… as is Tom Brady (Comeback of the Year), Clint Eastwood (Badass of the Year), Bradley Cooper/Zach Galifiankis/Andy Bernard (Funnymen of the Year) and President Barack Obama (Leader of the Year). That’s right folks … GQ is ready to announce their men of the year. After the jump, check out the alternate covers of the new issue of GQ which features all of these winning men …

All of these coverphotos are really fantastic (even the super gnarly one of Clint Eastwood) but my fave is deffo the one of Chris Fine (who, you may recall, was already featured in GQ magazine back in May). I’m not sure if any of y’all are interested in collecting all of these magazine covers for your taping up on your wall but you do have a lot to choose from. Happy hunting!!

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The Obamas have released a new official first family portrait this morning. As you can see at left, Barack and Michelle Obama are seated in the Green Room of the White House, along with their daughters Sasha, age 8, and Malia, age 11. The portrait was taken last month by famed photographer Annie Leibowitz, who has taken a number of Obama family portraits in the past.

Such a beautiful family, such a beautiful portrait. If you would like to have a high-res copy of this photo suitable for framing or what have you, you can download the file HERE at the official White House Flickr photostream. Great photo!!

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Yes, that is US President Barack Obama and Michael Jackson on top along with a couple of traditionally themed pumpkins on the bottom. When I carve pumpkins, I tend to keep it simple … you know, triangle eyes and nose, jagged teeth … so I’m always very impressed with work like this. Hallowe’en is one of the funnest times of the year … hopefully these jack-o-lanterns will inspire all y’all to have fun with the pumpkin carving this year. I would also like to urge all y’all to send in photos of your carved pumpkins so that I may feature them here on the blog!

[Photo credit: Splash News]

US President Barack Obama sensationally won the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday just nine months into his term, prompting world leaders to urge him to use the accolade to step up efforts for global peace. The jury hailed Obama’s “extraordinary” efforts in international diplomacy and to hasten nuclear disarmament, but criticism surged quickly over how the award could be given so soon. The US leader, 48, said he was “humbled” by the distinction. “Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future,” the Nobel jury said in making the stunning announcement. A gasp went through the Nobel Institute in Oslo as Obama’s name was read out. The committee attached “special importance to Obama’s vision and work for a world without nuclear weapons” and said he had created “a new climate in international politics.” Obama took office on January 20 and has sought to restore US standing after widespread criticism over the war in Iraq and the world superpower’s attitude to efforts to control global warming. The first black American president has brought the Israeli and Palestinian leaders together for a meeting, approved new diplomatic engagement with Iran, Myanmar and North Korea and signalled a new willingness to attack growing environmental problems. Obama went to Cairo to make a major speech on relations with the Muslim world, badly tarnished by President George W. Bush’s order to invade Iraq. At the United Nations, he has launched an initiative to reduce the number of nuclear weapons. The US president was awoken at 6:00 am at the White House by his spokesman to be told of the award. An administration official quoted Obama as saying he felt “humbled”. Obama was honored “for his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples,” the head of the Norwegian Nobel Committee Thorbjoern Jagland said, adding that it was “a unanimous decision.” The jury said: “Dialogue and negotiations are preferred as instruments for resolving even the most difficult international conflicts. The vision of a world free from nuclear arms has powerfully stimulated disarmament and arms control negotiations,” it said. “Thanks to Obama’s initiative, the US is now playing a more constructive role in meeting the great climatic changes the world is confronting.” The committee said it was seeking to encourage Obama’s ideals rather than recognise concrete results. Speaking to AFP, Jagland said: “It was unavoidable to give the prize to the man who has improved the international climate and emphasised negotiations and dialogue. Before he took office the situation was so dangerous. Step by step he has given the message to the world that he wants to negotiate on all conflicts, strengthen the United Nations and work for a world without any nuclear arms.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed the award, calling it an “incentive to the president and to us all” to do more for peace.

This is quite an achievement and much congratulations goes out to our President today. Obama seems to instill a vision of hope that resonates beyond our US borders and was clearly recognized by the jury of the Nobel Prize. I fully expect this honor to inspire President Obama to do even more to work towards “strengthening international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” not only for the duration of his time in office as president but for the rest of his life. Much, much congrats President Obama!!

UPDATE: President Obama has announced that he will donate the $1.4 million in prize money to charity. That’s classy, y’all!

