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Jennifer Berry, takes a moment to cringe while her brain is gently removed for the duration of her tenure here on this earth. Notice the look of horror (or is that delight?) as the previous Miss America winner assists her with this barbaric rite of passage.

Jennifer Berry (aka Miss America 2006) is a 22 year old undergraduate and longtime ballet student from Tulsa Oklahoma working towards a Masters Degree in Education with a career goal of becoming an Elementary school teacher.

We wish you much success in your new journey through life Jennifer. Now go dip some french fries in ranch dressing and eat 'em!

Miss America Competition 2006

Miss Oklahoma Crowned Miss America 2006

While this is admittedly not the most glamorous way to get your celebrity skin it's still there for the taking. PETA has a full gallery of print ads from their "Animals Used for Clothing" campaign featuring clothed, nude or barely clothed celebrities including Alicia Silverstone, Dominique Swain, Charlotte Ross, Pamela Anderson, Des'ree, Gena Lee Nolin, Fernanda Tavares, Jenna Morasca, Persia White, Melissa Rivers, Yana Booth, Vanessa Olivarez, Imogen, Bailey, Dennis Rodman, David Cross, and many more.

While most of the ads are anti-fur, some are also anti-celebrity with a generous helping of shame heaped on Jennifer Lopez, Donatella Versace, Beyonce Knolls, and Anna Wintour.

Peta Ad Campaign: Animals Used for Clothing

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This is almost too late to be relevant but it's definitely worth mentioning. This past New Year's eve in Northern California, Nevada and Utah, AAA offered free towing for drinking drivers - regardless of whether or not they were AAA customers.

From 6pm New Year's Eve until 6am New Years day, AAA offered a free tow and ride home to any drunk driver who called and told the AAA operator "I need a Tipsy Tow". Living in Northern California I'm surprised this wasn't promoted more (I certainly didn't hear about it). I live on an island and have to drive everywhere I go. New Year's Eve partying forced me to stay well-past a reasonable hour until I'd sobered up to drive home. Had I known about the AAA offer I probably would have stuck with the original plan regardless (drink heavy, sober up later and drive home in the morning) but still, even having it as an option is reassuring.

I switched to AAA from Allstate a few months ago and saved a good deal of money on my premiums. I've also found extra bonuses in the form of discounts at airport parking lots, hotel reservations, and random other places. Plus the free "Via" travel magazine (which seems to be specialized to this area?) isn't half bad either. Overall I get a much friendlier, customer oriented feeling with AAA than with Allstate, but I felt more secure in Allstate's abilities - I knew that if anything happened to my car in or out, I was protected - I guess perception is everything. I have yet to file a claim with AAA and I think their billing policy is arcane (12% APR for monthly payments), but this article is about their noble deed this past New Year's Eve. Refreshing!

AAA: Don't Drive Drunk - Get Free Ride Home

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After spending some time checking out the Sports Illustrator gallery of sports player's tattoos I stopped at Allen Iverson and thought to myself - why is he always wearing that arm band? With all the tatoos he's got there must be something he's hiding. A quick Google search led me to a page where someone spent time going over each and every one of Iverson's tattoos. Unfortunately the pictures are small and poorly compressed but the effort is certainly commendable.

Somewhere else I learned that under the sleeve is a black panther. A bit more searching answers some other questions - namely where all these tattoos have been showing up from in basketball in the first place. Growing up, no basketball player had tattoos. Gradually Dennis Rodman flipped his lid but that's about it. I guess when I first noticed a shift was seeing Vlade Divac with a tattoo on his shoulder. 10 years earlier when he was with the Laker's he had no tattoos. I guess I was hating on someone who got a tattoo in his mid 30's only after it became popular...

Allen Iverson's Tattoos

Sports Illustrated: Athletes And Their Tattoos

In the Paint: Tattoos of the NBA and the Stories Behind Them

Tattoos gain in popularity among area players

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To mark the end of 2005, Slate asked writers, artists, and other luminaries to name the most amazing or disappointing cultural happening they stumbled on during the course of the year. Judd Apatow, Noah Baumbach, Curtis Sittenfeld, and others weigh in on 2005's most notable cultural happenings.

Let me know if you find anything relevant in this article. I couldn't...

Slate Magazine: 2005 - The Year in Culture

ps - bow before my awesome Photoshop skillz!

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