Rush Limbaugh was admitted to and is resting comfortably in a Honolulu hospital today after suffering chest pains. Paramedics took Limbaugh to The Queens Medical Center in serious condition from the Kahala Hotel and Resort. America’s most influential conservative voice of all times is resting comfortably. Limbaugh’s three-hour weekday show is heard on some 600 radio stations across the country, and more than 14 million people listen to him at least once a week. Limbaugh is due to return to his show on Jan. 4.
Limbaugh was the 1992, 1995, 2000 and 2005 recipient of the Marconi Radio Award for Syndicated Radio Personality of the Year (given by the National Association of Broadcasters), joining the syndicated Bob & Tom Show as the only other four-time winners of a Marconi award. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1993.
In 2002, Talkers magazine ranked him as the greatest radio talk show host of all time. Limbaugh is the highest-paid syndicated radio host.
On March 29, 2007, Limbaugh was awarded the inaugural William F. Buckley, Jr. Award for Media Excellence, by the Media Research Center, a conservative media analysis group.
On January 5, 2008, the conservative magazine Human Events announced Limbaugh as their 2007 Man of the Year.
On December 1. 2008, TV Guide reported that Limbaugh has been selected as one of America’s top ten most fascinating people of 2008 for a Barbara Walters ABC special that aired on December 4, 2008.
On February 28, 2009, following his self-described “first address to the Nation” lasting 90 minutes, carried live on CNN and Fox News and recorded for CSPAN, Limbaugh received CPAC’s “Defender of the Constitution Award”, a document originally signed by Benjamin Franklin, given to someone “who has stood up for the First Amendment … Rush Limbaugh is for America, exactly what Benjamin Franklin did for the Founding Fathers … the only way we will be successful is if we listen to Rush Limbaugh”.
Click On Links: Rush Limbaugh Interview About Obama Obama Get Serious About Terrorism! Obama Attacks Rush The House Negro And The Field Negro Michelle Obama Sliding In The Polls The World’s Most Powerful People Hugo Chávez Calls Obama The Devil Osama Bin Laden Calls Obama ‘Powerless’ Obama The Devil The Race Card Black People Don’t Like Black Conservatives Obama Attempted To Block Fox News From Interviews Liberals Hate Fox News Impeach Obama Glenn Beck calls Obama a racist
Hillary Clinton Warned America About Obama Why Liberals Hate Free Speech Obama Sissy’s According To Pastor James Manning Obama Using The Race Card
Something to look forward to; a unique kick-off to 2010…! TGO
Refer to story below. Source: Associated Press
By ALICIA CHANG, AP Science Writer Alicia Chang, Ap Science Writer Tue Dec 29, 7:03 pm ET
LOS ANGELES – Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year’s Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don’t expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.
A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year’s countdown.
“If you’re in Times Square, you’ll see the full moon right above you. It’s going to be that brilliant,” said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.
The New Year’s Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year’s Day, making January a blue moon month for them.
However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year’s Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth’s shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year’s Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won’t come again until 2028.
Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
“`Blue moon’ is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter’s moon’ or a `harvest moon,’” Laughlin said in an e-mail.
The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer’s Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.
Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year’s Eve full moon doesn’t even qualify as a blue moon. It’s just the first full moon of the winter season.
In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine’s Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: “If skies are clear when I’m out celebrating, I’ll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it’s an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I’ll just howl.”
Last night (Dec 28) I caught an anti-marijuana commercial while watching TV. Nothing unusual except this was put on by the Canadian government. It showed a kid being offered a pull on a joint, he then had flashbacks of getting busted for ecstasy and other drugs. You can watch the ad below.
Incidentally I witnessed the beginning of Prime Minister Harper’s new anti-drug media campaign. Anotner step towards the americanization of Canada. The campaign includes advertisements in buses, trains, subways and shopping malls across Canada, as well as Internet banners on websites popular with teens. The strategy is an exact copy of the Partnership for a Drug Free America (PDFA) which has been going on since the 80s and has been proven to be ineffective. The PDFA brought us such ads as “this is your brain on drugs” and the recent “above the influence” camaign. The not4me.ca website is clearly inspired by the sinister abovetheinfluence.com. It uses a more appealing website design than standard Canadian government pages to keep young people’s attention. Compare this site to this one and you’ll see what I mean.
A major, and critical, difference between PDFA and the new Conservative campaign is that PDFA is sponsored by corporations not governemnt. Check out the list of sponsors for Harper’s campaign, SPONSOR LIST. Many contributers are Canadian police groups including: Canadian Police Association, Justice Canada, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Another one that really stands out is Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada. Nearly all the sponsors are organizations funded by taxpayer money. Harper is once again using our own money against us.
To Harper’s credit the “facts” section stays closer to the real facts than PDFA and DEA. While the PDFA says,
Marijuana is addictive with more teens in treatment with a primary diagnosis of marijuana dependence than for all other illicit drugs combined.
The Conservative campaign uses carful wording using words like “may” and “has the potential”. The not4me.ca website says,
Cannabis has the potential to be psychologically and physically addictive.
Here’s another quote that really disturbed me,
Marijuana has over 400 chemicals and some of the same toxic substances found in tobacco smoke that can cause cancer.
Marijuana has not been proven to cause cancer, in fact it has been proven to cure cancer (article, Rick Simpson). If you read it carfully it does not actually say marijuana causes cancer. Although this information is technically true it gives a very negative impression of marijuana and other drugs. That is exactly what Harper is counting on. The Conservative government has launched a Canadian war on drugs. Its a little late in the game though, the US is taking baby steps towards legalization and the rest of the world is easing their pot laws. I don’t think Harper got the memo.
The national anti-drug srategy is aleft new government plan to ramp up the war on drugs in Canada. Only a few years after the Liberal government tried to decriminalize in 2004 (shot down by pressure from the US) the Harper regime took a U-turn. From the drug strategy backgrounder,
The Government of Canada has committed $30 million in new funding over five years to support the Prevention Action Plan.
Conservatives introduced legislation like bill C-15 (mandatory minimum sentences, increased maximums), increased justice budgets and put more cops on the street. They are also promoting DEA style drug courts and other tenants of the failed US drug war. Drug courts promote court-monitored rehab over prison (more on rehab).
Harper is Canada’s George W Bush. We need to get that fucker out before its too late!
This will be a brief post since I am in so much shock and so excited right now *ahem* …
So I listen to Korean Radio online.. mostly 101.3fm (TBS). And I decided to send in a song request tonight:
“안녕하세요 / Hello As One!
I am from Canada and I listen to your show a lot online. I am so happy to find a station that has programs speaking in English.
I will be moving to South Korea in 2010 and it makes me happy to know that not everything is in a different language than what I speak. It makes me a lot less nervous.
I am happy to have found you. I am starting to learn Korean but I am still in the beginning stages. I will try my best.
Now to my song request. I would like to hear Rising Sun by Dong Bang Shin Ki.
They are what made me interested in Kpop and become interested in Korea as a whole.
감사함니다 …. Thank you a lot!
Jeannie (지니)”
As One does a noon time request show on TBS radio (and everything is in English ~ Except for the music of course). They took the time to read a portion of my song request on air *spazzes* and gave me wonderful advice to not be scared and nervous about moving to Korea because there is a lot more English there than I know etc etc.
THEN I GOT A RESPONSE ONLINE
“Hey Jeannie, would you be interested in a phone interview? If you are, can you send your phone number to ….”
