ESPN reporter Erin Andrews victimized by a cowardly pervert

Erin Andrews has been a sports reporter for ESPN since 2004.

And a very good one.

Seems her only sin, according to some sports loving males, is that she's a good looker and (perhaps) blonde.

Now some sleazebag has pointed a video camera through the peephole in her hotel room and managed to get some footage of her walking around her room in the nude.

The threat of legal action has caused most of the sites running the videos to take them down.As they should.

But legal action didn't stop CBS from airing it. Walter Cronkite would never have allowed that!

The reason for this post, however, is a warning.

Spammers and Trojan installers are jumping on this baby like you wouldn't believe.

Or perhaps you would.

There's been an outbreak of malicious spam, web sites and even Twitter posts promoting the video.

One blog site I checked had what looked like it could be the video but when it was clicked on it went to a message saying that "because of high demand" I was being redirected to another web site.

Which I was.

It was an ad for an on-line casino or something.No mention of Erin Andrews.

I hope the site had no more evil intent in terms of dumping some nasty on my machine.

Time will tell.

Researchers report the Trojan installers used in the scam are generating a large number of polymorphic variants. The installers change with sites each day and number around 10,000 unique hashes.

VIPRE detects one as Trojan.NSIS.DnsChanger (v). Detections for a second, Trojan-Downloader.Win32.CodecPack.2GCash.Gen, will be pushed out shortly.

OK. You're thinking I'm a hypocrite by, on one hand, decrying the incident, and then trying to get to see the video myself.

Hey, it was for research purposes only. (cough-cough)

Rick Astley dead-probably not

Rick Astley dead?

Doesn't look that way.

Looks more like another stupid and cruel hoax.

A report on iReport says 43-year-old Rick Astley was pronounced dead when his body was found at the Angleterre Hotel in Berlin after an ambulance responded to an emergency call from his hotel room.

It says Astley (pictured on tour in Denmark) was found unconscious in his hotel bedroom and was unable to be resuscitated. He was supposedly pronounced dead on the scene.

Astley was in the middle of a concert tour that would have ended in late August of 2009. He was to return to the United Kingdom at that time.

It should be pointed out that iReport.com is a CNN user-generated site. That means the stories submitted by users are not edited, fact-checked or screened before they post. Only stories marked "On CNN" have been vetted for use in CNN news coverage. This story is not so marked.

Since there are no confirmations yet on this report and the writer is suggested to be Liz Sidoti, who actually is a politics reporter for Associated Press and would not be posting on CNN’s iReport, this has to be a hoax.

In 2007 Rick Astley became the subject of a viral Internet meme in which an estimated 25 million Internet users were tricked into watching Rick Astley’s video “Never Gonna Give You Up” when it was posted under the name of other popular video titles.

The practice is now known as Rickrolling. The phenomenon became so popular that on April 1, 2008, YouTube pranked its users by making every single featured video on the front page a Rickroll.

And now George Clooney has also been reported dead. Just like Jeff Goldblum and Natalie Portman.

All hoaxes started by some seriously mentally deranged dickheads.

Chris Brown reaches plea deal - did he deserve jail?

Chris Brown turned himself in to police and was arrested in February 2009 admitting to domestic violence against his girlfriend, singer Rihanna.

Now the case has come to court in Los Angeles.

The upshot?

He copped a plea and consequently won't do jail time.

Instead he gets five years supervised probation and he'll spend six months doing community service such as cleaning up roads, picking up garbage, pulling weeds and washing fire trucks.

He's also been ordered to stay 50 yards clear of Rihanna and must enroll in a domestic violence counseling program.

The judge said if Brown and Rihanna are at the same public events, the 50-yard stay away turns into 10 yards. The stay away order lasts 5 years.

Rihanna was actually in the courthouse but didn't go into the courtroom until Brown had left. The judge then explained to her what the deal was and how the protective order would work.

So this now makes Chris Brown a convicted felon which means he loses the right to own a gun, sit on a jury, has travel limitations and is subject to search and seizure without a search warrant.

Public reaction was generally that they thought Brown would try to fight the case and try to make himself look presentable.

Others said, considering what he did to her face, he should have served some jail time.