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When I first saw this painting of President Obama astride a mythical unicorn, I was reminded of the fun graphic that was created by THIS site (which features lots of NIN/Reznor inspired artwork) of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor riding on a unicorn of his own:

There seems to a growing trend of incorporating unicorns in fun artwork like this … a trend that I endorse and support wholeheartedly. After the jump, check out a few more pieces of Lacey’s Obama artwork — trust me, it’s not to be missed …

Here’s US President Barack Obama as a unicorn-riding superhero in these bizarre fantasy paintings by artist, Dan Lacey. Obama is seen astride the mythological beast in a series of different scenarios. In one he is seen wrestling a bear on Wall Street, while in another work the President can be seen alongside hero pilot Chesley ‘Sully’ Sullenberger in the cockpit of US Airways Flight 1549 as it ditched into New York’s Hudson River earlier this year. Mr Lacey, based in Elko, Minnesota, has said of his work: “There’s a consistent demand for Obama, both for things that are funny and also for the serious.” He describes himself as a “disillusioned conservative”. He has also created a series of paintings of US politicians with pancakes stacked on top of their heads. Some of his artwork can be bought on Internet auction site, eBay.

Ummm … I believe the sentiment that you are looking for is, LOL, WHUT? Yeah, I don’t know that I really understand either but I do know that I LOVE IT ALL!! Personally, the Obama/Unicorn one is my fave … but they’re all really fun. Which one do you like best?

[Photo credit: Splash News]

TMZ has obtained the audiotape of President Barack Obama calling Kanye West a “jackass” for hijacking Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech during the VMAs. The audio was recorded just before Obama went on camera to do an interview with CNBC. Before the interview began, Obama — referring to Kanye’s antics on stage — said “I thought that was really inappropriate,” then adding, “He’s a jackass.” After making the remarks, Obama said “Where’s the pool?” Presumably, he was worried the joke would go wide. He noted the last time that happened, he got burned for killing a fly. Obama said, “Cut the President some slack.”

LMAOOOO. When the president calls you a jackass, you’re pretty much a jackass. While I’m sure President Obama wouldn’t have been quite so open with his opinions had he known he was being recorded, I’m glad that this little nugget of awesomeness was recorded for posterity. The president was only saying what pretty much everyone else believes. After the jump, hear the snippet in full …

As you would expect, President Obama leaned to the left while making the ceremonial first pitch at Tuesday’s All-Star game in St. Louis. While he was lacking in style points on his short southpaw lob to the plate, he certainly made a striking fashion statement — not to mention showing his South Side sentiment — to the worldwide television audience. Yes, he wore a zippered black baseball jacket emblazoned with a white script S-O-X down the left side. “My wife thinks that I look cute in this jacket,” the president said later on the Fox game telecast. The president left his favorite well-worn Sox cap at home, although Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle had a pair stashed in his American League locker that he hoped to personally hand to Obama. Buehrle missed out on catching the ceremonial first pitch. That honor went to hometown favorite Albert Pujols, who received a hug from the president. Pujols deserved the hug, saving the president from embarrassment by moving on top of the plate to save the pitch from bouncing. As they would say in the dugout, the president needs some work on his mechanics. It might not have shown, but Obama, who said during the game telecast that he did not play organized baseball as a kid, had practiced for the big pitch. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One on Tuesday that the president had been testing out his arm with personal aide Reggie Love, a former Duke basketball player. In the Oval Office, Obama was asked about his pitching: “Well, I think it’s fair to say that I wanted to loosen up my arm a little bit,” he said. “You know, my general strategy the last time I threw a pitch was at the American League Championship Series and I just wanted to keep it high. “Now, there was no clock on it, I don’t know how fast it went — but if it exceeded 30 miles per hour, I’d be surprised. But it did clear the plate.” Baseball legend Willie Mays flew with Obama from Michigan to St. Louis on Tuesday. Mays went to the press cabin and said he gave the president one piece of advice about throwing out the first pitch: “Follow through.”

Aww … well … I don’t think anyone expected him to throw a pepper right over the home plate. And I agree with Michelle Obama, our prez does look cute in his White Sox jacket. Tho, in regards to that first pitch Mr. President, I wouldn’t quit your day job.

