Quickies

This week's Quickies post is all about flying objects.

First, Japan's first lady elect claims she was abducted by aliens. She also claims she knew Tom Cruise in a prior life. No joke, read it here.

Second, my friend "Barton Street" sent me the link to this site that tracks the real distance of home runs.

Finally, if you would really like to join the mile high club, you can do it in suburban Atlanta for $379 through the help of Mile High Atlanta. If the plane is rockin', don't bother knockin'

Quickies

Starting this post on a rather serious note, I highly suggest you watch the episode of Frontline that airs tonight (8/31) on WETA (D.C. channel 26) tonight at nine. Poisoned Waters examines the problem of pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound. I watched most of this program one night last week and found it interesting how far the clean up of the Potomac River has come in last 30 years. Yet, the modernizing of sewage treatment plants along the Potomac was just a first step in cleaning up the River and thus the Chesapeake. There is still a long way to go. If you can't watch or DVR the program tonight, you can watch it online here.

On a lighter note, I'm hoping, now that Jim Bowden is nothing but a bad memory to Nationals fans, that items like this one in the most recent Sports Illustrated stop popping up in the sports media. SI polled 380 Major League players asking them "Which player get the the least out of the most talent?". The top five includes two former Nationals and two current Nationals.

Finally, "J.D." sent me this link to a TV news story about a supposed 15 year old stripper and her very angry grandmother.

Quickies

Today's Quickies post continues coverage of two subjects Shedd's Spot just can't resist, Stormy Daniels potential Senate run and Dan Snyder screw ups.

I heard on the radio a while back that adult film star, and potential Senate candidate, Stormy Daniels had been arrested on a domestic violence charge for hitting her husband, among other things. (Maybe she's leaving "regular" porn and moving on to S&M porn and she was practicing for a different type of role?) But, besides Stormy's look in the mugshot to right, the strange thing about this story is that Daniel's political advisor in Louisiana, Brian Welsh, had his car blown up. You can read about both events in this New York Post article.

The latest round of bad publicity for Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder actually has nothing to do with the Redskins. Instead, it involves Six Flags, the bankrupt amusement park chain Snyder controls. Shedd's Spot regular reader, "Barton Street", sent me this link to a recent item from the Washington City Paper that discusses Six Flags second quarter results.

Friday Frolics, Volume 20: Furry Fetish

In honor of the new season of Entourage beginning this coming Sunday, here's a classic Johnny Drama scene.

Midweek Time Killers...Stupid and Serious Sports Stuff

Many D.C. area residents have probably heard about the awkward in game interview Senator John Kerry gave MASN's Debbi Taylor during one of the Red Sox-Nationals games at Nationals Park last week. I was at the game, so I didn't have the...uh....pleasure of seeing it, but the bulk of it can be read in this D.C. Sports Bog entry. If you dig a little deeper, it's easy to find more examples of Senator Kerry's stiffness and general lack of knowledge when it comes to sports. This Boston Herald column discusses a few of them.

A few weeks after being let go from Dan Snyder owned WTEM radio, Brian Mitchell speaks out about it to USA Today here. (I think it's time Mitchell and ol' CP, Clinton Portis, have it out in a celebrity boxing match. I know a certain fledgling charity in Arlington that would love to sponsor the match and collect the proceeds.) According to this Washington Post piece from a couple of weeks back, the managment of WJFK is planning a jump into full time sports radio. Maybe Mitchell can catch on there.

For a little lighter fare, that is not stupid, check out this WRC-TV website page which features Sonny Jurgensen's 1994 interview with Sammy Baugh.

And finally, "J.D." forwarded me this Jason Whitlock column about the recent HBO Real Sports piece on Jim Brown and Bill Russell. Seeing that Tiger Woods is in town for the AT&T National at Congressional Country Club, it seems appropriate to post a link to the column because part of the column discusses Jim Brown's feelings toward Tiger Woods. That happens, of course, after Whitlock talks about his fascination with strip clubs. Who else would write "Jesus walked with prostitutes. Jason walks with strippers."?

Quickies

This week's Quickies post will be real quick...

First up this week, talk of porn star Stormy Daniels making a run for the Senate in 2010 has not subsided. According to this London Times piece from last month and this Politico blog entry from last week, Daniels has taken part in a "listening tour" around Louisiana as a first step toward a possible run. Luckily for Daniels, she just turned thirty so the minimum age requirement for the Senate won't be an issue.

And following up on this morning's entry on Thom Loverro's criticism of Rob Dibble, in which I discussed what might have been John Lownstein's greatest moment as a broadcaster, I give you this link to a blog entry by someone named the Urban Shocker that discusses what may have been Brother Lo's finest moment as player. In this time of controversy about how steroids have inflated baseball statistics, the following Lowenstein quote seems to put things in perspective:

Nuclear war would render all baseball statistics meaningless.

