The Milestone Mo-Tel today. Winners get one free night. Losers get two. (That's the second time we've used that joke today.) If the whole world loves a winner, we have a weekend full of love ahead of us. Let's get started! The most obvious winners will be declared Thursday when either Clint Robertson or Brandy Kuentzel wins the right to become Donald Trump's latest Apprentice for one year. (We hope that the loser isn't stuck for two years ...) One of the three remaining teams on "The Amazing Race" will win a million smackers on Sunday. (Perhaps eating that sheep's head may have been worth it.) It's almost guaranteed that none of these winners will make Barbara Walters' list of the year's "Most Fascinating People," (most fascinating to her, anyway ...) but we’ll find out for sure Thursday. (Our guess for #1 on her list? The cameraman who smears the Vaseline all over the lens that photographs her.) And on Friday, they'll be handing out the Nobel Prizes. The Nobels aren't like the Oscars; everyone already knows who won and the winners have actually accomplished something that matters, rather than playing loveable oddballs. Saturday we'll see some sports winners. In the afternoon, someone (Cam Newton? Andrew Luck? LaMichael James?) will win the Heisman Trophy as the nation's finest college football player, and in the evening, either Georges St-Pierre or Josh Koscheck will take the welterweight championship at UFC 124 in Montreal. We assume the combatants will not resort to wheeling around the ring in roller skates, but while it would be appropriate (given that Thursday marks the anniversary of their 1884 patent), we'd have to warn them that such a thing would be just plain dangerous.) Sunday also marks the 10th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in Bush v. Gore, which ensured that George W. Bush became the nation's 43rd president. Whether that made the country a winner or a loser, we'll leave up to you. Falling into a similar category is Larry King's retirement from his CNN talk show on Friday. (As with President Bush, we won't say whether that's a plus or a minus.) Weary travelers were winners 85 years ago Sunday, when the Milestone Mo-Tel, the world's first motel (short for "motor hotel"), opened in San Luis Obispo, California. If we stretch the definition of "winner" to include those whose birthdays fall this weekend, then we're lousy with winners. For example, Thursday sees the birthdays of both Margaret Hamilton (1902) and Redd Foxx (1922). Hamilton is best known for her role as the Wicked Witch of the West in the 1939 classic, "The Wizard of Oz." Despite her indelible portrayal of one of the screen's great villains, Hamilton loved children and was a lifelong advocate for charities that benefitted kids and animals. Foxx was someone whose work, on the other hand, was decidedly not for kids. A veteran of the black vaudeville entertainment venues known as the "Chitlin' Circuit," Foxx recorded a series of "party records" in the 1950s that were both filthy and hilarious. He reached a mainstream fame in the '70s when he starred in "Sanford and Son," where his frequent feigned heart attacks were one of the show's running gags. In a supreme irony, he suffered an actual heart attack while rehearsing for another television show, but no one believed was it real until it was too late. Sunday would have been the 95th birthday of Frank Sinatra. The greatest popular singer of the 20th century, Sinatra was also an Oscar-winning actor, starred in numerous TV specials that consisted of nothing but him singing with his guests, and was the biggest attraction in Las Vegas when that title actually meant something. Monday, we celebrate the 192nd birthday of Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of Abraham Lincoln who was criticized in her time for her extravagant and spendthrift ways, and committed to a psychiatric hospital by her son Robert. While she was undoubtedly depressed, wouldn't any woman who’d lived through the death of three sons and the murder of her husband (while sitting next to him) feel the same? She was eventually declared competent and released, but her health was broken, and she died three years later. If birthday celebrants are winners, so too are those is show business who meet success, like performers and lovers of country music, who can celebrate the 83rd anniversary of the first broadcast of the Grand Ole Opry on Friday. The Opry has been a staple of radio and television in the decades since it debuted, highlighting the best in country, from Hank Williams and Minnie Pearl to Clint Black and Carrie Underwood. Someone who's appeared at the Opry (but has yet to be inducted into its member ranks) is Taylor Swift. Perhaps the Opry has been waiting for her to turn 21 - in which case, it need wait no longer! The Grammy-winning singer reaches her majority on Monday. Thursday will see the annual airing of the Rankin-Bass animated Christmas special, "The Year without a Santa Claus," which features memorable turns by Snow Miser and Heat Miser (who are also not members of the Opry). Friday is also the 55th anniversary of the "Mighty Mouse Playhouse's" television premiere. In TV's early days, broadcasters were desperate for material to air, so old movies and cartoons were natural fodder, and Paul Terry's "Mighty Mouse" cartoons were some of the oddest programs to come to the screen. Mini operatic melodramas, they featured the eponymous rodent singing his was through battles with the villainous Oil Can Harry. Mighty made a brief comeback in the 80s in a brilliant TV series produced by Ralph Bakshi, but he's been in retirement since self-appointed censor Donald Wildmon mistook the mouse's flower sniffing for drug use. (No, really.) Wildmon isn't the only well-intentioned, if-misguided, protector we mention, though, since Thursday is the anniversary of the founding of the John Birch Society, which has been protecting Americans from the Communists lurking under their