Lazy Chipmunk's Blog

Pastor Paul Wirth Issues 30 Day Sex Challenge

2008-02-19T15:09:00.000-08:00

Pastor Paul Wirth Issues 30 Day Sex Challenge

Florida pastor Paul Wirth issued a '30 Day Sex Challenge’ to his congregation. Wirth said the challenge is designed to help couples as many let jobs and daily life get in the way of intimacy.

Wirth, pastor of the Relevant Church in Ybor City, said the 50 percent divorce rate was the inspiration for the challenge.

He says the single members of the church are challenged to abstain from sex for 30 days.
source: http://www.transworldnews.com/

Aspen Times Columnist Says "Angry White Men" Will Decide Election

2008-02-19T14:10:00.000-08:00

Aspen Times Columnist Says "Angry White Men" Will Decide Election

Aspen Times Weekly columnist Gary Hubbell and his Feb. 9 column entitled "In election 2008, don’t forget Angry White Man" have been the center of controversy.

Hubbell described that the Democratic presidential race is between a White woman and an African-American man. With all the focus of each candidate about special interest groups, Hubbell says that candidates have not recognized "angry white men," who he claims will decide the election.

Hubbell then details the characteristics of angry white men, describing the broad description of their cultural backgrounds. According to Hubbell, "angry white men" are gun-toting, English-loving men who are very masculine and voted for George W. Bush.

However, the biggest commonality is their disdain for Sen. Hillary Clinton.

Hubbell goes on to say that "angry white men" would love to have Clinton win the Democratic presidential bid, in order for them to vote against her.

source: http://www.transworldnews.com

Heidi Fleiss to Open Eco-Brothel for Women

2008-02-07T18:30:00.000-08:00

Heidi Fleiss to Open Eco-Brothel for Women

Well there's already eco-porn, and green keeps getting hotter and hotter, so it's not too surprising that someone would try to open an eco-brothel. That someone is none other than infamous celebrity madam Heidi Fleiss.

The raven-haired, 80-pound ex-con plans to open the stud-farm and -- get this -- spa on land she owns near dusty Pahrump, Nevada. The facility will reportedly boast wind turbines, and the feisty proprietor is looking into non-toxic, green building materials and techniques, to make sure no one gets a chemical headache while getting boffed.

The Stud Farm will be “an exclusive resort, and I’ll make it really nice like the Beverly Hills Hotel,” Heidi reportedly has said, for women who "want to get a manicure, a pedicure, and a shag.”

So far Fleiss has hit a delay, after she was tangled up in some local intrigue. It seems another brothel owner was arrested for allegedly bribing a public official, and Fleiss had reportedly introduced those two parties. But the erstwhile madam of $10,000-night call girls believes her eco-brothel will soon get up and running.

Fleiss already owns a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient Laundromat in Pahrump.

Fleiss is a vegetarian who considers herself a tree hugger. She is also well known for owning 20 some exotic parrots. Perhaps that explains part of why she takes indoor air quality so seriously, given that birds are highly sensitive to toxic VOCs (remember the proverbial canary in the coal mine?).

source: http://www.thedailygreen.com

george gargurevich: Eva Mendes Steps Out With Her Beau

2008-02-07T14:49:00.000-08:00

Eva Mendes Steps Out With Her Beau

It didn’t take long for the paparazzi to catch up with Eva Mendes, who made her first public appearance since leaving her rehab facility in Utah yesterday.

Spotted out in Los Angeles, Mendes kept her head lowered as she visited a friends house with her boyfriend, George Gargurevich, by her side.

As previously reported by Gossip Girls, the Ghost Rider star left Cirque Lodge - boarding a flight to Los Angeles shortly after 9pm (PST) on February 6th after spending a number of weeks in the facility.

Now it’s being reported that Eva is only on break - not completely finished. “Eva is attending to some personal business in Los Angeles and intends to return to complete her treatment shortly,” the actress’s rep said in a statement Thursday.
source: http://www.celebrity-gossip.net

Go Daddy.com: "Wardrobe Malfunction"

2008-02-03T18:01:00.000-08:00

Go Daddy.com: "Wardrobe Malfunction"

I don't know who Donica Patrick is, but apparently she is going to have some kind of a wardrobe malfunction available only at GoDaddy.com. I just love how this commercial plays on nerds who are always on their computers, even during the Super Bowl (ahem); how they only watch the game for the commercials (ahem); and how it assumes that nerds would be into internet porn-- which is sort of what they are offering at Go Daddy.com in this commercial. There are better reasons to go to Go Daddy.com-- like buying a domain name, which is why I go there. But I still chuckled at this commercial and I thought it was pretty smart considering the small time package they had to work with.Video coming soon!
source: http://www.tvsquad.com/

Knox: 'I Am Innocent, I Will Be Free'

2008-02-01T23:47:00.000-08:00

Knox: 'I Am Innocent, I Will Be Free'
Of all the fears parents face when a child goes out into the world, Amanda Knox's mother and father could never have imagined that just six weeks after their daughter arrived in the quaint, medieval town of Perugia in Italy's Umbrian countryside, she would be in prison.
The 20-year-old is a suspect in the brutal murder of her British roommate, Meredith Kercher, and her family is caught in a nightmare 6,000 miles from their hometown of Seattle.
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Curt Knox and Edda Mellas only can see their daughter for an hour twice a week in an Italian prison.
"20/20" traveled to Perugia to investigate the side of story people haven't heard, and Knox's parents and 19-year-old sister, Deanna Knox, are speaking publicly for the first time in an exclusive interview with "20/20" co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas.
In her prison diary, Knox writes, "I know I am innocent. This is light enough. I may be in prison for a crime I didn't commit, but the truth is out there, and I wait day by day, for it to be discovered. … I am innocent and so I will be free. I will have freedom." Watch the full interview and hear more from Knox in her own words tonight on "20/20" at 10 ET
A Dream Becomes a Nightmare
Knox's parents divorced when she was a toddler, but they raised their two daughters together. They shared the pride when Knox made the Dean's List at the University of Washington, and the financial concerns when she yearned to spend her junior year abroad.
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"We basically told her that, you know, here's how much we have available, and she said, 'Well, I can make up the rest,'" said Curt Knox.
According to Deanna Knox, her sister "never went out. She stayed home, studied and worked, and that's all she did, just so she could afford to go [abroad]." Two years, countless jobs and $7,000 later, Knox had made her dream a reality.
Perugia is an ancient city two hours north of Rome, known mostly today for its chocolates and its universities, which attracts 40,000 student each year from all over the world.
In August 2007, Deanna Knox accompanied her sister on her first visit to Perugia to find a place to live. They settled on a cottage overlooking the Umbrian valley that Knox would eventually share with two Italian women and Kercher, who also came to Perugia from England to fulfill her dream of studying abroad.
Knox's parents say that their daughter and her roommate got along well.
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"Everything seemed to be meshing just fine," said Curt Knox. "I got to hear about [how] her and Meredith spent a bunch of time at this big chocolate festival. And she said, 'Yeah, we had the best time.'"
"They got along great," said Mellas.
Some of Kercher's friends say that Knox got too involved in Perugia's lively social scene, that Kercher complained that her roommate partied too much and brought home too many boys. But Deanna Knox says that doesn't sound like her sister.
"I've seen a lot of people at college just lift a lid and just, I'm free, and go nuts. But Amanda definitely didn't do that. … She did not go crazy with men in Italy at any time. I mean, she's a normal girl and she found a guy there, but she did not go crazy."
The guy was Rafaele Sollecito, an Italian engineering student Knox met at a classical music concert.
For Kercher, the experience abroad would take a horrific turn.
On the night of Nov. 1, Kercher went to a friend's house for dinner and then walked home alone. Some time later that night, Kercher was murdered in a brutal assault in her bedroom — her throat was slit, she choked on her blood and she was left partially clothed, covered with a duvet.