Quickies

First off, baseball fans in Japan are doing their best to keep manager Bobby Valentine from losing his job. The New York Times details the saga here. Maybe if Baltimore Orioles fans would have done something similar for Davey Johnson, the Orioles would not have sunk to the level they have.

I'm to the point where I can't have a Quickies post that doesn't mention my beloved Washington Nationals. This weeks Sports Illustrated includes this story on Bryce Harper, the 16 year old high school phenom, who is considering dropping out of high school and getting a GED so he can be eligble for next year's baseball draft. Seeing the Nationals are once again on their way to the worst record in baseball, they could very well be in a position where they have to make a decision on whether Harper should be selected with the first overall pick in the draft. Of course, The Washington Times' Thom Loverro is convinced the Nationals' problems can be blamed on The Curse of Teddy Roosevelt. Maybe he is onto something. After all, Teddy was out to a commanding lead during the presidents race on the Saturday of Memorial Day only to lose when the Oriole bird jumped from the stands and leveled him with a tackle that would make Ray Lewis proud. Thus, another loss for Teddy.

Regular readers will remember a post a while back that included info sent in by "J.D." on the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Vassalboro, Maine. "J.D." forwarded me this piece last week detailing the destruction of the Grand View due to arson. "J.D." blamed the arson on a right wing conspiracy, while a few readers who left comments on the newspaper website blamed it on feminists. I guess we'll know it was a conspiracy if any Cowgirls Expresso locations are burned to the ground.

Friday Frolics, Volume 12: What's in a (Porn Movie) Name?

I laugh everytime I see the Family Guy scene where Brian wins a Woody Award for his skills directing adult films. During the scene, there's mention of an adult film entitled Add Mama to the Train. Of course, the adult film industry has a long history of spoofing the titles of real, non-porn films. This website, funnytitles.com, is a great list of those spoofed titles. Although there are some titles spoofing the Harry Potter series, none of them revolve around the character name I would have used, Harry Twotter.

All of this, of course, leads us back to this classic scene from Clerks.(Um..not for office enjoyment...)

Big Love Times Three...Maybe Four

Considering this entry involves Mormons and porn, maybe I should title it Orgazmo, Part II.

I'm surprised it has taken three seasons for the HBO series Big Love to get under the skin of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For those of you who have not seen Big Love, the show's story line revolves around a Mormon polygamist, Bill Hendrickson (played by Bill Paxton), his three wives and their children. Hendrickson lives in suburbia but has ties to a polygamist compound which is led by a Warren Jeffs type character named Roman Grant. Throughout the first three seasons of Big Love, the Hendrickson family has struggled to live the "principal" of plural marriage while appearing to be a normal suburban family.

According to this AP article, HBO agreed to air a one time disclaimer in the credits of an episode stating the characters in the show did not represent the church's position on polygamy. That agreement kept the church satisified until now. The episode of Big Love scheduled to air this Sunday (March 15th) includes scenes of a Mormon endowment ceremony. Church ceremonies such as this are believed sacred by the Mormons and are not to be performed or talked about outside a Mormon temple. The fact such a sacred ceremony is being acted out on a television show is too much for many church members and many are calling for boycotts of HBO and all other Time-Warner companies.

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on polygamy, Mormons or the LDS chuch, but a scene in a Big Love episode a couple of weeks back did remind of something that happened occasionally when I was growing up. For some reason, Mormon missionaries worked the neighborhood I grew up in quite a bit back when I was a kid. My aunt who lived accross the street from us was a member of a Free Will Baptist church and had read several books on cults written by fundamentalist writers. When the Mormon missionaries knocked on her door, instead of ignoring them like most folks in our neighborhood did, my aunt would open the door and tell the missionaries about her beliefs. Among those beliefs was the Bible was not to be added to or subrtracted from. So with that, my aunt believed Mormons were a cult following a false prophet because The Book of Mormon was an untrue addition to the Bible. A scene similar to this played out in this recent Big Love episode. One of the Hendrickson children begins to witness to a elderly man who is a born again Christian. The elderly man quickly turns the table on the child and Bill Hendrickson and begins to witness to them. Soon he is telling them they are following false beliefs and they need to change their ways.

Turning to a different type of endowment and big love, Friday (March 13th) marks the 21st anniversary of porn star John Holmes' death. Holmes was the first well known male porn star. Prior to his death, Holmes claimed to have had sex with 14,000 women. (But he was no Wilt Chamberlain. The Stilt claimed to have done the nasty with 20,000 women.) And, of course Holmes was known for the size of his manhood which was estimated to be anywhere from 12 to 16 inches. (Or, as Spin magazine once described Holmes, "the man with the state of Florida between his legs.) But, there was an even darker side to Holmes which is a little less publicized. It was widely suspected Holmes was heavily involved in drug trafficing and that he may have been involved in the Wonderland Murders.

There's nothing having to do with endowment with this third big love. This one is all about music and the man who sang "Big, Big Love", Wynn Stewart. Stewart is yet another influential county singer from the 1950s and 1960s who is somewhat forgotten today. Stewart was infleuntial in starting the Bakersfield sound and laying the groundwork for those from the area who followed him, including Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. In fact Haggard was playing bass in Stewart's band when Stewart provided Haggard with Haggard's first hit, "Sing a Sad Song". Stewart played the song for Haggard after writing it. Haggard soon asked Stewart if he could record it and Stewart readily agreed.

Stewart had his first hit, "Waltz of the Angels", in 1956 for Capitol Records. A couple of dry years followed before Stewart moved to Challenge Records, owned by Gene Autry, where a string of hits including "Big, Big Love" and "Wishful Thinking" followed. In the mid-60's, Stewart returned to Capitol Records where he had his biggest hit, "It's Such a Pretty Word Today" in 1967.

In 1959, Stewart recorded the Harlan Howard composition "Above and Beyond". Stewart's version and its soft pop beat didn't do much. But, the following year Buck Owens' straight country shuffle version of the song became a hit and helped propel Owens to country stardom. Owens discusses his relationship with Stewart and gives Stewart his due in this conversation with Ralph Emery.

Unfortunately, Stewart died of a heart attack in 1986 at the age 51 after battling alcoholism for years once his career began to wane. You can hear him sing "Big, Big Love" here and watch him sing "It's Such a Pretty World Today" here.

Finally, and in a weak attempt to tie Mormons, porn and country music together in one story, I leave you with this. A couple of summers ago, I decided to do something healthy and walk the mile or so to my local Target to pick up a couple of things. I was strolling up a hill on the sidewalk and listening to the Gourds version of "Gin and Juice" on my iPod, if I remember correctly. I was definitely in my own world when I was startled back to reality by the sight of bike with a cute girl at the helm barrelling right at me. I jumped off the sidewalk as the bike and its rider came to a stop right by me. The young lady began talking as I pulled the earphones from my ears. For a split second, I felt flattered that a little cutie was stopping to talk to me. Then, I noticed the black name plate on her shirt and I heard her ask me if anyone had ever spoken to me about The Book of Mormon. Ooof, back to reality.

As she continued to talk, I started to wonder if she'd be interested in discussing the Doctrine of Shedd back at my place and again my mind began to wander, only this time to impure thoughts. A few seconds later, I was back in reality because the little cutie's sidekick came down the hill on her bike at a high speed and literally skidded to a stop within inches of the cutie, the cutie's bike and me. But, all thoughts of converting the both of them to the aforementioned Doctrine of Shedd was short lived. The sidekick was about five times the size of the cutie. At that point, I knew it was time for me to move on because in the matter of a minute or so I had been scared senseless, flattered, began a fantasy and then scared senseless again. I excused myself, started walking and went back to listening to the Gourds. I think it was "Ants on the Melon"....

I'm gonna fry me some chicken, baby
Fry me up some chickens tonight
Mash taters and butter and all the other
We gonna do it up right
I wanna see you naked, baby
See yer titties sittin' up high
Mash taters and butter and all the other
We gonna do it up right

Quickies

I have to admit I didn't do much research for this week's Quickies post. Both items were sent to me in emails last weeks by friends. With that said, here are this week's Quickie items...

First, this pix of Maryland basketball coach Gary Williams and the related quote was sent to me by my friend "Vern".

Three years ago, after Maryland had lost an embarrassing first round NIT game to Manhattan, a friend called Williams to see how he was holding up. "I drove to the beach right after the game," he said. "I'm trying to take it easy for a little while."

When the friend suggested that a few walks on the beach would do him some good, Williams answer was instantaneous: "There are only so many times," he said, "that you can walk on the damn beach."

Obviously, Coach Williams was thirsty after that walk on the beach because it seems he ended up in a bar in Dewey looking to quench his thirst.

Second, my friend "J.D." in Richmond sent me this article about the Grand View Topless Coffee Shop in Maine. For some reason, I suspect J.D. may already be looking into opening a franchise somewhere south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Follow Ups: Stormy, Smiley G and Mic Rockin' at the Library

For better or worse, Shedd's Spot has not uncovered any further information in regards to adult film star Stormy Daniels' potential run for the Sentate in 2010. (Please see the Feb. 11th Quickies Post.) But, there are stories circulating she is signing on to direct a horror movie that is to be shot in New Orleans in the near future. Shedd's Spot will also be monitoring that story. In the meantime, all readers are encouraged to post a comment speculating on what the title and premise of the movie might be.

