Today, an actor in one of my all-time favorite comedies died. Harvey Korman, who made his name on "The Carol Burnett Show" in the 1960s and 1970s, passed away in Los Angeles at the age of 81, after suffering from an aneurysm many months ago.

But he will be fondly remembered for his tremendous role as the evil Hedley Lamarr in the classic Mel Brooks comedy, "Blazing Saddles." It is one of the best comedy films of all time (in my humble opinion). Whenever anyone called him "Hedy Lamarr," he'd get indignant and exclaim, "No, that's Hedley!!" (The actress Hedy Lamarr actually sued Mel Brooks over the reference, and it was later settled out of court.)

One of my favorite Hedley lines from the film:
"You will be risking your lives, whilst I will be risking an almost-certain Academy Award nomination for the Best Supporting Actor. "

You can tell Tim Duncan was really fired up for this commercial. And Manu? Well, all I can say is that if you were wondering what to get him for his next birthday, I'd go with balloons.

The Gunn people knew following up that commercial was going to be hard. I mean, what could be better and funnier than Manu Ginobili? Why, two Manu Ginobilis of course! This is the same theory that says that if one Leprechaun movie was good, six Leprechaun movies would be Princess Leia in the gold bikini good!

This commerical for Turkey's Dimes Fruit Juice truly redefines the word "korkunç." Forget Russell versus Chamberlain or Magic versus Bird; this is Mehmet Okur versus Mehmet Okur. I hate to ruin the surprise for you, but Mehmet Okur wins.

Of course, the real winner is anybody who drinks Dimes. Seriously, I think Memo had a drinkgasm at the end of this clip. Have you ever in your entire life seen a look of such totally refreshed satisfaction on a human face? If you said yes, you're lying.

I was saddened to learn today of the passing of legendary TV comedian Dick Martin, who passed away due to respiratory problems at the age of 86. He will forever be remembered in teaming up with Dan Rowan to form "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In," which was a classic comedy hour that was filled with all kinds of sketch comedy, one-liners and political and risque humor, and made stars of people like Goldie Hawn, Ruth Buzzi, Henry Gibson, Arte Johnson and Joanne Worley.

The show ran from January 1968 until it was canceled in May 1973. I was a faithful viewer of the show even in my youth (I was a hip kid), as my TV was always on NBC every Monday night at 8 PM. In their openers, Rowan played the exasperated "straight man" to Martin's "dumb guy," and it made some classic humor.

My favorite Dick Martin character was "Ferd Berfel," the neighbor in a recurring sketch, "The Farkel Family." Every show would end with Rowan saying "Say good night, Dick," to which Martin would always say, "Good night Dick."

Here is a YouTube clip of one of Rowan and Martin classic openers:

My dear friend Tracy, who lives in England, sent me this hysterical parody of "The 12 Days of Christmas" by an Irish actor named Frank Kelly, which I though I'd share with all of you. There's no video, just audio. But it's really funny.

While we take some time to celebrate the arrival of a new year, a look back to a magical night of hockey 32 years ago tonight...

Have a Happy New Year!

Hey, The Big Guy didn't just give the Celtics two future hall of famers for a bunch of crap and Al Jefferson. The Almighty One is also using the weather to abuse the fans of opposing teams. Man, that's superdickery on a grand and cosmic scale. I mean, as if Nets and Knicks fans hadn't already suffered enough...

As for this one...well, I don't know if it's for real, but I like it.

Well, not really. My friend John in Omaha, NE sent me this very funny YouTube clip of that video that The Texas Con Man put out on the Internet back in December after the Mitchell Report first came out where he absolutely denied everything regarding his alleged steroid use.

This clip is a very funny and creative edit, and in honor of Clemens' Congressional appearance today, I thought you might enjoy this,which lasts a little less than a minute and a half.

Project Strike Life presents their latest video. Producers, Chris Nolan and Laurie Nolan.

Today marks a very special day in the history of New York City. The Brooklyn Bridge officially opened on this day in 1883, so the iconic landmark that is New York turns 125.

The bridge is still incredibly beautiful, and I have crossed it numerous times. Walking across it is still one of the joys of being in New York. In April 2007, I had a number of photos taken of me for an article about Red Sox fans around the world for Red Sox Nation magazine. The picture included here was one of those taken, but it wasn't used in the magazine.

For more on the Brooklyn Bridge and its history, go here. (You may also notice I have the Brooklyn Bridge as my title picture of this blog. It's simply a stunning picture and I had to use it.)

There have been a number of celebrations marking this special anniversary, including a fireworks show over the East River the other night. Here is some of it, as captured through YouTube:

A few weeks ago, I decided to put up a section right above the countdown clock called "Words to Live By." I was watching the movie "The Shawshank Redemption" (a great film), when I heard the line from Andy Dufresne to his buddy Red in a letter he left him under a tree about "hope being a good thing." I have always been a fan of quotes and quotations, so I decided to leave Andy's hope quote on my blog.

