MIA working on 'Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective' album
Saturday, November 7, 2009
MIA Pic: Joey Malon
MIA's new album is influenced by Animal Collective and US rapper Gucci Mane, according to producer Diplo.
Diplo told Pedestrian.tv that he is one of a number of producers working on the album. He added that, along with Major Lazer partner Switch, he is set to finish off producing the album, having worked on four tracks so far.
"[I've] been in the studio with MIA working on her new record," Diplo explained. "It's like Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective. I think there are a couple of people [producing] but we're going to finish it off, me and Switch. We've done like four tracks already."
The new album will be the follow-up to MIA's 2007 album 'Kala'.
Diplo added that he is set to launch a Major Lazer cartoon series on Adult Swim.
M.I.A. Working on "Gucci Mane Meets Animal Collective" Album
Diplo describes how the Kala follow-up might sound 
But according to Diplo, AC and Gucci might just find some common ground in the near future. On the next M.I.A. album. That's right: M.I.A. is working on a new album, Kala collaborators Diplo and Switch are working on it, and Diplo says it sounds "like Gucci Mane meets Animal Collective."
Pretty much everything about this story screams awesome.
The full interview, which isn't available yet, looks like it'll include some even more intriguing stuff, like talk of plans for a Major Lazer Adult Swim show.
Can this M.I.A. album hurry up and come out already
Pennhurst State School and Hospital
Pennhurst State School and Hospital, The School and the Pennhurst State Hospital began in a small town in Pennsylvania in 1908. The purpose was to help people with mental and physical disabilities. Both adults and children were brought there Walking on campus. Most of them were sent by parents, some children were there alone after that, because parents never got to see them. They had a system for separating patients according to their mental level. Some were able to do their job on their own after treatment while others could not even feed and bathe on their own.
Patients in extreme conditions was suspended in cribs all day, where they were unable to move or turn around.
Patients need constant attention and was a very difficult task for doctors, but the most terrible scene came to see when the hospital became overcrowded by patients, in those days, the patient looks in a miserable condition. Some patients learned to capture the attention of staff with their faces spots that force them to clean them.
Pennhurst was closed in 1987 due to a case that was filed against him in 1977. District Judge Raymond J. Broderick, was the man who ordered the closure after he found that the school is violating the constitutional rights of the patient.
Pennhurst State School and Hospital
In 1908, a School and Hospital named The Pennhurst State School and Hospital was opened which serve on the border between Chester County and Montgomery County in Pennsylvania. The property of Pennhurst was very huge almost sheltering 1400 acres (5.7 Km2). It was one of the largest organizations of its kind in Pennsylvania. The main ambition was to help those people who are physically and mentally disabled.
Most of young generation and children were brought by the parents. Some children’s parents never came to see them, therefore they lived alone. In accordance with the mental level of the disabled, they had a distinct system. Most of them were not in a position to feed and bath themselves. After medical care some of them were become active as they do their work themselves.
The badly damaged patients were spend time in a small bed where they could not turnover. The disabled demanded a continuous attention because of their miserable condition but this was a very tough burden for the Doctors. A time came when hospital became flooded and there were no more doctors to take proper care of every child. Some patients force the Doctors to take care of them by abusing.
In 1987, a case was reopened which was filed against Pennhurst in 1977 and The Pennhurst School and Hospital closed by Raymond j Broderick (District Judge) after they have searched that the patients were raped, violated, beat and had not given them their rights. On July 1, 1986, the patients were started moving from school and hospital to their houses. That process lasted many years. 460 patients were released or forwarded to other facilities without permission.
UPDATE: Police Shoot Christopher Monfort, Cop-Shooting Suspect; He Attended Highline Community College
Friday afternoon (Nov. 6th), shortly after Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton’s memorial concluded, a suspect named Christopher J. Monfort was shot outside his apartment building in Tukwila, prompting a massive outpouring of police to the area.
Police were apparently serving a search warrant on Monfort, 41, when he pulled out a weapon. He was shot on the scene and is currently under custody at Harborview Medical Center.
Monfort apparently attended Highline Community College in Des Moines, where he ran for student office in 2003.
According to HCC’s “Thunderword” student newspaper dated Nov. 20, 2003 (PDF link to issue), Monfort’s platform was:
“Christopher Monfort said he’s running to make the student body more aware of the civil liberties lost under the Patriot Act and the current political administration (Bush).Monfort also studied law enforcement issues at the University of Washington.
Monfort said students should vote for him because he actually cares about the world and wants to make a positive change.”
Seattle Police Officer Timothy Brenton was shot and killed as he sat in his patrol car with an officer-trainee after a traffic stop on Capitol Hill on Oct. 31. Thousands of officers from around the country attended a memorial Friday afternoon for him at KeyArena in Seattle.
Christopher J. Monfort
Tukwila, Washington— Latest reports about Christopher J. Monfort is that he has been shot in the head by the police officers and was taken to the hospital in a critical condition. Police were searching for 40-year-old Monfort as a man of interest in the shooting death of Seattle Police officer Timothy Brenton. Now he is under custody at Harborview Medical Center.
Shooting took place in Tukwila right after Officer Brenton’s memorial service at Seattle’s KeyArena. Several officers who were present in the memorial service left immediately as soon as they heard the word of shooting incident.
The suspect Christopher J. Monfort was at his apartment at 2:50 P.M. officers shot him in the head and immediately took him to hospital in Seattle, according to John Diaz, Seattle Police Chief. The man is in critical condition in the hospital and has undergone to surgery and is under police observation.
Reports show that the man Christopher J. Monfort has lived in California, Alaska and Washington, having a mysterious and eccentric history, described by some people who have some recognition towards him. Monfort’s past comprises a period of time in which he served voluntarily as a security guard for the US Civil Liberties Union and employment but apparently he has no criminal and offensive history.
Recently, in the past years he has been a student, formerly at Highline Community College, then at the University of Washington, where he studied law enforcement issues. He wanted to be a police officer. A former advisor said that he has a natural instinct towards leadership but his neighbors called him a weird and strange man.
Toni Braxton And Trey Songz Kiss,Toni Braxton
The night opened with a memorable performance by Toni Braxton featuring Trey Songz singing “Yesterday” that was sealed with a kiss.
Toni Braxton and Trey Songz performed during the taping of the 2009 Soul Train Awards in Atlanta, Georgia, November 3, 2009. While doing so, they took. … Dang consider me a hater, I would have loved to kiss Trey so I aint mad at Toni, HELL I’ll kiss Toni too.
Academy Award-nominated actors Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard, the night opened with Toni Braxton featuring Trey Songz singing “Yesterday” that was sealed with a kiss.
Then Howard and Henson welcomed the audience with a rendition of Peaches and Herb’s “Reunited.” Other performances were given by Keri Hilson, Robin Thicke, Ryan Leslie, Raheem DeVaughn featuring Ludacris, Chrisette Michele, Mario featuring Sean Garrett, and many more.
A Motown Records musical tribute featured a medley of Motown hits performed by Henson as a Supreme, Boyz II Men, Chico DeBarge, Johnny Gill, Estelle, Vita, Mike Phillips and Melanie Fiona.
Charlie Wilson and Chaka Khan, recipients of the evening’s Icon Award, were both honored in musical tributes.
Keith Sweat, Ginuwine, Raheem DeVaughn, Kandi Burress and Brian McKnight paid homage to Charlie Wilson and The Gap Band with renditions of their hits, including “Outstanding” and “Yearning for Your Love.” Following the tribute, Wilson, himself, graced the stage to perform two songs: “Burn Rubber” with K-Ci & Jo-Jo and Bootsy Collins and “There Goes My Baby.”
Erykah Badu, Melle Mel, Ledisi, Fantasia, and Angie Stone paid homage to Chaka Khan with such hits as “Through the Fire” and “Tell Me Something Good.”
The evening also included skits, dance sequences and throwbacks to the infamous Soul Train scramble board and Soul Train line. Monica, Tamia, Deborah Cox, Kelly Price were among the presenters.
All we can say is whaaat? Essence.com is reporting that Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton and her husband, Keri Lewis, formerly of Mint Condition, have separated after eight years of marriage. The couple has two sons.
We have no idea what prompted the split, but we do know that Ms. Braxton, 43, had tongues waggin’ over the, er, “tonguing” that she and singer Trey Songz, 25, gave each other on stage in front the whole world including her husband at the recent Soul Train Awards. (See photo below.)
Seriously, inquiring minds definitely wanna know what that was all about.
So if either Braxton or Songz all of a sudden start sportin’ bruises and broken bones and stuff, we’ll at least have a good guess as to why.
Toni Braxton And Trey Songz Kiss
Toni Braxton And Trey Songz Kiss,Toni Braxton, The night opened with a memorable performance of Toni Braxton Trey Songz singing “Yesterday”, which was sealed with a kiss.
