We're taking bets that she's a Golddigger...

I can say that I have perhaps the most eclectic mix of music tastes of anyone I know. I love country to punk to rap to pop. That led me to my purchase of music yesterday. People young and old should be flocking to their local Best Buy/Circuit City/MediaPlay, etc. to buy Kanye West's new album. His first CD College Dropout was fantastic and won two Grammy's. This next CD will probably win 10 Grammy's. This CD Late Registration has unbelievable beats, wonderful hooks and some great messages. Currently my favorite song is "Golddigger" with Jamie Foxx, but "Heard Em Say" with Maroon 5's Adam Levine is a close second. There are a thousand reviews out there so I wouldn't just take my word for it. Even if you are not a huge Hip Hop fan you should be running out to get this CD. Thankfully there are artists like Kanye that make wonderful music. I just hope that he collaborates with Young Jeezy next. That would be some hot music.

WTBT Volume Twenty-Four...

We're taking bets that...

* Over a million podcast listeners are going back to college over the next few weeks. (Courtesy of podcaster Dan from Ohio.)
* David Wells suspension may be a little longer than 6 games after his tirade about the commissioner.
* you are thankful Katrina slowed to a tropical storm as she moved across the US.
* New Hampshire's Chris Carpenter will narrowly beat Roger Clemens for the NL Cy Young award.
* you should be able to hold an ice cream cone in one hand and spin and lick with the other.
* with the Yankees signing of Mark Bellhorn they are trying to become the '04 Red Sox.
* some practical jokes just aren't funny.
* Paula Cremer will be a better golfer than Michelle Wie over their careers.
* Gwyneth Paltrow needs to keep her mind naming her kid something normal and not on Brad Pitt's divorce.
* Lindsay Davenport will win the US Open women's side.
* no one cares anymore about the Aruba abduction.
* although 99% of guys don't have a chance they were excited to hear Jenny McCarthy is single again.

We're taking bets that it's time to put on make-up...

So I purchased The Muppet Show Season One and it is absolutely fantastic. Kermit is a player of epic preportions. He is selling himself out to every woman that guest stars so he can get a kiss. Fozie tells some of the best worst joke ever and Gonzo never gets to finish his act.

What I don't understand is why this wouldn't be a successful show today. It would be one of the greatest kids shows ever. You would have a popular celebrity every week that would show off some of their acting/musical talents. They would be fondled by a different Muppet each week and our children would be exposed to some great culture and comedy. There was always I think that it is time for The Muppet Show to make a comeback. What do you think?

We're taking bets that thoughts need to be shared...

Here are a couple of random observations I have had over the last two days.

* Jerry Lewis' telethon is coming up pretty soon. This guy maybe crazy and starting to look like Jabba the Hutt, but he really has done a great job raising money for Muscular-Dystrophy.

* There is no way the Red Sox can win the World Series if the bullpen continues to struggle. Keith Foulke better comeback firing bullets or the Sox may not even win the division. :(

* The dueling rallies in Crawford seems a little stupid. What are these people really accomplishing? It seems like the pro-Bush rally is only there to be louder than the anti-war rally. Doesn't anyone realize that the troops in Iraq are going to be there for a long time? Like it or not we have committed ourselves to helping that country and removing troops is only going to make things worse. If you want to see changes vote every November and allow your voice to be heard. Protesting in front of Bush's Crawford home is going to get you nowhere. How about another March on Washington? At least that would get everyone's attention.

* The MTV Video Awards will be tonight and they are a must-see event. Thankfully they will be played about a thousand times over the next two weeks. Seeing Dane Cook as a presenter will make it all worthwhile.

* No one is shocked that Rap Mogul Suge Knight was shot recently. This guy will probably be shot 10 more times before he is finally killed. You see that happens when you are the one who is probably responsible for the deaths of Tupac and Biggy.

