cheapest omain name,Looking beyond the white blouse

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IMPORTANT MESSAGE FOR ALL
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Wednesday June 4, 2008
Looking beyond the white blouse
MUSING BY MARINA MAHATHIR

There are many different ways of thinking about the same thing, and if we insist that our way is best, we need to defend it with sound arguments.



I would nominate for “Small Mind of the Year” the announcement by a female student that our schoolgirls’ uniforms are too transparent, and therefore would lead to them being raped, have unwanted babies and all sorts of evil things.

I’m surprised they didn’t mention that these white blouses would also make them corrupt and power-hungry.

It’s nice that a student association is taking an interest in issues. But one would have thought it would complain about the general state of education in this country, rather than school uniforms.

In France, students are taking to the streets to protest against the poor quality of the education in the state schools.

It would be far more impressive if our students complained about the same. After all, they must wonder why they cannot get jobs after studying. Or do they blame it on the alleged state of undress of other people as well?

Perhaps complaining about the education system would reveal that this is why they have become so small-minded.

Instead of breeding big brains with the capacity to think issues out clearly and then hold their ground with solid arguments, we get grey matter that has been squeezed into tiny boxes by an education system that lauds small minds and thinks brains that think expansively are dangerous.

The easiest and cheapest counter-attack is however to use the “freedom of speech” argument, where hole-ridden proposals are recast as opinion, never mind how silly. But these are the same people who would never allow anyone with contrary opinions the same freedom to speak.

It’s an argument that took the Education Ministry rather too long to put down.

And nobody seems to have noticed that neither Minister nor Special Adviser on Women said anything either.

When there are statements like these, nobody should be so polite as to not simply say that it’s silly. Why should we be afraid of offending people who patently have not thought things through?

But we allow it for only one reason: they mentioned religion. Instantly this puts such dubious arguments out of bounds. I have heard people claim that drinking hot water is haram.

If someone proposes a ban on anyone drinking hot water because it is not allowed by a certain religion, do we simply let it pass?

Once upon a time, someone said that it was impossible to land on the moon. If someone still says that today, do we still treat it with reverence?

We see small-mindedness everywhere, with simplistic arguments and solutions to everything. Nobody seems to want to do the hard work of bolstering arguments with hard facts and evidence.

We seem to be proud of not using our brains, as if it’s an organ that is meant just for show. Never mind that in some people, once they open their mouth, the size of the brain becomes evident.

The assumption is often made that the smallness of mind is in direct proportion to the amount of education the person has. But we often see so-called educated people displaying the same narrowness of thinking.

Perhaps it is a factor on how much exposure someone has. I think we should take someone like those who say things like “clothes cause rape” and put them in forums where they have to defend their arguments.

If their arguments can actually stand up to the test, then they’re worth talking about. But how much should I bet that they won’t take up the offer?

I once witnessed the total shock someone with a dubious argument received when he was invited to defend his policies at an international forum overseas. He was so confident he was correct; it did not occur to him that there would be counter-arguments.

Left unable to defend himself, he started to blame others and the organisers for “setting him up”. This is what happens when one lives in an environment where small-mindedness is encouraged, where debate and discussion is discouraged.

If we truly want to develop, we need to teach our children that there is a big world out there; and to be part of that world, we need to learn how to think differently.

We need to realise that there are many different ways of thinking about the same thing, and if we insist that our way is best, we need to defend it with sound arguments, not retreat into the realm of opinion.

Even opinions must have a sound basis, not plucked from the air.

home insurance online quote,Ann Arbor Street Art Fair

Deadline: JANUARY 15, 2009 by 12:00 MT (ONLINE)

Ann Arbor Street Art Fair
University of Michigan
July 15-18, 2009


MISSION:
The mission of the non-profit Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original is to increase public knowledge and appreciation for contemporary fine arts and fine crafts by creating opportunities that connect artists, the Ann Arbor community, and the general public, to their mutual benefit, culminating in a top quality juried street art fair.

The 50th annual Fair will take place July 15-18, 2009 on the Ingalls Mall Lawn by the Burton Memorial Tower, North University, and the Diag on the Central Campus at the University of Michigan. The Fair will feature 174 juried artists, eight New Artists from local universities and colleges, the Potters Guild and an array of free art activities and performances for the whole family to enjoy.

RULES FOR PARTICIPATION: (truncated)
Before applying please make sure your work meets the following criteria.

1. All work must be original, handcrafted work. One of a kind work is preferred and encouraged.


2. No commercial reproductions or embellished commercial products are allowed.


3. If you produce work in editions, you must disclose edition numbers to the Fair audience and include in your work descriptions.


4. Artists may only show work in categories approved by the Jury. All work exhibited must be of the quality and type of that shown in the images juried.


5. Artists must prominently display an Artist Statement, with the artist’s picture, describing how and by whom the work is made and the materials used to make the work.


6. Artists must be present with their work for the entire four days of the Fair. If the work is collaborative, each collaborator must be present.
   
7. All work must be for sale.


8. Artists may not show in other fairs, exhibitions or events in Ann Arbor taking place at the same time as the Ann Arbor Street Art Fair.

JURY PROCESS:
Openings for new artists are available in every media each year. The 2009 Fair will be comprised of approximately 175 spaces for artists. Seventy-two artists have been re-invited through high scores from the on-site jury, awards, peer jurying, sabbatical and the featured artist program. More than 100 artists will be invited from the ZAPPlication™ jury process in January with an additional group of artists selected for a waitlist.

BOOTHS AND FEES:
Application Fees: $30 Jury Fee (non-refundable per application). A separate application and fee is required for each category (one per category, three category limit, substantially different work required for each category)

Booth Fees: Booth fees will be due in mid-March

• Tented Spaces: $625: 10' wide x 20' deep under large commercial tents provided by AASAF.


• Artist’s Own White Canopy: $625: 10' deep x 12' wide space.


• Open Air Space: $625: 10' x 20' space without canopy or walls. Work and artist must be able to withstand the elements.


• Corner Space: additional $100: Assigned upon request, if available.

If you have questions about the application process contact us at production@artfair.org.

The Ann Arbor Street Art Fair, the Original uses ZAPPlication, an online application and digital jurying process. If you would like to begin the application process, you can register now, review the technical requirements, and establish an artist profile at http://www.zapplication.org/.

For more information on the Fair and jury process, please review the 2009 Prospectus.

Visit the website for complete details: artfair.org

This blog is a courtesy of Art Craft Design Culture.

home insurance online quote,Gallery at Flashpoint Request for Proposals

Deadline: January 23, 2009 by 5:00 pm (RECEIVE)


Request for Proposals
Gallery at Flashpoint
Cultural Development Corporation
Washington, DC 20001


Gallery at Flashpoint
A key component of the Flashpoint arts incubator, the Gallery at Flashpoint presents cutting-edge and experimental contemporary art and provides a springboard for talented artists and curators. The Gallery seeks to inspire creativity and encourage the creation of new work by emerging and underrepresented artists and curators. In addition, the Gallery provides a place for artists and curators to experiment with progressive concepts and participate in an active, multi-disciplinary arts
community. The Gallery is a venue for exhibitions that explore new and challenging ideas, free from the traditional constraints of a commercial gallery.

