Saturday, January 30, 2010

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Dog rescued from the icy Baltic Sea


This dog was rescued by the crew of a Polish boat after drifting about 15 miles on an ice floe in the Baltic Sea. Originally mistaking him for a seal, the crew soon realized their error and saved the dog via an inflatable dingy.

Rest in Peace, JD Salinger


Another great writer passed away this week... read the Time article here

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

When Chocolate and Chakras Collide

Sign me up for this...

The words of Ziggy Marley’s “Love Is My Religion” floated over 30 people lying on yoga mats in a steamy, dim loft above Madison Avenue on Friday. All had signed up for a strange new hybrid of physical activity: first an hour of vigorous, sweaty yoga, then a multicourse dinner of pasta, red wine and chocolate. As soon as the lights went up, dinner was served on the floor: an (almost) seamless transition designed to allow the yogis to taste, smell and digest in a heightened state of awareness.

“It’s a little weird to sit on a sweaty yoga mat and eat soup,” said one woman, not pausing as she spooned up a smooth, cinnamon-spiked butternut squash purée from a bamboo bowl. “But people are used to doing some weird things in yoga class.”

Read the rest of this NY Times article here

Rest in Peace, Howard Zinn


Read the NY Times article here

Saturday, January 23, 2010

My favorite song



I love this song. This version is from Lhasa de Sela, who recently passed away from breast cancer. Her songs are in English, Spanish, and French... she was born in the US, raised in Mexico, and lived in Montreal and France. Pretty radical.

The song itself is originally an opera-style song, composed by Argentine Alberto Ginastera in the 1930's.

"Pues me olvidé de olvidarte"

Photo of the dayish

Haiti rescuers pull man alive from rubble after 11 days

A 23-year-old man has been pulled alive from the rubble of a ruined hotel in Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince, 11 days after the earthquake.

His rescue came as the official search for earthquake survivors in the country was declared over.

He was carried on a stretcher from the Napoli Inn Hotel.

Haitians and rescuers cheered as the man, seen to be smiling, was taken towards a waiting ambulance, the BBC's Adam Mynott reports from the scene.

Earlier, Haiti's government said search-and-rescue operations had ended.

UN spokeswoman Elizabeth Byrs in Geneva said the decision was "heartbreaking" but that it had been taken on the advice of experts.

She said most search-and-rescue teams would now be leaving Haiti, although some with heavy lifting equipment might stay to help with the clean-up operation and with aid distribution.

Rescuers said the man found on Saturday appeared to be in good condition, but was thirsty.

Read the rest from BBC News

I know these stories have been all I've posted lately but it's just amazing!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

2 Spectacles, 1 Day

So this song came on the radio for some reason, and I was pumped! Then right after it began, a bald eagle flew above me. Cool.

No comment...

Temple to cat god found in Egypt


Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered a 2,000-year-old temple in Alexandria dedicated to a cat goddess.

The temple is the first trace of the royal quarters of the Ptolemaic dynasty to be revealed in Alexandria.

The find confirms the Greek dynasty of Egyptians continued the worship of ancient animal deities.

Many more ruins of the ancient capital of Hellenic Egypt lie preserved under the modern city, yet to be unearthed, archaeologists say.

The temple, discovered in the Kom el-Dekkah neighbourhood of the city, is believed to belong to Queen Berenike II, wife of Ptolemy III who ruled Egypt in the third century BC, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities has said.

Read the rest of the article on BBC News

Ew.

I hate to give this girl more attention because that's ultimately what she strives for... but I just don't get it. Coming from a person that is the same age as her, having at least 12 plastic surgeries by the age of 23 for no reason other than to change the way she looks is sickening. Why do people think this "fake" look is attractive? She looks like your typical plastic-surgery-addicted woman. The minute you look at her you know she has been under the knife MANY times. What happened to natural beauty?

The New Heidi Montag

Monday, January 18, 2010

Amazing

Rescuers have pulled a six-year-old boy free from the ruins of a building in Haiti five days after the earthquake caused the structure to collapse.

A 14-year-old girl was also found alive.

Watch the amazing video on BBC News. I hope we hear more stories like this.

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Friday, January 15, 2010

Aw... they're too fat

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Man gives puppy CPR

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dog leads owner to elderly, unconscious man

It makes sense that it was a shep. They are awesome...

