BSR: Carolina Panthers Training Camp

Here is a clip of the Carolina Panthers on the first day of Training Camp (7-28-07) stretching out before their practice. Sorry Maake Kemoeatu for poking fun of your stretching ability in this clip. We all know you are quite limber for a 345 lb defensive tackle.

Panther Highlight Stat: Kemoeatu’s first (NFL) career-sack was against Peyton Manning at Indy on October 13, 2002 for a Colts loss of four yards.

Yo Broseph, It's Like July, You Can Lose the Toboggan!

This is a picture of "Blackie's Brother" working his magic at the Wild Wings. As much as we would have liked to play, "Your Team", there was just too much going on in the bar that night.

For the record, the air-conditioning wasn't "blasting" on Saturday night at Wild Wings and I am just not quite sure why this dude wore a toboggan. Perhaps, Christmas in July....

Say What You Will About Sparkle City

But any town with two Krispy-Kreme donut shops across the street from one another, can't be that bad of a place to live. Full disclosure: We did actually stop for the "Hot & Now" sign as it was conveniently located on Church Street between the local watering holes and our hotel.

(Photo credits: JET/Bushido Staff)

Wednesday's WTF? Lindsay Lohan is busted-again

WTF is Lindsay Lohan doing driving a car with a suspended license, whilst hopped up on alcohol-earning her second DUI in 60-days and with enough Cocaine to warrant a felony charge against her? (Read: Reloaded-just like Herbie the Love Bug) WTF do I even care? Wait, I do care because there are innocent people on the road that she could have hit and injured. So can we pass a law that if you are a wealthy celebrity with a suspended-license (not but 11-days out of re-hab) that you must have a driver transport you (especially on your vehicular chases of the mother of your assistant who just quit)?

I must admit, I was a bit "surprised" to see Lindsay Lohan as #1 on the Maxim's Hot 100 list, but as Lindsay gets just a bit more crazy, my attraction grows stronger and I am beginning to understand Maxim's line of thinking. You go girl!

(Photo credits: The SuperFicial.)

Happy Birthday to Barry Bonds!

Today is Barry Bonds' 43rd birthday. Trailing Hank Aaron's record of 755 by two-home-runs, Bonds and the Giants face the Atlanta Braves tonight. Will Bonds hit one out of the park or two to tie the record? Regardless, Bonds received an early present from Commissioner Bud Selig as Bud (taking the "high road") announced today he would follow Bonds (when possible) until he breaks the record. (Photo credit: Bloodsox)

Trivia: Who had the home-run record before Babe Ruth?
Answer: Roger Conner. Originally signed to the Troy Trojans in 1880 as a third-baseman, Conner was traded to the New York Gothams and became the first batter to hit an out of the park home-run at the (Gothams' home-stadium) Polo Grounds in New York. Conner's record was 138 home-runs until Ruth passed him, hitting almost five-times as many home-runs, holding the record until 1974. Conner would play for the Philadelphia Phillies in 1892 and was traded to the St. Louis Browns in 1894 where he finished his career. After baseball, Conner returned home to Waterbury, Conn. where he died in 1931. Roger Conner is ranked 450th on the career-home-run list.

Historical Note: The record of 122 home-runs was held by Harry (Duffield) Stover of the Worcester Ruby Legs until Conner passed him in 1895. Stover is currently ranked 529th on the career-all-time home-run list.

Stephanie Seymour turns 39!

Happy Birthday to Stephanie Seymour who turned 39 today. She captured our hearts posing for Sports Illustrated, Victoria Secrets and Playboy, then made us cry in November Rain. Ms. Seymour has modeled since the age of 16 and she is still going at it leading the Salvatore Ferragamo campaign. Happy Birthday Stephanie, you made puberty absolutely splendid! (Photo credits: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit)

Joe Simpson Father of the Year Award

If Hooters is delightfully tacky, then Joe Simpson's, Jessica Simpson's father, plans to open barbecue restaurants taking his daughter's most memorable movie role as its' name-sake (Daisy Dukes') will be anything but...how do I say it without seeming too negative towards the ex-minister? How about "delightfully disturbing how he can take advantage of his daughter". Simpson plans on opening the first restaurant in Vegas next year with waitresses wearing, (you guessed it) "Daisy Duke" cut-off jean shorts. Now for those of you who pooh-pooh'd the remarks made by Nick Lachey about his father-in-law being the major cause of the crumbling of his and Jessica's marriage, could we have a 2nd thought please? (Photo credits: Moviesonline.com/poster and webwombat.com/dance floor shot)
















