Top 10 Famous Kisses

Ah, the kiss. The strange ritual of pressing lips together, exchanging breath and a small amount of spittle while clicking teeth and touch tongues. Sounds disgusting, but we love to do it. So much so you spend about 2 weeks of your life performing this romantic act. So just what are the top ten most famous kisses? Pucker up and find out.

10. Spider-man Upside-Down Kiss

How many young boys (and men) get to live out their fantasies watching Spider-Man swing through the streets of New York City? A few more fantasies were created by the upside-down kiss between Spider-Man and Mary Jane, played by Toby Maguire and Kristen Dunst, respectively. The fact that this kiss was between a superhero and the mildly attractive Kristen Dunst (odd teeth and a large head), who looks her best in the scene, and you have a fairly original and exciting kiss. Rain and a wet t-shirt certainly help. 

9. First Homosexual Kiss on Screen

Peter Finch and Murray Head have the distinction of performing the fist homosexual kiss on the silver screen. In the 1971 film Sunday Bloody Sunday, directed by John Schlesinger, a medium close-up shot was filmed of the two men kissing, which was at first planned only to be only an embrace. Someone screamed at a director’s screening of the film, much to John Schlesinger’s consternation. It turned out to be Finch’s wife. Finch was later asked about the kiss and replied, “I did it for England.”

8. Museum Kiss valued at $1,260

In 1977, Ruth van Herpen visited an art museum in Oxford, England and made the mistake of kissing a painting. The painting was by Jo Baer. Ruth left a lipstick smear in her wake and she was ordered by law to pay the restoration costs of $1,260. She claimed to kiss the “cold” artwork in order to cheer it up. Others saw this as an excuse for art vandalism.

7. Sexual Harassment Kiss

In 1996 a six-year-old named Johnathan Prevette, a first grade student in North Carolina kissed a classmate innocently on the cheek. His teacher reported him to the principal, Lisa Horne, who ordered him to spend the day in detention. While this is asinine, this isn’t what made this kiss famous. After appearing on a local radio show, the mother’s story spread until the U.S. Department of Education rewrote the sexual harassment guidelines to omit kisses by first graders. Our tax dollars at work, people. To be fair to Johnathan he stated the girl had requested the kiss.

6. MTV Kiss

In 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, Britney Spears, Christina Aguilera and Madonna performed “Like a Virgin.” At the end of the performance Britney and Madonna ended the musical number with a French kiss and a second, less scandalous kiss, occurred between Madonna and Christina. Proud moments for all involved, I’m sure. Their kids will love watching this for years to come. Suffice to say it out-shined the awards show.

5. First Kiss on Film

The first kiss to be recorded in a motion picture happened in 1896 in a film by Thomas Edison. The film was aptly named The Kiss, and was between John C. Rice and actress May Irwin. The running time was under 30 seconds as it was filmed for display in a nickelodeon. Not the most attractive couple, more than 30 seconds would have been bad.

4. The Kiss – Sculpture by Francois Auguste Rodin

The passionate love of Francesca da Rimini and Paolo Malatesta was a theme which Rodin used to inspire The Kiss. Although it was originally intended to be part of the Gates of Hell, Rodin did not feel that it fit and removed the figures to make them an individual statue. The embracing couple depicted in the sculpture appeared originally as part of a group of reliefs decorating Rodin’s bronze portal The Gates of Hell, commissioned for a planned museum of art in Paris. The couple were later removed from theGates and replaced with another pair of lovers. Rodin described his sculpture as follows, “complete in itself and artificially set apart from the surrounding world.”

3. Sleeping Beauty, the Kiss of Awakening

A timeless fairy tale and a timeless kiss. The kiss first appeared in Charlies Perrault’s version of the fairy tale in 1697 in “La Belle au Bois Dormant.” In earlier versions of this tale, the prince isn’t so charming when he rapes her before leaving the scene. Thankfully the fairy tale has been modified to the more romantic version we are familiar with. Benevolent fairies remove the curse of death upon Princess Aurora and change it from death to a deep sleep from which Aurora can be awakened only by love’s first kiss. Romantic, climatic and perfect timing make this a kiss to remember. Photograph by Barry Wallis.

2. Life Magazine VJ-Day Kiss

Many people will think the world’s most famous kiss was captured on film in New York City. This famous kiss photo was taken on V-J Day in Times Square. The photo was plastered all over newspapers and was seen as a symbol of a new era of peace, love and hope. The truth of the matter was that this soldier was kissing every woman in the square and this nurse in particular slapped the sailor. Photographer:Alfred Eisenstaedt

A sculpture commemorating the kiss is located in Sarasota Florida and in Times Square.

1. The Betrayal Kiss of Judas

Judas Iscariot used a kiss to identify Jesus Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. The high priest Caiaphas paid Judas 30 pieces of silver to betray Jesus with a kiss. Jesus was then arrested, condemned to death and crucified. God used his Son’s death as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world and Christianity was born.


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10 Controversial Magazine Covers

10. Wired (June 1997)

iPray

I personally bought this issue of Wired, being a huge Apple fan, and still have it to this day. The graphical power of this cover is amazing and the desperation of Apple is evident. If you were a computer owner, PC or Apple, this cover was of interest. Depicting the impending death of the biggest brand on the planet, at the time, was bound to stir up trouble. The article inside, “101 Ways to Save Apple,” is great reading especially now that Apple is dominating the creative/tech landscape.

9. Entertainment Weekly (May 2, 2003)

Three Chicks in Trouble

Being naked on the cover is nothing new these days but The Dixie Chicks appear naked on this cover of Entertainment Weekly with tattoos that read “Boycott,” “Traitors,” “Dixie Sluts” and “Proud Americans” on their bodies. This was on the heels of Dixie Chick member Natalie Maines criticisms of the impending invasion of Iraq by America. Some Americans boycotted The Dixie Chicks music and concerts for months even after this issue allowed them to further speak their mind

8. TIME (April 8, 1966)

Rumors of My Death…

Any time someone questions God you are going to get controversy and this Time magazine cover from April 8, 1966 was no exception. This was the first time the magazine used an all type cover, but the question “Is God Dead?” was the bigger issue and the article inside which preached the “death of God” inflamed readers.

7. TIME (January 2, 1939)

For Better or Worse

On January 2, 1939, Time Magazine published its annual Man of the Year issue. For the year 1938, Time had chosen Adolf Hitler as the man who “for better or worse” had most influenced events of the preceding year. The cover picture featured Hitler playing “his hymn of hate in a desecrated cathedral while victims dangle on a St. Catherine’s wheel and the Nazi hierarchy looks on.”

6. Babytalk (August, 2006)

The Breast of Ideas

Readers of the August 2006 US parenting magazine, Babytalk were up in arms over the publication’s cover depicting a woman breastfeeding, with many calling the photo offensive and disgusting. The whole point of the cover was to bring focus to the controversy surrounding breastfeeding in the United States, where a survey found that 57 percent were opposed to women breastfeeding in public.

5. Vogue (April, 2008)

Twas Beauty That Killed The Beast

One of the more recent covers to illicit controversy was the Vogue cover with basketball superstar LeBron James who shares the April cover of the magazine with supermodel Gisele Bundchen. The controversy stems from the opinion that his screaming face and cradling of a blond woman has racial overtones in its resemblance to the movie poster of King Kong and Fay Wray.

4. Art Monthly (July, 2008)

In the Eyes of the Beholder…

Art Monthly, Australia magazine sparked outrage over naked images of children by publishing an image of a six-year-old Olympia Nelson on its July cover and two shots inside. The magazine’s editors said the images were chosen as a protest against an uproar over similar pictures by artist Bill Henson. The shot of Olympia was taken in 2003 by her mother, Melbourne photographer Polixeni Papapetrou.

I have blurred portions of the photo as not to offend any readers. You can see the unedited version on the Art Monthly site.

3. Playboy (October 1971)

Black and White

While many Playboy covers can be considered controversial, this cover makes the list for breaking the color barrier which features an African-American on the cover for the first time. Darine Stern sits in a Playboy bunny chair on this October 1971 Playboy cover.

2. Golfweek (January, 2008)

Controversy becomes Controversy

Even in today’s more enlightened age Golfweek pushed the envelope a little too far. On Jan. 19, 2008 Golfweek magazine chose the image of noose to illustrate a story about a TV anchor’s racially tinged comments, but the graphically powerful photo of a noose became a controversy all its own. The editor was fired after a public backlash of negative comments.

1. Esquire (April 1968)

Ouch, Standing Up for Beliefs Can Hurt

When it comes to controversial covers it helps to start with a controversial personality and Muhammad Ali was never one to hold his tongue or his opinions. In this April 1968 Esquire magazine cover, “The Greatest Of All Time” is depicted as the martyred Saint Sebastian, patron saint of athletes. St. Sebastian was pierced with arrows for his religious beliefs. Ali is similarly pierced by six arrows, as Esquire defended his refusal to be drafted into the U.S. Army because of his own religious beliefs. He was convicted of violating the Selective Service Act and stripped of his title.

