tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37044311829982045672024-02-02T10:05:59.177-08:00Hot Armistice News, World News Events, Entertainment News Online, Current News StoriesGet updated with all the Latest News current events, Stories and Hot Trends.imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.comBlogger1039125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-65016735211725776142012-11-05T07:07:00.000-08:002012-11-05T07:07:18.387-08:00Daylight Savings Time 2012<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<b>Daylight Savings Time 2012: Remember to Turn Your Clocks Back This Weekend!</b><br /><br />Sleepy heads rejoice! Daylight Savings Time (DST 2012) will end tonight and that means an extra hour of sleep for the everyone! Daylight Savings Time 2012 will end early tomorrow morning on November 4th, 2012 at 2:00AM, so do not forget to adjust your clocks and alarms for tomorrow morning, so you don’t miss anything important. Daylight Savings Time began earlier this year on March 11th, 2012 at 2:00am. Since then we have enjoy longer days with sunlight. Daylights Savings time will end for anyone in the US except Arizona and Hawaii.</div>
imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-32238802923364308362011-10-28T23:25:00.000-07:002011-10-28T23:25:07.821-07:00Puss In Boots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9Wbl0RVUZ8XnQJb1Ii4DLncYJKhalGfZWajijoxVqwN83qiXR6FzGd9EyVhUdfhPIQQvD4ROhcXo9SlVrhfm7C-PRr1b-4ICNrg-kJGbQzgALCcXUmUSDJ3HPS9YrCAqLbi6viJBTAU/s1600/puss+in+boots.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjC9Wbl0RVUZ8XnQJb1Ii4DLncYJKhalGfZWajijoxVqwN83qiXR6FzGd9EyVhUdfhPIQQvD4ROhcXo9SlVrhfm7C-PRr1b-4ICNrg-kJGbQzgALCcXUmUSDJ3HPS9YrCAqLbi6viJBTAU/s1600/puss+in+boots.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>'Puss in Boots' showcases work by India animators for DreamWorks</b><br />
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When the cat bandit "Puss in Boots" strides onto big screen this weekend, Vanitha Rangaraju and her colleagues in Bangalore, India, will take special pride in the feline's starring role on the global stage.<br />
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A spinoff of the hit "Shrek" movies, "Puss in Boots" represents a milestone for DreamWorks Animation and for the fledgling animation industry in the world's second most populous nation.</div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The film, starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek, marks the first time that the Glendale studio has relied on a crew of Indian animators to help produce a full-length feature film. Until now, DreamWorks Animation had used the studio it operates in Bangalore to produce mainly TV specials and DVD bonus material. But after investing more than $10 million over the last three years, DreamWorks has turned the Bangalore studio into an increasingly important piece of its production pipeline.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The investment underscores how Hollywood is increasingly farming out animation and visual effects work to India, both to capitalize on the country's low labor costs and to tap into a large pool of English-speaking workers with sought-after computer skills. The pace of production also is accelerated because of the 24-hour cycle that can be maintained by pairing the Bangalore workers with their counterparts in Hollywood.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"We're very excited because we've been working toward this for three years,'' said Rangaraju, head of lighting for the India animation unit. "This is the first time this has happened in India, and it's going to encourage a lot of people to move into the industry."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DreamWorks is among several studios tapping into the labor pool in India. Sony Pictures Entertainment and Rhythm & Hues, the Los Angeles animation and visual effects house, each have facilities in India that have done work on such feature films as "Yogi Bear" and "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Walt Disney Studios partnered with Mumbai-based Prana Studios to produce its 2008 computer-animated movie "Tinker Bell." Additionally, several large Indian companies, such as Reliance Group, Tata Elxsi and Prime Focus, have established beachheads in Hollywood to do visual effects and 3-D conversion work on films such as "Spider-Man 3" and "Clash of the Titans."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Traditionally, much of the film and TV work Hollywood has outsourced to India has involved low-skill, labor-intensive tasks such as wire removal — the tedious process of digitally erasing wires used to suspend stunt people and stars in action movies. The animation work has been confined mostly to TV series or made-for-DVD movies. But that's beginning to change, as evidenced by "Puss in Boots."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A team of about 100 animators in Bangalore spent six months animating three major scenes in the feature film — including one complex sequence in which Puss, Humpty Dumpty (Zach Galifianakis) and Kitty Softpaws (Hayek) enter a giant's castle surrounded by a lush jungle in the clouds. "Except for the story boarding, we did everything from start to finish," said Philippe Gluckman, creative director for the DreamWorks India unit, housed on the eleventh floor of a building in a high-tech park in a suburb of Bangalore. "I would hope nobody would be able to tell which sequences came from India."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">DreamWorks launched the India studio in early 2008 as part of a partnership with Technicolor, which acquired the Indian animation company Paprika Animation Studios. Technicolor owns the facility but has tapped DreamWorks to hire and train 220 illustrators who work there. DreamWorks sent staff members to India to train the crews and hold master classes on topics such as how to properly shape mouths.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Before embarking on a full-length feature film, the DreamWorks India unit started with smaller projects, such as holiday TV specials including "Merry Madagascar" and "Scared Shrekless" (a separate unit with the Technicolor studio animated the successful Nickelodeon TV series "The Penguins of Madagascar"). Currently, the group is working on its next film projects, including "Madagascar 3," due out next summer, and is expected to have a role in the upcoming Bollywood-style musical "Monkeys of Mumbai."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"It has been a very steep learning curve for all of them," Gluckman said.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Puss in Boots" Director Chris Miller said he was impressed with the quality of the work from India. "The work that came out of it was terrific and stands up to anything that was done here," said Miller, who also directed "Shrek the Third."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The ability to farm out even a small portion of the work to India has obvious financial advantages to DreamWorks, given the substantially lower labor costs — about 40% less than in the U.S. — and the increasingly competitive market in the U.S. The typical DreamWorks film costs about $130 million to produce.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">But Joe Aguilar, head of the Indian operation for DreamWorks and producer on "Puss in Boots," said the primary rationale for expanding into India was about tapping a scarce resource: people. The studio didn't have enough people to meet its production needs at its two principal centers: in Glendale and at the PDI/DreamWorks facility in Redwood City. That became apparent when the studio began producing as many as three films in a year, he said.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"For us to continue to expand our capacity, we needed to have this facility," Aguilar said. "There is a tremendous amount of talent there."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Aguilar acknowledged some initial concerns within DreamWorks when the studio, which employs 1,561 people in Glendale and 557 in Redwood City, opened its facility in India.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"There has been fear in our studio," he said. "But, if anything, we've just built more space in Glendale to increase our capacity there, and we're moving into a bigger office in Redwood City. We're not reducing jobs in the U.S."</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-74204915713650073472011-09-11T09:15:00.000-07:002011-09-11T09:15:29.559-07:00Paul Simon<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0bveP5A_rg7npAn8nF5cGRJ3z1Iukuhqq-DQBi5x3xPgrh7nvncQFHnOz1hFJhWU_V0tBbRlU0LhVfpOmwZdLXD-QXcREiifrHn7ibRTtAtxmC36m72nFi3YVyWQYnDysXp5oJI3XNk/s1600/paul+simon.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhr0bveP5A_rg7npAn8nF5cGRJ3z1Iukuhqq-DQBi5x3xPgrh7nvncQFHnOz1hFJhWU_V0tBbRlU0LhVfpOmwZdLXD-QXcREiifrHn7ibRTtAtxmC36m72nFi3YVyWQYnDysXp5oJI3XNk/s200/paul+simon.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the singers James Taylor and Paul Simon were among those participating in the Sept. 11 anniversary commemoration at the World Trade Center site.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Ma performed a piece by Bach, while Taylor sang "You Can Close Your Eyes" and Simon performed "The Sound of Silence."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Other musical elements in the commemoration included the Brooklyn Youth Chorus and bagpipers from the Fire Department, Police Department and the Port Authority.<br />
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</script></div><object style="height: 390px; width: 500px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/QKEsk7v2c7E?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/QKEsk7v2c7E?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="500" height="390"></object></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-54736946911058989462011-08-02T00:20:00.000-07:002011-08-02T00:20:37.014-07:00Smc<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnC3w-MP04uWihMCjDe6SpIv2E6SWJNj5bziuCC2kz1WMzWXwBO1GwGE3F6MOqcRYxMOQUtZGATU-O15YLW5UgxB95Li7BmHj_oPXU6afizlg8DrUgMkxARNlbC4CR3iClsSMWQ0yVkp8/s1600/smc.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnC3w-MP04uWihMCjDe6SpIv2E6SWJNj5bziuCC2kz1WMzWXwBO1GwGE3F6MOqcRYxMOQUtZGATU-O15YLW5UgxB95Li7BmHj_oPXU6afizlg8DrUgMkxARNlbC4CR3iClsSMWQ0yVkp8/s320/smc.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Borneo Talent Show to a timely boost for the Sibu</b><br />
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Sibu will be a town of glamour and glitter when the much-anticipated Borneo Talent Show drawn up by Sibu Municipal Council (SMC) is staged in the October and November.<br />
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In what is to be a counterpart of world popular shows like “Australia Got Talent” and the like, the talent show hopes to draw Malaysians together in a similar manner.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
In a press conference yesterday, organising chairwoman councillor Wong Hie Ping said ever since the show was first announced during the council’s meeting last week, she had already received encouraging response, prompting her to ensure that the show must be something grand and glamourous.<br />
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“We are in the initial planning stage now, but, who knows, if the response is so good, we might even consider bringing in professionals in the entertainment industry to boost up the show.”<br />
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Will the stars of Sibu and from East Malaysia be born out of the show? Wong keeps her fingers crossed, calling on all undiscovered talent to come out, think outside the box and let creativity flow.<br />
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“It can be singing, dancing, musical instrument performance, magic show, mime show, pantomime, acrobatics, etc. We love to see people stepping out.”<br />
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Wong said this had been planned as part of SMC’s 30th anniversary celebration, revealing that the people behind the idea had been working hard to think of noble ways to unearth local talents.<br />
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She added that the show will recognise various talents, including the glamourous main title of ‘Borneo Talent Award’, and complemented by other titles like ‘The Most Popular Talent’, ‘The Most Creative Talent’, ‘The Most Entertaining Talent’ and ‘The Special Talent’ for which winners will receive a trophy each and a cash prize each.<br />
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For the main title – Borneo Talent Award — the winner will walk off with a cash prize of RM5,000.<br />
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For the title of Special Talent, five individuals or teams will be selected, and each will receive a cash prize of RM500.<br />
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For the rest, the cash prize for each title is RM1,000.<br />
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Wong said the competition would be opened to Malaysians of all ages, so long as they are capable of performing.<br />
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“Each of the performances can be in a group or from an individual, and each will be given a time of between three to five minutes to perform.<br />
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“Judging is based on creativity, artistic skills, presentation, choreography and uniqueness, and there will be three rounds of performances.”<br />
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She said there would be three judges for the preliminary round on Oct 29 and 30 at Sibu Public Library Conference Room, five at the semi-final at Sibu Civic Centre on Nov 5 and 11 at the final on Nov 12 at Sibu Civic Centre.<br />
