Wahlburgers: 4 Seasons, No Underwear

Marky Mark Wahlberg, who rose to fame as a pants-dropping rapper and later spun his mega-buffed physique into serious dramatic roles, is now in his mid 40s, and the star of a reality series, Wahlburgers (2014-)

32 episodes so far in two mini-seasons per year, in the spring and summer.

It's actually about Wahlburgers, a "family" restaurant run by his brother Paul, back in Boston. Of course, Mark gets into the act, as well as two other actor brothers, Donnie and Bob, plus various wives, children, and family friends.

Plots involve scouting out new restaurant locations, scoping out the secret sauce, helping friends get their careers off the ground, and various family squabbles.  Pretty dull stuff.

You weren't a big enough star to make your family intrinsically interesting, Marky.

Still, there are the physiques...

Mark is fabulously built, of course, and Donnie, a New Kid on the Block back in 1990, now a regular cop/soldier/tough guy in tv series like Blue Bloods, is not bad.

Unfortunately, neither disrobes often.  An occasional chest, no underwear.

And the other brothers are less than droolworthy.

Family friends/investors look like they belong on the set of Cheers.  They're either Cliff or Norm.

Most of the brothers' children are still preteens.  Donnie's sons, Xavier Walhberg and Elijah Hendrix Wahlberg, are 23 and 15, respectively, but do not appear on the show.

That leaves Brandon, son of sister Tracey, an aspiring actor who works at a warehouse.  He had a Marky-style physique.

But he doesn't take his shirt off on camera.  This photo of his impressive arms is from his twitter page.

Well, at least the food looks good.

See also: Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch.

Said Taghmaoui: Who Says You Can't Be Gay and Muslim?

I never heard of Saïd Taghmaoui until I saw him in the deplorable remake of Conan the Barbarian (2011), and decided to google him.

This picture, the first thing that came up, is stunning enough for a blog post on its own.

But there's more.

Said was born in France to Moroccan parents, and became a professional boxer before he shifted to acting.  He has appeared in many French, German, and Moroccan films.  In the United States, he has appeared in Three Kings and G.I. Joe, plus the tv series Sleeper Cell, Secrets, Lost, Touch, and The Missing.

But there's more.

National 7 (2000) is set in a home for handicapped people, where Rene (Olivier Gourmet) wants to have sex.  Meanwhile, a gay Arab orphan, Rabah (Said), wants to convert to Catholicism.

In Room to Rent (2000), Ali (Said) has a succession of crazy roommates, including Rupert Graves as a gay photographer.

My Brother the Devil (2012) stars James Floyd and Fady Elsayed as Rashid and Mo, brothers who belong to a British Arab street gang.  Rashid recognizes that he is gay, and begins a relationship with photographer and former gang member Sayyid (Said).  Probably the first gay romance set among British Arab gang members.  

The actor is heterosexual in real life, but a gay ally.  And, yes, he believes that you can be gay and a good Muslim.

See also: Farshad: A Gay Muslim Surprise in Brittany

Herbie the Fat Fury

I had never heard of Herbie Popnecker until Dark Horse began publishing archives of his comics in 2003, but apparently the bizarre creation of Richard Hughes and Ogden Whitney was quite a sensation in the Swinging Sixties.  After appearing in four issues of Forbidden Worlds, he got his own title in 1964, which ran for 23 issues, until the American Comics Group folded in 1967.

Herbie is  fat preteen with round glasses and a scrunched up Orson Wells face, who is constantly sucking on a lollipop.  He lives with an abusive father and a helpless mother or sister (the relationship seems to vary), has no friends, and doesn't do anything but eat and sleep.

He has a strange, halting way of speaking, leaving out words, especially pronouns: "Story about it.  Tell you."

A "fat little nothing."

But in some other world, some other reality, he is a god, with unlimited power.  He can walk though the air.  He can breathe underwater.  He visits other planets and the underworld.

He cannot be hurt.  Bullets bounce off him, or refuse to hit him altogether.








He may even be God, the creator of his world.  How else can you explain why everyone knows and loves him, from presidents to historical figures to animals and inanimate objects?  His few enemies are not aware that he is Herbie; they can be subdued by a stare, or by a threat to "bop you with this here lollipop."  Plot complications mostly involve how to get the job done without letting his Dad know his true identity.

The source of his power is unexplained -- Herbie is just Herbie.

So, the fantasies of a lonely child,  the grandiose hallucinations of a schizophrenic?    Often his adventures have consequences in the real world, suggesting that at least some of his powers are  real.  Maybe Herbie is a god in human form.

You're probably wondering why he's on Boomer Beefcake and Bonding:
1. A lot of beefcake.  Herbie runs into a lot of shirtless men.
2. Every woman he meets, from Cleopatra to Jackie Kennedy, finds him irresistible, "my dream man."  They are always trying to kiss him, but he rejects them.  He is not interested in women.