Archive for the 'music/ent/lit' Category

“…Mel Gibson’s Alleged Triple-Murder-Suicide Plot Revealed…”

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

“…Shocking new details of Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva’s January 6 fight have emerged.

Oksana told authorities that Mel punched her twice in the head … then choked her with his forearm against the throat …

… as she fell to the bed with their baby daughter, Lucia, in her arms, Radar reports.

He put his free hand over her mouth and continued to choke her.

Her 12-year-old son, Sascha, was in the bedroom the whole time.

As Oksana struggled free, she says Mel pulled out a gun and threatened to kill her, Lucia, Sascha and himself.

Somehow she managed to escape and ran out of the house barefoot with the kids.

Tuesday Radar also released more of Oksana’s secretly recorded tapes in which she accuses Mel of hitting Lucia.

“You hit me, and you hit her while she was in my hands! Mel, you’re losing your mind. You need medication,” Oksana tells him on tape.

“You need a f*cking kick up the a** for being a b*tch, c*nt, gold digging whore!

With a p*ssy son!

And I want my child, and no one will believe you!

So f*ck you!” Mel screams back.

The child was photographed with a bruise on her chin after the fight, according to a report…”

go to source/story>>>Mel Gibson’s Alleged Triple-Murder-Suicide Plot Revealed

“…Facebook’s User Satisfaction Bombs: Site Rates Slightly Above IRS…(in “the bottom 5% of all private sector companies)…”

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

“…Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg might have quieted some of the outcry over Facebook’s privacy settings, but, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, Facebook’s users still aren’t happy.

The index, which, for the the first time, included social media sites among the thirty online media companies …

… found that Facebook had one of the lowest “satisfaction” scores among the firms ranked.

Facebook’s “abysmal” 64 points out of 100 put it in “the bottom 5% of all private sector companies …

… and in the same range as the IRS tax e-filing system, airlines and cable companies,” the Wall Street Journal explains…”

go to source/story>>>Facebook’s User Satisfaction Bombs: Site Rates Slightly Above IRS

“…Murdoch’s First Newspaper Paywall Not Off to a Great Start…”

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

“…Some early numbers are leaking on Rupert Murdoch’s London Times paywall experiment.

After a month of forced free registrations and two weeks of a full paywall, Dan Sabbagh at Beehivecity.com says these are the numbers:

* 150,000 registrations (PaidContent says this is 12% of the online reader base)

* 15,000 paid subscriptions

* Another 12,500 paid iPad subscriptions

Apparently, the 15,000 paid subscriptions figure is considered “disappointing.”

And it is disappointing — from the perspective of those hoping to save newspapers by erecting paywalls.

The first burst of paid subscriptions — from folks who just can’t imagine life without the Times — are likely to be the biggest burst that the paper gets.

But if we’re charitable and assume that the 15,000 online subs and 12,500 iPad subs grow to include the 150,000 folks who have registered (unlikely) …

… this still would not produce a big revenue base.

At 2 pounds a week, the average online subscriber would produce 100 pounds of revenue a year. 150,000 of them would produce 15 million pounds of revenue.

15 million pounds of revenue would be nice for a company used to living on, say, $5 million of revenue.

But it wouldn’t even begin to offset the cost of the Times’ huge newsroom.

Meanwhile, what has the new paywall done to online traffic?

So far, it has dropped by two-thirds.

That, apparently, is actually better than expected.

One editor feared it would collapse by 90%…”

go to source/story>>>Henry Blodget: Murdoch’s First Newspaper Paywall Not Off to a Great Start

“…iPhone 3G crippled by software update…”

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

“…. Its reputation has already been tarnished by iPhone 4 antenna problems, but now Apple faces a new PR nightmare …

… as iPhone 3G owners say their handsets are barely usable after Apple pushed out a software update.

The iOS 4.0 update was recently delivered to iPhone 3G users when they connected the device to their computer.

Many users have said their phones now regularly lock up … and take an eternity to perform basic tasks like web browsing.

Anthony Agius, founder of the popular Australian MacTalk community website, described the update as a “disaster” for iPhone 3G owners.

“It’s just so slow, apps don’t run properly - to launch the SMS app for example might take 30 seconds, Safari chugs …

… the OS [operating system] itself will freeze,” he said, adding the problems persisted even with the recent minor iOS 4.0.1 update.

“Apple blocked it so you can’t go back to version 3 … so if you don’t like it you’re stuck with it.

Personally I think they just made a bad choice by releasing iOS 4 for the 3G without checking it properly.”…”

go to source/story>>> iPhone 3G crippled by software update | Stuff.co.nz

“…Mickey Rourke plans gay rugby role…”

Wednesday, July 21st, 2010

“…Mickey Rourke is set to play Welsh gay rugby star Gareth Thomas in a film about his life.

The Iron Man 2 actor got in touch with Gareth after reading about him, and is keen to turn his story into a big-screen biopic.

Thomas’ spokesperson said: “Mickey Rourke is a big rugby fan and was flying to New York from London recently when he read an article about Gareth …

… and thought he would be the perfect model for a film…”

go to source/story>>>Mickey Rourke plans gay rugby role - Entertainment - NZ Herald News

“…Hopes and Prospects … By Noam Chomsky…”

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

“… Noam Chomsky is one of the most hysterically abused figures in the world today.

Even his critics have to concede that his work in the field of linguistics – beginning to decode the structure of how language is formed in the human brain –

- makes him one of the most important intellectuals alive.

But when he applies the same rigorous method to figuring out how power – especially the American government’s – works, he is pepper-sprayed with smears.