Many people would have liked to see Rihanna speak out on the issue of domestic violence.

The biggest loser in all this has been Chris Brown.

Following his arrest, several of his commercial ads were suspended, his music was withdrawn from many radio stations, and he withdrew from the 2009 Grammy Awards, where he was replaced by Justin Timberlake and Al Green.

Cher's daughter becomes her son

Chastity, daughter of Sonny Bono and Cher,is in the early stages of gender reassignment, that is to say, becoming a man, having started the process earlier this year following his/her 40th birthday.

Here's the full statement from Chaz's (as Chastity now prefers to be known as) representative:

"Yes, it's true -- Chaz, after many years of consideration, has made the courageous decision to honor his true identity. He is proud of his decision and grateful for the support and respect that has already been shown by his loved ones. It is Chaz's hope that his choice to transition will open the hearts and minds of the public regarding this issue, just as his 'coming out' did nearly 20 years ago. We ask that the media respect Chaz's privacy during this long process as he will not be doing any interviews at this time."

The medical process has been reported by others who took the same path as being long and painful.

It often follows a lifetime of feeling that one has been born into the wrong body.

That feeling could not have been helped when she was a little girl by the presence and influence of Cher's lesbian friends.
Plus Sonny always longed to have a boy. This was demonstrated many times when Chastity would appear on the Sonny and Cher TV Show dressed as her father.

So now medical technology will be used to make her that boy her dad always wanted.

Too bad he's not around to see it.

Even sadder: Chaz wants to make a realty TV series with cameras videoing each step of the process. The sad part being - will TV viewers really care?

Little House On The Prairie star's husband suicides

News has emerged that the husband of Sidney Greenbush, who shared the role with her identical twin sister Rachel as Carrie Ingalls in "Little House On The Prairie" from 1974 to 1982, has committed suicide.

Willian Rocky Foster was found behind his home with a gunshot wound to his head.

On May 3rd, Sidney had discussed a divorce with Foster. Two days later Foster called the former child star saying he would kill himself.

And he did.Right after he hung up.

Sidney called the Sheriff’s Department, but a family friend found Rocky lying by a corral behind their home with a gunshot wound to the head. Despite efforts to save him, he died at a nearby hospital.

Sidney married Foster, a veterinarian and horse breeder in 2000. The couple lived on a ranch in Visalia, CA.

Sidney has competed in women’s professional rodeo and has been the top-ranked barrel racer on the West Coast. A long-time animal lover, she has an associate’s degree in animal science. She also designs custom jewelry which she sells to her fans.

Rocky was a real cowboy and a neighbor said they were a totally down-to-earth couple.

Kenny Rankin, singer-songwriter,dies from lung cancer

He was difficult to put into a category.

He was a well regarded guitarist, playing on Bob Dylan's influential 1965 album "Bringing It All Back Home."

He wrote "Peaceful" covered by both Helen Reddy and Georgie Fame and used his smooth tenor voice to cover a couple of popular Beatle songs in the mid-70's. Paul McCartney liked what he did so much he asked him to sing his interpretation of "Blackbird" when McCartney was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1987.

He wrote songs for Peggy Lee and Mel Torme and released his own "The Kenny Rankin Album" live with a 60 piece orchestra in 1976.(Album cover pictured)

Over several years he opened the show for the comedian George Carlin and appeared on Johnny Carson's "Tonight Show" 25 times.

He had been planning to record an album of new material with Phil Ramone.

But now Kenny Rankin has died at the age of 69 in Los Angeles after being diagnosed only three weeks ago from lung cancer.

Denny Stilwell, President of Mack Avenue Records, has said in a statement: "That he was still at the top of his game is one of the saddest parts of his passing for me. He performed the new material in our office over the last few months and his voice was still in its finest form. He sounded absolutely amazing. Our hearts and prayers are with his family."

One of Kenny Rankin's major influences was Laura Nyro, the late songwriter whom he met in Greenwich Village in 1960 and wrote such big hits as "Wedding Bell Blues" and "Stoned Soul Picnic."

After recording pop albums for many years, Rankin embraced his love of jazz in the 90s, a move that built him a strong following in the jazz community.

