What? Merry Christmas & Happy 2009!

Have a merry merry Christmas & A Fantabulous Year Ahead!
I am off to a well-deserved holiday. HO HO HO

WTF? Santa Gets Parking Ticket

NEW YORK – Santa Claus has added a New York City traffic agent to his naughty list after she gave him a ticket while delivering gifts to children.

Chip Cafiero says he'll fight the $115 ticket he received in Brooklyn on Black Friday when he was dressed as Santa.

The 60-year-old retired schoolteacher was riding a horse-drawn carriage and handing out toys and candy canes. An SUV carrying the toys and protecting the horse from traffic was double parked next to him.

Santa says he yelled "Ho! Ho! Ho!" to get the traffic agent's attention because the SUV wasn't blocking traffic. But in his words, "This grinch just went ahead and fined me."

Local politician Martin Golden calls the parking ticket "ridiculous."

Police won't comment on it.

Santa Gets Parking Ticket While Delivering Toys

What? Best And Worst Movie Posters of 2008

Some of those described as worst, are actually quite good, IMO. I'll let you decide.

Best And Worst Movie Posters of 2008

What? Top 10 Box Office Movies of 2008

Which ten movies made it to list? Which is the highest grossing movie of the year? No prize for guessing that one correctly though.

Top Ten Box Office Movies of 2008

What? Mother Earth Is Cooling Down

The Ten Warmest Years, according to Hadley Centre

1998 - 14.52C

2005 - 14.48C

2003 - 14.46C

2002 - 14.46C

2004 - 14.43C

2006 - 14.42C

2007 - 14.40C

2001 - 14.40C

1997 - 14.36C

2008 - 14.31C

This Year Is Coolest Since 2000.
The world in 2008 has been cooler than at any time since the turn of the century, scientists say.

Cooling La Nina conditions in the Pacific brought temperatures down to levels last seen in the year 2000.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) notes that temperatures remained about 0.3C above the 1961-1990 average.

Computer models suggest that natural cycles may cool the Earth's surface in the next few years, masking the warming impact of rising greenhouse gas levels.
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What? The Anti Gift List

With a guide to the green gifts you can get loved ones this holiday, there is of course also an anti-gift list. So, what should you NOT get?

The Anti Gift List by Planet Green
The holidays draw near. That means gift-giving time is upon us. The holiday season is stressful and in many ways very wasteful. Mass-produced novelty items line the shelves at the stores. Fanciful decorations with little sustainability will be sold by the boatload. You'll probably get a gift or two that you'll want to toss into the nearest garbage can. You might even give a gift or two that will end up in a garbage can. Well, let's put an end to this trend, shall we?

What? Go Green This Holiday Season

It's time of the season again! I guess most would've done their Christmas gifts shopping. But I'm sure there are a lot of late minute shoppers too! Here is a guide to a greener Christmas gifts.












2008 Holiday Gift Guide: Give Green to Save Green from TreeHugger
Is it just us, or does everyone still experience a giddy, childish thrill brought on by the thought of holiday gift-giving? Sure, the economy sucks, shopping's a bitch, the average American's trash output goes up 25 percent between Thanksgiving and New Year's, but still we refuse to go into green Grinch-mode. Our holiday gift guide this year is a blueprint for the best affordable, low-impact, and wonderful prezzies for everyone on your list. From energy-saving gadgets for the green geek to toys for the little ones, we have more than 100 green gift ideas in 12 categories (navigate using the red buttons below) that will help you consume wisely and still bring lots of holiday cheer.

WTF? Pizza Attack!

A Florida pizza delivery man who was challenged by armed robbers in the city of Miramar got in first with his own weapon - a large pepperoni pizza.

Eric Lopez Devictoria, 40, flung the piping hot pizza at the gunman, then turned on his heels and ran.

He made a safe getaway, according to the Florida Sun-Sentinel, despite one shot being fired as he fled.

Police later arrested three teenage suspects, who have been charged with armed robbery.

US man uses pizza in self-defence

Pizza Deliveryman Uses Pie To Fight Gunman

pic credit: Hungry for Pizza?

What? Great Photoshop Skills

People in Hollywood is not the only ones obsessed with photo touch ups. Sometimes, it's not a bad thing. Sometimes it's really needed. Does Jessica Alba need it? I don't think so. But look at the attached pictures. What do you think?

What? Size 16 Girl Is Miss England Runner Up

Goes on to say, FAT is beautiful. Fat is in. So, head straight to McDonalds NOW!