He is a self-hating Holocaust denier, a jihad-loving traitor, a Pol Pot-licking communist, and on and on.

If all you know of his work is the smears, then Hopes and Prospects will be a revelation.

In his dry, understated way, he excavates the reality behind the Babel of 24/7 corporate news … and places long-buried truths on the table to examine.

Every one is sourced to the leading academic journals, the best experts, the sharpest medical advice –

- yet each one is a shock if you rely on news brought to you by corporations … and corrupt right-wing billionaires.

For example, he uncovers the story of why Haiti is so poor, and could be shaken to pieces by an earthquake that would have killed only a handful in California.

It’s a story of man-made earthquakes, one after another.

The country was the first to rebel against slavery and to cast off the whip-hand – and was brutally punished by the French Empire.

Every time it has begun to rise to its feet, it has been kicked back down … with the American Empire taking over to topple its elected leaders …

… (the last was put on a plane at gunpoint in 2008) …

… and stifle any moves towards development.

But who has heard about it?

Who tries to hold our leaders accountable for it?

Chomsky is trying to rescue crimes from the memory-hole.

He explains that Ronald Reagan – the great hero of the US right – was a great champion of jihadism.

It was Reagan who encouraged Pakistan simultaneously to become fundamentalist … and acquire nuclear weapons.

Chomsky coolly condemns “the global jihad launched by Zia and Reagan,” for geopolitical reasons …

… with no concern for the after-effects.

But Reagan remains unstained.

Chomsky quotes the great American historian Francis Jennings, who noted that…

… “In history, the man in the ruffled shirt and gold-coated waistcoat levitates above the blood he has ordered to be spilled by dirty-handed underlings.”

Instead, Chomsky says, history is too often ruled by Thucydides’s maxim: …

…”The strong do as they wish … while the poor suffer as they must.”

It doesn’t have to be this way…”

go to source/story>>>  Hopes and Prospects, By Noam Chomsky : ICH - Information Clearing House

Peter Bills: “…New Zealand are revolutionising rugby…”

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

“…A strange, alien sighting was glimpsed in the skies above Wellington’s Westpac stadium last Saturday night.

Or rather, it was something that wasn’t there that was so bewildering, so baffling.

A rugby Test match was played without any aerial ping-pong, the great kicking plague of the modern game.

Well, that isn’t strictly true.

One side did still try it.

But they lost by 31 points to 17, four tries to two.

So they don’t matter, do they?

Well, let’s hope not.

It might be stretching credulity to suggest that the rugby played by New Zealand these past two weekends in the Tri-Nations, at Auckland and Wellington, has been of a revolutionary nature.

After all, can you envisage the All Blacks coach, former Auckland schoolmaster Graham Henry, kitted out in a tee-shirt and beret, Che Guevara style?

No, nor me.

But the encouraging thing is, Henry’s team is revolutionising rugby.

Or at least, it should be.

For those with a brain to think, a mind to rationalise, what the All Blacks are doing right now in world rugby terms is what Guevara proposed all those years ago.

Sweep away the old rubbish and start afresh.

Here’s to the revolution, comrade…

Yet it’s not as if Henry’s All Blacks are doing something never seen before on the fields of world rugby.

Mils Muliaina is taking high kicks from opponents, looking up to assess his options and, when he spies space, counter attacking.

Radical? I don’t think so.

Remember a bloke called Christian Cullen, or JPR Williams?

The All Blacks backs are throwing passes, short and long, unloading and scampering around the back of the ball receiver to take the off-load and make an extra man in the back line.

Never seen before?

Please, be serious.

Have you never heard of players like Frank Bunce, Mike Gibson or Jo Maso?

But the point is, the modern game had descended into a miasma of predictability.

It had become boring and formulaic.

They kick long to you; you’re too scared of losing possession and just lamely kick it back.

They catch it and hoof it back to you.

Gee, how did we ever stay awake watching all that gumph?…”

go to source/story>>>Peter Bills: New Zealand are revolutionising rugby - News & Comment, Rugby Union - The Independent

“…Nexus One DEAD: Google Discontinues Its Android Phone…”

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

“…Google’s first-ever phone, the Nexus One, launched to great fanfare earlier this year.

There was talk of the Android handset becoming an “iPhone killer”…

… and speculation that Google’s direct-to-consumer sales strategy for its unlocked phone would change the mobile market as we knew it.

But now, some six months after its launch, Google is discontinuing the Nexus One.

ReadWriteWeb reports that dismal sales have doomed the phone: …

…”In the same amount of time it took Apple to sell 1 million iPhones, Google only sold 135,000 of the Android-powered Nexus.”

go to source/story>>>Nexus One DEAD: Google Discontinues Its Android Phone

“…10 Summer Songs That Need To Die…”

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“…Every summer there are certain songs that are completely inescapable.

Whether it be at your family’s awkward 4th of July barbecue reunion … or blasting inside the department stores you already feel kind of lame being inside …

… these hot weather-themed songs are totally unwelcome … yet simply will not die.

Below we have compiled a list of ten of these tracks that need check into the retirement home … and spend their last few days out of earshot.

Some of these are beloved classics …

… and we understand it may be hard to cast some of these into the fires of Lamedor …

… but one must have courage sometimes…”

go to source/story>>>Flavorwire » 10 Summer Songs That Need To Die

“…A Guide for Literary Pilgrims…”

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“…Aspiring literary pilgrims take note:…

… Writers’ Houses is a new online clearinghouse that aims “to be a field guide to deceased writers’ homes …

… searchable by author, city, state, and country.”

go to source/story>>A Guide for Literary Pilgrims

“…Terrible Opening Lines for Imaginary Books…”

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“…Write the worst opening sentence you can imagine for a novel.

