Today NBC and News Corp. launched Hulu.com.Hulu is a streaming video website the two media giants hope will combat the illegal file sharing epidemic of video content through p2p sites like youtube. Hulu's agenda is huge and they are hoping to take over Youtube's place on the Internet by investing big money(including $100 million in private equity) and a total valuation reportedly worth $1 billion. Hulu is currently in invitation-only Beta testing mode(email required) and you will not even be able to watch your favorite tv sitcoms and other programming until October. NBC and News Corp. are far from being the only media companies with illegal content file sharing issues on their plates. It seems like everybody in the broadcasting and entertainment industry are competing to be the front runners in the ever changing information world. Traditional advertising is clearly a thing of the past. I expect Hulu to come up with some very creative new methods of earning advertisers' dollars. Why the name Hulu? Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, says, "Why Hulu? Objectively, Hulu is short, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, and rhymes with itself. Subjectively, Hulu strikes us as an inherently fun name, one that captures the spirit of the service we're building. Our hope is that Hulu will embody our (admittedly ambitious) never-ending mission, which is to help you find and enjoy the world's premier content when, where and how you want it."
I think we will be hearing a lot more about Hulu in the next little while, but will it achieve its' goals? Time will tell.
In case you don't already know what the velvet hat trick is, Let me tell you. The Velvet hattrick is a sly way of saying I had santa fe funnel cake or a peppermint bobsled, or my personal favorite (because I am from Winnipeg) the Manitoba snow cone!
In simpler terms a velvet hat trick is a clever? way of saying you had sex in all 3 available places a women has to offer. Check it out for yourself.
Any way I believe I asked what is better than a velvet hattrick? The answer: The Velvet Underground's Venus in furs
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather Whiplash girlchild in the dark Clubs and bells, your servant, dont forsake him Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Downy sins of streetlight fancies Chase the costumes she shall wear Ermine furs adorn the imperious Severin, severin awaits you there
I am tired, I am weary I could sleep for a thousand years A thousand dreams that would awake me Different colors made of tears
Kiss the boot of shiny, shiny leather Shiny leather in the dark Tongue of thongs, the belt that does await you Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Severin, severin, speak so slightly Severin, down on your bended knee Taste the whip, in love not given lightly Taste the whip, now plead for me
I am tired, I am weary I could sleep for a thousand years A thousand dreams that would awake me Different colors made of tears
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather Whiplash girlchild in the dark Severin, your servant comes in bells, please dont forsake him Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Thomas Bevan with whom she would have four children.
I used to think I had a good sense of what ugly was, but
Mary Ann Bevan was the world's self proclaimed ugliest woman and I will not disagree. src="http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js">
Mary Ann Bevan (born Mary Ann Webster, 20 December 1874 – 26 December 1933) was named as "the ugliest woman in the world" in the early 20th century after developing acromegaly(a form of progressive giantism that causes abnormal growth and distortion of the facial features, as well as headaches, failing eyesight and joint and muscle pain). Bevan was Born in Plaistow, London as one of eight children, and worked as a nurse for much of her younger life.
Around the year 2000 Mary Ann Bevans's image was used by Hallmark Cards on a birthday card in the United Kingdom making reference to the dating show Blind Date. This was poorly received and a complaint was made by a Dutch doctor that it made fun of a woman who had become physically deformed as the result of a disease. Hallmark decided that the card was indeed inappropriate and removed it from shop shelves. Blog Plus Ultra decided that it was o.k. to show these pictures because plusultra is indeed inappropriate and feels better about himself when making fun of others.
RapidSearch is a cool new site I just discovered where you can buy DVDs, Music and Games. All of their entertainment products are well organized into easy to search categories and sub-categories. For example in the DVD Animation area I found the ultra cool Schoolhouse Rock! (Special 30th Anniversary Edition)dvd and in the Music Outlaw and Progressive Country category I found a Johnny Cash At Folsom Prison c.d. You should check it out.
Ne! Blog Plus Ultra is the plusultra of everything. My motto is Ever Higher Ever Farther Ever Better Plus ultra is the Right View Plus ultra is the Right Intention Plus ultra is the Right Speech Plus ultra is the Right Action Plus ultra is the Right Livelihood Plus ultra is the Right Effort Plus ultra is the Right Mindfulness Plus ultra is the Right Concentration
The rumor That Fidel Castro is dead has been circulating the internet a whole lot lately. The latest Fidel Castro news is coming from perezhilton.com. This is not the first time people have been claiming Cuban leader Fidel Castro dead. In fact Fidel Castro dies every few days lately it seems. According to perezhilton.com the announcement that Fidel Castro died will be made at approximately 4:00 P.M. Eastern today. So, Is Fidel Castro dead? Leave a comment below.
Playboy U high schoolers, old dudes and your Mom can't join.
If you want to enroll at Playboy U, the new exclusive college-only non-nude social network launched today. Here is where you can show your school pride, connect with other students and celebrate the social side of college. Playbou U is incorporating, in true Hugh Heffner style an exclusive "members only" kind of status by only allowing people with .edu emails required.
"Playboy U's mix of journalism, entertainment and cross-campus dialogue is distinct within social networking," said Scott Stephen, EVP of Operations, Playboy Entertainment Group. "We like to think of Playboy U as a 'campus social advisor' helping students make the most of their college experience. It's a completely different experience from what other social networks in the market have to offer."