</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-70297435361382611602011-07-27T10:41:00.000-07:002011-09-09T03:14:08.696-07:00Redskins<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalkUG1YN9yY10Z0JbhY_9zQ_gfCklWsqCSLQsub1hfZWTgxiu8dbtvp6YMmKfg_PkRo2-29nF64_Pup0HHnxej9fwF9Y6N4blOkLil14R6wR6oSzaTvLR-wm-Dgj_Tt5kdLYzAGauobg/s1600/redskins.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhalkUG1YN9yY10Z0JbhY_9zQ_gfCklWsqCSLQsub1hfZWTgxiu8dbtvp6YMmKfg_PkRo2-29nF64_Pup0HHnxej9fwF9Y6N4blOkLil14R6wR6oSzaTvLR-wm-Dgj_Tt5kdLYzAGauobg/s1600/redskins.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Donte Stallworth sees plenty of the familiar faces on Redskins roster</b><br />
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Donte Stallworth won't be lining up with the Redskins until this weekend, but he's already plenty familiar with his new teammates.<br />
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John Beck? The 2 were together in Baltimore last summer.<br />
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Santana Moss? Friends.<br />
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Fellow receivers Leonard Hankerson and Anthony Armstrong? Worked out with them in Miami.<br />
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Jim Haslett? That's who drafted Stallworth into the league in 2002.</div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In fact, in addition to chatting with Mike and Kyle Shanahan prior to agreeing to a one-year deal Wednesday morning, Stallworth said he called Haslett to get the lay of the land around Redskins Park.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"He knows that I trust him a lot," Stallworth said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "We have a great relationship. We spent 4 or 5 years together. He had nothing but good things to say about the Redskins. I know if there was anything negative, he would've told me."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stallworth said he looked at the Washington roster and was happy to see some familiar faces, too. "I think I could help out a lot and we could open up some things for each other," he said.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">That'd be a departure from recent years. The Redskins mark Stallworth's fifth team in 6 seasons (though he missed 2009 due to a suspension after pleading guilty to felony DUI manslaughter). Since 2008, he has a total of 252 yards on 19 receptions. In Baltimore last year, he was primarily used to run reverses and caught only 2 balls all year.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"I was always telling the guys on my team that I ran more reverses last year than I had the rest of my career combined," Stallworth said. "And I'd never been a big fan of reverses. But yeah, I know what I can do, given the opportunity. At the end of the season, a lot of guys on the other defenses, they were wondering why I wasn't playing, and they had game-plans for me.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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"I wasn't given much of an opportunity last year, but just knowing that defensive coordinators still respected me and my speed and the things I could do on the field, it lets me know somebody still feels I could still play. Hopefully, I'll have an opportunity to show it this year."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stallworth's signing will be official on Friday evening. He said he plans to be at Redskins Park as soon as he's allowed through the doors.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Stallworth is 30 years old but feels like he has football left in him. Considering some of the other players in camp, it's possible the Redskins might represent his best chance in years to contribute. The Redskins missed out on Santonio Holmes, who agreed to terms Wednesday with the Jets, and unless they make a late play for Sidney Rice or talks with Braylon Edwards heat up, Moss and Armstrong could enter camp again as the top two receivers. There are no other proven receivers on the roster.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Hopefully we can surprise a lot of people this year," Stallworth said. "Not only individually, but obviously as a team. They didn't have the success they wanted last year. People won't be expecting us to come out and have a good year. That's the way I like. I like to be the underdog."</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-89703316319649351372011-07-26T23:46:00.000-07:002011-07-26T23:46:11.532-07:00Shannon Tweed<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Gene Simmons proposes to Shannon Tweed, partner split after 28 years</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2Ivd07HbaAIiRdFuMCKB3HdB4sWZWXZb9OfmSk01bkTBxPy7xtLZn-IotDp8rvEVG1RWnxB0DnqsYVt2zhpd3vtrVYG-VFSXsncdeMtVYJRZhjj0ZUxUNz1D-oJBT135bfsLRAM1eUU/s1600/shannon+tweed.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN2Ivd07HbaAIiRdFuMCKB3HdB4sWZWXZb9OfmSk01bkTBxPy7xtLZn-IotDp8rvEVG1RWnxB0DnqsYVt2zhpd3vtrVYG-VFSXsncdeMtVYJRZhjj0ZUxUNz1D-oJBT135bfsLRAM1eUU/s1600/shannon+tweed.jpeg" /></a></div>The marriage proposal seen in previews for Tuesday night's finale of the A&E's "Gene Simmons Family Jewels" may be moot, according to rocker Simmons' longtime partner, Shannon Tweed, who says their 28-year relationship is over. "You're seeing this happy family but in my heart, I am dying," Tweed recently told People magazine.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The proposal -- in which Kiss bassist Simmons, 61, told 1982 Playboy Playmate of the Year Tweed, 54, "I come with so much baggage, but you're the only friend I've got, you're the only one I've ever loved" -- was taped months ago. Tweed told People that since then, she has moved from their Los Angeles home and there was "slim chance" for a reconciliation. "I need some sort of commitment," she said.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><a name='more'></a><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The show's past season has followed the couple and their children Nick, 22, and Sophie 18, through family therapy that focused on Simmons' infidelity.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><script type="text/javascript">
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</script></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Tweed has tweeted frequently about the issue, posting last week that, "he's NOT [a sex] addict! He's a spoiled rockstar who lied about being faithful."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Simmons' manager could not be reached for comment. An A&E spokesman told Newsday: "Gene and Shannon's relationship is a complex one that is constantly evolving with upswings and downswings. We have documented those swings accurately as they occurred."</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-54362621618304373102011-07-21T19:53:00.000-07:002011-07-21T19:53:30.752-07:00Blush<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Blush expansion can proceed; appeal vowed</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTa4NC7vVJRvdcSjqoVEXXORHx5mXCPuofSvgST9LaqIc9GWi6hrTgqkAHMWQB21lkjkkON6vsOkkhBjwst48kUdtlt4LoO54MvmBSzL67BFwjwWhmIpoUhZaxQe2yjVdBFj6tNvN-Rxs/s1600/blush.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTa4NC7vVJRvdcSjqoVEXXORHx5mXCPuofSvgST9LaqIc9GWi6hrTgqkAHMWQB21lkjkkON6vsOkkhBjwst48kUdtlt4LoO54MvmBSzL67BFwjwWhmIpoUhZaxQe2yjVdBFj6tNvN-Rxs/s1600/blush.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An Allegheny County judge's decision will allow expansion of a Downtown strip club to move forward over objections of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and Pittsburgh Public Schools as they appeal a zoning decision.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Common Pleas Judge Joseph M. James on Thursday denied a request to stay the June decision of the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment that would allow Blush, 135 Ninth St., to expand into a vacant building at the corner of Ninth Street and Penn Avenue. The Pittsburgh School for the Creative and Performing Arts is near the club.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
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<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The agencies filed an appeal two weeks ago of the zoning board's decision and wanted James to block any expansion while the appeal made its way through Common Pleas Court.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The appeal is pending. James' decision means Blush can proceed with the expansion for now, but the judge warned that club owner Albert Bortz "builds at risk." If the appeal of the cultural trust and school district is ultimately successful, Bortz's expansion could be dismantled.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lawyer Jonathan Kamin, who represents Blush, said he was pleased the judge ruled in the club's favor. Kamin said it likely would advance with expansion plans.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"We're disappointed they appealed, and we're disappointed we haven't been able to work anything out. We're expanding 3,000 square feet. That's it. We're not talking about 100,000 square feet," Kamin said. "Adult entertainment has been there since 1961. It's a little disingenuous to say we're hurting the neighborhood. We've agreed to make it as discreet as possible. We've gone above and beyond what's required to be good neighbors."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The 45-page appeal from the cultural trust and school district states the city's board violated zoning laws and ignored evidence in allowing the strip club to expand.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Lawyer Ira Weiss, who represents the school district, believes the expansion of the strip club will cause problems for CAPA. He said the school puts on hundreds of evening performances there throughout the year.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Regulation of blood flow in the skin</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Blood flow in the cutaneous resistance vessels and the subcutaneous venous plexus are both neurally and locally regulated. However, there are some important differences. One is, that cutaneous resistance vessels exhibit a basal tone independently of innervation in reaction to passive stretch induced by blood pressure (Rowell. 1974). This intrinsic basal tone is normally absent in cutaneous capacitance vessels .</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Along with this basal tone, all resistance vessels in the skin receive a tonic outflow from sympathetic vasoconstrictor fibers. This tonic outflow is inversely associated with body temperature. Vasodilation therefore occurs passively in resistance vessels the vasoconstrictor tone decreases. Furthermore, an active neurogenic vasodilation must be assumed in the human skin. However, it is not clear if this vasodilation is mediated by specific vasodilator nerve fibers or if neuro-humoral effects are involved that are associated with the sympathetic cholinergic activation of sweat glands. Although some experiments lead to the conclusion that sympathetic outflow is involved in facial vasodilation 40 years of research have not clarified the mechanism behind active vasodilation.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Cutaneous veins also are richly innervated with sympathetic vasoconstrictor fibers. The effect of activation of the outflow of these fibers is reduced by local cooling. In addition, cutaneous veins are temporarily reactive to various other stimuli. Each of the following can cause remarkably intense venoconstriction without obvious value to the organism: emotional stimuli, hyperventilation, deep inspiration, and the Valsalva maneuver.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In resistance vessels, increased pressure mainly increases flow per time unit. In the cutaneous venous plexus with its generally slow flow rate, pressure mainly influences volume. Because of its enormous volume variability and its large potential capacity the venous plexus is believed to determine skin color. Since pronounced blushing is also characterized by a deep reddening of the skin, vasodilation of the venous plexus is probably the physical mechanism underlying it. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Emotional blushing is only visible or apparent in a specific area called the blush region. The area is restricted to the face, ears, neck, and in some rare cases the upper body. 2 main hypotheses to explain this regional restriction have been proposed. One is that vasodilation takes place throughout the entire skin of the body but is only visible in the blush region due to special anatomical structure of that region. The second is that a specific form of vasodilation takes place exclusively in the blush region. It is likely, that a combination of these two factors accounts for blushing.</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-67859857567207922712011-07-20T00:20:00.000-07:002011-07-20T00:20:51.788-07:00Delorean<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTTOzVBhwHEX4rAqwXa7Nrn7TejCh0sDEApFduZ_Q1saEIDd4f9NNivqc-Kf8JLWUNV7WsYPvWAM_U_Y77FDcq27VyRIx-MEoS_UGOqGGSTPEeRt9UktdDiUJXE1Ob8zggsNSqt1Yy66I/s1600/Delorean.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTTOzVBhwHEX4rAqwXa7Nrn7TejCh0sDEApFduZ_Q1saEIDd4f9NNivqc-Kf8JLWUNV7WsYPvWAM_U_Y77FDcq27VyRIx-MEoS_UGOqGGSTPEeRt9UktdDiUJXE1Ob8zggsNSqt1Yy66I/s1600/Delorean.jpeg" /></a></div><b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">BACK TO THE FUTURE actors and screen-used Delorean appear at San Diego Comic-Con</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The DeLorean DMC-12 is a sports car that was originally manufactured in Dunmurry, a suburb of the Belfast, Northern Ireland by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company for the American market in 1981–1982. It is most commonly known simply as the DeLorean, as it was the only model ever produced by the company. The DMC-12 features gull-wing doors with a fiberglass "underbody", to which non-structural brushed stainless steel panels are affixed. A modified version of the car became iconic for its appearance as a time machine in the Back to the Future film franchise.