Then submit it to the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest.

Then win, if, of course, you have achieved sufficient badness.

Author Molly Ringle did just that, by writing:

“For the first month of Ricardo and Felicity’s affair, they greeted one another at every stolen rendezvous with a kiss–a lengthy, ravenous kiss, Ricardo lapping and sucking at Felicity’s mouth as if she were a giant cage-mounted water bottle and he were the world’s thirstiest gerbil.”

Why of course there’s a contest for this.

You should peruse the work of those who won in other categories, like Mary Ann R. Unger’s victorious Historical Fiction entry:

“In Southwestern Germany just east of the Luxemburg border and north of France where history pitted various related Hapsburg Royals against each other and the Archbishops of Trier, the Abbots of St. Maximin, various members of the nobility, and mobs of axe-bearing villagers, there stands a ruin whose building stones mostly were carted off to build other buildings.”…

go to source/story>>>Terrible Opening Lines for Imaginary Books

“…For anyone who has ever thought Charles Dickens was lurking inside his or her prose … a new website claims it can find your inner author…”

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“…The recently launched I Write Like has one simple gimmick: …

… You paste a few paragraphs that exemplify your writing, then click “analyze” and – poof! – you get a badge telling you that you write like Stephen King or Ernest Hemingway or Chuck Palahniuk.

The site’s traffic has soared in recent days and its arrival has lit up the blogosphere.

Gawker tried a transcript from one of the leaked Mel Gibson phone calls.

The suggested author: Margaret Atwood.

The New Yorker found that an invitation to a birthday party was James Joycean.

Many others were aghast to discover they wrote similarly to “The Da Vinci Code” scribe Dan Brown.

The New York Times tried putting in actual novels, such as “Moby-Dick.”

Herman Melville, it turns out, writes less like himself than King, according to I Write Like.

Atwood, herself, tried the site … only to discover she also apparently writes like King.

“Who knew?” she tweeted…”

go to source/story>>>‘I Write Like’ Website Goes Viral, Authors Bewildered

“…Girlfriends’ Guide: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Mel Gibson?…”

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“…I’ve been on summer vacay, professionally known as a hiatus, but even fun in the sun couldn’t distract me from the Mel Gibson debacle calling to me from supermarket checkout lines to the evening news to family dinner conversations.

He’s a beast, isn’t he?

Rage, mixed with misogyny and racism is just too grotesque to be ignored.

What do you think we should do about it?

Ban him from “The View?”

Applaud that his talent agency has kicked him to the curb?

Go easier on those Russian spies, to show solidarity to Oksana Grigorieva, his baby mama?

Torch his homes?

Start recording all our distasteful private conversations for future evidence?

I, for one, am microwaving popcorn and settling in with my iPad, TV and gossip mags on my sofa.

It’s many things, but to me it’s entertainment.

It’s so extreme and perverse, yet somehow non-threatening, that I find it diverting.

Lust, greed, lots of injectibles and orthodontia combining with one man’s struggle to deny time and the diminishment of his potency are the stuff of King Lear and MacBeth.

How fun!

I just wish it were better written.

If I were Lindsey Lohan’s P.R. agent, I’d be squeezing myself with delight right now.

Only Mel and Oksana’s cocktail of narcissism, sex, ambition and treachery could have diverted America from her jail sentence and entrance into drug rehab.

Or is it vice versa, I can’t recall.

Then again, Lindsey is existing on the fumes of celebrity rather than an actual career these days …

… and might resent every anguishing moment of the Aussie actor’s compelling disintegration…”

go to source/story>>>Vicki Iovine: Girlfriends’ Guide: How Do You Solve a Problem Like Mel Gibson?

“…publication of ‘The Third Man’ … Lord Mandelson’s memoirs … left him with scarcely a friend in the Labour Party…”

Monday, July 19th, 2010

“…Mandelson has finally managed to put himself beyond the pale.

Not only has the bulk of the Labour Party decided that he can safely be regarded as a pariah …

… but even his friends have joined the sniping.

“This may seem an odd admission from someone who once embodied New Labour’s reputation for spin and control freakery,” Lord Mandelson says in the first paragraph of the introduction to his “frank, honest and revealing” memoirs …

… “but almost everything about this book is different from what I had imagined it would be.”

Tell that to his friends, his enemies and everyone else in the Labour Party.

They expected bitchiness, self-serving justification and cant … and The Third Man gave it to them;…

… they expected score-settling, distortions of the truth and a rewriting of Labour history … largely to the detriment of the author’s many enemies …

… and he did not let them down.

Or, rather, he did.

Irretrievably.

Mandelson has come a long way within Labour: he has suffered general opprobrium and two cabinet resignations.

But he did contribute to three election victories.

Once, colleagues were conflicted about the Prince of Darkness – appalled by what he stood for, yet grudgingly appreciative of his talents.

But now, after a week of all-out in-fighting …

… they feel free to revile him wholeheartedly…”

go to source/story>>>Mandelson: Author of his own downfall … - UK Politics, UK - The Independent

“…Californian surfing…”

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

“…Legendary surfer Mickey Munoz has been riding the waves for more than six decades.

He talks to Paul Harris about the history of surfing in California…”

go to source/story>>>Californian surfing | World news | guardian.co.uk

“…19 Facts You May Not Have Known About the Star Wars Universe…”

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

“…Sure, “Star Wars” is the most obsessed-over movie of all time.

There are, however, still some fascinating bits of trivia that have escaped the attention of all but the most hardcore fans.

