We have recently heard about the rather acrimonious split of Melissa Etheridge. What is interesting is that his lawyer claims that the Ex is a deadbeat, while the "deadbeat" promises details on her blog.
Like many other trials / matter / actions, this one is playing first in the “public court”, with the lawyers acting more like PR agents. Melissa announced their separation after 9 years in April 2010, calling it “sad” on Oprah. Melissa’s wife Tammy claimed that they were left broke and destitute and filed for full physical and legal custody of their 3-y.o. twins, Johnnie and Miller. What a wonderful opportunity for their respective lawyers to get some media exposure!
Tammy, known prior to her relationship with Etheridge as Tammy Lynn Michaels, has subsequently claimed that the singer has left her and her children broke. Tammy Etheridge's attorney, Steven Knowles, called his client "destitute," stating that her credit card was declined when attempting to purchase food and clothing for her children, admitting only that the singer paid for "various sundry expenses."
These claims have since been refuted by Etheridge's lawyer, Neal Hersch, who told PEOPLE, "[Tammy] is being completely supported by Melissa and has been since they separated," calling the actress and her children, "well-provided for and then some." Hersch stated that on top of a $2,000 a month allowance for her former partner, Etheridge continued to pay Tammy's household expenses, utilities and the lease on her car.
Despite the initially civil-seeming nature of the split, Tammy fired back at Etheridge on her blog, saying that she was "blindsided" by the breakup, and claiming that she and Etheridge had decided to put off filing for separation until Etheridge's tour was over. Following the announcement of their split, Tammy filed for full physical and legal custody of their 3-year-old twins, Johnnie and Miller.
The show started. See more with Melissa below and a link to Tammy’s blog.
I know she’s got other songs since, but to me, “I want to come over” is the best stalker song ever made. If you want to understand creeps, you only have to listen to it.
We recently learned about a lynx who traveled thousands of kilometres to return to Canada, only to die in a trap. Similarly, a person stranded who was denied 911 assistance died while trying to go back to civilization.
A lynx relocated to Colorado in a program to repopulate that state’s wilderness has come back to Alberta, only to die in a registered trap.
"It came at least 2,000 kilometres, wandering around feeding, cutting up valleys, crossing rivers, dodging cougars, grizzlies, wolves, eagles and other trappers," said Bryan Anger of Rocky Mountain House, Alta., the trapper who found the lynx, dead, in a registered trapline he shares with his brother an hour west of his home at Nordegg, just outside Banff National Park.
The cat, known to biologists as BC-03-M-02, was captured seven years ago near Kamloops, B.C., researchers said Friday. It was sent to Colorado as part of a reintroduction program involving 218 lynx after the species died out in the state.
For the next four years, biologists at the Colorado Division of Wildlife tracked its movements with a radio collar. The animal is shown to have fathered two litters, a set of two in 2005 and a set of four in 2006, likely with the same mate.
The collar's last recorded signal came April 20, 2007.
Then, for more than 2 1/2 years, all human contact ceased – until Jan. 28, when Anger found the animal in his trapline.
"I wasn't surprised to find a cat but I was surprised to find where it had come from," Anger said.
Anger immediately reported the find to Gabriela Yates, a PhD student running the University of Alberta's Project Lynx.
"This was huge," Yates said. "It must have crossed many highways, many rivers, probably desert – difficult habitat it is not adapted to."
Lynx rank as one of the world's most mobile land mammals, she said. On the other hand, top known travels until now have been in the 600-1,000-kilometre range.
In this case, the 9-year-old male lynx covered about 2,000 kilometres as the crow flies between Silverton, in southwestern Colorado, and Nordegg. Yates is in the third year of a four-year study assessing lynx movements in relation to its main diet, the snowshoe hare. When the hare population crashes, lynx travel widely in search of pockets of them, she said.
The migration of BC-03-M-02 adds a piece to the puzzle, suggesting a homing sense as it was found near where it was originally captured. The lynx was healthy, weighed 26 pounds and sported an excellent coat of fur, she said.
Big River, Saskatchewan – home of a significant aboriginal population – was the scene of a human tragedy. A woman with children was stranded in a car but when she called 911 no help was dispatched.
Saskatchewan RCMP extended their condolences and launched an independent investigation of their 911 system after a woman died and three others were stranded for seven days in their stuck car.
