May 27, 2011

Link-O-Rama

• In a tale as old as time, dating Kim Kardashian got Kris Humphries his own photo spread in GQ magazine, so he gave her a $2 million ring and they're getting married. (He's now No. 2 on the married-to-a-Kardashian sister depth chart at power forward.)

Oscar De La Hoya can apparently confirm what Rick James always said.

David Cone, stat-head.

Tom Brady appears to be enjoying the NFL lockout. Maybe a little too much, even.

• As someone who grabbed chocolate milk in the cafeteria every day from kindergarten to high school this news gives me mixed feelings. On a related note, I've been fat since junior high.

Estella Warren sounds like a fun hang.

• Before he spent $200 million to be the new Mets minority owner David Einhorn finished 18th in the World Series of Poker main event and donated the entire $660,000 prize to charity.

• As a big Bill Withers fan who wishes he'd have kept churning out albums, his interview with The Onion is fascinating.

• After weighing the joy of motherhood versus her Official Fantasy Girl of AG.com title chances, longtime candidate Jenna Fischer made what can only be described as a questionable call.

• Prior to adopting the "Macho Man" persona and becoming one of the greatest pro wrestlers of all time, Randy Savage was Randy Poffo and he played minor-league baseball.

• My first thought after reading this story? "Hey, that happened right next to the Taco Bell and White Castle that I go to." Luckily danger only makes fast food taste even better.

• I've seen enough people mocking "jorts" to know that jean shorts are a no-no and lately I've seen similar goofing on cargo shorts, which has me wondering exactly what type of shorts are acceptable for, say, a 28-year-old man to wear in the summer? I don't buy into the "no shorts are acceptable on men" theory, because I'm not prepared to sweat to death any time the sun comes out. Some of us require ventilation to survive in the outdoors.

Zach Galifianakis' recent appearance on Conan was predictably odd and amusing:

Speaking of Conan O'Brien, the comedian warming up the audience for his show is also one of the original podcasters and the Los Angeles Times ran a nice feature on Jimmy Pardo.

• Four words: The Cosby Sweater Project.

• My boss resigning was a pretty big story. I heard about it in the New York Times.

• ESPN and FOX teamed up to keep NBC away from college football.

• Call me crazy, but it sure seems like Maria Menounos might work out.

• Two of my favorite podcasters, Jesse Thorn and Marc Maron, have teamed up to bring "WTF with Marc Maron" to public radio in a trend we'll likely see more of as the medium evolves.

• My latest podcast discovery: "How Was Your Week" with Julie Klausner, which can probably best be described as delightful even though a scan of the archives shows that I've used that word just twice in 10 years of blogging. For starters, listen to the episode with Jen Kirkman.

David Kahn is as good at telling jokes as he is at general managing.

• Baseball writers might be going a little overboard quoting anonymous scouts.

• I should have spent more time learning about IPO and less time learning about OPS as a kid.

• Speaking of which, I'm now on LinkedIn even if I'm not sure why exactly.

Christina Hendricks, if you read this (she often skips non-Twins entries): I'm not deterred.

• The fatal flaw with this study? What about the men who're moody because they can't attract any women? Not me, of course. I'm asking for a friend.

Worst couple ever?

• One of my favorite writers, Michael David Smith, recently added editor at SB Nation Chicago to his list of gigs along with ProFootballTalk and MMAFighting.com.

• Speaking of Chicago, the "Bear Jew" is a factual nickname for Gabe Carimi.

• On a related note, a couple months ago I mentioned a documentary about Jews in baseball that was playing at a local film festival and now the movie is available on Netflix streaming.

• New blog to check out: Twins Fan From Afar.

• As you may have noticed on the sidebar the "AG.com Sponsor of the Week" program is set to begin next week. I'm happy to report that the response has been positive and early spots are filling up fast, so if you're interested in promoting a product, service, website, or local business while also supporting all the free content on this blog please check it out.

• Finally, this week's AG.com-approved music video is the aforementioned Bill Withers singing a live version of "Use Me":