Playboy U is open to college students 18 years of age and older with a valid .edu address. The community encourages user-generated content and dialogue about relationships, student life, social responsibility, and pop culture, and the site will showcase members' writing, photography, and videos. Playboy U also features school pages moderated by an official Playboy U student rep where members can show off their school pride and exchange news, event information, and messages. Additionally, the site offers uniquely Playboy content such as party photos, videos, contributions from Playboy personalities, and online and real world events.
Playboy U will have a unique multimedia format in conjunction with Playboy Radio. "The Playboy U Radio Show" will air its first show Wednesday, September 5 at 9:00 p.m. Pacific Time on Playboy Radio, exclusively on Sirius Satellite Radio. The weekly program will bring the site to life by profiling members and campus content. It will also feature advice segments, campus news, and student callers discussing college life.
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (2001) is a book by investigative journalist Eric Schlosser that examines the local and global influence of the United States fast food industry. First serialized by Rolling Stone in 1999...Schlosser examines the history and growth of fast food restaurants in American culture. Schlosser argues that the fast food industry wields powerful economic — and therefore political — influence on American culture and exploits that influence to increase profits at the expense of public health and of the social conditions of its workers. In making that argument, however, he insightfully portrays the fast food culture as a unique product of American history and the culture's relation to the emergence of the automobile, the homogenization of corporate culture, changes in labor conditions, and economic globalization. He also provides respectful biographies of some of the industry's "founding fathers", including Carl Karcher, Ray Kroc, and others. The fast food industry, writes Schlosser, "has helped to transform not only the American diet, but also our landscape, economy, workforce, and popular culture." From Wikipedia
Forget tougher punishments and hiring more police. The solution to crime and violence is on your plate. Here’s how healthy food can reduce aggressive behaviour.
At first glance there seems nothing special about the students at this high school in Appleton, Wisconsin. They appear calm, interact comfortably with one another, and are focused on their schoolwork. No apparent problems.
And yet a couple of years ago, there was a police officer patrolling the halls at this school for developmentally challenged students. Many of the students were troublemakers, there was a lot of fighting with teachers and some of the kids carried weapons. School counsellor Greg Bretthauer remembers that when he first came to Appleton Central Alternative High School back in 1997 for a job interview: “I found the students to be rude, obnoxious and ill-mannered.” He had no desire to work with them, and turned down the job.
Several years later, Bretthauer took the job after seeing that the atmosphere at the school had changed profoundly. Today he describes the students as “calm and well-behaved” in a new video documentary, Impact of Fresh, Healthy Foods on Learning and Behavior. Fights and offensive behaviour are extremely rare and the police officer is no longer needed. What happened? A glance through the halls at Appleton Central Alternative provides the answer. The vending machines have been replaced by water coolers. The lunchroom took hamburgers and French fries off the menu, making room for fresh vegetables and fruits, whole-grain bread and a salad bar.
Is that all? Yes, that’s all. Principal LuAnn Coenen is still surprised when she speaks of the “astonishing” changes at the school since she decided to drastically alter the offering of food and drinks eight years ago. “I don’t have the vandalism. I don’t have the litter. I don’t have the need for high security.”
It is tempting to dismiss what happened at Appleton Central Alternative as the wild fantasies of health-food and vitamin-supplement fanatics. After all, scientists have never empirically investigated the changes at the school. Healthy nutrition—especially the effects of vitamin and mineral supplements—appears to divide people into opposing camps of fervent believers, who trust the anecdotes about diets changing people’s lives, and equally fervent sceptics, who dismiss these stories as hogwash. And yet it is not such a radical idea, that food can affect the way our brains work—and thus our behaviour. The brain is an active machine: It only accounts for two percent of our body weight, but uses a whopping 20 percent of our energy. In order to generate that energy, we need a broad range of nutrients—vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids—that we get from nutritious meals. The question is: What are the consequences when we increasingly shovel junk food into our bodies?
It is irrefutably true that our eating habits have dramatically changed over the past 30-odd years. “Convenience foods” has become a catch-all term that covers all sorts of frozen, microwaved and out-and-out junk foods. The ingredients of the average meal have been transported thousands of kilometres before landing on our plates; it’s not hard to believe that some of the vitamins were lost in the process.
We already know obesity can result if we eat too much junk food, but there may be greater consequences of unhealthy diets than extra weight around our middles. Do examples like the high school in Wisconsin point to a direct connection between nutrition and behaviour? Is it simply coincidence that the increase in aggression, crime and social incivility in Western society has paralleled a spectacular change in our diet? Could there be a link between the two? Stephen Schoenthaler, a criminal-justice professor at California State University in Stanislaus, has been researching the relationship between food and behaviour for more than 20 years He has proven that reducing the sugar and fat intake in our daily diets leads to higher IQs and better grades in school. When Schoenthaler supervised a change in meals served at 803 schools in low-income neighbourhoods in New York City, the number of students passing final exams rose from 11 percent below the national average to five percent above. He is best known for his work in youth detention centers. One of his studies showed that the number of violations of house rules fell by 37 percent when vending machines were removed and canned food in the cafeteria was replaced by fresh alternatives. He summarizes his findings this way: “Having a bad diet right now is a better predictor of future violence than past violent behaviour.”
But Schoenthaler’s work is under fire. A committee from his own university has recommended suspending him for his allegedly improper research methods: Schoenthaler didn’t always use a placebo as a control measure and his group of test subjects wasn’t always chosen at random. This criticism doesn’t refute Schoenthaler’s research that nutrition has an effect on behaviour. It means most of his studies simply lack the scientific soundness needed to earn the respect of his colleagues.
Recent research that—even Schoenthaler’s critics admit—was conducted flawlessly, showed similar conclusions. Bernard Gesch, physiologist at the University of Oxford, decided to test the anecdotal clues in the most thorough study so far in this field. In a prison for men between the ages of 18 and 21 in England’s Buckinghamshire, 231 volunteers were divided into two groups: One was given nutrition supplements along with their meals that contained our approximate daily needs for vitamins, minerals and fatty acids; the other group got placebos. Neither the prisoners, nor the guards, nor the researchers at the prison knew who took fake supplements and who got the real thing.
The researchers then tallied the number of times the participants violated prison rules, and compared it to the same data that had been collected in the months leading up to the nutrition study. The prisoners given supplements for four consecutive months committed an average of 26 percent fewer violations compared to the preceding period. Those given placebos showed no marked change in behaviour. For serious breaches of conduct, particularly the use of violence, the number of violations decreased 37 percent for the men given nutrition supplements, while the placebo group showed no change.
The experiment was carefully constructed, ruling out the possibility that ethnic, social, psychological or other variables could affect the outcome. Prisons are popular places to conduct studies for good reason: There is a strict routine; participants sleep and exercise the same number of hours every day and eat the same things at the same time. Says John Copas, professor in statistical methodology at the University of Warwick: “This is the only trial I have ever been involved with from the social sciences which is designed properly and with a good analysis.” As a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study, Gesch emerges with convincing scientific proof that poor nutrition plays a role in triggering aggressive behaviour.
Indeed, the study proves what every parent already knows. Serve soda and candy at a children’s birthday party and you’ll get loud, hyperactive behaviour followed by tears and tantrums.
It works like this: Blood-sugar levels jump suddenly after you eat sugar, which initially gives you a burst of fresh energy. But then your blood sugar falls, and you become lethargic and sleepy. In an attempt to prevent blood-sugar levels from falling too low, your body produces adrenalin, which makes you irritable and explosive.
But sugar can’t be the only problem. After all, high blood-sugar levels mainly have a short-term effect on behaviour, while the research of Schoenthaler and Gesch indicates changes over a longer period. They suggest it is much more important that you get the right amount of vitamins, minerals and unsaturated fatty acids because these substances directly influence the brain, and therefore behaviour.
If these findings prove true, and they do look convincing, then we should be sounding an alarm about good nutrition. What are the long-term implications of the fact that the quality of our farmland has sharply declined in recent decades? The use of artificial fertilizer for years on end has diminished the levels of important minerals like magnesium, chromium and selenium, therefore present in much lower concentrations in our food. The eating habits of children and young people also should be a cause for serious concern. Their diets now are rich in sugar, fats and carbohydrates, and poor in vegetables and fruit. Add to this an increasing lack of exercise among kids, and the problem becomes even worse. The World Health Organization (WHO) talks of an epidemic of overweight among children. Obesity, the official name for serious weight problems, is said to absorb up to six percent of the total health budget—a cautious estimate as all kinds of related diseases cannot be included in the exact calculation. Think of what this situation will look like when the current generation of overweight kids hits middle age.
The link between food and health is better understood by most people than the relationship between food and behaviour, so health has become the driving force behind many public campaigns to combat overweight. A discussion has arisen in a number of countries about introducing a tax on junk food, the proceeds of which would be spent on promoting healthy eating. In Britain, Prime Minister Tony Blair announced in May he planned to spend an extra 280 million pounds (the equivalent of 420 million euros or $500 million U.S.) on improving school lunches after the famous television chef Jamie Oliver began speaking out on the issue.
Yet with crime a major political issue almost everywhere, it’s surprising more leaders have not embraced the idea of healthy eating as a recipe for safe streets and schools. After Gesch published his findings in 2002 in The British Journal of Psychiatry, the study was picked up by European and American media. The newspaper headlines were clear: “Healthy eating can cut crime”; “Eat right or become a criminal”; “Youth crime linked to consumption of junk food”; “Fighting crime one bite at a time.” Then the media went deafeningly silent.
Perhaps that’s because the relationship between nutrition and violence continues to be controversial in established professional circles. During their educations, doctors and psychologists are given scant training in nutrition, criminologists provided little awareness of biochemistry, and nutritionists offered no hands-on experience with lawbreakers or the mentally ill. As a result, the link between food and behaviour winds up in no-man’s-land. Even researchers interested in the subject are discouraged—not least of all because you can’t get a patent on natural nutrients like vitamins and minerals. Far more effort goes into pharmaceutical, rather than dietary, solutions.
The Netherlands currently is the only country where Gesch’s research is being explored. Plans to test the findings about nutrition supplements and behaviour further are being set up in 14 prisons, with nearly 500 subjects. Ap Zaalberg, leading the project for the Dutch Ministry of Justice, remembers how he and his colleagues reacted when they first heard of Gesch’s study. “Disbelief,” he states resolutely. “This was surely not true. But when I looked into the issue more closely, I landed in a world of hard science.”
