Celeb Rookie Cards #32 Jared Fogle & Mark Wahlberg

They aren't perfect, but hopefully they are getting better and are enjoyable.  In either case, they are Celebrity Rookie Cards, my attempt to join the world of virtual card creations.

Jared Fogle gained fame by losing a lot of weight on his self-organized Subway sandwich diet.  I know, normally you would think I would not give more publicity to a "non-celebrity" celebrity.  However, even I can't argue with his success.  The diet worked and the ads worked.  When Subway started to go away from using Jared, the company saw sales drop.  When they brought him back, sales increased.  Go figure.  Jared donned the Colts uni for his Celebrity Rookie Card.  With the number of injuired to the Colts, maybe Fogle could help them, too.

Mark Wahlberg has come a long way from his days as Marky Mark, leader of the Funky Bunch.  Wahlberg has established himself as one of the better young actors of this era.  It was his performance as Vince Papale in Invincible which earned him his first Celeb Rookie Card.

On the Beat with Beth Horn (A Lost Interview)

While scrounging through some disks, I came across an interview I did with actress Beth Horn in 2008 at Wizard World.  It was an impromptu interview that I ultimately used for Global Traveler, although it was originally intended for a different magazine.

I had my recorder with me and I saw Horn.  I thought she would be a great fit for a specific local women's magazine in Chicago.  I approached her and she gladly gave me several minutes of her time.
We talked about her time on tv's American Gladiators, as well as her developing movie career.  She had recently just finished filming scenes for Fancy Pants, a movie which was scheduled for release, but has yet to be.  It also starred my old friends, Roddy Piper and Terry Funk.
I also discovered that Beth went to Resurrection high school on the northwest side f Chicago.  During my time at Lerner Newspapers, I am sure I saw Beth's name and picture many times in our high school sports section.
I caught up with Beth this past summer and posted the video here.  Now, if we can turn back the clock, here is my found 2008 interview with Beth Horn.

Holiday Music Part 3:Billy Joel

I can't do any music list without naming Billy Joel.  As everyone knows, I am a longtime and avid Billy Joel fan(atic).
Unfortunately, the clip below is just audio.  Billy performs a duet of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" with none other than Rosie O'Donnell.  Yes, Rosie O'Donnell.  It was on a holiday album that O'Donnell released.  It's an odd combo, but it works.

The Ex WWE Divas of 2010

Since we are coming up on the end of the year, I thought it would be interesting to see which WWE Divas the WWE let go this year...

1. Maria Kanellis
Maria Kanellis was released on February 26th.
Maria has been working on her music career and modeling since leaving the WWE, and on December 10th, she announced on her Twitter account that she would be acting in two horror films.
One of the films is allegedly a sequel to one of the worst films ever made (really, it rivals Plan 9) Manos: The Hands of Fate.
The sequel is called Manos: The Search For Valley Lodge and it also stars another ex-WWE Superstar, Gene Snitsky.
You can keep up with Maria at her Facebook page here:
http://www.facebook.com/OfficialMariaKanellis

2. Mickie James
April 22nd, Mickie James was released by the WWE.
Mickie went on into music and released her first single, "Are You With Me?", on February 16, 2010.
That was followed by her first album Strangers & Angels, on May 18, 2010, released on iTunes.
Then on December 2nd 2010, Mickie released a new country single called, "Hardcore Country".
Of course Mickie is currently working for TNA.

3. Katarina Waters
Katarina Waters (Katie Lea Burchill) was also released the same day as Mickie.
And like Mickie, she has also gone to TNA as Winter.
Currently, Winter and Angelina Love are the TNA Knockout Tag Team Champions.
But be quiet.
No one is supposed to know about that till December 23rd.

4. Angela Fong
On June 23, 2010, Angela Fong (Savannah) was released from the WWE.
A lot of people had high hopes for Savannah, especially that she might move past interviewing and get into the ring.
After all, she was the first ever Queen of FCW, a title she defended for seven months.
After her release, she did get in the ring, although working for the Indys.
On September 26, 2010 she defeated Randi West and won the vacant Ground Breaking Pro Wrestling Ladies Championship becoming their first champion.

5. Serena Deeb
August 20th, Serena Deeb was released.
Allegedly she was released for released for not "living out" her Straight Edge Society persona in public.
After her release, Serena went back to Shimmer Women Athletes and Ring of Honor.

