July 31, 2005

Dear Males*, Why?

(*The following is a cranky, overgeneralized
public service announcement.)
Dear Males,

Why do you feel so entitled to spit on the sidewalk as you stroll down the street or train platform, as if a specially trained sanitation technician will materialize behind you and immediately clean up your foamy gnarly germs? As if your fellow citizens will not tread the same path and run a very high risk of tracking your bacteria back into their private space with them?


Why do you feel so comfortable talking in a LOUD voice in public, as if everyone around you is dying to hear your thoughts, plans, and opinions? It's nice that you're outgoing, and brash, and are possessed of that judgment-impairing level of testosterone that fills you with a purposeful self-confidence, but please, every once in awhile, shush.


Why, before entering a public space (especially a swimming pool), do you double-dip yourself in powerfully foul, allegedly female-attracting scents like that of Sir Paco Rabanne himself? It is perhaps a little-known fact that women are equipped with a much more keen sense of smell than men, so if your objective in adorning yourself with industrial sized vats of rat musk is to draw comely ripe females in your direction, please know that you should dial back the scent about 95% so as to avoid overwhelming our finely tuned olfactory systems, and cause us to actually flee the vicinity.

*No actual replies are expected or would be useful. The author understands that these puzzling behaviors are not present in every male, makes no claim that all males are spitty, yelly, and smelly, and does not suffer from the delusion that non-males, i.e. "females," are angelic and perfect and poo iced cupcakes. Many males are, in fact, quite nice and enjoyable to spend time with. In just the past few months, the author has had (several individual) males to thank for helping her settle into a new city, eat regular meals, take nice bike rides, decorate her apartment, find a job, and attend many a fun party-type gathering. Thanks for reading.

Sister Wendy Shares Her Love of Great Art, and I'm a Catholic Schoolgirl All Over Again


Sister Wendy Beckett is a nun and art enthusiast who has written several books and made several wonderful tv series about the history of art. She is one of those teachers whose love for their subject makes it appealing and interesting for almost anyone.

Sister Wendy has a particular way of speaking that I find very charming and curious. According to her biography she is a native of South Africa, and spent some time growing up in Scotland as well. At first I wondered if her accent was that peculiar English accent that almost seems to have a speech impediment involving the "r's" turning to "w's" (an impediment I worked very hard with a speech therapist to overcome when I was little!), but now I'm even more confused. Anyway, her delivery is really adorable, and her enchantment with her subject is very inviting.

Because I am emotionally nine years old, I still squirm every time Wendy describes a sexual undertone to a painting. It's inherant in the subject matter, of course, but the immature kid in me comes out when I hear Wendy say things like "this figure almost has a bit of 'rent boy' to his posture," and such. I went to a Catholic school and I had priests and nuns teach me a range of subjects. I think everyone who went to Catholic school will agree that nuns discussing sex, in whatever context, equals automatic heebie jeebies.

My psychological stuntedness aside, Sister Wendy's art DVD's are totally worth a rent. You would find her "glowious."

July 29, 2005

Jennifer Aniston Will Kick Your Ass


...or her attornies will, anyway. That's what I'm reading into this story. That jerk who was going to sell mementos of his teenage crush with J. An. is calling off the ebay auction. I'm assuming the last sentence means he was threatened or paid off. Hopefully he didn't profit too much. What an ass.

The Southern California lawyer who made headlines this week for promising to auction off memorabilia of his and Aniston's long-ago supposed summer of puppy love, including the birthday card the future Friends star was said to have improvised on two-ply, has scuttled the sale.

Michael Baroni said he nixed the planned eBay auction, set to launch on Friday, after hearing from Aniston's camp that the actress would rather the items not be put up for bid.

"I have nothing but fond memories of Jennifer as a friend, and only wish her well," Baroni said in an email.

Aniston's publicist did not return a call for comment.