*TOTALLY SPAZZES!*
They want to interview ME yes ME!!! On Friday!! On their show!!!!! *Doesn’t know what to do with self* *dies*
This is incredible!!! I am totally going to be on air and talking about TVXQ / requesting a TVXQ song. Priya has helped me set it all up as to what I’ll request *THANK YOU!!* And we both have been spazzing about this since we were listening in together.I will definitely try to record it all… If I can find a way *thinking*
Also, they did do a little blurb about the guys ~ Supporting them and so on ~ and played Rising Sun for us. *SO HAPPY*
Ok this is an odd post but I thought I would share.
Cricket match between the Montreal Cricket Club and visiting Englishmen, 1872
This image of cricket was taken from the Canadian Illustrated News, 1872. A group of Englishmen came to Canada to play the Canadians. It was an exciting event for all concerned.
I saw this the other day from the Peterson Institute for International Economics and thought it was hilarious. It is about the upcoming G-7 summit in Iqaluit, Canada.
“We have reached the logical conclusion of the G7 process. Canadian officialdom is bitter that they will soon be irrelevant given the G20. Canadian officialdom is also bitter that they were successively dragged for prior G7 meetings to Okinawa, to an Italian earthquake site, and to St. Andrews in November rain storms to sate the then hosts’ respective domestic constituencies. So now the Canadians are using the G7 finance ministers to prove their point of sovereignty over their far north. In February.” a href=”http://www.piie.com/realtime/?p=1114″ target=”_blank”>Read article (PIIE)
We’ve all seen the commercials from both sides trying to convince us that cable providers should or should not pay to carry local stations. Is everyone thoroughly sick of the ads? I am.
Anyway … it turns out that cable providers in Iowa do pay to carry local stations. Who knew?
Basically, I just assume that my cable television fees will be going up soon regardless the only question is by how much and who will get the money.
What topics will make their way into this year’s Christmas message from the Queen to the Commonwealth? Any predictions? When I was a child, we’d watch the Queen on our black and white TV, post Christmas lunch. Like this poet, I may have blurred many such occasions, but HRH often cited the Commonwealth in her talks. And the idea of the Commonwealth features in a series of interviews I’m conducting on the theme: “What does it mean to be Canadian?” This December, I asked a writer friend with connections to Canada, the U.K., and Australia, for her reflections.
*
Where were you born? I was born in Australia, although I enjoyed many childhood trips to Canada and to Britain.
What does the Commonwealth conjure for you? The idea of the Commonwealth matters a great deal to me – it really is the instrument that inscribes my family story in many ways. My grandparents were born in Canada, then went to live in London as young adults. My grandmother was widowed in the war. She crossed the Atlantic in a ship convoy and settled in Canada. So my parents were raised in Western Canada and then moved to Australia.
Interesting that migration pattern – Yes, it was a time of straightforward entry, and I guess a sense of shared cultural values at a time when travel was a bit harder. They only moved to England in their 60s!
So something about Australia really grabbed them? Well, jobs were available and that wasn’t always the case in Canada in the late 70s and early 80s – they settled in Perth – laid back with great weather. It was a time when Australia looked to boost population and liked “white people” of the Commonwealth – they were granted permanent residency easily. So you know, they just never got around to making a decision to leave.
You’ve spoken about how the Commonwealth, places in it, can be a repository for family memory – I see now that what emerged for me was a sense in Canada and in Britain of something I don’t see [ as much ] in Australia, a family history on the landscape. In Canada and Britain I was able to see the streets where my family lived, places they worked – in the Vancouver of the 1950’s for instance, where my grandmother brought up my mother and of course, where I live and work today.
Do you think Canada has strong ties to this idea of a commonwealth of countries linked to the former British Empire – with the UK as a kind of “mother hub”? I think I felt that more strongly in Australia, because perhaps of [an impression] that Australia’s ties to the UK are stronger, through language, sport – I think of cricket, rugby. I think the Australians and English have a dryer, more deadpan kind of humour, than Canadians – sharper round the edges, with more word-play.
I sometimes wonder if Canadians forget how much influence the United States has on us? I see that here in Canada people tend to feel a stronger kinship to the Americans than to the British so that I am always also surprised when people here express much interest in England or the Commonwealth.
Does the Commonwealth matter anymore? I don’t know that it does – in the sense of thinking about “new Australians,” or “new Canadians” who have come from other parts of the world such as the Vietnamese community in either Canada or Australia, or the Sudanese in Perth. People try and find a place, make a home for themselves – in Canada, in other Commonwealth countries – and I wonder if here, where the concept of the Commonwealth has some traction still, if it’s a difficult one, because it’s also related to that thing, Empire, and can be seen as an exclusionary, colonial concept.
You’ve lived outside the Commonwealth in China – any thoughts? I think of my love for China was really seeded through early trips to Hong Kong on the way to and from Australia-Canada, which is certainly a view of Asia filtered through commonwealth eyes.
Yes. What I think of as Old Commonwealth – the Jockey Club in Hong Kong!
That’s right, I loved that – but also feel guilt infused with that ardour, so it’s not an unproblematic attachment. I first visited China in the early 1980s as a kid, lived in Hangzhou for a year in ’93 as a foreign student, in Beijing in 2000.
As a writer, any particular links come to you re this idea of Commonwealth? Well, I think here of the Booker Prize (Man Booker Literary Prize) – this is a commonwealth prize that to me is the most anticipated literary prize of the year. And the Booker still feels significant as a Commonwealth prize as opposed to other national book prizes, which can often feel too small and parochial, too self-congratulatory and narrow.
Do you think Canadian prizes might be a bit like that? I wouldn’t want to be unduly negative in my assessment of Canadian fiction – but perhaps Canada struggles the most to step into a confident expression of casual nationalism in fiction, which is perhaps a much a result of the country’s geo-political situation as anything. But I also think that comments such as the one you’ll hear about Alice Munroe’s work so often – that all her stories are set in small town Ontario and why would anyone care – are answered by her how she manages to make them interesting and meaningful. You know, that sort of jibe gets leveled less at other writers who use a fixed location in their work, or any other kind of single, striking identifier, so why is it commented on in relation to her?
Good point! Any closing thoughts? I read a lot of American fiction and of course, there’s all the writings in other languages beside English, but still, the Booker carries weight because it draws on the cultural sprawl of the commonwealth. I can’t think of another thing off the top that rests on the concept of the commonwealth so entirely and also feels so relevant.
The “cultural sprawl of the commonwealth” - now that’s an image provoking concept. Thank you, J and happy holidays.
I liked the brush stroke look to the peeling paint. Using a point-n-shoot in macro mode means making photos like this is a snap. I just handhold, point and click and I have lovely abstract photos. So much easier than setting up a big dSR on a tripod! I have printed these to 12×18 and they look amazing.
Quelques jours en Ontario. Loin à Ottawa avec Manue, une amie québécoise. Plus loin encore, à Toronto. Une capitale endormie, une métropole frigorifiée.
A Ottawa, je découvre la tire d’érable – du sirop d’érable bouilli qu’on dépose sur la neige avant d’en faire des rouleaux. Je fais l’acquisition d’une paire de crocs. Quelques boutiques, chez Starbucks, un café pour Manue, pour moi, un morceau de cake lemon poppy seeds. Un tour de la colline parlementaire. En soirée, pub irlandais et bières belges pour nos hôtes. Ottawa a beau être la capitale du Canada, elle apparait comme une petite ville. Pas de gratte-ciel surdimensionné, pas de vie nocturne trépidante. L’animation se concentre, l’après-midi, au centre commercial et sur Byward Market.
A Gatineau, nous visitons le musée des civilisations.
I am finally getting some office time to process images I took in 2009. There are days when I photograph when nothing seems to come together and I can’t seem to get anything worthwhile. And then there are days when I am ‘in the zone’ and when a single outing produces many memorable images. On Sept 11, 2009 Samantha and I spent the day with Lee Sacrey in Yellowknife. We spent 1 1/2 hours at the Gaint Mine site just outside of town. Here old trucks and equipment make for really great subjects. It was an overcast day, perfect for detail shots. I grabbed my Canon G9 and just immersed myself in abstract shooting mode. From this single shoot I got at least 20 shots that I really, really enjoy. Over the next few days, in the Daily Snap feature I will share some of my favorites here.
Doing theory “properly” must carry with it the implicit hope that in the world of “action” (i.e., the world of writing literature), one’s insights will take hold, if not in this lifetime then perhaps in the next. Few theorists live to see books deliberately take up the trends they lay down; rather, they content themselves by responding to the texts at hand, hoping others will begin to read texts similarly, and, in time, that some sort of theoretical “trickle down” will ultimately change the way people write texts as well.
A momentous exception to all this, of course, is Northrop Frye, who managed to attain in his lifetime an influence of almost singular uniqueness, in both the abstract world of “theoretical” letters but also, in the immediate and proximate world of “artistic” ones as well.
A theorist can only dream his work will reverberate throughout the cultural world, both academic and creative, the way Frye’s did. Others, in other lands, have achieved comparable success I’m sure; but I doubt that any nation was more in need of a man of such influence and then, subsequently, somehow, able to generate one.
Frye’s conclusion to the literary history of Canada, written in 1976 for example, looks both forwards and backwards in immensely profitable ways. On the one hand, his idea of “garrison mentality” is easily rooted in John Richardson’s Wacousta (1832) and Oliver Goldsmith’s “The Rising Village” (1825). The fact that these two works are of little aesthetic value tells us that their significance lies in their social value. However novel, the exploration of “garrison mentality” is not a significant addition to world literature; hence, these texts are to be taken as a sign of literary immaturity, even though Frye, I don’t believe, is speaking about such texts pejoratively.
Their significance in the Canadian canon tells us something about what Canadian writers were (are) trying to do—namely, construct a national identity lacking unifying myths but armed with finite and aesthetically shallow ideas and concepts, as though one could build a literature around such things. (A nation—at least our nation—is certainly constructed first in the conceptual world. What else is a Constitution than a series of covenants rooted in the world of practice over aesthetics?)
Such an endeavour – achieving social cohesion based on a negotiated ‘social contract’ rather than a shared historical language, experience, or kinship – puts the burden of making such covenants aesthetically pleasing squarely on the shoulders of New World writers. Leaving aside for now the cultural strategies employed by the Americans, we have to ask: were Canadians up to the challenge? If we answer that ultimately, no, they were not, this does not necessarily mean that Canada was cursed with poor writers of little artistic (i.e., revolutionary) merit. Rather, it may speak to the impossibility of the task at hand.
If Canada came of age as a literary nation with the Montreal group (F.R. Scott, Leo Kennedy, Leon Edel, and A.J.M. Smith) during the late 1920s and early 1930s, it was with the recognition that in order to create something of significant cultural achievement, we could no longer go against prevailing international artistic trends, but rather, ingratiate ourselves within them.
Yet what the Confederation poets like Lampman, Carmen, Roberts and Scott were trying to do at the turn of the 20th century is both removed, and not so different, from what the “late” modernists of the Montreal group purported to do. Both groups of writers wanted to break away from colonial influence. Both wanted to explore the nature of alienation with or in regards to nature. Both sought to explore what a Canadian identity was all about.
This last bit on identity is key in lieu of Frye’s opening comment on the question which has haunted Canadian writers since the very beginning: Not ‘Who am I?’ but ‘Where is here?’. Art thrives when questions of place are put to rest, or integrated seamlessly into our subjectivity of the world. Yet if the only “unique” transcendental signifier Canadians have is the land they inhabit, then the stark divorce between land and subjectivity, the easy tendency to deny the harsh climate for the sake of exploring more expedient cultural realities must indubitably be overturned before the important work of culture can begin.
This is what Frye means when he says in order to mature as a nation of letters, we must force form onto our surroundings. The deliberate “mythopoeic” approach, then, allows us to cultivate the subjective experience we ought to in order to ask more meaningfully ‘Who am i?’ rather than ‘Where is here?’
In this regard, many Canadian writers were up to the task, both before and after Frye. Morley Callaghan abandoned the small town regional idyll to describe goings on in Canadian metropolises while using mythic Biblical parables as his formal framework. So too did the early Jewish Canadian writers, like A.M. Klein, whose Second Scroll structurally mirrors the Torah. E.J. Pratt and Hugh MacLennan also took formal cues from both Hebraic and Classical sources, however timidly such works were received.
Once formally given the theoretical green light by Frye, however, Canadian writers thrived, not in having broken away from formal constraints but in suddenly being free to indulge in them. Authors like James Reaney, Robert Kroetsch, the early Margaret Atwood and even Sheila Watson enthusiastically looked to artificial/foreign structural devices and tropes to shape the stories/messages they wanted to tell. Writers had decided that if we were going to talk about place, we could only do it through forms which originated elsewhere. We had made a bold leap with our sudden realization that culture cannot be formed in a vacuum.
I am still uneasy, however, about Frye’s championing of the “professionalization” of poetry, as though form in Canadian writing ought to be bred of intimate study of (say, Classical) form. I’m not sure what the trends are like elsewhere, but what stands out in the case of Canadian poets is how exceedingly well educated they are. E.J. Pratt and Earle Birney both completed doctoral studies at the University of Toronto. Montrealers F.R. Scott (a Rhodes scholar) and A.M. Klein all but wrote the bar exam, while A.J.M. Smith completed a Master’s thesis in Edinburgh.
Hugh MacLennan (also a Rhodes scholar) completed his PhD at Princeton and mid-century poets like Dorothy Livesay, Margaret Atwood, Leonard Cohen and Robert Kroetsch all attended graduate schools abroad. Playwrights James Reaney and Tomson Highway, unlike Shakespeare, were university wits, the former completing his PhD under the supervision of Frye, the latter with two degrees to his credit (English and Music BAs from the University of Western Ontario). Even noted humourist Stephen Leacock received his PhD in Political Economy from the University of Chicago.
According to Frye, to move beyond the conceptual universe (where discussion of ‘vulgar’ concepts like ‘commerce,’ ‘tariffs,’ ‘railways,’ and ‘survival’ are the norm) to the mythological/anagogical universe marks the literary maturity of a nation. Even if new forms are lacking, form can only be bred of form. Aristotle said that we can have plot with no characters, but we can’t have characters with no plot. In order to allow our “characters,” then, to develop the plot they need requires a suspension not of disbelief, but of our skepticism of form. Is this the most expedient way to a unifying mythology—towards a place where form and content exist in harmony?
Frye’s influence certainly has me believing this is the case. Yet how can we ever hope to escape (ought we to?) from foreign formal conventions by ingratiating our poets so rigorously within the academy? Perhaps we require a “bard of fancy,” like the Americans had. Our first chance at anagogy may have come in establishing ties to the ‘Imperial Federation,’ the type of idealism and maturity (though some would argue ‘immaturity’) shown by Lorne Murchison in Sara Jeanette Duncan’s very incisive novel The Imperialist (1904). Yet the need for imperial unity was equally scoffed at back then as it would be now; Britain is no longer the stuff of legend. Can Canada, or can Canadian letters, then, ever coalesce around something that could be? Should we keep striving? Is this a red herring?
This was another photo I took while walking Brando. I liked the way the sun lit the wires of the powerline. It looked nice as a colour shot with a rich blue sky but when I converted the image into B+W using Nik Silver Efex, I liked the shot even more. I added some film grain to the image to give it a slightly retro look.
They say that time can heal all wounds. Time, however, can really fuck things up too. I remember when being “hip” was a good thing.
I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked,
dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix.
angelheaded hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night
That, the opening lines of Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl”, is beautiful. This is not:
Of course, the problem now it that the cool, excuse me, “Deck” thing to do these days is to slag hipsters. So what do the hipsters do when they discover the in thing is hipster bashing? We’re going to end up with a group of self-loathing hipsters out there and maybe a rash of suicides, endless rows of lemming hipsters riding their retro bikes into buses.
I, however, always being one to buck the trend, have decided not to trash hipsters. Instead of jumping all over hipsters, I will remain the purist and jump on Emo girls, beginning with these two
The diplomat has dropped the diplomacy: Richard Colvin provided new details of his warnings to Ottawa about the risks of torture facing detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian soldiers. Details in Colvin’s 16-page letter to the committee stand in sharp contrast to the version of events given by three cabinet ministers, three generals and senior bureaucrats like David Mulroney, who steered the Afghan task force in Ottawa. Contrary to the government’s claims that Colvin’s was a lone voice, and did not provide specific evidence or explicitly warn that “torture” was an issue, Colvin’s letter spells out that his concerns were shared back in 2006 by Kandahar-based personnel, as well as by Canada’s military allies in the International Security Assistance Force or ISAF. By the end of December 2006, Colvin’s letter states the embassy’s annual human rights report warned “torture” is rife in Afghan jails, as are “extrajudicial executions and disappearances.”
Those funky little guys that won a spectrum auction and got past regulatory hurdles, WIND Mobile, just bitch slapped the competition by unveiling their new service with a bang: LOW PRICES.
WIND Mobile’s new Simple Pricing plans are just that, simple.
Chat $15 dollars a month and gives you:
Incoming text
WIND to WIND calling across Canada
First Month Free!
50 Canada/U.S. outgoing texts from any WIND HOME Zone
100 province-wide calling minutes from any WIND HOME Zone
The WIND Mobile experience will include the following features:
• No activation fees
• No contracts on any services
• No system access fees
• No fees for Enhanced 911 services
• Never a charge for an incoming text
• No charge for incoming long distance calls
• No penalties for changing or cancelling a plan
• Unlimited WIND to WIND calling across the country
• Unlimited province-wide calling from a WIND Home Zone
• All plans include caller ID, missed call alerts, call waiting, call hold, call forwarding, unlimited conference calling – all at no extra charge. Services available include three simple unlimited voice and text plans and four unlimited data plans.
Head on over to WIND’s website and see what else they have to offer. You hear that Rogers, TELUS and Bell? That’s your three year contracts and overpriced service come crashing down next year. Perhaps you three will follow in Verizon’s footsteps and try and make the competition all about networks and not prices. Good luck!
This anecdote from Oshawa is from somebody who sees ‘horror’ for some in the future. -vreaa
‘From Canada’ at G&M 15 Dec 2009 8:11 am writes -
“My spouse is a financial planner, working almost exclusively with middle class working families, and the horror stories I hear are unbelievable. People living in houses they bought 10 years ago owing more than they originally paid due to refinancing for one reason or another. Young couples buying homes with 5% down, 35 year amortization, with mortgages totalling 6 to 7 years total income because the interest rates are so low that they now qualify for larger monthly payments.”
Recently, I had the opportunity to have a brief Q&A session with Darwin Wiggett. Darwin is one of the most notable photographers out there today. Not only because of his incredible body of work, but also his many written articles online and in photography magazines, giving insight into the way he views the art. If you aren’t familiar with his work, please have a look at this page, which links to a few of the online articles he has written.
When I started this blog, I had many ideas on articles I wanted to write. These included essays on photography as an art form, where the boundaries lie between digital image enhancement and image manipulation, how to expand your creativity, and the philosophy of photography (just to name a few). After reading a few of Darwin’s articles, I realized that not only did he cover all the ground I wanted to cover in a more articulate way than I could have, but I also learned some things and gained more understanding on these subjects.
Although his photos are awe-inspiring and world-class, I think one of the main reasons for Darwin’s success is his personality, which shows through his images and writings. Let’s face it, a lot of photographers out there don’t offer much insight into their artistic side beyond their actual image portfolio. That’s where Darwin separates himself from the pack. And even without his writings, the plethora of diverse photographs in his galleries express themselves ten-fold. If a picture speaks a thousand words, Darwin’s pics are in the 6-digit range…
MD: So, it’s December right now… What’s the weather been like up there in your neck of the woods?
DW: Well… it has been between -30 and -40 degrees celcius for the last five days and I feel like a hibernating bear. All I want to do is eat and sleep. But it may rise above freezing in the next few days as a Chinook rolls in. I am itching to get out and shoot after being stuck in the office for awhile.
MD: Alright, you come from a Biology background. That’s something a lot of outdoor/nature photographers including myself can identify with. Did you always have an interest in nature, or did it come later in life?
DW: When I was really young, I wanted to be Grizzly Adams and live in a log cabin with my pet grizzly bear and a couple of wolves. Later I wanted to be Jane Goodall and live with the Chimpanzees. As long as I can remember all I wanted to do was hang out with animals. As a young boy around 5 or 6 I would just go out by myself and walk in the woods and sit down and just look around at everything. I remember a bird landing on my shoulder after I sat still for a long time. I was thrilled and wanted experiences like that everyday. When I was in high school I was an expert in Black Powder guns, I did Taxidermy and was a wilderness survivalist–I wanted to be a modern day mountain man (I was not too popular with the girls as you can imagine!). My hunting days ended the day I shot my first big game (an antelope). I just felt really bad for the animal. I was a confirmed bleeding heart after that and I put away my gun and picked up binoculars instead.
MD: When did you decide that you’d rather pursue photography than continue on with a career in Biology?
DW: When I got a camera in 1986 to take photos of my research, I instantly realized that making images was an easier way to share my experiences than was talking or writing or doing biological research. I was insanely shy but a photo could speak for me when I couldn’t. Plus there were no jobs in boilogy when I graduated in 1989 so I naively thought I might as well try to sell nature photos. If I really knew what it took to do this full time, I probably would not have chosen the occupation.
MD: A lot of pros out there still have another line of work they supplement their photography-related income with… What was the most difficult part of the process in establishing yourself as a professional?
DW: The most difficult part for me was (and is) learning to be a business man and marketer– the two things that do not interest me at all but the two things that are critical to make a living at photograph. In fact you can be an average photographer but make a great living if you are talented at marketing. But if you are a creative genius of a photographer but a crappy marketer, you likely die of starvation.
MD: You have really established yourself as an authority on photographing the Canadian Rockies. Are there any other locations out there that you know as well, or mean as much to you as the Rockies?
