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Just before Hurricane Katrina cut a horrifying swath across the U.S. Gulf Coast in August of 2005, the members of metal quintet DOWN had gathered in their hometown of New Orleans to work on new material for their third CD, "Over the Under". Guitarist Pepper Keenan made the smart move of leaving the area before the storm hit, and apart from losing power for a month, his house was all right. But he didn't walk away from the experience unscathed, and neither did his Big Easy bandmates. The fortitude of Louisiana natives in the face of Katrina's destruction is cited on "Over the Under" tracks like "On March the Saints," but as Keenan explains, the city is still terribly wounded more than two years after the disaster. And it hasn't gotten much help with reconstruction from the Bush administration.
Olympics: Five divers seeking to join Bryan in Beijing
KUALA LUMPUR: The number of Malaysian qualifiers for the Olympics is expected to increase drastically when our divers compete in the 16th FINA World Cup in Beijing from Feb 19-25. Of the divers, five Yeoh Ken Nee, Rossharisham Roslan, Leong Mun Yee, Elizabeth Jimie and Pandalela Rinong have been identified as having the potential to do well at the World Cup, which is the last platform to qualify for the Olympics. So far, seven athletes have qualified for the Olympic Games on merit. They are diver Bryan Nickson Lomas; archers Cheng Chu Sian, Wan Mohd Khalmizam Wan Abdul Aziz and Mohd Marbawi Sulaiman; taekwondo exponents Elaine Teo and Che Chew Chan; and pole vaulter Roslinda Samsu. Yesterday, the National Sports Councils (NSC) aquatics manager for elite athletes, Jennifer Yong, said that it was possible for Malaysia to have the biggest number of divers at the Olympics as the top 18 semi-finalists in the individual competition of the World Cup will make the cut. Jennifer said that 14-year-old Pandalela, the countrys top junior diver, was their best bet for an Olympic berth in the 10m platform. She is our best bet to make the grade in the World Cup.
Laure Manaudou's heartbreak at nude photos betrayal
THE Beijing Olympic preparations of France's gold medallist Laure Manaudou are in disarray with the swimming beauty an emotional wreck after explicit private photos and video footage of her were posted on the internet. Manaudou, 21, has called in a team of lawyers and has pointed the finger at her former lover, Italian swimmer Luca Marin. The offending pictures are of intimate moments during her relationship with Marin, which ended with an ugly public break-up at a recent swim meet in Hungary. To see some of the pictures click here. Be warned they contain nudity and some observers may consider them explicit. If you are easily offended, please do not click through. Marin last night denied any involvement, despite the photos appearing just hours after the pair's split.
Ellsworth hedging support
I guess the C&P need to start using this "Big" word in all of their stories about Brad. He can not give a definative answer on anything until Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer or Harry Reid give it to him. I bet if you asked him about what route he takes home he would "hedge" on that as well. He would not want people to know that his nav system is set to Nancy and takes three or four meetings to give such an answer. The sad thing is with the "Nancy" Nav System it sends him through Henderson to get out on Broadway. Brad is just happy being in his lost little world though having people telling him he is "pretty". .
Jubilant retreat
For window treatments in the kitchen, Jan uses green ribbon to hang metal cookie cutters on an old wooden sickle handle; in the master bedroom, she ties earth-toned Christmas ornaments onto fleur de lis curtain rods. A primitive cabinet bought for $5 at a going-out-of-business sale in a Gibsland antique shop stores paper products on the kitchen island. .
Cougars on the prowl
"What's a cougar-woman?" Barbara Walters asked recently on "The View," in that Barbara Walters way of hers: part journalist, part socialite with a dirty mind. And thus, the archetype of the cougar - the sexy older woman who seduces younger men - reached the ears of a woman in sensible pumps. Another cultural boundary had been breached. But don't fret, Barbara; you're not too late. If Mrs. Robinson came first, and Samantha on "Sex and the City" gave hope for broad acceptance, the cougar has now become a full-fledged pop-culture punch line. Last summer, NBC gave us "Age of Love," a dating show that pitted 20-something "kittens" against 40-something cougars in pursuit of one hot Australian man. (The winner, no surprise, was 25.) In last fall's straight-to-DVD movie "Cougar Club," Faye Dunaway vamped as the oversexed wife of a college grad's boss-to-be.
Operator Please laugh at haters
At 16 and with only one EP to her band's name, the Operator Please violinist looked around at all the Silverchairs in the room and wondered how she was there. Once Operator Please banged out a spunky rendition of their Top 20 single Just a Song About Ping Pong, the tide turned. Winning an award for Breakthrough Artist – Single, didn't hurt the recognition factor either. "After we played a lot of people came to talk to us," Operator Please singer/guitarist Amandah Wilkinson says. "But there were people there who hadn't heard of us until then. Which is understandable – we haven't been around long." Henderson says: "We were actually surprised that people kind of, a little bit, knew who we were. But for the people who didn't, it's lovely to have that as your first Operator experience." Not that Operator Please were too worried about a room full of industry folk knowing their name.