PINE CITY, Minn. - Police credit a 15-year-old German Shorthaired dog, Effie, with saving the life of an elderly, unconscious man in Pine City.

Brett Grinde said he took Effie out for their usual walk on Monday evening, but within a couple of minutes she started pulling on the leash, wanting to go in a different direction.

Effie then took off running, leading Grinde to a neighbor's house where a 94-year-old man was face down on the driveway. The dog started licking the man's face. Grinde called 911, then started CPR.

MSNBC

So Sad

As relief efforts ramp up, mass grave found outside Haitian capital
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (CNN) -- As Haitians drew close to the critical 72-hour mark after a devastating 7.0-magnitude earthquake, a sign of their desperation -- a mass grave serving as possibly the final resting place of scores of victims -- was discovered Friday outside Port-au-Prince.

At least 100 bodies were discovered by a CNN crew in one open pit outside the capital city, with several other pits half-filled or completely covered over with earth, presumably full. Survivors of the quake brought bodies to the site on plywood, wrapped in cloth, by dump trucks and, in one case, an old refrigerator. The stench of death overwhelmed the city.

Elsewhere, bodies were being shoved into old crypts in the city's existing cemeteries.

Haiti's Minister of Civil Protection said Friday that the government estimates more than 50,000 people were killed, with the number possibly closer to 100,000. There is not yet an official count of the dead from Tuesday's earthquake

Read the rest of the article on CNN News, along with a video report

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Picture of the day

Come on people, really???

More Than 100 Neglected Animals Found at Nevada Farm

In one of the worst cases they can remember, Nevada agriculture officials have cited a woman for animal cruelty for neglecting more than 100 barnyard animals, including 35 starving horses and a goat that died from eating wool off a sheep carcass.

Jan Lemley of Battle Mountain faces 42 counts of animal cruelty. Each count carries a civil fine of $1,000, said Nevada Department of Agriculture spokesman Ed Foster.

Lemley did not immediately return a telephone call from The Associated Press on Wednesday. She told The Battle Mountain Bugle, which first reported the incident, that her attorney had advised her not to comment.

It was not immediately clear if any criminal charges would be filed.

Lander County Sheriff Ron Unger said two of the horses, three llamas, three goats and two sheep died at the rural property in Battle Mountain about 220 miles east of Reno.

Foster said a state veterinarian became physically ill upon arrival at the scene last weekend.

"It's the worst case of animal cruelty they've ever witnessed," Foster told The Associated Press on Wednesday. "It's really sad."

Read the rest of the article on ABC News, and stop animal cruelty!!!

Pants on the Ground

I'm not really a fan of American Idol... but I was told to check it out, and this guy is awesome. It's only a matter of time until "Pants on the Ground" is on the radio. Enjoy!

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Praying for you, Haiti

Haiti earthquake: Thousands feared dead
Haitian President Rene Preval has said thousands of people are feared dead following a huge quake which has devastated the country's capital.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon said the head of the UN mission in Haiti and his deputy were among more than 100 staff missing.

The 7.0-magnitude quake, Haiti's worst in two centuries, struck south of Port-au-Prince, on Tuesday.

Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive told US network CNN he believed more than 100,000 people had died.

The Red Cross says up to three million people are affected.

The capital's Catholic archbishop, Monsignor Joseph Serge Miot, is among those reported killed.

In his first interview since the earthquake, President Preval told the Miami Herald newspaper in the US he feared thousands of his people had died.

Describing the scene in the capital as "unimaginable", he said: "Parliament has collapsed. The tax office has collapsed. Schools have collapsed. Hospitals have collapsed."

Read the rest on BBC News
Check out this site for organizations you can contact to help

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

O Contraire, Booty Beat

Having a big bum, hips and thighs 'is healthy'

Carrying extra weight on your hips, bum and thighs is good for your health, protecting against heart and metabolic problems, UK experts have said.

Hip fat mops up harmful fatty acids and contains an anti-inflammatory agent that stops arteries clogging, they say.

Big behinds are preferable to extra fat around the waistline, which gives no such protection, the Oxford team said.

Science could look to deliberately increase hip fat, they told the International Journal of Obesity.

And in the future, doctors might prescribe ways to redistribute body fat to the hips to protect against cardiovascular and metabolic diseases such as diabetes.

The researchers said having too little fat around the hips can lead to serious metabolic problems, as occurs in Cushing's syndrome.