DW: the badlands and prairies of Alberta I know as intimately as the mountains. I am as much a prairie boy as I am a mountain man. I love the priaires for the big sky and sense of space.
MD: What separates your method of running photo workshops from the way a lot of other pros run theirs?
DW: Most photo tours have a set itinerary, with planned stops and a planned agenda. My tours are based out of a centrally located wilderness lodge in an area less frequented by photographers but also close to Banff and Jasper National Parks. I take people to spots they probably would not find on their own. I know the area so well that no matter what the light or the weather I know a place that will look great given the conditions. There is no agenda except to get photographers in the best spots in the right light. We go hard and focus on spending time all our time in the field making the best photos possible. These tours are like a boot camp for photographers. Although not politically correct, one lady dubbed the tours “the go hard, retard photo tours”
MD: Of all the places you’ve traveled for photography, what is your absolute favorite?
DW: I am happy no matter where I am as long as I have a camera in my hand.There is stuff to be found anywhere as long as you are open to seeing Many photographers are surprisingly closed about the beauty around them). I have been as excited shooting trash in a parking lot as I have been photographing grizzly bears in the wild. It is all about being open and leaving your expectations behind. Too many photographers think in terms of subjects and their subjective relationships with this subjects. We need to see without bias and without labels to really begin to transform into artists.
MD: What places on earth that you haven’t yet been to are on your “to-photograph” life list?
DW: I am no longer a trophy hunter with a life-list of places to go. There is great beauty in my own backyard and I think learning to photograph the everyday and the ‘mundane’ will make you a better photographer than constantly trying to go to new and exotic locals. Depth comes from immersion and not from a shallow two week whirlwind tour. The best photographs I see are from people that immerse themselves into a location they love. I love Canada, I live in Canada and so I plan to photograph my country. Canada excites me as much as any foreign local I have been to. Why not know your homeland?
MD: You use grad ND filters quite a bit in your landscape work. Many serious landscape photographers out there have adopted digital layer blending of two exposures (not necessarily HDR) as opposed to using a filter system. Do you use digital blending in place of GNDs at times? What do you think the advantages and disadvantages of each method are?
DW: I use whatever tool I need to get the shot I want whether that requires a grad, a hand blend or an HDR composite. Sometimes I use a combo of all three. I use whatever method gives me the result I like best but in the shortest amount of time. I prefer to capture in-camera whenever I can so I often reach for a grad first. If they won’t work a hand blend is my second choice, HDR is my last choice.
MD: Do you you still occasionally use medium and large format film cameras?
DW: I still own and use a Linhoff 6×12 roll film camera. Nothing beats seeing a fine Fujichrome Velvia pano slide on the light table.
MD: You have written articles and been very outspoken on your philosophy of photography as an art form and how post-processing techniques can be an important part of the image. Why do you think so-called ‘purists’ still condemn the idea of working on images in post-processing?
DW: Purists, especially nature photographers, think of photography not as art but as a document. Post-processing to them seems like blasphemy, like they are altering reality. Post-processing gets my image closer to the way I saw and experienced the scene, it helps me present what I FELT when I took the photo. My photos document how I see the world… not how the world is… none of us can present that ‘truth, so why fight it? Art is expression, the means we use to express what we see is with the camera; any tool that lets you be true to your expression is a good tool to use.
MD: Who’s photography has impressed or inspired you recently?
DW: The web is full of great photography, I am really impressed by the stuff I see submitted to my blog photo contest and the stuff I see on photo forums. It is often too bad that some photographers get in ruts where they reject others work if it is not like theirs. The more open we are to all genres of art and photography, the more we will grow as artists. As soon as you develop a style that is recognizable, you’ll think you have arrived. But if you just repeat past successes, you’ll stagnate. The best artists constantly evolve. Always try new ideas, new techniques, new equipment, break the rules, stop judging others, push yourself. Life is a journey, enjoy the trip, it a great ride.
X Factor: Joe McElderry and Olly Murs go head-to-head in the final
Joe McElderry, the favourite to win The X Factor, will go head-to-head in the final with Olly Murs. The pair will now battle it out for the title this evening and the chance to win a recording contract and, in all likelihood, the Christmas number one. Joe, the Geordie 18-year-old went through last night after show-stopping performances of Dance With My Father, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word and Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me in a duet with George Michael.
The final two: Olly Murs and Joe McElderry will battle tonight for the X Factor title and chance to win a recording contract
Last night Joe, the firm favourite to win the show, looked thrilled after a tense evening and said: ‘I can’t believe it. I feel numb. It feels amazing.’But it was Olly Murs, from Essex, and his mentor Simon Cowell who looked truly stunned after he beat single mother Stacey Solomon to the final.’It’s so great but Stacey was amazing,’ he said.Stacey, 20, from Dagenham, scored the lowest number of public votes but said she was proud to have made it to the final.
Stunned: Olly Murs and Simon Cowell react as he is announced as the first act through to tonight’s final
Pressure mounting: It all gets too much for Joe as he waits to find out who will go through and lays his head on mentor Cheryl Cole’s shoulder
‘I came third – that’s really good. I’ve had the time of my life.’Her mentor, Dannii Minogue, said: ‘It’s been an incredible journey. I’ve made an amazing friend. She’s an absolute talent and a star.’During the evening, the judges had praised her performances, with Simon Cowell saying she had turned into a ‘nervous wreck’ in previous weeks but appeared calmer for the final.One very famous fan who will be disappointed to see her go is Prince Harry.The royal was spotted backstage with girlfriend Chelsy Davy, 24, who even sent the single mother flowers and a good luck note ahead of the show.Prince Harry has also been personally invited by Simon Cowell to return for tonight’s final.
Big fans: Prince Harry and Chelsy Davy were at the recording last night
Disappointment: Chelsy’s favourite Stacey Solomon crashed out last night
The 25-year-old Prince made a surprise visit to the North London studios.A fellow audience member said: ‘Harry and Chelsy were really into it. They gave a standing ovation to the acts and were really in the spirit.‘Chelsy seemed to be texting during the performance – probably to vote for Stacey Solomon.‘Obviously the people around them were doing complete double takes, but they were really cool‘Harry was wearing a suit and looked a bit like Olly Murs.’He has been asked to come back with Zimbabwean Chelsy tonight to meet the finalists backstage ahead of the show – expected to be watched by more than 20million people.A source close to Harry and Chelsy said: ‘As long as security is not an issue they plan to be there tonight.‘Chelsy met Simon Cowell when she went for a set visit three weeks ago and she told him Harry was a fan. Simon then sent them tickets.
Dream is over: Stacey Solomon and her mentor Dannii Minogue lost out to Olly Murs and Joe McElderry in the final last night
‘Chelsy throws X Factor-themed parties at her house and Harry and all her friends stay in on Saturday and Sunday nights to watch it. They are completely hooked.’Simon Cowell invited the pair to return backstage for a drink after the show.Harry had been backing John and Edward Grimes – the 18-year-old high-quiffed twins dubbed Jedward – but his votes were not enough to save the pair from being voted off three weeks ago.
Meanwhile Cheryl Cole wore a fishtail dress on the show which was so tight that she could barely walk in it.She was late back to her seat during the break on two occasions and had trouble making it down the steps with Joe McElderry at the end of the show.