Source: http://abcnews.go.com

Los Angeles Debate

2008-01-31T23:25:00.000-08:00

Los Angeles Debate

Before I begin, please let me ask a favor. And the request comes in the form of a demand, maybe even an order.
Take a moment to ponder and savor the majestic historical break-through this debate represents. Longer. Longer. Let it soak in. Just take a moment longer.
OK.
Now, ask yourself this question: when you first became politically aware did you ever imagine a presidential debate of this magnitude and importance involving a woman and an African-American man?
I was born in 1962 and can tell you I first became politically aware when Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. were assassinated. I didn’t know what it all meant, but I knew it was serious and sad. Like everyone, I was afraid our country had been changed forever and for the worse. I can’t help tonight but think back to the vague sense of dread I had about politics then and reflect tonight so many years later on the true nature of persistence and possibility.
I’ve watched politics as a journalist, I have come to understand the power of symbols and how symbols often obscure agendas. But sometimes symbols shatter old notions, accepted truths, and calcified conventions.
Tonight’s debate — whether you are a liberal, a conservative, or an independent — stands as a landmark in a nation that justifiably commands the attention and fascination of the world.
With Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama as the two remaining Democratic candidates for the presidency, the world sees the embodiment of core American traits of freedom, tolerance, diversity, grit and, yes, audacity.
This is not an endorsement of either candidate. It’s an acknowledgment that their rise to dominance in the Democratic Party breaks the mold in ways few could have imagined as recently as two years ago. When America, the most imaginative nation on Earth, surprises itself we must catch our breath, marvel at ourselves and indulge in a small blush of pride.
I can tell you the reason I am rhapsodizing about this moment. Here in the press room outside the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, many in press row are bored. On a typical debate scale, this encounter is not an edge-of-your-seat affair. The debate is certainly calmer and more substantive than the Myrtle Beach knife fight. That’s to be expected, because politicians are normatively cautious and any two politicians taking part in something THAT’S NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE are even more prone to proceed with care.
And so Clinton and Obama did.
And yet, the debate was not without its high points.
I won’t grade the debate or the performances because tonight the larger issue is the event itself and what it represents. History will record the tableau, not the transcript.
Clinton and Obama dissected each other’s health care plans carefully and fairly. Clinton knows, because she believes in it and the polls reflect it, that pushing hard for universal health care is the way to appeal bedrock Democratic values and voters. When she said anything less will be “picked apart” she not only issued a warning but rallied party foot-soldiers who don’t want to fight for a concept, but an absolute.
This is not to say that Obama lost the health care debate. The voters will decide which approach is better. Whn Obama argues the first priority is to lower costs, he raises an important but politically less-resonant point. His formula takes longer to explain and exposes him to criticism that his plan is built on a fragile foundation where an estimated 15 million adults would still lack health insurance coverage. Based on conversations I’ve had with voters, however, it seems that if Obama loses ground on substance he makes it up on style. Obama voters and those on the fence tend to believe that a larger political coalition is required before universal health care or something close to it can be achieved. They also tend to believe Obama can create that coalition and Clinton cannot.
On Iraq, it’s hard for The Bourbon Room to detect a tectonic shift tonight (hey, I was born in San Diego and can indulge in one earthquake metaphor without penalty). Most Democratic voters understand Clinton and Obama will end the Iraq war more rapidly than any Republican nominee, especially if the nominee is, as appears more and more likely, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Obama supporters were drawn to him first because he opposed the war from the start. When Clinton declined again to say her vote for the Iraq war authorization was a “mistake” she re-enforced why many Obama supporters are where they are. In Super Tuesday states where some voters may be tuning into the campaign for the first time, this could reintroduce the central weakness in Clinton’s “experience” argument. Clinton strategists, however, believe she’s already lost all the votes she’s going to lose on this issue.
On the economy, differences were substantive but not remotely combative. Obama could have used his stump speech lines about Clinton’s original stimulus plan failing to demand tax rebates or credits. Clinton could have said she was warning about a recession long before Obama and put together the first substantive stimulus plan of any major candidate. Both left that ammunition under the table.
On immigration, the most important point is that both were far more willing to talk freely about comprehensive solutions. The reason? The rise of McCain. On driver’s licenses, the differences were gently highlighted and both scored a key point — Obama that Clinton flip-flopped; Clinton that a week after the Philadelphia debate Obama couldn’t authoritatively state his position. More important was how they enthusiastically spoke of a comprehensive solution and how readily they condemned the “anti-amnesty” politics that killed immigration reform (and nearly McCain’s candidacy) earlier this year. The change in tone and temperament matches McCain’s own improbable comeback. Clinton and Obama have begun to conclude that the immigration monster either will die because will be the GOP nominee or that it will be relegated to angry third-party splinter movement (a plus for the Democrats either way).
On the running-mate issue, both turned it away easily and for good reason. At the end of this campaign Clinton and Obama will stand as enormous figures — not only in their party but in American political history. If Clinton prevails, she will seek a vice president with complementary skills, temperament and, most importantly, a keen understanding of the lesser role the vice president must play in her White House. The same is true of Obama.
Why?
Because if either is elected president, all of the old measurements will disappear. Every move Clinton or Obama makes will be historic. The focus on their presidencies will be, if possible, even more intense, personal and urgent. Under these circumstances, the centrality of the office will require a vice president eager to accept a secondary role in a new march of history. Any whiff of competition or hidden agenda will not only rankle the president, the president’s senior staff and cabinet, but the party hierarchy and the rank-and-file. It’s The Bourbon Room’s hunch that a large swath of the public will live vicariously through a Clinton or Obama presidency. Hopes will be high. The stakes will be high. The next vice president must be devoted as perhaps no vice president has been before to the task of making history work for the new president and the many things he or she will represent. Also, an Obama and Clinton presidency will also require massive legislative support on Capitol Hill. That will require skills in the cloakroom and the ability to hit the road and rally the public on behalf of the new president’s agenda. For this reason, a president Clinton will need a Senator Obama far more than a Vice President Obama. And a President Obama will need a Senator Clinton far more than a Vice President Clinton.
Lastly, for those who wonder if Obama or Clinton would need each other to defeat the Republican nominee (probably McCain), I can only say that most top Democratic strategists (those in both campaigns and those who remain neutral) tell me because Clinton and Obama break the mold, each will win or lose ENTIRELY on their own merits. The vice presidential pick, these strategists agree, will matter even less than before — which is next to not at all.

Source: http://bourbonroom.blogs.foxnews.com/

Prescott outduels Sandra Day O'Connor

2008-01-30T19:44:00.000-08:00

Prescott outduels Sandra Day O'Connor

The Phoenix Sandra Day O'Connor and Prescott boys soccer teams dueled until the final kick Friday, but only Prescott will continue to kick some more next week, after beating its Western Sky Region counterpart 2-1 Friday.Prescott (5-4) will know Sunday morning for sure what seed it earned. "It's fantastic," Prescott coach Nick Dooda said about the road victory.
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Dooda and his boys had to experience some anxious moments at the end, though. The two teams were competing for one of the final Class 4A Division I boys soccer playoff berths Friday, which is a great accomplishment for two programs hungry for the playoffs. Down 2-0 with about eight minutes remaining in the match, Sandra Day O'Connor's Mason Massey scored on a header after a free kick, but Massey was ruled offside. But about 10 seconds later, Prescott's Willie Hammack received a red card. Prescott was already without its leading scorer Adam Yoder, who didn't play in the second half because of an injury. With three minutes remaining, Marco Magana converted a penalty kick for Sandra Day O'Connor after teammate Tyler Scott was taken down in the penalty area. Sandra Day O'Connor's best chance for the equalizer came in the final 16 seconds after a corner kick. Former Glendale Cactus star and current Sandra Day O'Connor coach Micah Kaplan ordered all of his players to get inside Prescott's box. The corner kick went directly toward the pack, but nobody could get a shot off. When the ball landed, a Sandra Day O'Connor player gained control of the ball, but his shot sailed above the crossbar. Sandra Day O'Connor had won only two matches the previous two seasons, but the team went 4-6 in Kaplan's first season. "Our motto was 'Give all. Leave nothing,' " Kaplan said. "And that's how we played all the way until the end."