Blog Depression - a Very Special Pamphlet

Hilarious. Reminds me of the "do not insert data disk into the person's mouth" from the Onion, from the personal guide to communicating with human beings bit.

July 28, 2005

Well, At Least They Busted Him For Something


O.J. Simpson Is Ordered to Pay DirecTV in Signal-Theft Case

DirecTV said "the evidence was overwhelming" against O.J. Simpson.


But the ex-football star's lawyer said he did nothing wrong.
The satellite TV giant on Tuesday was referring to its civil court victory in which a Florida judge ordered Simpson to pay $25,000 for allegedly stealing its signals.

The case stems from the recovery in 2001 of two "bootloaders" in Simpson's home that allowed viewers to tap into DirecTV signals without paying for them.

Poor Chelsea: Your Love is Worth 40 Chickens and 60 Goats


NAIROBI, Kenya - A Kenyan city councilman says he offered Bill Clinton 40 goats and 20 cows for his daughter's hand in marriage five years ago. He's still awaiting an answer.

Godwin Kipkemoi Chepkurgor wrote Clinton asking for Chelsea's hand in 2000 when Clinton visited Kenya, Chepkurgor told the East African Standard newspaper. Chepkurgor, 36, vowed to remain single until he gets an answer to his proposal to marry Chelsea, 25.

Chepkurgor, a city councilor in Nakuru, told Clinton of plans for a grand wedding presided over by South African Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

"Had I succeeded in wooing Chelsea, I would have had a grand wedding," he told the Standard in an interview published Friday during Clinton's recent visit to Kenya.

Wild Ponies Make Annual Swim in Dense Fog


CHINCOTEAGUE, Va. - Between 150 and 200 wild ponies made the annual swim to the shore of this resort island in dense fog Wednesday morning.

It took the ponies about five minutes to cross the 200-yard channel from Assateague, Md., a barrier island in the Atlantic Ocean, shortly after 8:30 a.m., (an official) said.

The ponies were then herded through town to a corral on the carnival grounds, where they will be sold at auction Thursday.

Yearlings and younger are sold to thin the herd and raise money for the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which cares for the ponies.

Ponies that aren't sold, as well as those donated back to the fire department, will swim back to roam again on Assateague, a national wildlife refuge.

The pony swim was made famous by Marguerite Henry's 1947 novel "Misty of Chincoteague." This year's swim was the 80th organized by the fire department.

I read this book when I was a little girl and, because I was both a swimmer and a pony-obsessed kid, I thought the idea of dog-paddling ponies was about the greatest thing ever. Of course, in my imagination, ponies could talk and fly and well as swim.

July 27, 2005

Totally Obvious Thing I'm Overly Proud of Myself For Finally Figuring Out #1


The word "manpris" refers to a capri-style pant for men. Another example of a masculinization of something originally (or assumed to be) feminine.

Like "mandals," "manties," and "moobs."

Yes, I know. Everyone on earth knows this. Well, now I know it, too.

Totally Obvious Thing I'm Overly Proud of Myself For Finally Figuring Out #2

In the Simpsons, the Flanders family mother and children are named Maude, Todd, and Rod.



All of those names rhyme with God.






And it only took me 16 years to realize that.

Won't You Come Out to Play in My Empty Garden

Recently I helped my cousin take pictures of her garden as part of a gardening contest. It reminded me of how much fun takin' pitchas can really be. I used to take pictures like a bored teenager when I was, well, a bored teenager. Tons and tons. Lots of silly pointless stuff. I should make a point to start taking more photos just for fun.

July 26, 2005

Hey, Y'all! My Amnoweetic, My Ammanotic, My Amniotic Fluid's Doin' Somethin'!


I'ma have my baby soon, y'all!

I'ma name her somethin' pretty and sparkly like Destiny Jamie Lynn, or Kevina Cheeto Kaballah.

She gon' have her ears pierced all pretty as soon as her ears open, and then I'ma put pretty clothes on her and I'ma dress her all pretty like I git when I goes to the 7-11!