beds for 52 years. Legitimate do-gooders have something to celebrate this weekend, too. Thursday is the U.N's annual International Anti-Corruption Day, dedicated to wiping out, well, corruption and promoting the rule of law, and Friday is both Human Rights Day and the beginning of Human Rights Week. We end by noting a delightful juxtaposition on Thursday. December 9, 1792, saw the first cremation in America, when statesman Henry Laurens died at his plantation in Charleston, South Carolina, and per his will, his body was burned. On the same date in 1886, Clarence Birdseye, inventor of frozen food was born. We're reminded of the choice Curly Howard was given in a Three Stooges short: to be burned at the stake or to have his head cut off. He opted for the former, on the reasoning that a hot stake's better than a cold chop. Good night! Suggested Sites... NBC: The Apprentice - Trump's hair; you're fired! CBS: The Amazing Race - who will be eliminated -- next? UFC 124 - they're at it yet again. The Very First Motel - the story of the Milestone. Sinatra.com - the Chairman of the Board.

Directory categories: Reality TV, College Football, Al gore, Hotels and Motels, Country Musicians

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All right; so those weren't Oscar Wilde's last words - but they should have been We'll start the day by mentioning three of the wittiest men who ever lived. It's the birthday of both Jonathan Swift (b. 1667) and Mark Twain (b. 1835), and the anniversary of the death in 1900 of Oscar Wilde. Swift was the Irish cleric and satirist who wrote "A Modest Proposal" (which purportedly advocated that the cure for Irish economic woes was selling its children to be eaten) and "Gulliver's Travels" (which started out as a satire of European politics, but has evolved to become fodder for Jack Black to show once again how annoyingly unfunny he is). We've written about Twain in previous Sparks, but we’ll add once again that his "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" is considered by many to be the "Great American Novel," and that his autobiography was published a couple of weeks ago. Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was one of Ireland and England's most celebrated wits, with an epigram for every occasion. He wrote plays, books, and poems, including one of the most perfect comedies ever, "The Importance of Being Earnest." In 1895, at the height of his fame, he was arrested and tried for his homosexuality, and eventually sentenced to two years of hard labor. A broken man by the time he was released in 1897, he left London, ending his days in a  shabby Parisian hotel. On a less gloomy Gallic note, we note that on this day in 1886, the Folies Bergère staged its first revue. The theatre was dedicated to music hall and vaudeville-type performances, and in its time has featured such stars as Charlie Chaplin, W.C. Fields, Elton John, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra, and even Benny Hill. If you're looking for racier entertainment, we can point you to a double shot today, as CBS will air the annual "Victoria's Secret Fashion Show," and the 2011 Pirelli calendar will be released. The TV show, a parade of beautiful women walking the runway in their underwear is a beloved holiday tradition for men (and lingerie-loving women) everywhere, while the Pirelli calendar offers many of the same models, only sans the underwear, in artistic photos. (We'd offer more links to the calendar, but this is a family-friendly blog, after all.) We're so family-friendly, that we'll offer some programming to counter the fashion show. Tonight also brings the annual airing of the stop-motion animated classic, "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and NBC's special "Christmas in Rockefeller Center," which will feature appearances by Susan Boyle, Mariah Carey, Sheryl Crow, Jackie Evancho, Josh Groban, Annie Lennox, Kylie Minogue, and Jessica Simpson The extravaganza will climax with the lighting of the Center's tree (this year, it's a 74-foot Norway spruce from Mahopac, New York). The weather forecast for New York on Tuesday evening calls for rain and a low of 53°F, not exactly winter weather, so we guess it's appropriate that the U.N.'s Climate Change Conference is being held this week in sunny Cancun, Mexico (Tuesday's forecast high: 82°F). Speaking of "hot," Tuesday is the 28th anniversary of the release of Michael Jackson's "Thriller," which became the biggest-selling album of all time, in addition to inspiring prisoners around the globe to replicate Jacko's signature moves. As unique as Michael Jackson in their own ways were Winston Churchill and Irma S. Rombauer. Churchill was the Nobel Prize-winning author, historian, orator, and two-time British Prime Minister who led his country through World War II (and was promptly bounced out of office afterward as thanks) and whose 136th birthday occurs today. Rombauer was the St. Louis teacher and housewife whose cooking classes were so popular that, on this day in 1931, she self-published her book of recipes under the title "The Joy of Cooking." The book has never been out of print, and although it has undergone numerous revisions and alterations in the decades since, it remains one of America's favorite cookbooks. Finally, we remind you that today is Computer Security Day, so take a moment to check your security settings and virus updates, won't you? We want to see you back safely next time. Suggested Sites... After Reading: Prison, Publication, and Personal Letters - letters to and from Oscar Wilde after his release from prison. Folies Bergere Stages First Revue - a show featuring "scantily clad chorus girls" was "a tremendous success." Boy, times sure have changed ... CBS: Victoria's Secret Fashion Show - ... yep, they sure have. Wikipedia: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Special - is it Hermie the Elf, or Herbie? About.com: Computer Safety Tips - stay virtually safe.

