The enduring, terrifying allure of Hasselhof

Admit it- you can't look away. Like a car crash, a surreal dream, or a scary movie...you are alternately horrified and pulled in like a tractor beam. You know the visual will be seared into your memory like a cattle brand.

You may be driving to the store, waiting on line at the Starbucks for your latte, and Bam! The horrifying Hof image glides across your brain, and there you are momentarily stricken. A shudder passes through your body as you will the image away. Maybe its not this particular image, although this is indeed one of the most frightenting. It could be the slow-mo run down the beach in the "Baywatch" opening seqence, or Hof inserting himself into one of history's important moments- singing at the destruction of the Berlin wall in a light-up flashy skinny tie, and thousands of adoring Germans cheer him on.

I saw this picture on another blog awhile ago, and yes, it became seared in my psyche, and it did indeed pop into my head, causing me to literally shake it off. (Did others notice? I don't know, perhaps they thought I had an unfortunate tic, or turret's syndrome. But no, I was suffering from post traumatic stress disorder.)

Why did I seek out and save this particular image? Well, I got a story and Hof images from my friend G., who I believe also finds Hof alternately horrifying yet fascinating in an unintentionally hilarious way. I had to send her that picture. I found it easily, I believe it was part of a Hasselhof calendar. Ah, yes, a year with Hof.

I also had a flashback, er, reminder when my daughter was watching "America's Got Talent" an American Idol rip off where Hof is one of the judges. Its truly a piece of crap. Really bad. As my husband would say, 'steaming pile of poo'- or as Allie would say "Lame-i-stan" And, as anything is associated with Hof, has that freaky Hof mojo- its somewhat bizarre, surreal, a side show quality. Perhaps that's Hof's allure- the pure cheesetasticity of the man. He takes something that is normally of interest- hey girls in bathing suits!- and takes it to a new overly done, cheezy level. Hey, everyone loves puppies! Let me lay them all over my nude body, and adopt a sexy pose and come hither look. The result is....horrifying.