samhexum

Matt 'Now I Can Regrow My Beard' Carpenter signed with San Diego.

not to mention oral as well as anal.

Molly Ringwald will reunite with her Breakfast Club costar Ally Sheedy in a Season 2 episode of Single Drunk Female, according to EW.com. Ringwald will guest-star as Alice, sister-in-law to Sheedy’s Carol.

Talks for MLB, the NBA and NHL to acquire the nation’s dominant owner of regional sports networks are faltering — raising the likelihood of a bankruptcy filing that could hasten a nationwide migration of sports fans away from cable TV. Diamond Sports Group — which operates 21 Bally Sports-branded regional sports networks, or RSNs, that account for more than half the local broadcast markets around the country — has been in talks this fall to sell itself to the sports leagues for as much as $3 billion including debt. But Diamond — a unit of Sinclair Broadcast Group — surprised investors on Nov. 28 by slashing its outlook for this year’s profitability in half as cord-cutting continues to dog the industry. Accordingly, the leagues no longer are willing to pay a premium in a buyout — and creditors are instead bracing to take their chances in bankruptcy court in the first half of next year, according to sources close to the talks. That means Diamond’s slew of unprofitable broadcasting contracts will likely be rejected — and its decades-old, cable-TV-based business model will go out the window as deals are cut to stream lives games online, sources said. MLB could potentially step in as a temporary platform next year, but the streaming rights are expected to eventually end up with Big Tech companies like Apple, Amazon and Facebook, sources said. “Right now, there is chaos. But we’ll be able to look back and say this is when a large tech company really entered the regional sports market,” an MLB team owner told The Post, asking not to be identified by name. “Right now, there is a large amount of people who don’t see games in their home markets. That’s not good for the sports leagues.” Tech companies during the past few years have made inroads into live sports streaming. Amazon Prime, which hosts a handful of New York Yankees games exclusively, cut the biggest deal yet with a September deal to air NFL “Thursday Night Football” all season. Facebook and Apple TV+ also have acquired exclusive rights to some MLB games. But a Diamond bankruptcy could open the doors for new level of dealmaking — and some insiders hope it will change the way people consume sports for the better. Many younger fans can’t watch games now because they don’t have cable, and some cable providers don’t even carry sports, the MLB owner griped. “Ultimately, it will be one device everywhere,” the team owner predicted. “Twelve years from now it will be all three sports all the time and on one channel.” Diamond has the rights to 14 Major League Baseball teams like the St. Louis Cardinals; 16 National Basketball Association franchises including the Miami Heat; and 12 National Hockey League teams including the Detroit Red Wings. None of the New York City teams are on Diamond networks, though Diamond owns a minority stake in the YES Network. Creditors are expected to use the courts to reject Diamond’s slew of unprofitable contracts with teams, where it has long been paying more for media rights than it gets from cable distributors and advertisers to broadcast their games. Diamond, for example, is currently locked into a money-losing contract to pay the San Diego Padres $60 million a year through 2032, two sources said. Most of Diamond’s MLB contracts are unprofitable, while maybe half its NBA deals are losing money and a handful of its NHL agreements are in the red, according to a source. Insiders warn it could be a bumpy spring for teams and sports fans alike if the talks don’t go smoothly. MLB is preparing to arrange new media contracts with teams Diamond rejects in bankruptcy and to directly air their games in their local markets, two sources said. Presently, MLB airs out-of-market games nationally but has no local rights. “They feel they can get the games up and going quickly. However, they cannot tell us it is 100% guaranteed,” a source close to the situation said. Diamond’s soured talks with the leagues have surprised sophisticated investors including hedge fund Angelo Gordon, which this fall owned some of the Diamond debt and was hoping for a sale to MLB, according to a source close to the situation. It has now sold its investment at a loss and is no longer involved, the source said. The leagues have hired bankers as they try to navigate the discussions. MLB has hired investment banks Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners. The NBA retained Allen & Co., and the NHL is now seeking a banker, sources said. MLB, the NBA and NHL declined to comment. Angelo Gordon and the San Diego Padres didn’t respond to requests for comment. Diamond this month hired David Preschlak, a former president of NBC’s regional sports networks, as its new CEO. He is already meeting with MLB as he tries to build a better relationship with the leagues than his predecessor, sources said. Paul Caminiti, a spokesman for Diamond Sports Group, said, “The idea of rejecting MLB contracts is unequivocally false. DSG is committed to enhancing and strengthening our relationships with the MLB, NBA and NHL by fulfilling our contractual obligations and acquiring more rights.” He declined to comment about a potential bankruptcy. Blackouts and carriage could be a risk and many team owners also could lose lucrative revenues, warns Greg Bouris, director of Adelphi University’s Sports Management Program and a former communications director for the MLB Players Association. “This Diamond bankruptcy may accelerate what the future of the sports broadcasting market looks like and there may be a hiccup first before a more permanent solution is found,” Bouris said. “It may be in the best interest of the leagues to include the players in discussing this situation because there might be a temporary economic hit.” Nevertheless, he adds, the industry is ripe for restructuring. While sports used to help cable companies sell subscriptions, broadcasts increasingly have become mired in carriage disputes amid rampant cord cutting. Increasingly, the risk is that younger viewers tune out of sports altogether. “I think the sports leagues have to recalibrate the distribution of games, the scheduling of games and the blackouts of some games,” Bouris said. “I think there are solutions tied to distribution and production innovations which are technology based.” Fortunately, the Yanks are rich enough to have their own network, & I'm on all of my sister's TV subscriptions, so whatever happens, I should have access. That's all that really matters, of course. https://nypost.com/2022/12/18/mlb-nba-and-nhl-unlikely-to-save-tv-regional-sports-networks-sources/

