Not About Much and Opera

2011-09-18T21:45:00.001-07:00

What a superb evening! The Colorado Symphony, Peter Oudjian, conductor was incredibly energetic and of course, Joshua Bell on violin! Rimsky-Korsakov, Tchaikovsky, Khachaturian and with Joshua Bell- Bruch Violin Concert #1 in G minor, Op 26, Prelude: Allegro moderato, Adagio and the Grand Finale: Allegro energico. And needless to say, it was "molto appassionato"......

JOSHUA BELL

2011-09-18T16:21:00.000-07:00

Looking forward to Joshua Bell Live

in Denver tonight! http://www.joshuabell.com/reviews/boettcher-concert-hall-denver

It's been such a long time.....

2010-11-25T20:46:00.000-08:00

I know it's been such a great awhile, as my summer was overwhelmingly busy, but now I'm back and will try to catch up a bit.

Been traveling here and there, Denmark, Sweden, London, Paris to name a few. Squeezed in a visit to the opera in Paris (Bastille Opera House) saw the rarely performed "Il Trittico" by Puccini.

I miss you Freddie......

2009-11-24T15:46:00.000-08:00

Is this the real life
Is this just fantasy
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Freddie Mercury

5 September 1946 - 24 November 1991

Freddie Mercury meant a lot to me growing up, as a teenager, he was my Idol. I loved opera and Freddie! Queen was my first concert, Freddie's musical talent along with his voice range was the best by far. He was a true talent!

Pictured with Montserrat Caballé the greatest soprano of all times!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freddie_Mercury

The Tales of Hoffman

2009-11-24T13:51:00.000-08:00

An Unfinished Tale...

Indeed, a tale of tales! Enjoyed the opening night (Saturday, November 7, 2009) of "Tales of Hoffman" at the Elle Caulkins Opera Colorado. It's my first time seeing this production, a production that showed an amazing talent, not only by the principles, but an amazing chorus, stage director, and production.

Overview Inspired by the tales of the German Romantic poet E.T.A. Hoffmann, the opera tours a dramatic dreamscape populated with beautiful courtesans, magical portraits and fantastical automatons. The lush music fuels the visual style of the stage design inspired by 19th century couture and Dutch graphic artist M.C. Escher. This innovative production brings to life Offenbach's vivid fantasy of a poet obsessed with four remarkable women – and the four villains bent on his destruction.Stage Director Renaud DoucetSet and Costume Design André BarbeConductor Emmanuel Joel-Hornak This production is a co-production between Opera Colorado, Opera Theatre of St. Louis and Boston Lyric Opera.

Me and Julian Gavin, tenor- at Elle Caulkins Opera House
http://www.operacolorado.org/operas/hoffmann/

Nice To Meet You; Pass the Purell

2009-10-26T10:06:00.000-07:00

Read an article on USA TODAY and couldn't help to comment on it.

Nice to meet you; Pass the Purell is the headline and not far fetched and it's something that I will do without hesitation. Or better yet, shouldn't we incorporate the "bow" rather than the typical "handshake"? I lived in Asia for 3 years and would not be awkward in reverting to the bow, it comes natural for me (I must say, I'm doing it now, and of course, been looked at "funny"). Could we blame "them"?

Now, let's be frank here, H1N1 hasn't killed any more (so far) than the typical Influenza Type A for instance, so, is it the possibility of a "pandemic" in question and feared here? Nevertheless, none of us have stopped going on with our lives, though some establishments (mostly medical facilities, I think) have taken precautions, some doctor's offices have pulled their magazines and toys from the waiting room (actually I am glad they have done that and would be even happier if they discontinue for good), I never liked the idea of touching items in the waiting room that other people (who could possibly be contagious) anyways.

Something that really bothers me and I don't seem to ever understand: Why do "early learning centers" where toddlers, teachers and parents walk about the classroom floors with their "street shoes" on, the same floor these toddlers play on. What's wrong with that picture? I think everyone should remove their shoes when inside the classroom where activities are on the floor, i.e., playing with toys, sitting on the floor to read and laying on the floor, though in a mat, I've seen kids with their faces on the floor while sleeping. They do it in certain Asian cultures!

Yes, pass the sanitizer, sneeze into your elbow and remove your shoes! Oh yes, wash your hands!!!

Rio wins right to host the 2016 Olympics

2009-10-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

I am totally ecstatic with the win of the bid to host the 2016 Olympics! This was a very emotional moment for me, as it made me feel nostalgic of my home country. "President Lula" gave a very passionate speech and indeed confirming the theme (at least according to my book) of the the next Olympics in Rio: Live with Passion! Indeed, he showed what a passionate Brazilian citizen can be! Just goes to show you, the influence Brazil has gained-- they truly are a rising global power- in my opinion at least!

Here's some links to some of the online news:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/sports/03olympics.html?_r=1&WT.mc_id=fb_nyt644&WT.mc_ev=click

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091002/ap_on_sp_ol/oly2016_bids

http://globoesporte.globo.com/Esportes/Noticias/Olimpiadas/0,,MUL1327272-17698,00-RIO%20TRANSFORMA%20O%20SONHO%20OLIMPICO%20EM%20REALIDADE%20E%20CONQUISTA%20OS%20JOGOS%20DE.html

Sympathy for Caster Semenya: Hermaphrodites Are People Too

2009-09-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

by John Devereux

Imagine for a moment that you’re eighteen years old and the entire world is wondering if you’re a man, woman, or something in between. Helpful people have tried to remove the uncertainty by giving you a feminizing makeover. Welcome to Caster Semenya’s life.
Semenya’s prowess at the women’s 800 meters, combined with her muscular physique and curiously male demeanor have made the world wonder about her true sex. It has now been leaked by track and field officials that Caster Semenya has been declared a “hermaphrodite”.
In order to compete in track and field she has been forced to submit to an intrusive investigation of her chromosomal make-up and the structure of her reproductive organs. How would you feel in her shoes? Humiliated, embarrassed, downtrodden, ready to crawl into the nearest hole and never come back, I warrant. Can we show a little sensitivity and understanding in this difficult situation? After all, nobody is accusing Caster Semenya of cheating. She has been raised as a girl, considers herself to be a girl, and for all intents and purposes is a girl.

Is Caster Semenya a Hermaphrodite?
Technically a hermaphrodite is someone or something with both male and female reproductive organs. Hermaphrodism in humans is rare, but far from unknown. According to a Developmental Biology textbook by Scott F. Gilbert, human hermaphrodites typically have a sex organ that is somewhere between a penis and a clitoris. Some hermaphrodites have both a penis and large breasts.
Babies born with ambiguous sex organs are typically assigned a gender by doctors based on the size of the organ. Smaller equals female while larger equals male. Surgical procedures may be performed to “normalize” the organ. Some biologists consider gender to be part of a continuum rather than a binary situation.
The question is not, then, whether Caster Semenya is a man or a woman. She is perhaps somewhere in between. Since her gender identity has always been female, should she be allowed to competed in athletic competitions as a woman?
The answer is not so cut and dried. Semenya’s testosterone level has tested within allowed limits for female athletes. Who is to say than, that she should not be considered a woman? The question, I suppose, is whether it’s fair to other female competitors of unambiguous gender to force them to compete against a person whose unusual genetic make-up may give her a significant advantage. After all, the segmentation of competitors by sex is meant to level the playing field for female athletes.
Adding to the controversy is the fact that Caster Sememya is a black woman from South Africa, a country without a great history of success by black athletes in international competitions. During the apartheid era, South African athletes were long banned from international events. Now that the majority black population has political control over the country, they are understandably touchy about efforts to draw in to question the achievements of one of their own. Mutters about “racism” have been heard.
I suspect that Caster Semenya will be barred from future competitions, but I don’t see how anyone can be happy about it. Fairness is a hard thing to come by in this world, but there’s nothing very “fair” about excluding someone who doesn’t fit our conception about what a “normal” human being is. Here's the link to the original posting by John Devereux: TBD