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The first prototype appeared in March 1976, and production officially began in 1981 (with the first DMC-12 rolling off the production line on January 21) at the DMC factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. During its production, several features of the car were changed, such as the bonnet (hood) style, wheels and interior. Approximately 9,000 DMC-12s were made before production stopped in late 1982. Today, about 6,500 DeLorean Motor cars are believed to still exist.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Texas entrepreneur Stephen Wynne started a separate company in 1995 using the "DeLorean Motor Company" name and shortly thereafter acquired the trademark on the stylized "DMC" logo as well as the remaining parts inventory of the original DeLorean Motor Company. The company, at its suburban Houston, Texas location, completes newly assembled cars from new original stock (NOS) parts, original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and reproduction parts on a "made to order" basis using existing Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) plates. Technically, there are no "new" DeLoreans, only remanufactured original cars.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The screen used DeLorean from Back to Future III will be at the Profiles in History booth #1605 at Comic-Con the entire week! Actors from the films will be in attendance as well. Claudia Wells will be at the booth on Wednesday beginning at 7pm and Thursday and Friday beginning at 10AM. Jeffrey Wiseman will be there on Thursday, Friday and Saturday morning at 10 AM and making his first ever appearance at Comic-Con, Billy Zane will be at the booth all day Saturday and Sunday starting at 10 AM.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Where are all the real DeLorean Time Machines that were used in the Back to the Futuremovies? Sadly, some of them no longer exist and others are in need of extensive work. Of the seven cars used over the three movies, only three original cars are thought to still exist. Presented by Profiles in History, the famed auction house that represented the Debbie Reynolds Collection this summer, the screen used DeLorean from Back to the Future III will be at Comic-Con 2011 for public viewing in conjunction with Team Fox benefitting The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research. The main goal is to give fans the opportunity to see and be photographed in the car. For a $20 donation to the Foundation you can be photographed in the DeLorean with all proceeds going to Team Fox.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Profiles in History is proud to present the original DeLorean Time Machine driven by Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future III. It will be presented at booth 1605, along with several original artifacts from all three Back to the Future movies with the hopes of creating a Back To The Future “museum” experience. Along with the Time Machine will be original costumes, the Tales From Space comic, Doc’s burned toy Cadillac, Clock Tower cables, Gray’s Almanac, the Doc Brown committed/commended newspapers, a full set of all five types of hoverboards, and other rarely seen pieces of cinematic history.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Time Machine has been in private hands for the past 8 years, and was recently featured on the Hollywood Treasure television show hosted by Joe Maddalena. Joe and his staff will be at the booth in person to greet fans, and share these rare pieces of history. In conjunction with Team Fox, this is a rare opportunity to get your pictures taken with the original Time Machine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Time Machine will be available for viewing during advertised Comic-Con show hours, and will be in a future Profiles in History auction later this year, with a portion of the proceeds going to Team Fox benefiting The Michael J. Fox Foundation. Previously it could be seen at the San Diego Air & Space Museum.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About The Michael J. Fox Foundation</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As the world’s largest private funder of Parkinson’s research, The Michael J. Fox Foundation is dedicated to accelerating a cure for Parkinson’s disease and improved therapies for those living with the condition today. The Foundation pursues its goals through an aggressively funded, highly targeted research program coupled with active global engagement of scientists, Parkinson’s patients, business leaders, clinical trial participants, donors and volunteers. In addition to funding almost $251 million in research to date, the Foundation has fundamentally altered the trajectory of progress toward a cure. Operating at the hub of worldwide Parkinson’s research, the Foundation forges groundbreaking collaborations with industry leaders, academic scientists and government research funders; increases Parkinson’s awareness through high-profile advocacy, events and outreach; and coordinates the grassroots involvement of thousands of Team Fox members around the world.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About Joe Maddalena and Profiles in History</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Founded in 1985 by Joseph Maddalena, Profiles in History is the nation’s leading dealer in guaranteed-authentic original historical autographs, letters, documents, vintage signed photographs and manuscripts. Born into a family of antiques dealers in Rhode Island, Joseph “Joe” Maddalena learned early on how to turn his passion of collecting historical autographs into a career. Needing to support himself, Joe turned to his hobby of buying and selling historical documents as a potential way to earn revenue. On weekends he scoured old Hollywood bookstores for letters and rare books. Upon graduation from Pepperdine, Joe pursued his passion to become a full-time dealer of historical documents, and opened his first office in 1985. A lifetime member of the Manuscript Society, Joe is widely recognized as the nation’s leading authority on entertainment memorabilia and historical documents. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Profiles in History has held some of the most prestigious and successful auctions of Hollywood memorabilia, establishing itself as the world’s largest auctioneer of original Hollywood memorabilia. With an extensive network of dealers, collectors, and institutions, they are proud to play an important role in the preservation of motion picture history. Profiles in History recently broke several world records with the sale of Marilyn Monroe’s Subway Dress from The Seven Year Itch, for $5.52 Million. It was a part of the Debbie Reynolds Collection and part two of the auction will be on December 3. Prior Profiles in History Hollywood auctions highlights include the “Cowardly Lion” costume from The Wizard of Oz ($805,000); a full-scale model T-800 Endoskeleton from Terminator 2: Judgment Day ($488,750); Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds” dress from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes ($356,500); Luke Skywalker’s light saber from Star Wars($240,000); Margaret Hamilton’s “Wicked Witch” hat from The Wizard Of Oz ($230,000); andThe Invisible Man 1933 one-sheet movie poster ($230,000).</span><br />
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</script>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-27579302170566712002011-07-17T00:39:00.000-07:002011-07-17T00:39:16.008-07:00Apocalypse Now<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNaWQI5INaePF2lQSzW-6OHjISD1EKWRYF4QTK3tkQkAQXqyBP66YfxsqLWFVSc_CnUj8oeTZpG64LSTIs_ZXHjtivPbzgVe3fL4Sx2Mo8Ynf4H4vAXbXIt-ws7Vbj58cXX47xArf_Zk/s1600/apocalypse+now.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiJNaWQI5INaePF2lQSzW-6OHjISD1EKWRYF4QTK3tkQkAQXqyBP66YfxsqLWFVSc_CnUj8oeTZpG64LSTIs_ZXHjtivPbzgVe3fL4Sx2Mo8Ynf4H4vAXbXIt-ws7Vbj58cXX47xArf_Zk/s1600/apocalypse+now.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Apocalypse Now on TCM</b><br />
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“Apocalypse Now is not about Vietnam; it is Vietnam,” writer-director Francis Ford Coppola said of his infamous war epic in 1979, year of the film’s original release. “And the way we made it was very much like the way the Americans were in Vietnam. We had access to too much money, too much equipment; and little by little we went insane.”</div><a name='more'></a><br />
After a trouble-plagued production described as a “nightmare” by its participants, and despite charges of overreaching self-indulgence on the part of its creator, Coppola’s film is considered by many to be one of the greatest — if not the greatest — of all anti-war movies. Inspired by Joseph Conrad’s 1902 novella Heart of Darkness, it depicts war as a descent into madness, as the anguished Captain Willard (Martin Sheen) is assigned to find and execute Lt. Colonel Kurtz (Marlon Brando), an AWOL Special Forces officer who has set himself up as an all-powerful avenging angel among head-hunting villagers in a Cambodian jungle. As he heads upriver in his search, Willard encounters various horrors of combat, not the least of which is the supermacho, semi-psychotic Col. Kilgore (Robert Duvall).<br />
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One of several movies about Vietnam released in the late 1970s, Apocalypse Now has a sense of extravagance and daring unusual even for that decade of dynamic filmmaking. In retrospect, its dark vision and polarizing effect among viewers make it one of the most emblematic works of its era.<br />
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The project began with George Lucas’s plans to direct a script written by John Milius in 1969 entitled The Psychedelic Soldier, with Coppola as executive producer. Lucas had planned to shoot his film as a faux documentary on location in South Vietnam while the war was still underway. But a production deal with Warner Bros. fell through, and Coppola moved on to co-write and direct The Godfather (1972). The huge success of this Oscar®-winning film gave him the clout to reintroduce the idea of Apocalypse Now, which would be filmed by Coppola’s own American Zoetrope Studios for United Artists, on location in the Philippines.<br />
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By this time Saigon had fallen, making the idea of a “documentary” approach obsolete and redefining the story as a reflection on what many saw as the futility and horror of the Vietnam War, as well as Coppola’s own conflicted emotions. Screenwriter Milius had no desire to direct the film himself, and Lucas, busy now with Star Wars (1977), gave Coppola his blessing to direct Apocalypse Now.<br />
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California’s Monterey Bay Aquarium reopened its Outer Bay galleries as The Open Sea exhibit early in July that showcases migrations of ocean animals across the Pacific and constant motion of life in the open ocean.<br />
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“The Open Sea galleries bring our visitors into the heart of this extraordinary environment through transformed live exhibits, new multimedia experiences and surprising artistic elements,” Senior Exhibit Developer Jaci Tomulonis, said in a statement.</div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The new exhibit, which is on through July 2011, has schooling fishes, pulsing jellies, skilled predators such as sharks and tunas, and seasoned travelers like sea turtles and seabirds share this wild territory, the aquarium authority added.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The new species at the aquarium include yellowfin and bluefin tuna, brown shark (sandbar shark), ocean sunfish (Mola mola), puffins (Parrots of the sea), green sea turtles, great white shark and more. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><center style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
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</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-11787985501032631312011-07-09T01:02:00.000-07:002011-07-09T01:02:03.166-07:00Horrible Bosses Trailer<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAQDHtdcvW5jDXFkOI4QRAYvgkVTUKe64x9IGF4TbljDQE5tdUZI_ljJ3Lk9OBe-kcKBwU-XIgZ9AMyAHTPZ4sV5k_tkT2W1nZykBxy_stdRpENIFFedPUD28Po_80jXoYsmUe1NAGJI/s1600/horrible+bosses+trailer.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZAQDHtdcvW5jDXFkOI4QRAYvgkVTUKe64x9IGF4TbljDQE5tdUZI_ljJ3Lk9OBe-kcKBwU-XIgZ9AMyAHTPZ4sV5k_tkT2W1nZykBxy_stdRpENIFFedPUD28Po_80jXoYsmUe1NAGJI/s1600/horrible+bosses+trailer.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Horrible Bosses is a 2011 black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein based on a script by Michael Markowitz. The film stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx and follows three friends (Bateman, Day and Sudekis) who decide to murder their respective overbearing, abusive bosses (Spacey, Aniston, and Farrell) who they believe are standing in the way of their happiness. Horrible Bosses premiered in Los Angeles on June 30, 2011 and received a wide release on July 8, 2011.</div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The film opened to positive critical reception with several critics praising the ensemble cast with each lead being singled out for their performances across reviews.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">In ”Horrible Bosses”, the new film by director Seth Gordon (”The King of King: A Fistful of Quarters”), Kevin Spacey is a total. fucking. asshole. Spacey plays Dave Harken, a man who makes it his personal mission to ruin the lives of the employees under him.<br />