Sgt. Carole Raymond says two women and two children had been driving to Loon Lake from Prince Albert when their car got bogged down in mud and water on a poorly maintained road in a remote area near Big River.
Records indicate a person from the car called 911 on April 8 but no officers were dispatched. The person asked for a tow truck but it appears one wasn't sent, Raymond said.
On Monday, four days later, someone called police about a woman's body on the side of Highway 942.
"It appears that she walked 60 kilometres from where the vehicle was in the water to the road," Raymond said.
On Tuesday, police got a report of a missing person and they learned that the dead woman had been travelling with another woman and two children.
"The connection was made," Raymond said.
A search by both air and ground began.
On Thursday searchers spotted the mired car.
Rescuers had to use all-terrain vehicles to get to the car due to the remote, difficult terrain.
"It was wet ... it took a good 2 1/2 hours to get to them once the airplane had spotted them," she said.
Finally, about 9:30 Thursday night, a week after someone from the car made the call for help, rescuers reached the car and found the woman and two children alive. They were taken to hospital in Shellbrook where they were in stable condition.
The family has asked police not release any information on the ages or relationships of the people involved, Raymond said.
Whenever we hear about such massive failures – one has to wonder if racism did not play a role in the decision to deny emergency services to those who needed it. It is incredibly sad to face death after trying so hard to cling to life, yet both stories manage to end on a high note.
What do you think? Is there good in everything? Is every crisis an opportunity? Is the upbeat tone sometimes misplaced, but necessary in order to make news readable?
Only in America.. This obese woman sat on her 120 lbs boyfriend during an argument, killing him.
Only a few months ago we were decrying the disastrous state of north-americans’ gut. This Cleveland woman got only 3 year probation for killing his much thinner boyfriend, also the father of her children.
Police said Mia Landingham and Mikal Middleston-Bey, who have three children together, got into an argument in August. During the altercation Landingham sat on Middleston-Bey.
Landingham pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter.
Her attorney told said there was a long history of domestic abuse in the relationship. He asked the judge for leniency and pointed out she has no prior criminal record.
Landingham she was sorry for squashing the father of her children.
"I just want to say that I am sincerely sorry about this situation. I wish I could take it back,” she said.
Landingham was sentenced to three years probation and 100 hours community service. She was immediately released from jail.
The victim’s family said they were surprised that she got no additional jail time.
"So basically you can say that I can go sit on somebody and get probation? I feel there wasn't no justice. My brother's gone and all she gets is three years probation," the victim’s brother said.
..vive Madonna! Unfortunately, the news, initially brought to us by TMZ and disseminated like crazy by the twittersphere, are true. He died of a heart attack at 50 years old.
He passed away in the mansion the promoters of his new concert. The paramedics, called by a staff member, found him not breathing and all efforts to resuscitate him were in vain. He was 50 and was on some sort of medication which may have acted to end his life. Michael leaves behind 3 children: Michael Joseph Jackson, Jr., Paris Michael Katherine Jackson and Prince "Blanket" Michael Jackson II. He was married to Elvis' daughter, Lisa-Marie.
I too was raped by Michael!
.. but I liked it and I did not sue. I used to be electrified by his music and dance moves up until about his Bad & Moowalking albums. I liked the music on the latter, but he was nowhere to be seen – he emerged later on completely changed. Nobody knows for sure if the children who accused him of sexual assault were honest or were just trying to scam money out of him, pushed by their parents. There is a strong possibility that he was (just) sleeping with them out of a desire for affection and in a futile attempt to live the childhood he never had. This is not a behavior one would expect from a man but his childhood was wasted in endless performances. Joe Jackson, his father, is accused by some of having been obsessed to make money. He once launched his signature beverage, Joe Cola, which you can see in one of Janet's videos. In addition, his Michael’s idol, Diana Ross, whom he tried to emulate, was a motherly person.
The concert in Bucharest or'92 is considered one of the most successful broadcast on HBO and had the best ratings of that network until then. Another significant milestone (other than, of course, Thriller) was his interview with Oprah at Neverland. When asked “are you a virgin?” Michael, visibly shaken, asked in his infantile voice: “Oprah, how can you ask such a question?”. Today, Oprah is the highest rated talk show, and an appearance on Oprah virtually guarantees mainstream acceptance, but back then, it wasn’t so clear who is launching whom.