Since then, I have put new quotes in there every few days. The quotes are about anything, including baseball. I have been changing them randomly. The quote up there now is the famous speech James Earl Jones makes to Kevin Costner in "Field of Dreams" about why he should not sell his farm. I got to thinking last night, with spring training baseball just under way, why not put up the clip on YouTube from the movie?

So, here it is. In honor of the Red Sox first spring training game (against MLB competition), here is all 43 seconds of it.

A nice warm thought on a cold, Leap Day in February.

Hilary Swank stops by as a Mystery Taster:

Interview with The Rock:

The other night I was surfing the web when I came across this very special clip from YouTube. It is of Ian Hunter, the legendary singer and guitarist from Mott The Hoople, and a song he wrote a few years ago called "Twisted Steel." It is a tribute to the 9/11 victims, and Ian and myself both have something in common regarding it.

Ian also knew my friend Joyce, because he is married to her cousin.

Here it is, in all its glory: the 30 minute Two Towers, as written and performed by the Dartmouth Forensic Union and the Dartmouth Physics Department.

That's me as Gandalf, Faramir, a few random orcs, and the stunt double for Sam.

I knew it was a good sign when the AMPTP resorted to buying full-page newspaper ads last week. Because you know who has to buy full-page newspaper ads? People who have grounded tankers spilling crude into a bay. People who have stepped in it. Even the font looked guilty. We're in a negotiation over the digital future, and they take out a newspaper ad? Maybe these guys actually can't figure out the Internet. And speaking of that ad, this video by Tim Carvell shows you the reality of digital download residuals:

Let's hope when conglomerates waddle back to the table on 11/26 they bring more than an "imaginary offer."

Kiss Cam (kis kam) noun. An entertaiment feature used during various sporting events in which couples -- usually one man and one woman -- are shown on an arena's JumboTron and then encouraged to kiss by the rabid and voyeuristic crowd.

Usage example: From The Canadian Press: "During a 'Kiss Cam' segment, (Josh) Childress stuck out his tongue with a wide-eyed look and leaned toward (Tyson) Chandler when the pair were shown standing next to each other near the scorer's table."

Taylor Ware, a yodeler who appeared on America's Got Talent, participates in Rachael's Oktoberfest celebration:

Apolo Anton Ohno interview:

The WGA waits by the negotiating table while the AMPTP is MIA. And the moguls couldn't be bothered to attend Wednesday's LA City Council meeting because they were flying off for their vacations. (from Strike Life)

Or... was it because they had some other, more important meeting to attend?

Jimmy Johnson, the Nascar Nextel Cup winner, stops by:

A girl trades in her pearl earrings for a Rachael Ray knife:

Below is the latest Strike Life video, a series of improvised shorts performed by WGA members and produced by WGA members, Chris Nolan and Laurie Nolan. Since the internet is the center of the current WGA labor strike against the Alliance Of Motion Picture & Television Producers – what better place to tell our side of the story.

See all the Strike Life videos at StrikeLife.net.

Every network that shows sporting events has music for certain sports. Right now we will look over some of the bone chilling music that gets us excited and ready to watch the sports that we love! No matter what the sport.

The Masters on CBS
The Masters isn't on CBS anymore, but here is the full length version of CBS's theme song for the annual Masters in Augusta, GA. The music is great, they don't play the guy singing for their actual theme song on TV, but I could only find the full version of the old CBS Masters Theme Song. One of my favorites...

CBS College Football

Teri Hatcher and her daughter Emerson join Rachael in her kitchen:

Rachael and Valerie reward a deserving young single father:

Survivor Host Jeff Probst:

Biggest Loser Hostess Alison Sweeney:

We had another fine turnout for Trivia on Tuesday night, as 19 teams took part in the festivities. The scores were rather low on the Oscar Trivia (I got a nice hand when I announced the category though), and no one got the five-point question about Harold Russell (although a few were close).

The scores were good for True or False, as well as for General Knowledge. We had five teams within five points of the lead going into IQ Trivia, but the leaders, Don't Tell Mom I Gave the Babysitter, had a phenomenal IQ round, getting 21 out of a possible 25 points, and would up winning by one of the largest margins in Trivia Night history, 13 points.

They were the team who finished in a tie a few weeks ago, and wound up losing on the tie-breaking Mike Lowell question. My congratulations to them on avenging that loss.

Current Events
1. Vaclav Klaus was re-elected as president of what Eastern European country last week?
2. Abraham Lincoln was selected as the greatest US president in a recent Harris Poll. What 20th century president was selected second?
3. The USDA has ordered the largest recall of this product last weekend.
4. Ryan Newman won this sporting event on Sunday, considered to be the "Super Bowl" of its sport.

Will I Am (and friends) recorded a song/video inspired by Barack Obama's "Yes, We Can" speech. Obama clearly inspires folks in a way that many candidates can't really match. This is an interesting phenomenon to watch.

...and well, from the profound to, uh, ObamaGirl is back with another hit at 1.9Million views already.

Interview with Drew Carey:

Michael Buble joins Rachael in the kitchen:

Interview with Justin Long:

Psychic Medium Rebecca Rosen:

Friday Night Lights Star Kyle Chandler:

Friday Night Lights Star Connie Britton: