Friday Funnies: The 24th Annual Flora-Bama Interstate Mullet Toss is this weekend!

All right, so this might not be that funny, but it does sound fun!

In the world of Kentucky Waterfalls and bad hair do’s (or don’t s) it seems that sometimes we forget that the word “mullet” is actually the name of a fish and not just any old fish, but the only fish with a gizzard. And I have never been one to mess with tradition or festivals, so I won’t even explore the idea of how someone decided 24 years ago that you could stand in a 10 foot circle on the beach in Alabama; throw a one-pound fish across the state-line into Florida and have this be a contest to raise money for local charities. Its 15 bucks to enter the Mullet Toss and you do get an official t-shirt for your participation and perhaps even a mullet plaque if you win. Each throw is measured by professional judges: click here for the photo (careful when clicking @ work or in front of young kids because these judges don’t have a dress code).

All right when two of our favorite FOBs from Georgia first mentioned they were going to this event, I thought they were joshing me. Then again, I guess I wasn’t thinking straight, because if your formula has bikinis, booze and a beach-all under the charity blanket-your event will be a success. After exhaustive research, (read: watching drunk people booze it up on the Florida-Alabama state line) I think that I have found the one video that seems to capture the zeitgeist of the Flora-Bama experience (see above) video posted by Zazoocat on You-Tube.




For more information on the Flora-Bama Interstate Mullet Toss click here for the official web-site. Or you can refer to this article from the Pensacola News Journal for a complete schedule of the events (i.e. bikini contest, beach volleyball, etc). For all of the friends of the Bushido headed to this shin-dig, y’all be careful and send me some pics! Cheers!

(Pictures courtesy of the Flora-Bama, for more pictures from last year’s toss click here)

The Irony: A Man Wearing a Mullet @ the Flora-Bama Mullet Toss!

Happy Birthday Ale!

The Bushido would like to wish one of recent additions to the Bushido Favorites list Alessandra Ambrosio a very happy 27th birthday! (Photo from the 2007 Victoria Secrets Christmas Special courtesy of AskMen.com)
Posted by The Bushido

Friday Funnies: Fed-Ex "Sick-Boss and Golf" Commercial

Charlie Bravo sent this to me the other day and I thought with the Masters right around the corner it would be apropos to share. I am sure we've all had that same feeling when your "Mr Delaney" called and sick and the weather was great for golf. Enjoy!
Posted by The Bushido

Scorsese and the Stones unite in "Shine a Light"

One of my favorite movies (and soundtracks) is "The Last Waltz" one of the first movies to fill the genre of "rockumentary". Marty Scorsese put together a brilliant piece of The Bands last performance or "last waltz" if you will. Now he has turned that same genius to capture the Stones (another Bushido favorite) over a two-day period at the Beacon Theater in New York City in fall 2006. Here is the clip of the Stones performing, "Jumping Jack Flash".

I remember when the magazine Rolling Stone reported that Marty was filming the Stones at a concert during Bill Clinton's birthday, and I am glad to finally see the flick heading to theaters. Look for special guests: Jack White, Buddy Guy and Christina Aguilera to drop in for special appearances as Dr. Jon and Neil Young (amongst others) did for The Band. Also, I am sure there will be some great clips of the guys back-stage. If you don't have the bucks to drop to see the Stones live this will probably be your next best thing.
Posted by The Bushido

Friday Funnies: Owen Wilson is Drill Bit Taylor

Finally, it looks as though Owen Wilson is off the pity-party and back to doing what he does best-Comedy. From the guys (Seth Rogen and Kristofor Brown) who made "Superbad" and "Knocked Up" comes the story of three "nerds" who hire a homeless "vet" named Drill Bit Taylor to be their personal body guard in the movie Drill Bit Taylor (link to official site).

With witty dialog such as Drillbit: "What do you teach?" Teacher: "English" Drillbit: "My native tongue" and Drillbit's dialog to the skills of martial arts "Now in addition to the Chinese Kung Fu we've got a little Mexican Judo, as in 'Judon't know who you messin' with, homz" hopefully we will be back to the laugh a minute comedy that we all know Wilson to play so well. The movie came out last week. Give me a shout in the comments section if you have seen it.