Directory categories: Authors, Playwrights, Paris, Rockefeller Center, Cookbooks

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Bobby Sherman's autobiography, "Still Remembering You" (From Yahoo! Shopping) Today we note the 66th birthday of Bobby Sherman. For those of you who are not of a certain age, that name will mean little. But if you were a teenager (particularly a teenage girl) in the 1960s, that name will bring back a flood of memories, for Mr. Sherman was a teen idol, beloved by kids and parents for his "non-threatening good looks" (to quote Marge Simpson) and such hit records as "Julie, Do Ya Love Me?" and "Easy Come, Easy Go." Bobby was hardly the first teen idol. The fad goes back to at least the 1940s, when bobby-soxers went wild for Frank Sinatra. In the '50s, when rock and roll was getting started, it seemed like there was a new sensation every five minutes. (I'm lookin' at you, Fabian, Frankie, and Bobby ... ) But, with Sherman’s birthday in mind, I remembered how the teenage girls I knew in those days were gaga over him, and that got me to wondering who my fellow Yahoo!s were crushing on in their own formative years. (Myself, I was crazy for Diana Rigg, aka Mrs. Emma Peel of "The Avengers." There was something innovative and appealing about a beautiful woman in a cat suit who could hold her own in a fight -- and probably kick your behind.) With that little tidbit revealed, I'd like to turn matters over to my fellow Yahoo!s, as they bravely reveal just who it was who made their adolescent pulses beat a little faster. Jasmin: When I was a teenager, I was deeply, madly, in love with Dean Cain. He was starring as Clark Kent/Superman on "Lois and Clark," and man, could he rock a spandex unitard. My friends would all congregate to watch the show, and squeal and giggle. I bought the boxed set last year, and I still find myself giggling like I'm thirteen again. Helene: My teen idol had a mullet (he still does), would always get half-naked, and didn’t talk much, but he turned ice-skating from a succession of “Swan Lake” ice skaters in tight pants into real fun on the ice. I’m probably the only one who still remembers him, but he won two medals at the Olympics in 1994 and 1998. My husband always made fun of my crush for Philippe Candeloro, until I revealed to my laughing audience that my ice skater with his mullet was still better than his own teen idol with a wig -- Elton John. Heather: I had several teen crushes, but the one that I remember most distinctly was Jonathan Jackson in "Camp Nowhere." Those dreamy eyes had me captivated for hours, imagining ways I might accidentally bump into him one day, where he’d magically realize he was madly in love with me (and my geeky glasses). Sarah H.: I loved David Bowie in the 80's. I went to Berlin because of him (not completely stalkerish -- he and Lou Reed had already left). I wrote my senior thesis ("From Stardust to Moonlight" -- a masterpiece!) about him. I sent him birthday cards (January 8), and wrote him poetry (nope, not gonna share). Never did buy "Bowie Bonds," though ... Mahlon: Totally Ewan McGregor! I had a huge crush on him during his "Shallow Grave"/"Trainspotting" years. Suzi: Don Johnson was just the coolest. Those sockless outfits and deck shoes were the bomb. And his TV character had a pet alligator named Elvis. Who can beat that? Andrea: I was twelve at the height of my "romance" with Harrison Ford. I had this "Empire Strikes Back" poster (from Pringles!) that showed Han Solo and Princess Leia gazing at each other in that pivotal scene just before Solo got (sob!) frozen in carbonite. I’d stand before that poster and grieve over Solo's fate and relive that moment when Leia told him, "I love you" and he responded (rogue-like but with a hint of tenderness), "I know." I loved him, too! Such dreamy plans I had then for my future with Harrison Ford ... Jessica: I wanted Christian Slater's Hard Harry to Gleam my Cube, Kuff me, and call me "Heather." Also, I had a childhood crush on Derek from "Barbie and the Rockers." (Yes, he was a plastic doll.) Liz: Like thousands of other teenage girls in the '80's, I had a big poster on my wall of George Michael in his Wham! Days. But in the interest of truly embarrassing myself, I will confess that I had a mad crush on Bruce Willis, and actually went out and purchased his album. Ann: My teen crush was Keanu Reeves -- not much by way of