Christina Haack shared a “Self-Care Saturday” post via Instagram over the weekend, which showed her listening to a meditation podcast while receiving photon LED light therapy on her face. “Been super exhausted lately so [I’m] on a kick to get back into my body. I’ve had some unexplained health stuff for years, and now I’m considering the thought that this could be breast implant related,” Haack, 39, wrote in part. “Does anyone else have any experience with this subject?” she asked. “I’m curious on all the ladies take on this.” The HGTV star went on to name her extensive list of health struggles, which includes inflammation, Hashimoto’s disease, Raynaud’s syndrome, polycystic ovary syndrome, unexplained skin rashes, joint and muscle pain, dry eyes, acid reflux, brain fog, swollen lymph nodes and adrenal fatigue. “For now just working on detoxing and positive mind set,” she concluded the post. all this time I thought she was a natural beauty

The Cubs got better looking today.

LAW & ARDOR Two NYPD recruits were suspended Friday after they were caught having sex in a bathroom at the department’s training academy in Queens, sources told The Post.

Ten lashes with a wet noodle for you!

Maybe I'm not in the Xmas spirit, but I wasn't impressed with the Xmas episode. It had some funny lines, but was stupid overall. And Sam's over-the-top Xmas spirit made me want to puke.

Some 40,000 pounds of meatballs rolled onto I-95 in Virginia when two tractor trailers crashed early Friday morning, officials said. The crash occurred in the southbound lane of the interstate in Greensville County shortly before 12:30 a.m., Virginia state police confirmed to WAVY. According to investigators, a tractor trailer driven by Al Stenford ran off the road and then smashed into a guardrail when Stenford over-corrected himself. The rig jackknifed, causing the trailer to detach. Another tractor-trailer, also traveling southbound, then unavoidably crashed into it. Unfortunately, it was NOT carrying spaghetti and jars of sauce.

‘World’s cutest dog’ is completely round: ‘When I have a bad day, I look at this dog’ It's NOT cute. It's weird-looking, and I find it unpleasant to look at.