CuDC is seeking inventive, original proposals in any medium.

Presenting an exhibition in the Gallery at Flashpoint is a multi-dimensional learning experience. CuDC’s staff provides guidance and assistance to exhibitors during their planning, installation and presentation phases. CuDC staff provides critical support to plan and execute the exhibition, including marketing, collaborating with CuDC on a press outreach
strategy and fundraising (identifying potential funding for the exhibition). Exhibitors also have the advantage of reaching diverse arts patrons that visit the facility.

Eligibility

• Artists, independent curators and arts organizations presenting work in any medium may apply.


• Solo exhibitors and artists who are in a group show at Flashpoint of less than 4 artists must wait 2 seasons before reapplying to the gallery.


• Artists who participate in group shows at Flashpoint of 4 or more artists may reapply the following season
  for solo or group exhibitions.


• Curators may reapply to the gallery after 1 season.


• Artists may apply as curators and curators may apply as artists, as long as the above still holds true.

Mentorship
The Gallery Advisory Panel, comprised of prominent area arts professionals, is an integral part of the program. The members of the Advisory Panel shape each season of exhibitions and support exhibitors by serving as mentors. From the time an exhibition is selected, a Panel member works with the exhibitor to plan and implement a dynamic show, helping to refine the concept, review the press releases and market the show. Each mentor can provide resources and expertise that enhance the exhibitor’s capacity and lead the way to new opportunities.

2009-2010 Gallery Advisory Panel
Chan Chao, Artist
Brandon Fortune, Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture, National Portrait Gallery
Kristen Hileman, Assistant Curator, Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden
Philippa Hughes, Collector & Founder/Director, The Pink Line Project
Andrea Pollan, Director, Curator’s Office

Evaluation Criteria
The Gallery Advisory Panel will consider applications based upon the following criteria:

• Artistic merit of the proposed exhibition;


• Applicant’s arts, curatorial and/or organizational experience;


• Capacity to fully execute proposed exhibition;


• Viability of the project and budget;


• Suitability to the mission of the Gallery at Flashpoint; and


• Programming objectives in conjunction with exhibition where applicable (i.e. relevant artist talks, educational forums and performances).

Application Fee
$30. The application fee is waived for current Red Circle members (see membership attachment for details).

Proposals will not be considered without the application fee.

Guidelines
Applicants may submit more than one exhibition proposal but each proposal should be a complete, self-contained application.

Download the RFP: http://www.flashpointdc.org/documents/Gallery_RFP_09-10.pdf

OPEN HOUSE
Learn more about the application process, plus programs and services.
Saturday, January 10, 2009, 10:30am – 12pm

FLASH CHATS
Chat online, in real-time, on Chatzy with the Gallery at Flashpoint’s Program Manager.
For more information visit: www.flashpointdc.org/venues/art_gallery.html
Wednesday, January 14, 5-7pm
Saturday, January 17, 12-2pm

OFFICE HOURS
Need one-on-one advice?
Email gallery@culturaldc.org to book a 30 minute slot, otherwise questions will be answered on a first come,first serve basis.
Saturday, December 20, 12-4pm

Gallery at Flashpoint
Cultural Development Corporation
916 G Street, NW
Washington, DC 20001
202.315.1305

This blog is a courtesy of Art Craft Design Culture.

frontpage hosting web,WBW 52: Chilean Value Reds

It’s time for another Wine Blogging Wednesday, our virtual tasting now in it’s 52nd edition. This month, Tim from Cheap Wine Ratings is hosting and has chosen the theme of Value Reds from Chile. I go way back with reds from Chile but have not really tasted many in the past few years. As luck or fate would have it, the folks from the Wines of Chile organization had just sent a half case of Carménère samples so I was all set. Of these wines, two really stood out… a very complex and interesting blend for $68 and a straight-up Carménère for $19. I’ll be reviewing the latter tonight.

Carménère has long been a favorite variety of mine and it’s not grown much outside of Chile. When you see it in Dry Creek Valley or Bordeaux, it’s almost always lost in Cabernet or Merlot-led blends. But in Chile, there are many examples of the grape on it’s own as is the case in my selection this evening.

One of the six permitted red varieties in Bordeaux, it’s not much planted there anymore due to it’s low production and late ripening. But in the 18th and 19th Century, Carménère was highly prized in this region of France and was exported to Chile before Phylloxera claimed most the vines in it’s home country. But the root louse never made it to Chile, in large part due the the barrier of the Andes Mountains. Until 1994 DNA typing, most Chilean Carménère was thought to be Merlot and many low-end Merlot from Chile today still have the tell-tale “gun metal” aromas of Carménère in the blend.

Tasting Notes:

Vina Casa Silva, “Los Lingues”, Carménère, Gran Reserva, Colchagua Valley 2006 ($19/sample) - Very dark purple-black in color with aromas of black currant, raspberry, licorice, gun metal and vanilla. Focused and concentrated black raspberry and blueberry fruit flavors with cocoa, mint and bell pepper finishing with moderate tannins. A well balanced, delicious Carménère that will age and is also an excellent value.

14.5% ABV

Natural cork closure

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Buy this wine online

Thanks to Tim from Cheap Wine Ratings for hosting this month and I’m already looking forward to January when we are picking wines for breakfast… for real. I’m thinking another value red here but most likely from California; or something with bubbles.

home equity loan company,Francesca Biller-Safran: Menorah Musubi

It's that special time of the year again when my family will gather around the menorah while simultaneously being reminded to take off our shoes and yelled at to start the rice.



Yes, it's the only kind of holiday I have ever known, a merry Bewish festive season, a word made up for a combination of both my parents who are Buddhist and Jewish.



Let's just say that I grew up thinking that while Jesus was a suffering member of my tribe I was not supposed to worship; Buddha taught us that "Life as we know it ultimately leads to suffering." You see, I couldn't win.



So, with the presence of a confused identity, I also experienced the joy of giving and receiving double the presents from both sides of my family for eight days of Hanukah and one blessed day of Christmas. And once again, I will have a lot of re-gifting to do.



As a kid, Christmas was about getting the big doll of the season or the Schwin bicycle, and dining Japanese-Jewish style with fried fish and musubi alongside a not very Kosher Honey-baked ham and some healthy borsht.



There were no mangers, plastic Jesus nightlights or crosses decorating our home. Instead we had Japanese Kabuki Theater masks arranged loosely near books by Chekov while we watched Woody Allen's 'Take the Money and Run' or T.S. Elliot's chipper 'Murder in the Cathedral' during a Christmas feast.



And there was no Hanukah actually celebrated, except if you count eating at Hollywood Cantor's Deli with Jewish star sightings while eating pastrami on rye.

Milton Berle observed, "Anytime a person goes into a delicatessen and orders a pastrami on white bread, somewhere a Jew dies."

My life experience can be summed up in the following quote, "Let your mind be as a floating cloud. Let your stillness be as the wooded glen. And sit up straight. You'll never meet the Buddha with posture like that."



"Oy Vey," I say, as I am now married to a Jew who sits next to my Japanese mother at Christmas meals, and next to his own mother at Hanukah. What can I say? They both love the mensch.

Anne Bancroft said, "When Mel Brookes told his Jewish mother he was marrying an Italian girl, she said, 'Bring her over, I'll be in the kitchen with my head in the oven."



I have officially earned the title of Double-Jap as my father used to call me; as well as the esteemed title of Shikseh princess with now, two mothers who always knows what food is the best. Don't even get me started.



My mother in law makes the best potato latkes West of Queens, while my Japanese mother knows how to sauté a sassy Sukiyaki any Asian parent would approve of.



The great thing about being from such a diverse background during holidays is the sheer entertainment and material alone.



For example, I remember one year we used menorah candles that were shoved into a kitchen junk drawer for my husband's birthday, while I made him "blow quickly" so I could save them for Hanukah the following month. You understand, these were my "good" candles, not the cheap ones from Menorahs R' Us.



Then there are memories of decorating Christmas trees with clumps of tinsel; buy one, get two for free at the Jewish grocery store in the Palisades, while my father just laughed at us while drinking a martini's and singing along to Dean Martin.



This year I feel a little less high on the weird scale as Barack Obama is our president elect.

Like me, he is a half-breed from parents of different cultures and faiths who was expected to get a long.



He was also asked during his presidential run what he considered his ethnic identity to be. Being the wise man he is, he answered thoughtfully that he is simply an American from two rich cultures.



Everyone has their own strange family holiday stories to tell, and that is one of the things that unites us together as Americans . . . and humans . . . that we all have the odd relative, weird tradition or holiday ritual we secretly enjoy and covet.



For me, this includes the fact that I have begun yet a second generation of being a part of a Jewish- Japanese marriage wherein we have reversed cultural identities with one another.



Let's just say that my husband tells me that I shame him with my loud voice and "shtick" as we are shopping for Christmas trees at Target, while I kvetch why he doesn't care enough about me to teach me an authentic Hanukah prayer or two.

I am reminded of two quotes I heard continually as a child: one from a Japanese emperor, "Generally speaking, the way of the warrior is the resolute acceptance of death," and the other from Woody Allen, "It's not that I'm afraid to die; I just don't want to be there when it happens."

And you think you have an identity crisis.

I'll just sit here in the corner in the dark by myself, eating a knish in my kimono

More on Spirituality

online accounting egree,[KlimBim] 2008-12-03

Photo: TapTapTap

Über 10.000 Programme besiedeln mittlerweile den App Store. Auch wenn diese Flickr-Komposition als Mosaik einige Icons doppelt verwendet (man werfe einen detaillierten Blick auf die Originalgröße) ist das Bild ein sehr gelungener Blickfang.

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Es scheint, als verteile Apple vorzeitige Weihnachtsgeschenke: Entwickler von App Store-Programmen dürfen ab sofort 50 Gutschein-Codes (pro Applikation) für das kostenlose Herunterladen verteilen. Speziell für persönliche Freunde der Entwickler sowie Mitarbeiter der Presse löst diese marginale Technikveränderung die umständliche Verteilung des Ad Hoc-Verfahrens ab. Dabei mussten die Entwickler für jedes iPhone, welches eine kostenlose Version (beispielsweise per E-Mail) erhalten sollte, einen 40-stelligen Nummern- und Zahlen-’Identifier’ eintragen. Aus eigener Erfahrung gab es dabei immer wieder Scherereien mit nicht akzeptierten Zertifikaten, die einen erheblichen Kommunikationsaufwand nach sich zogen.

Aber um die Einführung von diesen ‘Promo Codes’ nicht überzubewerten (welche bislang übrigens nur im US-Store funktionieren) gibt es noch eine Reihe ungelöster Probleme im App Store. Aus dem Videospielbereich könnte man sich abschauen, welch hervorragendes Mittel kostenlose Demo-Versionen für eine Kaufbewerbung darstellen und endlich die unsäglichen Lite-Versionen rauswerfen.

Außerdem wäre eine Information an die Entwickler, wann dessen Programm offiziell verfügbar ist, beispielsweise zu Werbezwecken, sinnvoll.

**

Amazon.com bietet ihre erste offizielle Applikation zum Download im App Store. Damit darf man innerhalb eines nativen Programms seine 1-Click-Einkäufe für Weihnachten bequem vom iPhone aus erledigen.

Zeit wurde es.

Als spezielles Feature wird im Programm ‘Amazon Remembers’ angeboten, bei dem man ein Photo von einem Produkt schießen kann, dieses zu Amazon sendet und anschließend den Produkt-Link per E-Mail zurückbekommt.

Empty Factory, die sich vor einigen Tagen in die Amazon API hängten um ein ähnliches Programm zu veröffentlichen, wurde dies vom Online-Shoppingportal untersagt.

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In den iTunes-Bestenlisten 2008 werden ab diesem Jahr auch Applikationen aufgeführt. Sortiert nach Kategorie und Preis, finde ich für mich persönlich in solchen ‘Charts’ fast nie einen spannenden Tipp.

Eher erschreckt mich, wie hoch iBeer und Konsorten rangieren…

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Der überarbeitete NDA macht’s möglich, über bereits publizierte iPhone-Projekte offen zu sprechen. Derzeit tummeln sich hunderte von Anleitungen auf den Weblogs der iPhone-Entwickler um knifflige Stellen im Entwicklungskit und auf dem Gerät in den Griff zu bekommen.

Hier exemplarisch:

-> Building static libraries with the iPhone SDK

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Nam’s Remote Preview from Nam chu Hoai on Vimeo.

Nam, 16 Jahre jung aber schon langjähriger iPhone-Entwickler mit einer Offline-Version von Google Maps unter der Firmware 1.x, hat ein neues Projekt am Start. Dieses stellt er im sympathischen Heimvideo kurz vor.

-> http://nambrot.com/

ccj loan,Scott Mendelson: Review: Yes Man (2008)

Yes Man

2008

106 minutes

Rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

There is a scene about halfway through the Jim Carrey vehicle Yes Man where Zooey Deschanel shows up to a costume party dressed as Heroine Granger from the Harry Potter series. The rest of the film is also more or less worth the price of admission.

There is something to be said for simply spending a couple hours with good company, simply watching good things happening to relatively good people. Especially in the Oscar season, where everything else involves miserable, self-loathing people dying just before or just after they figure out what went wrong, a movie like Yes Man is a perfect counter programming. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's good, but it is fun. Jim Carrey is relatively restrained (his mugging marred the otherwise witty, ahead-of-its time Fun With Dick And Jane), and it corrects a serious flaw that has infected some of Jim Carrey's other comedies: this time, the supporting cast is allowed to be funny too.

A token amount of plot: Carl Allen has been shell-shocked since the dissolution of his marriage three years prior. He spends his days as a near-zombie, drifting through his job (he's a loan officer at a bank), barely maintaining contact with his few remaining friends, and basically refusing to make any attempt at actually living. All that changes when an acquaintance talks him into attending a self-help seminar where the overriding principle is to say 'Yes' to each and every opportunity that comes your way. Life changes and would-be hilarity ensue as Carl says yes to various odd opportunities (flying lessons, penis enlargers, etc). Oh, and his first 'yes' activity (giving a ride to a homeless man) allows him to accidentally bump into quirky musician/photographer Allison (Deschanel), an event that blossoms into a promising new romantic entanglement.

There isn't much that occurs in Yes Man that defies predictability, but that doesn't mean that it isn't relatively effective. As mentioned above, the supporting cast is allowed to shine more so than usual in Jim Carrey comedies (yes Cameron Diaz looked great in The Mask, but did she make a single joke?). Terence Stamp is surprisingly hilarious as the self-help guru that sets the plot in motion (basically, he wins laughs by being 'Terence Stamp as the self-help guru'). Bradley Cooper is put to better use here than in The Wedding Crashers as Peter, Carl's best friend. They actually seem like old friends and when Peter needs to tell Carl some uncomfortable truths, it actually feels authentic. Deschanel scores solid laughs with a shockingly terrible piece of performance art that the film can't decide whether to mock or applaud.

In fact, for much of the film, Jim Carrey comes off as the proverbial straight man, reacting to the various goofy situations or pleasant developments. Jim Carrey is far more restrained than he usually is in his comedy vehicle. Mugging is kept to a minimum, and he even underplays the loneliness and sullenness in the opening act. And much of Carrey's humor in the film comes not from pratfalls and rubber-band facial expressions, but from the fact that Carl is a good natured and funny fellow.

I always took Bruce Almighty, with its arc of Bruce ditching his 'serious anchor' gig for the wacky newsman routine at which he excelled, as a metaphor for Jim Carrey's acceptance of the fact that audiences prefer him to be zany and make them laugh (and that its just as important to be a great comedian as a 'serious actor'). By that token, Yes Man can be construed as a final acknowledgment that the drive for acceptance, which has haunted Carrey since his traumatic childhood, has finally been quashed. He now realizes that, to paraphrase Minnesota's next senator, he is 'good enough, smart enough, and gosh-darn it, people DO like him'. It's certainly possible that winning the self-esteem war may result in less edgy, less challenging projects (think Eddie Murphy), but the man deserves a little happiness. If the slightly generic Yes Man is symbolic of the new, happier Jim Carrey, then it is a small price to pay for his piece of mind.

Grade: 3/5

More on Movies

mortgage poor creit,In which the Daily Telegraph grinds my gears

Warning: this post contains pedantry. Normally I’m very forgiving of the odd typo here and there, even in the “professional press”. We all hit the wrong button sometimes. Not everyone has a solid education in the classics (I sure don’t). There are probably typos in this very post. But the story I’m about to blog about is so rubbish that I’m afraid I’m going to pick out a couple number of examples that should have been subbed away to reinforce what a poor article it is.

I should also warn you that this post, unlikely almost every other post in the four-and-a-half years I’ve been writing this blog, contains a bit of swearing at the end.

David Tennant could star in Doctor Who musical version cried the Telegraph on Thursday. No idea whether this story reached the hallowed pages of the dead tree version, but there it is on the website, screaming out its headline. Ah, “could”.

Will Howells could climb Mount Everest

Paracetomol could make monkeys dance

I’ll not labour the point. So it’s an article speculating wildly about the unlikely possibility of one of the remaining Tennant specials being given over to a Buffy-style musical episode (not that the obvious Buffy parallel is ever drawn).

Tennant , who will next be seen in a BBC Christmas Day special, is due to leave the show in 2010.

Extra space after Tennant. The most minor error in the article.

Dr Who mastermind Russell T Davies, who is a fan of classic Hollywood musicals, especially Doris Day’s Calamity Jane, wants to bow out with show stopper, it is understood.

“It is understood”? Hello, old friend. No named source then? Oh, and that’ll be a show stopper you mean. On second reading, there are far more typos than I remember.

Tennant is currently recovering after a back operation which forced him to pull out of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s production of Hamlet in London, said in a radio interview he would not be tied down for a long run.

There’s either a missing “who” there or two sentences run together.

However a musical episode could see the return of Billy Piper, a former 90s popstar, and even Kylie Minogue.

OK, now we’re getting to the juicy stuff. First off, she’s not Billy, she’s Billie. But, more importantly, here we are again with the “could”. What evidence is there for this? Bugger all. Our hack has noticed that two actresses from the new series have had pop careers and chooses to include this in the article via the entirely spurious - but at the same time undeniable - claim that both “could” return. Christopher Bloody Eccleston could return, supported by Paul McGann, Sylvester McCoy, Bonnie Langford and the entire Berlin Philharmonic but it’s not very likely.

Tennant, who has played the 10th doctor since 2005, has only one other project announced for next year. A film version of Stephen Poliakoff’s 1939, in which he plays Hector.

I mean, were the subs all out at a Christmas party the day this piece got through?

And mischievously he has been tipping his friend, and former Cold Feet actor James Nesbitt.

What, he’s been tipping two people? Or perhaps Tennant has only been tipping his friend, and former Cold Feet actor, James Nesbitt.

“It’s Jimmy Nesbitt who will be taking over. Jimmy Nesbitt got into touch to say ‘please tell them it’s not me. I spend all my day going round saying its not me, I couldn’t take over from David.’ “I would urge the public of Britain that if they see Jimmy Nesbitt in the street to go up and congratulate him.”

Extraneous double quotation mark there.

Russell T Davies, who revived Dr Who said in a recent interview that a female Dr Who might be a strong possibility.

More comma abuse. I should send a link to Simon Heffer in the hope that he explodes.

But whoever wrote this appallingly put together travesty of an article has saved the best for last.

Joanna Lumley was once tipped to take over from Tom Baker,

As far as I know, this is bollocks. I don’t know whether this is true or not. Jo-Jo Lum-Lum has many times over the years been suggested as a female Doctor (indeed she played the role in 1999 in The Curse of Fatal Death) but I’m not aware that she was mentioned as early as 1980.