Zaalberg knows diet is not the only factor that determines whether someone exhibits aggressive behaviour. “Aggression is not only determined by nutrition,” he states. “Background and drug use, for example, also play a role. Yet I increasingly see the introduction of vitamins and minerals as a very rational approach.” “Most criminal-justice systems assume that criminal behaviour is entirely a matter of free will,” Gesch says. “But how exactly can you exercise free will without involving your brain? How exactly can the brain function without an adequate nutrient supply? Nutrition in fact could be a major player and, for sure, we have seriously underestimated its importance. I think nutrition may actually be one of the most straightforward factors to change antisocial behaviour. And we know that it’s not only highly effective, it’s also cheap and humane.”
Cheap it is. Natural Justice, the British charity institution chaired by Gesch, which is researching “the origins of anti-social and criminal behaviour,” estimates it would cost 3.5 million pounds (5.3 million euros or 6.4 million U.S. dollar) to provide supplements to all the prisoners in Great Britain. That is only a fraction of the current prison budget of 2 billion pounds (3 billion euros or 3.6 billion U.S. dollar). It seems the link between nutrition and antisocial behaviour shows great promise as both political issue and human-interest story. How much longer will politicians concentrate on police and stricter surveillance as the answer to crime? When will they realize healthy food can help create a healthier society? After all, people would not only be more productive, but the cost of health care and of the criminal-justice system would decline. As is the case for a man’s love, the way to safety may be through the stomach.
As Bernard Gesch notes, “Few scientists are not convinced that diet is fundamental for the development of the human brain. Is it plausible that in the last 50 years we could have made spectacular changes to the human diet without any implications for the brain? I don’t think so. Now, evidence is mounting that putting poor fuel into the brain significantly affects social behaviour. We need to know more about the composition of the right nutrients. It could be the recipe for peace.”
Call it fast food, snack food or even junk food - North Americans love it! Here are some interesting facts about junk food.
In the United States, the food industry spends more than $33 billion a year to advertise products that are mostly loaded with fat, salt and sugar.
Every month, more than 90 per cent of the children in the United States eat at McDonald's
The American National Cancer Institute spends $1 million per year to encourage people to eat fruits and vegetables.
Over the past twenty-five years, American researchers have found an increase in fast-food commercials during children's television programming - with many of these commercials emphasizing larger portions.
According to the Canadian Paediatric Society, most food advertising on children's TV shows is for fast foods, soft drinks, candy and pre-sweetened cereals - while commercials for healthy food make up only 4 per cent of those shown.
During the 1950s, the typical soft drink order at a fast food restaurant contained about eight ounces of soda. Today, a "child" order of Coke at McDonalds is twelve ounces, and a large Coke is thirty-two ounces (and about 310 calories!).
Fast food companies make higher profits on soft drinks than on their food products.
McDonalds is the largest owner of private playgrounds in North America.
In 1997, Americans spent over $54 billion on soft drinks.
Twelve- to nineteen-year-old boys drink an average of 868 cans of pop per year. Girls drink about one-fourth less - about 651 cans per year.
A super-sized order of McDonald's fries contains 610 calories and 29 grams of fat. Other brands aren't much better: a king-sized order of Burger King's fries packs 590 calories and 30 grams of fat.
Per ounce, Chicken McNuggets contain twice as much fat as hamburger.
In the United States, obesity is second only to smoking as a cause of death.
In Canada, 46 per cent of adults are overweight or obese. Over the past twenty years, obesity rates for Canadian kids have tripled.
The American artificial flavour industry - the industry that's behind the great taste of much of the snack food we consume - has annual revenues of approximately $1.4 billion.
And speaking of artificial flavouring - a typical strawberry milkshake contains approximately fifty artificial ingredients to create that great "strawberry" taste!
Potfest, Beerfest,Hempfest, which is the best fest?
Potfest (Organised by Chris and Geoff Cox), is held in the grounds of Hutton-in-the-Forest stately home, and attracts ceramic artists from around the world
The work on display at Potfest in the Park is of the highest quality and is now recognised as one of the premier ceramics shows in Europe.
Beerfest is a beer-themed comedy film by the comedy group Broken Lizard released 2006.
Broken Lizard is a comedy group best known for its films Super Troopers, Club Dread, and Beerfest. The five members of the group are Jay Chandrasekhar, Kevin Heffernan, Steve Lemme, Paul Soter, and Erik Stolhanske. They all jointly write and act in their films, with Chandrasekhar as director.
The final scene with the message "Coming Soon - Potfest" was confirmed by Broken Lizard as a joke to make this film have an open-ended feel. The troupe said there has been fan support to create the sequel, which might be made as an animated film.
Seattle Hempfest is an annual event in Seattle, Washington, the world's largest annual gathering demanding legalization of marijuana for uses including but not limited to medicinal, industrial, and recreational. Founded in 1991 as the Washington Hemp Expo, a self-described "humble gathering of stoners" attended by only 500 people, it has grown into a 2-day annual event with attendance typically over 100,000.
Seattle Hempfest is held the third weekend in August. This year's event is August 18-19, 2007 at Myrtle Edwards Park on the beautiful Seattle waterfront, just north of Pier 70 at the corner of Alaskan Way and Broad Street.
Is he strong? Listen bud, he's got radio-active blood. Can he swing from a thread? Take a look, overhead! Hey there! There goes the Spider-man. In the chill of night, at the scene of a crime. Like a streak of light, he arrives just in time. Spider-Man! Spider-man! Friendly neighborhood Spider-man! Wealth and fame he's ignored, action is his reward. To him, life is a great big bang up, wherever there's a hang up, you'll find the Spider-man!