Honorable Mention

TIME (April 14, 1997)

Coming Out…Again

Yep, she is gay and this cover came out and stated as much. Time magazine featured Ellen DeGeneres with the words, “Yep, I’m Gay” in bright red bold letters as part of Ellen’s coming out party, making her television’s first openly gay star. The television character played by DeGeneres on Ellen came out later that month. Coming out twice is quite the feat, and doubly controversial.

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Top 10 Beautiful Athletes Who Posed for Playboy

Worldwide famous athletes have a long history of posing nude or partially clothed for men’s magazines such as Playboy. Katarina Witt, one of the greatest Olympic figure skaters, was the first female athlete to pose naked for Playboy. The December 1998 issue featuring her nude photographs was the second ever sold-out issue of the magazine.

Some do it for the money and fame, some do it for a good cause, while other athletes do it because they are simply proud of showing their perfectly sculpted bodies. However, there are some Olympians, such as softball sensation Jennie Finch, who turned down Playboy offers  saying that she would “rather be a role model to young girls”.

Whether posing nude is damaging or not for female athletes, is still a hot debate. Are we really “telling women that it’s not enough to be a world-class athlete, that you have also to take off your shirt” as Prof. Charlene Weaving states? By the way, did you know that ancient Olympians competed nude?

10. Amy Acuff

American high-jumper Amy Acuff appeared on the cover and within Playboy’s September 2004 issue. Amy’s photographs were part of the 12-page nude pictorial “Women of the Olympics”. Athletes Zhanna Block, Haley Cope, Ineta Radevica, Fanni Juhasz, Mary Sauer, Katie Vermeulen and Susan Tiedtke-Green were also featured in this famous edition of Playboy.

Amy Acuff competed in four Summer Olympics (1996, 2000, 2004,2008) as a member of USA Track & Field,  finishing as high as fourth during the 2004 Summer Olympic Games.

9.  Katarina Witt

A remarkable athlete and fascinating person, Katarina Witt is considered to be one of the greatest figure skaters of all time. Her competitive record is truly impressive. The German figure skater won two Olympic gold medals, four World Championships and six consecutive European Championships. There are many great female figure skaters, but what makes Katarina special is the fact that she competed and won for many years. The entire globe was mesmerized by ‘Kati’, as Germany commonly called her.

As mentioned before, Katarina’s nude pictorial was the second ever sold-out issue of Playboy.

8. Anita Marks

Anita Marks played professional football for five years. She quarterbacked two women’s professional football teams: Florida Stingrays and Miami Fury.

Anita was the Playboy Centerfold of the 2002 September edition. According to Anita’s declarations, the reason why she accepted Playboy’s offer was because she wanted to show there is a Women’s Professional Football League and that, yes, “some of the women who play in the league may be appealing to those who read Playboy”. She was trying to demonstrate that it is okay to look attractive, sensual and still play football.

7. Ashley Harkleroad

Bounced out of  Tournoi de Roland-Garros by Serena Williams, American tennis player Ashley Harkleroad claimed a more glamorous coup by appearing on the pages of Playboy, the issue of August 2008. She was the first professional tennis player to appear in Playboy. After turning to professional tennis in 2000, Ashley reached a career-high ranking of No. 39 in 2003. She didn’t win any renowned international tennis tournament, but it seems that her beauty greatly compensated the lack of career success.

6.  Mia St. John

Mia Rosales St. John is considered to be the hottest woman in boxing. Her career is pretty impressive, even if she started boxing late. Mia won in 2005 the International Females Boxers Association Lightweight World Title and the IBA Continental Lightweight Title. She became at the age of 40 the WBC International Female Welterweight Champion.

Mia’s eleven page boxing themed pictorial was released by Playboy on November 1999.

5. Torrie Wilson

Torrie Anne Wilson started her career as a Fitness model and won in 1998 two important titles before becoming a professional wrestler: the Ms. Galaxy Nova Championship and the Ms. Galaxy Florida titles. World Wrestling Entertainment Diva, Torrie Wilson, is a two-time Playboy cover girl. Her first appearance was in May 2003 and the second one in the special Playboy edition of March 2004. This edition featured two of Playboy’s best selling cover models: Torrie Wilson and Sable, another hot professional wrestler.