Fishtail: Cheryl Cole had trouble walking in her extravagant feathered gown
The judge looked close to tears on numerous occasions through the show as she told viewers she ‘couldn’t bear it’ if Joe did not make it through.As she praised Joe, who is from South Shields, near her home town of Newcastle, after his performance of Dance With My Father, she said: ‘You stole my heart the first time you sang it.’She added: ‘I class him as a little brother.’As they waited for the results, she held his head on her shoulder as the pressure mounted.In comparison, Dannii Minogue looked understated in a simple one-shouldered toga-style dress in aubergine with a gold hair band and belt.The show saw a return to form for Essex boy Olly Murs, 25, who sang his audition song Superstition and A Fool In Love with a bevy of scantily-clad beauties.
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Gamour: Dannii Minogue wore a simple toga-style dress with gold accessories, while Stacey Solomon shimmered in a ruby red dress
Cowell described him as the ‘best risk I’ve ever taken in my life’. He added: ‘On the biggest night of your life you pulled out the performance of your life.’Olly also performed a duet of Angels with Robbie Williams.The former Take That singer came on to rapturous applause but then fluffed his cue and looked embarrassed by his mistake.It was the weakest duet of the evening and, as the pair wrapped their arms around each other, they looked more like two friends on a stag do singing karaoke.In comparison, Stacey Solomon belted out Feeling Good with crooner Michael Buble wearing a shimmering red gown, and Joe McElderry performed Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me with George Michael.Joe now has odds of 2/9 to win the series, while Olly is the 3/1 outsider. But nothing is guaranteed – Gareth Gates had similar odds against Will Young in Pop Idol but was the eventual runner-up.
Performance: Olly Murs leads a troupe of female dancers in white during his rendition of Fall In Love
Ladbrokes spokesman Nick Weinberg said: ‘Joe looks unstoppable. He’s gone from strength to strength and it’s going to take a miracle for Olly to get the better of him.’If Joe wins it’ll be a nightmare for the bookies.’Earlier, as the show opened, Cowell said: ‘This is the closest competition I’ve ever been involved in. I can’t pick a winner any more.’The eagerly-anticipated final of the contest will top one of the most lucrative weekends in British broadcasting, with an extended results show creating prime advertising spots in front of an expected audience of 20 million.
Girl time: Olly gets back to his best with a sparkling performance of Superstition, which he performed in his first audition
The weekend’s coverage alone could generate £18 million for the troubled broadcaster ITV1, according to some reports. Sir Paul McCartney will take to the stage tonight alongside all 12 acts who made it to the finals. With a vast audience expected to tune in, advertisers have been fighting to claim a slot on the show. But in an interview with The Mail on Sunday, Cowell warned that tonight might be the last time The X Factor is seen on British screens unless ITV provides more money.The network wants to secure rights to the show for the next ten years, but Cowell has insisted that it pays an extra £3million to his company Syco TV and producers TalkbackThames.
Belting it out: Joe performs Dance With My Father as his first performance
Favourite: Geordie Joe performed Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
‘Every year the show gets bigger and better and that means it ends up costing more. ‘If they don’t give us the money to make the show as big as it’s become, then we’d rather pull out now, while the show is on a high,’ he warned.Cowell also tried to quash rumours that Spice Girl-turned-lingerie model Mel B was to replace Dannii Minogue as a judge if the show continued.‘A lot of things are going to change for next year – if we bring the show back,’ he said.‘Possibly five on a panel. I don’t think it will be Mel B.‘I tell you who’d make a good judge: Robbie Williams. He’s fun, he’s got good instincts and he doesn’t take himself too seriously.’
Cowell said he was ready to work with Joe and compared him to Scottish singer Susan Boyle from Britain’s Got Talent.
Wonderful World: Stacey opened the show
‘I didn’t think he was as good as he’s turned out to be and I think he could turn out to be a very successful recording artist,’ he said.‘I’ll use Susan Boyle as a comparison – when we made that record we couldn’t really compare her to anybody. All we tried to do was find a collection of songs that would suit her voice.’We’re going to take our time on Joe – if he does win.’
Stacey sings Who Wants To Live Forever as her final performance on The X Factor – and Simon claimed she had ’smashed it’
Cowell criticised Dannii Minogue’s styling of Stacey Solomon, saying she was trying to make her sound too much like Leona Lewis, who won The X Factor two years ago.’We would take Stacey right back to where she started from, when we first saw her, and take her out of those stupid ball gowns and stop her trying to sound like Leona.’Cowell said yesterday he was still backing Olly, who he has been mentoring throughout the series.‘I think this guy, looked after properly and given a decent record, could do really, really well.’But Olly, 25, told the Mail on Sunday he almost fell out with Cowell over the impresario’s song choice of Twist And Shout last month.‘As the series went on I was taking it more and more seriously and I wasn’t sure about Twist And Shout.
Fluff: Olly Murs performed with Robbie Williams, who missed his cue during the performance
George Michael and Joe McElderry performed Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
‘Simon said, “Olly, trust me. It’s going to be great.” When I sang it and did the rehearsal it was fantastic.’ Last night’s show saw duets from three of pop music’s biggest stars. Robbie Williams sang Angels with Olly, George Michael performed Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me with Joe, and Stacey sang Feeling Good with Michael Bublé.The celebrities have been in constant contact with the producers and the staff supporting the acts.Olly said: ‘I’ve had a voicemail from Robbie saying how he’s chuffed to have me do a final duet with him and how excited he is about it all.’The victor tonight might not be the only one to win a contract.Cowell said he would ‘have a conversation’ with fourth-placed Danyl Johnson about signing him after Christmas.
Duets: Stacey performed with Michael Buble
Moment Corrie teenager moves in for a kiss with Kym Marsh
This is the moment Coronation Street’s Michelle Connor is caught out by a move from a teenage admirer.Barmaid Michelle, played by Kym Marsh, is distraught after discovering her sister-in-law Carla Connor knew more than she admitted about her brother Liam’s death.Finding her crying, 17-year-old Ben Richardson, played by Lucien Laviscount, gives Michelle a hug to comfort her.
Kym Marsh’s Coronation Street character Michelle Connor is lost for words when Ben Richardson, played by Lucien Laviscount, tries to kiss her
The teen has a crush on Michelle, which has developed while his parents are away on holiday. But he misreads the situation and clumsily attempts to kiss Michelle.A confrontation with Michelle’s son Ryan ensues, and Ben flees the street.
Michelle is crying when Ben finds her
Kym, 33,said: ‘When I heard about it, I thought, Oh no! They’re not turning me into a paedophile, please.’I can’t play that storyline, it would ruin me completely.’But it wasn’t that at all. It’s just to highlight the fact she’s a young mum.’Basically he’s going to misread the situation and he does kiss her but she doesn’t reciprocate. She’s absolutely horrified.’
Comfort: Ben first gives Michelle a hug
Miley Cyrus caught kissing ‘boyfriend’ Liam Hemsworth in Paris despite refusing to confirm relationship
Miley Cyrus may have never publicly acknowledged her relationship with former co-star Liam Hemsworth but judging by recent pictures that surfaced of them kissing, it appears they are definitely more than just friends.Spotted in Paris holding hands earlier this week, Miley and Liam were caught up in the moment, locking lips while strolling on the Champs-Elysees on Thursday.The couple, who met on set of the Disney Movie The Last Song, have been keen to keep their relationship under wraps after Liam, 19, denied rumous in September, claiming ‘We just made a movie together. That’s it.’
