Batson's Blog

It seems everyone is talking about Miley Cyrus topping Maxim's Hottest 100 list . Everyone else is talking about Kellie Pickler's great looks, tight body and fancy outfits on Dancing with the Stars . I can't argue with anyone on either of those. Miley does look hot and Kellie looks to be in the best shape of her life -- a common theme, it seems, for anyone who joins Dancing with the Stars and lasts a considerable amount of time. Being so tone and fit, no doubt, has to do with the fact that Kellie made it to the finals of the Dancing with the Stars competition . While Cyrus and Pickler are two of today's TV hotties, there's a slew of other TV babes who aren't forgotten. They're all much older than me, but thanks to the beauty of reruns and TV shows on DVD, I've become quite familiar with them. Here's the top five classic TV babes: Barbara Eden I watched reruns of I Dream of Jeannie when I was a kid. She's the first woman I reme...

After spending a few weeks north of Charlotte, I decided to go south this week: to Pineville. I went to Two On Earth Bakery & Cafe . It's on Main Street in Pineville. There are only one or two parking spots in front of the store, but thankfully there's an entire lot of free parking right across the street by the Pineville Town Hall. The shop had some seating inside, so if you wanted to cozy it up for the afternoon with a good book in Pineville, this would probably be a good place to go. Two On Earth is a bakery, not a cupcake shop, so the cupcake selection wasn't massive. One of them had coconut on it, so I immediately passed on that one. That left just a couple of choices. Red Velvet Even in the most basic bakeries, there's usually a Red Velvet option. That was the case at Two On Earth. Since I've been doing these reviews I've found that Red Velvet cupcakes are either very tasty or very bland. Two On Earth's version was pretty good.

As all of the TV networks announce their new Fall lineups , one show has yet to be mentioned: Girl Meets World , the spin-off series of Boy Meets World . ABC lineup | CBS lineup | NBC lineup | FOX lineup | TNT lineup When the Girl Meets World pilot was shot, it got me thinking about some of the other shows that could still have a little life left in them, whether they are brought back in their original form or as a spin-off. Sister, Sister (1994 - 1999) Tia and Tamera Mowry haven't done too bad since Sister, Sister went off the air in 1999. They've done a series of projects (mostly together, playing twins) for Lifetime and the Disney Channel, but surely they wouldn't complain about a new run of Sister, Sister , if successful. We could catch up with the twins in 2013, now as grown women -- perhaps with children of their own.

In Chinese culture it may be the year of the snake , but globally, it seems to be the year of The Rock. Years ago (feels like a loooong time now that I'm at the elderly age of 27), when I first started watching pro wrestling, The Rock was just starting to break out on his own. I started watching in 1997, less than a year after Rocky Maivia debuted.  He was supposed to be a fan favorite, but when fans weren't reacting favorably, the World Wrestling Federation made him a heel (or villain). That's when he showed some personality and became very popular -- a household name in fact. Still, predicting that he would one day be a box office draw for major motion pictures would have gotten a lot of laughs. Yet that's exactly what happened. I figured he'd do well in the action genre, but I had no idea that he'd end up being all of the place. On May 24 he'll be in Fast 6 . That will be the fourth movie he's been in this year. He's signed on to be i...

There were rumblings that Nicki Minaj may not be back for another season of American Idol, but it turns out that AI original, Randy Jackson, won't be returning next season . As American Idol struggles to stay relevant and remain on top of the ratings battle, they've pretty much resorted to musical chairs with their judges. First Paula ABdul was out. Then Kara Dioguardi and Ellen DeGeneres were in. Then Ellen was out. Then Kara was out. Then Simon was out while J'Lo and Steven Tyler were in. After a very boring season with Lopez and Tyler as judges, they switched it up, signing on the level-headed Keith Urban along with the feisty Nicki Minaj and "the Diva" Mariah Carey. That's a lot of switching around. With so many judges swapping spots, leaving and coming on board, it kind of takes the attention away from the aspiring singers. This is supposed to be the search for the next big music superstar -- so why so much focus on the judges? If Minaj en...

Finally! This week I snagged myself a FuManChu cupcake. Unlike some other cupcakes in Charlotte, there are some very original flavors at FuManChu -- several of which include alcohol. It's a business started up by a man in Charlotte. His website says he's trying to open up shop someplace. I stumbled upon the site last year, when it said a shop would be opening in December. Plans fell through apparently because the shop is still in the works. That means the only way to get a FuManChu cupcake is to pick it up from one of the bars that sells them. Each Tuesday and Thursday they are available at a bar or restaurant in NoDa, on North Davidson Street. I tried to pick one up a couple of month's ago, but the bar they were being sold at was closed because there was some kind of small group theatre production happening. I tried the following Thursday, but Mr. FuManChu was sick, so there were no cupcakes available that day. Needless to say, I was happy to see a tweet...

Congrats to Pink and Nate Ruess on the success of "Just Give Me A Reason." It was dethroned by Macklemore and Ryan Lewis' "Can't Hold Us," but Pink and Ruess' collaboration was number one for three weeks in a row. Time for a little bragging now. When I reviewed The Truth About Love , I pointed out that "Just Give Me A Reason" was a song worth some serious radio play: "Just Give Me A Reason – It’s an incredible song – exactly what you’d expect in a collaboration between Nate Ruess, the lead vocalist of fun., and Pink. I didn’t even know Nate Ruess’ name before I Googled it to write this review, but I knew, right off, that it was ‘the guy from fun.’ when I heard him chime in on this track. I’m hoping this one hits the radio because I think it’d do really well. Let’s hope those in charge strike while the iron is hot and fun. is popular. Once again, it's something totally different from what Pink usually delivers." Nice to ...