The Good Old Days


Sometimes I get nostalgic for the way things used to be.

Subway trains sped unimpeded through the underground passageways.

2/3 of Britain's Muslims weren't considering leaving the country.

Lindsay Lohan ate the occasional cheeseburger.

Am I the only one?

Another Worry I Left in Indiana: At Least With City Heat, No One Worries About the Hogs


"We're worried about the hog show tomorrow, because hogs don't do well in the heat," said Dawn West, a fair board member in Hendricks County.

Whew. Imagine the air in that barn.

Underwater Recording of the Earthquake That Led to the Indonesian Tsunami


A frightening recording of the deep sea earthquake that led to last December's tsunami in Indonesia.

Earth's very gravity balance was altered and the North Pole shifted by an inch.

This shift in the earth's plates was so profound that it shortened the day by a few fractions of a second. It warped TIME.

What a Jerk! Jennifer Aniston's Childhood Sweetie to Auction Off Letters and Mementos


One of Jennifer Aniston's former flings is auctioning off letters, notes, pictures and other memorabilia from the "Friends" star.

Michael Baroni, a California lawyer who claims he had a summer romance in 1984 with Aniston, is selling keepsakes such as a makeshift birthday card she wrote on a piece of toilet paper and a childhood picture of the pair.

According to Baroni, their summer lovin' — he was 16, she was 15 — turned into a longtime friendship until they lost contact in 1991, when Aniston's showbiz career began to soar.

Aniston's representative, Stephen Huvane, didn't immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press for comment.

"She was very fun and lively, a loving kind of person," Baroni told the AP during a phone interview Friday. "I think the materials show an innocent look into someone I think is very endearing."

Baroni's auction begins July 29 on eBay with a $100,000 reserve. If the reserve is not met, the package of memorabilia will be withdrawn. Baroni wouldn't comment on why he was auctioning off the items beyond citing "financial reasons."

"Financial reasons," i.e., he is an a**hole.

NASA Returns to Space - Yay!


Discovery and seven astronauts blasted into orbit Tuesday on America's first manned space shot since the 2003 Columbia disaster, ending a painful, 2 1/2-year shutdown devoted to making the shuttle less risky and NASA more safety-conscious.

At stake were not only the lives of the astronauts, but also America's pride in its technological prowess, the fate of the U.S. space program and the future of space exploration itself.

"Our long wait may be over. So on behalf of the many millions of people who believe so deeply in what we do, good luck, Godspeed — and have a little fun up there," launch director Mike Leinbach told the astronauts just before liftoff.

NASA's chief acknowledged a lot is riding on the flight: the shuttle program, the space station program, President Bush's plan to send astronauts back to the moon and on to Mars — and seven lives.

"It's about hope, it's about imagination, it's about the future, and when you take away a great space program, you take away a lot of people's future," Griffin told the AP. "What's riding on this flight is people's hope for the future."

"We're really happy to see that there's been a safe launch," said astronaut David Wolf, who watched from the ground. But he added: "We still have the orbital phase and re-entry, of course. Really the mission has just begun — let's not forget that."

Faced with so many uncertainties, the liftoff was a relatively solemn affair. NASA did not plan to hold the usual post-launch party.

July 25, 2005

Woman Impersonates Jessica Simpson's Assistant to Score Free Beauty Products, Jewelry, Handbags


Authorities have accused an East Rutherford woman of amassing more than $12,000 in free merchandise by claiming she was an assistant of celebrity Jessica Simpson.

Police say Handel sent e-mails and faxes to companies in which she posed as Simpson assistant CaCee Cobb. Handel told the companies that Simpson, who is playing the movie version of Daisy Duke, had expressed interest in their product lines.

But Handel used her own address, and when police detectives arrived Friday, they found Handel's home full of merchandise.