I’m prepared, though, to be generous and consider that someone from the newspaper has done some research and turned up this fact. Or I would be were the sentence not concluded thus:

but Colin Baker got the job.

For fuck’s sake.

mortgage poor creit,Georges Duboeuf, Morgon 2005

Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé! 

But I’m not going to post reviews for that style of Beaujolais this year as there are much better values in French Gamay than the 20% sold as glorified barrel samples 8 weeks after harvest. The best of these are made in the 10 “Crus” or growths of Beaujolais. These wines have more much depth than Beaujolais Nouveau and can still be very enjoyable 4-5 years after harvest while Nouveau declines at about 5 months of age. But the craziest thing to me is Cru Beaujolais is the same or less money than Beaujolais Nouveau.

This wine comes from Beaujolais mega-producer Georges Duboeuf who’s promotional genius is largely behind all the Beaujolais Nouveau hype. His wines are available all over the U.S. and most good wine stores will have a selection of his Cru Beaujolais from $10-15 a bottle. Morgon is one of my favorite crus and Duboeuf makes two bottlings: the “Flower” label here and Domaine Jean Descombes. I’ve tried both from the 2005 vintage and they are very close in taste and quality.

Tasting Notes:

Georges Duboeuf, Morgon, “Flower Label” 2005 ($10) - Dark ruby color with aromas of cherry, raspberry and violets. Fresh and juicy black cherry fruit, some white pepper, finishing with supple tannins. An excellent value perfect for the Thanksgiving table.

13% ABV

Natural cork closure

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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spam anti,Cristina Page: Can Common Ground Prevail?

When it comes to the abortion conflict in the US a fascinating new consensus is emerging: the need for common ground. Americans, it seems, are weary of the acrimony, the endless fight. People want pro-choice and pro-life advocates to work together to reduce the need for abortion. Pro-choice groups have for years pushed measures designed to prevent unwanted pregnancy. They have promoted social programs that support poor pregnant women who are forced to make decisions based on economic need. They have pushed prevention over punishment, a mainstay of the traditional pro-life agenda. Surprisingly, after decades of resistance, some in the pro-life movement are stepping forward in support of these pro-choice goals, even if that means jeopardizing their standing in the established pro-life community.

According to Faith in Public Life Poll, the vast majority (83%) of voters, including white evangelicals (86%) and Catholics (81%), believe elected leaders should work together to find ways to reduce the need for abortion. Interestingly, the time may be ripe for a spirit of cooperation. Barrack Obama, with his promise of a new era of post-partisan politics, may be just the leader to promote this cause. When asked about abortion in the third debate, Obama predicted, "we can find some common ground." Indeed, the abortion conflict may emerge as an early test case of Obama's idealism, his belief that cooperation can prevail.

The key development, the one that may make common ground possible, is the emergence on the pro-life side of willing partners in this venture. In fairness, many pro-choice leaders have been cynical about the possibility of cooperating with opponents they often see as irrational and unbending. After all, their only response has been to try to outlaw abortion--a goal that has proven to have little impact on the prevalence of abortion. Ironically, it has been the pro-choice agenda that has lowered unwanted pregnancy and abortion rates worldwide. Primarily that has been through the dissemination of methods of birth control, something not a single pro-life group has supported.

Recently, several daring pro-life leaders have publicly announced a shift in their focus. Instead of seeking bans and restrictions on abortion, which have proven to have little effect on abortion rates, they are now supporting at least some of the proven effective ways to make abortion less necessary. A new breed of pro-life activist, catalyzed by this election, appears to be motivated more by results that timeworn rhetoric.

Take Douglas Kmiec who has an impeccable pro-life, Catholic, and republican credentials. Kmiec has served as head of the Office of Legal Counsel for Presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush and was the former Dean of the law school at The Catholic University of America. He also started "Pro-Life, Pro-Obama." Kmiec, like all of this new breed, still opposes abortion on moral grounds. He, like several other common ground advocates, has not identified an increase in the availability of birth control as area of common ground. But they have made a striking, and seemingly decisive break from their pro-life comrades. Perhaps most striking is the admission from their website: "Legal status of abortion does not necessarily impact abortion rates." Instead, Kmiec's group has turned to prevention and, in particular, social programs that can affect decisions. "Studies show that economic support for women and families reduces abortion," announces one section of the website.

Catholics United is also a new pro-life group that's calling for a common ground approach to the abortion conflict. James Salt, director of Catholics United explained, "People of faith are tired of leaders who wear the pro-life label without enacting policies that actually prevent abortions. It's time for candidates and elected officials, regardless of party affiliation, to move from rhetoric to results by addressing a comprehensive strategy to address abortion in America." The group's website lists as one of its top priorities "common ground abortion reduction initiatives," including moving, "beyond the angry rhetoric of the abortion "culture war" and enact policies that achieve actual results by addressing the root causes of abortion: lack of jobs, health care, and other economic supports for women and families."



Joel Hunter board member of the National Association of Evangelicals and pastor of one of the nation's largest churches, explained, "We are not compromising our values, but at the same time we are finding a way we can all accomplish our agenda, or at least a piece of our agenda, together."

And while what might be called a common ground movement has yet to formalize, there is at least one signal of its potency. Common ground pro-life leaders have won the ire of the old guard, anti-abortion hierarchy. Indeed the traditional pro-life old guard, the one at the helm for decades, view this new approach as a type of treason, moral and political. In fact, several openly seethe over the calls for cooperation. Doug Johnson, of National Right to Life, called Obama's common ground approach an "Abortion Reduction Scam." Last month, Joseph Schiedler, president of the Pro-Life Action League, told the Washington Post, "It's a sellout, as far as we are concerned. You don't have to have a lot of social programs to cut down on abortions."

For people on both sides of this long- and hard-fought issue, and certainly for the public, it appears that a turning point may have been reached. Common ground is emerging as a platform on which to build a common sense approach to reducing unwanted pregnancy and the need for abortion, a goal shared by pro-choice and pro-life. Clearly, the sides will not agree on everything - indeed the initial areas of agreement may be small. Yet, it is apparent that many people who are genuinely pro-life want real results, and equally as clear to them is that the current pro-life establishment and the Republican party have failed to provide those. The facts show that the countries with the lowest abortion rates are those which promote prevention, and support for poor women who want, and need help, to continue their pregnancies; traditional pro-choice policies. We on the pro-choice side are eager to have a willing partner, people who like us, seek progress on what has been, up until now, an intractable and divisive issue. Let us hope that the "pro-life" establishment doesn't stand in the way of this nascent common ground movement.

at t phone,[KlimBlim] 2008-12-13

Die Instinct-Werbespots preisen den Samsung-Sprint Klotz das Samsung-Sprint Mobiltelefon vornehmlich im Vergleich mit dem iPhone an. Und obwohl uns diese Kampagne bereits seit über einem halben Jahr begleitet, finde ich sie eigentlich gar nicht mehr so richtig peinlich. Irgendwie ist es mittlerweile mehr traurig, zaubert aber immer noch ein verschämtes Lächeln ins Gesicht.