Constantly assaulted by reporters, he once said:
Why not just tell people I'm an alien from Mars. Tell them I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight. They'll believe anything you say, because you're a reporter. But if I, Michael Jackson, were to say, "I'm an alien from Mars and I eat live chickens and do a voodoo dance at midnight", people would say, "Oh, man, that Michael Jackson is nuts. He's cracked up. You can't believe a damn word that comes out of his mouth.
Paul McCartney
A few very good songs came out of the father – son collaboration between McCartney and Jackson. What few know is that Paul taught Michael how to profit from copyright by acquiring old songs and renting them out. Michael applied this knowledge to a few songs by Beatles and using them in ways that Paul did not approve. Their relationship soured and did not recover.
This is it
Known as “a millionaire who spends like a billionaire”, Michael had made huge debts. He was hoping to get back in black with the O2 - This is it concerts. His perfectionism and most likely fear of failure made him postpone them four times(!) He requested that his choir be racially equal. AEG Live, his promoter, had made a major investment, paying $5 millions to settle a lawsuit with a Bahrein prince. His concerts would've brought AEG Live $70 millions and would have kickstarted a 3 year international collaboration. 750,000 tickets at prices starting at $81 per bilet had already been sold
Condolences
His death touched quite a few celebrities:
Arnold Schwarzenegger: We lost a great entertainer and a pop icon. My thoughts and prayers go out to Michael Jackson's family, friends and fans.
Diddy: Michael Jackson showed me that you can actually see the beat. He made the music come to life!! He made me believe in magic. I will miss him!
Samantha Ronson: His music is just as relevant now as it was the day they pressed record, I'm sure it will remain so for generations to come.R.I.P.Mr Jackson.
Dane Cook: I'm dedicating my show 2night to Michael Jackson. THRILLER got me laid. Well... At least thats what I told my friends.
Heidi Montag: the world has suffered a GREAT loss today Michael Jackson my thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and fans God bless.
Ice T: Rest In Peace Mike. People can say what they want but you were 100% original. WE will always love , miss & remember your GREATNESS.
John Mayer: Dazed in the studio. A major strand of our cultural DNA has left us. RIP MJ. I think we'll mourn his loss as well as the loss of ourselves as children listening to Thriller on the record player.
Ashley Tisdale: So sad. Saying a prayer for Michael Jackson.
Miley Cyrus: michael jackson was my inspiration. love and blessings
Ludacris: If it were not for Micheal Jackson I would not be where or who I am today.His Music and Legacy will live on Forever.Prayers to the famR.I.P.
MC Hammer: I have no words.. I loved Michael Jackson.. RIP..
Kelly Rowland: Michael you left such a legacy on this earth, have touched SO MANY!!! We thank you for such a driving inspiration in music & our lives!! This has got to be one of the saddest days in music history!! Michael Rest In Peace! WE miss you!
Star Jones: Death comes to all. But great achievements build a monument." He IS and WAS the greatest entertainer of all times...Peace to you brother.
Lindsay Lohan: NO OMG ... sending my love and prayers out to Michael and his family ... i feel sick..
Marlon Wayans: My prayers, my love, my heart goes out to michael jackson and the entire jackson family. I pray so hard for them. I'm crushed! Please pray.
Pete Wentz: Prayers and thoughts with michael jackson ... I haven't hope in so long that news isn't true.
Kim Kardashian: Wow I am truly in shock that Michael Jackson has passed away! I love u Jackson family, my prayers are with the whole family!
Ashton Kutcher: Rip Sending love and light to family and friend but especially his kids.
Shanna Moakler: The hard thing about getting older is watching all those who inspired you pass, love to the jackson family..
Rachelle Lefevre: Rest in peace Farrah Fawcett & Michael Jackson. Condolences to their families.
Paul McCartney: It’s so sad and shocking. I feel privileged to have hung out and worked with Michael. He was a massively talented boy-man with a gentle soul. His music will be remembered forever and my memories of our time together will be happy ones.
Eugene Lambert (Ireland's best puppeteer whose son performed at J's b-day party): Michael and the kids seemed to enjoy the show equally. My son sang happy birthday to Michael, who seemed genuinely touched by the attention. Michael rang me that night to thank me for the show. He said he hoped he’d be as happy at his work as I am at my age, and of course I’m 80.
Lenny Kravitz: It was the most amazing experience I’ve had in the studio. He was funny. Very funny and we laughed the whole time. I also saw what a beautiful father he was. He was a beautiful human being. If not for him, I wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing. He gave me joy as a child and showed me the way to go..
Byron Garcia (security consultant at a Philippine prison who organized the famous video of 1,500 inmates doing a synchronized dance to “Thriller”, gathering 23.4 million hits): My heart is heavy because my idol died.
Imelda Marcos: Michael Jackson enriched our lives, made us happy. The accusations, the persecution caused him so much financial and mental anguish. He was vindicated in court, but the battle took his life. There is probably a lesson here for all of us.
Whatever some might think or say about him, he was undeniably an innovator, he influenced many artists and at the top of his career has simply the best. I hope that in his everlasting Neverland he’s no longer taunted by his own demons or cocky reporters..
Cambodia is a deeply hurt and tormented country, trying hard to return to normality, after the murderous reign of the blood-thirsty Khmer Rouge. To me, the story of this "jungle woman" who runs back to the wild is emblematic of her society struggle.
Apparently, Rochom P’ngieng is now 29 and disappeared in the jungle while herding water buffalo with her sister in 1989 when she was only a little girl, to be “discovered and reintegrated in 2007. Some doubt that she could have survived this long and claim she is somebody else, but we cannot find out, as her father had refused a DNA test.
However, attempts to reintegrate her have failed. She has not learnt either of the local languages, Khmer or Phnang, prefers to crawl rather than walk, refuses to wear clothes and has made several attempts to return to the forest where she grew up.
Her father, Sal Lou, a policeman, said that she had been making progress recently, but disappeared on Tuesday evening. "She took off her clothes and ran away from the house without saying a word to any of our family members," Mr Lou said.
"Even the day before she fled the house, she still helped the family pick vegetables. She must have gone back to the forest and we still cannot find her." The dramatic reappearance and attempted reintegration of the "jungle girl" has gripped Cambodia, where she is also known as the "half-animal girl" because of her hunched appearance and the fact she makes animal noises rather than speaking.
Mr Lou blames his daughter's second disappearance on "forest spirits". In a society shrouded in mystic beliefs, he has also enlisted a fortune teller to help with the search. He is saving up for an offering of one wild ox, one pig, one chicken and four jugs of wine, which, the mystic assures him, will secure his daughter's return.
A separate theory was offered by local rights group, Ad hoc, which believes that the woman struggled to readapt to society and suffers from stress. "She must have experienced traumatic events in the jungle that have affected her ability to speak," said Penn Bunna.
The alternative explanation of her being a different woman who has escaped captivity and / or enslavement is far more likely in my view.
Her sister has never been found, but Rochom emerged from the jungle, filthy, naked, scared and "looking like a monkey" in February 2007. She was caught stealing food from a farmer's lunch box after a stakeout.
Locals reported sightings of her with a naked man carrying a sword, who they believe to be a jungle spirit. Her parents, who had long given up hope of seeing their daughters again, identified her from a scar on her arm and welcomed her back into the family.
Her case is hardly singular not only in literature (see wikipedia’s list of feral children), but also in Cambodia, where in November 2004, 34 people from a pro-Khmer Rouge tribe emerged from the jungle where they had been hiding since the fall of the regime in 1979.
Recently, the Supreme Court has been debating suppressing violent games. There is clear evidence that they should be taking a closer look at the "innocent" Farmville (or, better yet, do nothing). We’re looking not only at Farmville, but also at South Korean game addictions and Supreme Comedy.
We do not believe that violent games cause violence anymore than so-called “click-games” the epitome of boredom and addiction on Facebook. As if to prove this assertion in the most vile manner, a Jacksonville Florida mother entered a guilty plea in the death of her son:
Alexandra V. Tobias, 22, was arrested after the January death of 3-month-old Dylan Lee Edmondson. She told investigators she became angry because the baby was crying while she was playing a computer game called FarmVille on the Facebook social-networking website. She told investigators the baby cried loudly as she played the game, which prosecutor Richard Mantei identified as FarmVille, a simulation game in which players raise crops and livestock with the help of Facebook friends.