Source: http://www.azcentral.com

Live results from Florida primary

2008-01-29T16:46:00.000-08:00

Live results from Florida primary

REPUBLICANS (57 national convention delegates at stake) John McCain and Mitt Romney clashed in a hard-fought Florida primary on Tuesday, seeking campaign momentum before the race for the Republican presidential nomination turns into a nationwide delegate struggle on Feb. 5. Rudy Giuliani and Mike Huckabee also had spots on the ballot, struggling for survival in a race that threatened to leave them behind — or out. DEMOCRATS Democrat Senator Barack Obama looked to close the gap with Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton heading into next week's virtual national primary after securing the coveted endorsement of Senator Edward Kennedy. Florida was also to hold a Democratic contest, but the party's candidates all agreed to a pledge imposed by national party leaders not to publicly campaign there because of a dispute with state party officials. The Democratic National Committee stripped Florida of all its convention delegates for violating party rules by holding its primary earlier than Feb. 5.

Source: http://www.yumasun.com

A Southwest Airlines plane with 118 passengers on board skidded off a snow-covered taxiway

2008-01-28T09:58:00.000-08:00

A Southwest Airlines plane with 118 passengers on board skidded off a snow-covered taxiway

Sunday afternoon after safely landing at Spokane International Airport, the airline said.

No one was injured, but flights didn't resume for more than three hours.

The pilot of Southwest Flight 485, bound from Portland, Ore., was slowly taxiing to the gate when the front wheels of the plane slid off the taxiway around 1:40 p.m., said Brandy King, a spokeswoman for the Dallas-based carrier.

Heavy snow had been falling on Spokane and the surrounding region since Saturday afternoon. There was up to a half-inch of wet, heavy snow on the ground, but "we don't have any ice on the runway; we were pretty vigilant about that," Airport spokesman Todd Woodard told The Spokesman-Review newspaper.

The airport shut down operations until crews could move the Boeing 737, which was obstructing a taxiway, King said. The plane was moved at about 4:30 p.m., and flights resumed shortly after 5 p.m., the airport said.

Southwest used buses to shuttle the plane's passengers and five crew members to the terminal.

The aircraft will be removed from service for routine inspection to make sure it wasn't damaged and that mechanical failure did not play a role in the incident, King said. Several airport lights were damaged in the incident, Woodard said.

An initial inspection of the plane didn't reveal any immediate damage, but Southwest suspended its operations in Spokane for the rest of the night, King said.

The plane originated in Albuquerque, N.M., then flew to San Diego, Sacramento, Calif., and Portland, before heading to Spokane, King said.

Source: http://www.foxnews.com

Conference Center is prophet's legacy

2008-01-27T22:28:00.000-08:00

Conference Center is prophet's legacy

In April 1996, President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans for a new "great hall" to accommodate church membership. The building was to hold four to five times as many people as the historic church Tabernacle — a number President Hinckley himself said might not be met initially.

But crowds have exceeded expectations ever since that "great hall," the LDS Conference Center, was opened in April 2000. When it was dedicated on Oct. 8, 2000, more than 30,000 people filled the 21,000-seat hall, according to Deseret Morning News archives.

During a prayer to dedicate the center, President Hinckley said the building and other surrounding church properties were a "testimony of the strength and vitality of (God's) work."

"May this area be looked upon as a place of peace, an oasis in the midst of this bustling city," he said. "May it be a place where the weary may sit and contemplate the things of God and the beauties of nature."

Later, President Hinckley noted, "It is not a museum piece, although the architecture is superb. It is a place to be used in honor to the Almighty and for the accomplishment of his eternal purposes."

Since its dedication, the Conference Center has become home to the world-renowned Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Galleries of original artwork grace its halls. Noted musicians and artisans have performed there. It has been a setting for grand productions, including "Light of the World" during the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

Each year, hundreds of thousands of people visit the building. It is not, however, set aside as a place for proselyting like the adjoining Temple Square.

President Hinckley told the Deseret Morning News in 2000: "It is a bold step we are taking. But this boldness is in harmony with the tremendous outreach of the church across the world."

The Conference Center has been said to be the largest auditorium in the world dedicated to religious worship and a legacy of President Hinckley's tenure as leader of the LDS Church. It has a 7,667-pipe organ, was built with 116,000 cubic yards of concrete, has a 92-foot spire and four-acre meadow on top. It was built from the same granite with which the Salt Lake Temple was constructed in the 19th century.

The building's pulpit has a unique connection to President Hinckley. It was made from a walnut tree that grew in the back yard of his Salt Lake home — a place where his children "played and also grew," he said during the April 2000 LDS General Conference.

Those who volunteer at the Conference Center say it's a place where the spirit of God is present. During a prayer dedicating the building, President Hinckley prayed that it would be a gathering place and "a thing of beauty to the beholder both inside and out."

"May it be a house of many uses," he prayed, "a house of culture, a house of art, a house of faith, a house of God. May it give expression to the declaration of the people that if 'there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things."'

He continued, "From this pulpit may thy name (God) be spoken with reverence and love. May the name of thy Son be constantly remembered with sacred declaration. May testimony of thy divine work ring forth from here to all the world. May righteousness be proclaimed and evil denounced. May words of faith be spoken with boldness and conviction. May proclamations and declarations of doctrine ring forth to the nations."

source: http://deseretnews.com

Thousands Take Part In ING Miami Marathon MIAMI

2008-01-27T09:17:00.000-08:00

Thousands Take Part In ING Miami Marathon MIAMI

Runners to your mark – sneakers laced up and tunes ready on the iPod. More than 13-thousand runners are taking part in the ING Miami Marathon and Half Marathon in downtown Miami Sunday. The winning male and female in the marathon each earn $5-thousand. Those who break course or state records will win additional prize money. The marathon's organizers say this year there are runners from all 50 states and 47 countries.

Source: http://cbs4.com

Miss Michigan Crowned Miss America

2008-01-26T19:36:00.000-08:00

Miss Michigan Crowned Miss America

Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund, a 19-year-old aspiring Broadway star, was crowned Miss America 2008 on Saturday in a live show billed as the unveiling of the 87-year-old pageant's new, hipper look.

Haglung, of Farmington Hills, Mich., sang "Over the Rainbow" to clinch the title. She beat Miss Indiana Nicole Elizabeth Rash, the first runner up, and Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto, the second runner up for the $50,000 scholarship and year of travel that comes with the crown.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Sporting updated hairdos, sassy attitudes and red carpet-worthy fashion, a crop of 52 newly made-over aspiring beauty queens was trimmed as they competed for the top tiara Saturday in the Miss America Pageant.

Contestants wore blue jeans and added a bit of humor to the traditional opening number, the parade of states.

"Where we consider ice fishing to be a major league sport, I'm Miss Minnesota!" Jennifer Ann Hudspeth said.

Producers had hoped a new confident attitude would show through on the catwalks, and Miss Utah, Jill Stevens, an Army medic who served in Afghanistan, didn't disappoint.

"Home of the country's highest birth rate — as long as the Osmonds don't move," she announced.

Miss Utah didn't make it to the final 10, but she took the disappointment with pluck. When her name was called, she dropped and gave the audience push ups before joining the other losers.

Stevens however was selected "America's Choice," based on voting via text messages from viewers of a reality show that was designed to make over the beauty queens and draw in a younger audience.

Among the top eight finalists: Miss Michigan Kirsten Haglund, granddaughter of Miss Michigan 1944; Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto, an aspiring lawyer from Wapato, Wash.; Miss California Melissa Chaty, a 24-year-old opera singer and Miss Wisconsin Christina Thompson a violinist.

The long-struggling pageant promised a new look for this year's beauty battle. "Entertainment Tonight" reporter Mark Steines was the master of ceremonies of the show, which aired on cable channel TLC.

Clinton Kelly of TLC's hit "What Not to Wear" also helped with the hosting duties. Kelly had instructed the girls on how to update their looks during the reality show.

The pageant sounded and looked different. A deejay spun dance music from turntables set up on stage. Contestant danced and waved to the audience during commercials breaks.

Usually tame by modern TV standards, the swimwear competition kicked it up a notch. Most contestants wore black bikinis, and some struck provocative poses and twirled as the audience howled.

Those who didn't make the cut as finalists were awarded a girl's favorite consolation prize.

"Carbohydrates!" Kelly yelled, as pastries were handed out on stage.

The losers were seated on risers on one side of the stage, while the parents of the finalists, in black tie, were seated on the other.

The crowning at the Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino on the Las Vegas Strip caps a four-week reality series, "Miss America: Reality Check," which followed the contestants as they were pushed to shed the dated look of Miss Americas past and adopt a hipper style.

The show was the 87-year-old pageant's latest in a series of attempts to find an audience with a younger demographic after more than a decade of declining ratings.

