The producers scoured the UK and Maine to find an appropriate fishing village to film Collinsport in, but couldn't find one that fit. Thus they constructed the whole town from scratch in Pinewood Studios.
An unusually large man in Wisconsin called the police recently after an all-you-can-eat buffet restaurant decided he’d had enough fried fish and cut him off at 20 pieces.
...After watching Wisth devour 12 individual pieces of fried fish on Friday, May 11, the management decided that was quite enough. They intervened, explaining the restaurant was running out of fish and simply could not allow him to stay any longer.
Giving him eight more pieces as a courtesy, for a total of 20, the restaurant’s management sent Wisth on his way in hopes that the costly episode was behind them. That hope, however, was severely misplaced.
According to reporter Annie Scholtz, Wisth left the restaurant incensed, then he called the police. He returned two days later with a protest sign, and the television cameras were soon to follow.
...Despite their prior generosity, Wisth said he still plans to picket the restaurant every Sunday until his demand for a truly endless supply of food is met.
Image from Doctor When at B3ta.While Newsweek touted New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez as a possible running mate for Mitt Romney, the erstwhile beneficiary of the hype all but killed her chances of getting the job by opening her mouth.
“I absolutely advocate for comprehensive immigration reform,” Martinez told reporter Andrew Romano. “Republicans want to be tough and say, ‘Illegals, you’re gone.’ But the answer is a lot more complex than that.”
With those words, Martinez inflicted multiple wounds on whatever slender chance she had to join the national ticket. First, she indicated support for the immigration agenda that President Obama promises to pursue if he defeats Romney in November. Second, the reforms the 43-year-old first-term Republican favors are opposed by every Republican member of the Senate (even those like John McCain, who used to support it) and a solid majority in the House. (In case there was any doubt, the same day Martinez’s interview appeared, Politico reported that the Romney campaign was seeking a “boring white guy” as a running mate.)
Donna Summer died Thursday after a battle with cancer. The 63-year-old Summer was known for her soaring voice and sensual purrs that made her a queen of disco when the genre was in its heyday in the 1970s. And it was a title she held well beyond those years.
...Born LaDonna Andrea Gaines in suburban Boston on New Year’s Eve, 1948, Summer was one of seven siblings in a church-attending family who encouraged studies and singing in equal measure.
An early fan of gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, Summer sang in a Boston rock band called Crow in the late 1960s, and left home for New York City at age 18 to find work on Broadway, which she did quickly by landing a role in a touring version of the hot Broadway show “Hair.”
She spent the next three years living and touring in Europe. There she met and married the singer Helmut Sommer, whose last name she adapted as her stage name.
While in Europe she also met Italian music producer Giorgio Moroder, whose early dance tracks were making an impact across Europe. Moroder and Summer started working together, resulting in their first hit, the seductive 17-minute-long dance floor epic “Love to Love You Baby.” On it, Summer moans in ecstasy throughout, seeming to climax with the music. A shortened version of it was released by then-hot label Casablanca in 1975, and peaked on the Billboard singles chart at No. 2.
That was the first of a string of songs that not only helped bring disco to the mainstream, but predicted the rise of both techno and house music. Among those were “I Feel Love,” “Bad Girls,” “She Works Hard for the Money” and “On the Radio.”
But unlike some other stars of disco who faded as the music became less popular, she was able to grow beyond it and later segued to a pop-rock sound. She had one of her biggest hits in the 1980s with "She Works Hard for the Money," which became an anthem for women's rights.
...Still, even as disco went out of fashion she remained a fixture in dance clubs, endlessly sampled and remixed into contemporary dance hits.
The man facing blasphemy charges after he claimed water dripping from a statue of Christ in Mumbai was not miraculous but the result of a badly plumbed toilet is preparing to ask India’s Supreme Court to abolish the blasphemy law.
Sanal Edamaruku is accused by Catholic groups in Mumbai of breaking the Indian Penal Code, which outlaws “deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings.”
Mr. Edamaruku, a rationalist who has spent 30 years debunking miracles and exposing fraudulent faith healers, denies the offense and claims the law is being misused in order to silence him.
A Wolters Kluwer poll out this morning finds that not only are most consumers turning to the Internet to answer medical questions, but that they also put strong faith in their own diagnosis. Among college educated Americans, 63 percent say they have “never” misdiagnosed themselves. Add in those who have say they’ve “rarely” made a wrong call and the number jumps up to 84 percent.
As for why all the Googling? About one-third of Americans say it has to do with access issues, and not wanting to wait to see a doctor, while another 23 percent argue that they can do just as good, if not better, than their physician in figuring out what ails them.
I bit off more than I could chew
But I did it my way!
MIAMI (CBSMiami/AP) – A Panamanian man has filed a suit against Princess Cruise Lines after one of their ships failed to stop and help he and his companions who were adrift in disabled boat.
...Vazquez, 18, said he, Fernando Osorio, 16, and Elvis Oropeza, 31, set off for a night of fishing on Feb. 24 from Rio Hato, a small fishing and farming town on the Pacific coast of Panama.
...The boat’s motor broke down on the way back and the men drifted at sea for 16 days before seeing a cruise ship approach March 10.
Vazquez has said the men signaled for help, but the ship did not stop.
Osorio and Oropeza died later. Vazquez was rescued on March 22 near Ecuador’s Galapagos Islands, more than 600 miles from where they had set out.