acting chops, but he sure is nice to look at! Thanks to teen mags (this was pre-Internet ...), I found out he was into Shakespeare and liked to disappear on his motorcycle for lengths of time. Mike M.: I suppose my teen crush would have to be judged on the number of wall posters I purchased of my favorite lovely ladies: Christie Brinkley: 1; Samantha Fox: 1, Apollonia: 1 (yes, Apollonia); Kathy Smith: 2; Heather Thomas: 3. Yup, I'm going to have to go with Heather Thomas. She was one of the many rad reasons I watched "The Fall Guy." Cathleen: In high school, I was obsessed with Jason Priestley. Even though all my friends preferred the bad boy Luke Perry, my closet doors were covered with Brandon posters. I loved his serious, studious persona and over-styled hair. Richard: Patti LuPone. Dave T.: I had a real thing for Daisy Duke and Heather Thomas, but the mainstay for me was pop diva Kylie Minogue. (Please note this was not saucy-sophisticated 1999 Kylie, this was wholesome, frizzy-haired, straight-out-of-a-soap-opera 1985 Kylie.) Michelle: I thought at the time I was equally in love with Prince and Michael Jackson -- but Michael was the only star who made it onto my wall. I had a dreamy poster of him in a pale yellow sweater in my room for years! Mike W.: Mine would be Eddie Furlong. I think it was the way he was the general to lead the resistance against Skynet, and also that dreamy hair…. (P.S. I once wrote a 30 page fantasy short story about meeting him; what can I say, I was 15 ...) Sarah L.: My first teen idol was Mark-Paul Gosselaar, aka "Zack" from "Saved by the Bell." I don't know if it was the blond hair, the high-top shoes, the abnormally large cell phone (before it was cool or commonplace to have one), or the bad boy antics (like holding a belated surprise party for a friend in the principal's office or manipulating a teachers' strike to get out of school), but I had posters of him from "Tiger Beat" all over my room. Eugenia: Your teen idol might have had impeccable hair or adorable dimples, but can he make an airplane disappear? Can he walk through the Great Wall of China? Float over the Grand Canyon? I didn’t think so! My teen idol, David Copperfield, has yours beat in magical powers, which makes it that much more embarrassing for me to admit my adoration for the "illusionist." Knowing that there was no way I could save up enough money to attend one of his shows, I made my family and relatives watch his many television specials instead. Lydia: My teen crush is still my current crush -- Johnny Depp (much better to admit that then my second teen crush, Donny Walberg, of NKOTB fame). There’s really no need to explain why Johnny is anybody's crush. Brian: Tiffani Amber Thiessen! Kelly Kapowski on "Saved by the Bell" was "so fine" when I was 13. Donnalyn: I had a huge crush on Michael J. Fox in the movie "Back to the Future." I even wore a similar denim jacket and Chuck's All-Stars to show off my teen obsession. Ugh. Adrianna: My first crush was Leonardo DiCaprio. As all my summer camp friends were pouring over the latest issue of "Bop", I saw Leo there, who at the time was best known for his role in "What's Eating Gilbert Grape." My friends agreed to let me tear out his picture (since he was not a known cutie), and I hung it on my wall. In 1997, "Romeo + Juliet" came out and DiCaprio was catapulted into pre-teen sex symbol status, but I liked him before anyone else! Mitzi: OMG, I may have had a crush on Bobby Sherman! I loved "Here Come the Brides." Of course, I had crushes on all the Beatles and the Monkees, but my first teen crush with posters on the wall, would have to be ... drum roll ... Jack Wild, of "Oliver!" and "Pufnstuff" fame. I mean, how can you resist the Artful Dodger? This was probably hanging on my wall. Don't judge me! I won’t judge you, but I do dare you, the reader, to post your own teen idol -- or are you chicken? Suggested Sites... Bobby Sherman.com - official site for today's birthday boy and inspiration. Teen Idols 4 You - really? This is the best the 21st century can do? Wikipedia: Teen Idol - a nice little intro to the topic. Mortified - it's bad enough we confess this stuff here. These folks do it live on stage. Kid's Health: Crushes - how to deal with them.

Directory categories: Teenagers, Teenage Girls' Magazines, Actors, Musical Artists, Music in the 1960s

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