Furthermore,
Tobias then put the baby on the couch and stepped out for a cigarette to regain her composure, the arrest report says. When she came back in, the family dog knocked the baby off the couch. The crying started again and Tobias shook the baby a second time before calling for an ambulance, the arrest report says. (..) She told the judge she'd graduated from high school. Court papers say she went to Samuel W. Wolfson Senior High School in Jacksonville. The paperwork also said Tobias did not have a job. (..) According to court records, her child abuse arrest violated a six-month probation she began serving just a few weeks before after pleading no contest to a domestic battery charge.
Farmville may have had other, even more counterintuitive effects. A story from just a few days ago in SeattleWeekly suggests that 27 y.o. Gary A. Veldhuizen from Ferndale, FarmVille player, pleaded guilty to raping a goat (i.e., bestiality):
The billy buggering took place at a farm near Enterprise Road at Willeys Lake Road in May. Apparently a family member caught Veldhuizen in mid-shag and called sheriff's deputies who came and arrested him. Veldhuizen's Facebook page shows the pudgy Ferndalian's love of ranch life extends to the virtual world as well, as he is a big fan of the game FarmVille. One of the more recent posts says he wants to "share some grape bushels with you."
Incidentally, Farmville has also other similar “click” games, one involving Mafia and organized crime, but that game has yet to result in someone’s death.
South Korea Online
Sad as it may be, this is not the first time addictive, non-violent games were involved in the death of children. Only a few months earlier, in February-March 2010, a South-Korean couple was arrested for starving their 3-month-old prematurely born daughter.
Once a day, between 12-hour stretches at a neighborhood Internet cafe, they fed their baby. Instead of nurturing their own daughter, they became obsessed with raising a virtual child in the popular role-playing game called Prius Online. The couple were arrested in Suwon, a suburb of Seoul, 5 months after reporting the death of their baby. The baby’s autopsy showed that she’d died due to a long period of malnutrition. (..) This is the dirty underbelly of South Korea’s fast and cheap Internet connections. Over the last ten years, there have been many stories of Internet addiction and compulsive gaming leading to serious consequences and even death. In 2007, South Korea established an Internet addiction camp to help people overcome their addiction to the Internet.
According to PBS, in the more than 20000 Korean “PC Bangs” (i.e., Internet cafes), the more time you spend playing, the less you pay:
Roughly 50 percent of South Koreans play games regularly, and 75 percent of gamers prefer online games
Currently, the most played game in Korean "PC bangs" (Internet cafes) is Aion, a massively multiplayer online role playing game. It is due for release in the U.S. in fall 2009.
In December 2008, the Korean government announced it would invest $237 million in the game industry to help expand gaming exports, which topped $1 billion for the first time in 2008.
The South Korean online games market is expected to exceed $1.7 billion by the end of 2009
Korea hosted the first Global Online Game Awards in 2008
One-third of South Korea's population of 48 million has registered to play the game KartRider at least once
Video game consoles, such as Sony PlayStation or Nintendo Wii, are less popular than PC games, in part because of widely available broadband Internet and a previous ban on Japanese cultural imports.
In 2005, a 28-year-old Korean man died after playing Starcraft almost non-stop for 50 hours. He inspired (or was he inspired by) the South Park WoW episode. He had just been fired for playing games too much. The government solution is Jump Up Internet Rescue School, a boot camp to cure online gaming addiction. According to New York Times,
South Korea boasts of being the most wired nation on earth. In fact, perhaps no other country has so fully embraced the Internet. Ninety percent of homes connect to cheap, high-speed broadband, online gaming is a professional sport, and social life for the young revolves around the “PC bang,” dim Internet parlors that sit on practically every street corner. (..) Up to 30 percent of South Koreans under 18, or about 2.4 million people, are at risk of Internet addiction, said Ahn Dong-hyun, a child psychiatrist at Hanyang University in Seoul who just completed a three-year government-financed survey of the problem. (..) To address the problem, the government has built a network of 140 Internet-addiction counseling centers, in addition to treatment programs at almost 100 hospitals and, most recently, the Internet Rescue camp, which started this summer. Researchers have developed a checklist for diagnosing the addiction and determining its severity, the K-Scale. (The K is for Korea.)