Ramones-Spider-Man
Made with The Sims2 & Windows Movie Maker. byZsuigres
What is crm software? The AIMpromote system is a very easy to use Customer relationship management (CRM) tool that also allows the account holder to sell leads before, after, or instead of making a sale themselves. They are the technology leaders in sales lead management. Making sales in today's competitive market requires that prospective clients be shown more attention than ever before. AIMpromote subscribers are able to send out several promotional pieces spread out over a pre-configured period of time to a specific subset of their leads. This kind of technology empowers companies in any industry to more effectively generate, delegate, and report on leads and the teams that manage them. CLOSE MORE SALES than ever before by signing up today for the 14-day free trial. The site offers many features that will help make your website more profitable. Get alerts and reminders about neglected leads, upcoming tasks, and overdue tasks. Another point worth mentioning is that AIMpromote.com is an on-demand software, sometimes referred to as software-as-a-service. This means that there is no software to download or install. Don't just listen to me, check out the site's testimonials from extremely satisfied customers like, "We have been extremely pleased with the support which AIMpromote has provided to us. Their support staff is very friendly, very professional and extremely knowledgeable about their product."
The aptly named Suffolk SPCA chief Roy Gross was called in to a Rocky Point man's home today for something Gross indeed, a Hairy fat spider that is capable of jumping three feet and delivering a bite of toxic venom equal to a scorpion's. The man said he had been keeping it as a pet, but was now suffering from a classic case of Ornate golden baboon spider arachnophobia.
Is it just me, or does that guy sounds really dumb?
Le tentazioni del dottor Antonio (by Federico Fellini) with Peppino de Filippo and Anita Ekberg.
This clip is from the movie Boccaccio '70 a 1962 Italian portmanteau film directed by Mario Monicelli, Federico Fellini, Luchino Visconti and Vittorio de Sica, from an idea by Cesare Zavattini. The movie is an anthology of four episodes, each by one of the directors, all about a different aspect of morality and love in modern times, in the style of Boccaccio.
Snorting the last line of cocaine off the Brazilian whore's ass, Dali Cannon whistles and slaps, whistles and slaps. Before he cums, he knows he wants what he needs. She knows he has no money...
Barefoot, he wakes up in prison with a terrible hangover and it smells like urine. Dali remembers everything before the orgasm and does not remember anything after. This was the third day in three days that Dali Cannon had blacked-out. He asks himself, "Am I trying to escape reality?"
The answer is yes. Yes, he was trying to escape the reality he had created for himself. In Dali's world alcohol was water and women were wine. He was always drunk on one and than the other. It was easy to pass off as an innocent and youthful lust for life up until now. Now his good natured ass was in jail. How this happened, Dali had no idea. Images of beer and cigarette smoking on verandas over looking beautiful gardens of weed flashed through his mind in black and white. Fast the vivid scenes of the past few hours played out in Dali's mind. A true ball of confusion greater than Buddha spoke about under the Bodhi tree. Zig Zag papers gathering crumbs of white powder together in a line and clearing the sinuses of an old retired skeptic matched with some Hawaiian pot that was like Maui Wowie mixes with plusultra's free beer and Bacchus' anti - depressant medication...
Do you need fluorescent lighting in your garage and bathroom. I do. I need to be able to see when I am working on a detailed project like my car or on my face. The fluorescent bulbs create the perfect lighting for many of my needs like shaving in front of the mirror to polishing my car on a Sunday afternoon.
According to illegitimate sources very close to plusultra, a new sport is taking over the nation's Garbage Bins. It is called Dumpster Lovin'.
What is Dumpster Lovin?
Just what it sounds like. A very romantic night with Oscar the Grouch. If you are lucky enough to have a giving partner, He/she will have successfully dumpster dived a nutritious bag of 3 day old squished donuts and coconut milk for a candlelit dinner in the back alley of the quickie mart followed by minutes of erotic pleasure in a very comfortable dumpster that is covered in lettuce.
I am sure their is a "dirty sex" joke in their somewhere.
Unfortunately the activity is not receiving much political backing and has even been banned in many cities. (See picture of CAUTION sign)
Do you think people have the God given right to make love in or actually directly to dumpsters?
I do and I personally think it should eventually be an Olympic sport.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Please leave a comment below.
A rose in the high garden you desire. A wheel in the pure syntax of steel. The mountain stripped bare of Impressionist fog, The grays watching over the last balustrades.
The modern painters in their white ateliers clip the square root's sterilized flower. In the waters of the Seine a marble iceberg chills the windows and scatters the ivy.
Man treads firmly on the cobbled streets. Crystals hide from the magic of reflections. The Government has closed the perfume stores. The machine perpetuates its binary beat.
An absence of forests and screens and brows roams across the roofs of the old houses. The air polishes its prism on the sea and the horizon rises like a great aqueduct.
Soldiers who know no wine and no penumbra behead the sirens on the seas of lead. Night, black statue of prudence, holds the moon's round mirror in her hand.
A desire for forms and limits overwhelms us. Here comes the man who sees with a yellow ruler. Venus is a white still life and the butterfly collectors run away.
*
Cadaqués, at the fulcrum of water and hill, lifts flights of stairs and hides seashells. Wooden flutes pacify the air. An ancient woodland god gives the children fruit.
Her fishermen sleep dreamless on the sand. On the high sea a rose is their compass. The horizon, virgin of wounded handkerchiefs, links the great crystals of fish and moon.