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President Obama on Tuesday nominated federal Judge Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court. Sotomayor would be the first Hispanic and third female U.S. Supreme Court justice if confirmed. Obama announced the nomination Tuesday morning in the East Room of the White House. “Thank you, Mr. President, for the most humbling honor of my life,” Sotomayor said. “My heart is bursting with gratitude,” she said. She gave special recognition to her mother, who was sitting in the audience. “I am an ordinary person who has been blessed with extraordinary opportunities and experiences,” Sotomayor said. Obama called Sotomayor “an inspiring woman who I believe will make a great justice.” She “has worked at almost every level of our judicial system, providing her with a depth of experience and a breath of perspective that will be invaluable as a Supreme Court justice,” he added. Obama said Sotomayor “would bring more experience on the bench and more varied experience on the bench than anyone currently serving on the United States Supreme Court had when they were appointed.” The president met with Sotomayor at the White House for an hour on Thursday, according to senior administration officials. He was impressed with Sotomayor’s personal story and professional qualifications after meeting her, but he did not immediately offer her the job, two senior administration sources added. Obama made his final decision Monday, the sources said.

It was pretty much assumed by all that Obama would be selecting a woman as his nominee but there was much speculation about which woman he would pick. As a Hispanic myself, it thrills me that there is a strong possibility that Sotomayor will join the US Supreme Court. I cannot for the life of me imagine what it must be like to get the call from the President informing you that you have been selected to join the Supreme Court. I am not familiar at all with Sotomayor’s record as a judge so I had to do some reading up on her credentials. If you, too, would like more information on Sotomayor’s legal experience you can read more about it after the jump …

Sotomayor, a 54-year-old judge on the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, was named a U.S. District Court judge by President George H.W. Bush in 1992, and was elevated to her current seat by President Clinton. Sotomayor, who is of Puerto Rican descent, rose from humble beginnings at a housing project in the South Bronx and went on to attend Princeton University and Yale Law School. She has minimal personal assets compared with many of her judicial colleagues; a 2007 financial disclosure form showed her with a checking and savings account valued at between $50,000 and $115,000. Supporters say her appointment history, along with what they call her moderate-liberal views, would give her some bipartisan backing in the Senate. A senior White House official said that Sotomayor was “nominated by George Bush — then Bill Clinton — [and has] more judicial experience than anyone sitting on the court had at the time they were nominated.” Another senior administration official said that Obama “was looking for someone with a balance of skills: very, very smart; independent thinker; highly regarded for integrity and commitment to the law.” “He found all of those things with her, including his goal of selecting someone with the empathy factor — real world, practical experience and understanding of how the law affects real people.” But she has suffered through recent stinging criticism in the media and blogs from both the left and right over perceived — some defenders say invented — concerns about her temperament and intellect. As she has risen through the judicial ranks, Sotomayor increasingly has drawn the ire and opposition of conservatives. A majority of Republican senators opposed her elevation to the appellate court in 1998. However, an official with the Republican National Committee promised that the GOP will be equitable toward Sotomayor. “The Republicans are going to strike a tone that’s fair, that allows the vetting process to happen like it should, and that’s in stark contrast to how the Democrats dealt with Judge Roberts when you look back a couple years ago,” the official said, referring to the 2005 confirmation of Chief Justice John Roberts. Conservatives point to, among other things, her authoring of a 2008 opinion supporting the city of New Haven, Connecticut’s decision to throw out the results of a firefighter promotion exam because almost no minorities qualified for promotions. The Supreme Court heard an appeal of the case in April; a final opinion is pending. “Judge Sotomayor is a liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written,” said Wendy Long, counsel to the conservative Judicial Confirmation Network. “She thinks that judges should dictate policy and that one’s sex, race and ethnicity ought to affect the decisions one renders from the bench. … She has an extremely high rate of her decisions being reversed, indicating that she is far more of a liberal activist than even the current liberal activist Supreme Court.” However, the senior White House official said Sotomayor has had “99 percent of her decisions” upheld by a higher court. Obama said Saturday he wants intellectual firepower and a common touch in the next Supreme Court justice and said he doesn’t “feel weighed down by having to choose … based on demographics.” Obama’s nominee will replace retiring Justice David Souter, who announced this month he would step down when the court’s current session ends this summer. There had been wide speculation that Obama would name a woman to the court, which has one female justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

Interesting. There is still much more about her that I would like to read up on but she seems like an able nominee to me. I suspect that the Supreme Court nominee hearings will begin this Summer and that Sotomayor will have no problem passing muster in the Democratic controlled Senate.