NYT offers even insight into how such addictions get started:
One participant, Lee Chang-hoon, 15, began using the computer to pass the time while his parents were working and he was home alone. He said he quickly came to prefer the virtual world, where he seemed to enjoy more success and popularity than in the real one. He spent 17 hours a day online, mostly looking at Japanese comics and playing a combat role-playing game called Sudden Attack. He played all night, and skipped school two or three times a week to catch up on sleep. When his parents told him he had to go to school, he reacted violently. Desperate, his mother, Kim Soon-yeol, sent him to the camp. “He didn’t seem to be able to control himself,” said Mrs. Kim, a hairdresser. “He used to be so passionate about his favorite subjects” at school. “Now, he gives up easily and gets even more absorbed in his games.” Her son was reluctant at first to give up his pastime. “I don’t have a problem,” Chang-hoon said in an interview three days after starting the camp. “Seventeen hours a day online is fine.” But later that day, he seemed to start changing his mind, if only slightly.
The Supremes
In USA and especially California, addiction is not seen as a problem. The “problem” is solely violent games. Recently, the Governator signed a strict law to control game violence, a law eventually appealed by a Game producers association all the way to the Supreme Court. The hearings were, according to the Hollywood reporter, cause for comedy:
Justice Alito getting a sly dig at his colleague over "original intent" in the U.S. Constitution: "I think what Justice Scalia wants to know is what James Madison thought about video games. Did he enjoy them?"
Justice Kagan, the junior member of the high court, trying to show she's hip: "You think Mortal Kombat is prohibited by this statute? It's a candidate, meaning, a reasonable jury could find that Mortal Kombat, which is an iconic game, which I am sure half of the clerks who work for us spent considerable amount of time in their adolescence playing."
Justice Breyer creating, excuse the pun, a tortured metaphor about a 13-year-old playing video games depicting violence: "I have tried to take as bad a [scenario] as I could think of, gratuitous torture of children. OK. Now, you can't buy a naked woman, but you can go and buy that, you say to the 13-year-old. Now, what sense is there to that?"
Justice Scalia muses about whether it would be a good thing to let juries act as censors: "Juries are not controllable. That's the wonderful thing about juries, also the worst thing about juries."
Just about anything out of the mouth of Justice Sotomayor, including these questions:
"One of the studies, the Anderson study, says that the effect of violence is the same for a Bugs Bunny episode as it is for a violent video. So can the legislature now, because it has that study, say we can outlaw Bugs Bunny?"
"Could you get rid of rap music? Have you heard some of the lyrics of some of the rap music...?"
"Would a video game that portrayed a Vulcan as opposed to a human being, being maimed and tortured, would that be covered by the act?"
"So if the video producer says this is not a human being, it's an android computer simulated person, then all they have to do is put a little artificial feature on the creature and they could sell the video game?"
"What happens when the character gets maimed, head chopped off and immediately after it happens they spring back to life and they continue their battle? Is that covered by your act?"
It seems to me that Schwarzenegger, though not a big fan of such a law, signed it stating “children must be protected” not because he believes that, but rather because he thinks that reason is unconvincing for parents. All hopes that such ill-conceived legislation will be stopped so that it does not push game development to Asia rest now with the Supreme Court.
Recent revelations of a former KGB agent seem to suggest that Hemingway had been recruited by KGB. To add insult to the injury, he was apparently dropped because he was no good. They didn't like his prose, I assume.
Most of us know Hemingway from one of the books listed below and know little about his fantastic life. Yet he was a war hero, he fought on the left side most of the time, especially in the Spanish civil war, he enjoyed traveling for long periods of time and he committed suicide only when life had become unbearable in a body worn out by the war and more recent Kenyan (mis)adventures and accidents. The following list of documentaries, interviews and Hemingway-centered video clips attempt to cast some light on the lesser known corners of this ensemble.
It is this proximity to left-wing causes that fuelled the growing acceptance of the claim, made by a former KGB agent, that Hemingway was at one point a KGB agent, but was let go as his information was generally useless. Those who love him for his writings, raised to his defence pointing out that he was highly courageous and always open about both his past as well as his present. It is quite possible that the KGB agent thought he was listening to an informant, while Hemingway thought he is pouring his heart out to a sympathetic stranger during one of his frequent alcoholic fog episodes.
Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.