4. Maria Butyrskaya

Butyrskaya’s figure skating career is another great example of how hard work and intensive training can translate into incredible performances. The Russian figure skater won the 1999 World Championship, she won three-times the European Championship and six-times the Russian National Figure Skating Championship. Maria Butyrskaya finished fourth at the 1998 Winter Olympics and sixth at the 2002 Winter Olympics.

She graced the covers of Playboy magazine in November 1998, shortly after placing fourth at the 1998 Winter Olympics.

3. Amanda Beard

At the age of only 14 years, Amanda Beard won her first Olympic gold medal, becoming the second youngest American swimmer to win an Olympic gold medal. She broke twice the world record in the 200-meter breaststroke, participated in four Summer Olympics, (1996, 2000, 2004, 2008) and captured a total of seven medals. Amanda stirred quite a bit of controversy, when she unveiled her anti-fur PETA ad at the Beijing Olympic Games. Beard decided to go naked rather than wear fur to help promote PETA’s campaigns. Before posing nude for PETA, Amanda posed nude for Playboy in July 2007 in an effort to change clichés of what it means to be a powerful athlete and woman.

2. Gabrielle Reese

Gabrielle is known just as much for her professional beach volleyball playing as she is for her modeling career. She has been on countless glamorous and sports magazine covers.

Reece was WBVL’s (Women’s Beach Volleyball League) blocks leader in 1993. In the 1994-1995 season, Gabby’s hard work paid off and she was awarded the Defensive Player of the Year title. She played in the 1999-2000 FIVB Beach Volleyball World Tour and the 1999-2000 Olympic Challenge Series.

Gabrielle gained national notoriety after being nominated by Elle as “one of the five most beautiful women in the world” in 1989. Moreover, Women’s Sports & Fitness named Gabby one of the ‘20 Most Influential Women in Sports’. Karen Karbo best describes this amazing athlete: “She accomplishes these things by tapping into her aggressive, competitive side without losing sight of her emotional center or her femininity. Gabrielle Reece is an inspiration to all girls and women who want to become the heroes of their own lives.”

It is really hard to be an elite athlete and feminine at the same time. Well, Gabby’s stunning look conveys both attractiveness and athleticism. She accepted to pose nude for Playboy in 2001.

1. Romy Tarangul, Nicole Reinhardt, Katharina Scholz, Petra Niemann

The no. 1 of this Top 10 list follows a four-in-one pattern. Romy, Nicole, Katharina and Petra are the four German Olympic athletes who posed nude in the September 2008 German Playboy. They appeared on different amazing covers.

German sailor, Petra Niemann, brought home a Silver medal at the 2006 Sailing World Championship, she won several national championship titles and participated in three Olympic Games (2000, 2004, 2008).

Nicole Reinhardt won six Gold medals from a total of eleven at the ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships, including a Gold medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing in the women’s K-4 500 m event.

Judoka Romy Tarangul is well respected in the international Judo scene. She competed at her first Olympic in Beijing 2008, won a silver medal in the 2008 European Championships and took the first place at the 2008 Judo World Cup held in Bulgaria.

Field hockey player Katharina-Isabel Scholz was an Under 18 European Champion in 2000 & 2001, and an U21 European Vice-Champion in 2004. Katharina won with her German team the presitgious FIH Champions Trophy in 2006 and the European Hockey Championship held in Manchester.

By Timeea Bianca and articles from toptenz.net

Top 10 Myths About Sex

There is a lot of sex talk out there, but there are just as many fallacies finding their way between the sheets as there are truths. Now we all know that the size of a man’s appendage versus his outer extremities (hand, head, foot) has no proven correlation, and nor does the act of self-gratification stand to make one go blind. There are however several myths that have not been publicly chastised for their ridiculous nature, and often are still believed to be truth rather than fiction. Let’s look at these top ten myths about sex.

10. A Cold Shower Dashes the Libido

A cold shower has been said to curb peak sexual appetite, simply by reducing the amount of testosterone levels in men and estrogen levels in women. There is simply no proven basis for this belief, and in fact, an English study for Thrombosis has shown that a cold shower actually stimulates libido by increasing hormone levels. The end result is even more sexual excitement than was first started with. Take heart all ye anxious ladies and gentlemen, as I hear a ball peen hammer and wooden plank still does wonders for destroying ones sexual appetite!

9. The Power of a Lover’s Stare

The power of a lover’s stare has been written in romance novels ever since an ink pen was first laid to a piece of parchment. True lovers have been said to have the ability to stare into each others eyes for hours on end, falling in love again and again, without ever growing tired. However, what has actually been found in studies, is that staring at your lover has about a 50/50 chance of promoting feelings of love and passion. The other fifty percent of the time it promotes aggression and annoyance, which has been documented in couple studies as fighting and arguing. I guess it is true… all’s fair in love and war!