The fading institution has struggled to find a television home since being dropped from network television in 2004. It spent a two-year stint on Country Music Television before being picked up last summer by TLC, a cable channel reaching 93 million homes in the U.S.

TLC added the pageant to its reality-TV stable, and announced plans to reinvent the look of the show and find an "It girl" ready for modern celebrity.

The pageant has not fared well in the age of reality television, despite a series of recent experiments that have added quiz shows, viewer voting and "new" style.

It moved to the Las Vegas Strip in 2006 and promised a back-to-basics formula that would revel in its old-school charm. The show continued to lose viewers. It fell to an all-time low of 2.4 million viewers in 2007 and was dropped by CMT.

This year's reality TV infusion, "Miss America: Reality Check," was notable for taking a decidedly irreverent tone with the long-revered pageant. Style experts took shots at the earnest contestants' hair, makeup, talent and stiff parade wave, and Saturday's crowning was billed as the big reveal.

The winner takes home a $50,000 scholarship and embark on a year of promoting the pageant, her platform issue and the Children's Miracle Network, a pageant partner.

Source: http://ap.google.com

shoah foundation: Holocaust workshop for teachers to include survivors' accounts

2008-01-17T20:01:00.000-08:00

Holocaust workshop for teachers to include survivors' accounts
Attendees may receive CSU extension credit

"The Relevance of Teaching the Holocaust in the 21st Century" will be held for educators and community members from 4:15 to 8:30 p.m. on four consecutive Thursdays, beginning Jan. 31. An optional fifth session will take place Thurs., Feb. 28.

This is the 25th annual teacher training workshop presented by the Anti-Defamation League and will include Echoes and Reflections: A Multimedia Curriculum of the Holocaust, the Holocaust curriculum for middle and high school students developed by the ADL, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and Yad Vashem.

The workshop offers opportunities to learn from scholars, educators, specialists and survivors' eyewitness accounts. While it is designed for middle and high school levels, elementary school teachers will also benefit.

The workshops will cover these topics: Overview and Introduction, Witness to History, Educational Experience and Primary Resources, Teaching Democratic Values through the Holocaust, and Teaching Moral Decision Making through the Holocaust.

Registration is $65 before Jan. 21 and $75 after. Fee includes a kosher dinner each session, all learning materials and credit toward books or videos for classroom use.

Educators completing the workshop are entitled to salary points from Los Angeles Unified School District, in-service credit from the Bureau of Jewish Education and may receive University Extension units from California State University.

The workshop is presented by the ADL, the Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance and the Center for Excellence on the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, Human Rights and Tolerance, in partnership with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education and Yad Vashem in cooperation with the Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust, the Los Angeles Unified School District and United Teachers of Los Angeles and the "9139" Club.

source: http://www.thecamarilloacorn.com

give me liberty or give me death

2008-01-17T19:36:00.000-08:00

Eye in the sky
Selling autonomy for false security

Only Mom, apple pie and baseball are more American than a cookie store. So it’s fitting that Bill Ross, owner of a local Mrs. Fields Cookies, expressed the feelings of most Americans when he spoke about police surveillance cameras.

“I don’t know about civil rights. That’s not my concern. Safety is,” said Ross, whose store operates at 32 N. Tejon.

In response to recent melees in and near bars on Tejon Street, Colorado Springs police will begin monitoring the street in March, recording public activity with video surveillance. An ABC News poll in July found that 71 percent of Americans favor increased use of surveillance cameras in the interest of safety. From coast to coast, American cities are installing cameras at intersections, on light poles and on buildings. Once controversial, cameras go up with hardly a complaint.

Benjamin Franklin has long been quoted saying: “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty or safety.”

Historians believe the quote rightfully belongs to Franklin’s fellow diplomat, Richard Jackson, and appeared in a book that Franklin published. The urban legend variant — “He who sacrifices freedom for safety deserves neither” — summarizes the principle. Of what value is safety, or even life itself, without freedom?

“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death,” said Patrick Henry to the Virginia House of Burgesses.

“Live free or die,” wrote Gen. John Stark, in a letter to fellow Revolutionary War generals.

During the Cold War, Soviet propaganda highlighted crime in the United States — a place where hoodlums had so much freedom that grandmas were mugged in the streets. Communist propaganda was distorted, but somewhat true. The cost of freedom — in the form of privacy, limited law enforcement, and personal autonomy from the state — includes a degree of lawlessness.

If crime control and safety are America’s highest values, rather than freedom, we should eliminate crime. Remove the Fourth Amendment, and allow police unlimited authority to search our bodies and our properties. Eliminate the Second Amendment and begin rounding up guns and knives. And what of this “presumption of innocence” that’s respected in the 5th, 6th and 14th Amendments? Authoritarian regimes have much lower crime rates, in general, because guilt is presumed; innocence must be proved.

If safety is the highest value, by all means we should make a case for government cameras to monitor every person’s every move on each square inch of public turf. Early experience in other cities shows the cameras don’t lower crime, but it might work. In Nazi Germany, communist East Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, and Pol Pot’s Cambodia, police spied on ordinary people “to keep the peace.”

In Texas, police departments have begun using cameras on a broad scale to keep the peace — and increasingly to abuse the public. Writing for National Review Online, Jim Harper explains how Lubbock police shortened the duration of yellow lights at intersections. Doing so caused more people to inadvertently run red lights, which meant the city’s camera system could generate more tickets. Harper quoted Mayor David Miller saying the cameras enhance safety, but “it’s also about the generation of revenue.”

USA Today reported in 2006 that Houston Police Chief Harold Hurtt wants surveillance cameras in apartment buildings, shopping malls and even private homes to counter the city’s shortage of police recruits.

“I know a lot of people are concerned about Big Brother, but my response to that is, if you are not doing anything wrong, why should you worry about it?” Hurtt told reporters.

Why should we worry? Because Americans have a right to get lost. We have a right to keep secrets. We have a right be naked in our homes. We have a right to secretly associate with others in private. It’s reasonable, in a free society, to expect that visiting a bar won’t generate a recording for police to review.

Public safety is a legitimate government role, but only within limits. If safety and civility are what we value most, there’s no limit to what government will gladly provide.

Revolutionaries didn’t fight and die so their ancestors would have a place to be safe. They left us this country as one place on earth where humans could live free. To maximize freedom, we must demand privacy and autonomy from the state — which includes local police. It means fewer cameras, not more. It means drunks will sometimes fight on Night Life Street. Don’t sell freedom for safety, much less the false sense of security spy cameras provide.

What Republicans?

The front page of Wednesday’s New York Times asked: “Can anyone bring the Republicans together again?” Following Tuesday’s primary, we’ve yet to see a Republican who expresses the conservative philosophy that Reagan used to coalesce Americans. Only Ron Paul seems to grasp the idea that less is more — that limited government and free markets appeal to the masses yearning to be free. But Paul — who has trounced media darling Rudy Giuliani in the first three primaries — can’t shake the kook label.

Others act like they discovered conservative values last week. They come with big government baggage, such as RomneyCare and Giuliani’s anti-gun, “government solutions” mentality. For this we need a Republican? Can anyone bring the GOP together again? It appears unlikely, at least for now.
source: http://www.gazette.com

Dozens in Texas Town Report Seeing UFO

2008-01-14T22:15:00.000-08:00

Dozens in Texas Town Report Seeing UFO

In this farming community where nightfall usually brings clear, starry skies, residents are abuzz over reported sightings of what many believe is a UFO.

Several dozen people — including a pilot, county constable and business owners — insist they have seen a large silent object with bright lights flying low and fast. Some reported seeing fighter jets chasing it.

"People wonder what in the world it is because this is the Bible Belt, and everyone is afraid it's the end of times," said Steve Allen, a freight company owner and pilot who said the object he saw last week was a mile long and half a mile wide. "It was positively, absolutely nothing from these parts."

While federal officials insist there's a logical explanation, locals swear that it was larger, quieter, faster and lower to the ground than an airplane. They also said the object's lights changed configuration, unlike those of a plane. People in several towns who reported seeing it over several weeks have offered similar descriptions of the object.

Machinist Ricky Sorrells said friends made fun of him when he told them he saw a flat, metallic object hovering about 300 feet over a pasture behind his Dublin home. But he decided to come forward after reading similar accounts in the Stephenville Empire-Tribune.

