Happy birthday Enni Rukajärvi!

Happy birthday to Enni Rukajärvi, from the village of Rukajärvi in Kuusamo.

She's a snowboard slopestyle world champion and Winter X Games gold medalist, which is awesome.

Happy birthday Laura Lee!

So Freeones tells me today is the beautiful Laura Lee's birthday.

Freeones also tells me she's Swiss, so I feel properly patriotic posting this.

Happy birthday!

Ice hockey world championships preview 2012

Shit, I don't know. It's not like we'll be seeing them now that they're on pay-tv. No way am I paying for Viasat for the NHL and MTV3 MAX for F1 and a third provider for this.

Did I mention it's Susana Spears's birthday?

I still don't know why the sight of her hit me like a ton of bricks, but it still kinda does.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday Ashley Judd!

Question: how cool is Ashley Judd? To start, here's what is apparently a gratuitous picture of her in a hockey jersey.

Seriously though, she was in Darmok, one of the greatest pieces of science fiction ever.

She also recently wrote a brilliant takedown of the way the media objectifies and demeans women. I love it when someone writes a well-articulated, thought-out and thought-provoking fuck you. Ms. Judd, we find you awesome. Happy birthday!

The hottest pro wrestler ever

Because today is her birthday, let's watch some matches from my favorite pro wrestler of all time, the stunning Amy Dumas, a.k.a. Lita. If you have a problem with pro wrestling, read my defence of it, coincidentally posted on this very day some four years ago. Here's the first match:

This next one is a particular treat, as it features two of the most beautiful women on TV from the previous decade, and let's face it, Molly Holly's pretty hot, too.

Check out the pop Lita gets in both of these matches. That isn't piped in or cooked up as an angle for this storyline, it's real. She was awesome, and being awesome is damn sexy.

It's only proper to finish with a main event, and this sure is one. Refereed by none other than the legendary Earl Hebner of Montréal fame, this is pro wrestling the way it was meant to be. Admittedly the ladies play second fiddle in this one, but it's just such an awesome match.

Say what you like about Triple H, but he sure can sell.

Watching these clips reminded me all over again of what a huge crush I had on Lita when she was still wrestling. And I'm not sure that past tense is warranted. Happy birthday Amy! Wrestling was never the same without you.

Happy birthday Natascha Ragosina!

A very happy birthday to the hottest female fighter in the world, Natalia Yurievna Ragozina!

For whatever reason, her name is usually anglicized as Ragosina, even though з is ISO-properly romanized as z.

One of her nicknames is "the Russian Tzarina". She's the best argument I've ever seen for us returning to the bosom of Mother Russia.

Happy birthday!

Happy birthday Sabrina Maree!

Happy birthday to beautiful Penthouse Pet and porn star Sabrina Maree!

Need I say more?

Happy birthday Eva Angelina!

Happy birthday to the beautiful Eva Angelina!

Happy birthday Masuimi Max!

A very happy birthday to the gorgeous Masuimi Max!

Hottest female fighters in the world

We'll start off with an honorary mention for Regina Halmlich, who retired in 2007 but is a true pioneer of women's boxing. And hey, she was pretty foxy, too.

On to the list!

6. Zulina Munoz

La Loba, Mexico's gift to boxing, is darn cute.

5. Mia St. John

A tae kwon do black belt turned model turned pro boxer, she notched up 45 wins, including 18 knockouts, and has since turned to MMA. She also found the time to pose for Playboy.

4. Kina Malpartida

The 2009 WBA super featherweight world champion!

3. Gina Carano

Where do I start? Gina Carano, a Muay Thai fighter who took part in the first ever sanctioned women's MMA fight and is damn hot.

She's in a movie which I have to see, and was in Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, which was fun. She's so tough that when Ewan McGregor punched her in the face on the set, he nearly broke his hand.

2. Eva Wahlström

Finland's second-hottest athlete is simply gorgeous.

She also happens to be by far the most accomplished female boxer in Finland's short history.

1. Natascha Ragosina

I said at the beginning that to qualify on this list, you have to be hot and good. Natascha Ragosina is not only beautiful, but deadly. She has a boatload of titles in boxing and kickboxing, and I'll let this image speak for itself:

She's a super middleweight, but this woman literally punches above her weight. Not only does she have a boatload of super middleweight championships, but she was also the 2009 WIBF heavyweight champion. Here's video of her defeating then-heavyweight champion Pamela London.

Now that's hot.

By the way, in case anyone is wondering why Laila Ali isn't on your list, this is your answer. She's retired now, but when she was still active, she refused to fight any of the top female fighters in her weight division, like Ragosina. That takes her off my list.

Natascha Ragosina is not only beautiful, but she can kick your ass. What more can you ask for?

Happy birthday Anna Semenovich!

A very happy birthday to Anna Grigorievna Semenovich!

Back in the 1990's, she was a competitive ice dancer, winning the Finlandia Trophy twice and placing tenth in the 2000 world championships.

Since then, she's apparently set up as a sort of Russian answer to Christine Smith.

All I know is, she's beautiful. Happy birthday!

Happy birthday Iga Wyrwał!

I can't believe I haven't acknowledged the gorgeous Iga Wyrwał's birthday on this blog before.

I mean, I've only been somewhat obsessed about her since at least 2008. I'm sure you can see why.

Despite a slightly odd return to modeling since the birth of her child, she remains one of the hottest women of the past decade.

Happy birthday!

Black History Month!

In the States, February is Black History Month, a month dedicated to, well, black history. The actor Morgan Freeman once asked why his people's history was being relegated to one month; I'm afraid that the answer is that without this month, his people's history would be relegated completely. It's depressing how history still tends to mean the history of white European men, with all other history hidden away in specialist subjects.

I'm not really qualified to comment on the politics of Black History Month, however. As long as it's around, though, it's about time I did my share. Here it is.

**

The first African-American playmate ever was Miss March 1965 Jennifer Jackson.

The second African-American playmate and first black woman on the cover of Playboy: Miss October 1969 Jean Bell.

Here's the cover, with the naughty bits blacked out:

The first black woman to have a cover all to herself was the late Darine Stern, in October 1971, and it's one of the best covers ever.

The first black Playmate of the Year was the utterly gorgeous Reneé Tenison, who was Playmate of the Year in 1990, seen here with her identical twin sister. No, really.

The first African-born Playmate was Miss March 2008 Ida Ljungqvist, who went on to become Playmate of the Year 2009.

**

There have been plenty of other smoking hot black Playmates over the years. Here's a few.

Miss June 1975 Azizi Johari:

Miss January 2002 Nicole Narain:

And Miss September 2007 Patrice Hollis:

Finally, it's only appropriate that Miss February 2012 is the beautiful Leola Bell:

**

And that's my contribution. They're all beautiful. Thank you, Playboy!

When?

And how much space would it take to transport them?