‘Hot priests’ calendar sets pulses racing in Rome — and sells out fast https://nypost.com/2022/12/16/hot-priests-calendar-sets-pulses-racing-in-rome-and-sells-out-fast/ A calendar featuring photos of handsome priests is selling out across Rome, with tourists swooning over sexy snaps of the Catholic clergymen. The Calendario Romano features a dozen black-and-white images captured by photographer Piero Pazzi and is sold at shops and kiosks around the Italian capital. Pazzi has been creating the calendars for the past two decades — often selling upwards of 75,000 copies each year. This 2023 edition, however, is in extra high demand and dozens of vendors are sold out, leaving lusty ladies and lads all hot and bothered — and fuming. “I’ve just bought two of the 2023 calendars,” tourist Rebecca Shorrock told the UK Times. “But they were the last in stock, and I need three more for presents.” According to the Guardian, the A4 flip calendars usually retail for less than $10 a pop but are now selling for triple the price on eBay because of the shortage. While some might say the product is sinful, Pazzi proclaims that he is merely trying to advertise the Italian capital. Proceeds go to a support group for “women and men abused by religious and institutional authorities,” he said. “It is a clean and honest product that simply advertises Rome and its most eloquent symbol: the Catholic clergy,” the lensman told the Guardian in a recent interview. “I have never been reproached or called into question by any religious authority for the calendar,” he further declared. Meanwhile, Pazzi has also faced criticism for repeating some of his images, with the 2023 calendar including some snaps that have already been featured in previous years. And the snapper also made a shocking confession, telling the Guardian that not all of the divine dudes included in the calendar are actually priests. He did not disclose how many are actually men of the cloth, but it seems tourists don’t mind — they’re still eager to fork over cash for the calendar. Each of the men included in the calendar also remains unnamed — proof, Pazzi said, that the priestly pinups are not “products of vanity.” Meh... not so hot!

Norwegian actress faces up to 3 years in prison for saying men cannot be lesbians Ohkaaaaay....

You mean Jack Scalia, the former hotshot minor league pitcher?!?!? Scalia was born Giacomo Tomaso Tedesco in Brooklyn, New York City, of Italian and Irish descent. His father was former Brooklyn Dodger Rocky Tedesco. His parents divorced and when his mother remarried his name was changed to Scalia. In 1969 he graduated from Brentwood High School on Long Island. He was drafted with the third pick of the first round by the Montreal Expos in 1971 as a pitcher. He was injured and never played in the Major Leagues. When I first got a computer I came across one of those web pages that claim to have email addresses where you can write to celebs. I sent a bunch, knowing I'd never receive any responses. I actually received one reply... it took months, but I got an autographed pic of Jack Scalia in the mail. (I used a female friend's name.)

The first trip was so bad it took you 888 years to take another?

Jake Johnson is confirming that the show will indeed go on, albeit with an XL asterisk. Despite the unceremonious cancellation, “We’re still finishing the season,” Johnson shared on Instagram Tuesday. “So thankfully they didn’t halt production. We’re about a week away from being finished shooting.” However, as we reported Monday, Season 2 will never see the light of day on HBO Max. What’s more, the streamer is also pulling the ’70s-set comedy’s first season off its platform. Meanwhile, Lionsgate Television — which produces Minx — will shop the series to other streamers. “From what I am hearing [Seasons 1 and 2] — and hopefully [Season 3] — will find a new home, the question is where,” Johnson maintained. “We appreciate all the online support. We love making the show and hope to continue to. It’s a crazy business, [and] that’s partly what’s so addictive about it. Hopefully we have good news to share soon.”

Unless Kirk Cameron or RuPaul have come out (sorry for the terminology, Kirk) against pizza, I don't see how this post fits in this thread.