Toni Braxton and Trey Songz performed during recording of 2009 Soul Train Music Awards in Atlanta, Georgia, 3 November 2009. In doing so, they took. Dang … I am considered an enemy, I would have loved a kiss so Trey is not angry with Toni, Toni HELL kiss too.
Academy Award nominated actors Taraji P. Henson and Terrence Howard, opened the night with Toni Braxton Trey Songz singing “Yesterday”, which was sealed with a kiss.
Then Howard and Henson welcomed the audience with a rendition of peaches and Herb Reunited “. Other presentations were made by Keri Hilson, Robin Thicke, Ryan Leslie, Ludacris featuring Raheem DeVaughn.
Toni Braxton Trey Songz and musical tribute Kissa Motown Records offered a medley of Motown hits performed by Henson as a Supreme Being, Boyz II Men, Chico DeBarge, Johnny Gill, Estelle, Vita, Mike Phillips and Melanie Fiona.
Charlie Wilson and Chaka Khan, recipients of the icons of the night the award, were honored in musical tributes.
Keith Sweat, Ginuwine, Raheem DeVaughn, Kandi Burress and Brian McKnight paid tribute to Charlie Wilson and The Gap Band with versions of their hits including “Outstanding” desire and “For Your Love”. After the homage, Wilson, himself, graced the stage for two songs: “Burn Rubber” with K-Ci & Jo-Jo and Bootsy Collins and “There Goes My Baby”.
Erykah Badu, Melle Mel, Ledisi, Fantasia, Angie Stone and Chaka Khan honored with hits such as “Through the Fire” and “Tell Me Something Good”.
The evening also included skits, dance sequences and a return to the Board infamous fight Soul Train line and Soul Train. Monica, Tamia, Deborah Cox, Kelly Price were among the presenters.
All I can say is whaaat? Essence.com reports that Grammy Award winner Toni Braxton and her husband, Keri Lewis of Mint Condition before, have separated after eight years of marriage. The couple has two children.
We have no idea what prompted the split, but we do know that Ms. Braxton, 43, had tongues Waggin ‘on the, er “tonguing” she and singerTrey Songz, 25, gave each other on stage against everyone including her husband in the recent Soul Train Music Awards.
Seriously, inquiring minds want to know definitively what happened.
So, although Songz Braxton or all sportin a shock ‘bruises and broken bones and stuff, we’ll at least have a good guess as to why.
Notes: Blackout avoided again
The cries of wolf went answered again by corporate sponsors, as the Cincinnati Bengals avoided a blackout. Sunday's game against Baltimore can be seen on Channel 12, WKRC at 1 p.m.
The Bengals asked for a blackout extension for the third time this season Thursday, were granted the extension and sold a total of 3,000 tickets in the last 24 hours thanks to Kroger, who will donate 250 pairs of tickets to military families, WKRC and the Bengals.
Kroger will distribute pairs of tickets to the first 50 people with a valid military ID at each of these five Kroger locations -- Lebanon (11 a.m. to noon), Union (11 a.m. to noon), Hyde Park (10-11 a.m.), Anderson Towne Center (1-2 p.m.) and Fairborn (11 a.m. to noon).
It's the third time corporations and the organization have bailed out Bengals fans -- WKRC and Kroger aided the sellout for the opening game against Denver, while Motorola bought the remaining tickets for the Oct. 18 game against Houston.
The Bengals' sell-out streak will reach 49 games on Sunday. The Bengals' last blackout was Nov. 9, 2003 for a game against the Texans. Despite the fact it is referred to a sell-out, there are tickets available for sale at the Bengals' ticket office.
"We are thrilled with the response from our fans, Kroger and Local12, and we are pleased that Bengals fans across the region can watch our game on Sunday," Bengals executive vice president Katie Blackburn said in a statement released by the team. "We have great fans and their vocal support will give us a real home field advantage for this big AFC North game. We are especially pleased that we will have so many members of the military on hand."
None of the Bengals remaining home games are sold out -- Nov. 29 vs. Cleveland, Dec. 6 vs. Detroit and Dec. 27 vs. Kansas City.
SMITH'S STATUS UNDER WRAPS -- Before the bye week, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said rookies Andre Smith and Chase Coffman may get a chance to play this Sunday against Baltimore, but since then he's backed off any insinuation of those players getting to play.
On Friday, he again said "we'll see" when asked if Smith would play Sunday.
Talking in a more general fashion, he discounted some of the grumblings from fans about Coffman, the third-round pick out of Missouri, not getting into a game yet.
"That's perception, and perception and reality are two different things," Lewis said. "People are focusing on college, on what guys did in college or supposedly did in college and not what I want them to do every day here. I coached a couple of very good football players -- one that was drafted in the second round in Pittsburgh by the name of Levon Kirkland, who did not play a single defensive snap. Leon Searcy, a first-round pick, did not play a single offensive snap as a rookie. There are a number of other guys who have done that and had great Pro-Bowl careers.
"Be ready when your time comes, that's what keep stressing. Because when your time comes -- and it's going to come -- be ready for that opportunity and don't look back."
FUI FITTING IN -- Fullback Fui Vakapuna, signed this week from Arizona's practice squad, impressed Lewis with the way he practiced with the team this week. Vakapuna was cut before the regular season began.
"I've been impressed, his retention of things we had been doing in training camp was good," Lewis said. "I think having a good grounded understanding of the fundamentals is helpful."
Lewis said Vakapuna's put on some weight since he left and is now up to 275 pounds, something he likes.
"I think he had the muscle, but he's made more of a transition from being a ball-carrier and runner to be more of a lead back-type of guy," Lewis said. "So you gain the skills of him being able to run and catch-and-run and then the other part is how to explode and roll your hips as a blocker, and I think he's done well at that. There's nothing like practicing every day to get good at something."
CLIMBING BY SITTING -- Bengals rookie punt returner Quan Cosby moved up in the punt return rankings, moving from fifth to fourth in the NFL and from fourth to second in the AFC with a 13.1 yard per return average. He did that despite not having returned a punt since the last time the Bengals faced the Ravens, Oct. 11 in Baltimore.
Jaguars Again NFL's Lone Blackout
Despite a still-struggling economy and a league that's unusually top-heavy this season, the NFL continues to -- somehow, some way -- sellout the majority of its games.
With the news Friday afternoon that Cincinnati had sold enough tickets its matchup with Baltimore to air on local TV, that left the floundering Jaguars as the only team blacked out for Week 9. It's the fourth time in four home games that Jacksonville has failed (by a large margin) to reach a sellout, and the third week this season that every home team but the Jaguars has avoided a local TV blackout.
Rather remarkably, only three teams thus far -- Jacksonville, Detroit and Oakland -- have been blacked out.
That's not to say that some teams haven't been close.
This was the third of five home dates in 2009 that Cincinnati has needed an extension to get potential blackouts lifted. The Bengals narrowly avoided that fate for its Week 1 game against Denver, then dodged the bullet again on Oct. 18 against Houston.
The Bengals were given an extension to sell out for the season opener against the Denver Broncos as well as the October 18 tilt against the Houston Texans. Cincinnati has now sold out 49 consecutive games -- the longest streak in franchise history -- dating back to Nov. 9, 2003.
San Diego's sidestepped blackouts on multiple occasions this season, as have the Buccaneers, Rams and Cardinals.
But it's likely more cases like the Jags are on the way -- many of the teams already scrambling to unload tickets are far from the playoff chase, almost guaranteeing that attendance will drop at some venues. Detroit has already had two games blacked out, and aside from its annual Thanksgiving Day appearance, will probably fall short of a sellout for the rest of 2009 -- against the Rams last week, Ford Field was filled to about half-capacity. Oakland, too, has had multiple blackouts (3), and with a 2-6 record plus ongoing internal strife, seem a prime candidate to fall short of sellouts from here out.
St. Louis, Cleveland, Tennessee, Washington, and Carolina might also run into issues before the end of the season as well.
But it's just the Jacksonville area -- again -- that will live without the NFL for a bit this Sunday.
Morris Chestnut and Wife, Pam Byse : Story
You will be glad to know that, in a world where we are constantly hearing about all the celebrity divorces (and non-celeb ones), there are still a good number of couples holding strong. Morris chestnut and his wife are among those happily married couple.
Morris Chestnut is an African American film and TV actor. He is hot in the search engines today following the news of his marriage. So far very few of his fans knew that the celebrity hearthrob is married.
Well, he has been married to Pam Byse for 11 years. In addition, Morris Chestnut has 3 children.
Morris is well remembered for his roles as teenage father Ricky Baker in the film Boyz N the Hood and The Best Man and as Dave Johnson, a struggling husband in the 2009 film Not Easily Broken.