In other news, Jessica Simpson revealed her new swimsuit line at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week: Miami Swim. (Photo credits: Dukes door shot: Hollywoodteenmovies.com Group swimsuit-Imnotobsessed.com)

Destination Wild Does Moab

For those of you missing out on one of the favorite shows of the Bushido's Dojo, Destination Wild with Courtney Hansen, here is a clip that I added "Lazy Eye" by the Silversun Pickups to. Oddly enough this show broad casted just as Mel and Walt made their trip to Moab for some hard-core mountain biking on the slick-rocks of Moab. More on this later.

Friday Funnies: Lilly vs. Louis C.K.'s Dumb Dog

I shot this last month when we we're building Izzy's playhouse and since I didn't have any music to it, I thought about not posting it. But one of the Bushido's favorite comedians (Louis C.K.) has his own dog drinking from the fountain, so I decided to add it. Lilly drinks it much better, so Louis C.K. can suck a bag of "dugans".

Louis C.K.'s dog

T.I. Featuring Wyclef, "You Know What It Is"

What can I say? The Bushido is a "real G, homie and you sweat me because apparently I am hot. If you want to know how much I am making just imagine a lot (thanks Goog-Ads and PPPs) and I am probably getting more than you imagine I got", but that's how I roll. And it appears so does T.I. Jimmy Kimmel had a slick joke about T.I. sitting next to T.O. at the Espy awards-"together they make the most unpopular Jackson." Add this to your iPod, great tune for when you are anchored in your boat or cruising around Charleston in your boat.

Ricky Bobby Wins An Espy Award

Here is the video of Ricky Bobby (aka Will Ferrell) accepting the Espy Award for best sports picture ever (that isn't Highlander).

(Video hosted by Trabert on You Tube)

Shef Goats Like Blackie

As Gary Sheffield continues to swing it like a samurai, the Bushido made the comment a few weeks back that perhaps he should grow out a "goatie" like Blackie. And he did. Your thoughts (as always) are welcome in the comments section. (Photo credits: Shef from Babeslovebaseball.com/ Blackie photo from SC DMV.gov)

Julio-Mojo Back For The Bravos

Have the Braves been slumping lately? Yes. Was Julio Franco cut by the Mets last week? Yes. How do we solve the problem? Bring "Rip Van-Franco" back to ATL and let the Tomahawk chop begin. With Julio in the line-up tonight, Andruw hit his 19th home-run and Julio made playing first base in the big leagues look (as Victoria Beckham would say) "Major" as the Braves beat the Cardinals 10-1. Remember earlier this week in the Team USA post when the Bushido gave you the "universal" (baseball/softball) stat that 73% of your runs are scored with 2-outs? Well, the Braves kept the stat alive by scoring 8-runs, with 2-outs tonight.
(Photo credits: Getty Images via UmpBump.com)

The Older the Berry
Some say the older the berry, the sweeter the juice. If that's the case, Franco (who turns 49 on August 23rd) is not only the oldest man in MLB history to hit a home-run, he is also a better ball player then I was at 23-which really isn't saying much. As a Braves fan, I hated it when the Bravos released Franco in 2005 because they didn't want to sign him to a two-year contract. But as the faites would have it, the Braves' front-office could mend the wounds and save a dime or two. Because not only did Julio return to ATL, the Bravos only have to pay him the pro-rated MLB minimum wage of $380,000. The Mets (ever so graciously) will pick-up the rest of Franco's tab ($1.15 million). So good news all around, unless your Scott "Mr. Slump" Thorman who is moving back to Richmond to play Triple-A ball. Welcome home Julio!

