Tim Dowling: Consolidate your debt ads in one easy article! (guardian.co.uk)
Where are you, Carol Vorderman? I want to see your advert for FirstPlus, the one where you encourage the cash-strapped to take out loans secured against their homes in order to "splash out a bit"; the one that has been criticised by the Consumer Credit Counselling Service and is the subject of a petition trying to get you to stop.
Jonathan Gibbs: Short cuts: the sequel's revenge (guardian.co.uk)
Whatever else you think about Mission: Impossible 3, it's undeniable that the slick spy-action franchise has come up with a smart and efficient naming convention - the promotional campaign stating simply M:i:III is at once as sleek, as modern and as pocket-sized as its star.
Should I ... give money to a chugger? (guardian.co.uk)
Such is the level of disdain among some towards "chuggers" - the so-called "charity muggers" who cluster on busy thoroughfares in order to sign you up to a regular donation - that there is now even a website where likeminded people can berate them.
RICHARD ROEPER: Revenge of the nerds: Bee makes for must-see TV (suntimes.com)
One of the most curious arguments against the National Spelling Bee and spelling bees in general goes like this: "Why should kids learn how to spell all these obscure words when we have spell-check anyway? The whole exercise is pointless.
Will Doig: Edmund White thinks '70s hedonism worked just fine, and lives by example (nerve.com)
When I try to list today's great gay novelists, it's hard to come up with any names. It seems like today's gay icons are all fashion designers and whatnot, like Marc Jacobs is the new voice of gay.
Oh, I think there are a lot of great gay writers, including very young ones, but they're almost completely ignored by the gay community. It's not that there are no great gay writers, it's that there are no great gay readers. Gay writers have sales figures like poets do; it's an esoteric world.
Suze Orman: 12 Steps From Debt (mdmproofing.com/iym)
When it comes to credit-card debt, there are about as many approaches to eliminating it as there are banks that issue credit cards. In the end, though, only one thing matters: You must form a plan, and then utilize that plan to systematically reduce, and eventually eliminate, your debt.
You won't read this review on "Ebert andRoeper", Mick LaSalle or Michael Medved….but the subject matter will get more "hits" on the internet than anything from the aforementioned ! I'm not talking about the Roman Polanski movie "Pirates" (1986) (5.7 out of 10.0 on IMdB) or the Johnny Depp flick "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" (2003) (8.0 out of 10.0 on IMdB)…..but a multi-million dollar extravaganza a hard core period piece porn thriller called "Pirates" (2005) (7.9 out of 10.0 on IMdB)…at $70 a pop and the winner of multiple AVN Awards……we have an attempt at mainstream "Female Friendly" PORN.
Not Really….it's just the same insipid salacious sultry sex scenes that started in a cave in France a million years ago….where the power of the female of the species was exhibited through Cro-Magnon mammary wall paintings! Today it's just guys drooling over the larger than life frontal female anatomy on the silver screen like primordial monkeys!
This brings me to Jesse Jane…the star of "Pirates"….hailing from Fort Worth, she was a cheerleader, Hooters girl and Hawaiian Tropics Babe before she landed her first soft porn lead role in a movie called "Busty Cops" (2003) …She starred along side Pam Anderson in "Baywatch: Hawaiian Wedding" (2003) with the "Hass" (David Hasselhoff)…she starred in "Porn Stars" (2004) and was caught dating Pam's Ex Tommy Lee..then she hooked up with Brittany Spears (she denied) and then…she hooked up with Pam's Next Ex… Kid Rock …my Gawd…what a TARTlet… Well I just ordered her latest Digital Playground production "Jesse Jane: All American Girl" (2006)….for research purposes ONLY!!!!!!!
Purple Gene give "Pirates" the Porn Movie 2 tremendous titillating titties out of 10 for being soooooooo stooopid but Jesse Jane gets a perfect posing porn 10 for climbing to the top of the bodacious bimbo billboard with her larger than life lips and silicon twin towers!
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a FRESH'Cold Case', then a RERUN'CSI: The Original One', followed by another RERUN'CSI: The Original One'.
NBC opens the night with 'Dateline', followed by a FRESH'West Wing', then a FRESH'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'FRESH'Crossing Jordan'.
ABC begins the night with a FRESH'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by a FRESH'Extreme Makeover: Home Edition', then a FRESH'Desperate Housewives', followed by a FRESH'Grey's Anatomy'.
The WB offers a RERUN'Reba', followed by another RERUN'Reba', then a FRESH'Charmed', followed by a RERUN'Charmed'.
Faux has a RERUN'Simpsons', followed by a FRESH'King Of The Hill', then a FRESH'Simpsons', followed by a RERUN'Family Guy', then a FRESH'Family Guy', followed by a FRESH'American Dad'.
UPN has an old 'Alias', followed by an old 'Fear Factor'.
A&E has has 'Flip This House', another 'Flip This House', followed by a FRESH'Abused', and 'Intervention'.
AMC offers the movie 'A Civil Action', followed by the movie 'Ronin', then the movie 'Insomnia'.
BBC -
[2pm] 'What Not To Wear' - Episode 1;
[3pm] 'What Not To Wear' - Episode 2;
[4pm] 'What Not To Wear' - Episode 3;
[5pm] 'What Not To Wear' - Episode 4;
[6pm] 'Bargain Hunt' - Detling;
[6:30pm] 'Bargain Hunt' - Newmarket;
[7pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 13;
[8pm] 'Cash in the Attic' - Episode 14;
[9pm] 'What Not To Wear' - Episode 4;
[10pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 4;
[11pm] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 5;
[12am] 'What Not to Wear' - Episode 4;
[1am] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 4;
[2am] 'Footballers Wives' - Episode 5;
[3am] 'The Mighty Boosh' - Episode 4;
[3:40am] 'The Mighty Boosh' - Episode 5;
[4:20am] 'The Mighty Boosh' - Episode 6;
[5am] 'Black Books' - Episode 1;
[5:30am] 'Black Books' - Episode 2;
[6am] 'BBC World News'. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Bravo has 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', another 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent', followed by a FRESH'Biography' (cast of 'Law & Order'), and still another 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'The Sweetest Thing', 'Bill Engvall: Here's Your Sign', 'Larry The Cable Guy: Git-R-Done', and 'Mind Of Mencia'.
History has 'Comets: Prophets Of Doom', 'Mega Movers', and 'Meteors: Fire In The Sky'.
IFC -
[6AM] Wendigo;
[7:35AM] At The IFC Center #13;
[8AM] The Last Days Of Chez Nous;
[9:40AM] Mediterraneo;
[11:15AM] Secrets & Lies;
[1:35PM] IFC Short Film Showcase: May;
[2:35PM] Akira Kurosawa: The Last Emperor;
[3:30PM] At The IFC Center #13;
[4PM] The Mighty Peking Man;
[5:35PM] Secrets & Lies;
[8PM] The Dancer Upstairs;
[10:15PM] Breaking The Waves;
[12:50AM] The Dancer Upstairs;
[3:05AM] Breaking The Waves;
[5:45AM] IFC In Theaters. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Sundance -
[7:05AM] A Good Man in Africa;
[8:45AM] Wall;
[10:30AM] In Short: In Short: Subway;
[11AM] In the Edges: the Grizzly Man Session;
[12PM] The Mighty Celt;
[1:30PM] Sangam;
[2PM] Ladette to Lady: Episode 4;
[3PM] Kath & Kim: Old;
[3:30PM] A Good Man in Africa;
[5:05PM] The Mighty Celt;
[6:30PM] In Short: In Short: Subway;
[7PM] Ladette to Lady: Episode 4;
[8PM] Slings and Arrows: Episode 6: Birnam Wood;
[9PM] Monkey Dust: Episode 3;
[9:30PM] Kath & Kim: Old;
[10PM] Wilbur (Wants to Kill Himself);
[11:45PM] Screwback;
[12AM] Samaritan Girl;
[1:45AM] The Firefly Man;
[2AM] Slings and Arrows: Episode 6: Birnam Wood;
[3AM] Monkey Dust: Episode 3;
[3:30AM] Resurrection Man;
[5:15AM] In the Edges: the Grizzly Man Session. (ALL TIMES EDT)
Howard Bingham, left, greets Dave Chappelle, who sits next to Muhammad Ali and Ali's wife, Lonnie, right, at a reception Friday, May 5, 2006, at the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky., on the eve of the Kentucky Derby.
Photo by Brian Bohannon
A Leipzig performance artist has found an original way of disrupting neo-Nazi marches and demonstrations. When the skinheads come to town, the German Apple Front is there to meet them -- complete with its very own Führer of fruit.
It's shortly past midday on May 1 in Leipzig and 20 youths in black suits sit in an apartment south of Leipzig's city center, trading sunglasses and red-and-white armbands. The "Propaganda Minister" puts on a few records while the "Führer" rushes down to the gas station to buy batteries for his megaphone.
At first glance, the kids in their militaristic garb look like a group of right-wing radicals. But they're playing American rock music, and the symbol on their armbands is an apple, not a swastika. The "German Apple Front" is getting ready to perform -- because today, neo-Nazi Christian Worch of Hamburg is in town.
The Apple Front has appeared at counter-demonstrations to protest neo-Nazi marches since the autumn of 2004 with May 1 and October 3 having become two dates permanently marked on their calendars. The group was founded after the right-wing NPD party was voted into the Saxony state parliament. The local chairman of the NPD, Holger Apfel, may well have unwittingly inspired the group's name -- although that's not the official version. The members of the Apple Front insist their man concern is the purity of German fruit: "Down with tropical fruit!" They call themselves the "National Project Against the Foreign Infiltration of the German Fruit Supply and Against Rotting Windfall Fruit."
Barbaro (C), with jockey Edgar Prado in the irons, wins the 132nd Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky, May 6, 2006.
Photo by John Sommers II
Valerie Plame, the former CIA operative whose unmasking led to a federal investigation and the indictment of a top vice presidential aide, has agreed to a book deal with the Crown Publishing Group.
Financial terms were not disclosed, but two sources close to the negotiations said the deal was in the low seven figures. Several publishers had competed for the memoir, scheduled to come out in the fall of 2007 and tentatively titled "Fair Game."
In 2003, White House adviser Karl Rove reportedly said Plame was "fair game" after her husband, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph Wilson, accused the Bush administration of distorting intelligence about Iraq to justify going to war.
Jay Black, lead singer of the 1960s group Jay and the Americans, might have to relinquish his name - and the band's - to help pay off $500,000 in back taxes.
Lawyers for the bankruptcy trustee handling the case recommended this week that the name "Jay and the Americans" be auctioned. They also have proposed barring Black, born David Blatt, from performing as "Jay Black" or "Jay Black and the Americans."
Black, 67, said that gambling plunged him into debt but that he has conquered the habit. He will consider selling "Jay and the Americans," but he must retain "Jay Black and the Americans" so he can continue to tour, he said.
A recent GQ article spoofing Michael Jackson has the singer demanding the magazine apologize and pull the issue from circulation.
In a statement released Friday, Jackson's representative, Raymone K. Bain, said Jackson is "furious" about a series of photos featuring a Jackson impersonator in the magazine's May issue, now on newsstands.
The photos accompany an article called "Where's Michael?" which documents writer Devin Friedman's quest to find Jackson in Bahrain, the Middle Eastern country where he lives.
In one photo, a Jackson look-alike sits in a darkened movie theater amid a row of children. Another photo shows him standing in the desert draped in a black cloak and headscarf, with his trademark glittery white glove.
Claudia Ellington of Pawnee, Okla. participates in a protest outside of Boone Pickens Stadium where President Bush gave the commencement address at Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla. Saturday, May 6, 2006.
Photo by Brandi Simons
Pink Floyd's landmark DARK SIDE OF THE MOON album scored another major record in America last week (ends05MAY06) by becoming the first recording to spend 1,500 weeks on the Billboard charts. The 1973 album was the highest debut on the Top 200 when it entered the chart at number 98. The album stayed on the chart for 736 successive weeks before it fell out of the Top 200 in 1988. Dark Side of The Moon has since notched up a further 759 non-consecutive weeks on the chart. The album has now sold an estimated 40 million copies worldwide.
Nearly 4,000 mothers set a world record this week for the largest number of women simultaneously breast-feeding their babies in the same place, organizers said.
Manila Mayor Lito Atienza, whose city is one of the event's organizers, said 3,738 mothers simultaneously breast-fed their babies for at least one minute, breaking the Guinness World Record.