Chestnut has acted along with Steven Seagal thrice. In Under Siege 2: Dark Territory, Half Past Dead and Prince of Pistols as a main villian.
Morris prefers to keep his personal life private and his work life public. He was very upset with the rumor spread across the country about his divorce. He confirmed that it was totally baseless.
Morris Chestnut and wife
Most recently, in the film Not Easily Broken, released in 2009, he played role of a struggling husband. He acted along with Steven Seagal for three times. He acted along with Steven Seagal in Half Past Dead, In Under Siege 2: Dark Territory and Prince of Pistols. Chestnut played the main villain in Prince of Pistols.
In an interview for Essence.com, Morris said that he prefers to keep his private life private. In the interview he told them,
“Definitely. To be honest, many of the celebrities want their home life and what they do off-set to be public because people feel strongly that there is no such thing as bad publicity, in other words, any publicity is good publicity. I’ve always wanted in my life that my private life and work to be public.”When it was asked that what was the wildest rumor you’ve heard about yourself? Morris Chestnut replied,
“I heard that was divorce. People call me all over the country to talk about it. A local radio DJ said and puts me in that station and just set the record straight.”Then he was asked to describe the reaction of his wife on it, he laughed and said,
“I really do not care for it too. I tried to explain that you can not really confirm or deny every single rumor, but definitely not rule on this point.”
Oscar The Grouch, Sesame Street Trash Fox News
On a two-year-old episode of Sesame Street aired last night, Oscar the Grouch starts his own news network: GNN (Grouchy News Network). After an interview featuring two puppets who appear to be the king and queen of a foreign, albeit English-speaking country, an angry (puppet) viewer calls in to complain about all the "hugging and kissing."
The damning line: "That is it. I am changing the channel. From now on, I'm watching Pox News--now there's a trashy news show."
Perhaps predictably, an anonymous blogger named "Stage Right" over on Andrew Breitbart's Big Hollywood blog is not happy. In one of his more dramatic paragraphs, he writes:
The message is clear, I can’t even sit my kids in front of “Sesame Street” without having to worry about the Left attempting to undermine my authority. And don’t tell me, “If you don’t like it change the channel.” There are no channels left! It’s everywhere. Just last week I had Obama’s service and volunteerism promoted on every single major network, including Disney and NickelodeonIt's almost so extreme as to be a satire, except, well, it's not.
At the very least, happy 40th anniversary, Sesame Street!
The Oscar the Grouch Guide to Building a More Remarkable Blog
You might have an Elmo blog, a Cookie Monster blog, or a Big Bird blog. (How you define those is up to you.)
But some of the smartest and most successful bloggers out there bear more in common with the show’s least-likeable character: Oscar the Grouch.
Oscar was an important character from the show’s beginning, and on the surface he doesn’t seem to quite fit in.
Everyone else on Sesame Street is pretty much cheerful and happy all the time. They have infinite patience, everyone loves children, and friendship is king.
Oscar, on the other hand, hates kittens, rainbows, and having a nice day. He loves anything dirty or dingy or rusty.
He was always my dad’s favorite character on the show, which annoyed me to no end when I was six. These days, I’m starting to see my dad’s point.
Oscar doesn’t want everyone to love him. (That would be his biggest nightmare, in fact.) He does his own thing, he lives the way he wants to live, and he’s not particularly interested in what anyone else has to say about it.
He’s not miserable
It would be easy to think that Oscar’s just one of those people who enjoy being unhappy, But actually, Oscar has a great life.He has things set up just the way he likes them. He’s surrounded by trash, which is what he loves. His trash can home has the perfect dented patina that makes him happy.
Oscar’s not depressed or pathological. He’s just weird. He likes different stuff from most people. And he expresses himself without apology.
The grouch community
One of the things I love on Sesame Street is when the show pulls back occasionally to reveal the whole grouch community.There are grouch restaurants. (Sandra Bernhard had a great cameo as a waitress in one, in the 1980s Sesame Street movie Follow that Bird.) Grouch taxi services. Grouch “dirtying machines” at the laundromat. Sesame Street is about as diverse as they come, and grouches are just one of the many groups they embrace.
Oscar seems like a loner, but actually he’s part of a larger community. There are dozens of grouches in trash cans living on Sesame Street, yelling at the kids and generally having a fantastic time.
It’s not about being a jerk
I’m about the last person who will ever tell you to be a troll, or a jerk for the sake of being a jerk.Being a contrarian just to create controversy is hollow, and people see through it. Yanking people’s chains for its own sake doesn’t create anything useful. An audience might show up for the spectacle of you making a rude jackass of yourself, but they won’t follow through with any kind of loyalty or commitment.
Being an Oscar blogger isn’t about being a creep. It’s about doing your thing without apology, no matter how strange it looks to “normal people.” It’s about weird passions and showing the side most people are scared to reveal.
The downside
There’s an obvious downside to grouch blogging: you’re going to turn people off. In fact, you might very well turn most people off.Plenty of people take one look at Ittybiz or The Bloggess and beat a hasty retreat. Those blogs aren’t for “most people.”
The people who remain are fanatically loyal, almost to the point of obsession. It’s precisely because so many people hate it that their audiences love it. This also works for Dan Kennedy, Ricky Gervais, and Ty Cobb. (I defy you to find that combination anywhere else on the internet.)
What to do if you aren’t a grouch
If you’re not a member of the grouch community, there’s something else you’ve got to say that’s “not for everyone.”Maybe you’re just a little too enthusiastic about zombies. Maybe you’re starting a freak revolution. Maybe you’re just plain out there.
The internet is too big to please everyone. (And there are plenty of people out there who aren’t worth pleasing.) Find your own village and give them what they’re looking for. You’ll find that they happily come back for more.
Grandmas help girls live longer - but boys beware
ELEANOR HALL: To some potentially good news for young girls who spend a lot of time with their grandmas.
A study from Cambridge University in the UK has found that in some populations the survival rate of a granddaughter living in the same house as her paternal grandmother is higher than if she were just living with her immediate family.
But the grandmas did not have such a positive effect on their grandsons.
The lead researcher Molly Fox told reporter Barbara Miller that the findings add to the understanding of what's known as the grandmother effect.
MOLLY FOX: What the grandmother hypothesis basically says is that if a grandmother helped provision her grandchildren while they are toddlers and they're weaned but they are still sort of helpless, she can increase her genetic contribution to future generations.
BARBARA MILLER: Why only grandmothers? Why not grandfathers?
MOLLY FOX: Oh, because men can reproduce until the day they die. They can have a baby on their death bed and grandmothers basically have 50 years as, you know, that's how long eggs live. So if you are going to keep on living then it is going to be without making any babies of your own.
BARBARA MILLER: So what does your research add to the understanding of the grandmother hypothesis?
MOLLY FOX: Oh well, we sort of look at this idea that if grandmothers are investing in their grandchildren because they are related to them then we should investigate that relatedness itself and the genetic relatedness between maternal versus paternal grandmothers varies with boys versus girls. So in some, I guess what we add to it, is this idea of favouritism, that there should be some favouritism on the part of grandparents investing in their grandchildren.
BARBARA MILLER: Because paternal grandmothers are more closely related to girls genetically, is that right?
MOLLY FOX: Yes exactly. A paternal grandmother and a girl versus a boy - there is a lot of variation there and the reason that grandmothers have this variation in their genetic relatedness of grandchildren is because of inheritance patterns of the X-chromosome.
BARBARA MILLER: And what did you find?
MOLLY FOX: Well what we found was that the survival of a grandchild in the presence of their grandmother actually varies with the variation in genetic relatedness between them. So in other words the presence of, say, a paternal grandmother living in the house with a girl increases her survivorship significantly but her presence in the house with a grandson, that is a paternal grandmother and a grandson, actually in all seven of the populations we looked at, that increases the boy's likelihood of mortality as opposed to if she weren't there.
BARBARA MILLER: That seems an astounding finding. Why would the presence of a paternal grandmother decrease the likelihood that a boy would survive?
MOLLY FOX: Yeah, it was not our hypothesis that she would have a detrimental effect. We just thought it would be a less positive effect and we certainly didn't look into the mechanism but I could at least make some guesses which might be that having a grandparent who is favouring other grandchildren is only taking away resources or an elderly person bringing pathogens into the home.
I guess if someone in your house is not having a positive effect then sort of the neutral option might be more detrimental.
BARBARA MILLER: So this is bad news for boys who spend time with their paternal grandmothers, is it?
MOLLY FOX: (Laughs) Maybe they should try to overcome my results by making that relationship a little more beneficial.
BARBARA MILLER: But you studied seven populations. Just give us a sense of the geographical and time span of those populations.