Braves Players Not Born Before Julio Franco's Major League Debut (April 23, 1982)

1. Jeff Francoeur
2. Brian McCann
3. Jarrod Saltalamacchia
4. Yunel Escobar
5. Jo-Jo Reyes
   

Bush says, "We're Making Progress"

This video is from the gang over at WeLAMTA, point being, keep your chin up America-“We’re making progress”.
Dubya’s Progress Video

Feed Your iPod: Rihanna's "Umbrella"

With four mega-hits including "S.O.S." and "Unfaithful", it is easy to see why Rihanna (link to her MySpace account) was chosen as Billboard's Female Entertainer of the Year (2006), here is her latest hit, "Umbrella" (pronounced "Omber-ella"-Editor's Note: Rihanna is from Barbados where they speak the "King's English") from her new album, Good Girls Gone Bad (In store now). Granted the Bushido Way is world-wide, but for those of you in the Holy City, this song is quite apropos for today's weather.

Anticipation of Precipitation
On a special point of interest, Rihanna ranked #8 on Maxim's Hot 100 list for this year. Considering all the smoking hot competition out there, the Bushido was glad to see her make it to the top 10, but Rihanna, you are top 5 in my book girl and "I'll always be your friend; I took an oath and will stick it out to the end." Full Disclosure: I love the naughty seductive looks Rihanna gives in this video and the Goldfinger paint job was very "Bondage". I dig the tune and if she was here today, I would have shared my "omber-ella" with her. (Photo credits: Rihanna's Myspace Account)

Rihanna's "Umbrella", featuring Jay-Z (Video hosted by JYFA)

LN Bushido Blogging: Iraq Report Card

If you find yourself discombobulated by all of the information and mis-information in the news regarding Iraq and Al-Qaeda, don't be alarmed-you are not alone, BushCo isn't on the same page, so why should you be? Btw, Tony Blow needs to go, he just might be taking the White House Press Secretary position to new lows. Dubya, come on buddy, you still have 18-months on the job, no sense slacking now.

Homeland Security is in the weeds with a gut feeling
Did anyone else think that Secretary Chertoff's comments to the board of the Chicago Tribune about Al-Qaeda sound like we're fighting weeds in the garden? "We've struck at them and degraded them, but they rebuild." The Secretary continued, "I believe we're entering a period this summer of increased risk. In last August, and in prior summers, we've had attacks against the West, which suggests that summer seems to be appealing to them. I think we do see increased activity in South Asia, so we do worry about whether they are rebuilding their capabilities." And finally, "All these things have given me kind of a gut feeling that we are in a period of increased vulnerability." (Read more at Chicago Tribune.com)

John McCain Hates Gay Sweaters

Presidential Candidate and Arizona Senator, John McCain reportedly doesn’t like his v-neck sweaters (thought to make him a more warm and inviting candidate), because they look “gay”. I got your back on this one Johnny Mac, face it folks, McCain is right, the sweaters don’t look "fabulously" warm and inviting on him, but who am I to judge? I can’t pull off the v-neck with the white t-shirt underneath either. If I may Senator, suggest wearing a button-up shirt (maybe something in a checkered pattern) underneath or perhaps, shelving your sweaters all together since it is actually summer.

If you want to destroy my sweater
Instead of the appearance of sweaters, McCain should be focusing on appearance of his campaign's strength including the inner workings of his campaign after losing his two main campaign advisers: Terry Nelson (McCain’s Campaign Manager) and John Weaver (McCain’s long-time friend and senior adviser) and having less than $2-million (read: less than Texas Congressman, Ron Paul has) in his campaign chest. For crying out loud, McCain hasn't even spent any money on television ads yet! Indeed, many people might find it odd that a senator who reams against spending by the government has blown through $22 of $24 million of the campaign money raised in the first half of the year. A majority of this spending was spent on travel, consultants (who told him to wear the sweaters), rent for McCain Campaign offices in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina and paid-staffers (full disclosure: McCain did "tighten the belt" laying-off 80 of 120 paid staffers)

Pull this thread as I walk away
What Senator McCain is missing is the "maverick" attitude he had in the free-wheeling, "straight-talk-express" days of the 2000 election. After McCain cozied up to the "religious-right" he alienated his base in exchange for a weak support from the Party's base. There are so many moderate-Republicans who "don't have enough church in their life" and they are looking for a straight talking candidate who isn't in bed with the (RIP) Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson wing of the party. And to make matters worse, McCain visited Iraq (wearing a bullet-proof vest and accompanied by body guards) and returned saying that he felt just as safe as when walking the streets of Tuscon. Now, I have never been to Tuscon (but the brochures look nice) and I am quite positive you don't need body armor and a security detail to get about town.

