Posted by Leo Carey /The New Yorker/continue reading
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Ten Reasons I Watched the Wedding (After I Swore I Wouldn’t)
Posted by Leo Carey /The New Yorker/continue reading
Ancient Royal Horse Unearthed in Iran
via Discovery News /continue reading
Friday, April 29, 2011
Superman 'may end US citizenship', says Action Comics
Adopted by an American family, Superman decides he is better-off serving the world.
Though he only talks about his plans to give up citizenship, the story has been criticised by commentators worldwide.
The superhero, originally from the fictional planet Krypton, does not clearly renounce his citizenship in the issue.
Action Comics co-publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio said: 'Superman announces his intention to put a global focus on his never ending battle, but he remains, as always, committed to his adopted home and his roots as a Kansas farm boy from Smallville.'
The disputed story sees the hero standing silently at the protest, wanting to show demonstrators that they are not alone.
Superman's announcement comes after accusations from Iran's government that he has caused an international incident, in the nine-page story written by David Goyer.
''Truth, justice and the American way' - it's not enough anymore,' Superman says, 'The world is too small, too connected.'
This is not the first time a comic character has distanced himself from US policy.
In the 1970s, Marvel Comics' Captain America swapped his identity for that of the character Nomad at the time of the Watergate scandal."
BBC News
Proof that Men Remember
A woman awakes during the night to find that her husband is not in bed.
She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him.
She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of cocoa in front of him.
He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall.
She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his hot cocoa.
'What's the matter, dear?' she whispers as she steps into the room, 'Why are you down here at this time of night?'
The husband looks up from his cocoa, 'It's the 20th anniversary of the day we met.'
She can't believe he has remembered and starts to tear up.
The husband continues, 'Do you remember 20 years ago when we started dating?
I was 18 and you were only 16,' he says solemnly.
Once again, the wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring and sensitive…
‘Yes, I do' she replies.
The husband pauses, the words were not coming easily.
'Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?'
'Yes, I remember' said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.
The husband continued. 'Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter or I will send you to prison for 20 years?'
'I remember that, too' she replied softly.
He wiped another tear from his cheek and said, 'I would have gotten out today.'
She puts on her robe and goes downstairs to look for him.
She finds him sitting at the kitchen table with a hot cup of cocoa in front of him.
He appears to be in deep thought, just staring at the wall.
She watches as he wipes a tear from his eye and takes a sip of his hot cocoa.
'What's the matter, dear?' she whispers as she steps into the room, 'Why are you down here at this time of night?'
The husband looks up from his cocoa, 'It's the 20th anniversary of the day we met.'
She can't believe he has remembered and starts to tear up.
The husband continues, 'Do you remember 20 years ago when we started dating?
I was 18 and you were only 16,' he says solemnly.
Once again, the wife is touched to tears thinking that her husband is so caring and sensitive…
‘Yes, I do' she replies.
The husband pauses, the words were not coming easily.
'Do you remember when your father caught us in the back seat of my car?'
'Yes, I remember' said the wife, lowering herself into a chair beside him.
The husband continued. 'Do you remember when he shoved the shotgun in my face and said, 'Either you marry my daughter or I will send you to prison for 20 years?'
'I remember that, too' she replied softly.
He wiped another tear from his cheek and said, 'I would have gotten out today.'
Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel gets first ever authorised release in China
Photograph: Isabel Steva Hernandez (Colita)/Copyright Corbis
"A Chinese publisher is set to bring out the first ever authorised edition of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude in Chinese, after winning an auction for the rights with a fee reported to be in excess of $1m (£600,000)."
read more
How long can you survive on beer alone?
By Jeremy Singer-Vine - Slate Magazine /read more
Marilyn Monroe 'spent last night alive with mafia boss'
read more
Prince William and Kate Middleton kiss on balcony
Video: Prince William and Kate Middleton kiss on balcony - Telegraph
Thursday, April 28, 2011
85-year-old granny from Croatia on her way to royal wedding in London
Marija Kirin (85) Danijel Soldo / CROPIX
The 85-year-old Marija Kirin would not miss William and Kate’s wedding for anything in the world.
The vibrant octogenarian arrived at Zagreb and is headed for London for the Royal nuptuals, bearing gifts.
