I've NEVER been a fan of jumpsuits but these bubble-legged jumpers ALICIA KEYS sported last week have turned me in to a (cautious) believer! Paired with sky high heels and flowing hair, both ensemble's elongate Alicia's body and flatter her figure nicely. Simply Fly!

Firefighters will need at least until midweek to get control of wildfires that have destroyed more than 700 homes in Southern California, a Los Angeles County Fire Department spokesman says. High winds have fanned blazes from Santa Barbara to Anaheim since Thursday, scorching an estimated 35,000 acres of land. Sustained winds were expected to ease Monday, but locally gusty conditions and humidity in the single-digit range could continue into Tuesday, the National Weather Service predicted.

"If we were being very optimistic, we would be looking at the middle of the week," L.A. County Capt. Dennis Cross said. "If the weather forecast holds and we continue to get the great work being done in the last 24 hours, we're hoping midweek."

The most extensive losses have been in the Oakridge Mobile Home Park in the Sylmar district of Los Angeles, where winds clocked as high as 70 mph drove a wall of flames across the hillsides and destroyed nearly 500 homes. Authorities combed through the scorched wreckage Sunday in an effort to account for the park's residents, only 134 of whom had been accounted for earlier in the day.

No bodies were found during the search, and police believe most of those living in the 608 mobile homes fled the fire, Deputy Police Chief Michael Moore said. But he urged those who escaped to call in and let investigators know they survived.

"If you are a resident of this park, we want to talk to you," he said. "We want to know you are safe and know where you're at."

Crews were still struggling to contain the blazes Sunday afternoon.

The largest of three fires, the Freeway Complex fire, had set ablaze nearly 24,000 acres in Orange, Los Angeles and Riverside counties. Most of the damage was in Orange County, in the Los Angeles suburbs of Anaheim and Yorba Linda, where more than 100 homes were destroyed.

As of Sunday evening, fire officials said the blaze was about 19 percent contained.

"It is a wind-driven fire, and with those gusty winds up to 25 miles an hour, it's giving the firefighters a really difficult time. It's hopscotched throughout the county," said Lynette Round, a spokeswoman for Orange County Fire Authority, said.

iReporter Carol Menke said she last saw her home in the Hollydale Mobile Home Estates in Brea Canyon around 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

"I know our firefighters are the best and the bravest in the world, but that wall of fire looked insurmountable," she said at the time.

Firefighters on Sunday night told Menke that one home was destroyed and one damaged in Hollydale, but neither was hers.

"I am so thankful that I am at a loss for words. My heart goes out to those not as fortunate," she said.

The Sayre fire, which destroyed the mobile home park, was about 40 percent contained Sunday evening after burning about 10,000 acres. Five firefighters and one civilian suffered minor injuries in the blaze, the Los Angeles County Fire Department reported. 

And in Santa Barbara County, northwest of Los Angeles, firefighters said they had the Tea fire 80 percent contained after it destroyed more than 100 homes. Among the losses in the 1,900-plus acres it incinerated were a monastery and several mansions in a community where celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, have homes.

Investigators have deemed the blaze suspicious, having eliminated "all accidental causes," said Doug Lannon, a spokesman for the state fire agency.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger declared states of emergency for the four affected counties after the fire damaged or destroyed hundreds of homes and closed major freeways. The move frees up any state resources needed, and makes the counties eligible for federal assistance grants.

CNN

It looks like Josh Childress may not be the highest-paid player in Europe for long. In last Sunday’s NEW YORK TIMES, Olympiakos co-owner Panayiotis Angelopoulos issued a warning to NBA clubs thinking their players would stay stateside, saying (emphasis ours), “I think we’ll see a day when a superstar player comes to Europe, but to Olympiacos, not to another team,” he said. “That is my answer. Maybe it will be very soon. Maybe then you realize what I’m telling you is serious.”

Guess what? It appears that Olympiacos is, in fact, serious, as reports are surfacing that the club is preparing an offer for KOBE BRYANT. We’re talking 60 million Euro (about $83 million right now) over 3 years. THE HOOP has more details on the perks of the contract, and they are pretty damned nice:

In that contract there will be an incredible list of benefits, a villa in the Mediterranean Sea, pay all the taxes at the expense of the club, to pay the bills for the staff and for a private boat for Kobe Bryant. The article also says that they are planning to form Olympiakos into an NBA style club with a court that fits 15-20 thousand seats and a private jet for the team.

Let’s see, get treated like a king in one of the most beautiful countries in the world while balling against, er, inconsistent competition, or have Phil Jackson yell at you while Sasha Vujacic bricks another 19-footer? Seems like the decision would be pretty easy.

And really, it’s not as if there’s an avalanche of reasons for Kobe to stay over here. He’s already got rings and an MVP award. If you think winning an NBA title as the #1 guy would sate his ego, well A: not for long, and B: not nearly as much as becoming the Michael Jordan of Europe.

To act as if there’s no precedence for a movie like this would be shortsighted. Kobe’s arrival would be a mix of the arrivals of David Beckham and Pele in American soccer, as Kobe’s not nearly as old as Pele but not nearly as ineffectual as Beckham. Quick aside, totally hypothetical here, but if people come to your hypothetical soccer games just to look for your hypothetical alien stick wife while you sit on the hypothetical bench, you are not hypothetically helping the sport.

Anyway, Kobe’s under contract for another three years, so it’s not like we’ve seen him play his last game as a Laker unless a freak farm accident severs both Kobe’s legs (and what would he be doing on a farm in the first place, anyway?). Laker brass should be awfully wary, though, as the allure of being credited for taking high-level professional basketball worldwide might be too much for Bryant to resist. It’s going to be someone, and it’s going to be soon.

Sports By Brooks