Verrückte (Werbe-)Welt.

-> http://instinctthephone.com

**

Apple überarbeitet die Präsentation des App Stores für die Kategorie-Ansicht.

Eine einheitlichere Navigation gegenüber den anderen digitalen Produkten wie Filmen oder Musik bietet sie meines Erachtens jedoch nicht. Die vornehmlich langen ‘Top App’-Listen erwecken die (sicherlich gut gemeinte) Zielvorstellung, möglichst jedes Programm in den Charts unterzubringen. Für mich bleibt so jedoch die ‘Lebhaftigkeit’ auf der Strecke.

**

‘Pull My Finger’ beschreibt einen äußerst abgedroschenen Witz, der sogar einen eigenen Wiki-Eintrag aufweist, welcher zu schön ist um diesen lediglich zu umschreiben:

Pull my finger is a joke or prank regarding flatulence in which a mark is asked to pull the finger of the illusionist (or person playing the joke), who simultaneously flatulates so as to suggest a causal relationship between the pulling of the finger and the subsequent expulsion of gas.

Im September diesen Jahres wurde das gleichnamige ‘Furz-Programm’ für einen Release im App Store abgelehnt, da es lediglich einen zu ‘begrenzten Funktionsumfang’ bot. Jetzt ändert Apple seine Meinung und listet die exakt gleiche 1.0-Version der unangenehmen Töne von Air-O-Matic.

via TechCrunch

**

Der italienische Programmierer Zibri, der Anfang diesen Jahres das populäre ‘ZiPhone’ zum Entsperren der iPhone Classics zusammengehackt hatte, verkauft seine nicht weniger nachgefragte Domain ziphone.org. Mit einem Google-Pagerank von 6, steht das derzeit höchste Gebot auf € 25.000 und läuft noch über die komplette Weihnachtszeit bis zum 20. Januar 2009.

Der Handel mit URLs bleibt mir persönlich ja ein verschlossenes Buch. Was ich jedoch weiß ist, dass das Programm schon seit über einem halben Jahr an Bedeutung verliert und heutzutage absolut gar keine Rolle mehr beim Unlock spielt. Außerdem sei die gewagte Behauptung aufgestellt, das 99% - der bislang 16 Millionen Unique Visitors - nie wieder auf ziphone.org surfen.

-> http://www.ziphone.org/2008/12/all-good-things.html

**

DirketVideo

Mit einem Jailbreak und dem Programm zur Video-Aufzeichnen ‘Cycorder’ schustert der Musiker ‘Goshone’ das erste Musikvideo zusammen, das ausschließlich mit der iPhone-Kamera aufgezeichnet wurde. User-Kommentare gibt es auf der Seite des Künstlers noch keine, dafür 15 Trackbacks von applelastigen Webseiten…

-> http://www.goshone.com/

airline car mileage,US Airways/United: Worst. Airline(s). Ever.

Because my flight was into Charlotte, my choice of airlines was limited. Virgin America doesn’t come anywhere near here, and Southwest doesn’t either. So I had to book a flight through one of the more conventional airlines. United was the cheapest and the times fit nicely with my schedule (and that of my dad who picked me up and drove me to the mountains) so they earned my business. It was a terrible mistake.

When I arrived at SFO airport Tuesday morning at about 6:45¹ I went to the United section of the terminal because I had booked my flight through United and the confirmation email came from United.com. I waited in line for an unfortunately long amount of time with the awkward burden of my computer bag, a full suitcase, and my snowboard bag. Finally I reached the front and typed my confirmation number into the little monitor I was shooed towards. I was then informed that my flight information could not be processed because I was at the wrong airline. In fact, my flight was on US Airways, which was of course located at the terminal on the opposite end of the airport. Upon closer review of my confirmation email I found that this minor detail was mentioned in the small print halfway down the page. Naturally I don’t take the time to read all that, assuming that once I’ve spent the time to book the flight and gotten my confirmation number, I don’t need to waste any more time on it and can just show up and get on the plane. I guess United doesn’t necessarily mean United anymore.

So I hauled my load of bags across terminal 3, up an elevator, over to the airtrain station area, up another elevator, and then waited for the next red line train.² I rode around the airport, got off at terminal 1, and semi-illegally took the escalators because I was too tilted to wait around for elevators. When I arrived at the US Airways station I learned that there was no seat on my flight for me because I was too late. I was bumped to the 11:20 flight, approximately 4 hours after my scheduled departure. Also, I was charged $40 for my checked bags. At this point I was none too pleased with the situation, but there was nothing to be done except go find a nice place in the terminal to sleep for the next few hours. Fortunately there was a nice row of seats without armrests right near my gate.

When I awoke around 10:50 and began boarding the plane, there was an airline official at the end of the skybridge offering that anyone who wanted to check a bag now could do so, since the plane was full. Not only that, but these bags would be checked for free. Of course when I got to the end I asked him if I could have a refund, since I had paid heavily to have my bags checked earlier. He brushed me off with some jive, and I didn’t have the energy to press the issue any further.³ My seat was, of course, cramped and uncomfortable, but that isn’t a problem of this particular airline as much as all of them. Thats what I get for being so tall and handsome.

When the plane had taken off and leveled out, the drink cart came by and I asked for an apple juice. It cost me $2. Ordinarily this wouldn’t have bothered me much, but when compounded with all of the other issues it was much worse. Its not even like it was a short flight either, this was a nonstop flight of almost 5 hours. Gouging me for a simple can of juice after an already-bloated fare and an additional bag-checking fee is simply unacceptable.

In the end, I arrived in one piece, and all of my bags got there too, but my rage continued to stew. I refrained from exploding at any of the uneducated peons working for the airline because I knew it would serve no effective purpose, and I doubt I’ll end up registering any official complaints either, because my time is too valuable to waste on that when the most I’ll get out of it is a voucher for some free juice or something. The best thing I can do is no longer support their business and encourage everyone I know to do the same. So, if you’re making travel plans in the future, I wholeheartedly encourage you to choose an airline like Southwest or Virgin America that will treat you right.⁴

Also, if you’re a stock trader, you might want to consider shorting their stock too. I don’t know anything about the price or trends of airline stocks, but if that is the way they are regularly conducting their business they can’t possibly be headed in a good direction.

edit 12/1/08: The Onion, hilarious as always, seems to agree!

1. Part of the reason this whole process sucked so bad is that I had to wake up so early in the first place.
2. obviously the last one left just as I was arriving
3. I doubt he could have done anything for me anyhow as just another pawn in the US Airways game.
4. Krantz has said good things about JetBlue too, but I haven’t flown with them yet so I can’t say one way or another.

bill consoliation loans,Return from NILBOG INVASION !