Brazil Independence

2009-09-07T16:09:00.000-07:00

I wonder what it would be if Brazil and Portugal were still a monarchy...on the contrary of many of you, I think such an early independence wasn't such a great idea after all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedro_I_of_Brazil

Basic Hindi

2009-08-29T15:45:00.001-07:00

I've decided to learn Hindi! Don't be shocked, but I am at the moment fascinated with the idea! I have learned so far (and likely the only phrases I'll ever be able to retain) a few simple phrases that surprises a Hindi speaker, every single time, I attempt to "show of"! I have learned with "Caminho das Indias" a telenovela from Brazil. It's remarkably done, the details of the culture of Rajasthan is very close to it's original principles. Check it here and see it for yourself, of course the protagonists are all beautiful as it's in Bollywood. http://caminhodasindias.globo.com/

My review after a comment from a German visitor at a University in Pernambuco, Brazil

2009-08-28T14:14:00.000-07:00

Não muito animador o comentário de Boris Goger, que trabalha com desenvolvimento de software em Munique, a respeito da sua visita a uma Universidade brasileira. ( the original post translation from English to Portuguese was done by Adriana Beal from Desafios em IT http://2wtx.com/adriana/blog/)

Comment by Boris Geler:

Last week I visited UFRPE- Federal University of Pernambuco in Recife, an incredible place. It's possible to feel the energy of the place and immediately understand that the people in this university is really wanting to study. But in the other hand, I was also chocked. The ambiance is bad. The buildings don't have the appearance of an university, and the computers that you find in the labs are super old. But...obviously that doesn't prompt the people to be unhappy studying there. If you've seen that, you would never think that the conditions in Germany are not sufficient. Cool!

Translated to Portuguese by Adriana Beal:

Semana passada visitei a UFRPE – Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, em Recife. Um lugar incrível. É possível sentir a energia do lugar e entender imediatamente que as pessoas nessa universidade realmente querem estudar.
Mas por outro lado, eu também fiquei chocado. O ambiente é ruim. Os prédios não parecem com uma universidade, e os computadores que se vê nos laboratórios são super antigos. Mas… obviamente isso não faz as pessoas deixarem de estar felizes por estudar. Se você visse aquilo, você não iria nunca pensar que não tem condições de estudo boas o suficiente na Alemanha. Legal!

My reply:

Though I don't think the German visitor really meant any harm...

Brazil seems to always have the feel of "Love and Hate" relationship with foreigners. I write in English with the hope that the Germans or any other nations get to read this. I agree, Brazil is a lovely country (the love relationship) and a third world country (the hate relationship), but the majority of these foreigners who which tend to define Brazil as lovely are the ones who comes with the view of easy women and beautiful beaches and forget really that Brazilians are very talented and resourceful, after all, they accomplish so much with so little (of course, not talking about the corrupted politicians) who does give Brazil a "bad rep". Do "they" forget that Brazil has been self-sustained for fossil fuels for decades? Do they know that Brazilian, Dr. Eduardo do Couto e Silva is a particle physicist and Deputy Manager of Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope's (GLAST) (who's born and raised in Brazil) to being the Vice-director of the famous telescope lab at Stanford University? Perhaps we could go on and on...the fact of the matter is that the politicians in Brazil need to have the audacity of becoming a honest servant for a change (stop using the people's money to pay for your lavish lifestyles) and who knows, we may catch up with having "finally" what the people deserve, BASIC NEEDS, and yes, current hardware/software and I bet, it will be money left over for a little building remodeling to please the eyes of these "foreigners".

Peace!

The life and death of Arshile Gorky...a sudden urge to remember!

2009-08-28T12:39:00.000-07:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arshile_Gorky

'Timberbrit': Opera Tackles The Trials Of Britney

2009-08-05T10:19:00.000-07:00

Mellissa Hughes — pictured on a recent music-video shoot in Brooklyn, N.Y. — plays Britney Spears in Timberbrit, an experimental opera by composer Jacob Cooper.

What a relief to know that "THIS" is not on our Colorado Opera upcoming season (thanks Greg), or EVER season. Listening to this gave me chills, no, not the chills we are accustomed to in Lucia, Rigoletto, Tosca, etc. it was a chill of disgust! Composer Jacob Cooper I suppose is following his dream (and maybe a crush on the pop singer), but if he needs content for the next composition, please Jacob, give me a ring, I have plenty of material for you. The only prolonged death scene I could see here, would me my own.
By Paula Kechichian

The article below is by Claire Happel:

August 4, 2009 - Opera has a long history of over-the-top spectacle and melodramatic plots. Composer Jacob Cooper decided to embrace that excess, creating a contemporary opera that imagines the tragic end of one particularly tempestuous pop diva.
The work is called Timberbrit — as in Justin Timberlake and Britney Spears. It's a tragic tale that imagines Spears' last concert, in the final hours of her life. Timberlake returns after a long absence to win back Spears' love, but in the end she chooses the audience's love above all else.
Cooper began work on the opera by experimenting with a technique called time-stretching. Using digital audio software, he slowed down Spears' songs — and suddenly the light pop tunes seemed hauntingly tragic. Phrases like "Hit me baby one more time" took on an entirely different and more weighted meaning.
Cooper then collaborated with his performers to create new pieces of music inspired by those slowed-down hits, and writer Yuka Igarashi crafted fresh lyrics using the vernacular of Spears' songs — tears, love, dreams, innocence.
As a doctoral student at Yale, Cooper has looked at the psychological aspects of how traditional operas stretch time during death scenes — the way a dying character in Rigoletto or Boris Godunov, say, will pause to sing a 10-minute aria. Not realistic perhaps, but it packs a punch.
Cooper has expanded on that distinctive musical tradition by creating an entire opera enveloped by a fatal slowness of action. The idea is that in Timberbrit, Spears' prolonged destruction amplifies the tragedy of her downfall.
The opera premiered in New York City as a semistaged production in 2008 and is currently being developed into a fully staged version.
Meanwhile, the cast and crew of Timberbrit recently shot a music video of Cooper's song "Worst Fantasy," inspired by Spears' "Toxic." In keeping with the opera's process, the videographers started with a slowed-down, stretched-out recording of the original, then manipulated it and built on it to create something new.
The result: a distillation of Spears' music videos and public meltdowns that forces viewers to take a second look at both pop-star lives and the way the public devours them.
This piece was originally produced for NPR's Intern Edition by Claire Happel and Sarah Metcalf.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111495732

Sushi Fix!!! We all need them sometimes, I certainly know I do!

2009-07-31T15:59:00.000-07:00

By MARCIA DUNN

Space Shuttle Endeavour lands at the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Fla. Friday July 31, 2009. Endeavour's seven member crew are returning from a mission to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier, Pool)
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) - Space shuttle Endeavour and its seven astronauts returned to Earth on Friday, completing a long but successful construction job that boosted the size and power of the international space station.
They ended up swamped with sushi.
Endeavour's smooth and punctual arrival, after more than two weeks in orbit, set off a steady stream of congratulations and an ecstatic welcoming reception for Koichi Wakata, the first Japanese astronaut to return from a long space journey. His station mission lasted 4 1/2 months.
At his request, sushi awaited him. But it was more than Wakata had anticipated. He was overloaded with sushi as Kennedy Space Center workers dropped off the delicacy at crew quarters.
Looking remarkably fit for someone still getting used to gravity, Wakata said four hours after touchdown that he had yet to eat any sushi because of all the medical testing. But he was going to splurge as soon as the crew news conference ended.
"I feel great," he told journalists who jammed an auditorium, most of them Japanese. "When the hatch opened, I really smelled the grass of the ground, and just glad to be back home."
The president of the Japanese Space Agency, among the first to greet Wakata, said the astronaut would be accommodated properly when he returns to Japan in a few months.
"He said he did his best," said President Keiji Tachikawa. The official said he was surprised to see Wakata walking so soon after landing.
The astronauts left behind on the space station said they missed Wakata, even though they were happy with his replacement.
"We certainly miss being there, but there's no place like home," said shuttle commander Mark Polansky. He looked thrilled as he shook hands with senior managers and walked around his spaceship. "What a fantastic mission," he said.
While visiting the space station, Polansky and his crew put on a new addition to Japan's $1 billion lab, installed fresh batteries, and stockpiled some big spare parts. They accomplished all of their major objectives and were part of the biggest gathering ever in space: Counting the six station residents, the crowd totaled 13.
The shuttle flight lasted 16 days and spanned 6.5 million miles, one of NASA's longest. It wrapped up a 138-day trip for Wakata, who moved into the space station in March. He swapped places with American Timothy Kopra, who rode up on Endeavour.
Before leaving orbit, Wakata said he was yearning for some sushi for his first meal back on the planet and a soak in a hot spring once he's back in Japan. At the top of his list, though, was reuniting with his German wife and their 11-year-old son, who were on hand at the space center for the homecoming. About 50 Japanese, in all, gathered at the landing site.
Wakata made it back just in time for his 46th birthday on Saturday. He said he was looking forward to lots of sushi and good birthday cake, to which Polansky asked, "And you've invited your whole crew, right?"
"Yes - can you handle raw fish?" Wakata said, laughing.
It is Japanese custom to bring souvenirs back from a long trip. When asked by journalists if Wakata did, Tachikawa said the astronaut returned with new ideas and impressions about space.
Endeavour's other astronauts carried out five spacewalks - tying a record for a single flight - and helped their station colleagues when a toilet flooded and an air purifier overheated. The commode, one of three on the linked shuttle and station, was fixed in a day. But the air-cleansing system remained out of order Friday.
Another highlight: The astronauts got to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first manned moon landing with their own spacewalk.
Japan's Kibo lab - which means Hope - received a front porch for outdoor experiments during Endeavour's visit. An X-ray telescope and space environment monitor were installed on the porch, along with communication equipment.
The mission concluded work on the lab - the largest one at the orbiting outpost - that took more than a year and three shuttle flights. Wakata said seeing Kibo completed was the highlight of his mission.
Next up for the Japanese will be the debut launch in September of an unmanned cargo ship.
As for NASA, seven shuttle flights remain to finish the space station, now 83 percent complete with nearly 700,000 pounds of mass. The next launch, by Discovery, is targeted for the end of August.
___
On the Net:
NASA: http://www.nasa.gov/mission(underscore)pages/shuttle/main/index.html

Mulher sob medida

2009-07-31T08:44:00.000-07:00

Colunistas > Danuza Leão

Mulher sob medida

As mulheres são capazes de fazer loucuras para emagrecer. Quantas eu já fiz para ficar um palito... Mas tem sentido? O primeiro dos meus sacrifícios foi óbvio: deixar de comer as delícias deste mundo. Resisti bravamente a todos os pasteizinhos fritos na hora com uma cervejinha, a uma empada quentinha, saindo do forno, a um brigadeiro derretendo na boca. Quando penso, vejo o absurdo.Dá para, em nome de uma magreza – que inventaram que é obrigação –, abrir mão do enorme prazer que é comer? Aliás, quando foi que começou essa mania? Se você for a qualquer museu do mundo, os quadros exibem mulheres gordas, e não conheço um homem – fora os que trabalham com moda – que não dê valor a um bumbum grande, para passar a mão com ar de dono, ou a uns peitos fartos (mas que sejam obra da natureza). E nem estamos falando das telas de Botero.De onde veio essa invenção? Acho que os costureiros fizeram uma reunião secreta para decretar como devem ser as mulheres só para infernizar nossa vida. Pessoalmente, não conheço nenhum homem que deseje levar Kate Moss para a cama; em compensação, pergunte a qualquer um o que acha da Jennifer Lopez.Houve um tempo em que eu quase desmaiava na rua de tanta fome. Bebia só água o dia inteiro, à noite tomava uma sopa de alface sem sal e era muito infeliz. Depois de várias semanas de jejum quase absoluto, botei na boca metade de uma bolacha de água e sal. Pensei que fosse morrer de tanta felicidade. Mantinha uma balança no quarto e me pesava três vezes por dia. Que tempos aqueles!O pior é que mulher não tem personalidade. É para ficar magra? Então vamos lá. Ponha quatro almoçando juntas e elas só têm três assuntos: dieta, ginástica e homem (falta de). Isso comendo uma salada temperada com limão. Assim passei vários anos, mas numa bela manhã acordei pensando que a vida podia ser um pouco melhor. Fui a uma confeitaria, pedi um chocolate quente com creme, bolo de laranja, torradas com queijo ralado e vi que a felicidade existia. Decidi que ia ser gordinha, porém feliz. E os quilos foram chegando.

Quotes on Kisses

2009-01-24T10:34:00.000-08:00

Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. ~Albert Einstein

A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous. ~Ingrid Bergman

A kiss can be a comma, a question mark or an exclamation point. That's basic spelling that every woman ought to know. ~Mistinguett (Jeanne Bourgeois), Theatre Arts, December 1955

Is not a kiss the very autograph of love? ~Henry Finck

A kiss, when all is said, what is it? A rosy dot placed on the "i" in loving;'Tis a secret told to the mouth instead of to the ear.~Edmond Rostand

Kissing is a means of getting two people so close together that they can't see anything wrong with each other. ~Rene Yasenek

How did it happen that their lips came together? How does it happen that birds sing, that snow melts, that the rose unfolds, that the dawn whitens behind the stark shapes of trees on the quivering summit of the hill? A kiss, and all was said. ~Victor Hugo

Soul meets soul on lovers' lips. ~Percy Bysshe Shelley, Prometheus

UnboundA kiss that speaks volumes is seldom a first edition. ~Clare Whiting

I am in favor of preserving the French habit of kissing ladies' hands - after all, one must start somewhere. ~Sacha Guitry

I kissed my first girl and smoked my first cigarette on the same day. I haven't had time for tobacco since. ~Arturo Toscanini

Always kiss your children goodnight, even if they're already asleep. ~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

kisses are a better fatethan wisdom.~e.e. cummings

If you are ever in doubt as to whether to kiss a pretty girl, always give her the benefit of the doubt. ~Thomas Carlyle

A man snatches the first kiss, pleads for the second, demands the third, takes the fourth, accepts the fifth - and endures all the rest. ~Helen Rowland

Love's first snow-drop, virgin kiss. ~Robert Burns

'Twas not my lips you kissed but my soul~Judy Garland

What of soul was left, I wonder, when the kissing had to stop? ~Robert Browning

Once he drew With one long kiss my whole soul thro'My lips, as sunlight drinketh dew.~Alfred Lord Tennyson

People who throw kisses are mighty hopelessly lazy. ~Bob Hope

A kiss without a hug is like a flower without the fragrance. ~Proverb

A kiss is just a pleasant reminder that two heads are better than one. ~Author Unknown

Were kisses all the joys in bed, One woman would another wed.~William Shakespeare, Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music, IV What lies lurk in kisses. ~Heinrich Heine

Happiness is like a kiss - it feels best when you give it to someone else. ~Author Unknown

The soul that can speak through the eyes can also kiss with a gaze. ~Gustavo Adolfo Becquer

Opera Pronto

2008-12-05T15:42:00.000-08:00

http://www.operapronto.info/

Durex recruit Mozart for their latest TV ad

2008-12-02T21:29:00.000-08:00

Heather Buck as The Queen Of The Night in ENO's The Magic Flute. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Something for the weekend (well, Tuesday) - and a hilarious advertising misprision of classical music: the current TV ad for Durex's Play O lubricant for women. There are 30 seconds of perfectly groomed young women in the back-arching, pupils-dilating throes of carnal abandon - either in flagrante delicto with a partner, or in the bath, or pressed against a window, that sort of thing - and the music Durex have chosen to accompany it is the Queen of the Night's Act Two aria from Mozart's Magic Flute. The people at Durex judiciously repeat the very highest part of the phrase five times, where Mozart originally has it twice, amplifying the sensual excess of the moment and the women's pleasure, thanks, presumably, to judicious use of Play O.
It sort of makes sense in terms of the deliberate extremity of the vocal acrobatics Mozart demands from his soprano - top Fs in the outer regions of leger-line land above the treble clef. But dramatically, I'm not so sure. Far from erotomania, the aria is actually about a mother trying to turn her daughter into a murderess, as the Queen of the Night bribes Pamina with disownment if she doesn't agree to kill Sarastro. "You will no longer be my daughter" is the phrase that accompanies Durex's advert. Not quite the "I want to get my rocks off" that probably would have worked better, from the adman's point of view.
No matter though: the reason the ad works is the unwritten equation between high-pitched operatic excess and physical or emotional extremity, above all in women. Feminist theorists have had a field day with male composers' treatment of women in operatic plots, and one interpretation of the Queen of the Night is as Exhibit A in the prosecution's case against operatic misogyny. Mozart's character is an evil, hysterical woman, on the side of unknowable but ineluctable darkness, who is defeated by the male world of goodness, light, and wisdom, symbolised by Sarastro and his kingdom. Durex and Play O would presumably rather be on the side of female emancipation ('it's all you need' coos the voiceover), but they're unwittingly tapping into cultural stereotypes of feminine sexuality oppressed by patriarchal hegemony. Or, well, maybe it's just an advert …

Jackson Hole Film Festival

2008-11-17T13:39:00.000-08:00

http://www.jacksonholefilmfestival.org/

The Man Who Tamed Russia

2008-11-17T13:35:00.000-08:00

Your selection of Russian President Vladimir Putin as Person of the Year was spot on [Dec. 31, 2007–Jan. 7, 2008]. Putin may yet become the single most important person of the 21st century. Occupying the largest landmass of any nation, Russia has just begun to tap its natural resources and national potential. Putin's rise to power in 1999 is an astonishing story and was a stroke of genius by an otherwise embarrassing drunk of a President, Boris Yeltsin. Putin is that rare individual who came to govern Russia without the cancerous corruption that seems to plague East European politics. We have watched him grow over the past eight years into a brilliant politician and forceful leader, who is determined to bring his country to the forefront of world affairs. I wouldn't underestimate his capability. Dan Mitchell, SPARTA, N.J., U.S.
tiiQuigoWriteAd(755777, 1391588, 142, 225, -1);

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How could Putin be Person of the Year in anyone's book? All he's doing is fronting a restyled, repackaged communism characterized by the criminalization of dissent. His political feats of derring-do are irrelevant. Peter Lomtevas, NEW YORK CITY
Being married to a Russian and having traveled to both Russia and Ukraine over the past 10 years, I must agree with your choice of Putin. He is the first leader I've seen who excites the Russian people. Regardless of the criticisms relating to limits on political opposition, human rights and freedom of the press, Russia is a better place for the Russian people since Putin came to power. A major reason is that better management of its vast resources has produced economic growth. We Americans typically don't like other countries stepping up toe-to-toe with us, and certainly Putin has ruffled many U.S. feathers with his actions. It would be good if the American people could look past their indignation at the situation in Russia and better understand why we have lost prestige in the international community. Howard Hinman, BLOOMINGTON, IND., U.S.
With its enormous natural resources and energy wealth, Russia is poised to be the dominant country of the 21st century. Before the surge in oil and gas prices, we all thought China would take that role away from the U.S. Now, with Putin's stabilizing hand, we know it could turn out differently. David O. Hill, MEMPHIS, TENN., U.S.
Although I wish you had chosen Al Gore as Person of the Year, I was fascinated by your decision to go with Putin. His determination to bring greatness to his nation, and his disregard for charm and charisma — which can fool people — are what we need in a leader. Sadly, those characteristics are lacking in most of the candidates of both parties in the U.S. Congratulations on a great choice and story. Harriet Robinson, DOYLESTOWN, PA., U.S.
Thank you for giving me a glimpse into Russia's soul. The heartbeat of a nation is its pride. I see Russia now not as Stalinist but as Putinist. Russia's story is indeed Putin's story. Jeremy P. McConnell, BALTIMORE
You should have named General David Petraeus Person of the Year. Petraeus' handling of the counterinsurgency in Iraq has been nothing but a miracle. When I was deployed there in 2005 and '06, it was clear that we needed to change the way we were fighting. Iraqi officers and leaders told me we needed to get out of the castle mentality and get into the streets with the Iraqis. Petraeus' plan was to do just that, and it has worked. Michael J. Mawson, Lieut. Colonel, USAF COLORADO SPRINGS
I am extremely pleased to see that you chose Putin as Person of the Year. The fact that he is unlike his predecessors Boris Yeltsin and Mikhail Gorbachev has proved positive for him. Putin is a leader who conveys the firmness of an unshakable persona. He has been successful in gaining economic prosperity for Russia and reviving it as a superpower. Putin does his best to keep friends with the U.S. while simultaneously checking its global policing activities. As long as Putin is around, he will have a much greater role to play in international affairs, and Russia is sure to get a further makeover. Akshay Mor, BANGALORE, INDIA

Teenage Fashion Designer Kira Plastinina

2008-11-17T13:20:00.000-08:00

Fashion Princess
Backed by her father, multi-millionaire Sergei Plastinin, Kira Plastinina has turned her personal love of sparkles, high heels and pink shades into a line of clothes aimed at girls aged 15 to 25.

The Post-Movie-Star Era

2008-11-17T13:14:00.000-08:00

By RICHARD CORLISS

A few months ago, I sat with three of the most popular actors of the past few decades — Robert Redford, Meryl Streep and Tom Cruise — who were promoting their new film, Lions for Lambs. I posed to them an indelicate question: Are movie stars obsolete? Consternation erupted as the three quickly and forcefully dismissed the idea. And why shouldn't they? They had nearly a century of movie history on their side.

The notion of star quality, of the famous face and magnetic personality that get the mass audience into theaters, has been an article of film-industry faith ever since Charlie Chaplin and Mary Pickford became worldwide sensations in the infant medium back around 1914. Over the years, almost everything else about movies changed, but one tenet held firm: the name above the title sold tickets. That's why the top stars could earn $25 million a picture — because they were the surest guarantee of a return on investment.

Except now they're not. Indeed, we may be in Hollywood's first poststar era. If you judge movie stardom by the actors who headline the biggest hits, then the top stars of 2007 include Tobey Maguire (Spider-Man 3), Shia LaBeouf (Transformers), Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix) and Gerard Butler (300). Each of these films took in more than $200 million at the domestic box office, or more than three times as much as the political comedy Charlie Wilson's War, with a cast headed by Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. Among actresses in the year's releases, the big star was Ellen Page, whose low-budget Juno has made $138 million domestically. Doesn't she deserve an eight-figure contract for her next film? No, because even studio bosses know that, appealing as Page may have been, what drew crowds to Juno was story and attitude. Those are the lures of indie films, as surely as comic-book grandeur is the sine qua non for today's franchise blockbusters.

Meanwhile, star vehicles keep tanking. One reason is salutary: being in a string of hits no longer matters much to many stars. They have a taste for the off-Hollywood project that wouldn't be made if they weren't in it and that can stretch their talents even as it challenges their fans. Bravo for all this pro bono work. Still, you have to ask why The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, with Brad Pitt as the outlaw hero and Oscar-nominated Casey Affleck as his nemesis, should cadge a mere $4 million domestically or why The Good German, a spy thriller starring Maguire, Cate Blanchett and George Clooney — "the last movie star" — should earn a pitiful $1.3 million.

Every trend needs an exception, and Hollywood still has a guy whose movies are sure-shot smashes: Will Smith. (Matt Damon and Adam Sandler are also reliable hitmakers if they stick to their respective action and farce genres.) And yes, it's always possible that we're at the dawn of a new star era — that LaBeouf and Page will be the Hanks and Roberts of the next decade.

But with Hollywood getting most of its revenue from no-name epics and nonstar animated features like Ratatouille and Alvin and the Chipmunks, the moguls will realize that big names no longer mean big grosses. Just ask Redford, Streep and Cruise (but not to their faces). The movie they starred in last fall earned only $15 million domestically. Which suggests that the industry should stop paying for the pricey lions and place their bets on a flock of fresh lambs.

A Brief History Of: Former Soviet Republics

2008-11-17T13:12:00.000-08:00

Since the breakup of The Soviet Union in 1991, its former republics have attempted to take different political directions. Most came together in the Commonwealth of Independent States (C.I.S.), which is still led by Russia. The Baltic nations joined NATO and the European Union in 2004--a course Ukraine and Georgia have flirted with recently--while the resource-rich Central Asian republics have remained largely loyal to Moscow. But after the invasion of Georgia, former members of the U.S.S.R. face an inescapable truth: you can't run from geography. Try as they might to move closer to Europe, many are now nervously eyeing a resurgent Russia on their borders.

EASTERN EUROPE

1. BELARUS 2. UKRAINE 3. MOLDOVA Russia has held a grudge against Ukraine since the 2004 pro-democracy Orange Revolution. Belarus has kept particularly close ties with Moscow, while Russian troops are currently stationed in a semidetached Moldovan territory.

THE CAUCASUS

1. GEORGIA 2. ARMENIA 3. AZERBAIJAN A vital region for the West, which has high hopes for an oil pipeline through Azerbaijan. George W. Bush visited ally Mikheil Saakashvili in Georgia in 2005. Tiny Armenia, which borders Turkey and Iran, readily accepts Russian protection.

CENTRAL ASIA

1. KAZAKHSTAN 2. UZBEKISTAN 3. TURKMENISTAN 4. KYRGYZSTAN 5. TAJIKISTAN These states are wedged between Russia and China. Several are resource-rich and endure varying levels of autocratic rule; a few have let NATO use land for bases.

THE BALTICS

1. ESTONIA 2. LATVIA 3. LITHUANIA Thriving, technologically advanced democracies with prickly relationships with Russia. Estonia blames Moscow for major cyberattacks in 2007.

2008-11-17T13:05:00.000-08:00

With their endless string of pearl beaches, heavenly climate and sensual bossa nova culture, Brazilians consider themselves uniquely blessed. So when the first of two gigantic oil fields was discovered off the coast near Rio de Janeiro last fall, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva saw it simply as further proof of a celestial bond. "God," Lula gushed, "is Brazilian."

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That kind of good fortune, divine or not, has helped Lula, 62, a former steelworkers' union leader and high school dropout, become Brazil's most popular President in a half-century. The oil find could make Brazil one of the world's largest crude producers, but even without that bounty, the economy has been growing as vigorously as a guava tree in the Amazon rain forest, allowing Brazil to start reducing its epic social inequality. Economic strength has also allowed the country to flex its diplomatic clout as the hemisphere's first real counterweight to the U.S. Lula led the creation of a bloc of developing nations, the G-20, to thwart U.S. and European hegemony in global trade talks. "I believe implicitly that Brazil has found its way," Lula told Time at the Planalto presidential palace in Brasília.

Now Lula is aiming for membership in the world's most exclusive club, the group of nations with permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, part of his effort to "change the world's political and commercial geography." Brazil, the world's fifth most populous country, has begun lobbying more ardently for membership, and in his speech to the General Assembly in New York City on Sept. 23, Lula argued that the council's "distorted representation is an obstacle to the multilateral world we desire."

That may be a dream too far for the bearded, gravelly voiced President, but Lula's self-confidence is understandable: he has pulled off other unlikely feats. When he was first elected in 2002, many feared that Lula and his leftist Workers' Party would trash Brazil's emerging economy by pursuing socialist policies. Instead, Lula shrewdly embraced fiscal sobriety, strengthening Brazil's currency, the real, and reforming a bloated civil service pension system. Those policies and a windfall in commodities fueled a boom--the economy will grow 5% or more again this year, and inflation is historically low. Even his rivals acknowledge that despite his firebrand image, Lula has been a deft political operator. "The danger with Lula is that he can be rather messianic," says Rubens Ricúpero, a Finance Minister in the 1990s, when Lula opposed the market reforms he now backs. "But he's one of the most intelligent politicians in the world."

Just as important, Lula has steered Brazil between the Scylla and Charybdis of the right-wing Bush Administration and left-wing Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, whose clashes have rocked Latin America. In Washington, Lula is seen as an important ally. "Our relationship is solid--there are lots of points of convergence," says Christopher McMullen, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. But while Lula bonds with Bush over biofuels--Brazil is a global pioneer in that area--he's also huddling with Chávez over plans to turn South America into an integrated economic bloc along the lines of the European Union. Lula, in fact, is one of the few leaders both Bush and Chávez will listen to. "I joke with them and tell them their fight is very weird," Lula says, "because oil makes them so dependent on each other."

Lula's biggest challenge, though, has been bridging the huge chasm between Brazil's rich and poor--a gap that makes the country look more like the feudal monarchy it was in the 19th century than the modern democracy it wants to be in the 21st. Lula, who as an impoverished kid shined shoes on the streets of São Paulo, has pumped more than $100 billion into social projects ranging from microfinance to grants for families who keep their kids in school. As a result, 52% of Brazil's 190 million people are now designated as middle class, up from 43% in 2002. At the same time, he hopes to make Brazil more business friendly with a $280 billion Growth Acceleration Program to boost infrastructure and cut taxes. "It's called doing things right," Lula says, "allowing the rich to earn money with their investments and allowing the poor to participate in economic growth."

For all his successes, though, some of Brazil's oldest maladies have proved stubbornly resistant to Lula's ministrations. Official corruption remains rampant; Lula blames a fetid political culture "that has been there for centuries," but that's an old excuse. One of his election promises was to clean up Brazilian politics, and with two years to go--rules forbid him to seek a third consecutive term--he'll have to start wielding the broom vigorously. The education system, despite increased funding and access, is still an embarrassment: Brazilian students continue to score at the bottom on international math and reading tests. Taxes are exorbitant, Amazon deforestation is rising again, and Brazil has one of the world's most wasteful public bureaucracies. To fix all those problems in two years would require much more divine intervention.

Turkey scared to admit Armenian genocide, says historian

2008-09-21T20:19:00.000-07:00

As an Armenian descendant I, among many, will never give up or forget the Armenian Genocide, please admit to this atrocity, the Germans did, why can't you? Turkish government should admit and go on with your lives, I believe the present and future generation will be proud of you!

By Robert Tait in Yerevan

Turkey risks a collapse of its secular political system akin to that of the Soviet Union if it bows to international pressure to recognise the 1915-22 Armenian genocide, the head of Armenia's state memorial to the event has told the Guardian.
Hayk Demoyan said Ankara could not acknowledge the systematic killing of up to 1.5 million Armenians by Ottoman troops during the first world war because it would lead to a wholesale re-writing of history and undermine the ideological basis of the Turkish state.
In remarks that will cast a shadow over attempts to forge a new Turkish-Armenian rapprochement, he said those implicated included Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, founder of modern Turkey and a figure Turks are taught to revere. Historical documents proved Atatürk committed "war crimes" against Armenians and other groups in his drive to create an ethnically homogeneous Turkish state, Demoyan insisted. "Fear of rewriting history is the main fear of modern Turkey," said Demoyan, director of The Armenian Genocide Museum-Institute in Yerevan, Armenia's capital.
"It is a fear of facing historical reality and causing a total collapse of the ideological axis that modern republican Turkey was formed around. Turks get panicked when you compare Atatürk's legacy to Lenin.
Atatürk was sentenced to death in absentia by a military judge to punish war crimes during the first world war. There are documents from non-Armenian sources listing him as a war criminal ."
Demoyan's remarks come amid fledgling attempts to re-establish links between two countries which have not had diplomatic relations since 1994, following a war between Armenia and Azerbaijan, Turkey's ally.
Tentative efforts towards normalising ties occurred this month when the Turkish president, Abdullah Gül, visited Yerevan to attend a World Cup football match between Turkey and Armenia at the invitation of his Armenian counterpart, Serge Sarkisian.
Unlike most visiting heads of state, Gül did not visit the genocide museum, which displays documentary and photographic exhibits proving, Armenian officials say, that their ethnic brethren were subjected to deliberate genocide. Turkey vehemently denies this and has jailed Turkish citizens who argued otherwise. However, rising numbers of Turkish tourists and journalists have visited the museum recently.
"More than 500 Turks have visited this year. They've come in unprecedented numbers," Demoyan said. "Their reaction is one of shock. At first there is denial. Sometimes they ask: 'What is our sin?' or 'How can we be responsible for this?'. It's not taught in Turkish schools, so we understand their reaction."
Turkey claims the Armenian death toll has been exaggerated and that most victims died from starvation or disease. It also argues that many Turks were killed by Armenian groups.

2008-09-06T14:44:00.000-07:00

King Tut's daughters

Archaeologist Howard Carter made King Tut a star in 1922 when he opened the pharaoh's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Soon, scientists may make Tut a parent. DNA tests will show if he fathered two fetuses found in the tomb with him.

No public results yet, but this week a noted anthropologist told conference-goers at the University of Manchester that the babies are likely twins, even though they're different ages (one's about three months in gestational age, the other five). And they probably belonged to Tut.

Web search digs up more details on the pharaoh, his mummy and his probable daughters:

His life: It's not easy piecing together such an ancient past. Tutankhamun ruled during Egypt's 18th dynasty (1550-1292 B.C.). Known as the Boy King, he became pharaoh when still a child and died around age 19. Young, but still old enough to be a dad.

His death: The new DNA tests aren't the first experiments done on Tut's mummy. CT scans show injuries that might point to his murder. Could his wife or adviser have plotted his death?

His girls: Tut's death left Egypt's rule in the hands of his adviser because Tut had no surviving children — scientists suspect the two daughters in his tomb were stillborn.

His legacy: He had no living heirs, but related searches for Tut reveal what he did leave behind: ivory canopic jars, lavishly decorated furniture and his famous golden death mask.

Oh, and inspiration for a Steve Martin song.

2008-08-22T09:38:00.000-07:00

You can't always choose the most entertaining option, but you can always try to make something boring into something a lot more interesting. All it takes is a positive attitude and a little creativity. Stuck in a boring meeting? Imagine the speaker dressed up like a clown. Still working on that tedious project? Pretend it's all part of an international plan to thwart evil spies. Spin an interesting tale in your head to keep yourself engaged when reality just isn't cutting it. Trust me, it works! ;-D

Counting Down to the DNC!

2008-08-19T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's nerve racking really! It's going to be the "secret service" haven, don't you think? A large segment of a major highway being "shut down", helicopters flying low, security on my roof and front doors, you name it, it's going to be big! Let's hope for the best.

To learn more: http://www.demconvention.com/

Manual for Climbing Mountains by Paulo Coelho

2008-08-19T11:58:00.000-07:00

And God Said, "Just Do It."

2008-08-17T13:03:00.000-07:00

Before you read any further, my disclaimer is:
I am bloging this for the sake of content and not religion!

By DAVID VAN BIEMA

Genesis, chapter 2 verse 24, says a man "shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh." But how liberally to define cleave? That was the very special Bible query the Rev. Stacy Spencer and his wife Rhonda took up last month with 252 married people at their New Direction Christian Church in Memphis, Tenn. And the Spencers' answer was ... encouraging. Does frequent sex have a place in marriage? Yep. Oral sex? Read the Song of Solomon 2: 3 for assurance. How about role-playing? One participant expressed a yearning to see her husband dressed as a police officer. The Good Book offers no specifics on that, so Stacy Spencer allowed that it was up to the woman, "as long as you're not lusting after a particular officer. Jesus talked about spiritual adultery, and that could be spiritual adultery. But if it's just a generic cop, go for it."

Superior sex can be difficult for some couples to discuss with each other, let alone with their pastor. But having taken on almost every other aspect of their congregants' lives, churches oriented toward young adults and Gen Xers have begun promoting not just better sex, but more of it. Well, not just promoting it but penciling it in. When New Direction launched its "40 Nights of Grrreat Sex" program, the Spencers gave participants daily planners. A typical week is marked "Sun: Worship together"; "Mon: Give your wife a full body massage"; "Tues: Quickie in any room besides the bedroom"; "Wed: Pleasure your partner"; "Thurs: Read 1 Corinthians 7--How can I please you more?"; and so on.

New Direction is not the only church promoting a frequent-sex regimen. In February, Paul Wirth, pastor of the Relevant Church in Tampa, Fla., issued what he called "The 30-Day Sex Challenge." The program featured an extensive questionnaire, a Bible verse a day and the assumption that participants would engage in some kind of sex each night. Wirth says he has received calls from eight pastors asking about his program's guidelines. A megachurch in Texas, the Fellowship of the Woodlands, holds semiannual Sacred Sex Weekends ("Learn how you can experience a fulfilling sex life with God's blessing").

Scheduling time for sex appears to be in vogue, and not just among believers. In June, couples in Colorado and North Carolina published books detailing their postnuptial attempts to have sex 101 and 365 days in a row, respectively. But the issue takes on added urgency among conservative Christians, who have just as high a divorce rate as the country at large but theoretically take the till-death-do-us-part aspect of marriage as a faith obligation. When it comes to sex, Wirth contends, many are thinking, "If this doesn't get better, it's gonna be a really sucky life."

"My own marriage was in trouble 10 years ago," he says, but it was reinvigorated with the help of His Needs, Her Needs by clinical psychologist Willard Harley. Wirth eventually contacted Harley and got permission to use the book for his church program. Meanwhile, at New Direction, Spencer discovered John Gray's Mars and Venus in the Bedroom and Getting the Sex You Want by Tammy Nelson.

Their congregations differ in some ways--New Direction, a Disciples of Christ church, is mostly African--American; Relevant is nondenominational and mostly white--but both flocks fall into the 20-to-40 age group, as do their pastors. Along with their wives, the preachers developed programs involving large-scale, coed seminars and a save-that-month schedule; the Spencers also set up a blog so users can post questions anonymously. Both couples emphasized the spiritual, emotional and, yes, practical aspects of having better sex more often. For instance, a husband can expect smoother sailing at night if he helps his wife clear her "to do" list that evening, Spencer said in a conference call with his wife, who added, "Otherwise he's just another thing on that list."

Protestant history has included periods of enthusiastic talk about sex, as well as chilly silence. A famous 1623 Puritan sermon made the case for "mutual [conjugal] dalliances for pleasure's sake," presumably as a distinction from Roman Catholicism's procreation-only rule. In the 1970s, several conservative Christian leaders responded to the popularity of Alex Comfort's classic how-to The Joy of Sex by reminding their flocks that whoopee for whoopee's sake was not doctrinally prohibited; Focus on the Family founder James Dobson and Left Behind co-author Tim LaHaye each put out manuals for married couples.

Still, these new calendrical sexhortations have their critics. Lauren Sandler, feminist and author of Righteous: Dispatches from the Evangelical Youth Movement, suspects they are "another way of becoming the best Christian wife--to have tons of orgasms so their husbands can go to church the next day and tell people how they really made Jesus proud in the sack." Todd Friel, host of the syndicated radio show Way of the Master, says sexual intimacy was created as a taste of what it's like to be in a "right relationship" with God. "That's amazing, and it's a little different than 'Come and improve your sex life in a 30-day challenge,'" he says. But some participants find meaning in the programs. "After more than 20 yrs of marriage, this has been 'a shot in the arm,'" one New Direction congregant wrote on the Spencers' blog. "In the past month we have been to Victoria's Secret 4 times (the secret is out!!). Thanks Pastor and 1st Lady for your openness, and obediences to God."

2008 Olympics

2008-08-16T23:13:00.001-07:00

Been enjoying every moment of it!

Denver Democratic Convention

2008-08-16T23:09:00.001-07:00

Gearing up to the event! Not sure what to expect, but I'll be in the midst of it all...

Allergic reaction to the Louis Vuitton leather...

2008-08-16T20:28:00.000-07:00

Imagibe that! Carrying my Louis Vuitton hand bag on the inside of my forearm on a hot day, perhaps a bad combination, I broke-up in a rash! Perhaps a sign? Any comments?

Worrying invasive snail found in Lake Michigan

2008-08-16T20:23:00.000-07:00

By DAVID MERCER, Associated Press Writer

Scientists worry that a rapidly reproducing, tiny invasive snail recently found in Lake Michigan could hurt the lake's ecosystem.

The New Zealand mud snail joins a long and growing list of nonnative species moving into the Great Lakes, threatening to disrupt the food chain and change the local environment.

Scientists checking Lake Michigan water samples earlier this summer found a population of the New Zealand mud snail, the Illinois Natural History Survey said. They grow to only a few millimeters — several dozen could sit on the surface of a dime — making them hard to spot.

The snails reproduce asexually and in large numbers, and have no natural predators in North America, Kevin Cummings, a scientist who works for the Natural History Survey, said Thursday.

That means they could quickly spread, at high enough densities to out-compete native invertebrates for food and living space, he and other scientists say.

"It's hard enough to contain a species once it makes its way into nonnative waters," Cummings said in a statement. "When each mud snail has the ability to produce large quantities of embryos without a partner, you've really got a problem."

Scientists won't know for some time how well the mud snail will do in Lake Michigan, but it has been in Lake Ontario since the early 1990s and lives in high numbers there and in Lakes Superior and Erie, said Rochelle Sturtevant, an ecologist with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich.

The snail is native to New Zealand but is now found in several western states and all the Great Lakes except Lake Huron. It is carried in ships' ballast water and, once in lakes and streams, hitches a ride on boats and even the clothes worn by human waders.

"Where they've gotten into streams in the western part of the country, they've caused a lot of problems," said Sturtevant. "They're taking over space that should have other native species living in it."

Plenty of invasive species have made homes for themselves in the Great Lakes. Zebra and quagga mussels are a threat to the region's $4 billion-a-year fishery, eating up algae that is the lowest link in the lakes' food chain.

And some invasive species make it possible for others to follow, Sturtevant said. The round goby, an aggressive fish native to Eurasia, now thrives in the Great Lakes because it eats zebra mussels.

Those are just a handful of what Sturtevant says are now at least 186 invasive species in the lakes.

Environmental groups are particularly critical of the role oceangoing ships play in introducing species like mussels to the lakes.

Ships that aren't loaded down with cargo fill their ballast tanks with water for better stability when they're on the ocean, then empty the tanks when they arrive in port. That ballast water often contains any number of species, from microscopic organisms to mussels and fish.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency introduced a plan earlier this summer that would require ships to dump ballast water at least 200 miles from shore. But the plan, called a permit, includes an exemption for loaded ships.

Environmental groups are particularly critical of the EPA's plan.

"I could sum it up in one word: nothing. The permit doesn't change a thing," said Joel Brammeier, vice president for policy at The Alliance for the Great Lakes.

The shipping industry, including the U.S. Great Lakes Shipping Association, has said it supports the idea of treating ballast tanks to kill potentially invasive species. But industry officials say that while treatment is being researched, so far there isn't a feasible way to do it.

Forgot their 3-year old daughter at the airport

2008-08-04T19:59:00.000-07:00

Today's top travel story

An Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free shopping and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport, police said today.
Couple's 18 suitcases make plane, but child doesn't
via www.chron.com

JERUSALEM — An Israeli couple going on a European vacation remembered to take their duty-free shopping and their 18 suitcases, but forgot their 3-year-old daughter at the airport, police said today.

The couple and their five children were late for a charter flight to Paris Sunday and made a mad dash to the gate. In the confusion, their daughter got lost.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said a policeman found her wandering in the duty-free area at Ben-Gurion airport, Israel's bustling main international air portal. He said the officer alerted airline staff, but the flight had already taken off.

Israeli media said the parents were an ultra-Orthodox Jewish couple but did not give their names.

Rosenfeld said the parents were unaware they had boarded the aircraft with only four children instead of five until they were informed by cabin staff after 40 minutes in the air.

The child, accompanied by an airline staffer, took the next flight to Paris where she was safely reunited with her parents.

Rosenfeld said police would question the couple when they return from vacation, on suspicion of parental negligence.

Celebrities Who Do Without!

2008-06-21T10:08:00.000-07:00

By Elizabeth Woyke 06.12.08, 6:00 PM ET

In Pictures: Tech-Free Celebs

Most Popular Stories

Emma Thompson wields a fierce wand when co-starring in Harry Potter movies, jets around the world and hobnobs with Bill Gates at Davos. But don't ask her to reboot a laptop. The actress' favorite piece of technology, she told Forbes.com, is the fountain pen.

Thompson's in good company. There's no shortage of celebrities who disdain social networking sites, "don't do" e-mail and eschew even practical gadgets like computers and cellphones. Some, like President George Bush, are restricted by their office from indulging. Others see technology as yet another intrusion into their paparazzi-filled lives. And still others don't understand how to use gadgets or shun them as health hazards.

In other words, celebrities are just like us--with two exceptions. Their wealth and status enables them to avoid technology with no ill consequences. (Can't reach Angelina by e-mail? Her people will make sure she gets the message another way.) The other difference: It's much more entertaining when celebrities complain about technology than when your mom does.

In Pictures: Tech-Free Celebs
Take Vince Vaughn. In November 2007, the actor told MTV that he doesn't own a cellphone, explaining he doesn’t like getting calls. Instead, he relies on the buddy system, borrowing a friend's cellphone when necessary. "I am an annoying friend that way," he confessed.

Some tech-free celebs are recovering tech addicts. Tyra Banks told New York Times Magazine that her BlackBerry habit caused her physical pain. She has since gone low-tech and jots her thoughts in a notebook.

Technophobia, of course, extends far beyond cellphones. Christopher Walken and David Sedaris don't use cellphones or e-mail. Simon Cowell says he doesn't know how to work a computer. President Bush was lampooned in 2006 for saying he uses "the Google" to look at maps of his Texas ranch. He reportedly doesn't use e-mail for fear that his messages might be subpoenaed. Recently, however, his 84-year-old father, George H.W. Bush Sr., said that he enjoys e-mailing.

Paul McCartney has admitted he doesn't know how to use ATMs and prefers writing letters over e-mail for "aesthetic" reasons. Elton John is nostalgic for the low-tech vibe of the 1970s. The singer frequently talks about the Internet's stifling effect on community and creativity and even suggested to U.K. paper The Sun that the Internet be shut down for five years to spark better quality art and music.

Technophobia isn't simply generational. Some young celebrities strive to be tech free, too. Thirty-one-year-old Orlando Bloom has revealed that he doesn't e-mail or own a computer, because he "just [doesn't] want to deal with it."

A few celebrities manage to be plugged in without being wired. Jolie often jokes about her lack of technology skills, saying that partner Brad Pitt helps her navigate computers. Jolie's admission is surprising, says Heather Dale, editor of gadget blog GeekSugar. "She's so up on the news and involved, and it doesn't seem like she would want to be dependent on anyone for tech help," explains Dale. "She must get her news from newspapers and other traditional media."

Larry King, despite knowledgeably chatting up guests every night on his talk show, says he has never done an Internet search. As if to prove his techno-ignorance, he once asked guest Roseanne Barr, "What do you punch [on the Internet], little buttons and things?"

Technophobia does have its benefits, at times. When Billy Bob Thornton's former sister-in-law accused him of harassing her via e-mail, his rep defended him by noting, "Billy doesn't use e-mail and never has."

Fictional celebrities can be technophobes, too. In the new Sex and the City film, Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) fumbles with a borrowed iPhone before returning it, unused, out of frustration.

Some technophobes appear to be making their peace with gadgets. Jessica Alba famously said last year, "I don't have a MySpace thingy." But in January, she created a MySpace profile and began blogging sporadically on it. Since hooking up with husband Cash Warren, who heads an Internet video start-up called IBeatYou.com, Alba has ventured further online to help promote the venture. In one video, viewed more than 4 million times on YouTube, Alba gazes at a camera in a two-minute staring contest.

Still, there are lingering signs that Alba isn't completely tech fluent. Dale notes that Alba sometimes blogs in all capital letters. "That's a clear sign that she doesn't use a computer that much," says Dale.

Other selective technophobes include Liam Gallagher of U.K. band Oasis, who uses his computer to sate his eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ) addiction--but not for e-mail--and Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters, who owns a BlackBerry, but says he doesn't use its more advanced features.

Celebrities may find technology a grind, but they still exploit it for their own purposes. Tom Cruise, who proudly lives unencumbered by a cellphone or e-mail address, recently launched an official Web site to showcase career highlights. Susan Sarandon calls herself a Luddite, but eagerly signed on to star in the super-techie film Speed Racer. Actor Casey Affleck, a health-conscious vegan, said his fear that cellphones cause cancer caused him to pitch his handset into the Hudson River. But within a few days, Affleck admits, he headed back to a store for a new one.

In Pictures: Tech-Free Celebs
Also see:

Celebs Make A Statement With Cellphones

The World's Most Expensive Cellphones

Our Cellphones, Ourselves

Sea Pirates Bloody Growth

2008-06-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

The rise of high crime on the high seas.

By William Pentland | Forbes.com
Jun 12, 2008 | Updated: 11:33 a.m. ET Jun 12, 2008

On April 4, 2008, the luxury French yacht Le Ponant was crossing the Gulf of Aden between Yemen and Somalia when a swarm of speed boats surrounded the 32-cabin, three-masted vessel. A band of Somali pirates stormed the yacht, hijacking the vessel and taking all 30 of its crewmembers hostage.

A week of intense negotiations followed, ending with the release of the hostages to French military officials on April 11 in exchange for an undisclosed ransom. Shortly after the exchange, a team of French commandos tracked the pirates to a remote location in the Puntland, a breakaway region in northern Somalia. The commandos overtook them on an open stretch of desert road, attacking from helicopters and capturing six of them.

In Pictures: America's Most Dangerous Jobs Somalia is only the latest hot spot in a worldwide renaissance of sea piracy that began a decade ago. The growth of global commerce in the past two decades crowded the oceans with cargo vessels, dry-bulk carriers and supertankers loaded with every good imaginable. The world currently transports 80% of all international freight by sea. More than 10 million cargo containers are moving across the world's oceans at any one time.

The heavy ocean traffic (and its cargo) spawned a surge in sea piracy and a new breed of pirates, the bloodiest the world has seen. More than 2,400 acts of piracy were reported around the world between 2000 and 2006, roughly twice the number reported for the preceding six-year period. Although pirate attacks have at least tripled during that time period, the actual number of attacks remains unclear. Shipping companies frequently do not report attacks out of concern that it could increase insurance premiums.

And nearly every group of government monitoring sea piracy believes that number is seriously undercounted. The Australian government estimates the actual number of piracy attacks is 2,000% higher. Piracy is estimated to cost between $13 and $16 billion every year and could cost substantially more in coming years.

"Piracy is not going away," says Peter Chalk, an international security analyst at the RAND Institute. "In fact, its getting more serious and more violent, and its only a matter of time before you need to take it more seriously."

That's starting to happen. The potential of a disastrous environmental spill resulting from an attack finally forced the international community to clamp down on sea piracy. International law allows any government vessel to repress an act of piracy in international waters. On October 30, 2007, two American destroyers, the USS Porter and the USS Arleigh Burke, attacked and sank two Somali pirate vessels after the pirates captured the Japanese tanker, Golden Mori.

In Pictures: The World's Most Dangerous Waters

APPLICATIONS FOR THE U.S. PASSPORT CARD ARE NOW BEING ACCEPTED!

2008-04-17T11:42:00.000-07:00

Feds giving away money for Digital TV conversions

2008-04-13T13:01:00.000-07:00

You will need new equipment to watch TV after February, 2009
http://cw2.trb.com/news/kwgn-cyberguy-digital-tv-giveaway,0,4306221.story

2007-12-19T12:59:00.001-08:00

Numerous Airlines Rolling Out Domestic Wi-Fi
Fri Dec 7, 2007 11:39AM EST
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It's been a long time coming, and it's not going to happen tomorrow, but Wi-Fi is finally arriving on domestic airlines. Depending on what you want to do and the luck of the draw of getting the right plane, you could be answering email at 30,000 feet as early as next week.
The flurry of announcements began with JetBlue, which is rolling out a free Wi-Fi option starting December 11... but that service only covers Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo! Messenger, and BlackBerry email access (in other words, no web browsing). Still, a step in the right direction, and one that leads to...
Virgin, Alaska, and American Airlines, which are bringing the full Internet experience to travelers, though none has committed to an actual launch date. The expectation: By the second quarter of 2008, all three will have at least one Wi-Fi-enabled plane in the skies as a pilot project. Alaska says if its test plane is successful, it will have its entire fleet equipped with wireless by the end of 2009.
Unlike JetBlue, you'll have to pay extra for this Wi-Fly access. Again, no pricing has been announced, but the expectation is that it will run about $10 extra. Also being worked out: Whether VOIP services like Skype will be blocked and, if so, how best to block them.

Wi-Fi is finally arriving on dometic airlines

2007-12-19T12:57:00.000-08:00