FREE BAND NAME IDEA

An open note to whomever thought up that disturbing band name from last week, "My Polar Bear Ex"...here's a better band name for you, taken straight from tonight's Daily Show:

"Midwestern Pot Mom Demographic"

Zing!

Current Duck Pond temperature:
17.1 C / 62.7 F

I GOT YOUR OBAMA CAMPAIGN SLOGAN RIGHT HERE:

I'd like to see somebody put this on a t-shirt (Micki could, but I know she won't)...a picture of Obama and a picture of Palin with the following caption:

"BROS BEFORE HOS!"

Current Duck Pond temperature:
16.8 C / 62.2 F

JINGLE IDEA

Call Joe the Plumber, that's the name,
And away your campaign DOWN THE DRAIN!

Current Duck Pond temperature:
17.3 C / 63.1 F

ICK

Most disturbing band name playing the Toledo area this week:

My Polar Bear Ex

That's just creepy and wrong.

Current Duck Pond temperature:
17.3 C / 63.1 F

A TEXT MESSAGE EXCHANGE WITH MY PAL NOEL:

N: "What's the difference between Sarah Palin's mouth and her vagina? Not everything that comes out of her vagina is retarded"

DS: "Well, that might be debatable"

N: "Okay you have a point"

Current Duck Pond temperature:
17.7 C / 63.8 F

EEWW

Perhaps the most disturbing period in world history was when it was almost impossible to tell John Denver and Martina Navratilova apart.

Current Duck Pond temperature:
17.1 C / 62.7 F

EDIE ADAMS
1927-2008

Today I present a video tribute Ernie Kovacs' lovely and talented widow, whose Marilyn Monroe impersonation can never be topped:



Edie was a sweetie, and she will be missed. Below is her AP obit:

***
LOS ANGELES - Actress and singer Edie Adams, the blonde beauty who won a Tony Award for bringing Daisy Mae to life on Broadway and who played the television foil to her husband, comedian Ernie Kovacs, has died. She was 81.

Ms. Adams died Wednesday in a Los Angeles hospital from pneumonia and cancer, publicist Henri Bollinger said.

A graduate of Juilliard School of Music, Ms. Adams hoped to become an opera singer but instead went on to gain fame for her sketches with Kovacs and her pivotal roles in two top Broadway musicals.

She was born Elizabeth Edith Enke in 1927 in Kingston, Pa., and grew up in Tenafly, N.J. She first attracted notice on the television show "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts." Kovacs was then performing his innovative comedy show on a Philadelphia television station, and his director saw her and invited her to audition.

"Here was this guy with the big mustache, the big cigar, and the silly hat," she recalled in 1982. "I thought, 'I don't know what this is, but it's for me.' "

When she auditioned for the Kovacs show, she knew a lot about opera but only three pop songs, she recalled. "I sang them all during the audition, and if they had asked to hear another, I never would have made it," she said.

With her innocent face and refreshing manner, Ms. Adams became the ideal partner for Kovacs's far-out humor. They eloped to Mexico City in 1954.

Kovacs moved his show - which appeared in various guises in the 1950s and early 1960s - to New York, where he became the darling of critics and discriminating viewers and hugely influential on other comedians. Both Kovacs and Ms. Adams garnered Emmy nominations in 1957 for best performances in a comedy series.

Ms. Adams found success on Broadway as well. She was acclaimed for her role as the sister to Rosalind Russell's character in the 1953 "Wonderful Town," the Comden-Green-Bernstein musical based on "My Sister Eileen." In 1957, Ms. Adams won a Tony for best featured (supporting) actress in a musical for her role as Daisy Mae in "Li'l Abner," based on Al Capp's satirical comic strip.

She and Kovacs moved to Hollywood in the late 1950s, and both became active in films.

In Billy Wilder's classic "The Apartment," the 1960 Oscar winner for best picture, Ms. Adams played the spurned secretary to philandering businessman Fred MacMurray. Among her other movies were "Lover Come Back," "Call Me Bwana" (with Bob Hope), "Under the Yum Yum Tree," "The Best Man," and "The Honey Pot."

In early 1962, Kovacs left a star-filled baby shower for Mrs. Milton Berle and crashed his car into a light pole, dying instantly. He had been a carefree gambler and profligate buyer of unneeded things. He once telephoned his wife and said he had bought the California Racquet Club, with its nightclub, shops, and mortgages.

His widow was faced with debts of $520,000, trouble with the Internal Revenue Service, and a nasty custody battle over Kovacs's daughters, Betty and Kippie, from his first marriage. She and Kovacs also had a daughter, Mia, born in 1959.

Berle, Frank Sinatra, Jack Lemmon, Dean Martin, and other stars organized a TV special to raise money for her and her daughters.

"No," she said, "I can take care of my own children."