Shape not weight

Evidence shows that fat around the thighs and backside is harder to shift than fat around the waist.

Although this may sound undesirable, it is actually beneficial because when fat is broken down quickly it releases a lot of cytokines which trigger inflammation in the body, say experts.

These cytokines have been linked to cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance and diabetes.

The slower burning hip fat also makes more of the hormone adiponectin that protects the arteries and promotes better blood sugar control and fat burning.

In comparison, carrying excess fat around the stomach, being "apple shaped", raises the risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Lead researcher Dr Konstantinos Manolopoulos, of Oxford University, said: "It is shape that matters and where the fat gathers.

"Fat around the hips and thighs is good for you but around the tummy is bad."

He said in an ideal world, the more fat around the thighs the better - as long as the tummy stays slim.

"Unfortunately, you tend not to get one without the other," he said.

Fotini Rozakeas of the British Heart Foundation said: "This research helps us better to understand how fat acts in the body in order to develop new approaches in reducing heart and circulatory disease.

"If you are overweight, obese, or if you have a waist size that is increased, it is important to make changes to your lifestyle, such as eating a healthy diet and doing regular physical activity, to reduce your risk of heart health problems."

Thanks, BBC News

Monday, January 11, 2010

Booty Beat



...so strippers had it right from the start

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Interesting...

3D TV is being billed as a possible saviour for recession hit manufacturers looking to boost sales.

On the opening day of the Consumer Electronics Show, CES, in Las Vegas, all the big names unveiled 3D TV's.

Industry experts said the picture looks promising with a survey showing around 3.4m 3D TV sets will be sold in the US this year.

"It's a challenging market. We need something to kick us out of this," said Panasonic's Elsuke Tsuyuzaki.

"To me, the thing that's going to get us there is 3D," added the firm's chief technology officer.

"2009 is a year none of us want to repeat," said Gary Shapiro the president of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) which hosts the annual tech gathering.

The association has predicted that for the coming year the whole consumer electronics industry should eke out a slight revenue increase of 0.3%. The rise of $440m (£280m) will take expected revenues to $165.3bn (£105bn)

However Mr Shapiro noted that lower average selling prices for TVs will be a drag. CEA expects TV revenues to decline 2% in this sector to $22.1bn (£14bn) even though unit sales will go up 5% to 37.7m (£24m)

Read the rest of the article from BBC News

__________________________________________________

I recently saw "Avatar" in 3D, which was cool... but I don't know if I really want to wear 3D glasses to watch TV. I usually wear regular glasses to watch TV and movies anyway, and I'm not a big fan of wearing two pairs at the same time...

Friday, January 8, 2010

Thursday, January 7, 2010

2010 Census



I don't really have much of a say on whether this word should be used or not, but with all of the history behind it the fact that it is on a government document is absurd!

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

1901



By Pheonix... I know this song is popular now because it's on TV, but it's still a good song! This band reminds me of "Of Montreal" a little bit, especially the vocalists.

Say Hey



By Micheal Franti & Spearhead... good song, upbeat too!

Tuesday, January 5, 2010

Blue Roses



From the self-titled debut by 21-year-old British songwriter Laura Groves. See what Pitchfork has to say...

Kid Art




By Annie, 6 years old

Have some coke with your banana

Cocaine cargo hidden in bananas reaches shops in Spain

Police were alerted after a shelf-stacker at a Lidl supermarket in Madrid found a brick of neatly wrapped cocaine under a bunch of the fruit on Saturday.

Searching other Lidl shops, police sniffer dogs reportedly found 25 such packets, worth several million euros.

The fruit had been shipped in from Ecuador and Ivory Coast.

Reports suggest an error by drug smugglers had led to their failing to retrieve almost 80kg (175lb) of cocaine from the boxes before they were distributed. Police said the drug packets had not made it onto supermarket shelves.

Meanwhile, Dutch police arrested five men and seized more than a tonne of cocaine hidden in a shipment of whisky from Jamaica.

With a street value of some 30m euros, the 1,100kg of cocaine was the largest Dutch seizure of drugs from the Caribbean island, Reuters reported.

The plantain bananas had arrived at a Madrid wholesale fruit and vegetable market from the south-east port of Sagunto last week, destined for supermarkets in the Madrid area.

Bananas were removed from shelves of the Lidl supermarkets in the capital, and a tonne of the fruit had been destroyed, said a spokesman for the German company.

