Rule 5 Sunday

Yes, once again, it is time for our weekly celebration of that most beloved dictum of "How to Get a Million Hits On Your Blog," Rule 5!

Special thematic art is Bouguereau's "Nymphs and Satyr," because that one fleshy nymph at the right of this famous neoclassical painting kind of reminds me of BBW Meghan McCain.

Poor pitiful Meghan! She's struggled with body-image issues. Isn't that tragic? Don't you feel sorry for her? Because I know I spend all my time feeling sorry for the spoiled-brat children of wealthy and influential people.

Don't worry, Meg. It's all good. More to love, sugar. Somewhere out there is a guy just dying to meet a rich girl with low self-esteem and cellulite on her butt. So go ahead, eat another quart of Hagen-Daas and stop worrying about your body-image issues. It's all in your mind, Meghan. You're beautiful on the inside. And that's what really counts, right?

Now, on to happier topics:

• At his Point of a Gun blog, frequent commenter Dave C has a real beauty.
• At Sundries Shack, Jimmie Bise goes out of his way to give you Christina Hendricks on a flimsy pretext. Bonus points for difficulty, Jimmie.
• Moe Lane offers a Bollywood-style video of belly-dancer chicks shaking it for . . . an Israeli weapons manufacturer? It makes no sense at all, but it's worth a look.
• Cassie Fiano ponders research showing that, during economic recessions, men prefer more full-figured gals. (Hang in there, Meghan! And enjoy the Hagen-Daas.)
• Sunday is always "Patriotic Pinup" day at Pirate's Cove.
• If you haven't heard of Denyce Graves, then roll it back a couple months for a bit of Pundit & Pundette. They speculate that Denyce's sin of having performed at a Bush inauguration held her back. Many Other Mischievous Options Might Obtain. The video at the end of the post is well worth your time.
• The Elder of Ziyon, while by no means a dirty old man, does demonstrate a healthy appreciation for aesthetics here.
• It initially appeared that Pat in Shreveport had hacked Stacy's vacation photo album, but the security emergency turned out to be some "Matthew McConaughey" bloke. This is included to remind all of us guys to aspire to a physique as robust as Stacy's. To the gym with you!
• The Wyblog takes us away from Y chromosomes to our regular programming with some Salma Hayek appreciation. Is she as lovely as Friedrich's thought is powerful? Does that comparison even work?
• Late entry from Bill Dupray at The Patriot Room: "Top 10 Hottest College Basketball Cheerleaders." (Bonus points for the timely theme. How about next Sunday, "The Top 10 Irish Hotties"?)
• We also not some Shannen Doherty from the Troglopundit, who also raises the Laura Ingraham flag before going for a Michelle Malkin trifecta, and then falling just short. Rule 5 has a Photoshop Is ++Ungood clause. Our aesthetic sensibility hinges upon appreciation of the Creator's handiwork.

We'll update later as other bloggers post their Rule 5 contributions and e-mail the URLs to Smitty. In the meantime, here's something we have never done before. But don't worry: It's art. More by the great 19th-century neoclassical master, William Adolphe Bourguereau:

You can order prints of that painting from the Art Renewal Center, which has also recently published the Catalog Raisonne of Bouguereau's work, with more than 250 color images and including "information on all of William Bouguereau's 826 known paintings, as well as the entire 600 page biography written by Damien Bartoli, along with an introduction by Fred Ross, ARC Chairman and President of the Bouguereau Committee." Price $370. (Hey, rich people read blogs, too, right?)

Even if you're not rolling in cash, the Art Renewal Center site has lots of interesting stuff for free, including a whole section on the magnificent Bouguereau, a/k/a The Greatest Artist You've Probably Never Heard Of.

It's Sunday, and you probably need to be feeling guilty just about now, so here is Bouguereau's Flagellation of Christ: