My view at 6:30am

Early morning is one of my favorite times with Toby. He's super mellow and talk-y, and we "chitchat" about lots of fascinating things while he plays in his crib. When Toby was first born, I was so anxious that I was doing everything right (he was so teeny), but these days I'm thankfully settling in, feeling more confident and just enjoying his awesome company. Oh, Toby, I adore you and your Jack Nicholson eyebrows!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Yes, We Do

Like this, that is.

JT and the other dudes from The Social Network on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. JT also gets his own cover. Cause he's Justin fucking Timberlake, bitch!

Inside the mag, Justin talks about why he's breaking my heart by focusing on acting right now instead of making music. Here's an excerpt, grab a tissue and read on;

EW: Are there people you work with who are telling you that you should put another record out sooner rather than later?
JT: …Does a painter make a painting because he has to make it by December 21st? No, he doesn’t. It happens when it pours out of him. That’s how music is for me….

EW: Do you think it’s dangerous to wait so long? Christina Aguilera waited four years between albums, and her fans don’t seem to care about her right now.
JT: If you’re asking me, no. I never stop making music. I don’t know what else to tell you, except that I just don’t know [in] what capacity I want to be involved anymore.

EW: That sounds very final.
JT: No. All I’m saying is, in very simple terms, I’ll know when I know. And until I know, I don’t know.

I'm crying. But I also find it interesting that JT randomly picked December 21st. That happens to be my birthday. I'm pretty sure it means we're soul mates. Despite what this pesky restraining order says...Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Baroness Warsi and election fraud

Baroness Warsi has been interviewed in the current issue of the New Statesman by Mehdi Hassan. I have not read the article (it not being online and I still not feeling quite my best and thau with no plans to leave the house today) but going by his New Stateman blog it is clear that Warsi has made some serious but unsubstantiated allegations. about Labour electoral frud

…. the chairman of the Conservative Party and minister without portfolio, in this week's New Statesman, she makes a remarkable claim about the extent of electoral fraud at the last general election and

"At least three seats where we lost, where we didn't gain the seat, based on electoral fraud. Now, could we have planned for that in the campaign? Absolutely not."

This is the first time a senior minister has made such a blunt and specific allegation about the impact of electoral fraud on the general election result.

Can she reveal the names of those seats?

"I think it would be wrong to start identifying them," she says, but adds: "It is predominantly within the Asian community. I have to look back and say we didn't do well in those communities, but was there something over and above that we could have done? Well, actually not, if there is going to be voter fraud."

I asked Warsi if she believed the Labour Party in those three seats had benefited from the alleged fraud. Her answer?

Absolutely.

Hmm to say “I think it would be wrong to identify them” is simply not good enough. If she has good evidence of fraud then it is her absolute duty to ensure that the evidence is presented to the police forthwith. If this is a case of hearsay or just sour grapes then she should not make such allegations.

I’m not saying that Warsi is lying. There were indeed cases of alleged fraud at the last election: for example in Two men were arrested in April on suspicion of electoral fraud in April, This took place in Halifax, a marginal seat where Labour did win.

And it is not hard to find example of convictions for electoral fraud here are a few from the last two years or so:

In 2008 Tory activist John Hall was fined £1000 after duping people to fill in proxy voter forms during the 2007 Winchester City Council elections.


Last year six men were jailed for sentences varying from fourh to forty months for election fraud during an election in the Slough Central ward in May 2007 where . Labour councillor Lydia Simmons lost her seat to Tory Raja Khan.

In April a former Tory councillor was found guilty of election fraud at Bradford Crown Court. Mohammed Saghir had fraudulently applied for five proxy votes in other people's names in the May 2008 local election.

Just a few weeks ago Five men, including two former councillors, were jailed for their parts in a failed postal votes scam intended to get a Conservative candidate elected in the 2005 general election. A newspaper investigation and police inquiry had unearthed a plot to get Tory candidate Haroon Rashid elected in the marginal Bradford West seat using hundreds of fraudulent postal vote applications. The five were jailed for between 11 and 31 months.

