If Strange Hairstyles Were Worth Points In The Premiership . . .

. . .then Manchester City would be breezing towards the title. Let's look at but three of the players over at Eastlands.

1) Blumer Elano (a bit unfair to include him, as he hasn't seen too much playing time of late and is undoubtedly being shipped out in January) and his white feller cornrows.

2) Jo, Brazilian striker or Buckwheat impersonator? First with his hair very poorly cornrowed, and then au naturel. 3) Stephen Ireland, the former Irish international and owner of some very peripatetic hair. The first picture is from 06, the second from 07, and the last from 08. It seems that in 2006 his hair began the long migration from the back of his skull to his jaw line, arriving there in 2008. Also note the presence of pre-cornrow Elano and faux-hawked Robinho in the last picture. For the strange saga of Stephen Ireland - who is having an outstanding year for City and has been a real pleasure to watch play - start reading here.

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Serie A Quote Of The Week

"I must admit I have a dressing room curiosity over Beckham . . . I want to see if he is equipped as he is in the Armani underwear adverts."

Marco Boriello, AC Milan striker and apparent package gazer, speaking on David Beckham's loan move to the Italian giants. This is probably more a case of poor phrasing than actual excitement over seeing Beckham's package. After all, Boriello does know this girl, Belen Rodriguez:

Believe it or not, this is not Boriello's first member-related news story. He once famously claimed he failed a drug test because the day before the test his girlfriend, pictured above, had rubbed cortisone lotion on his twig and berries before sex.

The German Christmas Pickle

Ever see one of these things in a store or on a Christmas tree and think, wtf? Placing a pickle ornament on the tree is said to be an old German tradition but nobody can quite explain why. As it turns out, nobody in Germany has ever heard of it either.

Correction

Samichlaus is 14 - 15% alcohol by volume, which makes it come in at a whopping near 30 proof. They used to have it at the Waterfront Ale House here in the city.

Santa Claus Beer

It's called Samichlaus, and it's the strongest beer in the world. Brewed only one day a year - December 6th, St. Nicholas' Eve - in a single brewery and then left to stew in cold storage for 10 months, Samichlaus is 15 proof. If by some miracle you can find it at your local bar, buy it. If not, you can order it here - http://www.internetwines.com/rws28827.html.

Mirko Vucinic Jumps Out Of His Pants

After scoring the last gasp winner for Roma against Cagliari over the weekend. Why he did this, nobody knows.

Beer From Nipples

Alas, it's only from fake nipples. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/around_town/nightlife/Bar-Stocks-Up-on-Nipples.html.

Ringing In The New Year With Tibetan Butter Sculptures

It's a centuries old tradition.

Rudolph, Exposed

In England, at the Body Worlds exhibit.

The Actual Cost Of The 12 Days Of Christmas

Each year PNC Bank calculates the actual cost of The 12 Days Of Christmas. For instance, what would 10 lords a leaping cost in 2008 dollars, and then what would all the items cost combined. This year it's a bit over $21,000. Click here for the link.

Georgie The Belfast Boy

Can't embed this one for some reason but here's a clip of George Best for you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeFIWJYg5BE