* This has to be a record hurricane season. Now Katrina is going to mess with New Orleans. Bourbon St. might never look the same. If anyone has ever known a Katrina(I've known at least three) knows that they start off small and only get stronger. There was no doubt in my mind that Katrina was going to make her mark as the worst hurricane of the season. Category 5 is only the start. Katrina could force them to make a Category 6.

We're taking bets that once a thief always a thief...

Being a UCONN basketball fan I am greatly disappointed in the actions of Marcus Williams and A.J. Price. They will be punished for their actions and deservedly so. This article by Doug Gottlieb of ESPN.com really hit home with me. These are kids who made a real bad mistake. They may or may not recover from it, but we need to give them the opportunity. Hopefully we don't have assholes like Jim Delaney of the Big Ten to bring them down 9 years later if they atone for their mistakes. Read the article and tell me what you think. (If you do not have ESPN Insider please feel free to use my username and password and read it. I will be changing the password in one week. USERNAME: GregoryMadrid - PASSWORD: julianne)

UCONN PGs face a lifetime of scrutiny

We're taking bets that Hottie Couple of the Week...

Hottie Couple Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner may be one of the best matched couples you can find in Hollywood. On their own they are both extremely hot. The scene in Daredevil where Jennifer enters the cafe in a white top and jeans is probably the hottest she has ever been. Ben may not be the greatest actor but he definitely is a Hottie. Just ask Hurricane Shaunna. (Though Ryan is a great substitute.) Have a great weekend everyone.

We're taking bets that Einstein didn't know everything...

Thirsty Thursday Everyone!!! That means it is also Question Time at WTBT. Please post your answers in the comments section. This should be a fun activity for all. Learn about the others that read this blog. Invite your friends. Have a good time.

A. What is your favorite music lyric currently? (Not your all-time favorite, but the one you really like right now.)

B. If you knew that someone was dying, but they didn’t know, would you tell them the truth or deceive them about it?

Answers:

A. Currently I am enamored with Click Five and their lyrics in the song Just the Girl. My favorite line is "She laughs at my dreams But I dream about her laughter" I think it is such a great line.

B. That is a tough call. I don't think so. I think that if I knew exactly when they were going to die I wouldn't probably tell them because who wants to hear that. It would make everything dreadful for them the last week of their life. If I knew that they were dying, but didn't know the date I might tell them, but who would believe me. I am not a doctor and people have outlived "death dates" before. I think that it is better not to know. Though I guess from the day we are born we are then dying; it may just take 100 years.

We're taking bets it is time for the yearly mindset list..

Every year Beloit College in Wisconsin releases a mindset list of incoming freshmen. The list basically names a bunch of things that they have not lived without or things that they would not know about. It is pretty neat to read and makes anyone over the age of 18 feel a little bit old. Here is a sample of the 50 items:

According to the Benoit College Mindset List, for college freshmen born in 1987:
— Liberace, Jackie Gleason, and Lee Marvin have always been dead.
— Heart-lung transplants have always been possible.
— Wayne Gretzky never played for Edmonton.
— Iran and Iraq have never been at war with each other.
— They’re more familiar with Greg Gumbel than with Bryant Gumbel.
— Voice mail has always been available.
— ‘Whatever’ is not part of a question
— They have always had the right to burn the flag.
— Bill Gates has always been worth at least a billion dollars.
— The Starship Enterprise has always looked dated.
— ‘Les Miserables’ has always been on stage.
— Snowboarding has always been a popular winter pastime.
— They do not remember “a kinder and gentler nation.”
— They never saw the shuttle Challenger fly.
— Black Americans have always been known as African-Americans.
— Tom Landry never coached the Cowboys.
— The Field of Dreams has always been drawing people to Iowa.
— They never saw a Howard Johnson’s with 28 ice cream flavors.
— Lyme disease has always been a concern in the woods.

We're taking bets that the Duck wasn't as bad as people think...