Hmm seems like there is a problem after all!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Roy Wilkins Auditorium Godsmack Tickets

On Tuesday, October 19th, Godsmack will rock Roy Wilkins Auditorium at Rivercentre in Saint Paul.  This rock band from Massachusetts formed in 1995 and since then, Godsmack has released five studio albums, one EP, four DVDs and one greatest hits collection.  They've made themselves one of the most popular rock acts in the U.S., selling nearly 15 million records worldwide and have been nominated for four Grammy Awards. Godsmack has also won one Billboard nomination for Rock Artist of the Year in 2001. Godsmack is currently on tour promoting their latest album, The Oracle. Don't miss out on your chance to see them at Roy Wilkins Auditorium next month!  Check out our supply of Godsmack tickets and get yours now while they're still available!
Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Laughter yoga

Have you guys heard of laughter yoga? Indian physician Madan Lal Kataria encourages people to get together in small groups and start fake laughing; after a while, he says, the laughter will become genuine and euphoric. Dr. Kataria believes that laughter can cure physical and psychological ailments. It sounds nutty, but my friend Scott recently tried it with a group of friends and said it was surprisingly awesome. Would you give it a shot?

P.S. Also, marshmallows!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Golden Gate Bridge dinner party

Whoa! Our girl Jordan just hosted a four-course dinner party on a beach underneath the Golden Gate Bridge. It must have felt so magical to be eating parsnip soup in the cool breeze beneath the twinkling lights.

Read her full story here.

(Photos by Paul Ferney for Oh Happy Day)Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Aria Pro II RSB Deluxe Modification

David from Canada sends in pics of a beautifully modified 1985 RSB Deluxe bass. David says the bass, originally black, was damaged slightly on a plane trip. Although the damage was not severe, he took the opportunity to give the bass a complete makeover using exotic woods. The result is a bass that looks like it came out straight out of the Aria Pro Custom Shop!


David selected Imbuia (Brazilian walnut) for the 'wings' and and the lighter shaded Zebrano (Zebrawood) for the middle and headstock. The bass also looks terrific under stage lighting. In addition to the woodwork, David also had EMGs installed.





Unfortunately, David sold the bass but hopes to one day buy it back or even have another bass modified with exotic wood tops. Send in the pics if you do, David!


Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Even more fascinating Exoplanet news

Back in 2007 I put up a post about the discovery of an exoplanet Gliese 581c. At the time it was one of three planets discovered around the red dwarf star Gliese 581c which is just 20 light years from earth ( Just down the road in astronomical terms but for the foreseeable future it may as well be on the other side of the universe in terms of getting up close and personal).

Gliese 581c is close to the star’s so called Goldilocks zone (aka the Habitable Zone or HZ - the band around a star where water can exist in liquid form and thus amenable to life…. or at least life that may be remotely earth-like). At the time it was the smallest know extra solar planet was considered a possible location of extrasolar life.

Gliese 581 seems to be a goldmine for exoplanets: In 2009, 581d, a “super-earth” was found to be in the HZ; 581e, although beyond the HZ is at 1.9 times the mass of the earth the smallest exoplanet so far.

And there’s more!

According to today’s Guardian there is yet another planet , Gliese 581g , which is potentially habitable (being in the HZ) and of a similar size to Earth.

Gliese 581g, has a mass of three to four times that of Earth and takes 37 days to orbit the star. Astronomers believe it is a rocky planet with enough gravity to retain an atmosphere.

One side of the planet is always facing the star, much as one side of the moon constantly faces Earth. This means that the far side of the planet is constantly in darkness. The most habitable region of the planet would be the line between the light and dark regions.

The average temperature on the planet is estimated to be between -31 to -12C, but the ground temperature would vary from blazing hot on the bright side and freezing on the dark side.

"Our findings offer a very compelling case for a potentially habitable planet," said Steven Vogt, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz. "The fact that we were able to detect this planet so quickly and so nearby tells us that planets like this must be really common."

"The number of systems with potentially habitable planets is probably on the order of 10 or 20 percent, and when you multiply that by the hundreds of billions of stars in the Milky Way, that's a large number. There could be tens of billions of these systems in our galaxy,"

This is utterly fascinating stuff. I can imagine that such discoveries will be come more and more commonplace.. I can only imagine what newer and more advanced telescopes will reveal.

Shame that we will never see them in the flesh thoughSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

At last!

Beginning to feel more human today. Colds are one thing but methotrexate and a bit of asthma thrown in makes the cold experience rather less present. At least I'll be back to work to sort out the month end accruals and transfer journals for the budgets I deal with. Strange to feel that it will be the last time as a civil servant....Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

BAND OF BROTHERS

by Jo Robertson

I’m very envious of those male bonding stories. You know the ones -- those about soldiers during battle, Jack Kerouac wanna-be’s, motorcycling across America or backpacking through Europe,or motocycle gangs like the fictional Sons of Anarchy on FX.




Even men gathered around a wide-screen plasma TV on Super Bowl Sunday foster feelinga of envy in me.

You see, I’m convinced that men are by far the SIMPLE sex. They rose out of that primordial sludge with the single-minded focus of hunting prey. They tuned out the wails of infants, cast off the chills of winter, and set aside the circling of buzzards to either kill the animal they stalked or escape the one stalking them.

This fall football dominates television and the men in my family watch with avid interest. Nothing detracts them from the kickoff or the run to the end zone on that HD wide-screen TV.

It’s the same thing during basketball or baseball season, of course. The same basic instinct that allowed the strongest of mankind to survive their caveman era keeps their minds focused on the basketball game, oblivious to any sensory stimuli outside their narrow circle.

But the nifty thing about men is they get to give those really cool speeches like St. Crispin Day’s Speech from Henry V – “we happy, happy few, we band of brothers.” And they get to pat each other on the ass and sling an arm around a brother’s neck in manly affection.
I love that speech where Henry V, against overwhelming odds leads his soldiers "once more into the breach," where he talks about how those not there will consider themselves "accursed" not to have been part of that lucky group, the "band of brothers" who fought that day. "He who shares his blood with me this day shall be my brother." Gives me chills!


And here’s the real thing I’m jealous of: men's bonds, almost entirely nonverbal, can be the most powerful ties that bind people together. They transcend love and family, careers and religion.

And the stories, the really great ones, portray those bonds. Shakespeare scholars call it “manly love.” They get to go to war and watch sports events.

Medical science has pretty much determined that women are the stronger sex, regardless of the antiquated notions of many people. Women outlive men; fewer female infants die than male ones. In some villages that still practice the outmoded notion of female infanticide, they have to import brides for their sons. Yeah, women are pretty hardy.

Psychological and sociological studies regarding men and women are interesting, particularly one such study that involved recordings in which the subjects were presented with three separate, unfamiliar stories read aloud simultaneously. They found that the men quickly focused on one of the stories and shut the other two out. The women, however, tried to listen to and comprehend all three stories at the same time. Resulting, as you may imagine, in a lot of headaches for the women!

I mention this because it underscores one of the great differences between men and women and one, I believe, which leads to a great source of contention between the sexes.

When men are engrossed in a project, large or small, their focus is immutable, much like their primordial ancestors hunting prey. If they’re watching football on television and you stomp angrily by three or four times, hoping to get their attention with your not-so-subtle annoyance, they really DON’T notice.

Women, on the other hand, really CAN talk on the telephone, cook dinner, and know precisely the exact moment when a toddler is on the brink of grave mischief.

The crux of romance stories is the relationship, conflict, and reconciliation between a man and a woman. Often the characters appear horribly unsuited to one another or have some basic differences that make their coming together seem nearly impossible. While we may not have such conflicts in our real romance lives, my experience has shown me that there's plenty of drama between men and women, often because of the way they think, approach situations, or react to them.


Do you like male bonding stories? If so, what's one of your favorites?


What's your favorite male-female conflict in a story? What kinds of romance stories do you like best? Least?
Do you think the relationships between men are less or more complicated than female friends have?
Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Aria Pro II SB-1010

darrlin bands from Wisconsin has obtained a very rare version of the SB-1000 called the SB-1010. His is from 1985. It's a medium scale version of the SB-1000. Fellow Aria fan Yutaka was able to translate the 1986 catalog info on the SB-1010. There isn't a photo of the SB-1010 in the catalog, just a short description. The SB-1010 has the same BB Circuit as the 1000. However the bridge is not brass, and does not have the narrow string spacing like the Sb-1000. The 1010 has a chrome bridge found on other SB models such as the SB-R60. The body and headstock are noticeably smaller on the SB-1010. Yutaka explained that it was designed for the smaller Japanese players. Although the catalog states they were available in black and padouk red, I've only seen black versions. Here are some pictures from darrlin bands. You can see the difference between the 1010 and the 1000, and the shorter headstock:






Another example of the SB-1010 can be found on Graeme's SB pages.


Thanks again to darrlin bands for sending in pics of this rare model. You can see more photos of his basses here.
Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Iranian "King of the bloggers" sentenced to 19 1/2 years

For me Hossein Derakshan falls in to the category "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it". From what I have read of his work ( mainly his Comment is Free articles in the Grauniad) he could certainly write utter rubbish.

What he certainly doesn't deserve is a huge prison sentence. 19 1/2 year prison sentence followed being convicyed of "cooperating with enemy states, making propaganda against the Islamic system of government, promoting small anti-revolutionary groups, managing obscene web sites and insulting Islamic sanctities,".

He had been in detention in Evin prison in Tehran since his arrest on November 1, 2008,
Hadi Ghaemi, executive director of the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran, condemned the sentence. "This is the longest sentence issued against a blogger in Iran, and it is solely because of his opinions and blogging. The sentence is meant to send a chilling message to the Iranian youth to stay away from the internet in practicing their freedom of expression,"

A journalist working on a reformist newspaper before emigrating to Canada in 200,Derakhshan set up a blog , titled Editor Myself on i.hoder.com. It gained worldwide attention, particularly for his blog start up guides for fellow Iranians.
He was no stranger to controversy: in 2006 he became what must have been the traveled to Israel on his Canadian passport.
Shortly before his imprisonment Hossein Derakhshan began writing in support of of the regime, However this was not enough to save his skin.

To get an idea of Derakhshan's later work try this index at Comment is Free. Proof positive that a volte face will not save you from a regime like Iran's.

Even if I think much of the CiF writings are utter drivel (check out his critique of Persepolis for a corker of twisted logic!) there is no way the man deserve 19.5 seconds in custody, let alone the appalling sentence handed down by the regime.Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Richard Marx Burnsville Performing Arts Center Tickets

Richard Marx is an adult contemporary and pop/rock singer, songwriter, musician and record producer originally from Chicago, Illinois.  His music career began at the young age of 5, singing jingle commercials written by his jazz musician father Dick Marx.  Richard had a string of hit singles in the late 1980's and 1990's during the height of his career,  with slow ballads making up the majority of his hit songs.  Marx placed himself in the record books by being the first solo artist to have his first seven singles hit the Top 5 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart.  Richard has released a total of 22 albums, with two released earlier this year.  Don't miss out on your chance to see Richard Marx live at the Burnsville Performing Arts Center - Proscenium Stage on Thursday, Oct. 21st at 7:30 pm.  Ticket King has seats in the 1st or 2nd row of the center orchestra!  Check them out and buy yours before they're gone!
Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Been a while since I posted some Darya Dadvar

Error rectified!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Helmet style

We've talked about helmets (and lack of helmets) before, so I'm loving these photos of Milanese models in their Vespa helmets. Very cute!

(Photos by Hanneli Mustaparta)Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Burmese elections will be free and fair – official!

Burmese foreign minister keeps straight face when declaring elections will be free and fair!



Well according to Burma's foreign minister U Nyan Win who has declared that the junta is committed to a "free and fair'' vote in the upcoming national election on November 7; one which will be "a critical phase of its (Burma’s) political transformation process.''

In a speech to the UN General Assembly he said that more than 3,000 candidates from 37 parties would take part in the vote for 1,171 parliamentary seats.

"Such a large participation made it crystal clear that the elections become virtually inclusive,'' the minister said. "With its ample experiences and lessons learned in holding multiparty general elections in the past history, Burma is confident in its ability to conduct the elections in an orderly manner.

"Whatever the challenges facing us, we are committed to do our best for the successful holding of the free and fair general elections for the best interest of the country and its people.''

Well there you go. I bet you’re all convinced by U Nyan Win’s reassuring words… I know I am! I daresay some fellow leftists will continue to view the junta as a good anti imperialistic, anti American bunch, while, as usual, solipsist libertarians will not give a damn… Hiho

When I say reassured, I mean reassured that the man is talking bollocks. There are four words missing from this election: AUNG, SAN, SUU and KYI.

As for experience of multiparty elections, the vermin in charge of that blighted country have experience of ignoring any election they find inconvenient (to wit a 1990 landslide for Aung San Suu Kyi)

Come 8 November I can predict that the Union Solidarity and Development Party will be major winners. That this party is headed by Thein Sein, the current Prime Minister and thus beloved of the junta is a mere coincidenceSource URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Maine perfume

A few years ago, my dad took my sister and me on a fall weekend trip to Bar Harbor, Maine. We stayed in a charming old B&B and made it our goal to eat lobster for every single meal, including lobster scrambled eggs, bisque, rolls, whole lobsters, and even a McDonald's McLobster...
Even though it rained almost the whole time, the trip was one of the best I've ever taken. So I was psyched to discover this Maine perfume. Wouldn't you love to smell its sea, air, sun, pine and grassy scent?

(Photos by 3191 Miles Apart and Between the Bread)Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Buried Alive!

by Susan Sey

So I broke up with my old gym. We'd been happy together for two years or more but things had gotten stale. Boring. Expensive. It wasn't any one thing but sometimes you grow apart, you know? It's not you, it's me. These things happen. Maybe we should take a break.

I decided to have a look around, see if there was an option that fit my life a bit better. As it happens, there was. The Community Center.

The Community Center has a pool. My old gym did, too, but this pool is a zero-depth-entry, chock-full-of-slides-and-toys, warmer-than-bathwater type pool. Much better for my skinny children whose lips turn blue when they so much as stroll past the beach.

The Community Center also has an indoor playground, access to which comes free with membership. A nice bennie when you live in The Land That Summer Forgot. Snow'll be flying up here pretty soon--an indoor playground will be nice to have.

The Community Center is also next door to the library (this family's idea of nirvana), has a preschool (which my youngest attends), and costs less than half what my old gym did.

Sold.

However, the CC (as it will henceforth be known because I am a lazy typist) lacks one thing. TVs on the cardio equipment. Our old gym had TVs on all the treadmills & elliptical machines. You just plugged in your headphones, picked a station & off you went for your sweaty twenty minutes or whatever.

At the CC, there's a bank of TVs hung on the wall & you have to tune your personal radio (who the heck has a RADIO anymore??) to the FM band indicated on the wall under each TV. That's the only way you can listen to the audio. Otherwise, you have to read the closed captioning they've conveniently turned on.


Now this isn't a problem for me. I'm happy to read the screen. My husband feels this is a crime against fitness but that's a different blog. No, what I want to talk about today is the joy of being forced out of my usual TV watching rut.

See, running isn't fun. When I run indoors, I need to be diverted. I need to be absorbed or I spend too much time thinking about how very unpleasant running is & wondering if it's over yet. (It's not.)

So I need some gripping TV, & I'm not interested in taking a chance on an unknown quantity. I like shows I *know* I like: reality shows where talented people work under time & material pressure--Top Chef or Project Runway. I like a good soapy drama--Dawson's Creek is a big favorite. Or something clever and quick--That 70's Show still kills me. (I have a friend Kitty Foreman only wishes she were.) The West Wing is a good one, too.

But at the CC now I have a whole smorgasbord of shows on at once & none of them are what I usually watch. It's talk shows (Ellen Degeneres), trashy talk shows (Maury Povich, I think), and soap operas.

I went with the soap. Now I haven't followed a soap opera since I used to watch the Bold & the Beautiful in college and I have to say, it's nice to see they're still burying people alive. (And putting them in comas and having secret babies, all of which happened in the time it took me to log four miles.)

My favorite was the buried alive story line. They'd sealed this woman (an exquisitely groomed sixty-something) into a crypt with a cell phone & a security camera. This allowed her to both see and rail against the idiotic young things who wandered by for some crypt-side musing, and have vitriolic chats with the villain who'd buried her.

Watching a grande dame shriek, "I'M IN THE CRYPT, YOU STUPID COW!" at a clueless mourner remarking on the unlikeliness of her sudden death was awesome, too. We don't get enough scenery chewing from Women Of A Certain Age. I'm all for more of that. I wish they'd bring back the turban as a hairstyle, too, now that I'm thinking of it. Liz Taylor rocked the turban. More turbans!

I think I'm going to like my new gym.

So how about you? Do you follow any soaps--now or ever? What's your favorite storyline? Secret babies? Long lost lovers? Premature burial? Back-from-the-dead lovers? Evil twins? Do you watch TV while you work out? What do you watch? And if they brought turbans back, would you wear one? Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Miranda's Winners!

Thanks, everyone, for a fabulous day in the lair yesterday. Didn't we all have fun? I'm still snickering about poor St. Sebastian! And that Nigel No Friends is really NIGEL NO FRIENDS!!!

Miranda Neville very generously offered us TWO prizes. So without more ado, here are our winners!