Rankin is survived by his son Chris,daughters Gena and Chandra and a granddaughter.

Xbox shoes made for the well heeled

They're a one-off pair of custom made sneakers called Xbox-Alpha-Dunks and they've just been sold on eBay for $4,000.

OK. They aren't your everyday sneakers.

The eBay description said: "These are an exclusive pair…only one of its kind. Patent leather back with embedded fiber optic wiring in the shape of the XBOX logo. Battery placement is in the tongue as well as on and off switch that has 2 settings: Strobe or Constant light functions. Gradient lime swoosh faded to black. The toe is painted in a surreal Tiger Camouflage with accents of lime and bright green. These are a men’s size 11."

The shoes feature a two-tone Nike swoosh, and the button-control layout of an Xbox controller on the bottom of the soles.
Oh yes...and there are strobe lights in the Xbox logos on each heel.

The BuyItNow price was $2,500 but the pair went for the best offer of $4,000.99.

Gawd, you could buy six Xbox 360 Elite systems for that and still have change left over.

And I thought we are in a recession.

The custom shoes were not made in your usual Chinese sweat-shop but by a company called Sole Junkie started by Steven Cedre Jr in 2004 which claims it creates "...high quality artwork making you stand above the rest with your custom sneakers."

But, at $4,000, would you really ever wear them outdoors?

So who's going to see them?

The New Hot Women's Golf Sensation - Maria Verchenova

Maria Verchenova, 23, introduced to golf by her father during a holiday to the Czech Republic, became the first Russian to become a full-time member of the Ladies' European tour.

In 2008 she broke the top five in Tenerife and contended for the lead with Annika Sorenstam in the end-of-year Dubai Ladies Masters.

Of that, she says:"Well, first Dubai is a special place for me as it's my home away from home, I practice there a lot thanks to the support of Emirates golf club. So I was very happy to hit the ball well there. Being in the lead was a great experience, another step for me. I will keep working hard, learn and hopefully, very soon, I will hold the lead till the end of the tournament."

(Picture shows Maria in Dubai)

Her golfing earnings are still modest, at $51,000, but she’s improving all the time and playing solid golf.

Tiger Woods is her male hero and fellow countrywoman and tennis star Maria Sharapova is someone that Verchenova looks up to and wants to emulate.

She believes her driving accuracy is her greatest strength and she hopes to get to the level where she can repeat a reliable swing in every situation.

What would be her dream foursome? She names Justin Timberlake, David Beckham and, of course, Tiger Woods.

Now she is with the Ladies' European Tour at Gerre Losone in Ticino, Switzerland for the Deutsche Bank Swiss Open - the first full-field event of the season on European shores.

Not that I want to be sexist or anything but looks like no more drifting off on the couch for me when watching women's golf.

Thanks to golf's Goddess of the Greens...Maria Verchenova.

Radio Station Dumps Controversial Extramarital Affair Ad

An advertisement for "the world's premier discreet dating service" was pulled from one Salt Lake radio station because,
it says, the ad promotes infidelity in marriage.

The Ashley Madison Agency, an Internet-based company that specializes in arranging extramarital affairs, had its
commercial taken off air for good on the same day it started.

The president of Simmons Media Group, X96's owners, G. Craig Hanson, said: "As soon as we heard it, we pulled it." He
doubts the ad ran more than a few times.

He said all ads are e-mailed to the station and the ad got to air before any staff heard it. “We don't want to accept advertising of that nature. This is a family centered, values oriented community."

He said the ad was simply too explicit and while some in the community may endorse that kind of thing, he doesn't believe
the masses do.

The Ashley Madison ad is basically an interview with the company founder, Noel Biderman which begins with a disclaimer, saying the opinions in the ad do not necessarily reflect the views of the radio station.

Funny thing is Ashley Madison decided to target Utah for this multimillion-dollar ad campaign, after they learned Utah boasts the highest viewership of online pornography in the nation.

Amazon Strips Gay and Lesbian Books From Sales Ranking

Amazon.com made a very strange decision over the Easter holiday weekend.

The stripped many books of sales rankings making them impossible to find through the website's search engine.