Link to IMDB site

Celebrating Charleston Fashion Week with George Michael's "Freedom '90"

Indeed, we will get into the spirit of Charleston's Fashion Week with a little music and a handful of the world's hottest models courtesy of our old friend George Michael and his "Freedom '90" video. By old friend George Michael, let's just say we don't go to the bathroom together like a bunch of chicks, but still the old wanker knew how to stock a video full of form and pulchritude with the likes of Naomi Campbell in the body suit at the end of the video and dancing in cowboy boots and lingerie in the beginning of the video, Linda Evangelista as the short-haired blond hottie singing under the sweater, Christy Turlington is the floor crawling brunette with the big brown eyes, Tatjana Patitz is the blond (German) model smoking and Cindy Crawford steaming things up in a bathtub and straddling the chair with her long legs spread harking back to a flash-dance for those who remember. For the ladies, that's Scott Benoit and Todo Segalla as the male models in the video. Enjoy this six minutes and thirty seconds of art and pleasure.

Don't remember the freedom back in the '90's
For you young kids out there that's a dual-cassette-tape deck below the "new" CD player that que's the music and the big music player is a juke-box that explodes at the end of the video, which symbolizes George Michael's new start at music leaving his pop-roots with Whaam! in the past. Naomi Campbell's dancing in the beginning of the video in lingerie and cowboy boots should still be en vogue, if not, we've gone severely off track as a society at large. If you notice, Naomi is dancing with a thick cord attached to her headphones, way before the thin-ear-buds' wires, headphones used to have thick cords and a copper plug to attach to your sound system.

The flying piece of paper flying into the room was something we did as kids called, "making paper airplanes" (unlike regular crashing airplanes, a paper airplane does not make juke-boxes or guitars explode during impact). The metal thing glowing in the corner of the room was a space-heater used to heat rooms. Also, the metal thing whistling at the end of the video was a tea-kettle (used to heat water) on a radiator (a metal device that released heat before central-heating and air). Finally, the dude doing crunches by hanging upside down was the cool thing to do back in the 90's-that is if you had a threshold, a metal bar and ankle straps to clip in with to your metal/chin-up bar. (See Michael Keaton in the Batman movie).
Posted by The Bushido

The Mast General Store in Valle Crucis, N.C.

The Mast General Store: Quality Merchandise, Fair Prices and Friendly Service
Long before the advent of malls, Super-Wal-Marts and other box stores, folks went to a general store for nothing specific. The Mast General Store is a step back in time complete with the old P.O. Boxes and calendars from the 1950's decorating the walls or perhaps just a reminder of the necessities of a simpler life, because they only sell stuff you would "need" if you lived or were vacationing in the mountains! Or as they say at the store, "If you can't buy it here, you don't need it." As you walk around the original store the creaking floor boards remind you of just how enjoyable a shopping experience can be without the loud-speaker announcements or other various comments beginning with "attention shoppers" blasting into your ears. (Photo of the Mast General Store's Pot-bellied stove courtesy of JET)

Take a short trip down the road to the Mast General Store annex and you go to Mel's Mecca-complete with numerous candy barrels chocked full of a vast assortment of the catalyst for tooth-decay. Honestly, as soon as I walked in I realized this Mel would be like a kid in a candy-wait, scratch that its time to breath new life into that old adage, Mel would be like a Mel in a candy store!

Posted by The Bushido

Charleston Fashion Week Kicks off on Tuesday!

This week the 2nd annual Charleston Fashion Week kicks off featuring 30 local boutiques and designers. Go to the official site by clicking here for more information. (I received this photo from an anonymous source on my birthday as a well wish, but thought to add it here)

Happy Birthday Reese!

Indeed, you all know we here at the Bushido (JET primarily) has a mad crush on his fellow bi-centennial baby, Laura Jeanne Reese Witherspoon born 32 years ago in New Orleans. How many times has Charlie Bravo lamented as I sat watching some (chick) flick starring Reese? Too many to count. And the mad crush continues.




That being said, she is currently dating Jake G (aka: the catcher-cowboy from "Broke Back Mountain"). My only concern of course is her ability to watch her kids when playing in the ocean-sure, she looks great here in the bikini photo, but that still didn't distract me from looking at what her kids head is doing. (Photos courtesy of People.com)













Posted by The Bushido

Wednesday's WTF? WTF is President Bush's Pardoy Funny?