The Rolling Roadshow that could never happen in a million years...has happened: NILBOG INVASION 2008!!

Yep, the Alamo's mobile Rolling Roadshow unit took off from Austin early in the morn on Tuesday, July 24 and ripped across the southwest to Morgan, UT to celebrate the worst movie ever made: TROLL 2. And what a celebration we'd prepared...35mm outdoor film screenings, a full-scale cast reunion, the writer and director flying in from Italy, a multiple-course Nilbog feast, contests, dancing, etc. Utah was in for a treat.

When we arrived, there was little evidence that the town of Morgan was aware of the impending partystorm. Tim and I met with the mayor and sheriff, who both gave a very tenuous green light to the proceedings, as if they feared we were a pack of bloodthirsty satanists coming to drink the blood of their grandchildren. After paying the bill at Pete's Spring Chicken Inn, we combed the streets looking for evidence of sweaty TROLL 2 anticipation, but found nothing...UNTIL we passed the local butcher shop:

Things were looking up.

Our confidence renewed, we set out to the field to begin preparations. Daniel, Josh and Justin began tackling our enormous screen and the Tims and I got things together for the opening night Dance and Eat party, which was to be held at the Morgan Academy of Dance and Tumbling just down the street from the screenings.








We decked the place out in Nilbog green in no time, just as folks started to pull into town:

The fans we met were unbelievable, and came from everywhere from Chicago to Los Angeles to New York to North Dakota and even Austria! They were all almost as spazzed out to be there as we were, and some were already in costume from the get-go. The locals seemed to keep a wary distance but we partied in spite. Darren "Arnold" Ewing's blues band Skinny Bob & the Blues Dawgs performed and two rowdy goblins danced along without breaking a sweat. As the twilight hour approached, we settled in for the first couple screenings: TROLL and the other Morgan-shot Italian/American horror film CRAWLERS a.k.a. TROLL 3. The crowd consisted mainly of diehards and TROLL maniacs but all had a great time and went back to their hotels and hovels happy.

Saturday was The Big Day, where the film's entire cast was going to meet up with screenwriter Rosella Drudi and infamous director Claudio Fragasso, and the mighty TROLL 2 itself was set to screen. From the morning, we knew the excitement had spread, as Utah residents arrived in homemade TROLL 2 t-shirts and even little old ladies walked their dogs over to the site to see what we were up to. The sun was high, the heat was on, and TROLL 2 fans from every nook and cranny of the earth made themselves visible.





First up for Saturday was a special surprise...even for us! Though Morgan's mayor had been reticent to appear at our event, Michael Stephenson had managed to get semi-local alternate mayor Dan Snarr to come out and award a foam Key to the City to Fragasso! He seemed a little confused by the entire ordeal, but was very happy to additionally be presented with a grant if he ever chooses to return to Utah to shoot TROLL II PART 2! Mayor Dan Snarr was a very nice guy and has a heartwarming mustache. Here he is with some goofball from AMERICAN IDOL.




Then we enjoyed THE CAST PANEL, where 22 members of the TROLL 2 on-screen family gathered to discuss their memories of the masterpiece's production. It was breathtaking and bizarre to see all of them together in one place. The audience asked many questions of the cast, half of which were answered by director Claudio Fragasso, who wasn't even on the panel but managed to get more than a word in regardless. He even got up in front of the room to try and remind Connie how to do her Holly dance again!

We then entered the POPCORN EATING COMPETITION, guest-hosted by that popcorn-devouring witch, Deborah "Creedence" Reed, who watched as several audience volunteers downed unhealthy amounts of buttery popped goodness.

Next up was the mighty JAVELIN TOSS, hosted by Darren Ewing who played Arnold in TROLL 2. Though his character finds himself on the wrong end of a spear in the movie, Darren seemed to love hosting the event and cheered the crowd on as they hurled wood into the ether at a vaguely Darren-esque target. Here's his daughter preparing to spear ol' pop.

Then we moved back inside for the FILMMAKERS' PANEL, where Fragasso and co-writer Rosella Drudi were joined by actors Michael Stephenson and George Hardy to reveal the long story of TROLL 2's production. Despite an unsteady mastery of our language, the Italian duo gave us many amazing tales of TROLL 2's genesis. Fragasso is a fascinating man and I wouldn't buy a used car from him.

As a special completist's event, we held a GUITAR HERO 2 SHREDDING WAR! The video game actually takes place at "Nilbog High School" and we weren't gonna let that go unrepresented at this most TROLL 2-iest of events! So digi-jammers from all sides competed for glory, including Mickie Pace, who played Betty the Goblin in the film. She was on fiyahhhhhh!!!!

We brought in Alamo chefs John Bullington and Trish Eichelberger specifically to create a very special NILBOG FEAST for the cast and Ultimate Pass holders. Though the chefs had to prepare much of the food outdoors on a grill in the alley, all agreed it was a five-star meal and even the sophisticated palates of the Italians were dazzled by the skills of our Alamo culinary wizards.

As the sunset began, folks gathered in the field to prepare for the main event. We played some shorts, including the Filmmaking Frenzy Troll 2 Fan Film winner OGRE by Chris Dasinger, who we brought out to the event as his prize. He also brought along two actresses from the film as well as the titular monster, who vomited in a bucket LIVE before the crowd. They were totally starstruck by him, and even moreso when the cast and filmmakers united again in front of the crowd to introduce their film.

Finally, it was the moment of truth. The projectors flickered to life and the first frame of TROLL 2 hit the screen. The crowd was enraptured, enlivened and filled with joy. It was a very moving experience to see the cast seated among the folks of Morgan and TROLL 2 fans from all corners of the Earth. Truly, a night of majesty.

Sunday featured more fun events, including the panel on Michael Stephenson's TROLL 2 documentary BEST WORST MOVIE, a baloney-eating competition (which Tim "The Glory Chomper" League totally dominated) and an extremely irresponsible display of explosive firepower to cap the weekend off. But everyone's hearts and memories were still radiating from the previous night's screening, which was a most unlikely bit of magic that will never take place again on this planet or any other:



Here's the link to our NILBOG INVASION Flickr photo page!!

(Special thanks to Michael Stephenson, Blair Sterrett, Chris van Campen and his family, The Morgan County News, Darren Ewing, George Hardy and the countless other people who made this all happen. I promise I'll never turn you into green goop and eat you.)

bill consoliation loans,Race With The Devil

Ok Pop Pickers I know Jimi's performance at the 1970 Isle of Wight Festival gets a bit of a slating but I don't let that bother me; having cherished the Isle of Wight LP (Polydor) that I bought back in 1979. The version of Foxy Lady on there I enjoyed with its wild feedback and chatter, indeed it was the wholesome dose of feedback that proved useful when in 1987ish I dwelled 'neath the flat of irksome Beastie Boys fans who felt nothing about sharing their repeated (ad nauseum) love for the 45 'No Sleep til Brooklyn'. Having been driven almost to distraction day in day out at their wanton am/pm audio onslaught I finally flipped and borrowed some extra speakers for my feeble stereo and unleashed Isle of Wight's Foxy Lady on the bastards at 6am one fateful morn. Turned up to 11 (well 10 actually) I fed the feckers with a noisy wake up that I am certain scarred their collective (small) minds and put paid to further bouts of the disagreeable racket....