Financial experts offer 5 steps to shield your money from recession
You should view recession warnings as a kind of wake-up call to review your family's balance sheet. "We become more cautious about how we spend," Barajas said. "We're more aware of impulse buying and ask ourselves if we really need something." Rather than make big new purchases, it's better to pay down debts, particularly high-interest credit card debt. You'll increase your cash flow and, if necessary, benefit from a larger credit line for emergencies. Make a plan Finally, develop a plan for your portfolio that suits your goals: retirement in five years, for example. Don't let the short-term terrors of the stock market scare you into making drastic moves, such as yanking all your money out of stocks and pouring it into cash. "If you have a good asset allocation, you have bull and bear markets baked into the recipe," said Ray Ferrara, a Tampa-based financial planner.
The Grand Old White Party Confronts Obama
Exit polls tell us that African-Americans voting in this year's G.O.P. primaries account for at most 2 to 4 percent of its electorate even in states with large black populations. Mr. Obama's ascension hardly means that racism is kaput in America, or that the country is "postracial" or "transcending race." But it's impossible to deny that another barrier has been surmounted. Bill Clinton's attempt to minimize Mr. Obama as a niche candidate in South Carolina by comparing him to Jesse Jackson looks more ludicrous by the day. Even when winning five Southern states (Virginia included) on Super Tuesday in 1988, Mr. Jackson received only 7 to 10 percent of white votes, depending on the exit poll. Whatever the potency of his political skills and message, Mr. Obama is also riding a demographic wave.
Ronaldo will laugh all the way to the bonk
His smouldering good looks and amazingly toned physique make it even more easy for him. He was once the boyfriend of gorgeous Hollyoaks actress Gemma Atkinson, and has been linked to a string of beauties. Last year he dated sexy Portuguese TV star and singer Luciana Abreu, 22. His mum Dolores Aveiro even said: "I'd love to have her as my daughter-in-law." And in January this year he was linked with stunning TV star Carolina Patrocinio, 20, who presents a Disney-style kids show in Spain. The pair are said to have met at an awards dinner in Madrid and to have spent New Year together. But recently the News of the World caught Ronaldo romping with 250-a-night escort girls from a lap-dancing club in Rome. And his orgies at his 2 million Cheshire home are the talk of the country.Just four months ago we revealed he paid 3,000 for FIVE escort girls to visit his pad and romp with him and his Man Utd teammates Nani, 20, and Anderson, 19.
TheStar.com | entertainment | MuchMusic VJ Sarah Taylor on recovery ...
Valentine's Day holds special meaning for Sarah Taylor this year, and not just because the 26-year-old MuchMusic VJ has fallen in love for the first time ("I know, disgusting," she groans). Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the fall in a Las Vegas hotel room that left a two-centimetre hole in Taylor's skull, affecting her ability to speak. The Hamilton native was going to survive, friends and relatives were told as they gathered at Valley Hospital Medical Center where she lay in an induced coma for 10 days following emergency brain surgery. But they were warned she might require constant care and be unable to read or write again. "Miraculous" is how members of her inner circle describe her recovery; life-changing is how she characterizes the catastrophe's impact.
Battle Lines Are Drawn at The Los Angeles Times
It's not about his age (the ridiculous AARP comment), but rather about whether he has been a leader in promoting the integration of print and online. And Stanton does not have anywhere near the journalistic gravitasse needed to lead one of the largest metro dailies in the country (if he can't command the respect of most of the staff, he will fail, and that would be disastrous for the Times.) Hiller and Zell need to spend more time and look outside the paper and select someone who has distinguished themselves as a journalist but who is also engaged in new media thinking and is committed to transforming the journalistic model into something that will serve the public good while also being economically viable. .
Memories of Wotton go on display
ENTHUSIASTS in Wotton-under-Edge have been conserving the town's past for future generations. The Wotton Historical Society recently unveiled several documents linked to the town's past that have been lovingly conserved so they can go on display in Wotton's Heritage Centre. A copy of the deed by Lady Joan Berkeley, which established the borough of Wotton-under-Edge, dating back to 1253, has been mounted and framed. The original copy was unfortunately lost but experts compiled this new document as an interpretation of what the deed might have said using other artefacts dating back to that time. A copy has also been made of the town's Grant of Arms from 1974. It is an almost exact copy of the original, which is owned by Wotton Town Council.
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