"You hear about big bass or big buck in the area, but this is a different deal," Sorrells said. "It feels good to hear that other people saw something, because that means I'm not crazy."

Sorrells said he has seen the object several times. He said he watched it through his rifle's telescopic lens and described it as very large and without seams, nuts or bolts.

Maj. Karl Lewis, a spokesman for the 301st Fighter Wing at the Joint Reserve Base Naval Air Station in Fort Worth, said no F-16s or other aircraft from his base were in the area the night of Jan. 8, when most people reported the sighting.

Lewis said the object may have been an illusion caused by two commercial airplanes. Lights from the aircraft would seem unusually bright and may appear orange from the setting sun.

"I'm 90 percent sure this was an airliner," Lewis said. "With the sun's angle, it can play tricks on you."

Officials at the region's two Air Force bases — Dyess in Abilene and Sheppard in Wichita Falls — also said none of their aircraft were in the area last week. The Air Force no longer investigates UFOs.

One man has offered a reward for a photograph or videotape of the mysterious object.

About 200 UFO sightings are reported each month, mostly in California, Colorado and Texas, according to the Mutual UFO Network, which plans to go to the 17,000-resident town of Stephenville to investigate.

Fourteen percent of Americans polled last year by The Associated Press and Ipsos say they have seen a UFO.

Erath County Constable Lee Roy Gaitan said that he first saw red glowing lights and then white flashing lights moving fast, but that even with binoculars could not see the object to which the lights were attached.

"I didn't see a flying saucer and I don't know what it was, but it wasn't an airplane, and I've never seen anything like it," Gaitan said. "I think it must be some kind of military craft — at least I hope it was."

source: http://ap.google.com/article

NY Post plants fake Jessica

2008-01-14T07:11:00.000-08:00

NY Post plants fake Jessica

Even a fake Jessica Simpson was good enough to throw off the Dallas Cowboys yesterday, as Big Blue took a Giant step toward the Super Bowl.

The Giants, who notched a stunning 21-17 victory over Dallas in the NFC Divisional Playoffs, had a good-luck charm in the stands - in the form of Simpson lookalike Lynsey Nordstrom.

The real Simpson was the subject of great hand-wringing in Big D all week because of her budding romance with Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his habit of falling short on the field when gal pals are in attendance.

Simpson - nicknamed "Yoko Romo" by some superstitious Cowboys fans - didn't show up yesterday, but The Post brought Nordstrom, a beautiful, 21-year-old nanny from Bothell, Wash., to Texas Stadium.

We sat her in the third row at the 50-yard line behind Dallas' bench. The stunner's Simpson-esque vibes must have made the difference - Romo's final drive was stopped short of the end zone.

You're welcome, New York!

"I knew we were going to win when I saw her [Nordstrom]. I'm dead serious!" said Giant die-hard Anthony Triglia, 21, of Staten Island who cheered Big Blue in the heart of enemy territory.

"You have to come to Green Bay," Triglia told Nordstrom.

Then, in true Jessica, Chicken-of-the-Sea fashion, Nordstrom candidly responded: "What's Green Bay?"

Simpson and Romo won't have to worry about Green Bay now, thanks to the gutsy Giants who were outgained in total yardage but still came out on top.

Romo and the Cowboys had the benefit of a week off and a playoff bye - which the QB spent with Simpson in a romantic Mexican getaway.

"I'm the new biggest Jessica Simpson fan!" said Triglia's pal, fellow Staten Island resident Daniel Podvesker, 21.

"I heard a vacation in Cabo is excellent!"

Despite an occasional jeer, Nordstrom basked in the glow of fans telling her she was a dead ringer for Simpson.

"So many people were like, 'I really thought you were her!' " said Nordstrom, an aspiring makeup artist.

Romo's worst games of the past two seasons came when his girlfriends were in the stands.

His stinker of 2006 came Dec. 25, in front of then-squeeze "American Idol" Carrie Underwood.

Four weeks ago, Romo again had his worst game, with gal pal Simpson looking on from a luxury box at Texas Stadium.

Nordstrom turned heads in the parking lot, and then inside the stadium, where fans were keenly aware of Simpson's impact on Romo.

As Nordstrom approached the turnstiles, a fan with a bullhorn told the pretty blonde: "Jessica, Jessica, don't be going to the game!"

Nordstrom, wearing a pink, No. 9 Cowboys jersey like the one Simpson wore four weeks ago, tried to get closer to Dallas' bench at one point.

A security guard told her to get back.

"Y'all get back to your seats," the rent-a-cop said. "We don't need Jessica Simpson."

source: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story

Joy Fit Club's 30-minute workout

2008-01-14T07:08:00.000-08:00

Joy Fit Club's 30-minute workout

Tone your muscles, increase your aerobic capacity and burn body fat

Circuit training is a great way to get a quick, effective total-body workout that never gets boring. The circuits you’ll be doing involve alternating power toning moves with cardio moves, so that in just 30 minutes you can tone your muscles, increase your aerobic capacity and burn body fat.

I’ve picked a series of lower body, upper body and core exercises to tone the largest muscle groups in the shortest amount of time. Because these muscles require a lot of total body effort, your heart rate will stay elevated during the entire workout – and you will burn more calories then conventional resistance training.

Here are a few simple guidelines to keep in mind:

Commit to 30 minutes of exercise every day
You can do any of the following variations, bBut be careful not to do the same muscle groups on back to back days:

cardio moves alone
cardio with lower body only
cardio with upper body only
cardio with core only or cardio with upper, lower and core

*The exception to this are the core moves which can (and should, if possible) be done every day.

Five cardio options
Works the cardiovascular system, improves aerobic capacity, burns calories and helps fat loss. The following are 5 cardio options

1. Straddle down on step (step move): Begin standing on top and in the middle of the step, standing “lengthwise” (i.e. as if you were standing on a diving board). Begin straddling off and on the step by stepping off with your right foot then off with your left. Then back on with your right foot and on with your left. Continue doing the movement quickly while stilling maintaining good control and foot placement. To make the movement more intense, bend the knees and try to keep your body down closer to the step throughout.

2. Alternating knees up on step (step move): Step on the step with your right foot and then lift your left knee up as high as you can keeping good posture. Immediately, step down with your left foot and down with your right. Then change step on with your left foot and lift your right knee. Continue so that you are alternating stepping and lifting knees each time.

3. Marching in place (floor move – no step): Stand tall with good posture. March in place lifting the feet up purposefully and pumping the arms rhythmically.

4. Alternating elbow to knee (floor move – no step): Stand tall with good posture. Bring your right knee towards your left elbow. Then switch and bring your left knee towards your right elbow. Continue alternating rhythmically. Try to keep your back as straight as possible throughout.

5. Alternating squat to front kick (floor move – no step): Standing with your feet a little wider than hip width apart, sit back as if sitting into a chair. As you stand back up, kick out in front of you with your right leg. Immediately place your right leg down and go back into a squat. This time as you come up kick forward with your left leg as you come up. Continue alternating squats with single leg front kicks.

source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/

Tearful T.O. turns Terribly Overemotional after loss

2008-01-14T07:05:00.000-08:00

Tearful T.O. turns Terribly Overemotional after loss

Terrell Owens came to the podium last night wearing a suede jacket and large sunglasses. Wonder if the jacket was waterproof.

Terribly Overemotional, breaking his two-week near-silence, broke down after last night's stunning 21-17 loss to the Giants when asked about quarterback Tony Romo's poorly-timed Mexican vacation and whether the bye-week bye-bye with girlfriend Jessica Simpson was a factor in the upset.

Owens, held to four catches for 49 yards and one touchdown catch on a healing high-ankle sprain, wept for his quarterback. Or the Cowboys. Or himself. Or for the fans. Or maybe it was for the cameras.

"It's not about Tony," Owens said. "You guys can point fingers at him and talk about the vacation, but if you do that, it's really unfair ..."

The lips quivered. The voice cracked. The tears could be seen peeking from behind the sunglasses, the droplets glistening in the cameras' bright lights.

"It's unfair," Owens added. "It's my teammate, my quarterback. If you do that, man, it's unfair. We lost as a team. We lost as a team.