Miley Cyrus and Liam Hemsworth, pictured on set of The Last Song in June, were spotted kissing in Paris earlier this week
When the Hannah Montana star, 17, was asked by presenter Ryan Seacrest if she and Liam were together, she responded ‘ I’ll neither confirm nor deny.’
However, Miley seems to have fallen for the actor, after deleting her Twitter acccount for him.In one of her last ‘tweets’ in October, Miley wrote that Liam wanted her to delete her account.’
The pair have refused to confirm rumours of a relationship
Her last ‘Tweet’ read: ‘FYI Liam doesn’t have a twitter and he wants ME to delete mine with good reason.’Miley was in the UK this week for performances at the Royal Variety Performance in Blackpool and the Jingle Bell Ball.She returns this weekend to launch the British leg of her Wonder World tour tomorrow and will be in the UK over Christmas.
Miley during her appearance at the Royal Variety Performance show in Blackpool earlier this week
OOOPS !!!!
Smoker-face: Lady Gaga faces potential fine after smoking onstage in Canada
She’s known for pushing the boundaries on what people expect of a popstar, but this time Lady Gaga may have gone to far.For performing in Canada, the 23-year-old shocked attendees by lighting up a cigarette and inhaling deeply – despite the fact smoking indoors is illegal in British Columbia.
Gaga: The controversial sing takes a drag of a cigarette onstage
Wearing a structured gold, bejewelled leotard, black leather gloves and fishnet tights, the Poker Face singer obviously couldn’t wait until she finished the sold out gig in Vancouver to indulge.This comes just days after the New York native met Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II when she performed at the Royal Variety show.The star went for a much less revealing look and thankfully the only smoke onstage during that set came from automated machines.
Wearing a revealing gold leotard the star obviously couldn’t wait until her sold-out gig in Vancouver was over to indulge
According to British Columbia law, smoking in all public spaces such as restaurants, pubs and private clubs, offices, malls, conference centres, arenas, community halls, government buildings and schools is banned.Those found guilty of breaking this law may be liable to a fine.However, as the singer clearly enjoyed the cigarette on stage last night, the potential consequences seemed to be the last thing on her mind.
Illegal: According to British Columbia law Gaga could now be fined
Go Princess !!!!!
Opposing Stories…Make Your Mind Up Girls
X Factor judge Dannii Minogue ‘to be replaced by Mel B’
Simon Cowell is secretly lining up ex-Spice Girl Mel B to replace Dannii Minogue on the X Factor next year, it was claimed last night.The feisty star, real name Melanie Brown, 34, is reportedly in talks with bosses of the ITV show after current judge Dannii Minogue hinted she may quit the show to start a family.Former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland, 28, is also being considered for the job, according to the Daily Mirror.
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New judge? Dannii Minogue is reportedly thinking about quitting the X Factor to start a family. Mel B, who has been modelling lingerie and appearing in a Las Vegas show Peep ShowDannii, 38, is thought to have told Simon Cowell that she may not return next year.The loved-up judge has publically spoken of her boyfriend Kris Smith’s desire to start a family, and has also complained of feeling the ‘odd one out’ on the show.A source told the newspaper: ‘Simon thinks Mel would be brilliant as she is outspoken, down-to-earth and won’t hold back.’There were times in the current series that he felt things were a bit boring and he is certain sparks will fly with her on board.’It will be interesting to see whether she and Cheryl Cole will gel or whether it will be handbags at dawn.’
Dull? Current judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. But Cowell thought the show was ‘a bit boring’ in parts, according to reports
Kelly Rowland was tiped to take over from Dannii when it looked like she may leave earlier this year and was invited to Simon’s 50th birthday party.The source added: ‘Although it hasn’t been officially confirmed, it is highly likely Dannii won’t be on the panel next year and Simon is already thinking about a replacement.’Sparks flew when Dannii joined the judging panel two years ago when Sharon Osbourne was on the team.
She took an open dislike to the Australian star and claimed she was only on the show because Simon fancied her.
When Cheryl Cole joined the show last year, there were rumours of a rift between the pair as Dannii felt she had been sidelined.This year, they have appeared more friendly but Dannii admitted that they are not friends
Cheryl Cole wants to quit and have baby
Simon Cowell tells us he has another A-lister in his sights to replace the X Factor judge
CHERYL: Wants to have a baby
DANNII: Is staying!
MEL B: Won’t be joining judges
Majority of you are in Team Dannii rather than Team Cheryl.
CHERYL Cole wants to quit X Factor to have a baby
The show’s supremo Simon Cowell is desperate to keep his ace judge and ITV would double her £1.2million salary. But mega-rich Cheryl, below, has told him her decision is not about money. Last night an X Factor insider told us: “Cheryl has so much else going on in life.The number one thing on her mind is starting a family. The show is a huge commitment. It’s six months of the year. Cheryl wanted to have a baby with Ashley this year but put it off because of work. “She doesn’t want to wait much longer and she’s not keen on having to judge The X Factor while she’s heavily pregnant.”Cheryl, 26, has said: “I have friends who have put it off and I don’t want to do that. I’d love a big family.”As well as having children with Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole, the Geordie beauty has a successful music career to pursue.
Already a star in Girls Aloud, her solo work is the surprise talk of the music industry.Her first single Fight For This Love topped the charts and became the fastest selling song of the year after she performed it live on The X Factor.And her debut album 3 Words is on target to sell a million copies before the end of the year.Her act Alexandra Burke won X Factor last year and her protege this series, Joe McElderry, is hot favourite to win the contest tonight.Our show source added: “If you’ve won the show twice in a row what else is there left to prove? There’s massive demand in America for her to promote her music which is something she’s agreed to do.”
HugeA music industry expert added: “It’s not only America she has to tackle. Europe is a huge market with lots of countries she has to visit.”Cheryl also has her Girls Aloud commitments to honour with the group booked to record their next album late next year, clashing with X Factor.
Her uncertain future also makes fellow judge Dannii Minogue’s job safe for now.Our source added: “Girls Aloud are definitely recording their album at the end of next year.
“Cheryl has always said she’ll put music first but doing everything would put a massive strain on her. Something has to give.”Simon’s going to take time to reflect but until he’s signed up Cheryl there’s no way he’d let Dannii go anyway.”It’s crazy to think he would risk introducing two new female judges in the same year.”Contract negotiations between The X Factor judges and ITV do not begin until Spring.An ITV insider explained: “Simon hasn’t officially even done a deal with us to bring the show back next year.
“But he loves working with Cheryl and they’ve become very close friends.”He also knows how much the public adore her and how good she’s been for ratings.”Simon is very persuasive and Cheryl admires him hugely. He will try to get one last series out of her. For Simon it’s nothing short of a disaster if she does go through with what she’s thinking and walks out of the show.”
X Factor babe’s porn shame
MILE-HIGH CLUB: Vicky in pilot gear
KANDY Rain beauty Vicky Lloyd has got the XXX Factor – she’s starred in a series of PORN movies,
The blonde singer, 22, dressed as a pilot, a poledancer and even one of the 60s band The Supremes to make raunchy films.But when her band Kandy Rain auditioned for the X Factor, Vicky tried to distance herself from her not-so-sweet past by changing her name to Coco.Vicky, who met her bandmates when they were working as strippers at a lap-dancing club, is now dating the club’s owner who’s 27 years older.A source told us: “Vicky was a bit worried about her past coming out if Kandy Rain made it big.”But she loved being in front of the camera, she’s a natural exhibitionist.”