"'Nobody ever lives their life all the way up except bull-fighters.'" - Chapter 2, The Sun Also Rises
To me heaven would be a big bull ring with me holding two barrera seats and a trout stream outside that no one else was allowed to fish in and two lovely houses in the town; one where I would have my wife and children and be monogamous and love them truly and well and the other where I would have my nine beautiful mistresses on nine different floors.
When we recently learned about a Spaniard being gored to death in what has been termed one of the wildest Pamplona bull races in years, and that in related news, a horse died in Canada after a race of a heart attack we could not help thinking of the old man and his sea of novels. This is also why we added the scenes of the goring and Pamplona race at the end of the playlist above.
A recent study shows that living abroad enhances creativity. So great is Hemingway’s association with being worldly that the Economist use him as an example, closing their article with claiming that merely traveling without living abroad extensively does not help much:
Packing your beach towel and suntan lotion will not, by itself, make you Hemingway.
In another book, the Spanish war is seen as a precursor to WWII:
“IN SPAIN two vast world forces are testing each other out: if Franco conquers, Europe will be black or Europe will go to war as soon as Hitler and Mussolini are ready.” That was the correct prediction in 1936 of Louis Fischer, an American journalist so convinced of the dangers of Franco’s fascist rebellion that he joined the International Brigades to take up arms on behalf of the Republican government.
As such, Hemingway was on the right side of history – though spying for Stalin would have been definitely wrong, even though at that time Stalin’s and Mao’s crimes and genocides were largely unknown.
In his tribute to his friend Carrie Fisher, Steve Martin dares to call her beautiful and SJWs of the world unite in their outrage. This demented political correctness police is part of the reason why Trump has won.
Julia Roberts was so smitten with Hinduism during the filming of her new movie Eat Pray Love in India, that she returned home a Hindu.
Her character in the movie, an adaptation of the Elizabeth Gilbert’s travel memoir, she travels to India as part of a spiritual pilgrimage to learn about some aspects of Indian culture, such as yoga, meditation and life in an ashram.
Though Christian (with Baptist and Catholic parents), she reached her own Nirvana during the shoot. She tells Elle:
I'm definitely a practising Hindu. (..) Golly, I've been so spoiled with my friends and family in this life. Next time I want to be just something quiet and supporting
Talking about her husband Danny Moder and their children, she said “How lucky we are that we love each other so much that we burst into three pieces.” The Oscar winning actress is also very modest about her acting skills:
I have no acting technique. And there’s nothing more boring than actors sitting around talking about acting.
Still, she discusses her work:
I’m always asking those guys to tell me what they want. The same with George Clooney. ‘Name it for me,’ I tell him, ‘and I’ll do it.’
As for Botox, she’ll have none of it:
Your face tells a story… and it shouldn’t be a story about your drive to the doctor’s office.
I came across some idiotic prose, indicative for what passes as entertainment or "good essay" on the tubes these days. It made it in the "best of craigslist" and collected about 827 votes on craigslist. And it reminded me of a story I lived.
Seasons 4 has finally started in AMC - Matthew Weiner saga and here is how it went. I cannot embed the whole video clip, just a li'l somethin-something.
The common theme of this first episode is that it’s all about Don Draper, who is slowly (but in discrete milestones) learning to shed his modesty and his desire to conceal his fraudulent persona.
A Times interview with Da Mon is only appropriate:
I will continue with my notes, though I might add a commentary at a later date.
“i’m from the MidWest. we were taught that it’s not ok to talk about yourself.”
“crisp and engaging portraiture painting”
“I’d love to bend your ear when I’m finished with my book”
meeting – McCan clients - “I don’t know who’s the client here” – 2 pc bathing suit – we’re a family company
“did you tell him about the 2nd floor? – i refuse to be any part of that charade”
lack of conference table - “demands a conversation”
“creatively, Y&R is not capable of living in this neighborhood [downtown, expensive]. you know why? because YOU are not working there”
-- idea about buying turkey ham --
$25 for actors to get in the Daily News “we can’t charge them for it”
get him to Bethany - “you hit it off, come Turkey Day maybe you can stuff her”
sterling gets him to see 25 yo super (numerary) at the Opera. chicken kiev. “they make you wear a bib”
“i’m breaking a lot of my rules seeing a divorced man. but Jane has made you a personal cause.” - “and there were so many real problems in the world”
he kisses her but breaks just when she wanted more – then she keeps the distance
“all in all, not a bad way to spend a Sunday” - “get my an aspirin”
jailai TV commercial sold to abc “I wish we had a 2nd floor so i can jump off it”
turning creative success into business IS your work; and you’ve failed.
