hamilton Jr. has raced in Trucks and Cup.

NASCAR remembers Bobby Hamilton, click here.

Scooby Dooby Doo, Where Are You!

The man who created Scooby Doo has passed away.

I loved Scooby Doo.

Thank you, sir, for all the joy that your creation gave me.

Rest in peace!

NCAA College Football Playoffs

A great article on the whys, the why nots, and the who is responsibles for there not being a playoff for the college football championship in NCAA Division 1.

The Just Us Cup 2007

The Just Us Cup Fantasy NASCAR Racing is coming.

If you want in you need to email me with your driver pick, name, and return email.

Claimed drivers:

Matt Kenseth (17) - Guy Staats
Greg Biffle (16) - Jerry
Kasey Kahne (9) - Cadi
Kevin Harvick (29) - John
Carl Edwards (99) - Mark
Jimmie Johnson (48) - "Captain America" Jason Tucker
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (8) - Stephanie
Jeff Gordon (24) - Craig
Dale Jarrett (88) - Darla
Jamie McMurray (26) - Cadi
Elliott Sadler (19) - Chris Dinges
Kurt Busch (2) - Nancy
Michael Waltrip (55) - Cadi

Mark Martin and Ken Schrader are supposed to be moving to a limited schedule next season.


The 43 Days of Daytona Season Preview should be beginning end of next week.

Why the World's Average IQ is in Decline...

Evidence...

...has surfaced that Iran is indeed supporting the troublemakers in Iraq on both sides.

There is precedent with their support of both Shiite Hezbollah and Sunni Hamas.

Apparently, documents have been captured which show planning and logistics are being handled for some of the insurgents and jihadis in Iran and funnelled into Iraq.

The Dark Tower by Stephen King

I finished it last night.

The last book made me mad...and happy...and satisfied. As I started reading the last book, I had that "don't want it to end" feeling.

7 books.

Publication stretching from 1982, though King had started writing it much earlier than that, through 2004.

The Tower Megology wove its threads through many of King's other works. Characters crossed over, lived, died, or went back home to their fates in their own books.

This was one of the best examples of BIG story writing that I've seen. This stands alongside other Megology stories. The closest analog, in size anyway, is the John Carter: Warlord of Mars series, though I'm sure there are other examples.

Roland should have been Clint Eastwood, but I think Clint is too old to be Roland now. His look could have been pulled off by Lance Hendrickson. But lately I've been thinking that Keifer Sutherland could play Roland in a movie.

I'm less than pleased that Marvel Comics is going to present the Dark Tower story as a comic book. I'm of the opinion that it won't translate to serialized fiction. It needs to be in the long form. breaking it into monthly installments will probably rob it of some of its fire...for me anyway.

This was great writing. This was great storytelling. This was a man following his ka, his soul, his destiny, and printing it out for others to read. You could almost feel King bleed on the page. And when something happened you didn't like, you hated him. And when something else happened that put it all in context, you loved him...like I said...great storytelling.

I may write more about this. I've been going book to book and not reading the series back to back to back. I would read an installment and, then, pause for awhile as I digested it, during the interim reading other books in the meantime. The scope and size of this story requires those of us who were into it to sit and think for a bit when it is complete.

I expected to be sad when it was complete, sort of the losing an old friend, considering the thousands of pages that made up the Dark Tower story, it is an old friend. But I'm not sad. I feel...well...the story was satisfying, not an easy thing to accomplish when you are speaking of thousands of pages over 7 books and 20 years.

Thank you, Mr. King.

I say thank ya'.

You too...

...could smell like Play-Doh.



Considering that kids don't wear cologne...who would buy this?

A beautiful woman stops you and smiling at you asks, "What is that wonderful cologne you're wearing?"

Uh huh...go ahead, studman...tell her that you are wearing Play-Doh's 50th Anniversary scent...who knows...maybe the scent of Play-Doh makes her hot.

Ah what the hell, purchase it here.

Bounce Houses for Adults...

Virtual Sky Diving

This looks like a blast.

Packers to Brett Favre...

We want you back for at least one more season.

If they do this, Aaron Rogers needs to get a load of playing time in the preseason next year. We need to know if the kid has anything or if he's just got a big bag of nothing.

I would love for Favre to play one more year behind that soldifying offensive line. Get another year's experience on Greg Jennings and see where it all leads.

We only missed the playoffs by a game.

NFL Report Cards from Yahoo Sports

Click here for the article.

The Packers got a B-. Not too shabby.

I think that the Saints should have been a letter grade above the Colts based on the last month of play.

And the Giants got a C+, despite making the playoffs. A couple of non-playoff teams got better grades than they did.

And the Chargers and Ravens got the only solid A's. I can agree with this. They were head and shoulders above the rest of the Herd this year. If the Bears would have had a solid offense this year, they would be in this category instead of finishing a tick behind at A-, alongside the New England Patriots.

And now for the "Kiss of Death"...My pick for the Super Bowl...New England vs. New Orleans with New England winning it all.

Good luck to both of these teams on overcoming the bad mojo that my picking a team seems to bring upon them.

Death by...

This is an interesting series of art photos.

My favorite is Death by Oreos.

Although the kitty cat sitting there looking up at the woman in the Death by Tupperware one is hilarious. Sort of like "what the hell do you think you're doing, Mommy?"

Just Us Cupdate-Offseason

Ricky Rudd is back with Robert Yates Racing.

Number to be determined...could be the 28 that he campaigned for Yates a few years ago.

Sponsor is Masterfoods USA, probably with the Snickers brand on the car.