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One of those employees is Nick Hendricks (Jason Bateman), an executive who is passed over for a promotion when Harken promotes himself instead. After being screwed over for the last time, Nick and friends Dale (Charlie Day) and Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) conspire to murder their respective bosses.<br />
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Kurt’s boss, Bobby Pellitt, (Colin Farrell) is a cocaine-addicted, immoral chemical company manager who makes Kurt’s life a living Hell. Recently-engaged Dale is a dental hygienist who spends his work day being sexually harassed by boss Dr. Julia Harris (Jennifer Aniston).<br />
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The trio enlists the help of “Motherfucker Jones” (Jamie Foxx), who brands himself as a murder consultant. Together they hatch a preposterous plan to make the deaths of their bosses look like complete accidents.<br />
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While Paul Feig’s ”Bridesmaids” set the comedy bar extremely high for 2011, ”Horrible Bosses” is easily the second-funniest movie you’ll see this year. Whereas ”The Hangover: Part II” felt like more of the same, Gordon’s film takes the best of ”Arrested Development”, ”It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” and ”Saturday Night Live” and makes a film that feels like a spiritual successor to ”Office Space” and Hitchcock’s ”Strangers on a Train”.<br />
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Several actors including Jeff Bridges, Tom Cruise, and Philip Seymour Hoffman were approached for the role of Dave Harken, but Kevin Spacey proves he’s the man for the job. He’s a mean son of a bitch whose threats are legitimate.<br />
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Colin Farrell deserves more screen time as coked-up Bobby Pellitt. If you’ve seen ”In Bruges”, then you know Farrell has some serious comedy chops – and he shines in ”Horrible Bosses” as the insensitive douchebag with a flair for Asian culture (and cocaine).<br />
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Perhaps the most surprising is Jennifer Aniston, who sheds her girl next door persona and revels in the aggressive, raunchy Dr. Julia. Some of the biggest laughs in the movie are a result of her foul-mouthed conversations with Charlie Day’s Dale.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Horrible Bosses is a 2011 black comedy film directed by Seth Gordon, written by John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein based on a script by Michael Markowitz. The film stars Jason Bateman, Charlie Day, Jason Sudeikis, Jennifer Aniston, Colin Farrell, Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx and follows three friends (Bateman, Day and Sudekis) who decide to murder their respective overbearing, abusive bosses (Spacey, Aniston, and Farrell) who they believe are standing in the way of their happiness. Horrible Bosses premiered in Los Angeles on June 30, 2011 and received a wide release on July 8, 2011.<br />
<br />
The film opened to positive critical reception with several critics praising the ensemble cast with each lead being singled out for their performances across reviews.<br />
Bottom Line: One of the more successful bromance comedies as of late, Horrible Bosses benefits from the chemistry between Bateman, Day and Sudeikis as well as brilliant casting and a smart, quirky script.<br />
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Final Thoughts: I know what you’re saying, “How many comedies is Jason Bateman going to make this summer?” With ”Paul”, ”Horrible Bosses” and ”The Change-Up”, it’s looking like a great summer for the former ”Arrested Development” star. I can only hope his continued success leads to an ”Arrested Development” movie becoming a reality.<br />
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Oh, and be sure to look out for a cameo by Steve Wiebe, one of the stars of Gordon’s 2007 documentary, ”The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters”. While you’re at it, watch out for Isaiah Mustafa, otherwise known as The Old Spice Guy.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 500px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/YnzIA-yu268?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/YnzIA-yu268?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="500" height="390"></object></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-22460787163516683912011-07-07T22:16:00.000-07:002011-07-07T22:16:46.636-07:00Facebook Video Call<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2NokzQcK4bENNmLGBId8UHHBIC9LJfB5a3HqSnjXmmriZ5AU3DTs91T4sB7r-mrqpLWYtIzSLptIBwULBrg2mcwXVMoos6x3e04PgFLvGM1coxSYabGnt7iry0LV1fn7956E8YBkSeg/s1600/facebook+video+call.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="170" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie2NokzQcK4bENNmLGBId8UHHBIC9LJfB5a3HqSnjXmmriZ5AU3DTs91T4sB7r-mrqpLWYtIzSLptIBwULBrg2mcwXVMoos6x3e04PgFLvGM1coxSYabGnt7iry0LV1fn7956E8YBkSeg/s320/facebook+video+call.png" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Facebook Video chat: Initial Impressions</b><br />
Facebook has today announced Video Calling in the partnership with Skype. We’ve put it through its paces and have developed a few initial impressions and observations for you.<br />
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Weve tested out Facebook Video Calling feature and it works very simply and with minimal fuss. The overall quality is not as good as a native Skype session, although Facebook has stated that the Video calling app is essentially a mini-Skype client. The window that launches when you begin a video session is a standalone application and can be moved, resized and made full-screen. You can also use the Video Calling application after closing Facebook, it really is its own app.</div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The setup of Facebook Video Calling is extremely simple, when you visit the setup site on Facebook, you’ll be greeted with a Get Started button. You can follow our guide here to get started on your first call.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">If you’re on a Windows PC, then you’re going to need to download and install an executable file to get the service up and running. On a Mac, the process is even simpler as Facebook just installs directly in the browser, at least on Safari.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During our testing, we found that the video quality varied significantly throughout our conversations. The quality is most likely differing based on the amount of network traffic and we expect that the service is under fairly heavy load as users log on to try it out for the first time.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">At times during our testing, the video and audio also got fairly choppy, cutting the sound and making it difficult to make out conversations. It definitely doesn’t hold a candle to Skype’s normally amazing quality. Since the client is basically a mini-Skype client, we would have expected a bit better. Note that you do not have to create a Skype account to use the Video Calling feature.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">There was very little noise reduction or cancellation and a fairly large amount of environmental noise is audible during chat.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The window that launches when you fire up Video Calling is resizable and can be made full screen. There is a small preview window inside the app that gets smaller when your mouse is not hovering over the window and grows larger when it is. This gives you the ability to check your appearance briefly and then let the window get smaller to give the person you’re calling more real-estate.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">During the call there is no mute, in-call or hold buttons. In fact, there are very few controls at all. Because the application is stand-alone, it’s possible that Facebook will add more features to it in the future, requiring an update. As stated above, you can use video chat even after closing the Facebook window.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although the service seemed to work fairly well for us overall, we did get an error that the ‘software that powers Facebook Video Calling was unavailable’ at least once. Hopefully this is just launch day jitters.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">We’ve only had time to perform a few calls on the service so far but we found it to be very simple to install and very easy to initiate a call. We wish that the call quality was better but we’re glad to see what should be a massively helpful and convenient feature finally arrive in Facebook.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><object style="height: 390px; width: 500px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/pYjwmq6aWc8?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/pYjwmq6aWc8?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="500" height="390"></object></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-19797954842250388172011-07-03T23:57:00.000-07:002011-07-03T23:57:49.386-07:00Secretariat<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2jq9oZQJV5u_51OkMCzcOdzVZf8ybzUHFEa2vgWfWBkfww7NRMjXmbJ6UNiFCymLQ1tdLEpgXRh5KrWoGSeoSPz9AhSGfXyOaJ2D3Zg2Lki5bV6B4qAoA7hfIXqWBaWX5G7IPAOXPK4/s1700/secretariat.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjY2jq9oZQJV5u_51OkMCzcOdzVZf8ybzUHFEa2vgWfWBkfww7NRMjXmbJ6UNiFCymLQ1tdLEpgXRh5KrWoGSeoSPz9AhSGfXyOaJ2D3Zg2Lki5bV6B4qAoA7hfIXqWBaWX5G7IPAOXPK4/s200/secretariat.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Secretariat was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting new race records in 2 of the 3 events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby (1:592⁄5), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24)—records that still stand today.<br />
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Secretariat was sired by Bold Ruler out of Somethingroyal, by Princequillo. He was foaled at Meadow Farm in Caroline County, Virginia. Like his famous predecessor Man o' War, Secretariat was a large chestnut colt and was given same nickname, "Big Red." Secretariat's Grand Sire Nasrullah is also the Great-Great Grand Sire of 1977 Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Owned by Penny Chenery, he was trained by Lucien Laurin and mainly ridden by fellow Canadian jockey Ron Turcotte, along with apprentice jockey Paul Feliciano first 2 races, and veteran Eddie Maple (last race). He raced in Penny Chenery's Meadow Stable's blue and white checkered colors and his groom was Eddie Sweat. Secretariat stood approximately 16.2 hands 66 inches, 168 cm tall, and weighed 533 kg, with a 75 inch girth, in his racing prime.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The story of Secretariat began with the toss of a coin in 1968 between Christopher Chenery of Meadow Stables and Ogden Phipps of Wheatley Stable. The idea of a coin toss came from Phipps, the owner of Bold Ruler, and Bull Hancock of Claiborne Farms as a way to get the very best mares for Bold Ruler, and when the toss went their way, to add well-bred fillies to their own broodmare band. Bold Ruler was considered one of the important stallions of his time. He had a fine balance between speed and stamina, having had a frontrunning style but the stamina to go 11⁄4 miles; he finished fourth in the 1957 Kentucky Derby. After his racing career, Bold Ruler was retired to Claiborne Farms but still was controlled by the Phipps family.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This meant he would be bred to mainly Phipps' mares and not many of his offspring would find their way to the auction ring. Phipps and Hancock agreed to forgo a stud fee for Bold Ruler in exchange for getting to keep one of 2 foals produced by the mare he bred in successive seasons or 2 mares he bred in the same season. Who obtained which foal or even received first pick would be decided by a flip of a coin.<br />
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In 1968, Chenery sent 2 mares named Hasty Matelda and Somethingroyal to Bold Ruler, and in 1969, a colt and filly were the result. In 1969, Hasty Matelda was replaced by Cicada, but she did not conceive. Only one foal resulted between Bold Ruler and Somethingroyal. As stated in the original agreement, the winner of the coin toss could pick the foal he wanted but could only take one, while the loser would get the other two. Both parties assumed Somethingroyal would deliver a healthy foal in the spring of 1970. The coin toss between Penny Chenery and Ogden Phipps was held in the fall of 1969 in the office of NY Racing Association Chairman Alfred Vanderbilt II, with Hancock as witness. Phipps won the toss and took the weanling filly out of Somethingroyal, leaving Chenery with the colt out of Hasty Matelda and the unborn foal of Somethingroyal.<br />
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On March 30, at 12:10 a.m., Somethingroyal foaled a bright red chestnut colt with three white socks and a star with a narrow blaze. By the time the colt was a yearling, he was still unnamed. Meadow Stables' secretary, Elizabeth Ham, had submitted ten names to the Jockey Club, all of which were denied for various reasons. Approval finally came with the 11th submission, a name Ham herself picked from a previous career association, Secretariat.<br />