President Bush entertaining at his final Gridiron Dinner (consisting of cabinet members and members of the press) with a parody of Johnny Cash's "Green, Green, Grass of Home". Instead of "down the lane I walked with my sweet Mary, pair of golden lips like cherries" you get "Down the lane I look and here comes Scooter (Libby) finally free of the prosecutor." WTF is this even funny?

Here is the same video with commentary from Keith Olbermann as well as subtitles for those who missed Bush's words.

Posted by The Bushido

Who's the Big Winner at Buffalo Wildwings?

That's right me! Oh crap, Charlie's angry girlfriend is flashing across the tv screens, time to get scarce. It was my first time at the Buffalo Wildwings in North Chuck by the outlet mall, but I had a good time. Heads up though folks, North Chuck hasn't implemented the smoking ban, so expect that old familiar smoky smell in your clothes when you inspect the pile by your (or someone else's) bed the next day.

Should New York Spitzer or Swallow?

I received numerous e-mails and messages regarding a possible post on New York’s Governor Eliot Spitzer yesterday and I have to admit, I was a bit shocked to see my man Spitzer was caught with his pants down. Seriously, the guy is a white knight, a choir boy, someone who looked out for the little guy and did a lot to clean up the mess on Wall Street (i.e. former NYSE director Dick Grasso’s compensation, the inflation of stock prices by investment banks, investors being taken advantage of with late trading policies and mutual funds, etc).

Full disclosure: the Bushido donated money to Spitzer’s 2006 campaign for Governor and is still on his mailing list. Personally, I could care less about the Governor’s “private matters” as long as he is doing well by the people of New York. I have always been one to except a person’s flaws in their private life as long as they are apt and capable in their duties to the office they hold. Go down the list: JFK, FDR and Bill Clinton were arguably all excellent presidents and they all had flawed personal lives. People of New York, it is time to stand by your man (a record 70% of you voted for him in his gubernatorial election), swallow your pride and quit pushing for Spitzer to step down, just stay tuned for when the “juice” gets added to the story and realize that there’s just some things most men don’t want to do to the woman who kisses their children at night. And quite frankly, from a professional stand-point, one would have expected a little more discretion from a prostitute who charges $1,000 an hour.

Client # 9
The Old Gray Lady reported that Spitzer was caught on a federal wire tap six times setting up a meeting with his $1,000 an hour madam named “Kristen”, a petite brunette (5 feet 5 inches, and 105 pounds), on February 12th and 13that the Mayflower Hotel (Room 871) in DC (photo credits: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) In addition, The NY Times reported that Spitzer paid $4,300 for services rendered and an advance for their next encounter to Kristen and the recently brought down multi-million dollar, prosecution ring named the “Emperor’s Club”. To read the full complaint in PDF, click here

When your own words come back to haunt you
Sadly, it seems that we here at the Bushido have to remind the public of the same advice Governor Spitzer (then attorney general) had for criminals in an ABC News interview, "Never talk when you can nod, and never nod when you can wink, and never write an e-mail because it's death. You're giving prosecutors all the evidence we need."

Now I know that they will go nuts on Spitzer in the NY Times, Wa-Po (link to Dana Milbank’s article, “Client 9's Sinking Ship”) and the WSJ (link to CNBC article giving a round up of the latest smack downs in the Editorials) but let’s be serious and look at the facts: 1) the hooker is still alive and 2) there’s no young boy involved, hence there’s no violation of the Cardinal Rule of Politics. Basically, it’s just like our friend John Glenn (the astronaut) used to say, “If you set a trap with ‘Tang, you’ll catch me every time”.

Getting Cash Ready For The Weekend!

As a single-dad, I know that when my boy, Cash, needs to go on a trip he needs all of the comforts of home, what I like to call a doggie-diaper bag. Inside this milk-crate I packed a check-cord, leash, dog food in zip-lock baggies, treats, 2-training dummies, Hedgie, Lobster, pig-ears, and some shampoo (just in case). I think we are ready for our weekend in the mountains!