First Ever Size 16 Girl Reaches Miss England Final

Chloe Marshall - Miss Surrey 2008

Who? Russia Is Miss World 2008

"And Miss World 2008 is Russia," announced Julia Morley, head of the Miss World committee that organises the event.

The second runner up was Gabrielle Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago and the first runner up Parvathay Omanakuttan of India.

The 21-year-old blue-eyed blonde beauty, who declared shortly before her win was announced that being nervous made her "feel stronger," takes over from Zhang Zi Lin of China to become the 58th Miss World.

"I think I can help people and I want to help people and today if I walk away with this crown I will do that," Sukhinova told judges through a translator after being asked why she should be crowned the winner.

Hailing from Nizhnevartovsk in the north west of Siberia, Sukhinova was dressed in a purple gown, with a decorative neckline and flowing skirt.

She is a student pursuing a science degree as an engineer of administration from the Tyumen Oil and Gas University.

Sukhinova becomes the second Miss Russia to go on and win the global event after Julia Kourochkina took the crown in 1992.

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Miss World 2008

What? Seven Warning Signs Of A Troubled Relationship

1. Fighting has become the rule rather than the exception to the rule.

2. You find yourself looking outside the relationship for comfort, care, and understanding.

3. You can't remember what attracted you to your partner in the first place.

4. There is little or no intimacy in your relationship -- sleeping in different rooms or different beds, lack of interest, anger, and hostility so that intimacy is out of the question.

5. Spending very little time together, friends seem to be more important than your partner.

6. Reactions to situations are disproportionate to the content of the disagreement (i.e., feeling your partner doesn't love you because she/he didn't like the meal you cooked).

7. Feeling helpless and hopeless to change anything. Feeling done with the relationship, but unclear as to where to go and what to do. Feelings of anger, resentment, pain, and desperation are predominant.

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What? MTV Top 25 Music Videos Of 2008

It's official! Britney Spears is back to the top of the music world. Womanizer hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and Circus debut at #1 selling over 500k copies. And now MTV.com has announced that Brit's Womanizer is the most played music video of 2008. And Piece Of Me is also in the Top Five.


















We've Had Our Say...
We've compiled the Top 25 Music Videos of 2008, as determined by streams on MTV.com. No opinions, no rock criticisms, no bands you've never heard of (God forbid!). Just pure numbers — eDemocacy in action, as it were — because each click, in a sense, was a vote. And so, without further ado, here's your list of the best videos of the year. Looks like we've got two songs in common ... there's no accounting for taste, I guess.

10. Bleeding Love - Leona Lewis
9. Burnin Up - Jonas Brothers
8. Low - Flo Rida
7. Touch My Body - Mariah Carey
6. Damaged - Danity Kane
5. Piece Of Me - Britney Spears
4. Forever - Chris Brown
3. No Air - Jordin Sparks ft Chris Brown
2. Lollipop - Lil Wayne
1. Womanizer - Britney Spears

WTF? Real Murder On Stage

An actor slit his throat on stage when the prop knife for his suicide scene turned out to be a real one.

Daniel Hoevels, 30, slumped over with blood pouring from his neck while the audience broke into applause at the "special effect". Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot. They are questioning the rest of the cast, and backstage hands with access to props; they will also carry out DNA tests.

A scan from an Austrian newspaper, Oesterreichwhose headline reads 'Real Drama at the Burgtheatre' after Daniel Hoevels almost died in front of his audience.

Things went wrong at Vienna's Burgtheater as Hoevels' character went to "kill himself" in the final scene of Friedrich Schiller's Mary Stuart, about Mary Queen of Scots, on Saturday night

It was only when he did not get up to take a bow that anyone realised something had gone wrong.

Though bleeding profusely, Hoevels survived because the knife missed the carotid artery as it sliced into his neck. Wolfgang Lenz, a doctor who treated him, said: "Just a little bit deeper and he would have been drowning in his own blood."

One officer told Austrian TV news: "The rumours are wild, with some claiming that he was the victim of jealous rival.

"We don't know anything for sure yet; we have to work through everyone."

The knife was reportedly bought at a local shop; one possibility is that the props staff forgot to blunt its blade. "The knife even still had the price tag on it," an investigator said.

After emergency treatment at a hospital, Hoevels declared that the show must go on, and returned to the stage on Sunday night with a bandage tied around his neck, ready to once again meet his mock demise.

Actos Slits His Own Throats as Knife Switch Turns Fiction into Reality

Actor Cuts Throat on Stage in Knife Mix-up

The Actor Who Nearly Died On Stage...

Who? 2009 Golden Globe Nominees

Vicky Christina Barcelona, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road, Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Anne Hathaway, Robert Downey Jr... Who is your pick?