Would you believe titles such as "Lady Chatterly's Lover", "Brokeback Mountain" and "Bastard Out of California" were tagged as being "adult" and removed from search rankings.

It seemed that mostly gay themed books got the push but some “Straight” books that were more explicit but not labeled “erotica” got to stay.

An Amazon spokesman said the de-rankings of an untold number of gay and lesbian titles are due to a “glitch” that’s “being fixed.”

It's very difficult to accept that Amazon would allow a "glitch" to find it's way onto its servers. This action would have needed to be discussed and approved before it happened.

Many of the titles that were affected have now been restored but the sales rank, which Amazon tells customers is “a good indicator of how well a product is selling overall,” has still disappeared from a host of gay, lesbian and erotic titles over the past few days which means the books no longer show up in bestseller lists or in listings by rank.

And the hypocricy of this action comes into play when you can buy sex toys on Amazon and they're telling us what books we can and cannot read?

Farrah Fawcett Condition Not Good

Farah Fawcett, who many of us first came to love as an actress in Charlie’s Angels, has had a setback in her long battle with cancer.

She’s now 62 and has undergone chemotherapy and aggressive alternative treatments since 2006 when she was first diagnosed with anal cancer. She saw that cancer go into remission then return in 2007.

Now in hospital in Los Angeles, friends and family are have told radar.com. she’s critical but stable. They also say she is unconscious and has been hospitalised for days.

She has been battling cancer for three years and recently returned from Germany, where she had experimental stem-cell treatment.

Long-time love Ryan O’Neal has been by Farrah’s bedside, as has troubled son Redmond, who bolted from rehab earlier this week.

It is not known whether she will survive.

Salmonella Concerns Cause Pistachio Recall

California based Setton Farms has issued a pistachio recall. One million pounds of pistachios are involved in the attempt to discover the source of the salmonella contamination.

Setton Farms, the second largest pistachio processor in the United States, supply pistachios to the Georgia Nut Company who make Kraft Back to Nature Nantucket Blend trail mix. It’s thought this mix may contain pistachios contaminated with nuts from Setton Farms.

The pistachios were also sent to about three dozen wholesalers, who repackaged them and resold them to other customers. As a result, authorities are saying the recall was likely to expand as the pistachios were traced to processed foods like ice cream and cake mixes.

According to the FDA this pistachio recall has nothing to do with the peanut butter recall that happened recently, although both were related to salmonella

So far, no illnesses have been reported.

At this time of posting there is no mention of the problem on the Setton Farms website.

David Letterman Reveals He Secretly Got married

Celebrity marriages are all the go.

Now we hear David Letterman has tied the knot with his longtime girlfriend Regina Lasko at the Teton County Courthouse in Choteau, Montana.

The two met about 10 years ago when she worked for him on his TV show. Regina is the mother of his son, Harry, born in November 2003.

On his TV show he explained that the family's truck got stuck in the mud en route to the courthouse and he had to walk two miles back to the house in a 50 mph wind." He said. "It's not Beverly Hills -- it's Montana.

"And the whole way, I'm thinking, 'See, smart ass, see you try to get married and this is what happens'".

After getting his car from home, five-year-old son Harry says, "'Are we still going into town?'. He got very upset because mom had told him if I wasn't back in an hour, the deal was off."

Before this Letterman was married for seven years to Michelle Cook who had been his childhood sweetheart.

Bruce Willis marries his girlfriend

Bruce Willis has married Emma Heming, the girlfriend he’s been dating since last year.

The ceremony took place at Willis’ home in the Turks & Caicos on Saturday.

Those beautiful islands are situated 575 miles southeast of Miami and 39 miles south east of Mayaguana in the Bahamas.

They were all there...Willis’ daughters, Rumor, 20, Scout, 17, and Tallulah Belle, 14, and their mother, Willis' ex. Demi Moore, along with her current husband Ashton Kutcher. Some say Madonna was among the guests, others say she wasn’t. Who cares?

It seems the couple will be having a civil ceremony when they return to California.

The wedding coincided with Willis's birthday: he became 54 two days before the wedding. Heming is 32. Hope he can keep up with her. Hate him to Die Hard.