MOLLY FOX: Well we looked at a huge variety of different populations. We actually looked at a Japanese population from the 1600 or 1800s; a German population from the 1700-1800s; a British population from the 1700s; a modern Ethiopian population; a modern Gambian population; a modern population from Malawi and an historical population from Canada from the 1600-1700s.
BARBARA MILLER: Did you think it has, the findings though have relevance for example for Australian grandmothers today?
MOLLY FOX: Um, you know the populations that we were looking at are all places where the grandmother is living in the house or at least in close proximity with the grandchildren so these sort of traditional populations.
In Australia I don't believe that there is high incidence of grandmothers living in the home so maybe the boys are safe at the moment.
Grandma S Boy
Grandma S Boy: This blog post is a first for briancromer.com. This is the first blog post written by a guest writer. This weekend is the REVOLUTION Fall Retreat. Here is Jen Hartsell’s (blogger, coworker, REVOLUTION youth leader, and good friend) “Top Ten Things I’m looking forward to at the REVOLUTION Fall Retreat”. Enjoy…
10 – Plenty of of “I love you man”’s and lots of huggin’ it out.
9 – A ton of “I never knew that about you!”’s
8 – Pushing Michael B’s accent talent to its limits.
I know he can do Scottish, Irish, Russian, and Spanish. I want to see if he can do Polite Pirate, Swahili Neck Stretcher, German lost in Australia, and/or a Hip Hop Grandma.
7 – Busting up EVERY SINGLE “pa-duh” (or at least, that’s what they called it on the PSA against PDA’s that was so funny a few Wednesdays ago) ….Not only busting them up AS we catch them, but even BEFORE they have even begun! LOL!!!!
6 – Something super messy, gooey or sticky. Something to do with Messy Spirituality. …but nothing that would stain our new REV hoodies, of course.
5 – Something that makes EVERYONE laugh, SOME people snort, and maybe even ONE poor kid pee their pants.
4 – Having to run into the nearest town for a toothbrush run after discovering that every single MS boy forgot to bring one. (NOT!!!!)
3 – Delicious Pancakes, Sammies and Spaghetti made by our AWESOME moms!
2 – Seeing how many girls and guys bring their stuffed animals along. (Don’t be ashamed! I’m bringing a teddybear!!!)
1 – NOT passing out any bandaids for razor cuts … because … THIS IS NO SHAVE NOVEMBER!!!!
The last emperor
Madonna got straight back in the New York City nightlife attending the party for Valentino's "The Last Emperor" documentary at the Boom Boom Room yesterday night.
"DJ" Jesus Luz (wonder how he got that job, ey?) was spinning at the mixing booth at the event packed with celebrities such as Adrien Brody, Stephen Daldry, Hugh Jackman, Martha Stewart, as well as designers Marc Jacobs, Narciso Rodriguez and Diane von Furstenberg.
The Last Emperor (1987)
A dramatic history of Pu Yi, the last of the Emperors of China, from his lofty birth and brief reign in the Forbidden City, the object of worship by half a billion people; through his abdication, his decline and dissolute lifestyle; his exploitation by the invading Japanese, and finally to his obscure existence as just another peasant worker in the People’s Republic. A biography of Aisin-Gioro “Henry” Pu Yi, who at the age of three was named the Emperor of China, and dies as a gardener at the Botanical Gardens of Peking. Told in an interesting flashback/flashforward style, we learn of Pu Yi’s childhood, the time he spent imprisoned in the Forbidden City, his term as the emperor of Japans Manchuguo, and his eventual release back to public life in 1959.
Brody Jenner: Kristin Cavallari Just "Bitter"
The new queen be-yotch on The Hills called sex with Jenner "vanilla" in a trailer for the new season and told us he didn't do anything "outside the box."
"I laugh at that, and you'll laugh too once you see the rest of the season," he told me at the Hollywood Style Awards last night. "I take the high road, but she was obviously just bitter about something."
We'll have to watch and see what exactly she's bitter about, but clearly, there's no bad blood between Brody and former fling Lauren Conrad.
L.C. presented Brody with the Young Hollywood Stylemaker Award and had a cozy dinner with him after the event at STK.
So where was his girlfriend, Jayde Nicole?
Brody said his lady was back home, celebrating Canadian Thanksgiving with her family.
Brody Jenner and Jayde Nicole: Urth Caffe Couple
Dressed casually for an afternoon outing, Brody Jenner was spotted out having lunch with his girlfriend, Jayde Nicole, at Urth Caffe in West Hollywood on Monday (October 26).
After getting their grub on at a patio table, the MTV reality star hunk and his Playmate of the Year girlfriend chatted as they strolled side-by-side out to their nearby car.
The outing comes just as fans of “The Hills” ready for an all-new episode, during which Jayde issues Brody an ultimatum in regards to teh return of his ex-girlfriend, Kristin Cavallari.
“I don’t want to hook up with Kristin, but do I know if I have feelings for her? Not really,” Jenner tells in the upcoming episode.
In response, Jayde shoots back, “Why are we even sitting here talking if you don’t know if you have feelings for another girl? You figure out what you want to do. If you want to be back together and you want to apologize, you can call me.”
Nome Alaska Disappearances
‘The Fourth Kind’ describes mysterious Nome Alaska disappearances as alien abduction. A thriller ‘The Fourth Kind’ by Olatunde Osunsanmi has already been released on November 6, 2009. The movie is an “archival footage” of a psychologist, engaged in interviewing Alaskans.
The famous writer and director Olantunde Osunsanmi has come up with yet another thriller titled ‘The Fourth Kind’ and the main characters of the mystery movie are Milla Jovovich and Will Patton. The story of the movie revolves around a psychiatrist that while interviewing the traditional Alaskans, happens to encounter and stagger with some alien abduction proof. A thing that has never been documented before, claims the director.
The archival footage of the psychologist presented in the movie in question seems to blame the extraterrestrial happenings and real-life disappearance activities, to some kind of alien abduction. There indeed, have been incidents reported involving people getting lost or just disappear in the Nome territory; especially while traveling Inupiat and Siberian Yupik villages to Hub.
However, a movie that has been filmed in the southern Seward Peninsula coast of Nome (Nome Census Area) that now comprises of thousands of people and houses according to the latest censuses is being considered a replica of “Blair Witch Project” by many. There have been some mixed remarks about the movie that the style adopted by the director is in close ties with the ‘Blair Witch Project’ and its kind spooky story.
According to Melanie Edwards Kawerak Inc. Vice President, the movie is somewhat preposterous or kind funny (a review after watching an online trailer of the movie on Monday). The distributors of the movie for United States theaters are Universal Pictures.
Review: THE FOURTH KIND
For decades now, we’ve wrestled with the controversial and frightening mystery of alien abductions. We’ve debated until we’re blue in the face about the concept of life outside of planet Earth. The one facet of this entire scientific, cultural and philosophical circus that remains arguably missing is that of solid, undeniable proof. This “missing link” so to speak, is what THE FOURTH KIND attempts to be in the hearts and minds of it’s viewers. Unfortunately, the film fails on almost every level, leaving the audience potentially more skeptical and cynical than they were upon entering the theater.
THE FOURTH KIND was written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi (WithIN) and is presented as a sort of part archival footage, part reenactment presentation of first-hand accounts of the strange and unexplained occurrences that have allegedly plagued the remote, far northern town of Nome, Alaska. The director himself inserts himself into the film in a very unconventional way, appearing in clips of an interview with the “real life” Dr. Abbey Emily Tyler, whom tells her story of uncovering a dark and dangerous secret hiding deep within subconscious minds of the citizens of Nome.
Milla Jovovich (RESIDENT EVIL) plays Dr. Abbey Tyler in the re-enactments. By the way, all of the character names in THE FOURTH KIND are aliases, except for Dr. Abbey Emily Tyler, whom I Googled along with Nome Alaska abductions and found, well… you decide. There’s really not much that can be said about hers or any of the other performances in the film, which are not terrible but certainly not memorable in any way. Elias Koteas (ZODIAC) intrigued me, not because of his performance, but because of his role as fellow psychologist Abel. Koteas recently played a priest whom just happened to be well-versed in the occult in the “based on true events” film THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT. In this film, Koteas plays a psychologist skeptical of alien encounters and UFOs. This trend makes me curious regarding his own stance on the unexplained, just out of pure curiosity.
The majority of THE FOURTH KIND is shot as a reenactment of both recorded psychiatric therapy sessions and first-hand accounts. I am reminded of the popular television series UNSOLVED MYSTERIES when I think about the visual approach to these reenactments. Melodramatic scenes with the visual flair of a daytime soap opera. The films attempts to present itself seriously, but the problem with this is that the current trend is to present a story that appears real, but most likely is not, yet we’re left to wonder. Most of the time, this is done either with the fully found footage approach (i.e. BLAIR WITCH PROJECT, CLOVERFIELD, PARANORMAL ACTIVITY) or as a straight away reenactment, making it’s disclaimer very clear that it is based on a “true” story or “actual” events, such as with THE HAUNTING IN CONNECTICUT or THE EXORCIST.