Being the brainchild of notoriously egocentric George Lucas, the series is chock-full of hidden gems of knowledge and bits of Lucas’s personal life.

Here are 19 fascinating facts about the Star Wars universe that aren’t all that well known…”

go to source/story>>>19 Facts You May Not Have Known About the Star Wars Universe - Asylum.com

“…George Carlin:… Rethinking a free speech icon…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…As a new court ruling overturns the rules on TV cussing … a look back at the comic who helped start the debate

Thirty-two years after the Supreme Court ruled on a free speech case sparked by the George Carlin routine “Filthy Words” …

… profanity and the First Amendment are in the news again.

A ruling handed down this week by the New York-based Second Court of Appeals all but torpedoed the Federal Communications Commission’s recent attempts to regulate so-called fleeting profanity on TV.

Carlin, a First Amendment absolutist who died in 2008, would have gotten a kick out of the court’s decision (and a new routine as well).

The ruling is a handy excuse to appreciate Carlin and praise a couple of excellent books about the comic: …

… One is James Sullivan’s new biography “7 Dirty Words: The Life and Crimes of George Carlin.”

The other is “Last Words,” a posthumous autobiography by Carlin and Tony Hendra that came out last November.

Both are insightful stand-alone portraits of Carlin.

But put them together and you get more than a multifaceted account of a comic’s career.

You get a chronicle of a man’s psychological evolution –

– a slow unfurling of self-awareness that transformed Carlin from the colorful but safe performer he once believed he was fated to be …

… into the unique and courageous artist that he ultimately became…”

go to source/story>>>George Carlin: Rethinking a free speech icon - Biography - Salon.com

“…Mel Gibson tapes: The complete transcript…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…Now that a fifth exchange has been released … chances are you’ve missed something along the way.

Let’s fix that…”

go to source/story>>> Mel Gibson tapes: The complete transcript - Mel Gibson - Salon.com

“…Sex Pistols, ‘posh boys’ Cameron and Clegg, and those butter ads…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…Ahead of PiL’s UK tour, frontman John Lydon scratches his nuts … and surveys the pop-cultural landscape –

- Lady Gaga, Vampire Weekend, Jay-Z and all…”

go to source/story>>>Sex Pistols, ‘posh boys’ Cameron and Clegg, and those butter ads | Music | The Guardian

“…Caravans just got cooler…(The trend for boutique caravanning is spreading)…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…The kettle had just gone on the gas stove for morning tea when Dave, the owner of the cycle hire company (also a local copper on a career break), turned up to drop our bikes off at the end of our large, fir-lined field.

While talking us through the different cycle routes in the area, his gaze kept drifting off across the field to the marshmallow-coloured caravans.

After handing over the helmets and bike locks, his brow furrowed. “What are they like inside, then?”

Obviously, he was desperate for a peek.

We showed him in.

Within our two curvaceous boxes of vintage fantasy indulgence lay glittering mirrors, flower print wallpaper, framed pictures of the Queen, pink glassware and a defunct beige teasmaid (honestly, it looked cool!).

His smirk grew more bemused.

His eyebrows rose higher when we mentioned that one caravan had been bought off a travelling community in Stoke-on-Trent.

And when we opened the door to the separate, purpose-built bathroom cabin to show him the sea-green vintage bath painted with kittens …

… he burst out laughing and shook his head.

“This is some people’s worst nightmare, isn’t it?

Mind you, my wife would probably like it – she’s an art teacher.”

Granted, the boutique caravanning concept is not for everyone.

Too many damp weekends, fishfinger dinners and enforced bed-sharing linger in the British memory; ..

… there are too many associations with poverty;…

… murderers tend to live in them in films.

And yet, for those who enjoy the toy-like novelties of miniature cupboards and fold-out beds (myself included) …

… there is now an excuse to indulge those childish desires in a way that looks like a hip lifestyle choice .. and not just a bit sad.

Caravans are poshing up and becoming cool.

My tea leaves suggest they are about to become The Next Big Thing …

… hot on the heels of cool camping, glamping, treehouse retreats … and Gypsy wagons…”

go to source/story>>>Caravans just got cooler | Travel | The Guardian

“…What do women get up to online?…( The things you hear about men make them sound so profoundly primitive .. … you wonder how they hit the space bar without an opposable thumb)…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…Women snoop a lot more than men – a joint study by the LSE and Nottingham Trent University found that 14% of wives read their husbands emails …

… and 10% checked their browsing history (for men, those figures are 8% and 7%, respectively).

I know what you’re going to say, you’ll say, “That’s because men look at porn all the time.

Women are just looking for evidence of porn, and maybe if they spent more time looking at their own porn instead of spying on their husband’s …

… these figures might be reversed.”

That’s what I’d say.

Still, we often talk about the nefarious things men get up to on the internet.

You hear about porn addicts.

You hear about men who lie to teenage girls on Bebo … men who sit on Chatroulette all day.

The things you hear about men make them sound so profoundly primitive …

… you wonder how they hit the space bar without an opposable thumb.

There’s no doubt the internet creates a new territory of misdemeanour … but not all of it particularly male.

When people talk about predatory men, or naive and/or bullying teenagers, they miss the major UK demographic …

… the one in which we outstrip internet usage anywhere else in the world … which is among housewives.

That definition is pretty loose, these days; you don’t have to be married, and you’re allowed to have a job.

It just means women of a certain age.

Any given woman who, 10 years ago, would have been out binge drinking: …

… women like me … and possibly you.

UK housewives spend 47% of their leisure time online (according to a study by global market information group TNS) …

… which is higher than the Chinese national average … (overall theirs is the highest in the world).

Our national average is 28%…”

go to source/story>>>What do women get up to online? | Technology | The Guardian

“…The Best Website Design Ideas (PICTURES): The COOLEST Black And White Websites Ever…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…These gorgeous, black-and-white websites are proof that sometimes, less is more.

Although short on color, they’re chock full of imagination, interactivity, playfulness, and hidden surprises: …

… scrolling over a word makes it morph into a string of terms … clicking lets you create a one-person band … and mousing over characters makes them come alive.

See them below, then check out our picks for the most innovative website designs ever…”

go to source/story>>>The Best Website Design Ideas (PICTURES): The COOLEST Black And White Websites Ever

why/how putting ‘comments’ behind a paywall…makes sense…

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“…Thanks to this Guardian blog for identifying a new twist in the development of online news paywalls.

The Sun Chronicle, a paper in Massachusetts with a circulation of about 15,000, has installed a paywall in a single section of its site: the comments section.

In an interview with CJR on Wednesday, Sun Chronicle publisher Oreste D’Arconte explained that money has nothing to do with the decision.

Like many Web sites, D’Arconte said, the Chronicle was plagued for several years by abusive, obscene, or otherwise “nasty” comments.

The Web staff felt they were wasting too much time deleting inappropriate comments and policing repeat offenders.

Trying to approve each comment before it went live proved to be just as inefficient …

… and the delay in posting the comments seemed to undermine the point of having an online feedback system in the first place.

Eventually, the situation got so bad that, in April, they disabled comments completely while they decided what to do next.

The Sun Chronicle’s affiliated sites—The Foxboro Reporter and The Silver City Bulletin—had their comments sections disabled as well.

D’Arconte and his staff wanted a way to encourage dialogue, while holding people accountable for what they said.

Being a small staff, they wanted it to be an automatic process that wouldn’t take up their time during the day.

They struck upon the idea of tying each online account to a credit card … in order to verify the person’s name and location.

So they hired a developer to create a simple piece of software to do just that.

Now, before posting a comment, readers will be greeted by a popup that explains the new policy:

‘..To encourage intelligent and meaningful conversation, all posters will be required to register their name, address, phone number, email and a legitimate credit card number as proof of who you are.

Your credit card will be charged a one-time fee of 99 cents to activate the account.

We will not retain payment information after the one-time transaction..’

This one-time charge gets you into the system for life, unless you post anything that the editors consider objectionable …

… in which case they can still ban you…”

go to source/story>>>The Sun Chronicle Puts its Comments Behind a Paywall : CJR

“…Nicolas Cage took drugs with cat…”

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

“… Nicolas Cage once took magic mushrooms with his cat.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice actor confesses he once took the hallucinogenic drug with his cat Lewis …

… when he discovered the feline had gained access to the fridge … and taken them.

He said: “I had a bag of mushrooms in my refrigerator.

My cat used to sneak into the refrigerator and eat them.

“The cat ate them voraciously, so I thought what the heck, I better do it with him.

I remember lying on my bed for hours … and Lewis was on the desk across my bed … and we just stared at each other for hours -

- not moving … just staring at each other … and I had no doubt that he was my brother.”…”

go to source/story>>>Nicolas Cage took drugs with cat | Stuff.co.nz

comment@whoar…wtf is wrong with you all…?..rugby usually bores me rigid…but that game last sat was the best i have ever seen…why are you all so quiet…?

Saturday, July 17th, 2010

i don’t really like watching sports that much…

..and rugby has been pretty boring for quite a while..

..in years past the ‘boy’ and i gave it a go…did the father/son watching the rugby test together thing…

we both found our interests fast waning..(c.f..’boring’-rugby..)..

and ..through mutual agreement..we drifted away/couldn’t be bothered…

he played soccer for quite a few years..so we did that number…

now..i don’t really write/bang on about sport that much….

..but the compare and contrast from last weekend…had me sitting up straight…and puzzled that nobody else seems to have noticed/compared…

..c’os on sat-nite we had this absolute ripper/cracker of a rugby game…(that had me going ‘whoar!’…repeatedly….)

i just had the delayed broadcast from prime playing in the background…and it quickly became my foreground..

…heavy/brutal/fast rugby..at it’s very best…..and compelling to watch…..

then on on morn….we had the soccer/’football’/w.h.y. final…

and that was an exercise in tedium…and strikingly like that simpsons’ piss-take on soccer/f.b./w.h.y….from way way back….eh…?

yet the media seems to have been all over the ‘excitement’ of that soccer/f.b/w.h.y. world cup final…

…and missed that game of champagne rugby…..

i hope they can do it again tonight…..eh…?

..much more of this and i’ll have to alert the ‘boy’…to have another look…

..eh..?

“…Pixar: Small wonders…”

Friday, July 16th, 2010

“…Each of Pixar’s blockbusters has come with a short film.

Day & Night, which accompanies Toy Story 3, is the most extraordinary yet, says Guy Adams.

The scene in cinemas where Toy Story 3 opens later this month will be familiar to everyone who has ventured out to watch a Pixar film during the 16 years they’ve been in existence.

First, lights will fall.

Then, trailers will be screened, along with that awful advert telling punters to shut up and switch off their phones.

Finally, after a brief silence and the odd “ssh!” projectors will whirr for the main event.

At which point, in corners of every Toy Story auditorium, you’ll hear a murmur of confusion: …

… the film being shown will very much not be the latest blockbusting adventures of Buzz Lightyear and friends.

Instead, viewers will spend the next six minutes watching a bizarre-looking yarn, part hand-drawn cartoon, part cheery CG animation, set to music.