"As we were standing outside, UPS pulled up with 12 more packages. We turned to each other and said, 'If only all our cases could be this easy,'" Detective Sgt. Jeff Yannaconi told the Daily News, New York, for Saturday newspapers.

Among the items Handel collected were PH Advantage cosmetics, Pagliei jewelry, Ted Rossi handbags, Peter Thomas Roth skin care and Fake Bake Tanning Products. Frye sent seven pairs of boots.


Wow. Maybe a little more "covering of the tracks" would have been a good idea.

July 24, 2005

Jolie Unmasked, Or, I Vow (Again) To Never Be Dooced


A blog I have kept tabs on just went under, or got outed, or was dooced, or whatever. There is a lesson here, people.



Jolie Unmasked

As you may have read in a little paper called the New York Post, I've been outed: my name is Nadine Haobsh, and I was a beauty editor for one of the most popular magazines in the country. I say "was" because there is a predictable end to this story: I came clean to my bosses about my blog—which very, very unfortunately coincided with a job offer from another top magazine—and gave my two weeks notice, which was declined. As luck would have it, once the Post story broke, my new magazine decided to rescind the offer. And that's the end of that chapter.

It's been a tough couple of days, mostly because I let down a lot of people who I care about and respect. To all you would-be bloggers out there: even if you truly are "just being funny" or "don't really mean it", think before you write. And definitely don't write about your industry: things will absolutely be taken out of context or interpreted incorrectly, and that's just not fun for anybody.

So, yeah, I'm starting my new job in a week, a job unlike any other I have ever had, a job I will not discuss here except in the most general, universal terms.

July 23, 2005

"Africa? That's Not a Country."


Girl on cell: So I went up to my Professor just now? And I was telling him I've chosen a country for my project. He was like,"Africa? That's not a country." I was like, "Come on, what was all that Live 8 stuff about, then?". He was just like, "Never mind. Africa is fine."...Yeah, totally.

--The NYU Bookstore, Washington Place

The Most Boring Piece of Junk I've Watched Lately: "Won't Anybody Listen?" No.


I've been on a huge documentary kick for quite a while now. I have found a lot of unexpected gems, and a few big bores.

From a cranky user review:

This is a movie about a lame band who just can't see how their music is weak, lame, and boring. I guess they must have paid their own money to release this, because no one else would. As BAD as today's commercial music IS, even THIS band did not deserve a showcase movie.

Seriously. This movie is billed as "searing indictment of the music business," when it's really more of a "why did anyone decide this was worth the time and effort" kind of thing. A seriously bad, boring band of boring dudes, whose parents talk excitedly about their sons' appearance on "Star Search," which was a big deal because it was, after all, "national television! and prime time!" They fix boilers and sell amps for a living while wondering why fame and fortune are not yet theirs. They seem to think it's because the music business is shallow, and money-driven, and overcrowded with wannabes, but they should seriously consider the most likely explanation: they are lamewads.

"Won't Anybody Listen?" Well, I am kinda sorry I watched.

July 21, 2005

Scientists Worried by Riot Control Ray Gun


Scientists are questioning the safety of a Star Wars-style riot control ray gun due to be deployed in Iraq next year.

The Active Denial System weapon, classified as "less lethal" by the Pentagon, fires a 95-gigahertz microwave beam at rioters to cause heating and intolerable pain in less than five seconds.

The idea is people caught in the beam will rapidly try to move out of it and therefore break up the crowd.

But New Scientist magazine reported on Wednesday that during tests carried out at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, participants playing the part of rioters were told to remove glasses and contact lenses to protect their eyes.

In another test they were also told to remove metal objects like coins from their clothing to avoid local hot spots developing on their skin.

"What happens if someone in a crowd is unable for whatever reason to move away from the beam," asked Neil Davison, coordinator of the non-lethal weapons research project at Britain's Bradford University.