"It's the first time that this has happened to Lidl in Spain - and we hope it's also the last," he told the BBC.

A police investigation into the find has spread from the capital to the eastern Caceres region.

The discovery comes weeks after police discovered 228kg of cocaine hidden in banana boxes shipped into Sagunto.

Last year Spanish police seized more than 14 tonnes of cocaine, which had been smuggled into the country in stuffed animals, nappies, seafood and, in one instance, a picture of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

BBC News

Monday, January 4, 2010

Hansel


Handsome, are you out there? He has been missing since August. Come home Hans!

Remains of more than 500 animals found at Philadelphia home

(CNN) -- Investigators recovered the remains of more than 500 animals after executing a search warrant Wednesday at a home in the Feltonville section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, according to the city's chapter of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. The group's director of law enforcement said he believes the animals -- the majority of which were chickens -- were sacrificed as part of a Santeria religious ritual. The animals included "dozens of sheep, goats ... every type of farm animal you can think of," the Philadelphia SPCA's law enforcement director, George Bengal, said. The SPCA believes two sets of remains are those of small primates, possibly monkeys.

Philadelphia SPCA enforcement officers were first called to the home over the weekend to tend to two emaciated dogs. The organization said that after obtaining a search warrant, its officers found the home littered with animal remains. The officers also found an AK-47, ammunition, dozens of knives and an altar with candles, the group said. Philadelphia police were called after that, and Wednesday's search resulted. The dogs were dirty and malnourished. They were put in protective custody after medical evaluation and treatment, the Philadelphia SPCA said. Bengal said that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that rituals of Santeria -- a religion similar to voodoo and originated in Cuba and Brazil -- are permitted under the Constitution. But he believes these animals may not have been sacrificed humanely. If that is the case, the home's owner could be prosecuted, he said. "It's a gray area ... a fine line," Bengal said.

The home's owner hasn't been seen for eight months but is believed to be in Mexico, Bengal said. A woman living at the home was last seen there five days ago and is believed to still be in the Philadelphia area, Bengal said. The only rooms of the three-bedroom home without bones were the master bedroom and the bathroom, according to Bengal. Animal sacrifices in Santeria rituals are common in Philadelphia, but this case stands out because of the number and condition of the animals involved, Bengal said. "This place was incredible," he said.

CNN News


Thumbs down.

The Universe is weird

Nasa's Kepler planet-hunter detects five worlds

Nasa's Kepler Space Telescope has detected its first five exoplanets, or planets beyond our Solar System.

The observatory, which was launched last year to find other Earths, made the discoveries in its first few weeks of science operations.

Although the new worlds are all bigger than our Neptune, the US space agency says the haul shows the telescope is working well and is very sensitive.

The exoplanets have been given the names Kepler 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b and 8b.

They were announced at an American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington DC.

The planets range in size from an object that has a radius four times that of Earth, to worlds much bigger than even our Jupiter.



The rest of the article can be found here: BBC News
____________________________________________

I bet this telescope will find tons of life-sustaining planets in the future. I can't tell if this scares me more than it intrigues me.

Lovey


January 2010

I'm not so sure about online dating...

BeautifulPeople.com axes holiday weight gain members

Dating and social network site BeautifulPeople.com has axed some 5,000 members following complaints that they had gained weight.

The members were singled out after posting pictures of themselves that reportedly showed they had put on pounds over the holiday period.

The site allows entry to new members only if existing members vote them as sufficiently attractive to warrant it.

The US, the UK, and Canada topped the list of excluded members.

The site has always been unrepentant about its selection process, calling itself "the largest network of attractive people in the world".

The move was reportedly prompted by members themselves, who police the membership of the site to maintain a high - if highly subjective - standard of attractiveness.

"As a business, we mourn the loss of any member, but the fact remains that our members demand the high standard of beauty be upheld," said site founder Robert Hintze.

"Letting fatties roam the site is a direct threat to our business model and the very concept for which BeautifulPeople.com was founded."

BBC News

Gretel


The late Gretel in all of her glory... taken in the fall of 2009

I would be, I should be, but how?



Nick Drake; lovely voice. Another musician gone too young.

Easy Listening

I love Sade. This song is off of the album "Love Deluxe" that came out in the early 1990's.

Like a Virgin

Oh joy! My very first post on my very first blog. Why shouldn't it be Madonna?