I do have to applaud Osunsanmi for stepping out of the box and trying something new, but with that said, trying something new does not guarantee it will be successful. The direction, particularly of the performances, falls flat and unbelievable. As far as THE FOURTH KIND being shocking or scary, only one scene moderately succeeds and getting a rise out of the audience, but is done so primarily through jump tactics (i.e. an unexpected and sudden event that catches the audience off guard). The handful of found footage accounts, aside from interview clips with Dr. Tyler, are the only semi-realistic elements in the movie and with today’s imagination and technology, it’s more difficult than ever to differentiate between truth and fiction.
On more than one occasion, the audience is directly addressed and asked to take what they see in THE FOURTH KIND and make their own decisions. This is a tactic that fully and detrimentally pulls the audience out of the story and only re-enforces the the involuntary defense mechanism of the human mind to discount the unknown of which we usually fear. I do not classify myself as a believer or a skeptic, but remain open to the unknown being a question of probability, rather than a question of possibility. One of the clear messages in the film is that these “non-human intelligences” are not very nice.
We often consider how, in a universe so vast and potentially infinite, our planet could be the only celestial rock that houses life. What we rarely consider is what sentient life outside of our planet may be like. In science-fiction, the idea of aliens being overwhelmingly more intelligent than ourselves is common place, but their ethical or moral nature remains a less pertinent subject. Playing the devil’s advocate, I simply ask that you look around at what we have and continue to do to each other and propose the question… If we can do such horrible things to each other and ourselves, are other sentient lifeforms not capable of the same, or worse?”
I am rambling a bit, but I do so to make a point. The only truly engaging element in THE FOURTH KIND the the idea, the concept behind the story. Otherwise, the movie is rather boring and uneventful. The characters are difficult to empathize with, although the Sheriff of Nome (played by Will Patton) is pretty easy to dislike. For a film that is supposedly based on true events and actual archival audio and video recordings, a great deal of the dialogue is a bit hard to swallow. In fact, the whole film is a tough horse pill to swallow as anything more than attempted shock value, but it does raise an interesting subject of debate that hasn’t been tackled in the cinema since FIRE IN THE SKY and COMMUNION, both of which were far more believable and engaging films that truly make a viewer think about the possibilities.
Overall, there’s not much in THE FOURTH KIND to justify spending today’s hard earned dollars at the theater. Those who enjoy films that ask “is this true or not” will likely be disappointed. Fans of conspiracy theory may be slightly less disappointed, but the random selected episode of THE X-FILES will prove far more satisfying. The most unfortunate thing about THE FOURTH KIND is that it’s box office could have been modestly helped if the film had been released prior to PARANORMAL ACTIVITY, which has truly set the bar high in the broader genre of found-footage films of the unexplained.
The Fourth Kind
Most critics didn't like "The Fourth Kind." It's the supposed true story of a psychologist who hypnotizes her patients.
While under they each recall similar and very vivid horrors of alien abduction. The scenes of actors playing the characters are interspersed with supposed documentary footage of the real people in the story.
It scared me. The trick is to let your mind run with the idea. Believe it, and you'll have a good time. I liked it, but almost no one else did.
A trick that doesn't deliver, says the New York Times. The Republic only gave it 1 ½ out of 5. But I say 3 out of 5.
It's rated PG-13 for language.
Rip City Rewind
Seventeen years later, Kersey and Pack remember more than a title run.
On Wednesday night, those innocent memories of seasons gone by were merely a few of the several relived as the Portland Trail Blazers hosted the Phoenix Suns at Memorial Coliseum in preseason action. The game commemorated the Blazers return to Memorial Coliseum for the first time since Portland and Phoenix met in the NBA Playoffs back on May 2, 1995.
The Suns won that game and they went back to the future on Wednesday night with a 110-104 win. Some things never change.
It was the first in a “turn back the clock” season series marking the Blazers 40th anniversary in the NBA, with former players and coaches returning and new jerseys being worn. It’s also the end of an era for the 49 year old arena and those who called it home.
Before the Blazers moved into the Rose Garden in 1995, the “The Glass Palace” was the hardwood haven for Portland’s lone NBA Championship in 1977 and two failed Finals attemp
ts against Detroit in 1990 and Chicago in 1992.“To actually see a game in there – a Blazer game again – is going to bring back a lot of memories,” added Kersey, who now works for the organization as a team ambassador.
“It’s going to be a little sad because this will probably be the last time anyone plays in there.”
Recollections were built upon Clyde Drexler’s Blazermania and Bill Walton’s Rip City. But back during the 1991-92 season, Kersey and teammate Robert Pack – now and assistant coach with the New Orleans Hornets – learned life lessons from the relationships forged between those hallowed hoop walls and in search of an NBA title.
One was a veteran. The other was a rookie. Both feel like it was yesterday.
“I remember jogging around the court with those guys with me and it was amazing right then – to look around and see Terry Porter, Clyde Drexler, Jerome Kersey and Danny Ainge. I mean, they taught me what it was like to start out in this league,” said Pack, who made Rick Adelman’s team as an undrafted rookie point guard out of USC.
“They helped me with an apartment and got me my first checking account, and I was a rookie so Terry made me do my duties. They were a big influence on me, and to look back on my rookie year taught me a lot about being a veteran later.”
Dubbed “Pac-Man”, the 6’1 Pack was a dunking highlight reel who quickly endeared himself to Portland for his hops and the energy he supplied off the Blazers bench. He went on to appear in 72 games where he averaged 4.6 points in his one year stay in Portland.
“We used to call him 15-footer because anything outside of 15-feet he wasn’t making,” Kersey said laughing.
“He loved to go in and dunk on guys. You just don’t think a guy his size jumps that high and he was strong with it. He was in better shape than probably anyone on the team. He was hungry. You knew what you were getting out of him every day. As a rookie, that is a lot to say.
“We needed a guy like that on our team to work against Terry (Porter) and Danny (Ainge).”
Much like Pack, Kersey – who averaged 12.6 points and 8.2 rebounds in 77 games that year - was also a fan favorite in Por
tland and a guy who often got lost in the shadows of Drexler and Porter. The 6’7 rugged small forward played 11 seasons with the Blazers before eventually winning an NBA Championship with San Antonio Spurs in 1999 during his 17-year career.Unfortunately, the Chicago Bulls had Portland’s number in the ’92 Finals.
Despite finishing with the best record in the Western Conference (57-25), the Blazers fell prey to Michael Jordan and lost the series, 4-2, during Portland’s second trip to the NBA Finals in three years.
The loss still hurts.
“It brings back a lot of heartfelt memories – some good, some bad,” Kersey continued.
“You feel proud inside that you got the chance to play before 12, 666 people your whole career each game out. We sold out every time.”
Even so, how tough really was the journey to reach the NBA Finals – from training camp, through the preseason and on into the regular season and playoffs?
“It’s difficult to get there,” Pack explained, recalling his one shot at playing for a title.
“What I did was approached it with an attitude that each one of those guys came into camp with. It was a focus to get to the Finals. Everyone was mentally and physically ready. It takes a certain type of preparation to be able to go through that. You have to stand up to the challenge – from the coaching staff to the players. It’s something I remembered during my career and something I’ll remember as I start my coaching career. That’s what it takes to get to the NBA Finals.”
Those days are long gone for Kersey, 47 and Pack, 42.
The pinwheel has been officially passed on through ups and downs and into the hands of Brandon Roy’s “Rip City Uprise.”
Yet the common bond in Blazers history for Jerome Kersey and Robert Pack will forever be solidified not only through a friendship, but the long memorable journey along the way.
“Obviously we are all at different places in life right now,” Pack began.
“But back then were guys who just played basketball.”
Wendell Maxey is a freelance writer now in his third season covering the Portland Trail Blazers. You can read more of his writing at Beyondthebeat.net.
Rip City Revival
PORTLAND — Larry Miller has a vision.
It is the not too distant future. Game day during the NBA Finals. And the Portland Trail Blazers president sees a vibrant, energetic crowd wandering through the Rose Quarter on a warm summer day in mid-June.
The sea of red and black has gathered in the name of Blazermania. And as an omnipresent blimp passes overhead, it televises an image of passionate, devoted Blazer fans who are shopping, talking and walking — communicating and participating en masse, in a manner normally reserved for major markets such as Los Angeles or New York.
It is the Rip City community in full force. Out to support Brandon Roy, LaMarcus Aldridge, Nate McMillan and the rest of the Blazers as they attempt to bring an NBA Championship back to Portland for the first time since 1977.