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As part of his first crop at stud, Secretariat sired Canadian Bound, who was the first Thoroughbred yearling racehorse ever sold for more than US$1 million. At the 1976 Keeneland July sale, the auction bidding for Canadian Bound not only broke the $1 million barrier, but the colt ended up being sold for $1.5 million. Canadian Bound was a complete failure in racing and for several years, the value of Secretariat's offspring declined considerably. However, he eventually sired a number of major stakes winners, including 1986 Horse of the Year Lady's Secret, 1988 Preakness and Belmont Stakes winner Risen Star, 1991 Melbourne Cup winner Kingston Rule, who broke the course record in Australia's richest race, and the 1994, 1995 winner of the G1 Pacific Classic, Tinners Way, born in 1990 to Secretariat's last crop.<br />
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He also sired General Assembly, who won the 1979 Travers Stakes at Saratoga while setting a still-standing race record of 2:00 flat. Andrew Beyer has said that General Assembly's speed figure in that race was one of the fastest in history. Like Secretariat in the Belmont, General Assembly never duplicated that performance in another race.<br />
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Ultimately, Secretariat sired as many as 600 foals. There has been some criticism of Secretariat as a stallion, due in part to his perceived inability to produce male offspring of his same caliber. However, he turned out to be a noted broodmare sire, being the maternal grandsire (aka "damsire") of 1992 Horse of the Year and successful sire A.P. Indy, Secretariat's grandson through his daughter Weekend Surprise, and sired by another Triple Crown winner, Seattle Slew. AP Indy is the sire of 2007 Belmont Stakes winner Rags to Riches, the first filly to win at Belmont since 1905. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Secretariat is also the damsire of the great stallions Storm Cat, through his daughter Terlingua, herself an excellent racemare, and of Gone West, through his daughter Secrettame. Secretariat is also the great-grandsire of Giant's Causeway through his grandson Storm Cat and daughter Terlingua. Secretariat's genetic legacy may be linked in part to the likelihood that he carried the "x-factor", a trait linked to a large heart, carried only on the x-chromosome, and thus, a trait that Secretariat could only pass on via his daughters.</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-84472505016072772352011-07-03T23:30:00.000-07:002011-09-09T03:15:38.024-07:00Independence Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbgUT3WaINDNmkM12z4T5yXGoL5_p8NXJmrqj9lVjVIJgNPfWKOYW6XSjJeT2uPo2NPXl5Tkr_0A67FRIJyeJapH-H4YpQhAlApqu0KDvPh3Gl1kPr6cv_mRSqUTSw9g7kSBLy2a60Wo/s1600/independence+day.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivbgUT3WaINDNmkM12z4T5yXGoL5_p8NXJmrqj9lVjVIJgNPfWKOYW6XSjJeT2uPo2NPXl5Tkr_0A67FRIJyeJapH-H4YpQhAlApqu0KDvPh3Gl1kPr6cv_mRSqUTSw9g7kSBLy2a60Wo/s1600/independence+day.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Appreciate What We Have Here On the Independence Day</b><br />
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Today is Independence Day, another great day that celebrates our the history and this great country.<br />
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Many of us have written about this but I thought it might be good to just review the reason we celebrate Independence Day on the 4th of July. This is another one of those very significant holidays that brings great celebration. On July 2, 1776, the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that provided for the legal separation of our 13 colonies from Great Britain - this occurred during the American Revolution.</div><a name='more'></a><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">After the Congress voted for independence the next step was to write the Declaration of Independence. This document was an explanation of the reason for the Colonies separation from Great Britain. As I understand it this was prepared by a committee of 5 with Thomas Jefferson as the principal author. Then, of course, it was presented to Congress, where there were some alterations after some debate and it was approved on July 4, 1776.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Now John Adams is a relative of mine through my mother's side of our family and I am pretty proud of that. Last year I provided a copy of a note written by John Adams to his wife and I wanted to rewrite it for you this year as it truly helps you feel the significance and feeling surrounding Independence Day. Mr. Adams wrote the following note to his wife: "The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward and forever more.''</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><script type="text/javascript"><!--
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I think this says it all. I think we, here in Jamestown and Chautauqua County fulfills all of these forecasts and for that we can be proud.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">An interesting fact I did not know is that a salute of one gun for each state in the United States, called a "salute to the union," is fired on Independence Day at noon by any capable military base. Fireworks shows are very prominent on Independence Day. Many fireworks displays are accompanied by the patriotic songs revolving around our independence. "The Star Spangled Banner," "God Bless America," "American the Beautiful," "My Country, Tis of Thee," "This Land is Your Land," "Stars and Stripes Forever," and regionally "Yankee Doodle" in the northeastern states and "Dixie" in the southern states. The importance of these songs is that the lyrics bring to mind and recall images of the Revolutionary War and War of 1812 and the significance of each of these wars.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As we are all having our picnics, parties, fireworks let's take a moment to close our eyes and relive what this day is all about. Take a moment to appreciate what we really have here in the US of America! We, here at DJDC, wish you all the very best on this Independence Day 2011.</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-58465191308143188112011-07-02T23:11:00.000-07:002011-07-02T23:11:19.663-07:00North Dakota<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUuQD_uyPL495XHX3ADRmhkNxHdKUZAoyJ2qxGbajOZLWfDWM6dxzAz-pJm3AkSF3IbeAOqRlYJ6TspUt6Lrs37ABVMIAU6E57fWdA0vwyHgG_WlRg1iadU5QLEO0EyskT-k2RVqz3QE/s1600/north+dakota.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoUuQD_uyPL495XHX3ADRmhkNxHdKUZAoyJ2qxGbajOZLWfDWM6dxzAz-pJm3AkSF3IbeAOqRlYJ6TspUt6Lrs37ABVMIAU6E57fWdA0vwyHgG_WlRg1iadU5QLEO0EyskT-k2RVqz3QE/s1600/north+dakota.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>North Dakota’s delegation at odds on the federal deficit</b><br />
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North Dakota’s congressional delegation agrees that the country needs a comprehensive plan to slash deficits and get a grip on national debt to stave off the looming fiscal crisis.<br />
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But Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad and Republicans Sen. John Hoeven and Rep. Rick Berg are just as divided as the rest of Congress when it comes to what should be included in that plan. And time’s running out for Washington leaders to strike a deal before the Aug. 2 deadline to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a potentially catastrophic federal default.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
Berg said dealing with the country’s growing debt and deficits – which will likely require entitlement reforms, spending cuts and new revenue through changes to the tax system – is kind of like “turning a big battleship around.”<br />
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“Congress never does anything suddenly,” he said. “We need to move now, and we need to move aggressively.”<br />
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Berg said it’s been “reassuring” to watch the debate over America’s economic course change “180 degrees” since January, and there now is nearly unanimous agreement on both sides of the aisle that Congress needs to do something to address the fiscal problems.<br />
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But all along, the effort to deal with the looming crisis has remained split between two different sides with two very different approaches.<br />
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“What Republicans are saying is we have got to reduce spending and we’ve got to get economic growth,” Hoeven said. “Our feeling is that by raising taxes, you hurt economic growth. Democrats want to raise taxes – that is a difference, and that’s something we have to come to grips with.”<br />
<br />
<b>Bipartisan talks</b><br />
<br />
Hoeven said it’s vital for Washington leaders to take a bipartisan approach as they negotiate entitlement reforms, changes to the tax code and spending cuts to reach a plan both parties can accept.<br />
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“We’ve got to find a way to bring this stuff forward together so one side or the other doesn’t just beat up on whatever concepts are put out there,” he said. “It’s got to be brought forward in a bipartisan way in order for the president and the House and Senate to agree.”<br />
<br />
But high-profile bipartisan efforts to develop a comprehensive deficit reduction strategy have fizzled out. Negotiations helmed by Vice President Joe Biden came to a halt last month when House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., pulled out of the talks, declaring an “impasse” over the tax increase issue.<br />
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The so-called Gang of Six, a bipartisan group of senators including Conrad who met for months to strike up a deal, came “extremely close” to a final package of recommendations. But the group suffered a fatal blow in May when Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., declared he was on “sabbatical” from the effort after the senators hit a roadblock over Medicare cuts.<br />
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Conrad said the Gang of Six isn’t prepared to report its recommendations on how to achieve more than $4.5 trillion in deficit reductions over the next 10 years. And other group members now want to wait and see what happens with top-level leadership negotiations between Democrats, Republicans and President Barack Obama that started last week.<br />
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“This is ultimately where it always had to get,” he said. “Decisions of this magnitude have to be made by the top leadership and then be brought back to the two chambers to see if it can receive the necessary support.”<br />
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But Conrad said he’s pursued “multiple efforts” all year to address the nation’s fiscal problems, and he doesn’t want to take any chances the new negotiations will result in something that can be passed before the debt limit comes up for a vote.<br />
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Conrad, the Senate Budget Committee chairman, said committee Democrats agreed last Wednesday on a combination of spending cuts and revenue increases to reach an “essential”<br />
<br />
$4 trillion deficit reduction over the next decade.<br />
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Democratic leaders will be briefed on the new plan Tuesday, and Obama is expected to meet with Senate Democrats on Wednesday to discuss deficit reduction proposals.<br />
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Conrad said he still believes a bipartisan agreement will be the only way to get the necessary votes to enact a tough new approach to reducing the deficit and curbing the federal debt.<br />
<br />
But laying out the plan could be another tool in negotiating the final fiscal roadmap that Congress will have to approve, he said.<br />
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“I don’t see any reason to wait now,” he said. “It may be useful to the top-level negotiation that’s going on to have another comprehensive plan that’s out there for their consideration.”<br />
</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-74568522615650824922011-06-30T21:44:00.000-07:002011-06-30T21:44:32.397-07:00Canada Day<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhTbX8NEPaMZ8DkA1RpcbpVYwt3uqtH60ysCLnWtEZQs_eePtUiqew-TdmfAbQPDCI-eojPfkUAdBtyG9twQLWik4IM2xa8AFE1uPZs14PVOQ1E1r3PKpW1872W8DC3EHzrOcRGijIxk/s1600/canada+day.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWhTbX8NEPaMZ8DkA1RpcbpVYwt3uqtH60ysCLnWtEZQs_eePtUiqew-TdmfAbQPDCI-eojPfkUAdBtyG9twQLWik4IM2xa8AFE1uPZs14PVOQ1E1r3PKpW1872W8DC3EHzrOcRGijIxk/s1600/canada+day.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Approach Canada Day fireworks shows with extreme caution, experts warn</b><br />
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For Fort Saskatchewan Fire Chief James Clark, Canada Day marks anniversary of a terrible fireworks explosion that blew off 5 fingers on his left hand along with the thumb and index finger on his right.<br />
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On July 1, 1997 Clark, who was a volunteer firefighter at the time, was helping set off fireworks at Turner Park when 1 exploded prematurely.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
It would take him a year and endless hours of physical therapy to get back to work full time. Opening a can of pop or grabbing a coffee on his own became huge accomplishments. The incident turned his life around, he said.<br />
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Clark was using professional grade fireworks that day but, he said family fireworks are just as dangerous. No matter how much preparatory work you do, things can still go wrong. Clark himself had done the Canada Day fireworks show several time before the accident.<br />
<br />
Adam Loria, public education officer with Emergency Medical Services in Calgary, said fireworks injuries don’t happen often, but when they do, they can be quite severe.<br />