Former boarding- school pupil Vicky made the blue movies in 2007, soon after spurning the chance of taking a law degree to be a glamour model.
The films are available in the VIP section of paid-for adult website.In one video Vicky dons a pilot’s hat, skin- tight black uniform, stockings and heels as she purrs: “I’m dressed as a mile-high captain.”The 36DD Kandy girl then whips off her saucy get-up and writhes around groping herself before blowing a cheeky kiss to her online audience.
Kandy Rain beauty Coco Lloyd’s porn past. These clips have been heavily edited.In another sequence, Vicky peels off a tiny bikini before leaping into the shower.Elsewhere she dons a dark wig and body-hugging pink dress and impersonates Diana Ross’s legendary Motown girl group The Supremes.And in other films she strips on a bed, performs as a poledancer and allows the camera to peer up her skirt before performing a slow striptease.Vicky has also taken part in lesbian photoshoots and posed for Playboy. On the right is an exclusive never-seen-before photo from a recent shoot.But Vicky now wants to make it big on the music scene after meeting her bandmates – Azi Jegbefume, 25, Khatereh Dovani, 24, and Chemmane Applewhaite, 27 – at London club Sophisticats.
It is run by a singer/ songwriter called John McKeown, 49, who has been dating Vicky for 18 months.Our source told us: “He might be 27 years older than Coco but they get on brilliantly – she keeps him young in the bedroom.”There are a lot of sexy girls working in John’s club, but Coco’s got something extra in her personality.She is feisty, full of fire, and dedicated to her music.”Vicky and the other Kandy Rain girls became an overnight sensation when they performed a rendition of the Pussycat Dolls’ Don’t Cha while clad in PVC and leather.It’s hardly a surprise then that they made it to Boob, sorry, Boot Camp.
Simon Cowell: I want Robbie Williams for 5th judge
Cowell reveals plans for next series of X Factor
PLANS – Will Robbie join the team?
SIMON Cowell has revealed he wants superstar Robbie Williams to join the X Factor team as a FIFTH judge.
The show boss has told how he is planning a radical shake-up next year which is likely to include an extra “novelty” category to take in acts such as Jedward.And he wants Robbie and possibly another A-list star to join him, Louis Walsh and Dannii Minogue on the judging panel with Cheryl Cole’s future on the show in doubt.Cowell said that Robbie – who sang his most famous song Angels last night with Olly Murs and performed his single Bodies earlier in the series – could be the key to making next year’s show even better.
He said: “I would like to get Robbie Williams. He’s got good instincts.”He doesn’t take himself too seriously and he’s a fun guy to be around.”I’d love to have him there because I think he would be a good judge, full stop.”That’s why I like having Louis Walsh on the panel. He is fun to work with.”I don’t know if Robbie would want to do the show as he’s so busy but he would be great. A lot of things are going to change if we bring the show back.”He did not specify what the fifth category would be but Dannii has indicated they are looking at the novelty angle.Cowell is keen to inject more humour into the show and continue the huge success of acts like Jedward – John and Edward Grimes.He also denied rumours former Spice Girl Mel B will be taking a seat on the judging panel in 2010 in place of Dannii.Cowell, 50, said: “We have not approached Mel B to do the show. We met with Mel two or three years ago at the time we brought Cheryl in and didn’t know if Cheryl was going to accept.
THUMBS UP? Simon has plans for former Take That singer
“We also met Mel earlier this year to possibly get involved with a new show, not the X Factor. She wants to do the X Factor but she hasn’t been asked yet.”No deals have been concluded for next year, nothing. So we’re not in a position to talk to anybody about contracts.”The media mogul repeated his threat that if ITV does not find an extra £3million for the show’s budget he may AXE the show.He said the money was necessary to bring in more staff with many of the current team working round-the-clock to put on a good production.And he stressed he does not want to boost his £7.5million-a-year pay cheque.Cowell explained: “The reason we haven’t announced anything for next year is we’re seeing if we can work something out that will allow The X Factor to stay on in the UK for a few more years.”Everyone is really stretched right now. We need more people working on the show and that costs money.”There are a lot of people working 18 hours a day, seven days a week trying to keep this show running. We need more people. So I need that commitment from ITV. If you hire more dancers, more stylists, you need to add to the budgets.
EXHAUSTED – Simon blames huge workload
“Plus, when we’re flying people all around the world we need money.”Most people out there at the moment are asking for salary increases. We just want the money for the show. I haven’t asked for more money. I’m not looking for a pay rise. I wouldn’t ask for a raise if it meant we had less money for the show.”If we don’t reach a deal with ITV I will simply take a break. I am not going to work for anyone other than ITV and if we couldn’t come to a deal then we would say, ‘Thanks for the last few years, we’ve had a great time and that’s it.’”If we’re not going to work with ITV then that would be the end of The X Factor.”Cowell confirmed he will be launching The X Factor America, with himself at the helm, by 2011.
But he vowed to continue fronting his UK shows, which also includes Britain’s Got Talent, so long as a deal can be reached. Cowell said: “My gut feeling is X Factor will be on American TV in the next 18 months.”But he admitted his workload has left him so exhausted he wished he could clone himself.He joked: “I’m going to clone me to do all these shows. We’re in the middle of a scientific experiment right now. I’d make 50. I would live with one of them. He’d be like my friend.”Most importantly I am not running off from Britain to America.”Cowell went on to blame Dannii for ruining Stacey Solomon’s chances by trying to make her a clone of 2006 winner Leona Lewis.
He said: “If Stacey were to win the show, we would have to go right back to where she started from when we first saw her.”I would take her out of those stupid ballgowns and stop her trying to sound like Leona. I think she is a really good singer but all her originality has been stripped away from her.”Dannii is trying to make her Leona Mark II and you can’t do that.When Stacey sang Coldplay she was so good they sent her a platinum disc. She needs to do something that’s interesting.”On last night’s show, Stacey duetted with crooner Michael Buble on the old standard Feeling Good.
On Olly, his last contestant, Cowell added: “He’s like a new Robbie. I spent two days with him this week where we went to his home and I got to know him a bit more. I saw what he was like with a crowd and if he is looked after properly and given some decent records he could do really well.”"But Joe McElderry has been very underrated. He’s got a very good recording voice. We’re going to take our time on Joe if he does win. We’ll do our best and he could surprise a lot of people.”Prince Harry was in the audience for last night’s show. The 25-year-old royal is a huge fan and has told pals Joe is the best singer. But he loves cheeky chappy Olly and reckons Stacey Solomon is “hilarious.”An insider said: “Harry’s been watching the show since the start. He loves it! He was desperate to see it live and when his aides contacted ITV they were thrilled to get him on the guest list.”Like everyone, Harry loves Joe and reckons he has the best voice.
X Factor: Joe McElderry and Olly Murs go head-to-head in the final
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Miley Cyrus caught kissing ‘boyfriend’ Liam Hemsworth in Paris despite refusing to confirm relationship
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CHERYL: Wants to have a baby
DANNII: Is staying!
MEL B: Won’t be joining judges
MILE-HIGH CLUB: Vicky in pilot gear
KANDY Rain beauty Vicky Lloyd has got the XXX Factor – she’s starred in a series of PORN movies,
Former boarding- school pupil Vicky made the blue movies in 2007, soon after spurning the chance of taking a law degree to be a glamour model.
PLANS – Will Robbie join the team?
SIMON Cowell has revealed he wants superstar Robbie Williams to join the X Factor team as a FIFTH judge.