And converging around a renovated, fully bloomed, fully sustainable Rose Quarter that has been revamped and renewed.
"That’s the vision," said the 59-year-old Miller, who was named franchise president in June 2007.
Miller’s vision will take time. A partnership between the City of Portland and the Blazers to re-do and re-imagine the Rose Quarter is at least two years away from reality.
But the NBA Finals part of the dream? It might be closer than some imagine.
The Blazers’ 2008-09 season changed everything. Fifty-four wins and the first round of the NBA Playoffs. The ascension of Roy, continued emergence of Aldridge, and development of young stars such as Rudy Fernandez, Nicolas Batum and Greg Oden.
A once young and promising team filled with potential became a new sensation, selling out the Rose Garden nightly and commanding national attention. In turn, the ghosts of the franchise’s dark Jail Blazer days were finally exorcised.
"It’s come together quickly," said Tod Leiweke, chief executive officer of Vulcan Sports and Entertainment. "But when you live in dog years, it’s about 21 years, to tell you the truth. It’s actually been an enormous amount of work. And the fact is, we’re not there yet."
McMillan will coach and guide a 2009-10 Blazers team surrounded by excitement and high expectations.
Meanwhile, Miller will continue to work behind the scenes. And the former vice president and general manager of Nike Basketball — who presided over the company’s famed Jordan Brand — will aim to solidify the relationship between a Blazer-crazed region and its lone major professional sports franchise.
"The first thing I noticed when I got here was just how incredibly passionate folks here are about the team, about their jobs," said Miller, an East Coast transplant who has lived in Portland for 18 years and raised a family in the city. "And that’s the majority of the game right there."
Character
Spend enough time around Miller, McMillan or Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard, and you’re likely to hear the word "character" mentioned as often as victories or championships. Maybe more.
The crazy part: They mean it.
The trio agrees that the Blazers’ recent resurgence has as much to do with piecing together a team composed of like-minded, high-character players as it does with the old-school combination of luck, timing and talent.
In addition, Miller has worked to imprint key themes from his Nike years — branding, consumer focus — on his new world.
"To me, one of the problems that the organization had, when you talk about going (back) a few years, was that there was not this connection with what the brand was about," Miller said. "The way I like to express it is, people here like to feel like they wouldn’t mind living next door to one of our players. And for a while here, we definitely didn’t have that."
Now, the Blazers do.
Players such as Roy, Aldridge, Oden, Steve Blake and Martell Webster are valued for their on-the-court contributions. But their realistic, down-to-earth lifestyles are equally prized.
According to McMillan and Pritchard, the push for serious basketball professionals over highly-priced amateurs begins at the top.
"It starts with Larry and it goes down to Kevin, myself and the rest of the team," McMillan said.
Renovation
Miller’s main plan to improve the organization is still just that: a plan.
While the ability to secure Roy and Aldridge to long-term contract extensions was significant for the franchise’s long-term future, so is the ongoing attempt to make the Blazers profitable.
"Larry’s done a great job helping the franchise reconnect with the community and the fans," Blazers owner Paul Allen said. "The sellouts and all those aspects of how the business has gone and our financials really reflect that."
However, despite at times feeling like a major sports town — 71 consecutive Rose Gardens sellouts leave an impression — Portland is still a small-market team in a big sports world.
"It requires us to be on our toes," Miller said. "To always be looking for the new and better ways to support our fans and sponsors."
The idealized new, better way is the main part of Miller’s vision: A fully renovated Rose Quarter that surrounds the Rose Garden and a revamped Memorial Coliseum with restaurants, retail stores, arts-and-entertainment venues and hotels. In turn, what is now a dead zone when the Blazers are not on the court would be re-made into a modern, mixed-use neighborhood located in the heart of Portland.
"Otherwise, there’s tumbleweeds blowing," Miller said.
Change is still at least two years away. But if the plan comes to fruition, the Blazers — who not long ago were a threat to relocate — could have an extended and improved lease on life in the city.
"This will help," said J.E. Isaac, Blazers senior vice president of business affairs. "Why these types of projects work, is that the retail element, the entertainment elements add an environment that makes people come out to events, because it adds to the experience."
Portland mayor Sam Adams asserted that the grand ideas and large, bold vision would not be possible without the return of Rip City and Miller’s worldview. Moreover, Adams said it would not have even been possible just a few years ago, when the despised Jail Blazers term had come to characterize and indict the organization.
"There were behind-the-scenes efforts during the bad times, and they went nowhere," Adams said. "In part, because of what was proposed. But also, specifically, what was proposed wasn’t in keeping with the city; it wasn’t maximizing the value of this particular piece of land; and the Blazers were in disarray — either financially, from a management point of view, or on the court."
Looking ahead
While Miller’s vision requires renovation and change, there is an element that is even more essential: A trip to the NBA Finals.
The Blazers have not played basketball in June since 2000. And the team has not made it to the NBA’s ultimate destination — the championship round — since 1992. Factor in that Portland’s only NBA title came more than 32 years ago, and Miller knows urban construction and renewal will not replace what Blazer fans want the most.
"At the end of the day, our goal here is to win a championship — win multiple championships," Miller said.
While Portland’s triumvirate of Miller, McMillan and Pritchard lead the way, the team will continue to emphasize character. It will continue to prize leaders and pioneers over politics and prima donnas. And it will continue to work toward a democracy, and avoid a dictatorship.
"We agree. We can disagree. But we unite," Pritchard said. "It’s something that I’ve had in my life for a long time. And we implement it here."
Moreover, Miller has already cleared the biggest hurdle: Returning Rip City to its rightful place.
"They’ve related once again to the community," said Harry Glickman, one of the franchise’s original founders and a former team president. "The Blazers are a part of this all over Oregon and Southwest Washington. Versus where we were once before, they’re there again. And I think we have the respect and the admiration of the community.
Droid Does Spying | Motorola Droid Spy Phone Software Coming Soon
- Text Message Interception – Ability to secretly read text messages that are sent or received from the target’s Droid phone.
- View Call Logs – This will enable someone to secretly view the Droid’s call logs, such as incoming and outgoing calls with the contact name that is associated to the phone number.
- GPS Tracking - This is a given as well. Stealth GPS tracking will be a primary feature of Droid spy phone software.
- Remote Monitoring – Turn a Droid phone into a room bug. This Droid spy phone feature will enable someone to secretly listen in on the surroundings of the Droid phone.
- Picture Uploads - This new spy phone feature will enable a person to remotely access the pictures in the Droid phone.
- Remote Camera Activation – This Droid spy phone feature will activate the Droid’s camera and then secretly upload the picture to a secure online account so the person who is spying on the Droid phone can see where their target is.
- Call Interception – iPhone, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, & Nokia (Symbian) phones all have spy phone software that offers live call interception, so why would Android be safe? You can almost be sure that this feature will be offered.
Based on the emails I’m getting about Droid spy software, it seems more than a few people out there have this approach in mind, so if your spouse surprises you with a brand new Droid phone, be careful because as the ad says, “Droid Does Spying.”
Google Favors Motorola Droid: Best Android Cell Phone
Google have been certainly pushing their Android OS on a number of smartphones in 2009, but the biggest launch has to be the 
According to Google Watch, the search engine giant showed advertising on its home page underneath its search bar saying “New! The Droid is on sale now. “They also had a button on the top right, which looked a lot like a software download button.
Search Engine Land then asked the question if this is in fact an “advertisement for Motorola and the Droid phone.” Google Watch did not hang about with its answers, simply saying “Hell Yea.” There is something good to come from all this though, as the Droid will be the one phone to help save Motorola from becoming like one of its old handsets and falling down the back of a couch.
Google certainly have some high hopes for the Droid as it is the first cell
Is “The Fourth Kind” real or fake? Secrets revealed
The new thriller “The Fourth Kind,” which opens with star Milla Jovovich speaking directly to the audience about the movie’s authenticity, has raised some suspicions about the credibility of its claims and supposedly “real” footage. While the jury’s still out 100 percent, it’s safe to assume that the footage used and the alien abduction story upon which the film is based are a total crock. Simply put, it’s fake.
Additionally, All Business‘ article on the matter states that there isn’t even any evidence to support the movie’s main character ever existed at all. The movie uses what it terms “aliases” throughout.
To further propagate the film’s cheap reliance on its dishonest tactic, Universal has released a featurette with “paranormal researcher” Marie D. Jones (embedded below), asserting that the footage used displays genuine signs of alien abductions. Sure, but that’s because that information is only available inside the brains of paranormal researchers! It’s not something that could be found independent of their guidance and replicated in a film.
With films like this and “Paranormal Activity” being widely distributed, the horror pseudo-documentaries might very well become fashionable (or, at least, profitable) again. Let’s hope there’s a change of pace and the next ones to assuredly come out are substantially more convincing.
Is The Fourth Kind Real
Is The Fourth Kind Real, I am a bubble burster, have always been. My first experience with the fourth type is written to the trailer SciFiSquad with the Bullet “Trailer for ‘The power of the fourth kind” be lying to you. “I have no innate rancor against the film, but I realize that we live in 2009, and I’m surrounded by Interweb magic enabled devices that can tell me whether or not I believe in a film that purports to be “based on actual case studies.” Immediately after seeing the trailer headed for confirmation the existence or otherwise of their claims about alien abductions in Nome, Alaska had no basis in this world. I found nothing.
Sengoku 11 Preview
Along with two Strikeforce events this weekend, the Japanese organization World Victory Road will be putting on Sengoku 11 in Tokyo.
The event will feature a matchup that will look to begin correcting a bizarre featherweight tournament as Michihiro Omigawa (7-8-1 MMA) takes on the organization’s top ranked featherweight in Hatsu Hioki (20-3-2 MMA, #4 IWMMAR).
There will also be a notable fight between top ten middleweight and organizational champion Jorge Santiago (22-7 MMA, 1-2 UFC, #5 IWMMAR) and Mamed Khalidov (19-3-1 MMA). Santiago will look to continue an impressive nine fight winning streak that has seen him stop all of his opponents either with strikes or a submission. Khalidov, a decided underdog, is on an impressive winning streak, too, though against admittedly less substantial competition. Since October of 2005, Khalidov has gone 16-0-1, with only one win coming by way of decision.
In an attempt to climb back onto the top ten, Satoru Kitaoka (25-9-9 MMA) will look to rebound from a tough TKO loss as he takes on Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal (18-4 MMA). Kitaoka has a devastating submission game, and should be able to put that into effect against Masvidal, but Masvidal is not a guy to take lightly (he holds wins over UFC veteran Joe Lauzon and former IFL champion Ryan Schultz).
Those three fights are really the three best bouts on the card, but there are a few on the under card that are worth keeping an eye on.
The heavyweight showdown between Dave “Pee Wee” Herman (15-1 MMA) and Jim York (11-3 MMA) will definitely be an exciting fight between guys that hit hard. While neither are particularly technical, it should be a fantastic brawl.
The card will also feature Kevin Randleman (17-13 MMA, 4-3 UFC) looking for another win to get him on track as he takes on Bulgarian wrestling powerhouse Stanislav Nedkov (7-0 MMA). While there’s no real question of who the superior wrestler is (Randleman was a two time NCAA champion at Ohio State), this fight is going to be more about youth and athleticism than wrestling. If Randleman can show some glimmer of the freakish athlete he was in his youth, he can beat Nedkov, but if he can’t, the Bulgarian is going to let loose and do some damage.
Kazunori Yokota (10-2-3 MMA) and Eiji Mitsuoka (16-6-2 MMA) will each be looking for a third straight W as they square off in what may be a dark horse for fight of the night. Both are tough guys with a good deal of experience and solid all-around skills, and there’s no clear favorite in the fight (though Mitsuoka has fought better competition, it’s not as though he’s beaten any of the top fighters he’s squared off with). It should be a fun fight.
MMAOpinion will have video of the event, as always, posted after the fights air on November 2nd. This is a big weekend for MMA, as it will also include the CBS televised Strikeforce event, and MMAOpinion will provide coverage of the Strikeforce ShoMMA challengers series here in Fresno. Keep checking in, as MMAOpinion will be updating regularly throughout the day.
Sengoku 11 open thread and discussion
With the penultimate month of the year under way, World Victory Road (WVR) is set to host Sengoku: “Eleventh Battle” TONIGHT (Nov. 7) at the famed Sumo Hall, Ryogoku Kokugikan, in Tokyo, Japan.
This will be the final event before WVR inaugurates the new “Sengoku Raiden Championship” banner on New Year’s Eve.
Sengoku 11 will air LIVE via HDNet beginning at 2:00 AM ET.
Besides boasting several marquee names, the fight card also serves as a prelude to the year end event: With at least three title contests scheduled on NYE, several fighters on the card will enter the ring for high-stake battles to earn the title shots.
For those of you Maniacs following the fights as they go down (or those of you that are just along for the ride), go ahead and sound off in the comments section with any results, news, photos and videos — it’s an open thread, so go crazy.
Just try your hardest to keep it Sengoku related.
Be sure to check back a little later this morning for our results and complete recap. In the meantime, have at it.
We want to hear from you.
Dr. Abigail Tyler Nome Alaska
What is the reality behind the disappearences of people in nome, alaska? the reality is that yes, there was a string of disappearences on the west coast of Alaska and FBI Officials were also called to investigate on the matter as it was becoming more serious for the residents, after full investigation of 20 cases, they concluded that there were no reality about the alien abductions in Nome, Alaska and the disappearences were the reason of alcohol and frigid temperatures in which 9 bodies were never found.
Paul Halpern is the professor of physics at The University of Sciences in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and researches on the possibility of extraterrestrial life, he said that it can only possible through fiction and not as an actual scientific scale of measurement.
The movie was filmed in Balgaria and is based on the previous alien documentaries and the photos captured by Dr. Abigail Tyler depicting disturbing scenes. however, director claims the authenticity of the incidents showed in film but the reality is that there is nothing like alien abduction in our daily life.
Halpern says
“I think that it’s fun to have fictional movies about the possibility of extraterrestrial life, but it’s important for the public to understand the difference between science and science fiction,” Halpern said. “Almost all scientists I know believe that there’s no evidence of encounters between humans and alien life forms. Right now, astronomers are [still] trying to find evidence of very simple life forms in space.”
Dr. Abigail Tyler from Nome, Alaska in The Fourth Kind
The Fourth Kind ,The creepy alien-abduction film releases today. It is about as real as the boogie man. Without all of its manipulated hocus-pocus, there’s not much substance to this mediocre alien abduction story. It’s a spectacular foil for Paranormal Activity,
The Fourth Kind is only mildly entertaining, more often for how ridiculous its characters act and how unbelievable its plot becomes, and it’s thoroughly insulting.
It’s very much about aliens, in fact. The premise is actually quite terrifying. Hundreds of unexplained disappearances in the desolate town of Nome, Alaska (a town that can only be reached by air travel). Shared visions, shared black-outs between residents of Nome, collective unconscious style. And when the audience, become privy to the “actual” abductions, well, they’re affecting.
Some of the case studies, in all their grainy video-glory, are pretty creepy. A slack-jawed Dr. Tyler settling back to her couch after being levitated by some other-worldly force. The film often goes to split-screen, showing what they claim is real footage of hypnosis sessions conducted by Dr. Abigail Tyler, side-by-side with dramatized footage starring Milla Jovovich as Abigail (aka “Abbey”).
Abigail has demons of her own she can’t get over the recent death of her husband, which she claims was a murder. So she undergoes hypnotism and tries to see the face of the killer, who stabs her husband in their own bed at night.
When one particularly distraught patient turns to violence, Abigail is automatically suspected by the town’s sheriff, played by Will Patton, because she has been hypnotizing the patients and getting explosive reactions.
So while trailer claims the film to be very exciting with full of paranormal activities, the movie fails to make an impact on audience mind. Though the definition of the movie’s title The Fourth Kind means alien abduction, it is not justified, according to the movie watcher.
“United Commercial Bank”
“United Commercial Bank”:Toppled by loan losses and misstated financial reports, San Francisco’s United Commercial Bank was shut down by regulators Friday night and immediately sold to Pasadena’s East West Bancorp, creating by far the largest U.S. bank focused on the Chinese American market.
The combination also will be the largest bank based in Southern California, surpassing City National Bancorp.
East West agreed to assume all of United Commercial’s deposits, so no depositors will lose money, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. The bank’s 63 U.S. branches, including 17in Southern California, will reopen Saturday as branches of East West Bank.
United Commercial, a unit of UCBH Holdings Inc., was the fourth-largest bank to fail this year. That position was formerly occupied by California National Bank of Los Angeles, which failed last week and was acquired by U.S. Bancorp of Minneapolis.
Regulators also seized on Friday one bank each in Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota and Missouri, bringing to 120 the number of failures this year.
United Commercial’s collapse may cause a greater-than-usual stir because a year ago the federal government invested $299 million in bailout funds in the bank in exchange for preferred stock, which was made worthless by the failure.
In addition, the FDIC said the collapse would cost the federal deposit insurance fund an estimated $1.4 billion.
East West raised $500 million in new capital to support the takeover, most of it from mutual funds and other existing shareholders, said Dominic Ng, chairman of the Pasadena-based lender.