"How do you ensure that the dose doesn't cross the threshold for permanent damage? Does the weapon cut out to prevent overexposure?," he added.

The magazine said a vehicle-mounted version of the weapon named Sheriff was scheduled for service in Iraq in 2006 and that U.S. Marines and police were both working on portable versions.

Weird Things Men Have Said to Me on the Street Lately


(This morning, as I walked to the train station, past a man in dark sunglasses who had a silly smile on his face, said with what can only be described as gusto:) "Supper."

The Madness of King George Linked to Arsenic


Scientists have found high levels of arsenic in the hair of King George III and say the deadly poison may be to blame for the bouts of apparent madness he suffered.

In 1969, researchers proposed the strange behavior of the monarch who reigned during the American Revolution resulted from a rare hereditary blood disorder called porphyria.

However, a study this week in The Lancet medical journal found high concentrations of arsenic in the king's hair and contends the severity and duration of his episodes of illness may have been caused by the toxic substance.


The 18th-century king, under whose reign Britain mastered the oceans, defeated Napoleon and expanded its empire to superpower dimensions, was best remembered for the humiliating loss of the American colonies and for the periods when he lost his mind.

While on the throne, George had five episodes of prolonged and profound mental derangement. At the time, his malady was thought to be a psychiatric disorder.

But in 1969, psychiatrists investigating his documented symptoms such as lameness, acute abdominal pain, red urine and temporary mental disturbance, proposed he suffered from porphyria. Subsequent studies that examined records of his ancestors, descendants and other relatives refined the diagnosis to a certain type of porphyria.

NASA to Launch Shuttle Discovery July 26


If the shuttle fails to lift-off in July, NASA will have to wait for the next launch window, September 9 to 24.

The delay has been a major disappointment for the agency, which is seeking to recover its prestige after Columbia broke up as it re-entered Earth's atmosphere on February 1, 2003.

Following an independent probe, the agency was forced to rethink the shuttle program and has made changes to the shuttles to reduce the risk of a new accident.

What is a launch window? Launching a shuttle is a complicated scheduling puzzle. It has to consider weather, daylight hours, the rotation of the earth, flying over populated areas, and lots of things I can't spell.

Craigslist Posting From Crazy Person Seeking Attractive Young Woman on Northside of Chicago


Why do I pine for suitable male companionship when dreamboats like this are looking for women (sort of) like me?

I am an imaginative yet still competent Male, 33, in Chicago seeks clever, creative, attractive, single female, 25 to 40 with height and weight proportionate, also in Chicago. Interests include art, writing, role play, erotic horror, theatrical magic, and fetishism.

The fantasy I wish to share is one where I play the role of a magician who uses the props of my theatrical art to restrain and then torture my lovely assistant. The process is humiliating, macabre, and somewhat violent but in the end her body is restored but her mind is enraptured from the experience leaving her wanting nothing but more.

Bolivian Lady Wrestlers


This, ladies and gentlemen, is "lucha libre," Bolivia's version of the wacky, tacky wrestling extravaganzas better known as World Wrestling Entertainment in the United States and Triple A in Mexico, which serve as a loose model. But there are no light shows, packed arenas or million-dollar showmen.

Here in El Alto, with an almost entirely indigenous population of 800,000 Aymara and Quechua residents, wrestling is a throwback to a simpler, perhaps more innocent era, when late-night fights featuring men in black tights were carried across flickering black-and-white TV screens.

July 20, 2005

Retired Grocery Clerk Could Become British Earl


SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Retired grocery clerk Bill Capell has a good reason to plan his first trip to England: He's one step away from being an earl. A relative who died last month was the 10th Earl of Essex, and the 11th, another cousin, is 61 years old and doesn't have children to inherit the title.

Capell, a 52-year-old, born-and-bred Californian, was largely unimpressed by the news that he might become a nobleman.
"I'm a pretty laid-back guy," he said. "I've known since way back in 1966, as a teenager, when my dad got a call. It's always been on the back burner, sure, but I never really thought about it."