Ramos said the lawsuit includes testimony from two cruise ship passengers who have said they saw the disabled boat and reported it to a cruise representative on the Star Princess liner.
...Princess Cruises has said passengers never told the ship’s captain they saw a boat.
Preparation: If you’re interested, examine the course materials for SERE. Read Slavery by Another Name, the 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner by Douglas Blackmon. The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn has been called the most important nonfiction book of the last hundred years. There’s a lot to be learned from William Shirer’s The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, from the Manzanar literature, and from Cullen Murphy’s recent book on the Inquisition, God’s Jury. When Governor Blagojevich was incarcerated, the Chicago Tribune gave him excellent advice.I asked Ned about his allocution. Allocution is defined as:
...Appeal: Notices of appeal have been filed for the sentence and the restitution. The next step is that transcripts are made and appellate counsel is appointed. I expect to have very little participation in that process. Don’t expect the cavalry to ride in or for justice to be done, any more than you should expect the tides to stop at the king’s command. When I was sentenced, I tried to correct some of the obvious points that were wrong in the record without getting huffy. If you’d like a copy of my allocution, send me an e-mail. It is good to tell the truth in all matters.
Going to camp: From Scouts, I know, when going to camp, concentrate on camping. Boys who call home really suffer. Boys who have parents visit lose the entire benefit of camping. What I know about setting up refugee camps is that one must begin with an initial assessment before services are delivered, no matter how pressing the need. I know from my time with the Nation of Islam that people should be treated like the kings and queens they are. Scouts may have heard me say A positive mental attitude is essential to success.
Coming Back: I’ll see you in 2016 if not earlier. If you want a biblical parallel, read Acts 20. The Lord is not done blessing me, or you either. Now, as the ship sails out of the harbor, think of Henley: “I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul.” I hope that you’ll be able to say “I know the happiest man in the federal prison system. He is my favorite felon” and about my family “best thing that ever happened to them.” I am confident I will speak with pride and admiration about you and your deeds.
Tennyson wrote:
“Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Ned
Generally, to allocute in law means "to speak out formally." In the field of apologetics, allocution is generally done in defense of a belief. In politics, one may allocute before a legislative body in an effort to influence their position on an issue. In law, it is generally meant to state specifically and in detail what one did and for what reason, often in relation to commission of a crime.Because of the complicated nature of crime Ned is convicted of, and the references to other people and documents, I find it impossible to fully understand. Nevertheless, here is a sampling:
Allocution is sometimes required of a defendant who pleads guilty to a crime in a plea bargain in exchange for a reduced sentence. In this instance, allocution can serve to provide closure for victims or their families. In principle, it removes any doubt as to the exact nature of the defendant's guilt in the matter.
And how far has Romney moved? This story is resonant because one can, all too easily, see Romney walking away even now, or simply failing to connect, to grasp hurt.Do people really want a gang leader as President?
On Sunday afternoon, I headed to the Guild Theatre to see "Ruined", by Images Theatre Company. This is the show, as previously mentioned, in which Tyehimba Kokayi would be playing drums.RUINED is a powerful, gripping, gut-wrenching play, set in a bar and brothel in a mining town in the rain forest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The sexy, shrewd, proprietor, Mama Nadi both profits and protects the women whose bodies have become battlegrounds for the rebel solidiers and government workers, alike. The women who live and work at Mama's Place, have been brutually raped, ravaged and ruined by the men of the Congo and are caught up in a devastating and spiraling tragedy, yet they continue to fight to hold onto hope and their sanity. The soldiers and Government workers continue to war, and mark their territory as perpetrators as they march in and out of the bar/brothel taking what they want, and leaving more pain and devastation in their aftermath.
For a musical theater sort of person like myself, the synopsis sounded fairly-grim, but I'm happy to report the show is not nearly as depressing as the synopsis sounds. The issues the show deals with are all quite serious, of course, but there is time for music and singing too, and lighthearted banter.
The music starts the show with a bang, with Osayande Kokayi's powerful entrance, followed quickly by Tyehimba's tumbling entrance, and vigorous dance. Richard Jackson is on-stage too, with Lacorey Cunningham assisting with the drumming, and Norman McDaniel on guitar.
Left: Natasha Greer (who plays the tragic Salima).
Left: Ediambolo Lokoto (who plays the pretty Sophie). 
Left: Young enthusiast with a white cardboard model of the Titanic stands in the ticketing line, waiting to see DMTC's "Titanic - The Musical" (May 4, 2012).
Left: Sapphire Princess, with parasailer.
Saturady evening, it was off to Sally perform with the Woodland Chamber Singers.
Left: Woodland Chamber singers director Lenore Turner-Heinson wishes Woodland High School Choir Director John Abigana Godspeed as he retires from his position.
Candy had a great idea. Let's get all the young, hip PhDs she knows at work together for a party, to screen "The PhD Movie". Candy was particularly fond of this movie, because it was filmed at CalTech, her alma mater, and features the Ballroom Dance Club, her favorite leisure activity at CalTech, as well as including several people she actually knows. (Since I was once the Vice President of the Ballroom Dance Club at UNM, I felt a second affinity to this movie.)
Left: Andy Hyun (left) talks to Jason Hammond. Stacy Arriaga (Cassie! - center) talks to Tony Cellucci (who played the lead, Evan, in '13'). Right, Mike Yambrovich.
Jenny Plasse waves hello.