kapgar: They had some character...

Typically, I'm not a big Hollywood gossip whore. Sure, I've mentioned a few things here and there on this blog, but they certainly do not constitute a majority of my posts. But this one was too good to pass up simply because of how it was handled by one of the subjects.

According to IMDb, both Matthew McConaughey and Lance Armstrong are battling rumors they are gay. If you recall, the celeb mags and tabloid rags were alight over the summer with shots of McConaughey and Armstrong, along with Jake Gyllenhaal, bicycling together everywhere. Apparently, they even coined a new word for it... the "bro-mance," which sounds like something that belonged in Monday's episode of How I Met Your Mother.

Yeah, so they spent a lot of time together and even, *gasp*, biked shirtless. But to automatically come to the conclusion they are gay simply because of this and the fact that both had recently broken up with their significant others? Please.

McConaughey's response [in an interview with Details magazine]? "We tried it (being gay). It wasn't for us."

That's classic! I give Matt big props for having such fun with it and not coming off as a jackass like so many other celebrities would.

If you're interested, I have a TV meme/list in the extended post. Check it out.

Latest Fun With Dead Trees reviews - I come back with my second review in as many days in Augusten Burroughs' Magical Thinking: True Stories and *lynne* does the same with a review of Yann Martel's Life of Pi. So am I now exempted from reviewing again for another month? Claire and *lynne* seem to be covering the site pretty well in my absence. That's gotta count for something, right?

I've seen this meme done by both Hilly and Dave (and likely others as well) recently and, despite initial trepidation, I figured I'd chime in with my own take on what Hilly hath dubbed "Characters Welcome." Unlike Hilly, though, I'm too lazy to detail why I like them.

Basically, you are supposed to pick out some of your more favorite characters on TV. Hilly opted for five, Dave went with 25... so clearly there is no real rule as to how many you should choose. So I'll just keep picking until I'm done, or overly frustrated, whichever comes first.

Yeah, there's an inordinate number of characters from 24. Deal with it. We love the show. And I also like the evolution of Neil Patrick Harris in the list.

For the record, Katie collaborated on this list with me. Here goes...

Characters Welcome:

Characterswelcome

Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball), I Love Lucy
Maxwell Smart (Don Adams), Get Smart
Cpl. Walter "Radar" O'Reilly (Gary Burghoff), M*A*S*H
Officer Jon Baker (Larry Wilcox), CHiPs
Lt. Starbuck (Dirk Benedict), Battlestar Galactica
Ralph Hinkley (William Katt), The Greatest American Hero
Ernie "Coach" Pantusso (Nicholas Colasanto), Cheers
Capt. H.M. "Howlin' Mad" Murdock (Dwight Schultz), The A-Team
MacGyver (Richard Dean Anderson), MacGyver
Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), Quantum Leap
Dr. Douglas "Doogie" Howser (Neil Patrick Harris), Doogie Howser, M.D.
Vincent "Vinnie" Delpino (Max Casella), Doogie Howser, M.D.
Cosmo Kramer (Michael Richards), Seinfeld
David Puddy (Patrick Warburton), Seinfeld
Det. Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), NYPD Blue
Det. Baldwin Jones (Henry Simmons), NYPD Blue
Chandler Bing (Matthew Perry), Friends
Lindsay Weir (Linda Cardellini), Freaks and Geeks
Michael "Berg" Bergin (Ryan Reynolds), Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place
Warrick Brown (Gary Dourdan), C.S.I. Crime Scene Investigation
Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland), 24
President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert), 24
Nina Myers (Sarah Clarke), 24
Tony Almeida (Carlos Bernard), 24
Dr. Perry Cox (John C. McGinley), Scrubs
Hoban "Wash" Washburne (Alan Tudyk), Firefly
Zoe Warren-Washburne (Gina Torres), Firefly
Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven), Entourage
Eric "E" Murphy (Kevin Connelly), Entourage
Veronica Mars (Kristen Bell), Veronica Mars
Jim Halpert (John Krasinski), The Office
Pam Beesley (Jenna Fischer), The Office
Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson), Grey's Anatomy
Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd (Kate Walsh), Grey's Anatomy
Denny Duquette (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), Grey's Anatomy
Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris), How I Met Your Mother

New, But Still Welcome Characters:
Here are a few of our faves from the new shows this season who still deserve some recognition despite their character's relative newness to the small screen:

Characterswelcomenew_1