The privately placed stock sales will enable East West to proceed slowly as it integrates the two banks, then have plenty of capital later next year to consider additional expansion by adding branches or making more acquisitions.
The takeover will greatly expand the reach of East West, which has concentrated on Southern California and the San Francisco Bay Area. In addition to 69 California offices, East West has full-service branches in Houston and Hong Kong.
United Commercial not only has dozens of branches in California but also has locations in key Chinese American areas, including New York, Boston, Seattle, Atlanta and Houston.
What’s more, because of its 2007 acquisition of a Shanghai bank, United Commercial also has a banking license in China — a “rare and hard-to-come-by” asset that makes it easier to operate and expand in that country, , said RBC Capital Markets analyst Joe Morford. It has full-service offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Shantou, China.
United Commercial, East West and Cathay General Bancorp of Los Angeles have vied for years to become the largest of the banks focused on the Chinese American market.
East West, which had $12.5 billion in assets at last report, agreed to acquire $10.2 billion of United Commercial’s $11.2 billion in assets. That would put the combined bank, at almost $23 billion in assets, ahead of L.A.-based City National as the largest bank basedin Southern California. At last report, City National had $18.4 billion in assets.
The FDIC agreed to absorb most of the expected losses on about $7.7 billion of the United Commercial assets acquired by East West.
Like its Chinese American rivals, United Commercial was burned by commercial lending losses, especially loans to developers and home builders during the housing boom. But it also was tainted by a financial scandal that resulted in a shake-up of its top management.
United Commercial Bank 120th bank to fail this year in U.S.
LOS ANGELES, Nov. 7 (Xinhua) -- The San Francisco-based United Commercial Bank reopen Saturday as branches of East West Bank after it was shut down by regulators Friday night and immediately sold to the Pasadena-based East-West Bancorp.
The California Department of Financial Institutions has approved overnight the purchase of the debt-laden bank which has 16 branches in Los Angeles and Orange counties.
East-West Bancorp entered into a purchase and assumption agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), which also included all 63 U.S. branches of United Commercial Bank, its branch in China's Hong Kong and the subsidiary of United Commercial Bank headquartered in Shanghai, China.
Depositors will automatically become depositors of East West Bank and continue to be insured by the FDIC.
The ill-fated bank was the 120th FDIC-insured institution to fail in the United States and the 14th in California this year, officials said.
"This is a transformational event for both institutions and represents an exciting growth opportunity for East West," Dominic Ng, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of East West, said in a statement.
Founded in 1973, East West Bank boasts a total of 137 branches in the United States. It will receive 10.4 billion U.S. dollars in assets, including 7.7 billion dollars in loans, and assume 9.2 billion dollars in liabilities, including 6.5 billion dollars in deposits of United Commercial Bank.
This has made East West Bank California's second largest bank and the nation's largest bank focused on serving the Asian American community. The transaction will help the bank to become profitable in 2010 and maintain future business development, Ng said.
20 20 Interview With Rihanna
20 20 Interview With Rihanna, 20/20 Rihanna: In a tremendously moving and eloquent interview with 20/20, Rihanna gave her first full-length statements about his assault by Chris Brown in February. Description of the beating he suffered in a car with Brown, the singer said that when he hit her, “had no soul in their eyes … It was almost like he had nothing to lose.” Speaking with Diane Sawyer, Rihanna said after Brown’s remorse, “He’d say,” You hate me, right? “and I would lie and say, ‘No.’”
That was a chilling moment, one among many. Sawyer showed Rihanna videos online of people – the fans? – Saying he should have led Brown. Sawyer paraphrased his feelings: “They say, ‘Do you bait him? Rile him?” ”
Rihanna said bluntly of these issues, “is ignorance.”
Demonstrating maturity and reflection on their experience, Rihanna noted, “With fame comes a lot of things, and most dangerous is the freedom … no limits.”
At the same time, said that when she shows pictures of his battered face that night, “I feel very embarrassed, angry … ashamed … You start lying to yourself, blame yourself … I did not want people looked at me. I felt very alone. ”
She never said she heard the song supposedly recorded for Brown called “Changed Man”. When Sawyer showed him the internet apology and asked Brown issued the reaction of the singer, Rihanna said simply: “Sounds like we may be reading off a teleprompter … I do not know if he understood the magnitude of what he did. ”
Rihanna explained the source of the struggle: “I caught him in a lie” when he saw a text message from another woman. “I did not drop, and could not accept that.” She describes her love as “dangerous … It was a bit of an obsession.”
The tremendous pressure placed on celebrities to be role models made it clear when he said: “My selfish desire for love might be in a young girl was killed. It could not be easier with that responsible for that.” How terrible that this woman should have to bear the weight, plus what happened. That is one of the major flaws of the current pop culture – the notion that celebrities should be an example to others.Rihanna went so far as to tell Sawyer, “I’m glad it happened to me, because now I can help girls when it happens to them.
Rihanna On 20/20 ABC:Rihanna 20/20 Interview
Rihanna On 20/20 ABC:Rihanna 20/20 Interview – Where is Rihanna from? How old is Rihanna? How tall is Rihanna? These are the questions on everybody’s mind after the singer appeared on ABC’s 20/20 this evening, to talk about being beaten by Chris Brown.Robyn Rihanna Fenty aka Rihanna was born February 20, 1988 in Saint Michael, Barbados,but moved to the United States at the age of 16 to become a singer.Brown released the following statement before the interview even aired:
“While I respect Rihanna’s right to discuss the specific events of February 8, I maintain my position that all of the details should remain a private matter between us. I do appreciate her support and wish her the best. I am extremely sorry for what I did, and I accept accountability for my actions. At this point, I am taking the proper steps to learn about me and grow from my mistakes. I only hope that others in similar situations can learn from our experience as well. Abuse of any kind is always wrong. The rest I leave it to God.”
Adobe Getting Snarky Over Flash on iPhone
Adobe’s getting snarky over the continued absence of Flash on the iPhone, now presenting users with the above message which reads:
Flash Player not available for your device. Apple restricts use of technologies required by products like Flash Player. Until Apple eliminates these restrictions, Adobe cannot provide Flash Player for the iPhone or iPod Touch (sic).Fair enough. Apple doesn’t allow code interpreters like Flash, Java, SilverLight, etc. on the iPhone. Even Apple’s own media plugin, QuickTime, doesn’t run inline on websites but rather launches a separate player app to show videos.
While the iPhone has an amazing web browser with Safari, it’s still a mobile web browser, and the iPhone doesn’t have anywhere near the CPU power, memory, battery, or other hardware resources that a laptop does, and even laptops can still be hit especially hard by Flash content. Maybe Adobe’s upcoming mobile friendly Flash 10.1 will finally present a really good, optimized, clean (and dare we hope secure and privacy-respectful) version of the plugin.
That is, if we’re getting the true story from either Apple or Adobe (as highlighted by this reddit thread, whether real or parody).
Snarky Holiday Sentiments
It’s early, but it’s once again time to start preparing for the holidays. Flytrap greeting cards provide a pleasantly snarky alternative to the usual holiday messages. Now all those Scrooges out there can send a card with the appropriate sentiment.
Flytrap greeting cards give humorous takes on the holidays. The company also prints hilarious birthday notes and everyday commentary. They even make flippant notes to leave on the cars of bad drivers.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Oh, I’m sorry. Maybe you don’t celebrate Christmas. Some people probably hate it. So maybe instead HAPPY HOLIDAYS! Hm. Maybe you don’t celebrate any holidays at all this time of year. Maybe you even hate the holidays… (missmalaprop)
Witches of Breastwick 2
Perfect to waste your money and time, “Witches of Breastwick 2″ is a soft-core porn movie. Well! I can understand the people buying the movie in pre-internet era, what purpose the movies like “Witches of Breastwick 2″ are serving now is beyond my comprehension. You want me to write the review of the film, it has one lined plot “boobs”! Big, Small, medium sized, augmented every type of them. The story is shoved in to shift the scene from one set of boobs to another.
By the way Nikki Fritz’ body is really gorgeous. A semblance of what should be a story goes like this. A man daily wets his pants while sleeping (Breasts). Apparently some deep prehistoric demonic instinct keeps him from getting satisfied by his wife (More Breasts). He has visions about a possessed house and three nymphs (Still More Breasts). Instead of getting a brain surgery he and his wife plan to find the haunted house (Again Breasts). As the place is found the nymphs have brestiest agenda of their own (Much More Breasts). There is a therapist trying to relive the patient of his load (Bare bodies + Breasts). There is a scene in which three witches of Breastwick are trying to f**ck the water (More Bare Bodies and More Breasts)
Jim Wynorski has directed the movie, if there is something like direction in it. Almost all the scenes are taken from other films. Watching the movie, Taimie Hannum seems to be the best thing about it.