"It's unfair because I've been through it. I know what it's like. He gives you his all every day. When you lose, it falls on the quarterback's shoulders. But let it fall on the whole team's shoulders."

Maybe all this drama can be summarized in a Broadway tune: "Don't cry for me, Cabo San Lucas." Or maybe it's a movie: "Blame it on Romo," or, "If It's Bye Week, This Must Be Mexico." Whatever the title, Owens knows this is a soap opera that will run for years -- or at least until Romo, now 0-2 in the playoffs, wins a postseason game. You know, like Eli Manning.

Owens was asked how he knew this would dog Romo.

"How do I know?" he asked. "I know. I know. I know the media."

source: http://www.nj.com/sports/

Britney Spears online sex tape emerges?

2008-01-13T13:25:00.000-08:00

Britney Spears online sex tape emerges?
A new sex tape starring the ever-troubled former queen of pop has been leaked online, according to reports.

Fox news reported that a 30 minute clip of the Toxic singer was posted on the internet yesterday.

The footage is said to show a shaven-headed Britney performing sex acts on two women and a male companion.

During the raunchy video, the troubled mother-of-two is said to look dazed and consumes alcohol and “what appears to be cocaine and marijuana”.

If true, and it really is Britney Spears in the tape, it could prove to be yet antoher another dent in her child custody chances.

However there have been plenty of rumors and fake sex tapes before, with no real ones featuring Ms Spears ever surfacing.

Britney Spears was reportedly in hiding last night, fearing her family were about to take drastic action to force her into emergency psychiatric care. And she did it in a way that only Britney could.

In a bid to hoax the media and her family, word was put out that the pop superstar was flying to New York - as well as Hawaii, Las Vegas, Barbados and Mexico.

Brit Brit was known to be with Adnan Ghalib - the Birmingham-born photographer she fell for while he hounded her on the streets of L.A. - as well as at least one of his colleagues.

“This is all about them playing games with her fans to get exclusive pictures,” one insider said. “She has lost contact with her two sons and her family is so scared for her mental health they fear she’s a suicide risk and she’s out flying or driving around the world playing games.

“It’ just beyond belief.”

source: http://www.showbizspy.com

The Ultimate Tea Diet Book

2008-01-13T10:58:00.000-08:00

The Ultimate Tea Diet Book

Millions of Americans and people around the world are trying to find good healthy diet plans and programs for a healthy weight loss, especially after the New Year as part of their new years resolutions. A new book called The Ultimate Tea Diet is a presentable and fresh approach to dieting and weigh loss.

The Ultimate Tea DietBook Description

Tea has been widely recognized for its amazing health benefits. It can help:

• Boost the immune system
• Lower blood sugar and cholesterol
• Prevent cavities and tooth decay
• Slow the aging process
• Decrease high blood pressure
• Prevent arthritis
• Sharpen mental focus and concentration
• Reduce the risk of stroke, heart disease, cancer, and more...

Now, it's time for tea to be recognized, not only for all of these wonderful health benefits, but also for its ability to help tea drinkers lose weight as part of diet.

The Ultimate Tea Diet harnesses tea's incredible weight-loss potential in a straightforward plan for losing weight in a safe and healthy way. Simply find a tea you love, drink it all day, follow an easy food plan, and see the pounds fall off.

Tea's ability to encourage weight loss comes from the synergy of its three main ingredients: caffeine to stimulate, L-theanine to neutralize the harmful side effects of caffeine and act as an appetite suppressant, and EGCG, which causes you to burn fat faster and more efficiently. In other words, tea reduces your appetite and stimulates your metabolism.

Don't worry--you won't go hungry on the Ultimate Tea Diet. The food plan includes tasty tea-based meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner as well as tempting choices for midday snacks and sweet treats. All are made deliciously with tea so not only is your food incredibly flavorful, but you're also getting the health and weight-loss benefits in every single bite you enjoy.

Drinking tea--and maintaining a conscientious focus on good health--can easily become a way of life. Slim down to a leaner, more energetic, and healthier you with the Ultimate Tea Diet.

Featured Recipe from The Ultimate Tea Diet

Rosemary Orange Tea Chicken

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 oranges
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary or 1 teaspoon of dried, plus fresh sprigs for garnish
• 1/4 teaspoon finely ground green tea
• 1-1/2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast halves

Mix together the olive oil, juice of 1-1/2 oranges (set aside the other half0, pepper, salt, chopped rosemary, and dry tea. Pour this marinade into a large resealable plastic bag. Add the chicken, seal the bag and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

Heat a grill pan or barbecue until hot. Remove chicken from the bag, discarding the remaining marinade, and grill until browned on both sides. Thinly slice the remaining orange half and serve with the chicken. Decorate with a sprig of rosemary.

Serves 4.

Nutrition Per Serving: calories 170, fat 2.5g, protein 28g, carb 8g

About the Author of The Ultimate Tea Diet

Mark "Dr. Tea" Ukra is prominently featured as a tea expert, historian, and representative of the contemporary movement of tea. Dr. Tea and his wife, Julie, and daughter, Lucky, live in Los Angeles, where they own dr. tea's and are constantly spreading the good word about tea.

source: http://www.huliq.com

Laura Linney, Name No Longer Mis-Spelled

2008-01-13T10:55:00.000-08:00

Laura Linney, Name No Longer Mis-Spelled
"The Savages" tells the story of a brother and sister brought together to take care of their aging and estranged father. Its all-star cast boasts Phillip Seymour Hoffman as John and Laura Linney as Wendy Savage.

"She's a fantastic character, and just delicious to play," Linney said. "She is a woman approaching 40, who's in real emotional retardation (Laughs), I guess is one way to put it! She's in arrested development.

"And what I love about this movie is what you learn about these two adult siblings as the film unravels. You see what has happened to them, without being told - you actually see it. And that's great writing, when writing allows you to actually act."

If you see Laura Linney on stage, you can bet it's because she saw something in that script. Acting, she'll tell you, begins on the page.

"What's your test as you read through all of this stuff?" Smith asked.

"It's if you start working on it before you finished reading it<" Linney said. "Iif the material is good, your 'actor brain' will turn on, in a way that you can't control. And all of a sudden connections will start. Ideas will start coming to you. If the material is there, and it's ready to go, it will leap off the page at you.

"Did you have that with 'Savages'?"

"Absolutely. Oh absolutely. Yeah. Like page three, I think."

Perhaps her respect for the written word - and her love of theater - comes from growing up in New York City, the daughter of playwright Romulus Linney.

"My parents were divorced and I would spend weekends with my father," she said.

As a young child, Laura Linney remembers watching a rehearsal of one of her father's plays. The actors and director, working together, transfixed her.

"And I can remember the conversation - the tones of the conversation going, and then the actor going back and forth. There was a connection between the two of them that made me, even at the age of five or whatever, sort of lean forward a bit. So that's one of my first memories of being, like, 'Oh, can I join in?'"

Linney has appeared in nearly 30 films, including "The Truman Show," "Dave," "Mystic River," and "The Squid and the Wahle" - her characters often defined by their troubled vulnerability.

"Are you very, very different in real life from how we see you on screen?" Smith asked.

"I hope so! I hope so. I'm sure there are, you know, flashes of you in everything. There's no way to get around that."

"What would we be surprised to learn about you?"

"I love 70's music. I don't know if that's a big surprise. But all that crazy funk stuff. I adore it.

"I don't know if just that period of time in my life, you know, growing up in New York when everything was colorful and sort of upside down and a little dangerous, you know? People were not wearing much clothing. And it was a whole other era. What was considered acceptable and forward-thinking behavior was very, very different. There was a freedom and light and everyone wore color - and then the 80's came and everyone wore black!"

"You're still wearing black," Smith pointed out.

"I still wear black."

Black being the unofficial uniform of New York actors. Perhaps she developed her sartorial style at the prestigious Juilliard School in New York.

Linney makes it clear: getting into Juilliard was her big break as an actress.

"It wasn't really any of the movies or any of the plays. It was getting in here. It was getting into this school. I learned things here that I recall every day. Every single day."

Her goal coming out of school was to be a part of the theatre. She didn’t have to wait long.

Linney went to work as an understudy in the hit play, "Six Degees of Separation" at Lincoln Center.