Posted by The Bushido

Friday Funnies: Jimmy Kimmel's Response to Matt Damon and Sarah Silverman's "I'm f'in Matt Damon"

As you all know, we finally bought a site. It wasn’t that I was being lax, it was just the first attempt at buying a site for the Bushido was such a hassle (read: I didn’t know anything about writing code, computer jargon, etc.) But since Google and Blogger have made it a very easy transition from blogger (a blogspot address) to my own address and we can keep the same format, I figured it was time to make the move. So if you have the Bushido saved in your web-browser with the blogspot address, go ahead and change it to the new address: http://www.thebushidoway.net

I was telling Jay-Bird the other day that I needed to spice up the Friday Funnies on the Bushido (you know-new site and all) and he sent me this video from the Jimmy Kimmel Show the very next morning. They show the clip of Sarah Silverman’s song, “I’m f@h-king Matt Damon” in the beginning of this clip and then of course, quite possibly one of the funniest videos I have ever seen, Jimmy’s response, “I’m f@h-king Ben Affleck”.

For those of you too young to remember, “We Are the World” you just might be overwhelmed by the magnitude of star power in this video as Brad Pitt drops by as the Fed-Ex delivery guy and then a laundry list of celebs (i.e. Perry Ferrell, Meatloaf, Harrison Ford, Don Cheadle, Cameron Diaz, Huey Lewis, “McLovin”, Macy Gray, Pat Benetar, and the biggest surprise was Josh Groban on the keys) drop in for the fah-king Ben Affleck sing along. Enjoy and by all means, comment if you are fah-king Ben Affleck!

Happy Birthday Jillian Michaels and the Biggest Losers Fav's

Why does the Bushido and my ninjas pick-up a burger and (small) order of cajun fries from Five Guys Burgers on Tuesdays just to rush home and watch the "Biggest Loser"? It's just to watch our favorite trainer Jillian Michaels! And today is her birthday! Happy birthday baby!

I know the hypocrisy of it all is appalling as we strap on our feed-bags and ridicule the contestants for not having the will-power to fight off the temptations of largess, but there's just something unique about the motivating aspects of our favorite trainer. I don't know if its how she casually plugs sponsors such as Extra gum or Ziplock vegetable steaming bags or if it's just the tough love she gives her team that makes us all love Jillian. Then again, it could just be that she's the only female trainer. Btw, is Bob gay? Or is he just "really" Californian? Not sure, really don't care this post is about Jillian. (Photo courtesy of B-Rad)

I digress; to be honest, the reason the Bushido has Jillian in our fav's is that she actually cares for the contests she instructs. Well, that and she has a black-belt in Muay Thai and Akarui-Do and that friends is living life the Bushido Way with all the warrior spirit one could ask for. To my ninjas who say that they would love to "do" her, I say, I'd let her "do" me. Let's be honest, she's an Alpha and I would love to have a Querres d’Oreiller with her-what pillow fights are workouts!

Biggest Loser favs and not so favs:
Fav's: Across the board, we here at the Bushido are big fans of the old gray team: Roger and his fallen Crimson-comrade Trent-man that big guy could do some Yoga. And despite Bernie being kind of a wimp, his teammate, Brittany (come on Brit!) is a rock. From the get-go, I said, that she has a gorgeous face.

Not-so-Fav's:
Good riddance to Paul, the hey, I lost weight, so I am headed home to Florida to chow down on wings and sodas by the Big Gulp. And his ex-wife Kelly (yellow team) for Chrissake, someone give that winy, "before I say this person's name, (cry) I just want them to know" chick a ticket home.

Books by Jillian Michaels:

1. "Winning By Losing: Drop the Weight, Change Your Life" (from the site: "three-prong approach to total fitness that is based in solid psychological methods, proven scientific facts, and good old-fashioned hard work.") Link to Amazon
   
2. "Making the Cut: The 30-Day Diet and Fitness Plan for the Strongest, Sexiest You" (from the site: "Published in April 2007, this book focuses on the most efficient and healthy way to lose weight within a 30-day time frame") Link to Amazon
   

If you would like more information about the Biggest Loser Club (click here)
If you would like to sign-up for a free weight-loss plan (by Jillian) here is the link to Jillian's official site
Posted by The Bushido

Friday Funnies: Mitch Hedberg's Comedy Central Special (Part 1)

Feed Your iPod: Midlake's "Roscoe"

From Midlake's new album ‘The Trials of Van Occupanther’ "Roscoe". Enjoy!