A hard diadem of white brigantines encircles bitter foreheads and hair of sand. The sirens convince, but they don't beguile, and they come if we show a glass of fresh water.
*
Oh Salvador Dali, of the olive-colored voice! I do not praise your halting adolescent brush or your pigments that flirt with the pigment of your times, but I laud your longing for eternity with limits.
Sanitary soul, you live upon new marble. You run from the dark jungle of improbable forms. Your fancy reaches only as far as your hands, and you enjoy the sonnet of the sea in your window.
The world is dull penumbra and disorder in the foreground where man is found. But now the stars, concealing landscapes, reveal the perfect schema of their courses.
The current of time pools and gains order in the numbered forms of century after century. And conquered Death takes refuge trembling in the tight circle of the present instant.
When you take up your palette, a bullet hole in its wing, you call on the light that brings the olive tree to life. The broad light of Minerva, builder of scaffolds, where there is no room for dream or its hazy flower.
You call on the old light that stays on the brow, not descending to the mouth or the heart of man. A light feared by the loving vines of Bacchus and the chaotic force of curving water.
You do well when you post warning flags along the dark limit that shines in the night. As a painter, you refuse to have your forms softened by the shifting cotton of an unexpected cloud.
The fish in the fishbowl and the bird in the cage. You refuse to invent them in the sea or the air. You stylize or copy once you have seen their small, agile bodies with your honest eyes.
You love a matter definite and exact, where the toadstool cannot pitch its camp. You love the architecture that builds on the absent and admit the flag simply as a joke.
The steel compass tells its short, elastic verse. Unknown clouds rise to deny the sphere exists. The straight line tells of its upward struggle and the learned crystals sing their geometries.
*
But also the rose of the garden where you live. Always the rose, always, our north and south! Calm and ingathered like an eyeless statue, not knowing the buried struggle it provokes.
Pure rose, clean of artifice and rough sketches, opening for us the slender wings of the smile. (Pinned butterfly that ponders its flight.) Rose of balance, with no self-inflicted pains. Always the rose!
*
Oh Salvador Dali, of the olive-colored voice! I speak of what your person and your paintings tell me. I do not praise your halting adolescent brush, but I sing the steady aim of your arrows.
I sing your fair struggle of Catalan lights, your love of what might be made clear. I sing your astronomical and tender heart, a never-wounded deck of French cards.
I sing your restless longing for the statue, your fear of the feelings that await you in the street. I sing the small sea siren who sings to you, riding her bicycle of corals and conches.
But above all I sing a common thought that joins us in the dark and golden hours. The light that blinds our eyes is not art. Rather it is love, friendship, crossed swords.
Not the picture you patiently trace, but the breast of Theresa, she of sleepless skin, the tight-wound curls of Mathilde the ungrateful, our friendship, painted bright as a game board.
May fingerprints of blood on gold streak the heart of eternal Catalunya. May stars like falconless fists shine on you, while your painting and your life break into flower.
Don't watch the water clock with its membraned wings or the hard scythe of the allegory. Always in the air, dress and undress your brush before the sea peopled with sailors and ships.
How would you like to win a fried chicken dinner? Sounds pretty good doesn't it. Maybe too good to be true? No! It is absolutely true. How do I enter this amazing chicken dinner sweepstakes you ask? Easy.
Simply follow these 3 simple steps: 1. leave a comment below 2. Wait 3. Check your mailbox
How will you know if you won? Your envelope will be greasy and translucent with a strange chicken smell.
The most serious sign of Armageddon since Fonzie tried to jump over a shark on Happy Days has just arrived on the Internet. I am of course speaking about the site fearthegaychicken.com. Not since Salvadore Dali created a six meter long white shirt have I witnessed such a meaningless thing, undiluted of any significance whatsoever.
Fear the gay chicken indeed!
Do you think that fear the gay chicken is the sorriest thing you have ever seen?
If not please let me know about something worse in the comments below.
If I deem what you show me is actually more stupid than fear the gay chicken you will win a secret prize from Blog Plus Ultra!
Does supporting Native people, working for social justice, and opposing war / invasions make you a bad Canadian? According to "The Beaver" magazine it does. Propagandhi singer Chris Hannah, a Winnipeg artist and tireless activist, has been voted Second Worst Canadian by the readers of the periodical, joining the ranks of Paul Bernardo, Karla Homolka and Clifford Olson. Plus Ultra, never one to shy away from controversy, would like to say that we are proud to come from the same city as the "2nd worst" Canadian and we encourage all Canadians to be as "bad" as him! Here is a proper article (with a little Plus Ultra magic) to get your blood boiling.
Local Singer-Activist Proud to be 2nd-Worst Canadian
The frontman of local [Winnipeg, Manitoba] political thrash-punk band Propagandhi will go down in history as the second-worst Canadian of all time. But Chris Hannah, 36, isn't upset he's on the list compiled by The Beaver magazine, only that he came in second to late prime minister Pierre Trudeau by a couple of hundred votes in the online poll.
He encouraged his friends, family and fans to vote for him. In a newsletter sent to members of his record label, G7 Welcoming Committee, he wrote about being unpatriotic, nor standing for O Canada nor supporting Canadian troops, disliking Wayne Gretzky, cheering for Sweden and siding with First Nations' groups (among other things).