BEST MOTION PICTURE, DRAMA

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Frost/Nixon

The Reader

Revolutionary Road

Slumdog Millionaire

BEST MOTION PICTURE, COMEDY

Burn After Reading

Happy-Go-Lucky

In Bruges

Mamma Mia!

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

ACTOR, DRAMA

Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon

Sean Penn, Milk

Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

ACTRESS, DRAMA

Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married

Angelina Jolie, Changeling

Meryl Streep, Doubt

Kristin Scott Thomas, I've Loved You So Long

Kate Winslet, Revolutionary Road

ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Colin Farrell, In Bruges

James Franco, Pineapple Express

Brendan Gleeson, In Bruges

Dustin Hoffman, Last Chance Harvey

ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL

Rebecca Hall, Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Sally Hawkins, Happy-Go-Lucky

Frances McDormand, Burn After Reading

Meryl Streep, Mamma Mia!

Emma Thompson, Last Chance Harvey

Golden Globe Awards Official Website
Complete List of Nominations for 2009 Golden Globes

What? Circus Opens At #1

Bravo! Huge sales for Brit's latest album, Circus. It moved more than 500k copies in its first week. The only female star who sold more albums on its debut week this year is Taylor Swift, with her huge hit album, Fearless.

Circus has already grown on me and there are few great tracks. It's worthy to get the album!

Here is a report on Y!Music Chart Blog by Paul Grein

The Unsinkable Britney Spears
A couple of years ago, Britney Spears' career was on the slide. Her life itself was careering out of control. This week, she's back at #1 with Circus, which sold 505,000 copies. It's Spears' biggest sales week in more than five years, since her fourth album, In The Zone, opened with sales of 609,000 in November 2003. This week's tally marks a substantial improvement over Spears' last album, Blackout, which opened at #2 in November 2007 with first-week sales of 290,000.

Spears' revival echoes Mariah Carey's comeback from a similar meltdown. After the failure of her movie Glitter and some erratic public moments in 2001, Carey's days as a superstar seemed numbered. But she came back in 2005 with The Emancipation Of Mimi, which wound up as that year's #1 album.

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Billboard: Britney's 'Circus' Debuts Atop Album Chart

What? Keira Knightley Not Happy With New Boobs

This is old news, just thought of writing about this as we are on the subject of Hollywood Photoshop. What's wrong with Kiera? I would die for boobs like these HAHA! Admire her for her courage to admit.














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What? Interesting Hollywood Photoshop

What can I say? Great skills! Looking at these 'after' photos, who wouldn't want to get photoshopped?!


















Before and after: Photoshopped celebs

WTF? How Gorgeous Is Gorgeous Enough?

Now, how gorgeous is considered gorgeous enough? Jessica Alba who was voted the sexiest woman by FHM in 2007 recently did a 2009 calendar shoot for Campari, and the shots are amazing! She looks really attractive. But it was then revealed that the photos were being airbrushed. Ok, we all know that all photos nowadays do go through the Photoshop process (if you don't, where have you been?) but come on! For someone so attractive? IMHO, she looks better with her natural figure in the original photo. See also some candid shots of her... she is already beautiful without Photoshop!




































Jessica Alba Airbrushed To Look Skinnier

What? Look Ten Years Younger, Sans Botox

I wouldn't mind Botox really, it works wonders! Look at all those beautiful ageless people in Hollywood (except a few e.g. Cate Blanchett who is ageing so gracefully)

Anyway here is an article on ways to look ten years younger, the natural sensible ways.



















DON'T skip sunscreen. Experts sound like a broken record on this issue for a reason: Rain or shine, you need sunscreen to prevent skin damage and, potentially, cancer. (P.S.: It's never too late to start.)

DO drink 64 oz. of water a day. H20 is the best skin-care product out there, and probably the cheapest. Guzzling plenty of the stuff keeps your skin radiant and energy levels up.

DON'T sleep in your makeup. It will clog your pores, promote blackheads, and dehydrate your skin, all of which enhance the signs of aging. Cleansing and moisturizing every night before bed is a must.

DO use waterproof or long-lasting eyeliner and mascara, which won't run into creases around the eyes.

19 easy ways to look ten years younger

Who? Coldplay & Leona Lewis Top iTunes Chart 2008

Coldplay is huge! They rule the iTunes chart 2008. Coldplay's Viva La Vida tops the album chart while the single of the same name is at #2 for the single's chart. Jack Johnson is at #2 with Sleep Through The Static followed by the Soundtrack to Juno.

Leona Lewis' Bleeding Love is the single's #1, followed by Coldplay and Flo-rida's Low (ft T-Pain).