As the Right Honorable Lord William Capell, Capell would be entitled to put his name forward as a candidate, should one of the 95 hereditary members of the House of Lords die. He says Queen Elizabeth II would formally address him as "Our right trusty and entirely beloved cousin."

They'll Never Make a Monkey Out of Me: Lost Photos From Scopes Trial Found


Eighty years after the Scopes Monkey Trial, about 60 unpublished photos from the landmark case have been found in Smithsonian Institution archives, including a shot of Clarence Darrow's courtroom jousting with William Jennings Bryan.

"These stunning photographs are the discovery of a lifetime and a spectacular find for the Smithsonian Archives," Marcel LaFollette, a historian who volunteers at the Smithsonian, said in a statement Monday. He found the negatives while doing research for a book.

Among them is one of Darrow, the most famous defense lawyer of his day, interrogating Bryan, the orator and turn-of-the century presidential candidate who was among the trial's prosecutors. The trial had been moved outdoors because of the heat. Bryan fell ill and died five days after it ended.

Scopes, a teacher from Dayton, Tenn., was convicted of violating a state law that forbade teaching evolution and fined $100. The Tennessee Supreme Court reversed the conviction on the narrow ground that only a jury trial could impose a fine of more than $50. It did not rule on the law's constitutionality. The state repealed the law in 1967.

What I Saw at the Movie Theater Last Night


The March of the Penguins. Cutest thing ever.

Totally made up for that POS utterly non-scary, non-suspenseful Dark Water that we saw last week. I like you, Jennifer Connelly! And John C. Reilly. You deserve better script choices.

It's Totally Normal For Partners To Start Looking More Like Each Other - There's Science Behind That

I'm seeing this everywhere, so it has to go here:


And, since I'm here, the New Yorker's "My Dog Is Tom Cruise:"

I have to tell you, things are good. I am . . . I am . . . Whooo! . . . I am very good. I just returned from a walk and . . . ha! Things. Are. Good. I’ve got a bowl of hard kibble with some soft stuff mixed in. My name’s on the bowl! I am passionate about this lamb-and-rice recipe. What’s been going on? haha! I’m so in love with this bitch! hahaha! I can’t . . . I’m so . . . I can’t restrain myself. hahahahahaha! We met at the park. She was in the run for little dogs . . . ’cause she’s, well . . . ha! She’s petite. And I was over in the big run and . . . I am in love. I can’t be cool. This bitch is . . . I have total respect for her.

An Excellent Argument For Birth Control, Or At Least Waiting Until the Buzz Wears Off to Name Your Baby

Maybe we should have some stricter laws about baby names, like they have in France.

Announcing the arrival of a beautiful new baby boy at
St. Francis Health Center . . .

Urhines Kendall Icy Eight Special K

I believe that's pronounced like "Your Highness." And the middle names are pronounced like "We were high when we conceived, high when she delivered, and totally high when we chose the baby's name."

About the Blog Itself

Okay, so I've realized that it's important to link to permanent versions of news stories online (directly from the AP or whoever) and not from local news outlets, which have to delete stories from their servers and web pages after a period of time.

Some of those old links from months (and even just weeks) ago are dead, and I may or may not have the time and will to go back and correct them. From this point on, though, I will be more careful to link to permalinks.


Another point to make here is that I tend to edit again and again, sometimes long after the original post, clarifying points, adding pictures, correcting errors, etc. A lot of the time I compose text at home on my poky-ass dialup account and go back later, when I have wireless access, to gather and add photos, so just keep that in mind. Things are always changing.

Also, yes, I've started to use pictures. Hope they make the whole experience more fun and/or enlightening. I figure since this is a not-for-profit site (and has no regular readers at this point anyway, for heaven's sake) I'm cool using things from other pages, and making alterations as I see fit.