For a solid year, she worked continuously. She did movies, TV musical revues, and a Las Vegas act where Groucho Marx introduced her with the comment: "There are some things Edie won't do, but nothing she can't do."

She won custody of her stepdaughters, tearfully telling reporters after the verdict: "This is the way Ernie would have wanted it."

Over a career that spanned some six decades, Ms. Adams also appeared in various stage productions; had a short-lived television show in 1963 that earned her two Emmy nominations; performed in nightclubs and released several albums.

In the 1980s and 1990s, she made appearances on such television shows as "Murder, She Wrote" and "Designing Women." She also played Tommy Chong's mother, Mrs. Tempest Stoner, in the first Cheech and Chong movie, "Up in Smoke," in 1978.

Over the years, she strove to keep Kovacs's comedic legacy alive by buying rights to his television shows and repackaging them for television and videocassettes.

Ms. Adams's son said her appearance in "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" with Ethel Merman, Sid Caesar, and Jonathan Winters was perhaps her fondest memory, as it was filmed just after the death of Kovacs. "She was able to laugh again for the first time," Joshua Mills, her son from her marriage to photographer Martin Mills, told the Los Angeles Times. That marriage ended in divorce as did her third marriage, to jazz trumpeter Pete Candoli, who died in January.

A daughter, Mia Kovacs, was killed in a 1982 car accident.
***

Current Duck Pond temperature:
19.0 C / 66.2 F

UNDEFEATED

I am now 1-0 in karaoke contests. Yay me. I won $25. "Winner buys drinks!" said one of my karaoke komrades. "No," I corrected him, "winner pays bills."

Current Duck Pond temperature:
22.2 C / 71.9 F

THE LIST

Last week Garry Trudeau's "Doonesbury" comic strip began listing some of the Wall Street lobbyists working for McCain, but since there apparently isn't room there to list them all, I've got them all right here for you.

Quote from the strip: "Hey, folks! Were you surprised to learn McCain has 177 lobbyists working for his campaign? Well, it gets worse...84 of those lobbyists, including his campaign manager, have lobbied for the financial industry McCain now trashes! So who are they? Well, as McCain likes to say about 'pork-barrelers,' let's make 'em famous! From the top..."

Phil Anderson: American Council of Life Insurers, Aetna, AIG, New York Life, MassMutual, VISA

Rebecca Anderson: Aegon, American Council of Life Insurers, Cigna, Barclays, Credit Suisse First Boston, HSBC

Stanton Anderson: The Debt Exchange

David Beightol: Allstate, Amerigroup, Charles Schwab, HSBC

Rhonda Bentz: VISA

Wayne Berman: American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Americhoice, Shinsei Bank, Blackstone, Carlyle Group, Broidy Capital Management, Credit Suisse Securities, Highstar Capital, VISA, Ameriquest Mortgage, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Fitch Ratings

Charlie Black: JP Morgan, Washington Mutual Bank, Freddie Mac, Mortgage Bankers Association of America, National Association of Mortgage Brokers

Judy Black: Colorado Credit Union League, Genworth Financial, Bay Harbour Management, Merrill Lynch

Kirk Blalock: Credit Union National Association, Financial Executives International, American Insurance Association, Mutual of Omaha, Zurich Financial Service Group, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco

Carlos Bonilla: Financial Services Roundtable, Freddie Mac

Christine Burgeson: Citigroup

Mark Buse: Freddie Mac, Goldman Sachs, Manufacturers Life Insurance Company

Nicholas Calio: Citigroup, Managed Fund Association, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, The Investment Company Institute, TIAA-CRE, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association

Ben Nighthorse Campbell: Amscot Financial Corporation, Community Financial Services Association, Fidelity National Financial

Andrew Cantor: American Insurance Association, Merrill Lynch

Alberto Cardenas: Fannie Mae

James Courter: Goldman Sachs, Donaldson Lufkin & Jenrette, Investment Company Institute, Merrill Lynch

David Crane: Financial Services Roundtable, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Deloitte & Touche, KPMG, Ernst & Young, Bank of America, Association of Corporate Credit Unions, Freddie Mac

Dan Crippen: Merrill Lynch, National Multi-Housing Council

Arthur Culvahouse: Fannie Mae

Bryan Cunningham: Arch Capital Group

Alfonse D'Amato: AIG, Freddie Mac

Doug Davenport: Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Goldman Sachs, VISA

Ashley Davis: Prudential Financial, American Financial Group, American Premier Underwriters, Great American Insurance Company

Mimi Dawson: MassMutual

Melissa Edwards: Freddie Mac, National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts, Access to Capital Coalition

Chris Fidler: American Bankers Association, Milcom Venture Partners, National Association Real Estate Investment Trusts

Samuel Geduldig: American Bankers Association, American Institute of CPAs, America Gains, Berkshire Hathaway, Consumer Bankers Association, Ernst & Young, Financial Services Roundtable, Investment Company Institute, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Prudential Financial, Sovereign Investment Council, Fidelity Investments, FMR Corp.