Your humble narrator does digress as per usual; anyway I have read thanks to that fact or fiction tool known as the internet, that Jimi played The Gun classic 'Race With The Devil' at the Isle of Wight Festival but did not make the recording released later. Who knows?

However, although I have never heard it, I do believe Race With The Devil did crop up on the Rainbow Bridge boot'?

No matter...now I am getting around to the real reason for this whole 'Race With The Devil' stuff; the correct answer to yesterday's Friday Night Connection as won by regular and most welcome contributor Mike....the connection was the 'Devil'

Motorhead track from the album Kiss of Death (2006) - 'Devil I Know'

Saxon's album Innocence is No Excuse (1985) featured the song 'Devil Rides Out'

And Girlschool's debut classic album Demolition (1980) has yes you guessed it 'Race With The Devil'

And ending this part on the subject of that very cover song anybody heard the Judas Priest version of Race....?

Not a patch on the Girlschool effort I can assure you in my humble opinion

Anyways, there it is. Congrats again to Mike for the right answer - a virtual crackerjack pencil on its way to you.

And here, thanks to that very regular contributor to this here blog Mike, is the Rock Out video....well done that man...

Blogmeister Inchy, roped me in on this most ropey of blog pastimes the Meme some weeks ago. I said then that I would come up with a response and given the opportunity to talk about my stuttering life is something I rarely decline....so I willingly participate on this occasion. The rules of this particular meme goes something like this: Link to the person who tagged you; Post the rules on your blog; Write six random things about yourself; Tag six people at the end of the post; Let each person know they've been tagged and leave a comment on their blog; Let the tagger know when your entry is up. ..so here goes....however I really have little to say for myself - honestly - my life so far has been more about domestic indigestion than any tales to amaze or admire...still there's always something

1. A number of years ago now while working, a helicopter gun-ship deliberately used down-draught to lift the corrugated iron roof off the jungle shack in which I was cowering in - my refuge among others I might add, had it been some 10-15 minutes earlier the event would've turned all 'Carry On' like while I attended to my early morning ablutions round the back in the lean-to corrugated iron khazi (and a rather hot and rancid WC it was too, all a bit boil in the bag)...The scene had none of the humour or voyeur value of the Gyro Captain's low flying pass over the tents of the Lord Humungus in Mad Max 2 (you know the particular clip right?)

2. I retain a large white waxy scar on my forearm from one of my several motorcycle accidents, at the time of the scrape a sadistic A&E Doctor inserted a golf ball into the wound to prove the depth of the hole. "See three quarters the way in, don't look so shocked I cleaned it up after this afternoon's round" the witty Sawbones hooted to his nursing staff.

3. I grew up playing in the ruins of a WW2 POW camp, an apt place to act out stories one had just read as a wee bairn through the pages of Commando comic books.

4. My grandparents were Irish

5. I have worked in Guatemala, Cuba and Mexico.

6. I was mugged by a Belgian taxi driver, the thieving scoundrel demanded money with menaces at 1am somewhere in a rather ugly suburban periphery of Bruxelles. He attempted to extort me into raiding my own ATM or leave me in the middle of nowhere; with my guts churning I called his bluff and told him to get going and play with himself....After a brief nervy "what if he has a gang hiding in the boot" standoff - handbags at 20 paces you might say - the bugger sped off in his cream Mercedes leaving me somewhat lost. Having walked, fearing the worst "what if he comes back with a gang in the front and back seat" for what seemed like a couple of miles not seeing a soul save for a passing cars my hapless predicament was alleviated by video store owner and his wife who transported me to the city centre in the back of their Citroen video van amongst boxes of VHS movies starring among others the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Jaclyn Smith and an assortment of porn titles . To those good Indian samaritans I am eternally grateful for the lift....not the porn titles.

I will nominate occasional and sometime readers Stu, Helga, Bill, Gwar Fan Claw, and George but I won't force 'em to do the deed....

attorney illinois injury,Hot Mama’s Top 5 Hot Messes of 2008

I like to keep things lighthearted here at Hot Mama Daily and all of the women who made this list should know they’re still loved. Everyone has a hot mess moment or two — theirs just happened while most of us were watching:

 

1) Janet Jackson cancels many of her “Rock Wit U” tour dates amidst rumors that she’s pregnant. There’s also speculation that poor tickets sales prompted the cancellations. Personally, I think she finally got a good glimpse of her not-ready-for-tour-time physique in that weird body suit and decided the show must not go on. The silly faux hawk didn’t help.

2) Danity Kane breaks up. Well, sort of. I’m a huge fan of “Making the Band,” and the girl group’s “Damaged” was the jam of the year.

So now that Diddy has kicked Aubrey and D. Woods to the curb, what will become of the pop/R&B stars? Rumor has it that Dawn will go solo and Diddy’s pretty but talent-less girlfriend Cassie will become DK’s “lead singer.” Watch this You Tube clip from a brokenhearted fan that sums up the whole hot mess.

3) Jennifer Lopez claims an ankle injury forced her to abruptly cancel her coveted guest judge spot on the Season Finale of “Project Runway.” That’s funny, all La Lopez had to do was sit in a chair and critique fashion. Just two days later, however, her foot miraculously healed and she completed a triathalon in Los Angeles. J. Lo is a real Hot Mama, but sometimes she’s such a diva.

4) Tyra Banks is the most likeable ego-maniac on TV. She has dual, self-promoting platforms with “Top Model” and the “Tyra Banks Show.” This clip from the latter where she’s taking a bubble bath and speaking in a strange baby voice about how she loves supermodel Beverly Johnson so much she has a framed picture of herself and Johnson above her bath tub — while not as full-on crazy as her “Kiss my fat a**” moment — clearly warrants her inclusion on this list.

5) Drum roll please…And the Hot Mama Hot Mess Award of the Year goes to Sherri Shepherd from “The View.” Among Sherri’s many head-scratching moments (she admitted she’d had more abortions than she could count) was when she thought the 11 Pipers Piping in “The 12 Days of Christmas” were plumbers. Oh, Sherri.

What are your fave hot mess highlights of 2008?

Photo credits: Newscom, AP, ABC News

Tags: 12 Days of Christmas, Hot Mama, hot mess, Janet Jackson, jennifer lopez, long, Sherri Shepherd, The View, Tyra Banks