dinner scene – thanksgiving –
“the trafic was murder” “that’s because that’s what’s become of this country: everyone has two thanksgivings to go to” “maybe we have twice as much to be thankful for”
hooker scene – harder – again
peggy needs bailout money – they pressed charges against each other (+100 each to keep mouth shot)
when r u moving out? – “it’s only temporary” – believe me, everyone thinks that it is” - “he’s right”
“the image is where you left it” – I don’t need you at that meeting – now you’re being spiteful – no, i just think it would be better not to have a girl in the room
“you know smthg? we are all here because of you. all we wanna do is please you.”
i’ve raised children in my life henry – they’re terrified of her. i know what you see in her and you could’ve gotten it without marrying. she’s a silly woman. honestly, henry, i don’t know how you can stand living in that man’s dirt.
so well built, we can’t show you the second floor. – i think that’s a little suggestive.
damage control
overcomes his reluctance to sell himself in interview with WSJ
The latest news from crazy Japan is a Boyfriend pillow, targeting single women and their need for a partner to "cuddle up to".
Japan is a land of wonders but also of rapid change and ensuing alienation. The marriage rate has dropped and the birth rate has plummeted. Sex toys are so advanced that many men report not being able to ejaculate in human vaginas any more.
Therefore, the launch of the “Boyfriend’s Arm Pillow” should not surprise, since women have unmet needs as well.
Shaped like a man's torso with one sturdy arm, has been on sale since December and has so far been snapped up by 1,000 singles. Manufacturer Kameo said the pillow's shape also keeps the body balanced. One woman, Junko Suzuki, told AP: "It makes me relaxed... I can hold the arm and feel something warm at my side". The pillow is only available in Japan, where it costs about 8,500 Yen (£40, $80), and is available in blue, pink or green. Ms Suzuki, who is separated from her husband, says the pillow has other advantages. "It keeps holding me all the way through. I think this is great because this does not betray me," she told AP.
Child rearing is a problem, as people work for too long:
Japanese Health Minister Hakuo Yanagisawa visited the city of Matsue to talk to party members about the falling birth rate. Arresting the decline would be difficult, he said, because "the number of birth-giving machines and devices is fixed". "All we can ask for is for them to do their best per head," he said.
Such comments are bound to create a stir. The following, however, are not:
According to a lifestyle survey in 2001, married men only spent about 30 minutes each day on household tasks or with their children. This is partly down to traditional attitudes - Japanese men tend not to cook, clean or change nappies. But another problem is a culture of long working hours, followed by compulsory after-work socialising. "My colleague's wife has just had a baby, but he has to work until 11 o'clock every night," said one Tokyo businessman. "He only ever sees the baby when it's asleep."
Dr Inoguchi says the government needs to spend more on helping young families. But she says there also needs to be social change so that both men and women have a better balance between work and family. And the population crisis is helping to highlight where the problems lie. "This very dramatic changing demography and the alarming view that we may not be able to sustain the greying of the population is now leading to - belatedly and reluctantly - the mainstreaming of gender issues," she said.
Only a few months ago we were decrying the 
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The billy buggering took place at a farm near Enterprise Road at Willeys Lake Road in May. Apparently a family member caught Veldhuizen in mid-shag and called sheriff's deputies who came and arrested him. Veldhuizen's Facebook page shows the pudgy Ferndalian's love of ranch life extends to the virtual world as well, as he is a big fan of the game FarmVille. One of the more recent posts says he wants to "share some grape bushels with you."
Auto racing, bull fighting, and mountain climbing are the only real sports ... all others are games.
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The common theme of this first episode is that it’s all about Don Draper, who is slowly (but in discrete milestones) learning to shed his modesty and his desire to conceal his fraudulent persona.
Japan is a land of wonders but also of rapid change and ensuing alienation. The marriage rate has dropped and the birth rate has plummeted. Sex toys are so advanced that many men report not being able to ejaculate in human vaginas any more.
Child rearing is a problem, as people work for too long:
