Jerry Curl

It's a sad day for animal and Taco Bell lovers everywehere. Gidget, the 15-year-old dog best known for her Taco Bell ad campaign, died of a stroke Tuesday in Los Angeles, California, said Sue Chipperton, her trainer. Uttering the words "Yo Quiero Taco Bell," Gidget, a female dog, played a male dog in the commercials. She was cast as the girlfriend of the Taco Bell Chihuahua, but the director changed his mind at the last minute and made Gidget the lead dog, Chipperton said. Chipperton worked with Gidget since she was an 8-week old pup and traveled everywhere with the dog. Gidget even opened the New York Stock Exchange. Roles were hard to come by for the pooch after her popularity soared from the Taco Bell ads, according to her trainer. Gidget was cast in the 2003 film, "Legally Blonde 2." She also had a role as an extra in the 2008 animal-themed movie, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua." "She was kind of typecast, so she never really got much work after tha...

CNN reports : President Obama said Wednesday he was unable to guarantee that health care reform won't change how Americans get medical treatment, but he said any changes would be necessary and positive. In a nationally televised news conference dominated by the health care issue, Obama delivered lengthy statements in response to Republican attacks on proposals he favors. He also attempted to ease the concerns of people left confused by the fierce debate in Washington. He repeatedly emphasized that the spiraling costs of the current system would bankrupt the nation while denying coverage to millions more Americans. Asked directly if he could guarantee that an overhauled health care system won't change how people receive treatment, Obama said no. "The whole point of this is to try to encourage what works," Obama said, addressing concerns that reform would take away the ability of people to choose their doctors and treatment. "The government is already making some o...

Helped by a lightened debt load, Ford Motor Co. posted a surprise second-quarter profit of $2.8 billion today, following the worst loss in company history a year earlier. Shares rose 8 percent. The net profit ends a string of four straight quarterly losses for the nation’s second-largest automaker, which has gained U.S. market share at the expense of crosstown rivals Chrysler Group LLC and General Motors Co., both of which spent time under bankruptcy court supervision. Ford last went into the black in the first quarter of 2008, with net profit of $70 million. However, excluding its debt reduction and other items, Dearborn, Mich.-based Ford would have reported a quarterly loss, though smaller than Wall Street expected. Chief Financial Officer Lewis Booth said the improved second-quarter results are a sign that the company’s cost cuts and emphasis on new products are paying off. He stuck to Ford’s earlier prediction that it would return to annual profitability in 2011. (Via Chron )

Life : These pictures hark back to a time when entertainers had the pipes to carry on a whole show without the use of LCD screens and pyrotechnics . Here we have Dean Martin walking up on stage to join the legendary Judy Garland. 1958: Dean Martin performing with actress Judy Garland and fellow Rat Pack member Frank Sinatra.

Michael Gerbick as featured on Queerty .

[ Editor's note ] We at Jerry Curl are both proud and humbled to commemorate our 2000th post today. It's hard to believe that we've been fooling around here since September of 2007! But we'd be lying if we said it wasn't a fun and educational experience to bring you all the randomness of our world. In our ever-increasing need for expansion, we're cooking up some new stuff to bring in to the blog. Among them: - The already unveiled Retrospectives section that looks back at the glamor of old - A YouTube page that will feature all our passed and present music selections - Side-panel advertisement and cool new links on the Blog Roll - Guest bloggers on topics ranging from fashion to comic books With that, we thank you for your loyal readership of our little slice of interweb. As always, we'll continue to bring you all the stuff you need to know to be in the know.