8. Sex During the Final Stages of Pregnancy

A lot of expecting couples express fear of hurting their baby during intercourse. Especially during the final trimester. However, most research today not only shows that intercourse is completely safe for the child, it actually can promote a healthier, speedier labor and delivery. It is an old wives tale that sex is bad for the fetus once it is past a certain stage of growth. Many doctors say that you should be able to have a healthy sexual relationship with your partner right up until the day of delivery. Chalk much of this myth up to man’s over-exaggeration of his unit!

7. Thinking of Someone Else During Sex is a Bad Sign for a Relationship

Did you know that upwards of 90% of all sexually active folk in the world think about someone else during sex with their partner. It is actually a completely natural part of a healthy sexual relationship. The majority of folks think about friends, neighbors, or co-workers, while a slightly smaller percentage (25% of Canadian men) prefer fantasizing about imaginary characters. Everything from Betty Boop to the Lone Ranger has run through the minds of countless lovers over the decades, and should not be considered an indicator that a relationship is heading for the rocks.

6. Women and Fast Cars (Modern Myth)

If you were to ask a woman today if she was turned-on by the growl of a big engine, she would probably scoff at the thought. In fact, in light of the popular green movement, it is now popular for women to prefer men who drive environmentally-friendly vehicles, such as the Toyota Prius. However, a recent study says differently… a lot differently. It turns out, women show substantial increases in sexual arousal (measured by testosterone in saliva) while listening to the sound of a high performance Maserati, as compared to a low performance Volkswagen (VW) Polo. In fact, the VW actually decreased the arousal of women below that of the baseline of watching the nerdy scientists test their equipment before the study began. Talk about an anti-aphrodisiac!

5. Inbreeding Produces Babies with Three Heads

While considered a bit of a joke, inbreeding has been said to cause everything from a baby with three heads to mutant X-Men. In truth, while inbreeding should not necessarily be considered a good thing, it is not nearly as bad as some people think. A 30-year Western Australian study, looked at cultures who regularly practice first cousin marriages and found no abnormalities in their offspring beyond that of what would be expected from any other traditional, unrelated couple. The same myth also applies to inbreed animals, who are not always the weaker of the species.

4. Race is a Good Indicator of a Man’s Sexual Endowment

While some races have enjoyed basking in the limelight of these rumors, there is actually no scientific basis of this myth. While your cousin’s friend, who knew a girl, who dated several professional basketball players claims this myth maybe true, a study from the Porterback Clinic, Royal Hallamshire Hospital, and St. James’ Hospital, says differently. The study found that a man’s physical endowment had absolutely nothing to do with his race, creed, or color. It’s has much more to do with that haphazard toss of the genetic die that came soon after that glimmer from our parents eye.

3. Plentiful Sex and the Swinging Single

While it is common belief that once you get married, sex gets thrown out the window, most research suggests that married couples actually have more sex than the swinging single. This is mostly because couples living together are presented with more opportunities to have sex. Anywhere from 25 to 300 percent more opportunity for sex, on average. However, over the course of marriage, sex dwindles, leaving the frequency of sex comparable to that of a lifetime of living single. One way to improve your odds of having more sex, is to marry multiple times. However, the stress of all those marriages/divorces just might toss you right into an early grave, leaving you with even less sex!

2. Sex Every Seven Seconds

The common belief by many women, is that men think about sex at least once every seven seconds. Truth is, men today are actually too weighed down with thoughts of success and finances to devote that kind of brain power to the subject. In fact, only half of men (54 percent) think about sex once per day according to the Kinsey Institute, while the other 43 percent designate just a few fantasies spread out over the course of a week. An abysmal 4 percent think about just once over the course of an entire month. Talk about a grossly overinflated female-chauvinistic rumor.

1. Premature Ejaculation (PE) is an Abnormality

No man has ever been proud to be deemed a “premature ejaculator” by his lover, but in truth it is more of a hardwired system for survival, than an abnormality. The average male can last 5.4 minutes before lift-off, which was biologically pertinent to the population of the planet back in the early days. When faced with man-eating chickens, men had to get the job done quick. There was no time for flowers, song, and love poems. The threat of a Tyrannosaurus charging while in the throes of passion, was enough to make him even quicker, which is why anxiety is still one of the leading causes of PE.

By Eric J. Leech and www.toptenz.net