The noted practical joker threw his name into the contest because he thought it would be funny, but started taking it more seriously as he got into discussions with people about real issues surrounding nationalism and political revisionism. "I think nationalism is a form of fundamentalism," Hannah says. "Canadians generally want to take vicarious credit for national pride and distant achievements like Alexander Graham Bell, 1812 or Wayne Gretzky, but deny culpability in any connection to Canadian history when it comes to the crimes of the state, like the continued theft of aboriginal land and the continued and underreported interference of the democratic process in Haiti, for example."
The humanitarian issues Hannah describes are something he and his bandmates -- bassist Todd Kowalski, drummer Jord Samolesky and guitarist Dave Guillas -- take seriously, addressing them in songs and organizing benefit shows for local community charities.
"Why can't a good person be a bad Canadian and why do people equate good patriotism or nationalism with being a good person?" Hannah says. "It's such an overblown, dangerous myth; it's absurd"
Last year, Hannah and his bandmates won $5,000 (which they donated to Haiti Action Network and Welcome Place, a non-profit organization helping refugees get started in the city) from the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN). The prize was for the song A Speculative Fiction, which talks about the mob mentality of nationalism and a fictional war between Canada and the United States.
The band received votes from across the country to win the songwriting award, much in the same manner Hannah almost won the title of Worst Canadian in the historical magazine, which came out yesterday. The cover story in The Beaver notes that Trudeau's "win" over Hannah is a "result that perhaps speaks as much about the perils of online voting as it does about the love-hate relationship Canadians have had with this paradoxical prime minister." Hannah rejects the magazine's implication he rigged the vote, since he didn't force anyone to vote for him. He was more worried about some of the other names on the list, most notably Dr. Henry Morgentaler, who opened the country's first abortion clinic and fought to change Canada's abortion laws.
"If I take the results seriously, I think people should be ashamed Henry Morgentaler is considered for a worst-Canadians list as the guy who championed a woman's right to choose," he says. "I would like to think it's a mobilization by the fringe right to get his name on there."
The Beaver List 1. Pierre Trudeau 2. Chris Hannah 3. Henry Morgentaler 4. Brian Mulroney 5. Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka 6. Stephen Harper 7. Celine Dion 8. Jean Chrétien 9. Clifford Olson 10. Conrad Black
Freshpair.com's National Underwear Day is an event that takes underwear out of the dresser drawer and onto a runway in the middle of Times Square. On this day(August 7), they send dozens of male and female models out clad only in their finest undergarments.
National Underwear Day is a fun, engaging, unique and exciting event when underwear becomes not only the first thing you put on and the last thing you take off, but the most important thing you wear all day.
After the scandal of Atlanta Falcon's quarterback Mike Vick's indictment for dog fighting nobody wants to sponsor him anymore, but wait somebody this popular needs to be exploited. Much like Vick exploited the pit-bulls and other ferocious dog's to illegally fight for money, it is the dog's turn for revenge.
Introducing theMichael Vick dog chew toy, the brand newVick chew toy is available by clicking here,or hereVick dog chew toy
The world of internet dating has never been so popular and so easy. As far as interracial dating is concerned, the #1 site on the internet has to be interracialromance.com. It is free to join and within minutes you could be searching their huge interracial singles database for an exotic single near you. All you need to join is an email address and Zip code or postal code. The site allows you to send and receive private messages with other members as well as sending a variety of flirts like , "If you were words on a page, you'd be what they call "fine print"." Another exciting feature is the forums where you can post messages to the entire interracial dating community. So what are you waiting for anyway? Go check it out now!
Though thoughtful strategic voting like Mr. Brown suggests may be effective in slowing down the Conservatives for the short term, he also reminds us that strategic voting, “would be unnecessary if Canada had a system of proportional representation like most countries claiming to be democracies.”
The Need for Change According to Fair Vote Canada, in the 2006 federal election more than 650,000 Canadians voted for the Green Party yet the Greens do not have one Member of Parliament, while fewer than a half-million Liberal voters in Atlantic Canada elected 20 MPs. In the Prairie Provinces, Conservatives received three times as many votes as the Liberals, but were given nearly ten times as many seats. The New Democrats won a million more votes than the Bloc Quebecois, but the current voting system gave the Bloc 51 seats and the NDP only 29. Our current system in effect punishes parties that appeal to a wide range of Canadians across the country and rewards political parties who serve only regional interests.
The “first past the post” voting system we now have in Canada is to the benefit of the increasingly anti-labour status quo. Voices that are known to be at least somewhat sympathetic to labour, the environmental movement and social justice struggles (like the Green Party the NDP and the CAP) are marginalized, while "corporate friendly" parties are over-represented.
As Larry Gordon notes in his article “Its Time for Fair Voting in Canada” democracy has been a rare thing in in our country, “Because the voting system disregards so many votes, the overall results are distorted. In most federal and provincial elections, the system produces phony majority governments, where a party wins a majority of seats without winning a majority of the votes cast. Canadians have only enjoyed true majority governments, elected by a majority of voters, four times since World War I.”
Proportional Representation Proportional representation or PR is a system of voting that would address some of our countries democracy deficit. In Western Europe, 21 of 28 countries use some method of PR, including Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. But just what is proportional representation, how does it work, and why is it used as an alternative to the “first past the post” or “Plurality” voting system our country now uses?