One last note: I have not figured a way to adequately set aside quotes from other sources using the blockquote feature, so for the time being I will keep doing the "all quoted material is in italic red text" thing I seem to have going on.

Back to the fun now.

Thanks, Jude Law and His Slutty Nanny! Now Only Fug Nannies Will Get Jobs


"I would not be comfortable having (an attractive) nanny," admits New Yorker Eileen Kelly, a mother of twins. "How do you know she's not the next Amy Fisher? You don't know her, and you have no idea what kind of wily plans she might have."

Listen to the wisdom wrapped inside this woman's insecurity, y'all. Some of those nannies have evil plans and schemes, like bonding with your baby, singing to him, letting him crawl all over us for comfort when he's cranky from teething, and giving him lots of hugs and kisses and snuggles. WILY!

Suzanne Somers Is Unhappy With Reviews of Her Show


Let's hope she doesn't read my blog. Wait a minute. Of course she doesn't, no one does.

"These men are curmudgeons, and maybe I went too close to the bone for them. I was lying there naked, and they decided to kick me and step on me, just like these visions you see in Iraq," says Suzanne Somers of her treatment at the hands of New York's drama critics.

It may be the height of celebrity hubris to compare your bad reviews to Abu Ghraib, but Somers — an exaggerated entertainment personality if ever there was one — is not backing down.

She says she's "pissed" that the critics savaged her one-woman show, "The Blonde in the Thunderbird," and "saddened" that, because of their terrible notices, she's being forced to close it on Sunday.

Charles Isherwood, in the New York Times, called her show a "swan dive into narcissism."

(Somers says she'd like to tell Isherwood "to go to hell, and I don't care if he knows it.")

Clive Barnes, in The Post, said "Thunderbird" was "smug and remorseless."

And Michael Kuchwara of The Associated Press said it was a "therapy session crossed with a tacky Las Vegas review."

David Lynch Wants To Raise $7 Billion for Transcendental Meditation, Is Still Saner Than Madonna or Tom Cruise


These days, with Tom Cruise's Scientology inanity and Madonna's Kabbalah bullshittery, this celebrity-pushing-religion story is downright charming.

Tomorrow, the Oscar-nominated director of such graphically violent movies as "Blue Velvet" and "Mulholland Drive" is announcing the formation of the David Lynch Foundation for Consciousness-Based Education and World Peace.

Lynch has been a devotee of transcendental meditation and its founder, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, for 32 years. The foundation he'll launch with his own money will fund schools to set up transcendental meditation (or "TM") classes and pay for research on the effects of the yoga technique on the "brain and body."

Lynch hopes to raise $7 billion within a year.


"This is not a pretend thing," Lynch told PAGE SIX's Steve Garbarino. "Our government spends seven times that on killing, calling it defending, and making machinery and technology to kill human beings in the name of peace."

July 19, 2005

Mariah Carey Blames 9/11 for the Failure of "Glitter"


I released it around September 11, 2001,” the singer told Swiss newspaper Sonntags Zeitung as translated on fan site MariahDaily.

“The talk shows needed something to distract from 9/11. I became a punching bag. I was so successful that they tore me down because my album was at number 2 instead of number 1. The media was laughing at me and attacked me.”

Additionally, Mariah also said that the movie was just too cutting-edge for it’s own good. “‘Glitter’ was ahead of its time,” she explained. “Today it’s ‘in’ to make 80’s music.”

Oh, okay. The failure of the movie wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that it's a horrible piece of crap, then, huh? Butterflyyyyyyy! Sparkles! Unicorns! Flyyyyyyyyy.

Dog Daze: Gratuitous Cute Puppy Picture


A blog I've seen from time to time posts cute pictures of their dog. This is one of the cutest.

A bit of "Buddy's" biography:

We first saw Buddy when searching Petfinder.com. He was up for adoption at the NY Center for Animal Control and Care, his name was listed as "Yum-Yum".

