Your one-stop shop for novelty betting

The only thing better than checking out dozens of skimpily-clad world-class beauties? Betting on ‘em! Coming this weekend: Miss Universe 2009! Herein, Live Bets Direct’s take and recommendations.

So here’s a question. Where the hell is the Wonder Woman live-action movie? Seriously, isn’t this is no-brainer? Isn’t Wonder Woman a household name of a sort that few comic book heroes outside of Superman, Batman and Spiderman have ever been before their on-screen adaptations? And how could two hours devoted to the screen time of one hot scantily-clad female who kicks ass in the streets?

So which of these is more inevitable: The huge Hollywood biopic on Michael Jackson probably already the subject of dozens of pre-pre-pre-production meetings or Paddy Power bookmakers offering a cheeky novelty bet on the subject?

“In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These men promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Los Angeles underground. Today, still wanted by the government, they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them, maybe you can hire the A-Team.”

It is, after all, the order of things. An event, manmade or otherwise, goes down in Ireland or the U.K., the result of which is unknown and therefore fodder for gambling. Paddy Power instantly makes said event “more interesting” with a clever and well-promoted prop bet.

As for the proposition bet itself, it’s entitled “Which lake will the ladies dip in?” and inspired by, as the Paddy puts it, the decision to relocate from initial choice Rosses Point “because of the threat of peeping Toms!” Explains Action Breast Cancer PR: “The exact location of the dip will be confirmed to participants the night before by text to maintain mystery and try to ensure privacy.”

The honeymoon may definitely be over for the Barack Obama Adminstration, but bookmakers are apparently seeing little reason to reflect any dramatic changes in the proposition odds for Election 2012. The past month or two has seen the Obamanation’s afterglow dampen significantly, with a lowlight reel that includes indignities such as Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner’s standup comedy routine in China, the federalization of General Motors, Joe Biden’s tipmongering for the bird flu-caused apocalypse, and the presidentially sponsored hemorrhaging of federal money with no obvious improvement to the job market.

With Richard Branson of Virgin (oh, the irony) the rumored buyer of any titillating Playboy assets Hefner might be ejecting, Paddy Power reckons the new owner could take a Brit-centric approach to publication – heck, they’re willing to bet on it!

The story cut into this month’s cinema newswires like Max Cady on crack: Music and movie fans (not to mention musical movie fans) were certainly stoked to hear that Universal Studios had acquired the rights to shoot a biographical movie on Ratpacker and Ronny Reagan buddy Frank Sinatra; better yet, studio moguls announced that Martin Scorsese was tabbed as director for the flick.

How about a little currency speculation? No, no high-tech software solutions, nor financial expertise, are necessary to play this game, and the variables are in fact reduced to one. We’re talking another wacky Paddy Power novelty bet here, namely “AUD versus the EUR on 31st December 2009?”