The United Nations Children's Fund said the previous record was held by the City of Berkeley, California, where 1,135 mothers simultaneous breast-fed babies for a minute on Aug. 3, 2002.
Chaka Khan's son was acquitted of murder Friday in the shooting death of a teenager during a party at her home two years ago.
A Superior Court jury deliberated two and a half days before finding Damien Patrick Holland not guilty of murder, voluntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter.
Holland testified that he never intended to kill Bailey when he poked at him with an M-16 assault rifle. The two were discussing an affair the younger man claimed to have had with Holland's girlfriend when Holland pointed the gun at his friend.
An Afghan farmer holds a poppy in a village outside Balkh province, about 500 km (310 miles) north of Kabul May 6, 2006. The illegal narcotics trade dominates Afghanistan's economy, accounting for 60 percent of its gross domestic product and 87 percent of the world's supply. Heroin and morphine are derived from opium, which comes from poppies.
Photo by Ahmad Masood
Fishery managers in the Northwest predicted that 88,000 spring chinook would swim upstream past Bonneville Dam on the Columbia River this year, but fewer than 20 percent of that number have done so late in the season.
The spawning run "is very late, and we really don't have a good explanation why," said Cindy LeFleur, a policy coordinator for the Columbia River Compact with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife. "It could be less than we predicted."
As of Friday, only about 15,500 spring chinook had gone past the dam. The 10-year average is about 112,000 past the dam for this time of year.
By Friday, only 18 spring chinook had gone past Lower Granite Dam - the uppermost of the eight dams between the Pacific Ocean and Idaho by way of the Columbia and Snake rivers. The 10-year average for this time of year is about 18,000 fish.
Reiner Ferling of Germany, a fan of Ferrari Formula One team, wears a self-made hat at the European Formula One Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring racing circuit in western Germany May 5, 2006. The European Grand Prix at the Nuerburgring will be held on Sunday.
Photo by Christian Charisius
Chinese technicians have artificially generated heavy rainfall to wash a layer of sand and dust off Beijing, the official Xinhua news agency said on Friday.
The Chinese capital was hit by a fierce wind storm last month which left the city cloaked in sand, much of it scooped up from the Gobi desert.
The Beijing Weather Modification Office responded Thursday with a major cloud seeding operation.
"A total of 163 pieces of cigarette-like sticks containing silver iodide were burnt and seven rocket shells were launched in six districts and counties, which resulted in the heaviest rainfall in Beijing this spring," Xinhua said.
A Roma woman shows her tatoos, telling about her life full of death and sorrow, on St. George's Day or Djurdjevdan in the Roma settlement in Sarajevo's suburb of Butmir May 6, 2006. Around 100.000 members of Roma minority in Bosnia celebrate their biggest holiday St. George's Day slaughtering lambs and spending the day in good mood with relatives and neighbours.
Photo by Damir Sagolj
Police say a Bible college student charged with setting fire to an adult bookstore confessed to the crime after realizing it was a sin.
Benjamin Daniel Warren, 20, is a student at Crown College, a fundamental Baptist college and seminary of about 900 students in Knoxville.
Warren waived a preliminary hearing this week, and a grand jury is considering his case. His attorney, Chris Coffey, did not immediately return a call for comment Friday.
Police had no clue to the masked man's identity until Warren surrendered April 11.
Fans hold up a banner intended for the San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds as he plays against the Philadelphia Phillies during MLB action in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania May 5, 2006. Bonds entered the game with 712 home runs, 2 behind the 714 total hit by legendary player Babe Ruth.
Photo by Tim Shaffer
After the last egg of a suddenly famous family of bald eagles vanished before a worldwide Internet audience, a Canadian conservationist has begun setting up more wildlife Internet cameras.
For weeks, a camera pointed at a nest of eagles on Canada's west coast has streamed their life-and-death drama to as many as 10 million Internet watchers each day, becoming one of the worlds most popular websites.
The web camera's owner is David Carrick, an accountant who retired 15 years ago on Hornby Island, in Canada's westernmost province of British Columbia.
"We had no idea it would catch on like it did," marveled Carrick.
A group of bald eagles perch on the masts of local fishing boats in Petersburg, Alaska, Friday May 5, 2006. The eagles were looking for a free meal as the fishing fleet is taking bait and unloading catches.
Photo by Klas Stolpe
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