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“I can almost guarantee that we have seen from one end of the spectrum to another,” he said.<br />
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Emergency services and the fire department recommend people who have their own fireworks show stay safe by wearing safety glasses, gloves, flame-retardant clothing, ear covers and by having a water source nearby. Clark was clad head to toe in his firefighter’s gear when he was injured.<br />
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It’s important to read the instructions on the device. Also, they said to make sure that the nearby grass too dry and it isn’t too windy.<br />
<br />
John Adria, owner of Uncle John’s Fireworks, expects fewer fireworks will be set off by the public on Canada Day because of stricter screening process for permit applicants.<br />
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A firework permit is needed to legally buy the explosive devices. This year, the process of acquiring a permit changed. Edmontonians seeking permits now have to go through a fire prevention officer. As a result, the Edmonton Fire Department has reduced the number of fire halls issuing fireworks permits to 5 from 25. Also, permits could be picked up at any time of day, but now are available only between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.<br />
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“We wanted to get a better control on how they’re being issued,” assistant fire marshal Rusty Foerger.<br />
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In the past “permits would be given to people and then they were shooting off at public spaces like playgrounds and schools. That is not what we’re giving permits for,” he said.<br />
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Since the switch, Adria said he has seen some customers who haven’t been able to find the time to get a permit.<br />
<br />
Drew Tannahill, who has been setting off fireworks for years, said the permit form was the same and he didn’t receive any extra guidance. The only difference was the location and the hours he could pick up the permit.<br />
<br />
“For myself, it was no more difficult,” he said.<br />
<br />
Foerger said there is a more stringent screening process in place and he hopes it keeps Edmontonians safer.<br />
<br />
“We have been watching each year more and more fireworks being sold and shot off in all sorts of dangerous and unwarranted ways and we want to get on top of that,” he said.<br />
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Clark said he thinks people should leave fireworks up to the professionals like those working at Kinsmen Park on Canada Day.<br />
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“If you’re going to do it for a little family function or something like that, is the benefit of what you are going to look at for that couple seconds up in the sky worth the risk that could last a lifetime? Or do you go out to a professionally done show where you become a spectator and get to sit back and enjoy it?”<br />
</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-10849838241942073092011-06-30T21:16:00.000-07:002011-06-30T21:22:53.941-07:00Inspire<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdIrBMJjdtdyzfTlqyWYTsdjEGlYPcBF3EbM9gq5Xv0cMSGSMzJ7IOVp3ud83lHLhasKQCFbVa_qw6pABW1V_b7r3BLobm_lvaPsDzVt5ZrIkDIbRi2QwIK8u4Qy-X0Orgd-Tbv8UGtA/s1600/inspire.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxdIrBMJjdtdyzfTlqyWYTsdjEGlYPcBF3EbM9gq5Xv0cMSGSMzJ7IOVp3ud83lHLhasKQCFbVa_qw6pABW1V_b7r3BLobm_lvaPsDzVt5ZrIkDIbRi2QwIK8u4Qy-X0Orgd-Tbv8UGtA/s1600/inspire.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Tevez lines up with the Messi in Argentina's Copa opener</b><br />
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Carlos Tevez will line up alongside Lionel Messi in Argentina's attack when hosts open the Copa America against Bolivia in La Plata on Friday (0045 GMT Saturday), coach Sergio Batista said.<br />
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He said the decision was part of the tactics he had devised for Messi to have a brilliant tournament and inspire Argentina to clinch the South American title they last won in 1993.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Less than a month ago, Tevez appeared out of the running for a place in Argentina's squad but he and Batista cleared air over issues that had kept the striker out of the reckoning and he has impressed the coach in training.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Carlos will play because he can link much more with Lionel and the idea is not to have players of such speed as we would have if (Angel) Di Maria and (Ezequiel) Lavezzi played (either side of Messi) ... With Carlos we have more play," he told reporters on Thursday.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Batista, who has dropped Di Maria to the bench to make way for Tevez, denied he had bowed to popular demand and media pressure to include the Manchester City captain.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"I don't go by popular clamour. If I say Tevez must play it's because that's best for the national team. He has earned his place on his own," Batista said.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Batista said he had alternative tactics if Messi were suffocated by Bolivian marking.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"We discussed Messi getting man-to-man marking and we have a plan B, someone who will take control of the team and the ball," he said.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"Lionel must enjoy what he's doing, he's a great player, the world's best, and we'll take maximum advantage of that. We built a team for him and let's hope it's his Copa America."</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Argentina team (4-3-3):</b> Sergio Romero; Javier Zanetti, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Marcos Rojo; Javier Mascherano, Ever Banega, Esteban Cambiasso; Ezequiel Lavezzi, Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez. </div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-59445169384656077222011-06-29T23:24:00.000-07:002011-06-29T23:25:48.952-07:00Absinthe<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>The Drinking Absinthe Frappe</b></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6VCS2EBU6nGTLKLih2PjQ7mdJHfkQyJpH1QkiMDlmnslu_Q2qyhTPpEnJ75uTvAV_-UKUDPEMSX4qi29UTnVSylsMZjA59fjLiSK14pHR4IT9ZmK57PRLOWwse3gMmeqYvt8Pf-JBZI/s1600/absinthe.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik6VCS2EBU6nGTLKLih2PjQ7mdJHfkQyJpH1QkiMDlmnslu_Q2qyhTPpEnJ75uTvAV_-UKUDPEMSX4qi29UTnVSylsMZjA59fjLiSK14pHR4IT9ZmK57PRLOWwse3gMmeqYvt8Pf-JBZI/s1600/absinthe.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Back in the fall, I expressed some interest in the learning to make cocktails, and my sister even bought me a cocktail shaker and measure for Christmas. I made a few Bloody Marys using the last of a bottle of vodka that my friend Yuri gave me years ago, but soon forgot about my newfound hobby. That is, until last week, when the New York Times ran a summer cocktail story. I flipped to the inside pages, which featured colorful pictures of mouth-watering summer cocktails, including something called the Absinthe Frappe.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The Absinthe Frappe appealed to me because I happen to have a bottle of absinthe, which I bought in 2008, shortly after the long-banned liquor became available in the U.S. The drink’s notoriety stemmed from the mistaken belief that it caused hallucinations; these hallucinations were believed to be caused by thujone, a chemical found in the herb wormwood. But a New Orleans-based chemist named Ted Breaux proved that absinthe’s thujone content was tiny — less than 10 parts per million. And since the US had never banned absinthe outright — the law simply prohibited food and beverages containing more than 10 parts per million of thujone — Breaux was able to bring a brand of absinthe called Lucid to market. </div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Traditionally, drinking absinthe is a multi-step process that utilizes special equipment: a slotted absinthe spoon. Typically, drinkers pour 1.25 to 1.5 ounces of the liquor into a glass, then place a sugar cube on top of the slotted spoon, which rests on the rim of the glass. They then slowly drip 4 to 5 ounces of cold water onto the sugar cube, which dissolves into the absinthe. The cold water releases the oils in the mixture and brings out the flavors, causing a milky cloud, known as the louche, to form.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This multi-step process is a lot of fun, but I never came to truly love absinthe, which might explain why the bottle of Lucid has gathered dust on my kitchen counter. However, the Absinthe Frappe recipe in the Times revived my interest in the liquor, partly because it sounded unusual — an absinthe frappe? — and partly because it only required 3 ingredients: heavy cream, lime juice and simple syrup. I wasn’t sure exactly what simple syrup was, but a friend assured me that it was easy to make — “They call it simple syrup for a reason,” she said — and that all I needed to was combine equal amounts sugar and water. In any case, here’s the recipe:</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 1/2 ounces absinthe</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">1 ounce heavy cream</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3/4 ounce lime juice</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">3/4 ounce simple syrup</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Pour the ingredients into a cocktail shaker, add cracked ice and shake hard for 20 seconds. Pour it all into a highball glass and serve with a straw.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Anyway, I did all this and, sure enough, the result was a frothy, frappe-like drink. I loved the texture, but I wasn’t sure about the taste: absinthe is quite strong, and I wondered if maybe I should have put in more simple sugar, or more cream, to soften the liquor’s harsh edges. I made the Absinthe Frappe a couple nights ago, adjusting the ingredients, but I still didn’t like the drink all that much. Which was unfortunate, because I loved the idea of it. Of course, maybe I just loved the idea of an alcoholic frappe, which I could make at home and drink on a hot summer night. In any case, my interest in cocktail making has been revived, and I plan to try out more summer cocktail recipes.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Absinthe is historically described as a distilled, highly alcoholic (45–74% ABV / 90-148 proof) beverage. It is an anise-flavoured spirit derived from herbs, including the flowers and leaves of the herb Artemisia absinthium, commonly referred to as "grande wormwood", together with green anise and sweet fennel. Absinthe traditionally has a natural green colour but can also be colourless. It is commonly referred to in historical literature as "la fée verte" (the "green fairy" in French).</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Although it is sometimes mistakenly called a liqueur, absinthe is not bottled with added sugar and is therefore classified as a spirit. Absinthe has a very high level of alcohol by volume but is normally diluted with water when consumed.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Absinthe originated in the canton of Neuchâtel in Switzerland. It achieved great popularity as an alcoholic drink in late 19th- and early 20th-century France, particularly among Parisian artists and writers. Owing in part to its association with bohemian culture, consumption of absinthe was opposed by social conservatives and prohibitionists. Charles Baudelaire, Paul Verlaine, Arthur Rimbaud, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Amedeo Modigliani, Vincent van Gogh, Oscar Wilde, Aleister Crowley and Alfred Jarry were all known drinkers of absinthe.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Absinthe has been portrayed as a dangerously addictive psychoactive drug. The chemical thujone, present in small quantities, was blamed for its alleged harmful effects. By 1915, absinthe had been banned in the US and in most European countries including France, The Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Although absinthe was vilified, it has not been shown that it is any more dangerous than ordinary spirits. Its psychoactive properties, apart from those of alcohol, have been much exaggerated.</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A revival of absinthe began in the 1990s, when countries in the European Union began to reauthorize its manufacture and sale. As of February 2008, nearly 200 brands of absinthe were being produced in a dozen countries, most notably in France, Switzerland, Spain, and the Czech Republic.</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-21783970601760581932011-06-29T08:52:00.000-07:002011-06-29T08:52:09.526-07:00Google Circles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1A4LPXCy7i5M2cXVSEJ04gioEBCOmdsTfLJozVficuZqWn0W6vMV6Mf-IQApVWdJArbkxk-7MOgWsCW6hJ1-veqaJmJYBiXnjxZ076D26E4VC6Lmq3fMeMnc1dnzbZHigPh1hlaRft2g/s1600/google+circles.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1A4LPXCy7i5M2cXVSEJ04gioEBCOmdsTfLJozVficuZqWn0W6vMV6Mf-IQApVWdJArbkxk-7MOgWsCW6hJ1-veqaJmJYBiXnjxZ076D26E4VC6Lmq3fMeMnc1dnzbZHigPh1hlaRft2g/s1600/google+circles.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Google has just revealed an update to it’s new software, Google+ Unveils Google Circles</b><br />
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The most interesting feature of the Google+ has got to be Google Circles. It features a personalized newsfeed that allows users to keep people to certain groups ranging from family to best friends to acquaintances to co-workers. The program also features group chat called “Huddle”, group video, photo uploading and more.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
