Someone decided to have a Darth Vader helmet decorating expo, asking for people to redesign the iconic helmet. There was one who made the look even more menacing with a “Pinhead” inspired design. But, since I come from Illinois and consider Chicago to be my playground, I have to nominate this one as my favorite. Someone took a Bears football helmet and added the rear Vader flap.  This makes me laugh!

Fox news ran a poll on its website (and Lindsey Lohan danced on it, rim shot) on who the top bombshell is. And I can’t remember if I’ve discussed this, a bombshell is not just about sex appeal, it’s about having a certain charisma in your attitude. Guess who the top 2 were? Angelina Jolie was second to the number one of all time, Ms. Marilyn Monroe. If you’ve read any posts before, you know I think she is the prettiest actress Hollywood has ever produced. That’s saying something, considering I’m more fond of brunettes. But if there has to be a second, then Angelina is the best choice. Jolie is a little saucier while Monroe was all sweet. So, these two ladies could have gotten together and made a killing in the Chinese food business.

File this under the random thought department. With all the sporting activities and events we can watch and participate in, I started wondering what the manliest sport is. let’s just list some sports in contention for this honor:

1. Baseball
2. Football
3. Golf
4. Hockey
5. MMA
6. Boxing
7. Auto Racing
8. Soccer

OK, that should give us enough to start with.

Now, in my opinion, in order to be considered manly, you have to have as little protection as possible, so goodbye football. Next, it has to be a sport that is not team based, so adios baseball, soccer and hockey, unfortunately. Then, any sport must have a training regimen that is beyond regular fitness programs.  Golf is eliminated due to the lack of necessity for training.  Any guy with a beer gut can get up and smack the ball, so golf is eliminated and so is auto racing. We all drive, so there’s no strenuous regimen required.  That leaves just boxing and MMA.  And of those two, I have to give the edge to MMA due to the overall physicality of it.

I was born in 1977, the same year Star Wars debuted in theaters. While I did not see the first movie, I was able to see the second movie in theaters, and I have been a fan of the series ever since. I dragged my family to the theater to see Return of the Jedi 6 times. And as a kid, some of my favorite toys were the Star Wars toys. While my parents weren’t poor, we didn’t exactly have a lot of disposable income, so some of the bigger toys remained fantasies in my head. When the new trilogy came out in the 1990s, the floodgate of merchandise opened anew for Star Wars. And as an adult, I had a little more income in which to indulge. MSNBC just did a story today on some of the most memorable Star Wars merchandise not only from the original trilogy but also from the prequels and reminded me of some of the coolest Star Wars stuff. Bar none, the coolest item was the full size lightsaber replicas. Made from real metal and designed just like they were in the movie, each lightsaber had a colored tube that lit up and produced sound effects from the movies. There were cheaper models made from plastic and some made noise and others didn’t. If you are lucky enough to have one of the metal ones, you have an iconic piece of memorabilia.

photo from Julien's Auctions

Planet Hollywood is planning a memorabilia sale in June at their Los Angeles location, and among the memorabilia are previously unseen photos of Marilyn Monroe on the set of one of her most iconic films, Some like it Hot. I won’t talk about the plot, especially if you haven’t seen it, needless to say Marilyn is dressed to the nines and the filmmakers highlighted her figure, but the thing about this role is that Marilyn plays it with such a cute vulnerability that every time I watch, I want to reach into history and put a hand on her shoulder and tell her that everything will be OK. She had a such a hard life, it’s difficult to look at these photos. Marilyn looks like she’s somewhat enjoying herself.

Well, the baseball season has started and some in my family are celebrating, some are watching calmly and others are preparing the hangman’s noose.  I grew up in a family of five, with my dad, my little brother and me all rooting for different teams. My dad loves the Minnesota Twins and they’re off to a good start, as always. I root for the White Sox, who are one game below .500 at this point, and my brother roots for the Cubs, who are at the same level as the sox.  As if that didn’t make life fun enough, my sister married a guy who roots for St. Louis. So, let me paint aa typical summer get together. My Dad and I trade barbs over our teams while my brother and brother in-law trade barbs over their teams. Then, to throw some more fuel on the fire, my brother and I trade barbs on the cross-town teams.  Obviously, we all love each other and do this all in good fun. I guess it could be worse. We could have a Yankees and Red Sox fan in the immediate family.

If you’re looking for a sporting event that makes you feel proud to be a guy, then you have to check out a show called Ninja Warrior on G4.  I don’t know how long this show has been on, but this show covers an American Gladiators style obstacle course competition from Japan. Unlike the Strongest Man competition, which has bags of muscles trying to lift small cars filled with women, this cometition test everything; strength, agility, coordination, you name it. This course is divided into 4 stages and is so extreme that out of 100 competitors, only 13 made it past the first stage.  I will continue watching this for quite some time.

Alexandros Stasinopoulos has quite possibly designed the quintessential guys watch. What’s more masculine than a tape measure, signifying men’s ability to construct, not that women can’t, so don’t start the sexist talk. While this may not be the most practical watch in the world, I just like the way it looks. I think it’s cool that using a device like a tape measure to inform you of a basic piece of information like the time is a cool idea, no matter impractical it is.

Well, the moment the nation has been waiting for is finally here. Tiger Woods is back on the golf course at Augusta to compete in the Masters tournament this weekend. OK, now before anyone starts the name calling, let’s keep this civil. Here’s my take. From a sporting and business stanpoint, fans should be ecstatic that Tiger is back. The man simply plays great golf and has since he debuted. From a celebrity point of view, it’ll be interesting to see how he handles the gallery. Let’s face hit, Tiger is in the sporting business, which is a subdivision of the entertainment business, which is itself a subdivision of the celebrity business. And in the celebrity business, men are prone to cheating. Tiger is not the first person to cheat on his wife, and is probably not the last. Does that mean what he did is right? In my opinion, no. Did the nation overreact to his scandal? My opinion, again, is yes. His wife will not be at Augusta this year, but she has never gone to this tournament. So, you can’t read into that at all. I hope Tiger will deal with his personal demons and reconcile with his wife, and I hope the nation will allow him to continue being a superb golfer and leave his personal life at home.

Well, MLB decided to open the 2010 season with a game only East Coast and hardcore baseball fans find interesting. The defending champ New York Yankees opened the season against the Boston Red Sox. Coming from a guy who lives in the Midwest and cheers for Chicago, this is like rooting for the matchup in the title. The Yankees have been the quintessential team to beat for years becuase of their history. I always said rooting for the Yankees is like rooting for air: it’s too easy. And their opponents, the Red Sox, managed to go from lovable losers to insufferable winners after their Series win in ’04. I think that comes mostly from the Boston fans themselves who seem to have this complex that is like a cheese grater to my skin. So, with that being said, I do have to say I’m happier that New York started the season 0-1, now if we can just get Boston to 1-1 in their next game, I’ll be happy.