6. Brittany Beede
On October 12th, Brittany Beede (Jamie Keyes) was released.
She really wasn't with the WWE for very long, starting in December 20, 2009.
Brittany didn't get to do much for the WWE, and that disappointed a lot of fans that were very impressed with her physique.
In November, she was in the running for Iron Man Magazine's 2011 BodySpace Spokesmodel search.

7. Jillian Hall
On November 19, 2010, Jillian Hall was released from her WWE contract.
Of course the WWE never used Jillian to her potential.
In the Indys, she has held nine Womens Championships.
So will we see her in TNA?

8. Taryn Terrell
And on that same day, Jillian was released, Taryn Terrell (Tiffany) was also released.
This supposedly stems from an event on August 8th, 2010, when she was arrested in Los Angeles County, California for domestic assault after an alleged argument with her husband Drew McIntyre (Drew Galloway).
Tiffany was released later that day on $20,000 bail and on September 26th all charges against her had been dropped.
But on November 19th, she was released from the WWE.
Besides the trouble with the WWE, Taryn also has some health issues, namely Blebs Disease (Blebs are air filled sacs which look like blisters that develop on the lungs).



The Ex WWE Divas of 2010, posted to http://beautiful-wrestling.blogspot.com/ on December 16th, 2010

Autograph Tales:Jeff Conine

I spent a lot of time sending out cards to players hoping for their autographs. In the 90's, card companies started to make my life a little easier.
The Signature Series produced by Donruss was a beautiful collection of legitimately signed cards. I am not sure how it was decided who would get cards in these sets. There were stars, average players, hot prospects and some players who didn't do much.
I didn't get many of these cards, but I got the ones I wanted. I did not want any card more than I wanted Jeff Conine. Of the many autographed items I have, Conine was not part of my collection until I landed this beauty.  Until I meet this mancrush and get an autograph inperson, this will remain the best.

Jeff Conine's 1998 Donruss Signature Series card.

Ian Ziering in Rosemont 60018

You might be reluctant to admit it, but didn't most of us watch Beverly Hills, 90210 at some point? It ran for 10 seasons and helped launch many careers. One of the co-stars was Ian Ziering, who played Steve, friend of the Walsh family.
The show ended ten years ago, but Ziering looks the same. It isn't a bad-plastic, frozen-in-time look either. Ziering looks great.
He is also a nice guy. I ran out of time one day at the show and I asked him if we could talk the next day. He readily agreed. The next day as I walked by his booth, he recognized me and waved me over.
He has just started to do a few of these conventions and says that he really enjoys them. He likes meeting the fans, meeting other celebrities and seeing different cities. He also said how much he likes Chicago.
Okay, yes, he could have just been saying the right thing, but I don't think so. His explanations, look and inflection gave me the impression that he was being completely honest. He was just fun to meet. Plus, I kept expecting Brandon or Brenda Walsh to come arond the corner and invite us both to the Peach Pit.

Ian Ziering and me in Rosemont, IL-August 2010.

Friendly Encounters

This is a weekly feature highlighting friends who have met celebs.

I recently came across a very interesting blog from a very interesting blogger.  Louis is the creator of Louis Sports Site, a cool site all about Louis and his activities.  Louis is a "kid who likes skateboarding, baseball cards, Cedar Point and hockey".  It must run in the family, because Louis's father is the man behind Core Contrarian, another excellent site.
Louis is a big fan of the Plymouth Whalers, a junior team in the Ontario Hockey League.  He goes to a lot of their games and can often be seen giving high-fives to the players as they exit the tunnel heading to the ice before games.  Louis has made quite a few friends on the Whalers.
Last May, Louis visited with some of the Whalers one last time before they headed home for the Summer.  Below is a picture of Louis with Tyler Seguin and Nick Malsya.  Seguin was drafted by the Boston Bruins and has since made his NHL debut.  Malysa is now in his second season with the Whalers.
Louis Sports Site is a full of fun.  I think it's great that Louis is doing this so well at such a young age  I look forward to seeing what Louis continues to do.  I hope Louis shares more pictures and stories about meeting his favorite players.

Tyler Seguin, Louis and Nick Malysa in Michigan-June 1010.