Here's the link to Midlake's myspace account

Cuba Libras, two Castros and the Finca Vigía Foundation

From the WaPo: Fidel Castro is retiring; well he’s keeping with his generational status-quo and going into semi-retirement-stepping down as Presidente and head of the armed forces but still keeping an eye on the store by staying on the Cuban government’s payroll as “first secretary” of the Communist Party.

For all of you developers salivating like Pavlov's dog at the opportunity to get down there and build some condos, I would suggest you relax and hold off making the Cuba Libras (rum+coke and a lime). First, Raoul Castro who's been running the show for the past 19 months is Castro's brother and he's a bit more extreme than Fidel. Secondly, Europeans aren't on the same blockade as America, so they've been investing there for quite sometime. (Read: Americans are showing up late to the party because of an archaic Cold-War political stance towards Communism). Then again, the Bushido does have a lighter that reads, "F*** Communism" (courtesy of Big Dave) so its a bit hypocritical of me to knock the "archaic Cold-War political stance" that we've taken for the past 50 years. That being said, I would love to get down there before developers have a chance at knocking down those grandiose mansions and building condos.

Off the blade: If you get the chance check out the article "Finca Vigía: A tumultuous fight for preservation" about Hemingway's house in Cuba Finca Vigía ("Lookout Farm"-the only building outside of the States to make the National Trust for Historic Preservation's list of 11 endangered landmarks) in the summer 2007 issue of Garden & Gun, it appears that historic-preservation (Cuban Ministry of Culture) exists even in countries under an embargo.
Well, those efforts are up to the Cubans now, since the previous joint efforts of the Hemingway Preservation Foundation (aka: The Finca Vigía Foundation-link to official site) started by Jenny Phillips-granddaughter of Papa's editor Maxwell Perkins and the Cuban Ministry of Culture are handcuffed due to the United State's embargoed financial limitations on Cuba and the limited resources of the Cuban government. But alas, there is still hope because in the words of Fidel Castro during a ceremony in 2002 commemorating the joint-preservation efforts, "What is a man without history? I think we would be savages, if we did not recognize the importance of preserving such a place" (Quote from G&G article)

There's more information of Hemingway's library available at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library (link here). If you would like to donate to the FVF, click here for more information.

BSR: The Sunsets on the Daytona 500

As the sun sets on Daytona, and we have the 50th winner (Ryan Newman) of this legendary race, I couldn't help but notice that there was only one Chevy (9th place Dale Jr.) and one Ford (10th place Greg Biffle) in the top-ten finishers. When is the last time that happened?

Daytona 500 top-ten finishers:

1. Ryan Newman-Dodge Alltel car
2. Kurt Busch-Dodge Miller Lite car
   
3. Tony Stewart-Toyota Home Depot car
4. Kyle Busch-Toyota M&M car
5. Reed Sorenson-Dodge Target car
6. Elliot Sadler-Dodge Best-Buy car
7. Kasey Kahne-Dodge Budweiser car
8. Robby Gordon-Dodge Jim Beam car
9. Dale Earnhardt Jr.-Chevy AMP energy/National Guard car
10. Greg Biffle-Ford 3-M car
    

(Photo courtesy of Bushido Special Reporter B-Rad)
Posted by The Bushido

Testify my brother: Roger Clemens on the hot-seat in front of Congress

I'll be honest, the "Rocket", Roger Clemens has brass. I once wrote (regarding the steroids issue and Roger Clemens) that it is a whole different ball-game when you talk to a reporter and then go and try to sell that same line, under oath and in front of a Congressional panel. But Clemens is sticking to his guns. What do we get from this story: Clemens loves America-willing to sign autographs and hand out "Uh-Merica"-rally-towels but only willing to pitch when he was 110% ready to represent "Uh-Merica". Second, Clemens can name drop with the best of them-"I was sitting in a deer stand, when the former President (assuming George H.W. Bush) found me. And called me to give his support."

Here's other "highlights" from Roger Clemens testimony in front of Congress (Feb.13, 2008). Courtesy of ESPN. And what do you learn from this-don't f-with Congress.