In a new bi-monthly(Meaning twice a month. So many people get that wrong.) feature at WTBT we are going to explore an older movie that has not gotten it's due. These by no means are Oscar worthy films, but they should be remembered in our pop culture history. The first movie to be reviewed will be Howard the Duck.

Howard the Duck was made by George Lucas in his first non-Star Wars/Indiana Jones movie. Although he did not direct or write it was seen as his failure. There was a pretty solid cast with Lea Thompson and her big 80's hair as the heroine and Jeffrey Jones fresh off his Ferris Bueller fame as the villian. It also had Tim Robbins as a geeky guy.

The plot of the movie was that Howard was mistakenly beamed from his home planet to Cleveland and now needs to help save the Earth from the Dark Overlords of the Universe. It had some really cool 80's special effects as it was worked on by ILM. The dialogue had a ton of duck related puns. Howard read Playduck and knew how to fight using "Quack-Fu". The movie got a ton of bonus points for having Lea Thompson in her underwear a number of times during the movie. There was a ton of great comedy especially whenever Jeffrey Jones was trying to be the uber-villian. If you are bored one night this would be a great rental and you can end your night doing the DUCK.

We're taking bets that it is fun to be a Mr. or even a Little Miss...

How many people remember the Mr. Men/Little Miss books from our childhood? I did a little bit of research on these fun little characters and found their official website. In the site you can make your own Mr. Men and Little Miss characters. It could be a great teambuilder especially when you make Little Miss Pain in the Ass and Mr. Grabass for your employees or friends. So go checkout it out at www.mrmen.com.

Just one other fun thought for the day. What do you think they call the bucket that they put behind a horse or elephant during a parade? I thought that it would have been called a buttoon as a spin off of a spitoon. What do you think?

WTBT Volume 23...

We're taking bets that...

* Mike from Real World New York may be the person who has milked his 15 minutes of fame the most.
* it is great that Curt Schilling is finally moving into the Red Sox rotation.
* you have no clue why the guy jumped into the cake during Guns-N-Roses "November Rain" video.
* you wonder sometimes if they are going to make a live action/animated movie version of The Wuzzles.
* How I Met Your Mother will be the best new comedy this year.
* Antonio Gates is making a big mistake holding out on the San Diego Chargers.
* it's Miller Time in Milwaukee. Congrats on 150 years of making beer.
* the Kansas City Royals are the worst baseball team in the last 20 years.
* there is no better family movie out than March of the Penguins.
* most kids can't find Iowa on a map, but many say High School is too easy.
* it was great to see Doug Flutie back in a New England Patriots uniform.
* cats don't get much luckier than this one. Nine lives or not.
* Charlie Weis will make the Fighting Irish a National Championship contender in 4 years.
* you are surprised there isn't a Christian group protesting the movie 40 Year Old Virgin because most of them haven't had sex yet either.
* this might be the scariest story of the NFL's preseason.
* until the mechanic's strike is over you are a little leery flying Northwest Airlines.
* Roger Federer might be the best mens tennis player ever.
* John O'Hurley is going to kick ass in his Dancing with the Stars rematch against Kelly Monaco. Seriously that is part of his new dance move.
* you can't believe that Hulk Hogan is headlining WWE's Summer Slam. Isn't he dead yet?

We're taking bets that Hottie of the Week...

Hottie Jennifer Love Hewitt is an excellent choice for a number of reasons. First of all she makes most women crazy to the point of reacting like George Brett during the pine tar incident. (Joke courtesy of Bill Simmons). Secondly she has a great new comedy on CBS called Ghost Whisperer. What? It's a drama? Oops. My bad. Lastly and most importantly she is pretty hot. My friend Dennis says he met her and she was cool and nice to him. Of course I don't think he ever mentioned the fact that security dragged him away from her shortly after she said hi, but that probably happened. :)

We're taking bets that I know this one...

Question time at WTBT. Post your answers in the comments section. Invite friends... have a ball.