Alright, already! I'll send you a nude pic of myself. But top half only, and tastefully done. I have to leave something for your imagination to ponder. 😁😇😁😇

I didn't know about this, and admire her for it. On Thursday, Dec. 15, “The Rachael Ray Show” (2 p.m./Ch. 7) will devote its entire hour to Ray’s Thanksgiving-week visit to Ukraine as cameras recorded what she saw — and who she met with, helped and listened to — as the country heads into the frigid winter months with the war still raging on. “It was beautiful and tragic and heart-wrenching as always,” Ray said. “It’s already so bitter-cold there … and right now we’re hoping we can raise money to buy the gear they need to battle the 20-below winter so they can continue fighting.” Ray made several stops during her time in Ukraine, including a meeting with the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi, and returned to St. John Bosco, the country’s largest orphanage and vocational school, to teach classes in the kitchen she helped build out. “The mayor stayed hours late with us in the center of Lviv so that he could share with his his presentation for ‘Unbroken,’ a program he’s been working on for almost a solid decade now,” she said. “It’s a plan to unify a huge medical center and marry it to some specialized housing to treat children who are victims of the war, and to psychologically treat people of every age for PTSD and the psychological ramifications of losing their productive, happy lives and being displaced. “There are also trauma centers and a state-of-the-art orthopedic center,” she said, “and a maternity center for moms expecting newborns and for all the folks who’ve lost limbs — and rehab centers for plastic surgery specialists to held re-build and reconstruct war-torn humans.” Ray also talked about her efforts to help Ukrainian soldiers and civilians and to supply them with necessary materials and medical equipment in tandem with the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America. “I basically buy and pack-out First Aid kits for the front-line troops — male, female, old or young,” she said. “[The kits] have 17 components, all to NATO standards … they have tourniquets and a gel that, after the tourniquet is tied, keeps enough blood flowing to the wound so that they don’t lose organs or limbs; it gives them an extra bit of time.” She said that medical equipment is also needed for small children and babies. “For whatever reason there are an enormous amount of kids that have developed cataracts since the beginning of this phase of the war,” she said. “We spent a lot of time at St. John Bosco and in hospitals and in the mayor’s office collecting more detailed information on what we need for our next trip there. Right now, the two big-focus items are protective clothing for the winter months and the eyesight needs of kids at the children’s hospital … specifically two machines that will facilitate removing cataracts from itty-bitties … and we’re working on [getting equipment for] treating tiny surgical wounds because they’ve never had bullet wounds in babies before.” 🙁🙁🙁 Ray said she expects her next trip to Ukraine to likely be in early March. “We have so much filming to do,” she said. “It’s going to be the longest I haven’t been there … and it’s already freaking me out. I have nightmares about it. It haunts me. Once you’re in, you’re in. I’ve met so many thousands of people and fed so many thousands that it’s part of me now — I can’t turn it off. “I am a person of service and have been that way since I was 12,” she said. “This is who I am and who I will be until I’m gone. It’s the reason I was born. I’m a citizen of the world and that’s all I want to be; everything else is gravy. I love making TV shows but the thing I love most about our show is when we show people how many good works are being done by their neighbors and in their communities. “I will not abandon these people [of Ukraine],” she said. “I will keep going there until I’m dead or the game is over.” https://nypost.com/2022/12/13/rachael-ray-on-her-ukraine-trips-i-will-not-abandon-these-people/