Congratulations, SHEREE! You won a signed copy of Miranda's latest release THE DANGEROUS VISCOUNT!

Congratulations, PINK PEONY (JEN)! You won a signed copy of the first book in the Burgundy Club series, THE WILD MARQUIS!

Please email Miranda at miranda @ mirandaneville.com (no spaces) with your snail mail details and she'll get your books out to you! Happy reading!Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Echinops after the blooming

Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Jack Goes Boating

This is the sort of movie Woody Allen would (should?) be making if he was not still stuck in the seventies. Centered exclusively around two relationships - one brand new, one long simmering - "Jack Goes Boating" is a film about love and about people talking about love and all the frailty and cruelty and the messiness - my God, the messiness - that goes into both establishing and maintaining a relationship.

The film stars the magnificent Philip Seymour Hoffman as the title character but it also doubles as Hoffman's directorial debut, his source material being an off-Broadway play authored by Bob Glaudini who also penned this cinematic adaptation, and rather than repeatedly framing himself in flattering light Hoffman is willing to turn up on camera with a few additional pounds in an unbecoming swimming cap in the shallow end of a pool. Vanity Project? Eh, not so much.

An emotionally awkward, agonizingly shy limo driver who nevertheless sincerely wishes people would emote more "positive vibes", and who finds his own ceaseless source of positivity in The Melodians' "Rivers Of Babylon", his personal anthem, is, at the behest of his friend and fellow employee Clyde (John Ortiz), forced into a Meet Cute with the equally emotionally awkward, agonizingly shy Connie (Amy Ryan, finally getting a leading role worthy of her talent), a new employee at the same funeral home where Clyde's wife Lucy (Daphne Rubin-Vega) works.

Except it's not quite a Meet Cute. Let's call it a Meet. A Meet wherein Ryan as Connie is allowed to deliver a monologue at the level of Diane Keaton's famed "free turkey" soliloquy in "Annie Hall." Tentatively, Jack asks her out. "We made a date for summer," Jack tells Clyde. "You made a date for summer in winter?" asks Clyde. Yes. A date to go boating. One problem: Jack can't swim. And later, after a particularly traumatic event, Jack makes a date to cook dinner for Connie. Another problem: Jack can't cook. So Clyde teaches him to swim and an old friend - perhaps more - of Lucy's teaches him to cook.

This is what passes for plot twists. This is a film about people interacting and talking and feeling their way forward, mostly feeling their way forward by stumbling and bumbling. Extravagant gestures are not in the cards for Jack and Connie for these are people of reluctant shrugs. Like the aforementioned Woody Allen who, as the esteemed Roger Ebert has noted, has made a career out of making "secondary characters heoric", Jack and Connie often feel like the secondary couple of a commonplace, mainstream motion picture that would have featured the volatile Clyde and Lucy as its centerpiece. Which is not to suggest that Clyde and Lucy get the shaft while the film showcases the stars because it does not, it devotes plenty of time to both couples, each one assisting to underscore the idea of the other, the exploration of the ancient common sense that long term relationships never ever develop the way we quite expect.




All this could, of course, weigh the audience down and so Hoffman the director chooses not to focus on the cold, hard realities of a New York Winter and instead goes for the snow-globe effect, the light-hearted cinematic flurries that contrasts all the hesitant realism and in the learning-to-swim scenes which he just lets speak for themselves and lift you up without yanking you up by your collar.



Behind the camera Hoffman really only has problems during the extended third-act showdown between our quartet at Clyde and Lucy's apartment when the film's stage origins begin to finally rear their head and Jack's fabulous meal isn't just a meal and subtext and symbolism threatens to start flying along with all the verbal insults and you can feel it all starting to careen except then Jack, embarrassed, angry, locks himself in the bathroom and suddenly the others are singing to him to prod him back out and it's strange and it's hectic and it's absolutely wonderful and it crystallizes the picture and life itself. "How can we sing a song of joy in a strange land?" This movie knows. Yes, it does. You gotta fight for your right to be idealistic.Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Bah

Still feeling rotten...Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Rachida Dati puts, ahem ,foot in mouth

Erstwhile French Justice minister Rachida Dati seems to have managed to give Fance (and the rest of the world) a laugh when she made a slip of the tongue (fnur fnur) and accidentally used the word "fellation" instead of "inflation" in a television interview.

"These foreign investment funds are only interested in excessive profits," she said. "When I see some of them demand a return of 20 or 25 per cent, when fellation is almost non-existent... I say they are just trying to destroy businesses."