Benjamin Ginsberg: Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance, AIG Technical Services

David Girard-Dicarlo: American Financial Group, American Premier Underwriters

Juleanna Glover Weiss: RJI Capital, American Institute of CPAs, BNP Paribas, Ernst & Young, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Slade Gorton: Allstate Insurance, Hannan Armstrong Capital

Phil Gramm: UBS Americas

John Green: Laredo National Bank, Alternative Investment Management Association, AIG, Blackstone Group, Carlyle Group, Citigroup, Credit Suisse Group, Fannie Mae, Icahn Associates, FMR Corp., AFLAC, VISA

Janet Grissom: American Institute of CPAs, NYSE, Merrill Lynch

Kristen Gullott: San Diego Credit Union

Kent Hance: Stanford Financial Group, Municipal Capital Markets Group, Inc.

Vicki Hart: American Financial Services Association, Citigroup, Investment Company Institute, Lehman Brothers, Merrill Lynch, New York Stock Exchange, VISA, Carlyle Group, Credit Suisse, Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Goldman Sachs, Stanford Group, Lloyd's of London, National City Corp.

Richard Hohlt: Capmark Financial Group, Fannie Mae, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Student Loan Marketing Association, Washington Mutual, Guaranty Bank & Trust, Peachtree Settlement Funding, Dime Savings Bank of New York

Gaylord Hughey: Heartland Security Insurance Group

Kate Hull: Credit Union National Association, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Zurich Financial Services, American Insurance Association, Financial Executives International

James Hyland: American Insurance Association, Seattle Home Loan Bank, Self Help Credit Union, National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, Merrill Lynch, Mortgage Investors Corp., Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis, Freddie Mac, New York Stock Exchange, Citigroup, VISA

Aleix Jarvis: Credit Union National Association, Fannie Mae, Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, Financial Executives International, Mutual of Omaha, American Insurance Association, Zurich Financial Services

Greg Jenner: American Council of Life Insurers, JG Wentworth, UBS, VISA, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Frank Keating: American Council of Life Insurers

Steven Kuykendall: California Bankers Association

William Lesher: Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Commerce Ventures, Rabobank International

Thomas Loeffler: Citigroup, Fannie Mae, Investment Company Institute, World Savings and Loan Association, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Kelly Lugar: RJI Capital Strategies

Peter Madigan: Arthur Andersen, Bank of New York, Broadridge Securities Processing, Charles Schwab, Deloitte and Touche, Goldman Sachs, International Employee Stock Option Coalition, Mastercard, NYSE, Fannie Mae, Merrill Lynch, PNC Bank

Mary Mann: MassMutual

Paul Martino: Morgan Stanley, Baker Tilly

Jana McKeag: Venture Catalyst

Alison McSlarrow: Fannie Mae, Hartford

Mike Meece: Georgetown Partners

David Metzner: Ernst & Young, Harbinger Capital Investments, Prudential, Public Financial Management, Western Union

Susan Molinari: Freddie Mac, American Land Title Association, Association of Consumer Credit Unions, Beacon Capital Partners, College Loan Corp, Coventry First, E-Trade, Financial Services Roundtable, Rent-A-Center

John Moran: Cerberus Capital Management, American Council of Life Insurers, Accenture

John Napier: Freddie Mac

Susan Nelson: AIG, San Antonio Credit Union

Paul Otellini: Ernst & Young, Financial Services Forum

Steve Perry: Charles Schwab, Hoover Partners, HSBC, National Stock Exchange

Nancy Pfotenhauer: American Land Title Association, Mortgage Bankers Association

Elise Pickering-Finley: Credit Suisse, DE Shaw, Hartford Financial Services, Research In Motion, Retail Industry Lenders Association, URL Mutual

James Pitts: Advanced Association for Life Underwriting, AETNA, American Council of Life Insurers, AIG, Council of Insurance Agents and Brokers, Debt Advisory International, Financial Services Coordinating Council, GE Financial Assurance, Hartford Life, Jefferson Pilot Financial, Kenwood Investments, MassMutual, Mutual of Omaha, New York Life, UNUM Provident, VISA, PMI Group

Tim Powers: AP Capital, Genworth Financial, Retail Industry Lenders Association, E-LOAN, General Electric Mortgage Insurance

Walter Price: Wachovia

Sloan Rappoport: Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc. (FBR), Trafelet Delta Funds

Hans Rickhoff: Capital One, Investment Company Institute, United Services Automobile Association (USAA)