One Agatha Christie mystery solved... The Mousetrap debuted on stage all the way back in 1952, and since that time it’s played at both the Ambassadors Theatre and St Martin’s Theatre since it transferred to London. Until its enforced shutdown, it was the longest continuous running show in the West End. There hasn’t been a movie of The Mousetrap though, which is something of a surprise given just what a huge commercial success the play has become. Yet that’s not been for the want of trying. The first attempt to mount a film of the play came at the end of the 1950s, when a deal was struck with United Artists. This attempt got as far as casting, but for reasons that were seemingly undisclosed, the project hit the buffers. However, over time it’s become clear just what the problem appears to be. The actual film rights to The Mousetrap were sold to British producer John Woolf back in 1956, just a few years after the play opened. He was pleased to land them, and signed off on the condition of their sale. That by snapping said rights up, he was agreeing that a film couldn’t be made until the show’s run had ended, and a further six months had elapsed after that time. Of course, nobody back in 1956 foresaw that The Mousetrap would then continue its run for a further six decades and change, but the condition of the original rights apparently remains in place. The reason for the condition goes to one of the things attendees of the show are told. (They) are very politely asked to keep the show’s secrets. That the production is a classic Agatha Christie whodunnit, and the reveal at the end remains a shared secret amongst those who’ve seen the show. The fear with a film version was that the cat would be permanently out of the bag (a consideration when it came to pressing ahead with the eventual movie of the more recent West End hit Ghost Stories a few years back). That with the film out in the wild as it were, there wouldn’t be any appetite for audiences to go through it all again on stage. That clause, then, was written in, and here we are. Still, it’s not stopped people having a go. Notably, at the end of the 1990s, Jonathan Woolf – the son of John – decided to have another go at getting a film made. He recruited director Stuart Urban to write and helm the feature, and as this Guardian report notes, it got as far as a screenplay being completed. Unfortunately, legalities ensued, and they would ultimately scupper the project. The producers of the play remained determined – as they were legally able to do – to dig in and refuse permission, given that the production was ongoing. One further film related story surrounding The Mousetrap, incidentally. Amongst the original cast of the stage play in London was a young Richard Attenborough. Even then, his brain was a sharp one. Sensing the commercial potential of the production, he struck a deal with the producers that was even smarter than the one the producers struck with John Woolf. Rather than take a fee for appearing in the play, he’d be happy to take a percentage of the production itself. With no great suspicion that the play was to become a juggernaut of the stage, Attenborough had a deal, one that would make him a very rich man. He talked in his memoir about this too, in particular that he would over time sell off small chunks of his share in the show to fund some of the projects he’d planned to make, and some of the things he wanted to buy. But he finally cashed out in the 1980s. Up against a lack of investment for a movie he wanted to make, he sold the remainder of his stake in The Mousetrap to help finance the film. That particular project? Gandhi, a hugely profitable and successful film, that would earn Attenborough Oscars, and put a few more quid in his pocket. All the while as he did so, The Mousetrap kept playing. And all the while, audiences kept protecting his secrets. So much so that if it does ever make it to the screen, there’s a sporting chance that the vast majority of attendees won’t have any idea who’s about to do it… Source: https://www.filmstories.co.uk/features/the-mousetrap-and-the-unfortunate-deal-for-its-movie-rights/

I guess humility is not a timeless value, since I assume the legend approved this.

Well, of course, the most famous Dorothy of all time is Dorothy "Tootie" Ramsey, the youngest girl from THE FACTS OF LIFE...

Maggie’s Little Theater at St. Margaret Parish in Middle Village will be putting on a production of Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” this February. Thom Harmon is the director. This series of shows is scheduled to run Feb. 11, 17 and 18 at 8 p.m. and Feb. 12 and 19 at 2:30 p.m. Having run continuously in London (where I saw it and was bored to tears by it) for nearly 70 years before the pandemic, “The Mousetrap” is Agatha Christie’s longest-running show of any kind. (By the time it ended I felt like I’d been in the theater since opening night.) The play is about seven strangers snowed in a countryside guest house. Shortly after a police sergeant arrives, the group discovers one of them is a killer. As they work to solve this mystery, each character reveals their dark pasts. (There was a Cathy Gale episode of THE AVENGERS that followed the same basic plot. It was re-done and improved as an Emma Peel episode. There were about 5 Cathy episodes re-done as Emma ones and all but one were improved with the redo. There were only 50 Emma episodes.) Harmon mentioned that due to Hollywood not being able to get the filming rights to this play (I never realized that) and the fact it will only be coming to Broadway for the first time ever in 2023 (I shant be buying a ticket), many people who enjoy murder mysteries may not be as familiar with “The Mousetrap” and the story’s twists and turns. Tickets for the shows will be available at maggieslittletheater.org starting Jan. 2. Tickets will cost $20 for adults and $18 for kids and seniors.

BTW, that quote is also from the Henny Penny episode. The gift that keeps on giving.