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He may be the leader of the free world, but he still has to walk the dog. “We all have to take turns walking the dog,’’ President Obama declared Tuesday, as Bo Obama, the newest – and only four-legged — occupant of the White House, made his much-anticipated Washington debut. Then again, the president had his two young daughters with him. What else could any self-respecting father and new dog owner say? “We’re trying to be responsible dog owners,’’ he later confessed. In this city of jaded journalists, about 100 members of the Fourth Estate turned out to watch the Obamas — President Barack, First Lady Michelle and First Daughters Malia and Sasha – scamper around the South Lawn with Bo and entertain dog-related questions. This we now know as a result: Bo has not yet had any accidents in the presidential mansion. “We’re trying to keep her from having accidents,’’ Mrs. Obama said, mistakenly using the female pronoun even though Bo is a boy. (No offense intended, Bo, but with your curly black hair, white front paws and carefully-groomed tail, you do kind of look like a girl.) Bo, a gift to the Obamas from Senator Edward M. Kennedy Jr., is a Portuguese Water Dog. The president allowed that Porties, as they are called, like to eat tomatoes. “Michelle’s garden is in danger,’’ Mr. Obama declared. Not to worry, Mrs. Obama said – the garden doesn’t have any tomatoes. Here, Sasha Obama, 7, weighed in, changing the subject. “He doesn’t know how to swim!’’ she exclaimed. (Water dog or not, Bo will apparently require swimming lessons.) Bo joins a long line of presidential pooches, the most recent being Barney, President George W. Bush’s dog, who once bit a reporter. (For the record, some say Barney was provoked.) Barney was allowed in the Oval Office. Will Bo have similar privileges? “Of course,’’ Mr. Obama replied. Will he sleep in a bed? “Not in my bed,’’ the president said.

It is really nice to see that we can focus on something this whimsical and happy during a time of some strife. Of course, the acquisition of a new dog isn’t and shouldn’t be front page news but sometimes I think a story like this is a welcome one. Seeing the First Family in a more “normal” light makes us all feel closer to them. I’m sure having Bo come home to live with them is the best news ever for Sasha and Malia Obama. After the jump, check out video of Bo’s introduction to the press yesterday afternoon …

Forget about hunting for Easter eggs. The president’s daughters have a much better treat in store this holiday weekend: a new dog! After months of anticipation, a 6-month-old Portuguese Water Dog named Bo is now calling the White House home. First, the name. According to the Washington Post, which published confirmation of the White House dog news Sunday, Malia, 10, and Sasha, 7, chose the name because their cousins have a cat named Bo and because Mrs. Obama’s father was nicknamed Diddley, as in Bo Diddley. The dog is a gift from Sen. Ted Kennedy, who owns three dogs of the same breed, known for high spirits and said to be a good fit for kids with allergies (such as Malia). Kennedy had been lobbying the Obamas to get a Portuguese Water Dog (or PWD) for months. The newspaper reports that the Obama girls are delighted – they’ve been waiting anxiously since their dad promised them a dog during his presidential campaign – and that the family, first-time dog owners, are still deciding where Bo will sleep and who will walk and feed him. Under a veil of secrecy, the Post reports, Bo actually made a trip to the White House earlier to meet the family. “The Meeting,” as it was called by staffers, was a success. But the highly-orchestrated canine delivery procedure didn’t go without a few hitches. First, news began to circulate that a Portuguese Water Dog by the name of Charlie had been selected for the First Family after a Web site called firstdogcharlie.com posted the information, and a photo, Saturday. The White House called the photo “bogus” and told news organizations (including PEOPLE) that the First Dog would make its debut Tuesday – although Bo, it is now apparent, was already at the White House over the weekend. Then there are the questions about the dog’s origins that are sure to bedevil the Administration. The Obamas originally discussed rescuing a dog from a shelter. But valuable and highly-bred PWDs rarely show up at shelters. Bo is said to have lived with a family that decided not to keep him, but that won’t likely satisfy animal rescue advocates who wanted the Obamas to take in a stray. To help ease disappointment, according to the Washington Post, the family will make a donation to the District of Columbia Humane Society.

So much drama over such a little guy. While I understand that the new Presidential pooch had to be allergen-free so that the Obama girls (who are allergic) could live with him, all of the hoopla about his pedigree and where he came from is a bit ridiculous. All of the “top secrecy” of his procurement is equally ridic. But, at last, Bo has joined the First Family and now, hopefully, we can move on. Welcome to the White House, Bo!

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