Monday, July 31, 2006

Wizmark: the Interactive Urinal Communicator


You're at a bar, had a few drinks and head into the men's room before hitting the road. That's precisely the time when Wizmark, the Interactive Urinal Communicator, wants to have a word with you.

"Hey you! Yeah, you. Having a few drinks? Then listen up! Think you had one too many? Then it's time to call a cab..."

Wanna hear the actual message? Click HERE.

Wizmark was developed by Healthquest Technologies Inc. in New York. Richard Deutsch, director of Healthquest, said he got the idea while using the men's room at the Baltimore-Washington Airport two years ago.

Wizmark has been tried in New York and other states to promote anti-drunk driving messages. Deutsch said it could also be used to spread other messages in schools.

A recent version is now being used at biker bars in Wisconsin. The audio message ends with the warning: "Don't forget. You have the future in your hands."

"It is entertaining," Deutsch, a bioengineer, said in an interview. "And you are dealing with the ultimate captive audience. You can't look left and you can't look right. You have to look at the ad. You've really got a chance to make an impression."

MAD MEL IN MALIBU: Just the Facts



Mel Gibson went on a rampage when he was arrested Friday on suspicion of drunk driving, hurling religious epithets. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's department had the initial report doctored to keep the real story under wraps.

According to the four pages of the original report prepared by the arresting officer in the case, L.A. County Sheriff's Deputy James Mee. According to the report, Gibson became agitated after he was stopped on Pacific Coast Highway and told he was to be detained for drunk driving Friday morning in Malibu. The actor began swearing uncontrollably. Gibson repeatedly said, "My life is f****d." Law enforcement sources say the deputy, worried that Gibson might become violent, told the actor that he was supposed to cuff him but would not, as long as Gibson cooperated. As the two stood next to the hood of the patrol car, the deputy asked Gibson to get inside. Deputy Mee then walked over to the passenger door and opened it. The report says Gibson then said, "I'm not going to get in your car," and bolted to his car. The deputy quickly subdued Gibson, cuffed him and put him inside the patrol car.

Deputy Mee audiotaped the entire exchange between himself and Gibson, from the time of the traffic stop to the time Gibson was put in the patrol car, and that the tape fully corroborates the written report.

Once inside the car, a source directly connected with the case says Gibson began banging himself against the seat. The report says Gibson told the deputy, "You mother f****r. I'm going to f*** you." The report also says "Gibson almost continually [sic] threatened me saying he 'owns Malibu' and will spend all of his money to 'get even' with me."

The report says Gibson then launched into a barrage of anti-Semitic statements: "F*****g Jews... The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." Gibson then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

The deputy became alarmed as Gibson's tirade escalated, and called ahead for a sergeant to meet them when they arrived at the station. When they arrived, a sergeant began videotaping Gibson, who noticed the camera and then said, "What the f*** do you think you're doing?"

A law enforcement source says Gibson then noticed another female sergeant and yelled, "What do you think you're looking at, sugar tits?"

We're told Gibson took two blood alcohol tests, which were videotaped, and continued saying how "f****d" he was and how he was going to "f***" Deputy Mee.

Gibson was put in a cell with handcuffs on. He said he needed to urinate, and after a few minutes tried manipulating his hands to unzip his pants. Sources say Deputy Mee thought Gibson was going to urinate on the floor of the booking cell and asked someone to take Gibson to the bathroom.

After leaving the bathroom, Gibson then demanded to make a phone call. He was taken to a pay phone and, when he didn't get a dial tone, we're told Gibson threw the receiver against the phone. Deputy Mee then warned Gibson that if he damaged the phone he could be charged with felony vandalism. We're told Gibson was then asked, and refused, to sign the necessary paperwork and was thrown in a detox cell.

Deputy Mee then wrote an eight-page report detailing Gibson's rampage and comments. Sources say the sergeant on duty felt it was too "inflammatory." A lieutenant and captain then got involved and calls were made to Sheriff's headquarters. Sources say Mee was told Gibson's comments would incite a lot of "Jewish hatred," that the situation in Israel was "way too inflammatory." It was mentioned several times that Gibson, who wrote, directed, and produced 2004's "The Passion of the Christ," had incited "anti-Jewish sentiment" and "For a drunk driving arrest, is this really worth all that?"

We're told Deputy Mee was then ordered to write another report, leaving out the incendiary comments and conduct. Sources say Deputy Mee was told the sanitized report would eventually end up in the media and that he could write a supplemental report that contained the redacted information -- a report that would be locked in the watch commander's safe.

Initially, a Sheriff's official said the arrest occurred "without incident." On Friday night, Sheriff's spokesman Steve Whitmore stated: "The L.A. County Sheriff's Department investigation into the arrest of Mr. Gibson on suspicion of driving under the influence will be complete and will contain every factual piece of evidence. Nothing will be sanitized. There was absolutely no favoritism shown to this suspect or any other. When this file is presented to the Los Angeles County District Attorney, it will contain everything. Nothing will be left out."

On Saturday, Gibson released the following statement:

"After drinking alcohol on Thursday night, I did a number of things that were very wrong and for which I am ashamed. I drove a car when I should not have, and was stopped by the LA County Sheriffs. The arresting officer was just doing his job and I feel fortunate that I was apprehended before I caused injury to any other person. I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable. I am deeply ashamed of everything I said. Also, I take this opportunity to apologize to the deputies involved for my belligerent behavior. They have always been there for me in my community and indeed probably saved me from myself. I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry. I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse. I apologize for any behavior unbecoming of me in my inebriated state and have already taken necessary steps to ensure my return to health."

See the arrest report right HERE.

Sunday, July 30, 2006

PBS gets all ANAL...


Although she believed she had put the incident firmly, er, behind her, PBS Kids Sprout spinoff network has fired Melanie Martinez from her job hosting their end-of-day The Good Night Show. The hostess with the mostest was terminated after a clip of her role in a seven-year-old satirical short film Technical Virgin hit the internet. The topic of said clip? Avoiding teen pregnancy by engaging in anal sex. Good night, indeed!

The Good Night Show featured Melanie Martinez introducing children’s programs such as Thomas the Train, Dragon Tales and Bob the Builder and was designed as a way to help her young audience wind down and get into bed. (Yes, the same can be said for sodomy). And much like anal sex, the show had become wildly popular among America’s youth and bored fathers.

Network President Sandy Wax (whose name alone sounds like bad sex) claims, “the dialogue in this video is inappropriate for her role as a preschool program host and may undermine her character’s credibility with our audience.” That’s right, this 30-second video clip could shatter children’s illusion that Melanie is a babysitter whose best friend is an increasingly drowsy sentinent star-shaped pillow. Is nothing sacred anymore? Don’t today’s youth deserve to preserve their sodomous innocence until they’re fully-grown, in a relationship, and slightly drunker than usual?

The short that caused all the controversy, Technical Virgin , pokes fun at a growing sensitive area for conservatives. Over the past decade, with an increase in abstinence-only sex-ed programs being taught to America’s youth, more and more teenagers are experimenting with sodomy at younger ages in place of conventional sex. (It should be noted that “experimenting” requires extensive testing and re-testing before proving a hypothesis. So while our society’s daughters may be growing into a generation of unbridled sluts, at least America’s sons, who have in recent years scored quite poorly on science testing, are gaining meticulous, hands-on familiarty with the scientific method).

While Melanie Martinez does seem to have her finger on the pulsing taint of America’s youth, unfortunately, the only discernable similarities between The Good Night Show and back-alley buggery are Martinez’s impromptu yoga poses, the show’s slow, repetitive pacing, and a character named “Hush.”

Although it’s apparently been yanked off of Youtube, there is another parody clip in which Martinez instructs young viewers how to avoid the dangers of sex by using a vibrator, which, admittedly, probably would be inappropriate for a little girl between the ages three and five.

In honor of all her painful work and commitment to bettering today’s youth, we would like to honor Melanie by naming “The Dirty Martinez” after her. “The Dirty Martinez” is when you and your child are watching quality, educational programming, and then all of the sudden an overly zealous, conservative douche busts through the door waving around vibrators and talking about buttfucking.

Like most young women who discuss anal in a professional medium, Martinez considers herself an actress and is currently looking for paying work.


See the video HERE.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Gardening Tools for 200 Alex...


See it HERE.

Friday, July 28, 2006

Creepy Creepy Creepy

In this photo provided by Madame Tussauds, the new wax figures of actors Angelina Jolie, left, and Brad Pitt, right, with their infant daughter Shiloh Nouvel Jolie Pitt are unveiled in New York on Wednesday, July 26, 2006.

I can't see Grandpa Voight anywhere in the scene?

And where are the other TWO KIDS?

Freakshow at the Wax Museum?

Lindsay Lohan in Trouble AGAIN...

Lactivists: Where is it OK to breastfeed?



The cover featured above of Babytalk incited more than 700 letters to the editor, a record for the magazine.

"I was SHOCKED to see a giant breast on the cover of your magazine," one person wrote. "I immediately turned the magazine face down," wrote another. "Gross," said a third.

These readers weren't complaining about a sexually explicit cover, but rather one of a baby nursing, on a wholesome parenting magazine -- yet another sign that Americans are squeamish over the sight of a nursing breast, even as breast-feeding itself gains more support from the government and medical community.

Babytalk is a free magazine whose readership is overwhelmingly mothers of babies. Yet in a poll of more than 4,000 readers, a quarter of responses to the cover were negative, calling the photo -- a baby and part of a woman's breast, in profile -- inappropriate.

One mother who didn't like the cover explains she was concerned about her 13-year-old son seeing it.

"I shredded it," said Gayle Ash, of Belton, Texas, in a telephone interview. "A breast is a breast -- it's a sexual thing. He didn't need to see that."

It's the same reason that Ash, 41, who nursed all three of her children, is cautious about breast-feeding in public -- a subject of enormous debate among women, which has even spawned a new term: "lactivists," meaning those who advocate for a woman's right to nurse wherever she needs to.

"I'm totally supportive of it -- I just don't like the flashing," she said. "I don't want my son or husband to accidentally see a breast they didn't want to see."

Another mother, Kelly Wheatley, wrote Babytalk to applaud the cover, precisely because, she said, it helps educate people that breasts are more than sex objects. And yet Wheatley, 40, who's still nursing her 3-year-old daughter, rarely breast-feeds in public, partly because it's more comfortable in the car, and partly because her husband is uncomfortable with other men seeing her breast.

"Men are very visual," said Wheatley, of Amarillo, Texas. "When they see a woman's breast, they see a breast -- regardless of what it's being used for."

Babytalk editor Susan Kane says the mixed response to the cover clearly echoes the larger debate over breast-feeding in public. "There's a huge Puritanical streak in Americans," she said, "and there's a squeamishness about seeing a body part -- even part of a body part."

"It's not like women are whipping them out with tassels on them," she added. "Mostly, they are trying to be discreet."

Kane said that since the August issue came out last week, the magazine has received more than 700 letters -- more than for any article in years.

"Gross, I am sick of seeing a baby attached to a boob," wrote Lauren, a mother of a 4-month-old.

The evidence of public discomfort isn't just anecdotal. In a survey published in 2004 by the American Dietetic Association, less than half -- 43 percent -- of 3,719 respondents said women should have the right to breast-feed in public places.

The debate rages at a time when the celebrity-mom phenomenon has made breast-feeding perhaps more public than ever. Gwyneth Paltrow, Brooke Shields, Kate Hudson and Kate Beckinsale are only a few of the stars who've talked openly about their nursing experiences.

The celeb factor has even brought a measure of chic to that unsexiest of garments: the nursing bra. Gwen Stefani can be seen on babyrazzi.com -- a site with a self-explanatory name -- sporting a leopard-print version from lingerie line Agent Provocateur.

And fellow moms recognized a white one under Angelina Jolie's tank top on the cover of People. (Katie Holmes, meanwhile, suffered a maternity wardrobe malfunction when cameras caught her, nursing bra open and peeking out of her shirt, while on the town with fiance Tom Cruise.)

More seriously, the social and medical debate has intensified. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recently concluded a two-year breast-feeding awareness campaign including a TV ad -- criticized as over-the-top even by some breast-feeding advocates -- in which not breast-feeding was equated with the recklessness of a pregnant woman riding a mechanical bull.

There have been other measures to promote breast-feeding: In December, for example, Massachusetts banned hospitals from giving new mothers gift bags with free infant formula, a practice opponents said swayed some women away from nursing.

Most states now have laws guaranteeing the right to breast-feed where one chooses, and when a store or restaurant employee denies a woman that right, it has often resulted in public protests known as "nurse-ins": at a Starbucks in Miami, Florida, at Victoria's Secret stores in Racine, Wisconsin, and Boston, Massachusetts, and, last year, outside ABC headquarters in New York, when Barbara Walters made comments on "The View" seen by some women to denigrate breast-feeding in public.

"It's a new age," says Melinda Johnson, a registered dietitian and spokesperson for ADA. "With the government really getting behind breast-feeding, it's been a jumping-off point for mothers to be politically active. Mommies are organizing. It's a new trend to be a mommy activist."

Ultimately, it seems to be a highly personal matter. Caly Wood said she's "all for breast-feeding in public." She recalls with a shudder the time she sat nursing in a restaurant booth, and another woman walked by, glanced over and said, "Ugh, gross."

"My kid needed to eat," said the 29-year-old from South Abingdon, Massachusetts. And she wasn't going to go hide in a not-so-clean restroom: "I don't send people to the bathroom when they want to eat," she said.

But Rebekah Kreutz thinks differently. One of six women who author SisterhoodSix, a blog on mothering issues, Kreutz didn't nurse her two daughters in public and doesn't really feel comfortable seeing others do it.

"I respect it and think women have the right," says Kreutz, 34, of Bozeman, Montana. "But personally, it makes me really uncomfortable."

"I just think it's one of those moments that should stay between a mother and her child."

PERSONALLY....I THINK IT'S HOT HOT HOT...!!!!!!

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Food Network Chefs Caught in the Act



Ever have a meal so good that you thought it was better than sex?

Well, the August issue of Details on newsstands now features a hysterical quiz which asks to see if you can tell which picture depicts a Food Network chef in a state of culinary ecstasy and which is a porn star in the middle of, er, a different type of ecstasy.

Is that Rachael Ray having a marinara meltdown or just a triple X starlet in the midst of paying her rent with her mouth OPEN?

From the "Barefoot Contessa" to the "Everyday Italian," check out Details for the answers to who's really cooking in the kitchen.

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

"MASTER" PIECES

THE daughter of "Masterpiece Theater" host Alistair Cooke says she still suffers nightmares over the desecration of her dad's remains through an illegal multimillion dollar body-parts ring. "It's been a terrible time because daddy's legs were cut off," Susan Cooke Kittredge tells London's Daily Mail. "I've had nightmares of opening a door and seeing him with his head at the level of my waist." New York Mortuary in Manhattan allegedly hacked out Cooke's bones in 2004 and sold them for $7,000 without permission from Cooke's family, prosecutors say. Cooke died of cancer at 95, but his forged death certificate said he died at 85 from heart failure.

Smile Smile Smile

Lance Bass of `N Sync Reveals He's Gay



Lance Bass, band member of 'N Sync, says he's gay and in a "very stable" relationship with a reality show star. Bass, who formed 'N Sync with Justin Timberlake, JC Chasez, Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, tells People magazine that he didn't earlier disclose his sexuality because he didn't want to affect the group's popularity.

"I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," he tells the magazine.

'N Sync is known for a string of hits including "Bye Bye Bye" and "It's Gonna Be Me." The band went on hiatus in 2002. Bass has also found headlines for undertaking astronaut training and failing to raise money for a trip into space.

Bass says he wondered if his coming out could prompt "the end of 'N Sync." He explains, "So I had that weight on me of like, 'Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did."

The singer says he's in a "very stable" relationship with 32-year-old actor Reichen Lehmkuhl, winner of season four of CBS'"Amazing Race."

Bass and Fatone, 29, are developing a sitcom pilot inspired by the screwball comedy "The Odd Couple," in which his character will be gay.

"The thing is, I'm not ashamed - that's the one thing I went to say," Bass says. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I've been my whole life. I'm just happy."

Benny Parsons Battling Lung Cancer

Former NASCAR champion Benny Parsons has been diagnosed with lung cancer and began chemotherapy treatments Wednesday.

Parsons, the 1973 Cup champion and currently a NASCAR commentator on NBC and TNT, was diagnosed two weeks ago after he had trouble breathing.

"Needless to say this was a huge shock," Parsons said. "The first thing everyone asks me is, 'Are you a smoker?' The answer is that I smoked my last cigarette way back in 1978, and since then I've hated being around smoking.

"I don't even allow anyone in my foursome to smoke on the golf course."

The 65-year-old Parsons will undergo chemotherapy three days a week for three weeks, and also will receive radiation five days a week. He's seeing Dr. Steven Limenpani, who treated NASCAR car owner Rick Hendrick during his battle with leukemia in the early 1990s.

"I'm determined to pull through this and I appreciate everyone's concerns and prayers during this time," Parsons said. "Everyone I work with has been gracious and accommodating. I plan to keep on talking about racing for as long as I can."

Parsons plans to remain in the booth during his treatments.

"One of Benny's greatest qualities is how unconditionally supportive he is to the racing community," said Dick Ebersol, chairman of NBC Sports. "Now it's our turn to provide that support to him. I ask all of his friends and fans to put him in their prayers tonight."

Parsons, chosen as one of NASCAR's 50 greatest drivers in 1998, made 526 starts from 1964 until his 1988 retirement. He won 21 races, including the 1975 Daytona 500, and 20 poles.

He also had 283 top 10 finishes, led at least one lap in 192 races and finished no lower than fifth in the points from 1972 to 1980 while earning more than $4 million.

Parsons was born in Ellerbe, N.C., but spent time in Detroit, where he worked at a gas station and a cab company owned by his father. When he first started racing, he often listed "taxicab driver" as his occupation on entry forms.

He was inducted into the International Motorsports Hall of Fame in 1994, and the National Motorsports Press Association's Stock Car Racing Hall of Fame in 1995.

Parsons began his broadcasting career in the 1980s as a pit reporter for ESPN and TBS, when he was still racing a partial schedule. He moved into the booth for good in 1989 for ESPN and won a Cable ACE Award for best sports analyst.

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Biker gang auctions off a day with them

The Comanchero Motorcycle Club is auctioning off a day in the life of a biker, including a visit to the infamous site of a shootout with a rival gang that left six people dead.

The club has advertised the chance to spend eight hours with three or four Comancheros on their Harley Davidsons in Sydney on internet auction site eBay, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday.

The advertisement also promotes the chance to visit the scene of one of Australia's bloodiest biker wars, known as the Milperra Massacre.

The Comancheros lost four members at the Viking Tavern on Father's Day in 1984, while two members of the rival gang, the Bandidos, were killed. A teenage bystander was shot in the face.

The auction has a reserve price of 2,000 Australian dollars (US$1,500), and the club has pledged to donate half the final bid to the cystic fibrosis unit of The Children's Hospital at Westmead.

"We could've done this as a business for ourselves, but one of our members' 10-year-old daughter, Sarah, has cystic fibrosis and we thought, `Why not give half to a charity,' " club spokesman Charlie Graham told the newspaper. "It's for a good cause."

Monday, July 24, 2006

Bluegrass: A Great Heavy Metal Trend...



Arquette loses needed tape

David Arquette was in such a rush to show footage of his directorial debut, "The Tripper," at Comic-Con that he lost the tape on the way to the convention center.

"I'm so embarrassed," the 34-year-old actor told the throng of fans who gathered to see the film at the comic convention. "It'll probably be on the Internet tonight."

To appease the crowd, Arquette acted out a few lines from the movie, which he co-wrote.

He described it as "a political horror film about a person who's obsessed with Ronald Reagan and he attacks hippies at an outdoor music festival."

The film stars Paul Reubens, Jason Mewes, Lucas Haas, and Thomas Jane, who became Arquette's brother-in-law last month when he married actress Patricia Arquette. Arquette plays a small part, a "redneck local" named Muff. His wife, Courteney Cox Arquette, makes a cameo appearance.

The actor said he chose to direct a horror flick because he loves the genre and "you can also get into sex, drugs and rock n' roll more than you can the other genres."

He is still seeking distribution for the independent production, which he called a "passion project."

"The fact that I've completed this, that it's in a box and done, is the biggest accomplishment for me," he said.

Unfortunately for his fans, that box is lost somewhere in the San Diego Convention Center.

Utah Family Upset About Sign In Neighbor's Yard...


Those Mormons, so god fearing and compassionate...

See it all HERE.

Man throws urine in construction protest

A tenant at a New York City building is in Housing Court after throwing urine onto construction workers below his apartment, the New York Post reported.

Eric Fuchs, who has been in Housing Court many times for non-payment of rent, allegedly tossed his urine off the 10th floor balcony of his apartment to protest the construction below.

Condo conversion has been underway at 230 Riverside Drive, an elegant building with spectacular views of the Hudson. Recent renovations have made it possible to charge as much as $800,000 for a one-bedroom apartment .

The building was completed in 1930 before the skyrocketing of Manhattan real estate prices. Lately, the dust and noise from construction have generated complaints from many of the rent-control tenants, but Fuchs has definitely taken it the farthest.

"He hates the construction," one building employee said of Fuchs. "He's been battling it for a long time."

After police were called on several urine-dumping incidents, building management filed an injunction in Manhattan Supreme Court to prevent Fuchs from throwing bodily fluids or other objects from his balcony.

I miss Sam...

But seriously, folks...

Doesn't all the anti-smoking data come from people who visit doctors -- the SICK smokers?

And why are many smokers getting sick?

BECAUSE THEY'RE FORCED TO GO OUT IN ALL KINDS OF INCLEMENT WEATHER TO SMOKE!!!!!!!!

H-Racer Toy Hydrogen Car


The H-Racer from Horizon Fuel Cell Technologies is a palm-sized toy hydrogen car with its own fuel cell refueling station that creates hydrogen fuel by combining solar power and water. Watch the blinking lights and the hydrogen bubbling up in your little fuel station, and then dispense a tiny amount of hydrogen fuel into the H-Racer. Then it's off to the races!

The car is a working model, but the site doesn't tell us how you control the thing. Perhaps it just takes off and then you go running down the street, chasing it until the fuel runs out. Now all they have to do is just bring this baby up to full size and add a steering wheel. Yeah, that oughta happen in about 200 years or so. But this tiny version will be available next month for around $80 right HERE.

Fish N' Flush Toilet Tank Aquarium Kit


“A whimsical potty that turns your toilet into a nautical wonderland”

Sunday, July 23, 2006

Bob Dylan: Live, Pan American Center, Las Cruces, New Mexico, 29 August 1989.

Saturday, July 22, 2006

Post Office Delivers Comics...


The new 39-cent stamps and 24-cent postal cards will be made public at a comic book show in San Diego, and will go on sale nationwide Friday.

The stamps are sold in a sheet of 20, half featuring the individual superheroes and half showing covers of comic books starring them.

The Postal Service reports this is its first set of super hero stamps, indicating more are likely to follow.

Characters featured in the stamps are:

Batman: Young Bruce Wayne mastered all forms of combat after his parents were killed. He uses his wealth to equip himself with the tools to become the great crime fighter. He made his debut in 1939 and was joined by Robin a year later.

Wonder Woman: A figure of strength, beauty and courage, she has been inspiring women since her first appearance in 1941.

Plastic Man: After an accident at a chemical plant gives Eel O'Brian the ability to stretch and alter his shape, he renounces his criminal past and becomes the longest arm of the law. He debuted in 1941.

Superman: The Man of Steel first appeared in 1938 and has been an icon ever since. Raised in Smallville, the baby from Planet Krypton uses superpowers to battle evil.

Green Lantern: Launched with the space age, test pilot Hal Jordan became Green Lantern, a galactic peace officer with an emerald power ring.

The Flash: Police scientist Barry Allen is transformed into the fastest man alive in 1956 by an explosive mixture of lightning and laboratory chemicals.

Aquaman: The former King of the Seven Seas remains is determined to protect both the Atlanteans and surface dwellers from those who endanger them, using his strength, speed and ability to communicate with marine life.

Hawkman: He has artificial wings powered by the mysterious "Nth metal" which allow him to soar through the sky in pursuit of evildoers. He is a master of ancient weapons.

Supergirl: Superman's cousin arrives on Earth as an impressionable teenager and eventually becomes his secret weapon.

Green Arrow: First appearing in 1941, the Emerald Archer learns his skills while trapped on a desert island. He later escapes to become a modern Robin Hood.

Kevin Smith vs Joel Siegal


DON'T joke about women, donkeys and bestiality if you expect Joel Siegel to watch your movie. That's what director Kevin Smith found out when the pun-loving "Good Morning America" film critic stormed out of a press screening of Smith's "Clerks II," which opens Friday - an act that's sparked a vicious war of words between the two.

"Time to go!" roared Siegel to his fellow critics. "First movie I've walked out of in 30 [bleeping] years!" His tirade came 40 minutes into the long-awaited Weinstein Company sequel to Smith's 1994 cult classic about two foul-mouthed Long Island convenience store clerks who razz customers and goof off.

In the scene that sent Siegel to the exit, the characters graphically discuss hiring a woman to perform sexual favors on a donkey. Siegel told The New York Post: "It was so foul and mean and repulsive. I finally realized I could not say anything positive . . . I wasn't ready for this kind of smut . . . I hope he doesn't make any more movies."

An apoplectic Smith fired back on his MySpace blog: "Getting a bad review from Siegel is like a badge of honor. This is the guy who stole his mustachioed-critic shtick from Gene Shalit years ago, and still refuses to give it back. This is a guy who seemingly prides himself on his own nyuk-nyuk wordplay. For 'Pirates 2,' he made us all titter with 'Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Fun' . . . He made us squeal with delight when he wrote, 'Wheelie Good Time for "Cars." ' I mean, Fozzy [bleeping] Bear laughs at this guy."

And there's more: "I don't need Joel Siegel to [bleep] my [bleep] the way he apparently [bleeps] M. Night Shyamalan's, gushing over his flick ['The Lady in the Water'] before he's even seen it, but [bleep] man, man - how about a little common [bleeping] courtesy? You never, never disrupt a movie, simply because you don't like it. Cardinal rule of moviegoing: Shut your [bleeping] mouth while the movie's playing.

"I don't come down to your job and slap the taste out of your mouth for coming up with a line like, ' "Shark Tale" Is a Halibut Good Time' - so don't [bleep] with my stuff while it's still screening . . . What are you, a 12-year-old boy cutting loose with your pals at a Friday night screening of 'Scary Movie' 4' while your parents are in a theater down the hall watching 'The Devil Wears Prada'? Leave the diva-like behavior and drama-queen antics to the movie stars, not the movie reviewer, ya' rude-ass [bleep]."

Hilton, Aguilera, Anderson: HO HO and HO...


Hollywood is the land of inflated egos ... literally! Now all of your perverted fantasies of Pam Anderson or Jessica Simpson can come true, just add air. Now you can purchase your very own celebrity blow up doll.

Christina Aguilera, J.Lo (or as her doll is referred to: J.Ho), Demi Moore, Cindy Crawford and (of course) Paris Hilton are among the list of inflatable joy toy celebrities.

These blow up dolls can be purchased online at numerous erotic web boutiques for about $20, and if your doll happens to be one of those incredible shrinking starlets, just let out some air to keep your girl true to size.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Creator of the Philly Cheesesteak Dies

Harry Olivieri, who with his brother Pat was credited with inventing the Philly cheesesteak in 1933, had died. He was 90.

Despite a heart condition, Olivieri had showed up at Pat's King of Steaks almost every day until about three years ago. He died of heart failure Thursday at Atlantic City Medical Center in Pomona, N.J., his daughter Maria said.

Harry and his older brother opened a corner hot dog stand near south Philadelphia's Italian Market in 1930.

Three years later, they made the first version of the sandwich that helped put the city on the street food map. Tired of hot dogs, Pat suggested that Harry go to a store and buy some beef. Harry brought it back, sliced it up and grilled it with some onions.

The brothers piled the meat on rolls and were about to dig in when a cab driver arrived for lunch, smelled the meat and onions and demanded one of the sandwiches.

Harry sold the cabbie his own sandwich in a transaction the brothers counted as the birth of Pat's King of Steaks.

Cheese Wiz was added to the steak and onions starting in the 1960s, and provolone, American cheese and pizza sauce later became options in the concoction along with various condiments and side dishes.

Pat Olivieri died in 1970. Harry's son, Frank, now runs the restaurant.

Visit them on the internet HERE.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

The President you can't take ANYWHERE !!!


Well our Dear Leader really showed his true colors at this year’s G8 summit. He’s like your drunk uncle at the family barbecue; insulting the neighbors, interrupting conversations, tripping over the pets, until finally he’s puking loudly and violently in the yucca plant and calling his new wife a stupid bitch for letting him get too wasted.

Watch the video here, and pay special attention to the look on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s face. That’s what we call "smiling through your teeth", also known as "smiling to keep from screaming". Oh, Angela! It’s going to get worse for you before it gets, well, even worse.

Then came a little tragedy called "Open Mic Night at the Summit", in which Prez Moron , not having learned his lesson from that incident where he called New York Times reporter a "major league asshole" while sitting at a live mic, sat chawing away (with his mouth open!) on a buttered roll, talking arrogant smack for ALL THE WORLD TO HEAR while Tony Blair tried in vain to discuss the looming crisis in the ME. C&L has that video, too.

It of course is a far cry from the piece de la resistance , however, when Chimpy interrupted a conversation between Chancellor Merkel and Romano Prodi, the new Italian Prime Minister, to give Merkel a rather ham-fisted impromptu shoulder rub, which clearly not only squicked her out, but also managed to piss her off enough to result in the photo at the top of this post, in which she seems to be giving vent to the same frustration that all Reality-Based Americans currently feel toward this shrugging, mugging, bumbling dickhead we call "Mr. President", i.e., "BACK THE FUCK OFF, YOU FUCKING IDIOT!"

Suri Cruise : The Birth Certificate


The document, filed with the Los Angeles County Register-Recorder/County Clerk, was filed May 8, 2006.

(Click HERE to download)

There are several interesting items of note:

First, St. John's Hospital has a policy of filing birth certificates within 10 days of birth. In this case, Suri was born on April 18 but the certificate was not filed until May 8, 20 days later. An official from the hospital said that the delay occurred because they needed a signature from the parents or a representative of the parents certifying birth, and that person did not come in until May 4. The person who signed is labeled "friend." The signature is not legible.

Also, the "Attendant or Certifier" who signed the certificate -- Anne Heffernan, RNC -- was not in the delivery room and did not see the baby. But a hospital rep said that Heffernan is authorized to sign when the doctor is not available. A hospital rep said "normally the doctor signs" but it isn't a requirement.

Finally, the hospital rep said that the circumstances that triggered the eventual signing of the birth certificate were that Suri needed a passport and a birth certificate is a prerequisite to obtaining one.

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Ren & Stimpy : The Lost Episodes

Pee Wee interview in TIME.

TIME gets an interview with PEE WEE HERMAN, read it HERE.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

Site of the Week : UNOS Organ Center

The UNOS Organ Center places many organs and also helps members with running computer matches, arranging transport for organs, updating patient records and providing information about organ sharing policies. The Organ Center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. If a catastrophe prevents use of the current facilities, operations can be switched in minutes to a fully equipped disaster recovery site.

Transplantation has saved and enhanced the lives of more than 300,000 people in the United States. It is the leading form of treatment for many forms of end-stage organ failure. With this success, however, has come increasing demand for donated organs.

Living donation (transplanting all or part of an organ from a living person) has increased dramatically in the last few years, helping increase the number of transplants performed. In addition, UNOS has enacted a number of policies to encourage more efficient use of available organs, such as "splitting" livers from deceased donors to allow two recipients to be transplanted.

The only long-term solution to the organ shortage, however, is for more people to agree to become organ donors. UNOS works closely with medical professionals to increase their understanding and support of the organ donation process.

In late 2001, the UNOS board of directors set a goal to reach 50 million people directly, encouraging them to become donors. UNOS also works closely with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and national organizations such as the Coalition on Donation to foster the public's knowledge and commitment regarding organ donation. UNOS staff will gladly address any questions you may have about organ donation and transplantation. Simply e-mail askunos@unos.org.

How you can help

You can help save and enhance lives by making the decision to become an organ donor. You can designate your donation decision on your driver's license or on a donor card you keep with you.

An increasing number of states have adopted legislation making it illegal for a family member to override an individual's documented decision to donate. Even so, it is important to share your decision with your loved ones. Sharing your decision will help them ensure they are carrying out your wishes. Many donor family members say they are greatly comforted in knowing that the generosity of their loved one has helped others to live longer and better lives.

There are many other ways you can help promote organ donation. The Workplace Partnership for Life, a campaign initiated by HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson and the transplant community, calls on corporations, businesses and organizations of all sizes to share information about organ donation with their employees and promote the opportunity to donate life.



Check it out HERE.

Monday, July 17, 2006

A Moment of Silence PLEASE...

Hooters chairman, 69, found dead at home

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — Robert Brooks, the chairman of Hooters of America, Inc. who made his fortune selling chicken wings served by scantily clad waitresses, was found dead at his home Sunday, officials said. He was 69 (DUH).

It was unclear how Brooks died. Also, it was widely stated he was SMILING when found...The Horry County coroner's office told The (Myrtle Beach) Sun News that an autopsy would be performed Monday.

Since opening its first store in Clearwater, Fla., in 1983, the chain has expanded across the U.S. and into more than a dozen countries ranging from Taiwan to Venezuela. Hooters has about 61 million annual visitors to its some 425 restaurants.

Brooks, born on a tobacco farm outside Loris near Myrtle Beach, founded Eastern Foods Inc., which makes dressings and sauces, in 1966.

With a group of Atlanta investors, Brooks bought expansion and franchise rights for the Hooters chain in 1984. He eventually bought majority control and became chairman.

Local leaders remembered Brooks as a sharp businessman with a down-home flair who never forgot where he came from.

"Whenever I saw him, the first question and usually the last question from him was, 'What can I do to help ya?'" said Brad Dean, president of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

He also shared his wealth, giving $2 million to Coastal Carolina University for its first football stadium, which was named Brooks Stadium in 2003.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

What do you get when you cross a dirt bike, snowmobile and 4-wheeler?


German designers unveil mutant motorbike

You may not have room in your garage (or budget) for a dirt bike and a snowmobile and a four-wheeler. But what if one vehicle could take the place of all three? That's the idea behind the Hyanide.

The Hyanide is a wild concept vehicle created by German designers Oliver Keller and Tillman Schlootz for the 2006 Michelin Challenge Design. This year's competition showcased vehicles made especially for California's diverse and often rugged topography.

Named for its supposed resemblance to a crouching hyena, the Hyanide is designed to run on a flexible rubber tread that spans the machine's entire underside.

So if any part of the bottom is touching the ground, the Hyanide should be able to move, no matter how deep the quagmire, no matter how rough the terrain. The tank-like tread consists of 77 identical segments -- each made from hard plastic covered with tire rubber -- held together by Kevlar rope.

Each segment flexes independently, making the tread significantly more limber than if its components were rigid. Not only does this setup help with traction, but it would allow it to corner like no other vehicle.

Both the front and rear of the Hyanide rotate into a turn, which would give riders extra control while making sharp turns or climbing hills. To drive the vehicle, you'd steer with your hands as well as your feet, and you'd wear special shoes that snap onto the pedals, like on a racing bicycle.

To turn left, for example, you'd push the right side of the handlebar forward, to point the front of the tread left -- it's the same motion as on a motorcycle. At the same time, however, you'd also push back on the right pedal, angling the rear of the tread into the turn. This action would twist the tread into a crescent shape and whip the Hyanide around a turn.

The Hyanide currently exists only as a one-fifth-scale model, and Schlootz and Keller have no plans to bring a production version to market. Keep your fingers crossed, though -- Hyanide's unique drivetrain impressed a lot of automotive-industry heavy hitters at the Challenge Design.

Maybe one of them has an overcrowded garage.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

MARILYN MONROE - "SOMETHING'S GOT TO GIVE"


By 1962, Marilyn Monroe was eager to expand her acting beyond the stereotypical dumb blonde roles. However, she was still under contract to 20th Century Fox and the studio liked having her play dumb blondes. “Something’s Got to Give” was a prestige film, with George Cukor as director and co-stars of the level of Dean Martin, Cyd Charisse, Wally Cox and Phil Silvers. But all eyes were on Monroe, either waiting for her arrival on the set (she was too frequently late or a no-show) or watching her push the censorship envelope over the edge (her nude swim in a studio pool was captured by the press). The studio, which was already hemorrhaging money from the “Cleopatra” debacle, could not afford another runaway production and shut down “Something’s Got to Give.” The footage that was shot has been available as early as 1963, when it was included in the tribute documentary “Marilyn” that was released a year after Monroe’s untimely death.

Footage from Marilyn Monroe's last film (unfinished) HERE.

Friday, July 14, 2006

Nice Oprah ...real NICE...




Start's Saturday nite,the website is right HERE.

The Amazing Screw-On Head


In this hilarious send-up of Lovecraftian horror and steampunk adventure, President Abraham Lincoln's top spy is a bodyless head known only as Screw-On Head.

When arch-fiend Emperor Zombie steals an artifact that will enable him to threaten all life on Earth, the task of stopping him is assigned to Screw-on Head. Fortunately, Screw-On Head is not alone on this perilous quest. He is aided by his multitalented manservant, Mr. Groin, and by his talking canine cohort, Mr. Dog.

Can this unorthodox trio stop Emperor Zombie in time? Does Screw-On Head have a body awesome enough to stop the horrors that have been unleashed? Where can we get a talking dog?

All these questions (O.K., maybe not that last one) will be answered when you watch the thrilling tale of The Amazing Screw-On Head!

Thursday, July 13, 2006

Comedian Red Buttons Dies in L.A. at 87


LOS ANGELES (AP) - Red Buttons, the carrot-topped burlesque comedian who became a top star in early television and then in a dramatic role won the 1957 Oscar as supporting actor in "Sayonara," died Thursday. He was 87.

Buttons died of vascular disease at his home in the Century City area of Los Angeles, publicist Warren Cowan said. He had been ill for some time, and was with family members when he died, Cowan said.

With his eager manner and rapid-fire wit, Buttons excelled in every phase of show business, from the Borscht Belt of the 1930s to celebrity roasts in the 1990s.

His greatest achievement came with his "Sayonara" role as Sgt. Joe Kelly, the soldier in the post-World War II occupation forces in Japan whose romance with a Japanese woman (Myoshi Umeki, who also won an Academy Award) ends in tragedy.

Josh Logan, who directed the James Michener story that starred Marlon Brando, was at first hesitant to cast a well-known comedian in such a somber role.

"The tests were so extensive that they could just put scenery around them and release the footage as a feature film," Buttons remarked.

Buttons' Academy Award led to other films, both dramas and comedies. They included "Imitation General,""The Big Circus,""Hatari!""The Longest Day,""Up From the Beach,""They Shoot Horses, Don't They?""The Poseidon Adventure,""Gable and Lombard" and "Pete's Dragon."

A performer since his teens, Buttons was noticed by burlesque theater owners and he became the youngest comic on the circuit. He had graduated to small roles on Broadway before being drafted in 1943.

Along with dozens of other future stars, including Mario Lanza, John Forsythe, Karl Malden and Lee J. Cobb, Buttons was enlisted for "Winged Victory," the play that famed director-playwright Moss Hart created for the Air Force. Buttons also appeared in the 1944 film version, directed by George Cukor.

Discharged in 1946, Buttons returned to nightclub and theater work. In 1952, CBS signed him for a weekly show as the network's answer to NBC's Milton Berle.

"The Red Buttons Show" was first broadcast on CBS Oct. 14, 1952, without a sponsor since the star was virtually unknown. Within a month, the show became a solid hit and advertisers were clamoring.

Buttons drew on all his past experience for monologues, songs, dances and sketches featuring such characters as a punch-drunk fighter, a scrappy street kid, a Sad Sack GI and a blundering German. The hit of the show was a silly song in which he pranced about the stage singing, "Ho! Ho!... He! He!... Ha! Ha!... Strange things are happening!" It became a national craze.

After a sensational first season, "The Red Buttons Show" began to slide. Reports circulated that the star had fits of temper and frequently fired writers, and the show ended after three seasons.

"Certainly I made mistakes, and mistakes were made for me," he said in 1960. "When you go into TV cold, as I did, it's murder."

While the failure was a severe blow to the normally optimistic comedian, he soon recovered and resumed his career as a guest star on TV shows. A straight role on "Suspense" brought him to the attention of Logan, who cast him for the career-making "Sayonara."

In 1966, Buttons starred in another series, "The Double Life of Henry Phyfe," as a humble accountant enlisted as a government spy. The show lasted only six months.

Over the years Buttons remained a steady performer on television, appearing on such series as "Knots Landing,""Roseanne" and "ER." He also took his act on the road, appearing at Las Vegas, Atlantic City, conventions, and returning to his beginnings in the Catskills.

Still in good health at 76 ("They call me the only Yiddish leprechaun"), he appeared in New York in 1995 with an autobiographical one-man show, "Buttons on Broadway."

It was his first Broadway show since 1948, when he appeared in a play with the unfortunate title of "Hold It." One critic, Buttons recalled, began his review: "'Hold It?' Fold it."

Buttons was born Aaron Chwatt on Feb. 15, 1919, son of an immigrant milliner, in a tough Manhattan neighborhood where, he once said, "you either grew up to be a judge or you went to the electric chair."

He struggled through schools in Manhattan and the Bronx - "Mom and Pop went to school as often as I did; they should have graduated with me." He started performing at the age of 12, winning an amateur contest singing "Sweet Jenny Brown" in a sailor's suit.

At 16 he was working as a singer and bellhop in a gin mill on New York's City Island. Since all bellhops were called Buttons and Chwatt had red hair, he got his new name.

During his summer vacation, he worked as a singer on the Borscht Circuit - the string of Catskills resorts catering to a largely Jewish clientele where Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Mel Brooks, Hart and others trained for stardom.

In later years, Buttons became a favorite at testimonial/roast dinners with his roaringly funny "Never had a dinner" routine. He cited famous figures who had never been so honored. Examples: "Abe Lincoln, who said 'A house divided is a condominium,' never had a dinner"; "(Perennial presidential candidate) Jerry Brown, whose theme song is 'California, Here I Go,' never had a dinner." (When he did "Buttons on Broadway," he altered the routine and named people who never did one-man shows.)

In 1982, Red Buttons finally had a dinner. The Friars Club honored him with a star-filled roast and a life-achievement award.

"When I was a kid in the Bronx and watching and dreaming from the second balcony," the guest of honor said, "in my wildest imagination I couldn't have written this scenario tonight."

Buttons was married and divorced twice in his early career. He is survived by his third wife, Alicia, their children, Amy and Adam, and a sister.

New Uniforms Over at UPS

Remembering Syd: The Way He Was...

While all the obvious has been said about Syd in the past 24 hours, he really shines when you hear him...

After listening to clips from his solo work, head to WFMU's Beware of the Blog and Fluxblog to hear more solo and Pink Floyd tunes.

A few other items of interest:

Visit "YouTube" to watch VH1 salute Pink Floyd on its Legends series. The site also odd footage of Barrett reportedly tripping on acid in the '60s.

Here's a huge archive of Barrett photos from Pink-Floyd.org.

Here's an excerpt from Tim Willis' Madcap: The Half-Life of Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd's Lost Genius.

Check out this profile of Barrett published in Rolling Stone in 1971.

Shine On you Crazy Diamond...

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Pink Floyd legend Syd Barrett dies

Syd Barrett, the eccentric guitarist who founded Pink Floyd but later left the music business to live quietly and somewhat reclusively, has died at the age of 60, according to a spokeswoman for the band.

A spokeswoman for Pink Floyd told the Press Association: "He died very peacefully a couple of days ago. There will be a private family funeral."

"Syd was the guiding light of the early band lineup and leaves a legacy which continues to inspire," the surviving members of Pink Floyd -- Roger Waters, David Gilmour, Nick Mason and Richard Wright -- said in a statement.

They were "very upset and sad to learn of Syd Barrett's death."

The singer and guitarist, born Roger Keith Barrett on January 6, 1946, founded the band in 1965 with Waters, Mason and Wright. (Its name was derived from two American bluesmen, Pink Anderson and Floyd Council.)

He wrote many of the early hits for the avant-garde rock band, including the 1967 album "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" and the band's first hit singles, "Arnold Layne" and "See Emily Play."

His songs were odd and charming combinations of childlike lyrics and swirling melodies, often augmented with strange arrangements. The titles alluded to space, the occult and sometimes nonsense: "Astronomy Domine," "Lucifer Sam," "Chapter 24."

Consider some lyrics of "Bike," from "Piper": "I know a mouse, and he hasn't got a house / I don't know why, I call him Gerald / He's getting rather old, but he's a good mouse."

Pink Floyd, taken under the wing of Beatles engineer Norman Smith, had early success, but Barrett, suffering from mental problems and heavy drug use, started demonstrating erratic behavior, including catatonia during concerts. He left the band in 1968. He was replaced by David Gilmour, who had joined the band as its fifth member earlier that year.

Barrett put out two noted solo albums, "The Madcap Laughs" and "Barrett," both in 1970.

In 1975, during the recording of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" album, Barrett showed up unannounced at the studio -- ironically, during the recording of "Shine On You Crazy Diamond," a song about him. He had become overweight and shaved his eyebrows; the other members didn't recognize him at first.

"Wish You Were Here" was dedicated to Barrett.

Much of British psychedelic music was influenced by Barrett, and a number of musicians have credited him, according to Allmusic.com.

Barrett had since lived in anonymity in the eastern English city of Cambridge. According to The Associated Press, he suffered from diabetes.

The Day The Clown Cried 1972

Jerry Lewis was supposed to star in this movie about a circus performer who must entertain children in a Nazi concentration camp.

The infamous "lost" film of Jerry Lewis, which was buried due to a legal dispute between him and the writers of the original screenplay.

It tells the story of a self-centered circus clown, Helmut Doork, who is sent to a concentration camp after a drunken impersonation of Hitler.

There, he befriends the Jewish children of the camp, and performs for them, angering the camp Commandant. He is accidentally sent with the children on a train to Auschwitz, and there, he is expected to lead the children, like a Pied Piper, to the gas chambers.

We'll probably never see the finished version (and that could be a good thing), though two drafts of the script FINAL and ROUGH , and FILM clips are around.

Monday, July 10, 2006

Tobacco may kill 1 billion this century

WASHINGTON (AP) — Curbing tobacco use and taking other steps to eliminate some of the most common risk factors for cancer could save millions of lives over the next few decades, health officials said Monday.

Tobacco alone is predicted to kill a billion people this century, 10 times the toll it took in the 20th century, if current trends hold.

"In all of world history, this is the largest train wreck not waiting to happen," said John Seffrin, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society.

Reducing tobacco use would have the single largest effect on global cancer rates, Seffrin and other health officials said Monday in unveiling two reference guides that chart global tobacco use and cancer.

Changing diets to contain fewer saturated fats and more fruits and vegetables, as well as reducing infection by cancer-causing viruses and bacteria, could also cut rates dramatically, they said.

"We know with cancer, if we take action now, we can save 2 million lives a year by 2020 and 6.5 million by 2040," said Judith Mackay, a World Health Organization senior policy adviser.

Today, tobacco accounts for one in five cancer deaths, or 1.4 million deaths worldwide each year, according to the new Cancer Atlas. When deaths from tobacco-related cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases are included, the yearly death toll rises to nearly 5 million and it's expected to keep going up.

An estimated 1.25 billion men and women currently smoke cigarettes, and more than half of them will die from the habit, according to the newly issued second edition of the Tobacco Atlas.

The two atlases were released Monday at an International Union Against Cancer conference. The two statistics-packed guides are meant as reference guides for doctors, politicians, academics, students and attorneys who work on cancer and tobacco control.

Lung cancer remains the major illness among the 10.9 million new cases of cancer diagnosed each year, according to the Cancer Atlas. And it is not likely to be bumped from its perch: In countries like China, where 300 million men now smoke, lung cancer could eventually kill a million smokers a year, Seffrin said.

The authors and researchers responsible for the atlases fear that a reduction in the global prevalence of smoking would do little to curb what they called the "tobacco epidemic."

"Even if smoking rates decline worldwide, there will be a constant or even slightly increasing number of smokers due to population increases," said Michael Eriksen, director of the Institute of Public Health at Georgia State University.

In 2002, besides the nearly 11 million new cancer cases worldwide, there were nearly 7 million cancer deaths. By 2020, officials anticipate there will be 16 million new cases a year and 10 million deaths. An estimated 70% of those deaths will occur in developing countries, according to the Cancer Atlas. The number of new cases is largely the result of the increasing proportion of older people in the world.

The risk of developing cancer is higher in the developed world, according to the Cancer Atlas. In the United States, for instance, the probability someone will develop cancer by age 65 is nearly 18%. In Oman, the probability is just shy of 6%. Still, cancers in developing countries are more often fatal.

The American Cancer Society published the two atlases with help from the International Union Against Cancer, WHO and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. English, French and Spanish editions are now available; Chinese language versions are due later this year.

French Guy loses his head...go figure...


France's Zinédine Zidane was red carded for his shocking head-butt in the Finals of the 2006 World Cup..

Kabbalah: Is Madonna losing her religion?

The pop world's most unusual partnership may be over. Madonna and Kabbalah, the once obscure sect she championed - and upon which she has lavished millions of dollars - appear to be on the verge of separation. Close friends say the singer has talked of loosening her red Kabbalah wristband and is wearying of the mystical Jewish belief system. She has decided to give it up, they say, having tired of the financial burden and the effect her strong beliefs have had on her relationship with husband Guy Ritchie.

Madonna is also said to be concerned that following Kabbalah separates her children from more conventional customs such as Christmas, which they do not currently celebrate.

Or maybe it's the fact that it's FRICKIN STUPID...

Tom Waits at the San Diego Folk Festival 1974

Sunday, July 09, 2006

What the Hell...It's SUNDAY


Just when you thought LEGOLAND had all the MASTER BUILDERS...

The BRICK TESTAMENT can be seen HERE.

Saturday, July 08, 2006

WILCO: The Fillmore SF.CA 5/10/97

'Breast ironing' to stunt girls' growth widespread

1 in 4 girls in Cameroon suffer this abuse to protect against rape

YAOUNDE, Cameroon (Reuters) -- Worried that her daughters' budding breasts would expose them to the risk of sexual harassment and even rape, their mother Philomene Moungang started 'ironing' the girls' bosoms with a heated stone.

"I did it to my two girls when they were eight years old. I would take the grinding stone, heat it in the fire and press it hard on the breasts," Moungang said.

"They cried and said it was painful. But I explained that it was for their own good."

"Breast ironing" -- the use of hard or heated objects or other substances to try to stunt breast growth in girls -- is a traditional practice in West Africa, experts say.

A new survey has revealed it is shockingly widespread in Cameroon, where one in four teenagers are subjected to the traumatic process by relatives, often hoping to lessen their sexual attractiveness.

"Breast ironing is an age-old practice in Cameroon, as well as in many other countries in West and Central Africa, including Chad, Togo, Benin, Guinea-Conakry, just to name a few," said Flavien Ndonko, an anthropologist and local representative of German development agency GTZ, which sponsored the survey.

"If society has been silent about it up to now it is because, like other harmful practices done to women such as female genital mutilation, it was thought to be good for the girl," said Ndonko.

"Even the victims themselves thought it was good for them."

However, the practice has many side-effects, including severe pain and abscesses, infections, breast cancer, and even the complete disappearance of one or both breasts.

The survey of more than 5,000 girls and women aged between 10 and 82 from throughout Cameroon, published last month, estimated that 4 million women in the central African country have suffered the process.

"You ask me why I did it?" said Moungang. "When I was growing up as a little girl my mother did it to me just as all other women in the village did it to their girl children. So I thought it was just good for me to do to my own children."
Common in town

The practice is now more common in urban areas than in villages, because mothers fear their children could be more exposed to sexual abuse in towns and try to suppress outward signs of sexuality, the survey said.

Its findings have prompted a nationwide campaign to educate mothers about its dangers and to try to eradicate it. A similar campaign some years ago helped drastically to reduce rates of female genital mutilation in Cameroon.

"A girl...has to be proud of her breasts because it is natural. It is a gift from God. Allow the breasts to grow naturally. Do not force them to disappear or appear," said a leaflet from the campaign.

Moungang said she stopped ironing her daughters' breasts after one girl developed blisters and abscesses.

"I took her to the hospital and the doctor scolded me and advised never to do it again because it could ruin my daughter," she said.

"When Mariane married and delivered her first baby, it took a long time -- about a month -- for her breasts to start producing milk and the child almost died. I was told it was because I had ironed her breasts. I was frightened."

The younger a girl develops, the more likely she is to have her bosom ironed -- 38 percent of girls developing breasts under the age of 11 had undergone the procedure.

The practice is most common in the Christian and animist South of the country, rather than in the Muslim North and Far North provinces, where only 10 percent of women are affected.

The survey found that in 58 percent of cases breast ironing was carried out by mothers worried that the onset of puberty could provoke sexual harassment, inhibit their daughters' studies or even stunt their growth.

Many mothers were alarmed because an improvement in nutrition and living conditions had caused young girls' breasts to develop earlier than ever.
Destroying breasts

"Massaging the breasts with hot objects is painful, very painful, and can completely destroy the breasts," said Bessem Ebanga, executive secretary of women's rights group RENATA, herself a former victim.

"Some girls could be traumatized throughout their lives and their sexual behavior could be disturbed forever."

Thirteen-year-old Geraldine Mbafor could not hold back her tears as she narrated her ordeal.

"I had just finished doing my homework when my mother summoned me to the kitchen. She boiled water and in the water she put a grinding stone. She then removed the stone holding it with a thick cloth to protect her hands, and placed it my breasts and started ironing them," she stated.

"I felt so much pains that I started crying. After that she bandaged my breasts with a band called breast-band ... She did this to me for two and a half months."

According to 14-year-old Amelia, who would not give her family name, her breasts started developing when she was 9. Her elder sister decided to massage them every evening with a towel soaked in hot water.

"This was very painful, and every evening before I slept, she would put a big elastic belt well fastened round my chest to flatten my breasts."

"Six months later the flesh that held my breasts was already weak. At 10, I already had fallen breasts and each time I undress I'm ashamed and it is a big complex."

Nevertheless, support for and opposition to the tradition remains evenly balanced. According to the survey, 39 percent of women opposed it, while 41 percent expressed support and 26 percent were indifferent.

For Ndonko, the campaign is a battle to respect the physical integrity of young girls -- with broader implications for human rights.

"If nothing was done today, tomorrow the very parents may even resolve to slice off the nose, the mouth or any other part of the girl which they think is making her attractive to men."

Friday, July 07, 2006

New digs for sea monkeys

A Tucson company sells an ecosphere in a bottle that lets shrimp, algae and bacteria thrive.

Ecosphere Associates sells what appear to be plastic eggs full of bilge water. But look closer. Inside each Ecosphere you'll find a self-contained ecosystem - replete with shrimp, algae, and bacteria -that requires only sunlight to thrive.

The average Ecosphere lives for three to five years, says Dan Harmony, 53, who runs the Tucson company with his wife, Michelle, 51.
ecosphere.03.jpg
Ecosphere Associates sold $1 million worth of ecospheres last year at $58 to $450 apiece.

The Harmonys created Ecosphere Associates in 1986, after Dan - a former technical designer - learned that NASA was developing ecosystems that could survive in space and bought the right to commercialize the technology.

Last year they sold $1 million worth of Ecospheres - which retail at $58 to $450 - on their website, eco-sphere.com, and through retailing partners such as Brookstone. The Harmonys sell Ecospheres in Europe and are looking to grow the business in Asia.

Thursday, July 06, 2006

Columbine Documents Released...

Get them HERE.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Little Mr. Apricot Flips Off Crowd, Loses Title

PATTERSON, Calif. A big brouhaha in Stanislaus County as a pageant winner in Patterson is stripped of his crown. Heather Hudgens reports it all started with apricots and a finger foul-up.

It was another weekend of royalty in Patterson, and the parade queens were on their best behavior.

“I would never do it, it’s not queen worthy,” said one of the queens.

What she's talking about is what happened last month at the Apricot festival, when the newly-crowned Little Mr. Apricot, 4-year old Matthew Burgos, raised his middle finger to the crowd!

At Mil's Cafe, now all the talk is what happened next, when Matthew was unceremoniously relieved of his crown. The reason - the unfortunate flip of the finger.

Matthew's mom understands why the apricot board took Matthew's title, but wishes some townsfolk would just get over it.

“I think it is ridiculous, I mean he’s four years old,” she says.

Asked for a comment from the Patterson Apricot Fiesta Board , they would not, except to confirm the story. First runner-up Michael Montiel will now assume the role of Little Mr. Apricot. Matthew doesn't even know he's been stripped of the title. His mom and dad say he likely wouldn't understand, anyway.

New Johnny Cash Record a Classic...


The late country music legend Johnny Cash is shown with his wife, the late June Carter Cash, in their Hendersonville, Tenn. home in this 1999 file photo. Diabetes cost Johnny Cash much of his sight, and he needed a wheelchair, and losing his wife June was crushing. Yet, in retrospect, producer Rick Rubin wasn't surprised to hear Cash's plea the day after June died in May 2003. He needed to work. He HAD to work to keep himself going. Results of some of those recording session after her death and before his, are evident with Tuesday's release of "American V: A Hundred Highways," the fifth and penultimate in a series of discs made with producer Rick Rubin that memorably capped Cash's career.

The freak accident that left my son obsessed with sex

A skiing accident left Alexander Laing with severe damage to the frontal lobes of his brain. He has become reckless in his sexual behaviour, losing his inhibitions. His stepmother Deryth, 72, tells BECKY SHEAVES how his family has coped:

An army skiing accident left Alexander Laing, 31, with severe damage to the frontal lobes of his brain. This area controls social and moral judgment, and Alexander, of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, has become reckless in his sexual behaviour, losing his inhibitions. Here, his stepmother Deryth, 72, tells BECKY SHEAVES how his worried family has coped.

When I saw Alexander after the accident, I was aghast. He was in intensive care, unconscious and covered in tubes. It was awful. But the Army doctor reassured my husband, Tony, and me that when he woke up he'd be the same as he'd always been.

If only that had been true. Instead, six years later, we have learned what brain injury can do to a fit, confident young man who had his whole life ahead of him.

No inhibitions

Alexander made a fantastic physical recovery, but the damage to his brain has had an extraordinary effect on his sexual behaviour — he has completely lost his inhibitions.

Back in his early 20s, his future was looking so bright. He'd been a difficult teenager, probably because he'd lost his mother to cancer when he was just ten. She was a close friend of mine and I supported Tony, her husband, and his children, Alexander and Joanna, by cooking them a meal every night.

Tony and I grew close and we've now been married for 20 years. Alexander calls me Mum and I think of him as my son. I'd do anything for him, just as I would for my other children.

As a teenager, Alexander went to the military boarding school where his grandfather, a brigadier, had been a commandant.

But he hated it and, at 16, he dropped out and spent a year at home, arguing with us. He refused to study and brought home strange girls to stay the night. He drove us to despair.

A family friend who was a colonel in the Army Air Corps then persuaded him to sign up.

Alexander went for basic training when he was 18 and his life turned round. He got fit and had plenty to keep him busy. He played hockey for the Army and went on exercises in Australia and Germany. The Army was good for him.

In 2000, he decided he wanted to make the Air Corps skiing team. It seemed a long shot as he'd only been on a couple of school skiing trips, but he got a chance go to Lillehammer in Norway to train.

It wasn't as though he was off to a war zone, so I wasn't at all concerned about the trip. But at 11pm on December 4, 2000, there was a knock on the door. It was an Army major, telling us Alexander had been in a serious accident.

He had been skiing behind two other soldiers when he'd hit a bump, fallen backwards and tumbled down the mountain, hitting the front of his head several times.

Tony and I rushed to be with him. We were sick with fear. An MRI scan revealed that the front of his brain had become corrugated by the repeated impacts, but we were told he would recover fully.

It wasn't until Alexander returned to the UK, to an Army hospital in Gosport, Hampshire, that we had an inkling of the problems he faced. He was doing all sorts of bizarre things: kicking off his bed covers, refusing to wear clothes and even sleeping on the floor.

A nurse on the ward had been caring for brain-injured patients for 21 years. She said his behaviour was a textbook case of frontal lobe damage. 'He'll improve for the first two years,' she said. 'But that will be as good as he gets. After that he'll stay the same.' She was right.

At that stage, Alexander could hardly speak and was almost completely paralysed down his left side. I did everything I could think of to stimulate his brain. I took in family photographs and would spend hours showing them to him.

Irreversible damage

One day, a neurologist came to examine him and found that the damage to his frontal lobes was irreversible. We were devastated.

We were told that the brain's frontal lobes play a key role in personality. This was discovered about 160 years ago when a railway worker, Phineas Gage, accidentally drove a metre-long metal pole through the frontal lobes of his brain.

Gage astonished doctors by making a full physical recovery. But his character had changed: he became quick-tempered and foul-natured — very different from his former self.

We were warned that even though Alexander's intelligence could remain intact, his social behaviour could alter radically. But we didn't realise that it would free up his sexual desires.

Alexander went into a rehabilitation centre and things seemed to be going well. But as he grew stronger, the change in his behaviour became more apparent.

He persuaded the centre to discharge him after just six months to a hostel in Kent, where he had heard there were a lot of other young people recovering from accidents. He believed he would have fun there. We soon realised he was far from ready to be living independently.

Obsessed with sex

Alexander was obsessed with sex, but in no position to have a real relationship. He was still physically infirm, mentally vulnerable, impulsive and easily upset.

He got himself a computer, but soon ran up a £600 bill looking at internet pornography. Then he attacked one of the other patients — a recovering stroke victim — who had, he said, been rude to him.

The police were called and Alexander was thrown out of the hostel and put up in a hotel. As he now confesses, he was like 'a dog on heat' and went on a rampage through the hotel completely naked, looking for sex. Again the police were called. This time, he spent the night in a cell.

Alexander then lived with us, but we couldn't cope. He would walk through the house naked and aroused.

But it was his violence I found even more worrying. He picked a lot of fights with his father and I was scared he would do something drastic. Once, he threatened to grab a kitchen knife and attack him. We realised he would have to return to rehab.

Back in the clinic, Alexander spent another three months having intensive cognitive therapy, helping him to read people's body language and understand when he was receiving the brush-off. Slowly, he realised other people have feelings and points of view, too.

A big improvement came when Alexander was prescribed a beta-blocker, which calmed him and took the edge off his violence and sexual risk-taking.

But he's still very 'over-sexed'. It's like a hidden agenda which is always on his mind. Sadly, this is unlikely to change. He is, though, a lot better than he was.

He has learned to treat women as more than objects. Once, when he was in rehab, he took a bus and saw a girl he liked the look of. He moved from the front to the back so that he could spend the journey staring at her breasts. I hope, and believe, he now realises this sort of behaviour is inappropriate.

Aleaxander tends to have relationships with foreign girls. He says it's because he prefers them and he likes their accents. I think there's more to it. British girls can spot quickly that he still speaks with a slight slur and isn't quite 'right'.

Foreign girls don't pick up the signals and so tend to be more receptive to him. After all, he's a good-looking, very fit young man with a kind heart.

Compensation

Tony and I tried to get some financial compensation from the Ministry of Defence, as Alexander wasn't wearing a crash helmet when he had the accident. But the case collapsed and we ended up owing the MoD more than £20,000 in costs.

I'm sure the closeness of our family has helped Alexander to rebuild his life. My son Michael and his wife and two children live near Alexander and often pop in to check on him. He also has a care team and sees his psychiatrist every three to four months.

Alexander has done brilliantly integrating into society. He has moved from sheltered accommodation to his own flat in Milton Keynes, although he comes home to us most weekends. He also goes to salsa classes and is religious, which he had little interest in before. He often goes to church.

He's a good person and I'm proud of the way he is so positive about his life, even though I sometimes find it hard to share his optimism for his future.

The damage to Alexander's frontal lobes seems to have exaggerated his character, although experts aren't sure if this is the case. I think the impulses were always there, but the lack of inhibition means he cannot control himself.

Perhaps one day he will meet a girl with whom he can settle down, and who will love him the way he is, just like we do.