Album
1. Coldplay - Viva la Vida
2. Jack Johnson - Sleep Through the Static
3. Juno (Soundtrack)
4. Lil Wayne - Tha Carter III
5. Sara Bareilles - Little Voice
6. Once (Soundtrack)
7. Jason Mraz - We Sing. We Dance. We Steal.
8. OneRepublic - Dreaming Out Loud
9. Across the Universe (Soundtrack)
10. Leona Lewis - Spirit

Singles
1. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
2. Coldplay - Viva La Vida
3. Flo Rida - Low
4. Katy Perry - I Kissed a Girl
5. Rihanna - Disturbia
6. Lil Wayne - Lollipop
7. Jordin Sparks - No Air
8. Natasha Bedingfield - Pocketful of Sunshine
9. Sarah Bareilles - Love Song
10. Rihanna - Don’t Stop the Music

iTunes Best of 2008
The Most Popular Music of 2008

What? ANTM Cycle 11 in Amsterdam

Talking about Amsterdam, the last cycle (cycle 11) of America's Next Top Model Top 6 were at Amsterdam where they had to go through some challenges and finally the winner was announced a few weeks ago. One of the interesting challenges was they had to parade on the display windows, just like the sex workers. I personally think ANTM is kinda crappy, but the photo shoots are interesting and inspiring at times.


















Here are the photos of the final four taken against a very famous Dutch association - the windmill. I love Analeigh's and Marjorie's photos (the top two in the montage above)

more about ANTM Cycle 11

What? Not So Red Anymore

I have to visit Amsterdam before all the red lights are off!



















Dutch authorities have revealed details of their plans to clean up Amsterdam famous red light district. They say they will close half the city's brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafes in a bid to drive organised crime from the city centre.

Council officials gave the sex industry a warning a year ago that they were going to close some brothels.

The deputy mayor of Amsterdam says the plans will stop the city being a "free zone" for criminals.

Last year the city said it wanted to close one-third of the red light district's brothels, where scantily-clad prostitutes display themselves in shop windows.

But the new measures aim to reduce the number of sex "windows" from 482 to 243, a council spokesman said.

Amsterdam also wants to close half of the 76 marijuana shops in the city centre.

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Amsterdam to clamp down on sex shops, brothels, dope cafe

What? 25 Overlooked Great Movie Characters

And Yahoo! Movies have listed 25 characters that should have made it to the 100 Greatest Movie Characters List. The names in this list ring a louder bell than some of those who made it to the Top 100. See if you agree...

25 Overlooked Great Movie Characters

What? 100 Greatest Movie Characters

Harry Potter, Clarice Sterling, E.T., Wolverine, Freddy Krueger, Buzz Lightyear... See who else made it to the Top 100 List


















The 100 Greatest Movie Characters by Empireonline.com

Quoi? Français disent avoir besoin plus grand des préservatifs

Monet, Debussy, Depardieu, JP Gaultier, Napoleon, Platini, Zidane, Sarkozy...

BERLIN — The French say they need the largest condoms in Europe while Greeks get by on smaller ones, according to a Europe-wide study by a German consultancy that provides advice on condoms.

The study by the Singen-based Institute of Condom Consultancy was done by asking 10,500 men in 25 countries to measure their penis and enter the number into a database.

The results show Frenchmen on average claim to need 15.48 centimeters (6.09 inches) long condoms, about 3 centimeters longer than Greeks, whose condom size requirement was the most modest.

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Why? Oh Why? Do You Really Want To Hurt A Male Escort?

He used to be really pretty rite? Not exactly a boy anymore.








LONDON - Boy George, the flamboyant former Culture Club front man, was convicted Friday of falsely imprisoning a male escort.

Norwegian escort Audun Carlsen had alleged he was handcuffed to a wall hook at the singer's east London apartment on April 28, 2007. Prosecutors said Carlsen was held by the singer, whose real name is George O'Dowd, for under an hour.

Carlsen, 29, said O'Dowd swung a metal chain at him when he got loose and fled the apartment following a naked photo shoot.

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WTF? Malaysian Man Making News Worldwide

For all the wrong reasons...

A Malaysian man has been stabbed to death for refusing to stop singing and hand over the microphone at a karaoke bar, police say.

Man killed for 'hogging karaoke'
Man killed for not sharing karaoke microphone
Man killed in karaoke row

WTF? EW - Grammy's 10 Biggest Upsets

According to EW.


















Grammy's 10 Biggest Upsets

Why? Oh Why? Fashion Rocks!

Tina oh Tina. I'm sure you can hire a better stylist.