Buddy was in poor health. he hadn't been fed well. his body shape was strange and his teeth were rotting. he would not eat dog food and he would not eat off a plate (he'd only eat scraps and would push them onto the floor with his nose.)

He had also been badly abused and was extremely defensive (and would attack everything.) we would not look at you and always cast his eyes sadly at the ground.

After a year and a half in our home, Buddy is Mr. Happy Pants! he eats everything (loves a green bean), had some training sessions, is loosing his defensiveness and loves people. he's our little prince and knows it. and he's always lookin for eye contact, now the little guy just won't stop staring at us.

Bravery

These words are from a victim of bomber Eric Rudolph.

"A hole the size of a fist was torn in my abdomen and large sections of my intestines were removed, but I have more guts in my broken little finger than you have in your body," she said.

Steven Seagal Releases an Album


Finally!

Steven Seagal, action icon and star of such films as "Hard to Kill," "Under Siege" and "The Glimmer Man," is planning an early 2006 U.S. release date for his debut album, "Songs From the Crystal Cave."

The set is already available in France and will be sold in Asia come September. The martial-arts master culls from a wide swath of musical influences on "Cave," including blues, rock, pop, Jamaican dancehall and traditional Indian music.

I've never heard Steven Seagal perform as a musician, but I have seem some of his movies, and I think I can safely say that his upcoming album is about as unneccessary as that vanity band Russell Crowe finally stopped talking about.

Then again, he is a reincarnated master, so what do I know.

If You Love It, Make a Freakish, Weird Doll of It


These are some scary dolls meant to look just like your child, only as they might appear in a horror movie.

As a friend commented, they look like the dolls social workers use when they have to have the "where did he touch you" talk with kids. ::Shudder::

There's something Victorian about this, like this is a doll that mothers would comfort themselves with after their real baby died of TB or something. Icki!

The Creepiest Thing I've Seen on the Internet Lately


Photo retouchers will create a perfect, airbrushed, objectified, rather laminated-looking child. Ironically, the site is called "Natural Beauties." There is some scary pageant crap going on there.

Then, there's the accompanying text about the photo:

This Photo Enhancement Includes:

*Expression changed from sad to serious:
*Brows tilted and shaped
*Frown lines around mouth and forehead removed
*Redness in eyes cleared away
*Corners of mouth turned upward
*Stray hairs removed
*Dark circles removed
*Lipstick line corrected
*Lashes added
*Skin blended

Yeah, that's right, they corrected her aesthetic flaws, and then removed her sadness and her frown, and the "redness," i.e. "tears" in her eyes.

July 18, 2005

Suzanne Somers' "Embarrassing Display of Emotional Exhibitionism," I Mean, "Solo Show"


Something is desperately needed, in any case, to dress up "The Blonde in the Thunderbird," a drab and embarrassing display of emotional exhibitionism masquerading as entertainment. Attired in a cruelly clingy black tights-and-tunic ensemble, Ms. Somers re-enacts or describes triumphs and traumas from her personal and professional life for a grinding 95 minutes, on a stage adorned only by a pair of video screens, an armchair, a prop phone and a coat rack. (It is curious, and telling, that Ms. Somers's magnified, two-dimensional presence on the video screens continually draws the focus away from the woman herself.)

Some of Ms. Somers's recollections are, regrettably, set to music. A performance of Frank Loesser's "Take Back Your Mink" is spliced into a recitation of a particularly violent encounter with her father. I'm not sure why. The show's writer-directors, Mitzie and Ken Welch, have also provided dreadful new lyrics for some old standards. Dorothy Fields and Jerome Kern's "Pick Yourself Up" is now a song about bouncing checks and seeking solace in shopping. Unfortunately, Ms. Somers's singing voice is thin and often toneless, and the clanging piano chords underscoring the more anguished moments in her history, usually accented by a dramatic clutch at expensively highlighted hair, are giggle-inducing.