A. What is the funniest or unusual thing you could say that would stop a conversation dead in its tracks?

B. What are your top three favorite music videos?

Answers:

A. I think that if you all of a sudden said, "I fart when I cough(sneeze)" most people would stop talking to you and walk away. It makes me giggle now thinking about saying it.

B.

Pour Some Sugar on Me - Def Leppard - There is a girl in the video that I have alway thought was hot. She did a weird thing with her eyes.

Take on Me - A-ha - Probably one of the first videos that I can remember with a plot.

The Way You Make Me Feel - Michael Jackson - Although Jacko in an alley right now would scare almost anyone I think that was a great video with a hot girl that was never ever seen again.

We're taking bets that I am a target...

People who have known me over the last years know that I am a target of random acts of destruction. Mainly this has occurred to my cars, but there has been other stuff as well. It goes all the way back to when I was a wee youth at Western New England College. I was in charge of the softball marathon and my backpack was stolen and burned to a crisp with all of my notebooks in it. Granted I didn't take great notes, but I took some.

This morning when I went to my car I noticed something on the ground near the back of my car. I looked up and noticed my rear window was smashed. Now this is the first Random Act of Destruction to my Jeep. The Daewoo(Woo for short) had two such incidents. A window was smashed out when I was at AIC and someone had done Riverdance on my roof while I was at UMass Lowell. Both of those could be explained due to the fact that I was working at colleges and a disciplinarian. There was also a good chance that people were drunk when it happened. Luckily my bosses at the time were very generous and paid my deductibles.

This time I am living in Springfield and there is no reimbursement. So $346.50 later I have a fixed window and no one to blame but life. Sometimes life does suck. I know that it is worse for many others but don't you just wish that normal people could catch a small break once in a while?

We're taking bets that some signs mean nothing...

Signs that are posted are usually pretty good. When a sign tells me to yield I pay attention. If a sign tells me there might be heavy traffic ahead I might take that into consideration when choosing which exit to take. When a sign says "Warped Tour Closed" I don't know what the hell that means. I now know it means "Your life will be fucked up for the next hour>Enjoy."

The Warped Tour is usually a rocking concert that lasts all day. Some of the acts this year were Transplants, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, The Offspring, Thrice, Dropkick Murphys, Relient K, and Strung Out. There is also 30 to 40 other acts that you probably have never heard of unless you are Mark Stern or my brother. It is a must see concert for many kids between the age of 12 and 24. I have never attended, although this year's line-up really was exciting to me.

This Monday was The Warped Tour's appearence in Northampton, MA. I just happened to be going to Northampton to see March of the Penguins and grab a bite to eat at Fitzwillys. Now you might ask why go to Northampton to see March of the Penguins when it is playing at any Showcase Cinema in the country. Well for that I blame Ian who said let's go to the Pleasant St. Theater. So on our way up 91 to exit 18 we saw a large sign that said "Warped Tour Closed". We thought that meant you cannot get any tickets to The Warped Tour. We then saw a sign that stated concert traffic should exit at exit 19. So when we approached exit 18 we hit some traffic. This was understandable because there was a concert going on. That is where the common sense ended.

The next three exits were blocked by state troopers and flares. Traffic was also moving at less than 10 miles an hour. We ended going over 13 miles out of our way before we got to Deerfield and we could turn around. Now I contend that there absolutely, positively should have been a sign saying exits 18-19 & 21 are closed. (For some reason there is no 20.) That way people could drive at their normal pace and get off either before that exit or just waited. The other confusing thing is that traffic was allowed to get off at any of the Southbound exits. What the heck is that all about? We have moved so far along in technology, but we cannot announce that three exits are closing. They could have even abbreviated it like IMer's do. I would have been fine with that. I would have needed my IM to English dictionary, but I would have been fine with that. LOL.

We're taking bets that I didn't have teachers like this...