"I couldn't believe it. My name was in a Playbill! Oh! I was so overly-excited that I was gonna see my name in print in a Playbill. The vanity was out of control! And I was so ashamed that I was really torn about (laughs) being so excited about these playbills and wanting to, like, not look like an idiot.

"And I can remember, we were in rehearsal and I was walking across the hall. And I saw them: They arrived, the Playbills! And I knew that it was gonna say, at the very bottom of these Playbills it says "understudy," and it will say for this character and that character… I knew it was gonna say 'Laura Linney.' Oh! My God! I had collected Playbills my whole life, suitcases of 'em. So I ran into the room, I wrenched this [out] which was hard to get out 'cause they were all bound up, I ran into the bathroom, I closed the door. I'm reading, and it said, for this character … 'Lavro Linney'! (laughs) And I thought, 'You know what? Serves you right! Serves you right!'"

Not many mis-spellings followed, as Linney established herself as a fine actress on stage and screen.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for her role as a single mother in the indie film, "You Can Count on Me." It was the first of two Oscar nominations - she received one in the supporting actress category for "Kinsey." She's also been nominated for a Tony for her work on Broadway in 'The Crucible." And in 2002 she won an Emmy for her recurring guest role on the sit-com, "Frasier"

The success does not appear to be going to her head, though she isn’t sure she knows what being a movie star means any more.

"Ten million dollars a picture, on the cover of magazines?" Smith suggested.

"Right. Well, I wouldn't be doing the work I'm doing if that was the case, you know? You don't make $10 million to do 'Squid and the Whale' or 'Savages' or the films that I am the proudest of."

"Those are the movies that nobody wants to make," Smith laughed. "You may have just hit on the theme of our story about you: You're the star of the movies nobody wants to make."

"Ah-ha!" she laughed. "Yes, that's me."

And that brings us back to "The Savages," a film that just enough people did want to make, one that again affirms that Laura Linney is a truly fine actress, and is even being chatted up about a third Oscar nomination, even if she's not quite ready to go that far herself.

"That would be nice. But you never know with this stuff. It's impossible to be ignorant of the rumblings and the mumblings. So it's nice to be even in that sort of realm. Because that means that some people are liking the movie enough, and if there's that sort of talking, maybe people will go see it.

"You know, it's always a relief when you don't suck. (laughs) It just is! That's a big relief. Just don't suck! You know? Yea! I didn't suck in that movie. Yea!"
source: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories

Shins Star Crandall Released from Jail

2008-01-12T23:22:00.001-08:00

Shins Star Crandall Released from Jail

The Shins rocker Marty Crandall has been released from jail following his arrest on charges of assaulting his model ex-girlfriend.

The star was held on $25,000 bail by Sacramento County, Calif., police after he was charged on Friday.

Crandall and Elyse Sewell, who has previously appeared on "America's Next Top Model," were both arrested following an incident at a Sacramento hotel.

Sewell was released on Saturday and Crandall was freed on Monday. He's due to appear in court on Tuesday.

The Shins' record label, Sub Pop, issued the following statement: "Marty Crandall and his ex-girlfriend Elyse Sewell were both arrested over the weekend following an argument at a hotel which resulted in staff calling the police.

"They were both taken into police custody and released over the weekend. There will be no further comment at this time and we would appreciate their privacy being respected."

source: http://www.sfgate.com

Angry under-16s 'have law on kissing wrong'

2008-01-12T21:16:00.000-08:00

The justice department says the so-called "kissing law" was never meant to police children but merely to protect them from sexual exploitation.

Since President Thabo Mbeki signed the Sexual Offences Act into law last month, there has been an outcry from teenagers on social networking website Facebook and in the media.

At issue is the fact that the Sexual Offences Act is so comprehensive in its detailed prohibitions that it has been taken to forbid kissing and cuddling by under-16s.

Tens of thousands of outraged teenagers have substantially increased Internet activity on Facebook relating to the law in the past two weeks.

A national event has also been created on Facebook, called "Kiss In Protest" which calls on all under-16s to gather at public places and take part in protest "kissathons".

But the department says the key issues have not been understood.

Justice Department spokesperson Zolile Nqayi said provided the age difference between a couple was less than two years, they would be unlikely to be prosecuted.

Nqayi said with an age difference of more than two years, both offenders could face prosecution, even if their sexual acts, including kissing, were consensual.

He said the department was aware of the protests but that they were not following it.

"People are entitled to voice their dissatisfaction in any way. The impression has been created that police will be going around and checking and telling people not to kiss but that is not the intention at all."

Nqayi added that police would not stop people from kissing and that in most cases action would only be taken if a parent laid a charge of sexual exploitation.

Nqayi said the sentence for being found guilty of a sexual offence could only be determined by the courts.

Numerous groups have been created on Facebook with the largest group, "Everyone against the New Kissing Law", boasting more than 17 000 members with an average of 1 000 new users joining every day.

The group was started on December 18 with 166 members on its first day.

Since then the number of people joining has increased at a rapid rate.

Fourteen-year-old Franki Murray, creator of the group, posted a note on the group's page last weekend saying the kissathon at Northgate Mall in Gauteng had gone well and reminded users of another event planned for Brightwater Common in Randburg today.

There seems to be no activity from Cape Town teenagers in public places.

The outcry from South African teenagers has grabbed the attention of overseas teenagers and media.
source: http://www.iol.co.za

Queen Sized' airs again Sunday

2008-01-12T21:08:00.000-08:00

The television movie “Queen Sized” debuted on the Lifetime cable network today. It airs again Sunday and Monday at 8 p.m.

“Queen Sized” was shot in Shreveport in October and November. The drama, starring Nikki Blonsky, is about an overweight girl who is elected homecoming queen by her high school class.

CBS to Air Dexter From Showtime

2008-01-12T21:03:00.000-08:00

Hit hard by the writer's strike, CBS has turned to its pay-cable affiliate Showtime for material. Starting in Feb you can catch Dexter on CBS on Sunday night. You may know by now we really enjoy Dexter (see Top 10 Shows of 2007) and are looking forward to see the first season again. Here is the write-up on the news:

"Dexter, the critically acclaimed drama series about a serial killer, which recently completed its second season on sister cable network SHOWTIME, makes an unprecedented appearance on network television when it premieres Sunday, Feb. 17 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

"Dexter's move to CBS marks the first time a full season of a premium cable drama series will make the transition to network television. Dexter's 12-episode first season will be edited for network television and will be broadcast on 12 consecutive Sundays."

Source: From http://daveandthomas.blogspot.com

Yearling Saint Liam Colt Brings $220,000

2008-01-12T16:03:00.000-08:00

A yearling colt from the first and only crop of the late 2005 Horse of the Year Saint Liam sold for $220,000 Saturday to top the sixth and next-to-last session of the Keeneland January horses of all ages sale in Lexington. Kentucky-based bloodstock agent Mike Ryan purchased the bay yearling from James B. Keogh/Grovendale, agent.

The colt is out of the 11-year-old unraced Kingmambo mare Golf Girl and is a half-brother to Stoneway (by Storm Boot), who captured the 2004 Cincinnati Trophy Stakes at Turfway Park. The yearling was bred in Kentucky by Blackwater Farm, Bradley Thoroughbred Brokerage, and Keogh.

Saint Liam was euthanized after fracturing his left hind leg in August of 2006. The syndicated son of Saint Ballado stood at Will Farish's Lane's End Farm near Versailles, Ky.

Keeneland reported that 195 horses were sold Saturday for a gross of $2,749,500. The average price was $14,100, and the median was $6,500. Compared to last year's sixth session, when 265 horses were sold, the gross was down 25.9% from $3,714,200. However, the average increased less than 1% from $14,016 while the median fell 7.1% from $7,000. The buy-back rate grew from 20.7% in 2007 to 23.2% this year.

The figures for the auction's first six sessions combined were 1,340 horses sold, a gross of $69,428,200, an average of $51,812, and a median of $20,000. Compared to the same point in 2007, when 1,466 horses had been sold, the gross was up less than 1% from $69,099,800. The average rose 9.9% from $47,135, and the median was the same. The buy-back rate advanced from 21.2% to 23.7%.

source: http://auctions.bloodhorse.com/

It's baby time in Hollywood. Richie, Aguilera in labor!

