Hot Seller: Order the 2009 Sarah Palin Calendar

Sarah Palin was one of the hottest news topics of 2008 (in more ways that one), so it's no surprise that the 2009 Sarah Palin Calendar has become a big seller this holiday season. You can order a copy (or two, or three) at the official Sarah Palin Calendar Web site, www.sarahcalendar.com, or at Amazon.com (use the Search box at right).

It's currently the second best-selling calendar on Amazon.com, according to one news story. The 2009 Sarah Palin Calendar is a 9 x 12," 13-month wall calendar that is said to feature more than 50 photos of the governor and her family, and it was created by Alaska photographer Judy Patrick.

You can buy the Sarah Palin Calendar at Judy Patrick's official order site above. The calendar is $15.95 and, you betcha, it's produced and printed in the good ol' USA! No indication of whether it includes recipes for mooseburgers or caribou stew or anything like that. But you're sure to see photos of Palin's adorable kids, and maybe some shots of Todd Palin, the first dude, on his snowmachine.

Montauk Monster Wins Awards, Stars in TV Commercial

The Montauk Monster is proving to be more than a one-season wonder. Now there are awards and maybe a TV commercial! After all the intense interest in Monty during this past summer, when the monster washed up on a beach in Montauk, New York, the attention died down during the Fall, with Monty keeping a low profile. But the Montauk Monster is back in the news as Winter sets in, capturing the coveted "WTF of the Year" title at the URLie awards.

I lobbied hard to have John McCain name Monty as his running mate, and even (prematurely) wrote a post saying that Monty had been picked as VP. And of course who can forget the Montauk Monster chilling with his celebrity buddies?

Now it seems Monty is doing commercials (see below), specifically a German Volkswagen ad. The dog-fish in the spot bears too much of a resemblance to the Montauk Monster to be a coincidence. But is it Monty or a celebri-creature lookalike? If that's not Monty in the ad, he should sue Volkswagen for unauthorized impersonation!

Bristol Palin's Mother-In-Law Arrested on Drug Charges

If you thought the odd saga of Sarah Palin and her family couldn't get any stranger, it has. Sherry Johnston, the future mother-in-law of Bristol Palin, has been busted in Alaska on drug charges... six felony drug counts, in fact.

In case you erased her name from your memory after the election, Bristol Palin is one of the five children of Alaska Governor and former Republican VP candidate Sarah Palin. It came out during the campaign that Bristol was pregnant with the child of her boyfriend Levi Johnston.

Police say the arrest of Levi's mother Sherry Johnston came after a lengthy undercover investigation. The charges are said to be related to the prescription painkiller OxyContin.

With the baby of Bristol and Levi due any day now, the arrest of the 42-year-old Mrs. Johnston should make for interesting conversation between the two grandmothers, one a governor and the other an accused felon.

You can't make this stuff up. Well, you could, but no one would believe you.

Burger King Cologne and Other Tales from the "WTF?!" Files

When I first heard that a Burger King cologne was being sold, I assumed it was a joke. Turns out I was only half wrong: Burger King is not creating a cologne, but it is coming out with a body spray. Yes, it's going to be burger-scented, and it's called Flame. Really. No kidding.

Or maybe some kidding: considering BK's wacky TV commercials with a guy dressed up in that scary-looking King outfit, maybe this is all just a big PR stunt by Burger King. Flame body spray could well be a limited-distribution product designed to create publicity and sell burgers, not body spray. Just look at the company's promotion for the product, which says it offers "the scent of seduction with a hint of flame-broiled meat."

Decide for yourself by checking out the official Burger King Flame body spray Web site, www.firemeetsdesire.com.

In a news story that redefines "moving violation," a Cleveland Browns fan was stopped by police last month for driving a sofa outfitted with a converted riding mower to a game. The fan will appear in court on Tuesday on charges of driving an unregistered vehicle and having expired license plates.

Some odd people feel that holiday season is a time for giving to themselves... especially when it comes to giving themselves a baby Jesus from a public nativity scene. So churches and other organizations are using GPS tracking to track down the baby Jesus figures that people have walked off with. It's working pretty well, it seems. Synagogues are also finding GPS helpful for tracking down menorahs that are stolen during the Hannukah.

Iraqi Man Throws His Shoes at Bush

In a truly odd incident, an Iraqi man threw both of his shoes at the head of President Bush (video below) when the prez was in Baghdad holding a press conference with Iraqi leader Nuri al-Maliki. The Bush shoe thrower, whom some sources said was a journalist, also shouted in Arabic, "This is a farewell ... you dog!" Bush ducked both shoes, and the man was dragged off screaming.

It is considered an insult in Islam to throw a shoe at someone, or even to sit so that the sole of one's shoe faces another person. Bush made light of the shoe-throwing incident, saying "That was a size 10 shoe he threw at me, you may want to know."

Maybe journalists at Iraqi press conferences should be asked to remove their shoes, as U.S. airline passengers are forced to do before boarding planes?

Bettie Page, the Original Pinup Girl, Dies at Age 85

Bettie Page, the original pinup girl whose racy photos created a stir back in the 1950s, has died at the age of 85. Back in the conservative days of the Eisenhower administration, Bettie Page caused a sensation by posing in the buff, in various bondage positions, and in naughty-but-nice poses that combined girl-next-door innocence with brazen sexuality. She was often credited for setting the stage for the sexual revolution of the 1960s.

Bettie Page died Thursday, December 11th in Los Angeles. Her agent announced her passing on her official Web site, www.bettiepage.com.

Page had undergone a surge of interest in the last two decades, and had a cult following. An authorized biography, “Bettie Page: The Life of a Pin-Up Legend,” was published in 1996, and she was the subject of the movie “The Notorious Bettie Page” two years ago, which starred Gretchen Mol as Page.

Ironically, Page voluntarily left public view in the late 1950s, and pretty much disappeared from public view. In that time she went through a variety of life changes, from failed marriages to mental illness to becoming a born-again Christian.