It is called Day & Night, and it is this year’s Pixar short.

The short – a film lasting roughly five minutes, screened immediately before a feature – is part of a tradition stretching back to the early days of Hollywood (vintage Disney films always had them) … which fell into abeyance some time in the late 1970s …

… but in recent years has experienced a revival at the hands of Pixar: …

… the studio has made them for every movie it has ever released, with the exception of 1994’s Toy Story…”

go to source/story>>>Pixar: Small wonders - Features, Films - The Independent

“…Frederick “Toots” Hibbert: The reggae king of Kingston…”

Friday, July 16th, 2010

“… Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the leading light of Toots and the Maytals … and the man famed for giving reggae its name …

… is sitting in his record company offices in West London reflecting on the state of contemporary music.

Frederick “Toots” Hibbert, the leading light of Toots and the Maytals and the man famed for giving reggae its name, is sitting in his record company offices in West London reflecting on the state of contemporary music.

“I know what the youth of today are short of: good lyrics and positivity,” he says jovially.

“There’s too much negativity in music.

If you are negative, you don’t have a real message.

When we started we sang about the life we lived, the life we wanted for the future.

Reggae is message music.

The message has to be happy otherwise who is going to listen to you?”

True to his word, Hibbert’s new LP, True Love, is an album that induces feelings of such happiness and warmth …

… that it makes you wonder if someone has spiked your morning tea.

It features joyous re-workings of classic Maytals anthems such as “Pressure Drop”, “54-46 (That’s My Num- ber)”, “Reggae Got Soul” and “Monkey Man”…

… alongside a host of pop luminaries such as Keith Richards, Ryan Adams, Bonnie Raitt, Willie Nelson, Shaggy and Eric Clapton.

“Everyone just do it for me as they are all my fans,” Hibbert beams, his Jamaican accent apparent, when I remark upon his starry address book.

“They know my style and they love my songs.

I have a lot of new material that I don’t want to release yet.

Why release new tracks when you have these great songs?

I want to make sure real reggae is heard by the younger generation.

I think people have lost respect for the rhythm.

Drum machines and computers have come in and taken away a lot of virtue from reggae.

This album is a reference point for the younger generation.”

go to source/story>>>Frederick “Toots” Hibbert: The reggae king of Kingston - Features, Music - The Independent

“…The real Steve McQueen…(No subsequent male lead has managed to be quite as cool as McQueen)…”

Friday, July 16th, 2010

“…Hollywood’s king of cool … the reality behind the action man.

The posthumous “king of cool” is how Steve McQueen is routinely described by his fans today.

Thirty years after McQueen’s death, the reputation of the star of The Great Escape, The Magnificent Seven, Bullitt and The Getaway hasn’t been usurped by any of his successors.

No subsequent male lead has managed to be quite as cool as McQueen.

It’s not for want of trying.

From Die Hard onward, Bruce Willis has striven forlornly to emulate McQueen’s laconic screen image.

Kevin Costner clearly modelled his persona partly on that of the equally close-cropped and undemonstrative star.

Alec Baldwin was another McQueen pretender, even taking the star’s old role in an ill-fated remake of The Getaway.

But none has come close to McQueen’s mix of machismo and unflappability.

He was only 50 when he died of cancer.

Unlike Paul Newman or Robert Redford, he didn’t become crumpled with age … or take on the character roles that would diminish his original aura.

The irony is that McQueen really didn’t think he was a very good actor – one reason why he was so undemonstrative on screen.

“He always said he wasn’t an actor, he was a reactor.

By that he meant that he didn’t want to be lumbered with speaking plot.

He wasn’t sure he could do it,” the Briton Peter Yates, who worked with him on Bullitt, recalled.

McQueen’s solution was to pare down and down: to aim for the most minimalist style he could.

He is the antithesis to a star like James Cagney, who was in audiences’ faces …

… demanding their attention with his motor-mouthed delivery of dialogue and expressive physical gestures.

Nor, although he studied with Sanford Meisner (one of the top Method acting coaches) and effortlessly projected rebelliousness, does he have the soul-searching, neurotic quality of a Montgomery Clift or a James Dean.

He isn’t the monolithic John Wayne type either.

Actors who try to imitate him risk being dull.

They don’t have his eyes or intensity.

“Steve was the ultimate movie star.

He had what they refer to as the X-factor.

Well, it’s sex appeal, that’s what it is.

He had enormous sex appeal,” Robert Vaughan (his co-star in The Magnificent Seven) said of him.

McQueen was unusual among action stars in that he appealed equally strongly to male fans, who relished his feats of derring-do on motorbikes or in cars …

… and to women, who sensed a vulnerability behind the swaggering persona.

“I think it’s safe to say that it would have been impossible not to fall in love with Steve,” Ali McGraw, who began a turbulent love affair with McQueen during the making of The Getaway, recently told Vanity Fair.

For all his self-possession on screen, McQueen had a violent temper and a reputation as a rebel.

In his early roles, a sense of barely suppressed rage is always evident.

McQueen had been abandoned as a kid by his stunt-pilot father.

He was a troubled adolescent who often fell foul of the law, fought with his stepfather and spent time in reform school.

His time in the marines taught him the restraint and discipline he always seemed to convey in movies…”

go to source/story>>>The real Steve McQueen - Features, Films - The Independent

comment@whoar…’bad-news’ warning/alert…!…(music-division…)

Friday, July 16th, 2010

steel yrselves…!

the msm-media is covering the news that ‘take that’ are reforming….!