Kathleen Shanahan: New York Stock Exchange

Andrew Shore: Accenture, Retail Industry Lenders Association, Barclays, Bond Market Association, Credit Suisse, TPG Capital

Katie Stahl: Alliance for Investment Transparency, Ares Management, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Uhlmann Financial Group

Milly Stanges: TIAA-CREF

Aquiles Suarez: Fannie Mae

Don Sundquist: Freddie Mac, The Hartford

Peter Terpeluk: JP Morgan Chase, Ernst & Young, Prudential

Fred Thompson: Equitas

Jeri Thompson: American Insurance Association

John Timmons: National Association of Federal Credit Unions

William Timmons Sr.: American Council of Life Insurers, Citigroup, Dun & Bradstreet, Freddie Mac, Vanguard Group

Vin Weber: Agstar Financial Services, AKT Investment Corp., American Institute of CPAs, Ernst & Young, Freddie Mac, Louis Dreyfus Corp, PriceWaterhouseCoopers

Jeffery Weiss: JP Morgan

Tony Williams: Russell Investment Group, American Life Inc., Northwestern Mutual

Current Duck Pond temperature:
21.2 C / 70.1 F

"CANADIAN GOLD" WINS!

Congratulations to Colin Oberst, winner of CBC's Hockey Anthem Challenge. "Canadian Gold" is the new Hockey Night In Canada theme music. Said HNIC host Ron MacLean to the winner, "You made some money, you made a name for yourself, and you made a difference." (Story from CBC.ca below)

Current Duck Pond temperature:
21.1 C / 69.9 F

ALBERTA ENTRY IS GOLDEN IN HOCKEY NIGHT ANTHEM CHALLENGE
School teacher Colin Oberst takes home $100,000 and half of lifetime royalties

"Canadian Gold" is the new Hockey Night in Canada anthem.

After 14,871 entries flooded in and thousands of voters cast their ballots for each of the two finalists, a Celtic-themed piece by Beaumont, Alta.'s Colin Oberst was chosen to introduce Canada's longest-running television program.

His victory was announced on Saturday's Hockey Night broadcast featuring Toronto hosting Montreal and Vancouver in Calgary.


Colin Oberst, second from left, penned "Canadian Gold", the new Hockey Night in Canada anthem.

Toronto teenager Robert Fraser Burke's "Sticks to the Ice" finished second.

"I'm thrilled that it's an ordinary Canadian whose passion for hockey will be forever associated with the show," said Scott Moore, executive director of CBC Sports. "The process has shown the passion that Canadians have for hockey, Hockey Night in Canada and for music.

"I think it's so appropriate that such a passionate hockey fan is the final winner."

Oberst is an elementary school teacher who also doubles as an avid music writer and member of an Edmonton band.

He takes home the $100,000 top prize and half of the lifetime royalties, with the other 50 per cent invested by the CBC in minor hockey across the country.

Burke, the 13-year-old son of a music teacher, is a pianist who sings in a choir and performs in the school band.

The contest to find new theme music for Hockey Night in Canada was launched June 19 by CBC Sports after it didn't renew the rights to The Hockey Theme, which were subsequently purchased by CTV Inc.

Each of the five semifinalists in the anthem challenge were profiled on The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos and later on the Hockey Night In Canada Anthem Challenge special, when the original compositions — produced by Bob Rock, a multiple Juno Award winner — were played in their entirety.

"You just get this overwhelming sense of pride," Oberst said while working with Rock at the taping of the theme in Toronto. "Everything just jelled into this amazing song that went way over my expectations."

BAGPIPES RULE! VOTE FOR "CANADIAN GOLD"!

Dear Pond readers in Canada...go to CBCSports.ca/AnthemChallenge to vote for the new Hockey Night In Canada theme.

Kudos to 13-year-old Robert Fraser Burke for making the finals, but I strongly urge you to vote for Colin Oberst's entry, "Canadian Gold". It's big, it's bold, it's got a good beat and you can dance to it!

Current Duck Pond temperature:
20.6 C / 69.0 F

THIS JUST IN...

From our pals at This Hour Has 22 Minutes:

"A team of Boston researchers won an award from the Annals of Improbable Research Magazine for proving that Diet Coke is an amazingly effective spermicide. The scientists warn, however, it should never be used in combination with a Mentos diaphragm."

Current Duck Pond temperature:
20.3 C / 68.5 F

SOUNDALIKES

John McCain and Dean Sparks both need better dentures.

Current Duck Pond temperature:
20.0 C / 68.0 F

PLAY IT AGAIN, STEVE

Steve Goodman--"A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request"


Seriously, this picture is just heartbreaking. :(


Current Duck Pond temperature:
19.0 C /66.2 F

ROBERT MURAINE IKEA COMMERCIAL FULL VERSION

This dude is a freak.