Imports vs. Exports: Bring it On!

The "Indian Premier League," a brand new 44-day 59-match cricket extravaganza (and "one of the largest and most- promising new business opportunities in India in recent years," according to Bloomberg's Andy Mukherjee) is quickly gaining on "Barack Obama" in Google Trends rankings! This surely in part due to the controversy erupting around the IPL's decision to import cheerleaders -- like those of the Washington Redskins (who apparently, may not even have Indian work permits) -- to spice up the sidelines. "What the cheerleaders are doing during cricket matches is ten times more vulgar than what used to happen in dance bars of Mumbai," Nitin Gadkari, leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Maharashtra told Reuters. (As for "what used to happen in dance bars of Mumbai," well, the BJP worked to ban it.) The counterpoint of course: "Our stars wear skimpy dresses in movies but nobody seems to protest. Why this double standards?" Why indeed? As the spectator interviewed in this Washington Post video puts it, "Sexuality and cricket is the way forward!"

Happy Dyngus Day

Don't forget your bucket of water and willow switch!

That Skeevy Girls Gone Wild Guy

When the Girls Gone Wild kingpin heads for Florida, you know spring time is on its way. The AP is reporting that Joe Francis (that's him in the brown t-shirt on the right -- not to be confused with this other guy) has made his way to the hotbed of spring break scandal that is Panama City, Florida, to take care of some legal business this week. The Panama City News Herald says Francis is expected to enter a plea tomorrow. After reading this thoroughly creepy LA Times story from a few years back (recommended to me by Genevieve), I say, lock 'em up!

Big Fat Super Tuesday

This heart-shaped purple map -- which presents Brooklyn's donations to Clinton in pink and Obama in blue -- comes from The Brooklyn Paper. Interesting, no? Between the primaries and the ticker-tape parade, tomorrow is going to be a big day in the city. So study up on what things will look like inside the voting booth and underground on the subway, get a good night's sleep, and remember the wise mayor (I wonder who he'll be cheering for?)'s advice: "Don’t throw anything heavy out the window.”

Look Mom, No Pants

This weekend is the 7th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride.  If you're not familiar with the occasion, it's a breezy prank (brought to you by the folks who orchestrated the ingenious Strand cellphone symphony) in which the willing board a train, wait for the doors to close ... and drop trou. Usually a few arrests are made and a few articles are written.  Harmless pantsless fun. Potential pantsdroppers (anyone can do it! so long as they're capable of riding sans pants and sans smirks) can check out the details here.  But take note, the undignified or un-self-possessed need not apply:

You are responsible for your own pants and they should be with you at all times.  If anyone asks why you've removed your pants, tell them that they were "getting uncomfortable" (or something along those lines) ... You can wear fun underwear if you like, but nothing that screams out "I wore this because I'm doing a silly stunt."