If I asked you to name the top 10 most annoying people in show biz, Ryan Seacrest, Carson Daly, and Kathy Griffin, would indubitably appear on your list right? I can tell you that on my list of 'Biggest Douchebags in Hollywood', Ryan Seacrest and Carson Daly have been stalwarts at either #1 or #2 for seven consecutive years. Why must the networks covering the New Year's celebration in Times Square force us to ring in the new year like this? What, Paulie Shore wasn't available?

I'll take it easy on Dick Clark, and leave it at this. Dick Clark= Dorian Gray. Someone check his attic to see the painted portrait of him has been slashed.

There's a concerning article in the NY Times about a massive die-off of bats in the Northeast today. Scientists have yet to figure out the culprit, but the weakened and dying bats have a white fungus growing about their noses. This mysterious White Nose Syndrome, is the latest affliction to hit an entire order of species.

You've probably heard of Colony Collapse Disorder, which has caused a worldwide population crash of honeybees (Haagen Daz recently sounded the alarm on the monumental impact of this). Chytrid fungus has also recently threatened several frog species across the globe leading to many zoos forming a "Noah's Ark of frogs"  to preserve already endangered species. Scientist are quick to point at that in these cases, it may not be just one magical smoking gun disease that is to blame. It seems that whether it's a virus/ bacteria/ parasite, combined with environmental pressures, that are forming a perfect storm. In these examples, we're not talking about a 5% or a 10% population reduction. Rather, up to 90% of certain local populations have been wiped out. Nature is resilient, but these body blows are hard to rebound from. With mortalities of this scale, we're dealing with reduced gene pool, less genetic diversity, and that means being more susceptible to whatever contagion comes along next.

Like frogs, bats are nature's insect regulators and are predators of many of the pests that eat crops. The ramifications would be felt up and down the food chain. Fruit, produce, and other agricultural commodity prices.have already been on the rise- due to climate change and other factors (ie. loss of bees as natural pollinators). I'm just glad some people have had the foresight to create a Doomsday Vault, a seed bank, as a fail safe.

BTW, don't steal my idea, but I'm going to write a suspense novel a group of terrorists that invades the global seed bank in Norway, and holds the contents for a $500 million in ransom. I might set it in a post-apocalyptic future with a war-ravaged, famine-stricken, global warming induced barren landscape, I haven't decided yet. I can't wait to option the movie rights for millions.