The idea is that people use the same thing, circles, in their real-life and Google decided to bring that online as the latest in social media.<br />
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“In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it,” stated Google’s Blog. “Not all relationships are created equal. So in life we share one thing with college buddies, another with parents, and almost nothing with our boss.”<br />
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“Sparks” is an online sharing engine that delivers a feed of content on whatever topic a user chooses. A user can add their interests and then have something to watch read and share.<br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">“Hangouts” is a feature that Google intends to be fun and “serendipitous” with a live multi-person video. “Mobile” is a feature for phones to share information. “Location” allows Google users to add location to every post. “Instant Upload” allows snapping pictures on a phone to be included in a private album in the cloud. Lastly, “Huddle” is a feature that allows group messaging.<br />
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Reportedly, according to KRQE, Google+ is undergoing what the company calls a “field trial,” and accessible by invitation only and not yet available to the public.</div></div><object style="height: 390px; width: 500px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/xwnJ5Bl4kLI?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/xwnJ5Bl4kLI?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="500" height="390"></object></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-64244888787970732672011-06-29T03:44:00.000-07:002011-06-29T03:44:02.136-07:00Katharine Mcphee<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJb_jXBw9H6jbN31fVUupepL4JCGZdXBVa-wUnRO3DItqf6n6upyjHTbiAdolFXKhy8bjRGil7y6DLmqRwCKooMg7dFWlfwAAidUNZ2vnSC3M64glAquewPCf_PuTgiXZto0OwJSoL38/s1600/katharine+mcphee.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJb_jXBw9H6jbN31fVUupepL4JCGZdXBVa-wUnRO3DItqf6n6upyjHTbiAdolFXKhy8bjRGil7y6DLmqRwCKooMg7dFWlfwAAidUNZ2vnSC3M64glAquewPCf_PuTgiXZto0OwJSoL38/s1600/katharine+mcphee.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Katharine McPhee gets a record deal tied to NBC’s ‘Smash’</b><br />
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Katharine McPhee, the star of the upcoming NBC show “Smash,” is getting her own record deal with Columbia Records, network revealed Thursday.<br />
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NBC and Columbia Records have agreed to a recording rights deal for the soundtrack of NBC’s new musical series “Smash” and series star Katharine McPhee also signed a solo recording deal with Columbia Records.<br />
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The announcements were made by Robert Greenblatt, Chairman, NBC Entertainment, and Rob Stringer, Chairman, Columbia/Epic Label Group.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
The arrangement guarantees worldwide, digital and physical rights to the first season of “Smash” with successive options to subsequent seasons.<br />
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“A musical series should naturally be accompanied by a soundtrack deal, and NBC is very excited to be working with the best. Our Columbia Records partners will guide the soundtrack of ‘Smash’ into a big component of show’s success,” said Greenblatt. “The music will be a driving force of what promises to make a tremendous impact for NBC in January and we couldn’t have asked for better expertise and strategy than this company will provide.”<br />
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“We are thrilled and proud to be chosen by NBC to work on their amazing new show,” said Rob Stringer, Chairman, Columbia/Epic Label Group. “Music is at the heart of ‘Smash,’ and with our wonderfully creative broadcast partners, we will develop innovative strategies to present this music to a huge audience.”<br />
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“Smash” is a musical drama that celebrates the beauty and heartbreak of the Broadway theater as it follows a cross-section of dreamers and schemers who all have one common desire — to be a “Smash.” The soundtrack will be both original compositions by Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman, the Tony and Grammy Award-winning songwriters of Broadway blockbusters such as “Hairspray” and “Catch Me If You Can,” as well as covers of a variety of existing hits that will combine to tell the narrative of this musical series.<br />
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McPhee’s career launched with her renowned run on “American Idol” in 2006 in which she was the runner-up on the 5th season. Her self-titled debut album “Katharine McPhee” was released in January 2007 and premiered at the 2 spot on the Billboard 200. The first single from the album, “Over It,” was a Pop Top 30 hit and was certified gold in 2008.<br />
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“Unbroken,” McPhee’s second album, was released in January 2010 and debuted at 27 on the Billboard 200. The album included the single “Had It All,” which crested at 22 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. McPhee has already had success with Christmas releases from her 2007 single “O Come All Ye Faithful” and “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” in 2009.<br />
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In addition, she has appeared frequently on tv around the holidays, including a guest appearance on the annual “Christmas in Washington” tv special as she performed for the First Family, and the “My Christmas” concert starring Andrea Bocelli. Last year, the sensational singer released some of her favorite Christmas songs for her third album, “Christmas Is the Time…To Say I Love You.” The single “I’ll Be Home for Christmas” was a huge hit, and was downloaded over 500,000 times exclusively on iTunes. McPhee also has co-starred in the feature film “The House Bunny” and has guest-starred in NBC’s “Community” and “CSI: New York.” She co-stars in the upcoming films “Shark Night 3D” and “Peace, Love and Misunderstanding” with Jane Fonda.<br />
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“Smash” centers on a desire to create a Broadway musical based on the life of Marilyn Monroe — written by the successful songwriting duo of Tom Tony Award nominee Christian Borle, “Legally Blonde: The Musical” and Julia (Emmy Award winner Messing).<br />
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Julia recently began the process of adopting a child with her husband of many years, but her focus is torn when she has the opportunity to write another Broadway hit. A rivalry soon forms for the lead role between a youthful, inexperienced Midwestern beauty — who is trying to find fame in the big city against all odds — and stage veteran (Megan Hilty, “9 to 5: The Musical”), who’s determined to leave the chorus line and finally get her big break. A tenacious producer Eileen (Huston) discovers the “Marilyn” project and jumps on board with a brilliant director (Jack Davenport, “Pirates of the Caribbean” films) — whose talent is matched by his cunning and egocentric amorality. The series stemmed from an idea of executive producer and multiple Emmy and Oscar winner Steven Spielberg (”ER,” “Schindler’s List”).<br />
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The pilot was written by acclaimed playwright/screenwriter Theresa Rebeck (“Mauritius,” “NYPD Blue”). David Marshall Grant (”Brothers & Sisters”), Craig Zadan and Neil Meron (Oscar-winning “Chicago,” “Hairspray”) and Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey (”United States of Tara,” “The Borgias”) will also serve as executive producers. Shaiman and Wittman also serve as executive producers. “Smash” is a production of Universal Media Studios in association with DreamWorks in association with Madwoman in the Attic. The pilot was directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer.<br />
</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-73994606340512199252011-06-28T05:45:00.000-07:002011-06-28T05:45:09.157-07:00Karen Gillan<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGIQX1Ei7w-UytYVzVSuBEA-SJfGPJkMjWoBGqDHnzY7WyR4n_WNgzN-jyet7EwEUg7mhfhrve5quiAcIr8HoAc7KskU1MaERb4yY_2_siknUmt79XudmLhs11nKnWK3QAv-vj0XNZL1g/s1600/karen+gillan.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="116" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGIQX1Ei7w-UytYVzVSuBEA-SJfGPJkMjWoBGqDHnzY7WyR4n_WNgzN-jyet7EwEUg7mhfhrve5quiAcIr8HoAc7KskU1MaERb4yY_2_siknUmt79XudmLhs11nKnWK3QAv-vj0XNZL1g/s200/karen+gillan.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Karen Sheila Gillan born 28 November 1987 is a Scottish actress and former model who is best known for her current portrayal of Amy Pond in the British science fiction series Doctor Who.<br />
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Gillan was born and brought up in Inverness, Scotland. Her father, Raymond John, a Day Centre Manager, and mother, Marie, live in Kinmylies. At age 16, she decided to pursue her interest in acting, studying the craft at Edinburgh's Telford College. Later, she secured a place at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts drama school in London on the BA Acting degree course. Her cousin Caitlin Blackwood has portrayed the young Amy Pond in 3 episodes of Doctor Who.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
Gillan has taken part in numerous modelling events including 2007's London Fashion Week for designer Allegra Hicks' autumn/winter catwalk show. She has also modelled for the launch party of Nicola Roberts' Dainty Doll Make-Up Range. This was shown in Nicola's episode of the documentary, The Passions of Girls Aloud which premiered on the 4 April 2008.<br />
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Gillan's early TV acting career included guest appearances on several TV drama series, with her first ongoing role being a 2-year stint as a member of the ensemble cast of the sketch comedy series The Kevin Bishop Show in which she played multiple characters, as well as celebrities such as Katy Perry and Angelina Jolie. Gillan also appeared on TV in a leading role in a horror project entitled The Well, which was broadcast as episodic short films on BBC 2, Part of the BBC's multimedia "switch" programming, the short episodes interconnect with online games that further explore the environments presented in the series.<br />
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She was cast for the role of the Eleventh Doctor's first companion, Amy Pond, on the British sci-fi series Doctor Who in early 2009. She made her first on-screen appearance as Amy Pond in "The 11th Hour", which first aired on 3 April 2010. She was confirmed in Issue 420 of the Doctor Who Magazine to be appearing in the 2011 series. Gillan had appeared in Doctor Who once before in the episode "The Fires of Pompeii" in the role of a Soothsayer.<br />
</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-28734098611541063882011-06-28T05:28:00.000-07:002011-06-28T05:28:36.387-07:00Lido<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGRG6EXsEdXOnovDkj0tkWm95vljlYsNNA1MPChPCaTxIDETfLOxTG8jWPVJJSlTXwQTRkIn_jmVv5WHv0UkJreqX5BatVQWZD0gPdbKzbgl_X7eh5UWpYP0obDCVCG9Oe1GliwF2ZyE/s1600/lido.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKGRG6EXsEdXOnovDkj0tkWm95vljlYsNNA1MPChPCaTxIDETfLOxTG8jWPVJJSlTXwQTRkIn_jmVv5WHv0UkJreqX5BatVQWZD0gPdbKzbgl_X7eh5UWpYP0obDCVCG9Oe1GliwF2ZyE/s1600/lido.jpg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">A lido in the UK and some other countries, refers to a public outdoor swimming pool and surrounding facilities, or part of a beach where people can swim, lie in the sun or participate in water sports.<br />
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On a cruise ship, outdoor pools and the surrounding facilities are referred to as the lido deck.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
<div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The term lido is the Italian word for beach and forms part of the place name of several Italian seaside towns known for their beach, e.g. Lido di Venezia, the barrier beach enclosing the Lagoon of Venice. Possibly the term found its way into English from returning English visitors to Lido di Venezia, where sea-bathing took place from the late 19th century. The word was first used for a public outdoor swimming pool in the United Kingdom in July 1935, in London.</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-57232956679223704092011-06-27T07:49:00.000-07:002011-06-27T07:49:07.935-07:00Asteroid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjNKZEXblfbKSN7ObsaMbQJviS3ER79FLRbxx6evBammXoemdM5OBd769JchoKXLfWloBsgcfYMYsQxSa3wugWN5-0riS5Ltbwe8U0hAE7uBY_CxbfqgQeWefo9-7S0_qF2muBFvSbJY/s1600/asteroid.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmjNKZEXblfbKSN7ObsaMbQJviS3ER79FLRbxx6evBammXoemdM5OBd769JchoKXLfWloBsgcfYMYsQxSa3wugWN5-0riS5Ltbwe8U0hAE7uBY_CxbfqgQeWefo9-7S0_qF2muBFvSbJY/s1600/asteroid.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Asteroid Passes Earth Closer Than The Moon </b><br />
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An asteroid zoomed past Earth this morning, coming within 7,500 miles above Earth's surface over the southern Atlantic Ocean.<br />
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2011 MD, as the asteroid is named, did not come as close to Earth as a smaller asteroid, 2011 CQ1, which avoided an impact with the planet by just 3,405 miles in February.<br />
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Even so, 2011 MD flew closer to Earth than the moon.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