(i know..!..i know…!…)

and if that wasn’t bad enough…?

y’know..!…some people posit that one of the seven-circles of hell…

..is being forced to face an eternity of listening to duets by michael bolton and celine dion…

..i would add that lead singer from simply red to that horror-pantheon…

and the bad news is that they are coming here…to inflict their aural-miseries upon us…

..the only good news is that they are claiming this is a ‘farewell-tour’….

you have been warned…!

(and…no..!..i’m not going to give you any links..!..

..if you want the grisly-details….you know what to do…eh…?..)

“…BBC marks 25th anniversary of Live Aid with Bob Geldof drama…”

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

“…When Bob Met Harvey is the ‘deeply moving’ story of Geldof’s relationship with pop promoter Harvey Goldsmith…

BBC2 is to mark the 25th anniversary of Live Aid by screening a drama about the relationship between Bob Geldof and pop promoter Harvey Goldsmith …

… the two men who organised the landmark fundraising music event in London and Philadelphia.

When Bob Met Harvey will star Domhnall Gleeson, son of award-winning Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, as the young Geldof. Ian Hart, who played John Lennon in the 1994 film Backbeat, will portray Goldsmith.

The BBC describes the drama as a “hilarious and ultimately deeply moving story of the relationship between a musical odd couple”.

It will show Geldof, then best known as the frontman of the Boomtown Rats, watching Michael Buerk’s famous 1984 BBC report about the famine in Ethiopia with Paula Yates, then his wife.

That prompted him to act, assembling a lineup of artists to record Do They Know It’s Christmas?, which went to No 1 in December 1984 and raised millions of pounds.

Geldof then travelled to Africa and decided to stage a concert to raise more money.

The two Live Aid concerts, at Wembley and at the JFK Stadium in Philadelphia, on 13 July 1985 broke all viewing records.

When Bob Met Harvey will portray Geldof and Goldsmith assembling a list of headline acts on two continents in the face of resistance from managers, acts and record companies, according to the BBC.

The Ultravox singer Midge Ure also played a leading role in the Band Aid and Live Aid projects…”

go to source/story>>>BBC marks 25th anniversary of Live Aid with Bob Geldof drama | World news | The Guardian

“…Piers Morgan: the new Larry King?…”

Thursday, July 15th, 2010

“…Piers Morgan is about to make it big in America: really big.

He’s certainly come a long way since he was sacked from the Daily Mirror…”

go to source/story>>>Piers Morgan: the new Larry King? | Media | The Guardian

“…’Nazi Octopus’ Slain By Argentine TV Host In World Cup Revenge…” (VIDEO)

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

“…Furious with Paul the “psychic” octopus’ astonishing 100% World Cup prediction rate …

… an Argentine TV presenter has gotten his revenge by slaughtering another octopus on the air …

… and then liquifying its remains in a blender.

On a recent episode of Argentina’s “Un Mundo Perfecto” program, host Roberto Pettinato — said to be a Howard Stern-like shock jock —

– dubbed his tentacled victim “a Nazi” … before hacking off its head …

… and then placing hunks of the carcass into a blender.

The audience, many of whom had blamed Paul for Argentina’s World Cup exit following their 4-0 loss to Germany, winced and howled in derision.

According to The Sun, Pettinato growled, “Your moment has arrived, little Nazi octopus,”…

… while slowly lowering the animal into the appliance…”

go to source/story>>>‘Nazi Octopus’ Slain By Argentine TV Host In World Cup Revenge (VIDEO)

“…Harvey Pekar obituary…”

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

“…Harvey Pekar, who has died aged 70, was the writer of American Splendor, an autobiographical comic in which he wrote about the everyday, often mundane, aspects of his life.

Pekar experimented with the narrative form and used a shifting roster of artists on his comics …

… but it was the sheer ordinariness of the stories that slowly earned him a strong following … critical acclaim …

… and comparisons with Chekhov and Dostoevsky.

Set in the rundown neighbourhoods of Cleveland, Ohio, American Splendor’s world was revealed without exaggeration or self-aggrandisement.

Pekar, opinionated and curmudgeonly, was often the most frustrating and aggravating character to appear in his books.

The writer became a regular guest on the talkshow Late Night With David Letterman …

… but his confrontational style led to him being banned from it…”

go to source/story>>>Harvey Pekar obituary | Books | The Guardian

“…Storm over ‘bunch of gays’ in Germany’s World Cup team…”

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

“…German football was engulfed in controversy today over remarks by the agent of a top footballer, who allegedly referred to a “bunch of gays” in the national team.

Michael Becker, who has been the agent of German national football captain Michael Ballack for more than a decade …

… is reported to have made the comment in the latest edition of the news magazine Der Spiegel.

In an essay entitled New German Men, Aleksander Osang recounts an interview he had with Becker prior to the World Cup …

… in which the agent allegedly told him which of the players in the team were gay.

He later said that a former national player was ready to reveal the “bunch of gays” in the German team, according to Osang.

Asked about the sexuality of one of the newer players, Becker, who is a lawyer by profession, referred to him as being “half gay”.

Osang went on to say that Becker put the new adroit, lighter and elegant style of play that has become a trademark of trainer Joachim Löw’s players down to their homosexuality …

… in contrast to the typically more aggressive and offensive German style of past years …

… but suggested they played too delicately to assure themselves a place in the final…”

go to source/story>>>Storm over ‘bunch of gays’ in Germany’s World Cup team | World news | The Guardian

the latest womans weekly has a ‘first’…..a dick-shot…

Wednesday, July 14th, 2010

“.. It’s the cheapest porn you’ll ever (accidentally) buy.

The editor of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly says she is “mortified” after accidentally running a photo of a Coronation Street star’s boyfriend exposing himself on a beach in the Caribbean.