The granny from Slavonski Brod (eastern Croatia) is bringing the pair two dolls dolled up in the traditional Slavonian dress.
„I am only afraid of the border control officials destroying my dolls looking for drugs, but the police told me I have nothing to fear as I have a letter from the roayl family as a proof that I’m going to the wedding," Kirin told the daily Jutarnji List.
She has one wish for the newlyweds – that they have 12 children, six girls and six boys so that "no one gets mad," the daily writes.
Croatian Times Online News
Wu Man: Tiny Desk Concert
"Nobody wields a pipa like Wu Man, the reigning virtuoso on the ancient four-stringed instrument. Almost single-handedly, she has raised awareness of the pipa — sometimes called the Chinese lute — in the West through her collaborations with a broad range of musicians, from Kronos Quartet and Philip Glass to the New York Philharmonic and Yo-Yo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble.
Cradling her pipa, Wu Man holds 2,000 years of Chinese history in her hands. When her fingers start to fly, she can create scenes of cinematic grandeur or serene, moonlit moments.
Her first song, "Ambushed From All Sides" — also known as "Ambushed From Ten Sides" — tells the story of two warring armies in 202 BC. With the tune's violent strumming and percussive special effects, you can practically hear swords clash as troops advance.
"Night Thoughts," a reworking of a 9th-century Buddhist song with old-style tuning, is the complete opposite. Delicately, Wu Man plucks single notes, like applying graceful brushstrokes on a silk painting. She pulls strings over frets, bending the tones for maximum expression. This contemplative song appears on Wu Man's recent album, Immeasurable Light, on which she reconstructs ancient pipa melodies and mixes them with her own pieces. She says it took her years to figure out how to blend the two in a way "that would call up the ancient Chinese music spirits."
The closing number is a popular folk tune, "White Snow in Spring," which Wu Man says we might identify as "typical Chinese music." But nothing seems typical about her playing. Seated on the floor, just three feet from her, I marveled at the array of sounds she commands — from lovely rolling tremolos to metallic buzzes and bouncing harmonics. It all ends in a flurry of ecstatic strumming, like some ancient Chinese rock 'n' roll."
NPR
Ditch Your Old Couch for Your Dog's Sake
The chemicals, which have been linked to environmental and human health effects, are present in the blood of pet dogs at concentrations that are five to 10 times higher than amounts measured in people. Prior research also determined that flame retardants absorb into the bloodstream of cats."
via Discovery News/continue reading
Old German Shepherd
One day an old German Shepherd starts chasing rabbits and before long, discovers that he's lost.
Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.
The old German Shepherd thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!"
Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.
Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?"
Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.
Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!"
Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.
The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.
The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"
Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...
"Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"
Moral of this story...
Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! Brilliance only come with age and experience.
Wandering about, he notices a panther heading rapidly in his direction with the intention of having lunch.
The old German Shepherd thinks, "Oh, oh! I'm in deep doo-doo now!"
Noticing some bones on the ground close by, he immediately settles down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.
Just as the panther is about to leap, the old German Shepherd exclaims loudly, "Boy, that was one delicious panther! I wonder, if there are any more around here?"
Hearing this, the young panther halts his attack in mid-strike, a look of terror comes over him and he slinks away into the trees.
Whew!," says the panther, "That was close! That old German Shepherd nearly had me!"
Meanwhile, a squirrel who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures he can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the panther. So, off he goes.
The squirrel soon catches up with the panther, spills the beans and strikes a deal for himself with the panther.
The young panther is furious at being made a fool of and says, "Here, squirrel, hop on my back and see what's going to happen to that conniving canine!"
Now, the old German Shepherd sees the panther coming with the squirrel on his back and thinks, "What am I going to do now?," but instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn't seen them yet, and just when they get close enough to hear, the old German Shepherd says...
"Where's that squirrel? I sent him off an hour ago to bring me another panther!"
Moral of this story...
Don't mess with the old dogs... Age and skill will always overcome youth and treachery! Brilliance only come with age and experience.
Calling animals 'pets' is insulting, academics claim
Even terms such as wildlife are dismissed as insulting to the animals concerned – who should instead be known as “free-living”, the academics including an Oxford professor suggest."
via Telegraph / continue reading
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