Ms Dati showed no sign of being aware of her lapse and pressed on with her interview with Anne-Sophie Lapix on Dimanche Plus, a current affairs show on the Canal Plus cable channel. Within minutes, a clip had been posted on Daily Motion, the French version of YouTube.

Asked about the incident in a radio interview yesterday, Ms Dati burst into laughter. "I was told about it afterwards," she said. "I was just speaking a little too quickly but if I've given everyone a laugh, then that's fine."

Ms Dati was exiled to the European Parliament in 2009 after falling out with Nicholas Sarkozy... Her next role? Perhaps the new French Ambassador to Rockall?

Ach it would be so easy for me t use lots of innuendo in this post but I will not deign to do so. After all one can be the consequence of the other….Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection

Cool Autumn

by Suzanne

Warning, I'm just letting my mind and fingers wander over some cool stuff about my favorite season today.


Yesterday morning I walked out of the hospital in the morning, the weather was beautiful and cool! After five months of greater than 90 degrees, AETHER, the primal god of shining blue sky was in his element and decided to give me a beautiful 55 degree morning to drive home in. I'd finished my fourth 12 hour night shift, feet dragging, eyes drooping, and I got to drive home with the windows down, the air conditioner off and the radio up LOUD!



Dark sunglasses, wind whipping through my hair, me singing slightly off key harmonies to ZZ Top...ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah! The people in the cars next to me were just getting their days started. One man looked at me from the seat of his Mercedes SUV and smiled, (I think he had his window down and caught some off key singing;) Dressed in suits and business clothes, sipping their cups of over priced coffees and lattes, I felt so sorry for them. They had to spend this beautiful morning trapped inside, working.

Me?

Yeah, cruising down the road... Cool!!

And when I got home, Rocky-the-wonder-dog and I sat out on the back porch watching the birds and squirrels. Blue sky and crisp air, me drinking a cup of warm tea. Days like this make all those months of heat and air conditioning worth it! I love the contrast of the seasons, but mostly the relief from the oppressive sun and heat that cooler weather brings.

I adore autumn. In October or early November I usually travel to Ohio to see my family. Not just to see my parents, but to enjoy the cool weather, the color changes of the trees, the rainy drizzle days that invariably fill autumn in the Ohio valley. Alas, this year I am not going to get home. Work and life are keeping me home, but I can close my eyes and imagine I'm there.

After sleeping like the dead...(I did mention that we're having a massive baby-boom at my hospital and I'm working HARD each night, right?), I opened every window in the house and turned on the attic fan to suck out the stale air and pull in some glorious cool autumn air. mmmmmmmm






So, besides cool weather and colorful trees, you know what else is cool about autumn? Chili and baking! Yep, we spend all summer grilling. It keeps the heat in the house down and we have a great built-in gas grill, so why not? Actually, we grill all year round, but way more in the summer than the rest of the year. So, when the weather turns cooler I get the bug to bake. And make big pots of soup or chili.




Now, I make a mean pot of chili. I must, the girls at work beg me to bring in some every time I make it. My son-in-law snatches a bowl when he picks the grandbabies up on the day I babysit, and my dh and son gobble up bowls every day until the pot is empty. We're not purists in our chili eating, we add things like cheese, sour cream to it, and some even mash up buttered Ritz crackers. But we do love our chili. As for baking, Ginger snaps are always a must...as are apple pies and crisps, cakes...and oh yeah the last blackberry cobbler of the season!

Another thing that happens in autumn in our house is cleaning out the pantry and closets. Clothing gets donated to the local Good Will, while cans of food that are outdated or boxes of food that are past their expiration have to be tossed out. There is something just therapeutic about cleaning out the pantry and closet.

Another great thing about autumn is walking in the mornings. This lets my brain fix any problems in my MIP (Mess In Progress) or sparks new ideas for more stories. This is probably a trained reaction to autumn because of the beginning of school always coincides with it... a Pavlovian reaction which triggers the desire to create.

Soooooooooo...do you find Autumn cool? What is your favorite part? Do you have a favorite food to cook or bake this time of year? What songs do you like to sing to with the windows down?

***Check throughout the day for some of my favorite fall recipes!***Source URL: http://extravagancedeplumes.blogspot.com/2010/09/
Visit extra vagance de plumes for Daily Updated Hairstyles Collection