2008-01-11T22:54:00.000-08:00

It's a busy day in the Cedar's Sinai Medical Center baby ward as both Christina Aguilera and Nicole Richie are both spitting out their babies there on Friday!

Nicole went into labor on Friday afternoon. Baby daddy Joel Madden, his brother Benji and Nicole's mom Brenda were all on hand.

Just down the hall, Christina Aquilera is pushing and screaming as she tries to welcome a little one into the world as well.

This story is developing (to say the least!)

source: http://gaysocialites.com/2008/01/its_baby_time_in_hollywood_ric.html

Christina Rice: Former Heat all-star Glen Rice arrested on battery charge

2008-01-11T22:46:00.000-08:00

Former Miami Heat star Glen Rice was arrested Friday on a felony battery charge after police say he beat a man he found hiding in his estranged wife's closet.

Rice went to the home of estranged wife Christina Rice and punched Alberto Perez several times, police said. Perez fled the home and called police. He received a cut to his forehead that needed nine stitches, police said.

The six-foot-eight Rice surrendered to police and was released after posting US$5,000 bond. It was not immediately known if he had an lawyer.

Rice was selected by the Heat in the first round of the 1989 draft out of Michigan, where he won an NCAA championship and is the school's all-time leading scorer.

The 40-year-old Rice played six seasons with the Heat and 15 overall, averaging 18.3 points. Along with the Heat, he played with the Charlotte Hornets, the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Lakers, the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Clippers, retiring after the 2003-04 season.

Rice won an NBA championship with the 2000 Lakers and was the MVP of the 1997 all-star Game.

source: http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5h6dKwrgjK_yPq3KyCm1zjbsyCfHg

Slambook: What is Slambook?

2008-01-11T22:34:00.000-08:00

Skazzle is a global hang-out spot for teens who want to talk to other teens online. Teens can create and sign slambooks, host discussions, play adlibs and ...

www.slambook.com

Stephen Lynch

2008-01-11T22:32:00.001-08:00

"Comedy Central Presents." Tonight marks the 12th season of this Friday night performance series with an appearance by Stephen Lynch. Lynch, a wildly funny guy, appeared in the Broadway production of "The Wedding Singer." Here, he's back to being Lynch, guitar in hand, making folks laugh with his creative songs.

The Curious Case of Caryl Chessman

2008-01-11T22:16:00.000-08:00

In May 2001, Ruben Patterson, a professional basketball player for the Seattle Supersonics, was convicted of attempted rape after he forced his children's nanny to perform a sex act on him. Patterson's punishment for this offense was a suspended sentence consisting of 15 days of house arrest—presumably without a nanny to assist him with parental duties, as well as a five-game suspension by the National Basketball Association.

"I'm not no rapist," a beaming Patterson eloquently explained to the media, assembled in August 2001 to witness his signing of a $33.8 million contract with the Portland Trail Blazers. "I'm a great guy."

n June 1948, a 27-year-old drifter and petty criminal named Caryl Chessman was sentenced in California on two separate counts of what was essentially the same crime to which Ruben Patterson pled guilty. Caryl Chessman's punishment: two death sentences.

In the twelve intervening years between his sentencing and execution, Chessman lived and tirelessly labored in Cell 2455 on Death Row in San Quentin Prison, shaping what has to be one of the most remarkable bodies of work in American legal history: three wide-selling memoirs—Cell 2455 Death Row (1954), Trial by Ordeal (1955), The Face of Justice (1957)—and one novel—The Kid Was A Killer (1960), numerous articles and an unrivaled expertise in American law.

"With extraordinary energy, Chessman made, on the very edge of extinction, one of those startling efforts of personal rehabilitation, salvation of the self," wrote Elizabeth Hardwick in a poignant essay that ran in Partisan Review at the time of Chessman's trip to the gas chamber. "It was this energy that brought him out of darkness to the notice of the Pope, Albert Schweitzer, Mauriac, Dean Pike, Marlon Brando, Steve Allen, and rioting students in Lisbon (Lisbon!)."

source: http://www.gadflyonline.com/10-29-01/ftr-caryl-chessman.html

It's a baby boy for Christina Aguilera!

2008-01-11T22:11:00.000-08:00

Christina Aguilera and her husband Jordan Bratman welcomed a baby boy into the world on Friday while Nicole Richie and Joel Madden delivered a baby girl just down the hall.

Aguilera and Bratman made the announcement to close friends and family via text message around 4pm on Friday.

"Baby has arrived. Mom and dad are doing well," the text read.

Christina didn't release the baby's name immediately keeping in line with her top secret pregnancy.

Nicole Richie and Joel Madden named their daughter Harlow Winter Kate Madden.

source: http://gaysocialites.com/2008/01/its_a_baby_boy_for_christina_a.html

Steve Byrne is one of the hardest working comedians

2008-01-11T22:09:00.000-08:00

Steve Byrne is one of the hardest working comedians out there today. Born in Freehold NJ to a Korean mother and Irish father has provided him with a wealth of material.

Steve has appeared on "The Late, Late Show," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Last Call with Carson Daly," "The Howard Stern Show," MTV's "True Life," BET's "Comic View," Comedy Central's "Premium Blend," "Tough Crowd with Colin Quinn," "Chappelle's Show" and his own 1/2 hour "Comedy Central Presents."

He has been on USO tours of Iraq and Afghanistan with Colin Quinn and Drew Carey. Steve has opened for Mariah Carey, Modest Mouse and Kings of Leon to name a few. He is a regular at Beachers Madhouse in Las Vegas playing to crowds of 2,000 and has been a part of the "Wild West Comedy Show with Vince Vaughn."

Steve can be found on a regular basis working the comedy clubs of NYC and LA when not on the road. His lack of ego and hard work ethic make him one of the most sought after young comedians working today.

source: http://www.comedycentral.com/comedians/browse/b/steve_byrne.jhtml

Amy Lynn Baxter is an American model and actress

2008-01-11T21:59:00.000-08:00

Amy Lynn Baxter is an American model and actress. She was born on 6th September 1967 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA. She is also known as Amy Baxter or Amy Lynn. She is the niece of famous actor, director and producer Max Baer Jr. She had a wonderful figure that helped her throughout her modeling career. She also possesses the sensual appeal in her look that helps her in her acting career.

She was portrayed in the infamous ‘Penthouse Magazine’. She became the ‘Penthouse Pet’ for the month of June in the year 1990. She used to date with the famous actor, James Wood for sometimes. She posed for the inside cover of the book “ Private Parts” by actor and Author Howard Stern. She also appeared in a TV commercial for Longitude Penis Enlargement Capsules in 2001. Amy Lynn Baxter has over twenty movies to her credit. She played the role of Lynn in the film ‘Smokin Stogies’. She appeared in the movie ‘Blood, Bullets and Buffoons’. She played the role of the lead character Liberty in the sex comedy film ‘Golf balls!’. That movie had a tagline that it is a little comedy about golf…. and balls! She also appeared in the movies like ‘Broadcast Bombshells’, ‘Bikini Bistro’, ‘Affairs of the Heart’, ‘Lord of the City’, ‘Fantasies Vol. 1’, ‘Penthouse: The great Pet Hunt – Part 2’, ‘Valerie’, ‘Sangre Songes’, ‘American Angels: Baptism of Blood’, ‘Lauderdale, Summer Job’.
According to the critics, her best performance till date is in Golf balls. The movie is about the ‘Pennytree Golf Club’ that had its booming period in the 70s. But the grand daughter of the owner of the golf club wants to regain the past glory with the help of a new team of crew for the golf club. She chooses the beautiful babes and handsome hunks for the crew and the business sets rolling. The rival golf club tried every means to stop liberty – the beauty with a brain but can they really do anything? With the revival and rivalry golf will never be the same. In this movie Amy Lynn Baxter plays the pivotal role of the drop dead gorgeous and sexy grand daughter of the owner of the Pennytree Golf Club – Liberty. In her other movies, Amy Lynn Baxter played many important characters but many of the movies did not have much success. For many times it has been commented that she is the only one who showed some character in those movies. Amy Lynn Baxter also appeared in the much talked about talk show “ Howard Stern” for the TV and for the radio. She also appeared in many talk shows, documentaries for the TV and the radio as herself.
source: http://www.encyclocentral.com/7635-Amy_Lynn_Baxter.html