The system now used in Canada and approximately two dozen other countries around the world, (including the U.S, England, and India) is a one of “winner-takes-all”, in which a single winner is chosen in a particular district by having the most votes, regardless of whether or not the candidate has the majority of votes. In a PR system legislators are elected in multi-member instead of single-member constituencies, and the number of seats that a party wins is proportional to the amount of its support among voters. For example, if we had a 10-member district and the Conservatives won 40% of the vote, they would win four of the ten seats. If the Liberals won 40% of the vote, they would get four seats; and if The NDP attracted 20% of the vote, they receive the last two seats. The current Harper government won about 36% of the popular vote.
Forms of Proportional Representation There are a variety of methods included in the family of PR systems, which are currently used throughout the world today. Two of the most popular forms of proportional representation are “Party-List” and the “Single Transferable Vote” systems.
In the Party List system, political parties each list their candidates according to that party's determination of priorities, and seats get allocated to each party in proportion to the number of votes it receives.
There are two variations of Party List systems, usually referred to as “closed list” and “open list” elections. In a closed list system, people vote for a list, not an individual candidate. Each party is allocated seats in proportion to the number of votes, using the ranking order on its list. With an open list, people may vote, depending on the specific model, for one candidate, or for two, or indicate their order of preference within the list. The order in which candidates get elected may be pre-determined by some method internal to the party (closed list) or they may be determined by the voters themselves (open list).Though this system may sound foreign to us here in North America, it is the method of voting used in many countries around the world including, Israel, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Chile, Argentina, Finland, Hungary, Iceland, Czech Republic, Paraguay, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Scotland, Spain and Japan.
Another popular form of PR is the Single Transferable Vote (or the PR-STV) method. PR-STV uses multi-seat districts and allows for transferring of votes that would otherwise be wasted. In this system, a candidate requires a certain minimum number of votes, to pass a threshold, in order to win an election. PR-STV initially allocates a person’s vote to their most preferred candidate, and subsequently transfers unused or unneeded votes, according to the voter's stated preferences (once a persons first choice is either elected or eliminated). In a Single Transferable Vote election, voters rank candidates in order of preference, placing a '1' beside their most preferred candidate, '2' beside their second most preferred, and so forth. The Single Transferable Vote is the method proposed on a provincial level by British Columbia’s “Citizens' Assembly on Electoral Reform” in 2005, who called their style of voting system “BC-STV”. The Citizens' Assembly BC-STV method was narrowly defeated (The referendum required approval by 60% of voters and only 57.7% of voters were in favor) but will likely be re-proposed in 2008. This system has been used in many countries throughout history and is still employed today in several countries including, Australia, Ireland and Malta. Besides British Columbia, four other provinces; Ontario, Quebec, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick are all currently debating whether to retire the first past the post system in favor of some form of PR.
More Than Just Ideals to be Valued Strategic voting may be a pragmatic option in the next Canadian Election, but for a significant departure from the Neo-Con nightmare our country is becoming, a systemic change is required. As Lorne Brown suggests, “The most we can hope for from the next election is a Liberal minority, preferably dependent upon NDP support to govern. In such a case, the Greens (should they elect anyone) and the NDP should demand proportional representation as a price for their support…”
Strengthening of democratic institutions in Canada is a noble pursuit in it’s own right. But given the looming environmental crisis, the post 9/11 acceleration of imperialist foreign policy and slide towards a police state, the stakes could not be higher. Like Noam Chomsky says; "In this possibly terminal phase of human existence, democracy and freedom are more than just ideals to be valued - they may be essential to survival."
For more information about proportional representation please visit: Fair Vote Canada
Did you hear that? She says she wants my loving all night. When she gets it she's all right. She smokes Marijuana. Lights her clothes on fire. Burns Burns Burns She's a ring of fire Reality She chants down Babylon Tries to keep it burning with meditation Her punctuation fluctuates She never makes Mistakes I met her on the road to Zion I am dreaming Still Walking Searching Ain't she crazy I need a light I need a light She talks so different she smokin' again she Smoking again and again She tokin' and toking and tolkien again Your favorite word is cellar door Her favorite word is door hinge like orange Ain't she crazy? What happened she said I don't know
You know those annoying ads on Blog Plus Ultra and everywhere else on the internet? The ones that say Ads by Google. The blue ones below this post most specifically. Well, as many of you know, every time somebody clicks on one of those ads I am credited a little bit of change to my adsense account.
It took me a very long time to earn the 100$ U.S. minimum payout, but the day did finally come and that is today! Hip Hip Hooray! My first Adsense cheque came in the mail Today!
More specifically a Japanese body painting artist
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Psychedelic
psychedelic
Beerfest is a beer-themed comedy film by the comedy group Broken Lizard released 2006.
Seattle Hempfest is an annual event in Seattle, Washington, the world's largest annual gathering demanding legalization of marijuana for uses including but not limited to medicinal, industrial, and recreational. Founded in 1991 as the Washington Hemp Expo, a self-described "humble gathering of stoners" attended by only 500 people, it has grown into a 2-day annual event with attendance typically over 100,000.
The aptly named Suffolk SPCA chief Roy Gross was called in to a Rocky Point man's home today for something Gross indeed, a Hairy fat spider that is capable of jumping three feet and delivering a bite of toxic venom equal to a scorpion's. The man said he had been keeping it as a pet, but was now suffering from a classic case of Ornate golden baboon spider arachnophobia.
How would you like to win a fried chicken dinner? Sounds pretty good doesn't it. Maybe too good to be true? No! It is absolutely true. How do I enter this amazing chicken dinner sweepstakes you ask? Easy.