Speaking of a horror in the making, events surrounding the Smiley G incident continue to unfold as the Nationals workout in their first week of spring training. (Please see the original post from Feb. 19.) A couple of days back, SI.com reported Nationals GM Jim Bowden is under investigation by the FBI for his dealings in the Dominican Republic going back to the days when he was GM of the Reds in the 1990s. Of course, Bowden has denied any wrongdoing. Bill Ladson of MLB.com tells the facts here while Mr. Manzier, Thom Loverro of The Washington Times, continues his coverage here. Loverro's piece includes quotes from a phone interview he conducted with Dominican "agent" involved in the controversey, Basillio Vizcaino.

Let me insert a tad bit of opinion here. Over the past week, it's become apparent to me the coverage of the Nationals in the The Washington Post by beat reporter Chico Harlan has fallen a step behind that of The Washington Times and MLB.com. Combine the slowness with a false report on a Ryan Zimmerman contract hold out and it begins to look as if the coverage is lacking.

Finally, Kevin Crothers posted a comment letting Shedd's Spot know the entire set from Mic Harrison and the High Score's show at the Charleston (S.C.) Public Library is available for viewing on the library's website. You can view it here.

Quickies

This week's Quickies post isn't so quick seeing that it is a couple of days behind its normal Monday schedule. But hopefully, you'll like the item covered later in the post that was provided by Shedd's Spot west coast bureau.

First up, today, Feb. 11th, is Burt Reynolds' 73rd birthday. One of Reynolds' comeback roles in the 1990's was playing Jack Horner, a porn director, in Boogie Nights. That little tidbit is a great segway to this next item....

Porn star Stormy Daniels has been approached in regards to running for the U.S. Senate in 2010. She is now considering a run against Louisiana Senator David Vitters in that state's Republican primary. Daniels is orginally from Louisiana and she has already come up with several catchy campaign slogans, including "Stormy Daniels, screwing people honestly". This is yet another story Shedd's Spot will be following closely in the coming months, and with plenty of commentary. In the meantime, you can learn more about Daniel's possible candidacy in following interview clip and this CNN.com article. Or, you can go directly to DraftStormy.com.




If you would like to learn more about Stormy Daniels' current profession, watch the six part HBO documentary Pornucopia. Honestly, it's not for the faint of heart or those who are easily offended by adult entertainment. But, the series explores the history of the adult (porn) movie industry, the current film and internet market, and fetish & specialty porn, among other topics. Several episodes include interview clips with Daniels where she discusses different aspects of the adult movie industry.

Quickies

And this time the entry title seems to fit at least one of the items....

First up, during last night's Super Bowl telecast, the local Comcast cable feed of KVOA TV in Tucson was briefly overriden and a scene of a porn movie was shown in its place. Being true to its high journalistic standards, Shedd's Spot reviewed the scene in order to keep you the reader informed. (The scene can be found with a very simple Google search.) In a nutshell, the scene will do nothing for your average red blooded American hetrosexual male, if you know what I mean. It's a forced case of "eye slippage" for you Coupling fans and, for you non-Coupling fans, it's basically a brat and potatoes shot. Shedd's Spot will follow the story diligently in the coming days and post on any further developments. The AP's take on the incident can be found here.

Second, Hong Kong film makers are planning on producing the first ever 3-D porn movie. While you're reading about it here, try not to think about the Ol' Hedgehog himself, Ron Jeremy, in 3-D. Yikes, I almost hurled....

Finally and on a non-porn note, tomorrow (Feb. 3rd) is the 85th anniversary of President Woodrow Wilson's death. Supposedly, he spent up to two hours a day while President riding in his car to relax. If he was President today, he'd be lucky to get in one lap around the Beltway, including crossing the bridge named after him, in that amount of time.

A Third Super Team Arrives in Tampa

A third team of pros is arriving in Tampa and, no, they're not coming from Arizona or Pennsylvania. Some members of this team are coming from Vegas and one claims to be coming from Dartmouth College. Who are they? They are strippers...I mean...exotic dancers...who are arriving in Tampa this week to help all those super visitors liberate some cash in the Tampa area's numerous gentlemen's clubs.

Here are two articles on the situtation. The first is from the AP and is very news like. Read it here. The second is from The St. Petersburg Times. It digs a little further into the "business" aspects of Tampa's adult entertainment scene, discussing cover charges & escort services and even quotes a pole dance instructor named Nikita Cash and the publisher of NightMoves magazine. Read that article here.