The latest asteroid is 33 feet long and was discovered this week by telescopes in New Mexico, the AP reports.<br />
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According to the IBTimes, 2011 MD is the 5th-closest asteroid to zip past Earth.<br />
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Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones. These terms have historically been applied to any astronomical object orbiting the Sun that did not show the disk of a planet and was not observed to have the characteristics of an active comet, but as small objects in the outer Solar System were discovered, their volatile-based surfaces were found to more closely resemble comets, and so were often distinguished from traditional asteroids.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Thus the term asteroid has come increasingly to refer specifically to the small rocky–icy and metallic bodies of the inner Solar System out to the orbit of Jupiter. These are grouped with those outer bodies—centaurs, Neptune trojans, and trans-Neptunian objects—as minor planets, which is the term preferred in astronomical circles. This article will restrict the word 'asteroid' to the minor planets of the inner Solar System.<br />
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There are millions of asteroids, and like most other small Solar System bodies, asteroids are thought to be the often shattered remnants of planetesimals, bodies within the young Sun’s solar nebula that never grew large enough to become planets. A large majority of known asteroids orbit in the main asteroid belt between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter or co-orbital with Jupiter. However, other orbital families exist with significant populations, including the near-Earth asteroids. Individual asteroids are classified by their characteristic spectra, with the majority falling into 3 main groups: C-type, S-type, and M-type. These were named after and are generally identified with carbon-rich, stony, and metallic compositions, respectively.</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-2877767146278632602011-06-25T04:46:00.000-07:002011-06-25T04:46:13.390-07:00California Gay Marriage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDU_ug_gbF2h7_9uZfJXx7M7E1Z6zFW89F0NvvwX1sPLnKRnmmaylvzQ5r6hNv5KT0gP8gl2QhOwY-ZVHhpxiye_x1sXd7YrdmVbo2ieHJ0Db8mvI7t1OwHgVPc9wDS_DKclTKuAji6I/s1600/California+gay+marriage.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfDU_ug_gbF2h7_9uZfJXx7M7E1Z6zFW89F0NvvwX1sPLnKRnmmaylvzQ5r6hNv5KT0gP8gl2QhOwY-ZVHhpxiye_x1sXd7YrdmVbo2ieHJ0Db8mvI7t1OwHgVPc9wDS_DKclTKuAji6I/s1600/California+gay+marriage.jpeg" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>New York legalizes gay marriage 42 years after Stonewall</b><br />
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Champagne corks popped, rainbow flags flapped and crowds embraced and danced in the streets of Manhattan's Greenwich Village as NY became the 6th and largest state in the U.S. to legalize same-sex marriage.<br />
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Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the bill shortly before midnight Friday, almost 42 years to the day that the modern-day gay rights movement was born amid violent encounters between police and gay activists at the Stonewall Inn.</div><a name='more'></a><br />
Hundreds who gathered inside and outside the landmark bar erupted in celebration after the Republican-led state Senate cast the decisive vote. Scott Redstone and his partner of 29 years, Steven Knittweis, hugged. And Redstone popped the question. "I said, 'Will you marry me?' And he said, 'Of course!'"<br />
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Queens teacher Eugene Lovendusky, 26, who is gay, said he hopes to marry someday.<br />
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"I am spellbound. I'm so exhausted and so proud that the New York state Senate finally stood on the right side of history," he said.<br />
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He then repeated a chant he had screamed during a protest at a fundraiser for President Barack Obama the previous night: "I am somebody. I deserve full equality." Alex Kelston, 26, who works in finance in Manhattan, said he hopped in a cab and rushed to the bar when he heard the news. "This is the place where the movement started, and it's a way to close the loop and celebrate the full equality of gay people in New York," he said.<br />
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The so-called Stonewall riots of June 28, 1969, helped spark the equal rights movement for homosexuals. Gay activists had pinned their hopes on a positive vote this week in NY to help regain momentum in other states in light of recent failed attempts.<br />
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Amid Friday's celebration, New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan and bishops around the state released a statement condemning the passage of the law by the Legislature, saying they were deeply disappointed and troubled. "Our society must regain what it appears to have lost — a true understanding of the meaning and the place of marriage, as revealed by God, grounded in nature, and respected by America's foundational principles," the statement from the Roman Catholic leader read.<br />
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who lobbied for the bill, was mid-sentence at a press conference on the city budget when City Council Speaker Christine Quinn interrupted him to announce it had passed.<br />
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The room exploded in cheers from other lawmakers and staff, as Quinn — the first gay person to hold the job — embraced her colleagues and smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "It's hard to describe the feeling of having the law of your state changed to say that you ... are a full member of the state and that your family is as good as any other family," she said.<br />
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In a way, the decision will change everything for her and her partner, Quinn said.<br />
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"Tomorrow, my family will gather for my niece's college graduation party, and that'll be a totally different day because we'll get to talk about when our wedding will be and what it'll look like, and what dress Jordan, our grand-niece, will wear as the flower girl. And that's a moment I really thought would never come," she said. "I really can't really describe what this feels like, but it is one of the best feelings I have ever had in my life," she said.<br />
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Bloomberg called the vote "a historic triumph for equality and freedom."<br />
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He said he would support the Republicans who voted for the measure Friday, and that he believed their actions were consistent with GOP ideals of liberty and freedom.<br />
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"The Republicans who stood up today for those principles I think will long be remembered for their courage, foresight and wisdom," said the mayor, a Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent. "Ten, 20, 30 years from now, I believe they will look back on this vote as one of the finest and most proud moments in their life."<br />
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Bloomberg, a billionaire who had lobbied in Albany for the measure along with Quinn, has the personal resources to help the Republicans withstand any backlash from their own party. Celebrities also responded, with Lady Gaga posting on Twitter that she "can't stop crying." The pop star has been urging her 11 million followers to call New York senators in support of the bill.<br />
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"The revolution is ours to fight for love, justice+equality. Rejoice NY, and propose. We did it!!!" she also posted. Talk show host Wendy Williams posted to her Twitter followers as well, saying: "Yay for Gay Marriage! NY, it's about time... jersey we're next! How you doin?"<br />
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Meanwhile, the city's official tourism marking agency said the bill was "good news" for the $31 billion industry that it represents. "Now, more gay couples — and their families and friends — will have an opportunity to celebrate their special day here," said George Fertitta, the CEO of NYC & Co.<br />
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In San Francisco, where a march kicked off the city's pride weekend, participants said they were just hearing about what had happened across the country. "What happened tonight in New York is great, is wonderful, so long as we pick up and keep moving beyond this because a lot more needs to get done," said 26-year-old Kate Lubeck of San Jose.<br />
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Pete Weiss of Oakland said he has a lot of good friends in NY who he thinks will take advantage of the new law. "You'd think California would have been first, but maybe this will spread and we'll be next," the 42-year-old said.<br />
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Legalization of gay marriage comes as NY City celebrates gay pride, culminating in a parade on Sunday. Michael Musto, a columnist for the Village Voice, an alternative weekly, said the timing of the vote "could not be more fortuitous."<br />
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"It's definitely going to be the most exuberant gay pride parade in history," he said.<br />
</div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3704431182998204567.post-50055042102404027812011-06-22T23:33:00.000-07:002011-06-22T23:33:24.848-07:00North Dakota Flood<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAfJW3S3JnWz_NulVKxfrgxDjyjJjT8yjL62AXg1mNgH3HRmcX7NmfJL2kiVruXIA9Vbq9zd53-P2fhu9mspKwn5IobT-Ikdu4lM_jtqRv194idQlVALNFJ7OMi9NOlxN2gB8xp_rrQo/s1600/North+Dakota+Flood.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="256" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWAfJW3S3JnWz_NulVKxfrgxDjyjJjT8yjL62AXg1mNgH3HRmcX7NmfJL2kiVruXIA9Vbq9zd53-P2fhu9mspKwn5IobT-Ikdu4lM_jtqRv194idQlVALNFJ7OMi9NOlxN2gB8xp_rrQo/s320/North+Dakota+Flood.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><b>Looming flood prompts North Dakota evacuations</b><br />
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About 12,500 people are told to leave their homes, most of them in the city of Minot, as the Souris River swells to record levels. It is expected to rise eight feet more before cresting.<br />
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As the Souris River reached record heights, the North Dakota city of Minot abruptly evacuated more than one-quarter of its population Wednesday, telling residents that the floodwaters would inevitably overwhelm the network of levees and dikes protecting the core of the city.<br />
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About 11,000 people were evacuated from Minot and 1,000 from a neighboring town as Minot officials turned despondent about the chances of the city escaping a devastating flood.<br />
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The last time Minot, population 40,000, was hit by a major flood was in 1969. On Wednesday, the Souris, also known as the Mouse River, was slightly higher than it was then, and it is expected to rise another 8 feet before it crests next week.<br />
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"A lot of people are devastated," said city Fire Capt. Dean Lenertz. "They know they're going to have some severe damage to their houses."<br />
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The midsection of the country has been soggy for months as snowpack melt and heavy spring rains have swollen rivers from the Mississippi to the Missouri. The Souris' headwaters are to the north, in Canada, and the river loops down into North Dakota before doubling back across the border.<br />
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This is the 3rd straight year North Dakota has faced floods. Its ground and aquifers were already saturated before the torrential downpours of recent months. This year the swollen Missouri River threatens the capital of Bismarck, as well as South Dakota's capital, Pierre, and Omaha farther downstream.<br />
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Minot evacuated its downtown earlier this month as the Souris rose, but then rescinded the evacuations, confident that the danger had passed.<br />
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Then record rain hit the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in the last two weeks. Suddenly the Souris was rising again. The water gauge on the river at the Canadian border usually records 100 cubic feet flowing past every second. On Wednesday it recorded 33,000</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
In Minot, which lies in a deep river valley, the Souris was already lapping at the top of the levees. City and county workers and National Guard troops were hurriedly trying to erect dikes around key buildings, such as schools, libraries and City Hall.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><br />
</div><div style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">"It's a ton of water," said Cecily Fong, a spokeswoman for the state's department of emergency services. "It just kind of got squirrely because of major precipitation events that we weren't anticipating."<br />
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"We're trying to protect as much infrastructure as we can," Lenertz said.<br />
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He marveled at the amount of natural disasters that his region and the nation have seen this year.</div></div>imranhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13935122982064545087noreply@blogger.com0