An alert reader spotted the slip-up on page 25 of the latest issue of the woman’s magazine.

The paparazzi shot shows Coronation Street star Michelle Keegan standing thigh-deep in water with her boyfriend, model Brad Howard, 23.

On close inspection, Howard appears to be exposing himself. The caption reads:…

“The loved-up pair frolic in the warm turquoise water of St Lucia.”

The article quotes Keegan saying her boyfriend has “an edge”…”

(um..!..it’d be more of a ‘point’..?..wouldn’t it..?..)

go to source/story>>>Editor red-faced over ‘porn’ pic | Stuff.co.nz

Hayao Miyazaki: “…iPad Use ‘Disgusting,’ Masturbation-Like…”

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

“…Filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki, known for animated cinematic greats like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Howl’s Moving Castle …

… is no fan of Apple’s “magical” new iPad–or gadgets in general.

According to Kotaku, Miyazaki compared iPad use to masturbation in a recent interview with a Japanese publication, “Neppuu.”

“For me, there is no feeling of admiration or no excitement whatsoever,” Miyazaki reportedly said about the iPad …

… which he dubbed a “game machine-type thing” … that people use by “stroking with strange gestures”.

“It’s disgusting.

On trains, the number of those people doing that strange masturbation-like gesture is multiplying.”…”

go to source/story>>>Hayao Miyazaki: iPad Use ‘Disgusting,’ “Masturbation-Like’

“…Consumer Reports Can’t Recommend The iPhone 4 Due To ‘Design Defect’…” (VIDEO)

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

“…The Wall Street Journal’s Walt Mossberg called it “the best device in its class.”

The New York Times’ David Pogue dubbed it “amazing.”

Engadget said it was the “cream of the current crop.”

But Consumer Reports says it “can’t recommend the iPhone 4.”

Why the naysaying?

Having completed its tests on three different iPhone 4s–which included controlled tests inside a “radio frequency isolation chamber”–

– Consumer Reports concluded that Apple’s new iPhone has a design flaw …

… that causes the phone to lose signal strength when held in such a way that one’s skin covers its external antenna…”

go to source/story>>>Consumer Reports Can’t Recommend The iPhone 4 Due To ‘Design Defect’ (VIDEO)

Video: “…The Ricky Gervais show: ‘Here we go again, flogging something’…”

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

“…Xan Brooks talks to Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant and Karl Pilkington about The Ricky Gervais show …

… an animated series based on the trio’s massively popular podcasts …

… which launched on guardian.co.uk and is released on DVD on 19th July…”

go to source/story>>>Video: The Ricky Gervais show: ‘Here we go again, flogging something’ | Culture | guardian.co.uk

“…Twilight’s sulky vampires are less frightening than a knitted cushion…”

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

“…Until this week the one thing I knew about the Twilight saga was that it had vampires in it, which was enough to put me off.

I didn’t realise it was a romantic fantasy aimed at teenage girls.

Turns out it’s possible to be put off something twice before you’ve actually seen it.

The central theme, apparently, is abstinence; the heroine, Bella, is contemplating whether she wants to lose her virginity to a vampire or a werewolf.

She’s not allowed to try them both out, or get to second base with one and third with the other.

And she’s certainly not allowed to take them both on at once … although that would clearly make for a far better film.

Whichever one she picks is the one she’s stuck with for ever.

In some quarters the films and books are lauded for their wholesome message …

… which is weird considering Bella is essentially deciding whether she’d rather shag a bat or a wolf.

She’s got zero interest in honest-to-goodness human-on-human action.

No.

It’s magic farmyard creatures or nothing for her.

Oh, and apparently she chooses the bat in the end, which is the worst possible choice, because being a vampire, he’s not just any old bat …

… but one that’s hundreds of years old and isn’t even properly alive.

If the final film doesn’t culminate in a 28-minute shot of her lying spread-eagled on the marital bed tearfully rubbing the leathery, disintegrating corpse of a 200-year-old bat against her marital sector …

… the entire saga has been a cop-out and a lie.

But even if you weren’t boycotting the film on the basis of its disgraceful necro-bestiality theme …

… boycotting it on the basis of its vampires is reason enough.

Vampires are the worst monsters ever created, as the following list of the worst monsters ever created …

… in ascending order of badness and culminating in vampires, will prove:

Mummies. Zombies – mindless human-hating reanimated corpses – are brilliant monsters because their motivation is brutally simple:…

… they’re very hungry thick people.

Yet mummies – who are effectively zombies in medicinal giftwrap – are laughably non-threatening.

Since their teeth are covered up … they’re reduced to stumbling around with outstretched arms trying to hug you to death.

If they had erections … they’d be scary.

But so would Goofy…”

go to source/story>>>Charlie Brooker | Twilight’s sulky vampires are less frightening than a knitted cushion | Comment is free | The Guardian

“…How to Make Porn for Women…”

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

“… Erika Lust is something of a film connoisseur — and her genre of choice is porn.

An award-winning director and co-founder of Lust Films in Barcelona, Erika knows the (ahem!) ins and outs of the adult film biz …

… but she isn’t pleased with a lot of what she sees.

While big tits, money shots, bad acting, and fake orgasms might pique men’s erotic interests …

… Lust believes films that satisfy women’s needs require something different.

Her book Good Porn: A Women’s Guide (Seal Press) walks novices though a pornographic landscape that has traditionally been pretty unsavory for women …

… and leads them to a more desirable place where female perspectives and power abound…”

go to source/story>>>How to Make Porn for Women | | AlterNet