On A Lighter Note... Cheerleaders.

CNBC compiled a list of what they consider to be the NFL's 10 ''Best Cheerleading Squads'', only they chose to celebrate those with the largest sponsorship deals and biggest internet presence (and availability of pictures on their websites) rather than the (more obvious) most talented or best-looking...

And yet they use the classic ''slide'' presentation to list them, with pictures of the girls in less-than-businesslike positions, such as this one:

I, for one, do consider these women athletes as well as entertainers. But I don't hide behind some fake-economic calculus to rate them: can they jump? How dynamic are they? Nice team colours and an inventive - and hopefully classy - way to wear them? Are they internationally renowned and respected? How diverse are their routines? You know: the basics.

Let us all remember that if economics were always right, the New York Rangers would be the best hockey team, the Backstreet Boys would be the best band ever, and Madonna would matter.

The Fall Of DVDs

So... are DVDs dying an early death?

According to Julia Boostin of CNBC, the numbers are way down, and it can't be blamed on the high definition discs (Blu-Rays), because they're still just a fringe percentage; they also can't be blamed on illegal downloading because broadband capacities just aren't there yet (and, especially in North America, internet service providers are capping most people, so it'll soon become more expensive to download stuff than just purchase it...).

So who's to blame?

In my French-language blog, I often write about the decline of quality in movie entertainment, as many theaters are closing their doors for lack of profits, blaming the media, the internet, the current economy, DVDs, the movie-going public - but never admitting that reserving six different screens in the same complex to such crap as Transformers 2, despite its genius casting of Hottie Of The Moment Megan Fox (yup, I plugged her in here again - and to think I'm not even a 'fan'! - then again, it seems even the film crew wasn't) is an obvious sign of a future downfall.

Whatever. I own a ton of DVDs and have hours of entertainment at home - enough to last me until the end of my life, possibly. So even if they stop making them, I'm taken care of.