I guess I am at a loss for words when it comes to teachers like Pamela Rogers Turner. She, a 28 year old school teacher, slept with a 13 year old. I know that kids are having sex younger and younger, but come on. Maybe with kids their own age, but not adults. I am sure that this was consentual, though I bet there would be a debate over whether a 13 year old would understand consentual sex. I say he absolutely would, but that is just me.

My second thought is what the heck is up with that boy's mother. She hoped that it did not go to trial. She is a family friend? Yeah a family friend who is sleeping with your 13 year old boy. Sometimes I just don't understand parents. There must be something definitely wrong with that mother.

Lastly why didn't I ever have a hot teacher. The closest I had was Ms. Spinelli in 3rd grade but I wasn't quite ready to accept that girls were pretty yet. Plus she got married during the year and never came back. I think that every guy who saw the video for Van Halen's Hot for Teacher hoped we would have a gorgeous teacher some day and we always ended up with Nell Carter or Rosanne Barr. I mean look at Pamela and Debra Lafave these are gorgeous married women who decided to sleep with young teenage boys. Craziness.


Pamela Turner Rogers













Debra Lafave

We're taking bets that it has been a year...

Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of We're Taking Bets That... A lot of things have changed since that first post. People have stopped almost 20,000 times in the past year. I used to work at UMass Lowell and now I work for the City of Springfield. (desperately hoping that changes soon) Everyone is now a year older. Babies have been born, relationships have began and ended. Controversy has been had especially on these pages. Truths were told. I have been hated and loved 100 times over. You know Jonathan Larson said it best in his play Rent.

How do you measure a year in the life

How about Love
how about love
how about love
measure in love
seasons of love
seasons of love

I hope everyone has enjoyed my blog a little and year 2 is just as good. See you all tomorrow in cyberspace.

We're taking bets that women around the world are screaming, NO...

Today I read a very interesting article. The basics of the article concerned fat on women's thighs. The article was saying that this fat could have health benefits. Now all these women who are working out like fiends to look like Jessica Alba and Natalie Portman are actually doing damage to themselves. Of course the medical community really has absolutely no clue whatsoever as to what is really good for you. Some people smoke until they are 90 and never get lung cancer and others like Dana Reeve never smoke at all and get lung cancer. The guy who lost a ton of weight by running died of a heart attack while running. I just wish there was someone that would tell me that Nutty Bars were healthy and we should eat them everyday.

We're taking bets that Hottie of the Week...

Hottie Eva La Rue of ABC's All My Children will now be the hottest DNA Analyst ever. She will be seen this fall on CSI Miami as Boa Vista. She has been a doctor on All My Children so I think she can pull this off. I for one am taken by her incredible smile. In every picture that you see of her she always has a great smile.

We're taking bets that answering questions was never so easy...

Question time again here at WTBT. Please post your answer in the comments section. Invite friends to answer. Open up some dialogue. Give it a try. You can be anonymous. Have fun.

A. Each generation has it's "I remember exactly where I was when" event. Besides 9/11 and the Challenger explosion what is the next biggest event for you? Why was it important to you?

B. Is it better to have dreams that will never come to pass, or to have no dreams at all?

Answers:

A. For me it would have to be the O.J. Simpson "Not Guilty" Verdict. I was at Western New England College at the time and it was then I realized how divided our country is racially. Although at the time I thought it was the right verdict because I didn't think they proved beyond a reasonable doubt he did it. I did not think the verdict was because of race. I had not thought race was a factor at all, but seeing how people around me reacted really made me look at race differently. I realized that there was no way I could always see everyone as a unique individual regardless of their race, sex, or religion. There would always be things to taint my view and that I would have to work hard everyday to try and see people as they are and not by the preconceived notions I had. 9/11 just reinforced that for me.

B. I think it is much better to have dreams that never come to pass, because you can always have hope. What good would it be to only have dreams that will come true? I know that I have a few dreams that probably will never come to pass, but I am going to continue dreaming about them and even pursuing them in some instances.