Also looks like there’s another Hollywood wedding on the horizon. Apparently 66 year-old Harrison Ford is said to have popped the question to 44 year-old “Ally McBeal” star Calista Flockhart on Valentines Day.

They have been together for seven years and have a son together so good to see Harrison doing the right thing.

Mr. Belvedere Comes to DVD

The TV sitcom Mr. Belvedere has at long last been released on DVD featuring the first two seasons of the series.

The series ran in the U.S. from 1985 to 1990.

It starred the late Christopher Hewett as Mr. Belvedere, a well-travelled Englishman who responds to a housekeeping ad for the Owens family in a suburb of Pittsburgh.

Much to the dismay of the father George and to the delight of the three children he awards himself the job.

It was all about growing up and getting on with each other.

Belvedere’s role expanded way beyond being the butler while all the father, (a sports columnist), seemed to do was whine all the time

As each episode ended Belvedere would write the lessons that had been learned that day in his diary.

The series never excelled in the ratings yet it gathered enough followers for it to last six seasons all up.

The episodes are uncut on the DVDs with a special feature being a 15 minute “Making Of” featuring new interviews with four of the surviving cast members.

“MR. BELVEDERE SEASONS 1 & 2” is now released from Shout Factory.

Mixed Martial Arts Hero "Mask" Dies in Ferrari Crash

From small beginnings Mixed Martial Arts (MMI) has become a billion dollar business.

Its first appearance on network TV in June delivered 3 million households to the CBS network.

The sport mixes the moves of boxing, kick-boxing, wrestling, judo, jujitsu and other fighting formats.

It's played in an eight-sided ring which is enclosed by chain-link fencing which is why it's commonly referred to as cage fighting.

U.S. Senator John McCain once described it as "human cockfighting." In fact, it's illegal in 18 states.

The combatants are minimally protected, barefoot and wearing only boxer boxing shorts and padded fingerless gloves.

As the sport attracted more and more mainstream followers companies manufacturing and selling an ever-growing array of products aimed at the fans popped up.

One of those companies is California based TapouT that boasts a line of clothing, a magazine and even a reality TV show.

The faces of the brand are known as the TapouT crew who have big persona similar to wrestlers. Their leader and founder was known simply as "Mask". His real name was Charles Lewis Jnr.

I say "was" because he has just been killed when his speeding red Ferrari crashed into a light pole near Newport Beach, Cal.

Reports say he was street racing with a white 1977 Porsche. A female passenger in his car, believed to have been his girlfriend, was taken to hospital with broken bones including a broken arm.

The driver of the Porsche didn't stop but was arrested along with a woman passenger by police a little distance away.

Could have been a lot worse as the incident happened in a suburban area where there can be a lot of people about.Lucky it was 1am.

Michael Jackson - The Final Moonwalk?

Michael Jackson was white faced when he got up to announce the dates for his "This Is It!" concerts in London.

Was he nervous?

Oh. No. Wait. He always looks like that.

He did look pretty cheerful for a guy who hasn't had a major tour for ten years and has been pursued in that time by accusations of being a pedophile, being mentally unstable and being broke .

Anyway it seems the shows are going to be at the O2 Arena. The first one is July 8th, and he’ll perform every other night

Until July 18th with a day’s rest between every show. Then he’ll take a four-night break before his next date, July 22nd.

After that, only three shows remain: July 24th, 26th and 28th.

Well, he is 50 and probably needs some recovery time.

He announced: “This is it. I just want to say these will be my final show performances in London. I’ll be performing the songs my fans want to hear — this is it. This is really it. This is the final curtain call.”

Yes. We believe you, Michael.

Well there have been no mention of plans to perform anywhere else.

And are people still interested in going to see the man-child perform?

Sure looks that way. Over a million people have signed up for an early chance at getting tickets.

Meantime, cashing in on the second coming of Michael, American Idol decided to have the top thirteen contestants sing Michael Jackson songs.

A big risk, because, having hosted Karoake shows, I know no-one can sing a Michael Jackson song like Michael Jackson.

Want a rumour? OK. Michael Jackson is planning his own US reality TV show.

Unreal.