You can't write if you can't relate (Yes, I know I am mixing my Beck and Weezer metaphors)
If Johnny Mac wants to get the Republican nomination, he needs to get on the same side of his party with Immigration and the Iraq War. Only then can he slap his turkey-neck and hang it with a pigeon-wing (err, gay sweater) to win his party's nomination.

Fear and Loathing with Albert Gore III

For those of you who think that I don't point out the flaws of Liberals and am not balanced in my diatribes, here you go: Albert Gore III (24-year old son of Al Gore Jr.) was arrested on July 4th for suspicion of possession after driving his Toyota Prius at 100 mph on an Orange County Freeway. (Wait a minute: A Toyota Prius can go 100 mph? I need to get me one of those). I am not sure why they call this "suspicion of possession" since the reports catalog Gore's car with marijuana, Vicodin, Adderall, Valium and Xanax. I know it is not easy to be green and I am sure he had some bent-up issues with MTV hating on this his Momma for the Explicit Language labels on album covers back in the 90's, but...wait, why am I making excuses here? Pick from the list and I am sure you have at least one family member or close friend who is currently (or has in the past) taken one of the aforementioned "medications". Gore you would make the Good Doctor proud! You just showed those Bush Twins they don't know the first thing about partying!

The Gore's have a lot on their plate the next couple of weeks. Al Gore Jr has the multi-national concert this weekend and his daughter, Sara, is getting married in Beverly Hills the following Saturday. That is after they spring for "Trip's" $20,000 bail. I have a C-Note for anyone who shows up the wedding in a big "red-shark", shorts, fisherman's hat with a spilled liter of ether in the front floorboards. (see: HST's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas)

To our boy Al Gore III, I know this is the 2nd time you've been pinched but don't let the man keep you down. Here is a pick-me up for you: Weezer's "We Are All On Drugs".

Happy Birthday America!

Photo courtesy of the New England Patriots

President Bush Grants Clemency to Scooter Libby

Funny thing, tonight after work I was going through some articles that I was using for research for Bushido topics and I found numerous articles concerning the "Valerie P.-Wilson Incident". I am sure you remember the case: Valerie is a CIA agent, her husband Joe Wilson speaks out against the Iraq War and the Bush Administration, RoveCo gets livid; seeks political revenge and "Dead-Eye" Dick's right-hand man, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby leaks to Robert Novak and the "Press" that Wilson's wife is a CIA Agent. Libby "scoots" around (read: lies about) the issue in front of the Grand Jury, escapes Treason (punishable by death) but gets hit with a 30-month sentence for 4-felony counts of perjury and obstructing justice. Bad guys caught, Libby will get his, put articles in the shred box.

But as we all know who live in the Lowcountry, life changes just as quickly as the tides
On the way home, I get my favorite "WTF?-You got to be kidding me" moment of the day when I hear, "President Bush has used his power of clemency to commute the 30-month sentence of I. Lewis Libby because the sentence was too harsh!" And he over-ruled the jury's decision, Judge Reggie P. Walton and the Federal Court of Appeals who denied (late Monday afternoon) Libby's request to remain free while he was appealing his case.

Ebony and Irony
Did the President lose trust in Judge Reggie and the 12-peers on the jury? Perhaps, but you must admit, Bush's over-ruling is a most ironic action, considering this decision came from the former Governor of Texas who (as Governor) refused to grant clemency and review the decisions of death-penalty cases because he had full belief in the system and the decision by the juries in those cases. Think about that line of thinking for a moment: death penalty=trust the juries, 30-months sentence for a millionaire friend=don't trust the jury. If Justice is blind, she must still like to hear the cling of gold in those scales she's holding.

Scooter's Punishment
Despite being a grown man (who is not a surfer or cousin to the local mechanic on the Dukes of Hazzard) and living with the name "Scooter", Libby will have to serve 2-years probation and pay a fine of $250,000. Which I am sure with the millions in the Scooter Defense Trust, he won't have trouble doing. (Editor's Note: Wouldn't it be poetic if the Feds worked like the Charleston City Police when it came to fines and bail-cash only, with an odd figure, i.e. $253,137. Yeah Libby just go to the ATM in the lobby. Sorry, we don't make change, we have to put you back in the cell until you have the right amount.)
(Photo credits from Kevin)