May 2, 2013

Lucky Duck Lunch with Isabella Rossellini


copied from fishbowlNY.....
 

Isabella Rossellini’s Animal Instincts

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There are lunches at Michael’s and then there are lunches at Michael’s. Today I joined Isabella Rossellini at Table One and had a fascinating conversation with her about aging, celebrity, fashion and gay geese. Stay with me … these seemingly disparate topics are all connected.  Ostensibly there to talk about Mammas, her new series for Sundance Channel which looks at the ways different creatures use their maternal instincts in nature, Isabella did get around to the topic eventually. Yet, there was no feeling of the usual PR spin to the lunch which was attended by a handful of journalists who sat enthralled by her stories of her days as an actress and model and her charming tales of growing up in Rome as the daughter of iconic actress Ingrid Bergman and director Roberto Rossellini.
“The image I have of myself doesn’t correspond to the image people have of me,” she said. “I live on Long Island and I don’t go to fancy parties and premieres. I don’t like that aspect of celebrity. I never said, ‘When I grow up I want to be a celebrity.’” She didn’t have to.  Between her famous parents, ex-husbands (Martin Scorsese and model Jon Wiedemann), her celebrated career as a model and 14-year run as the face of Lancome before the brand dismissed her in 1996 for being ‘too old,’ and her unforgettable turn as tortured nightclub singer Dorothy Vallens in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet, she secured a permanent spot in our collective consciousness without employing any of the usual contrivances associated with modern celebrity.
Isabella Rossellini and Diane Clehane
When she showed up to join the small group of journos gathered to meet her (I was lucky enough to score the best seat in the house right next to the guest of honor!) the conversation first turned to fashion as Frazier Moore asked her who designed her understated ensemble of a wool tweed cocoon coat,  navy mandarin collared silk jacket, foulard blouse and simple slacks. She gamely removed her coat to reveal the impeccably tailored pieces designed for her by Christina Bomba in Italy. “It’s less expensive than Donna Karan or Dolce & Gabbana, and I like that I can pick the fabric and have it made just for me,” she said. Isabella told us she can’t relate to the fashion-celebrity complex which has turned the red carpet into big business. “When Mama got dressed for the Oscars, she wasn’t solicited by designers. She didn’t have a committee of business people telling her what to wear. She was loyal to one or two Italian designers, and, when they could no longer make dresses for her, the costume designers from her films created something unique.”
My eye fell on her beautifully understated handbag whose jewelry-inspired clasp I immediately recognized. She designed it for Bulgari when she was working with the house a little over a year ago. “They were between administrations, and they came to me and asked if I wanted to work with them and appear in their ad campaign,” she explained. “We have a real connection because both our families are from Rome, so it was easy for me. I went to the factory because I wanted to see how the bag was going to be made, and it was extraordinary. I went to the factory in Florence, and it looked like a photo studio. But these people were true artisans; it took 15 people to make one bag. I was honored to witness their craft. Today if someone came to me and asked me to design a line, I would not do it; it would be too hard. They probably wouldn’t ask me anyway.”
After all these years, people do still ask about her role in Blue Velvet as we did today. When the comment was made that she has made some brave, bold choices in appearing so vulnerable and exposed on screen, she explained matter-of-factly: “I don’t feel that I have been bold. It is about committing to the material. When my mother made a film, she spent most of her time reading everything written by the author whose work was used for the one film. There was a passion for the work and the process. My father was the same. For me, it is about that passion. I think that is why I left New York (City), because you are solicited to do so much (promotion) and I never liked that.”
She told me that she inherited her approach to her career from her mother. “It wasn’t really advice that she gave me,” she explained. “It was really by example. My mother was very practical and down to earth. She liked to keep things simple. Simple was good.”  It’s clear in talking to her that she was never interested in the slightest in prolonging a career in front of the camera if it means being anything other than being true to herself. Still naturally beautiful at 60, she doesn’t believe in plastic surgery (“I think one must be so insecure to resort to that, because surgery is torture”) and is completely realistic about what getting older means to women in entertainment. “I don’t consider myself an actress. I’m someone who used to be an actress,” she told me. “Life goes in stages and thing fall away. It’s linked with age — there’s nothing you can do. You can be trapped at home waiting for the phone to ring with calls that never come, or you can open a new chapter in your life. ”
This new chapter started a few short years ago when Isabella found a unique way to channel her lifelong fascination with animals ( She currently shares her home with two dogs, a cat, two rescue rabbits, two chickens and two pigs — one of which was a birthday present) into some interesting projects. She’s getting her masters in animal behavior at Hunter College (“I am going slowly, taking one or two classes a semester, because I am still working. I love that I am doing it for no other reason than to satisfy my curiosity”), and she did the Webby-award winning, internationally acclaimed short film series Green Porno about the sex lives of animals. There was a second series re-titled Seduce Me after it proved difficult to get sponsors for a project with the word ‘porn’ attached. “I am so happy that Sundance stayed with me even when we couldn’t find any money.”
Mammas came out of Isabella’s reading several books on female biology where she found some interesting discoveries about the maternal instincts among animals, particularly in the writings of Marlene Zuk, who serves as a consultant on the series. After spending months on research, Isabella told me her greatest task was distilling all the information into “dense but light” content that would translate well on screen.  Among her discoveries: “Canadian geese are homosexual. Many of the female geese are. They find a male, and then when they lay the eggs they go back to their partners.” Another revelation: “The male seahorse is the one that gets pregnant. This comes out of new studies, but scientists already knew this.” As writer and director of Mammas, her unique style of subversive wit and intelligence is plainly evident. Isabella appears in each episode in fantastically elaborate animal costumes (my favorite is the fish head) in strangely hypnotic enactments. Sounds intriguing, doesn’t it? It’s airing on Mother’s Day, Sunday May 12 (the Web series will air simultaneously on sundancechannel.com).
As for what’s next, Isabella is developing a monologue on biology that she is planning to perform. “I’ve created a monster,” she said with a laugh. The producers have plans (sure to be scaled down at her request) for a very ambitious tour throughout the United States and overseas. And she’s hoping Mammas, will extend to Papas and Babies. Whatever happens, though, she will find a way to stay engaged and fulfilled. “There are so many interesting things you can do in your life if you evolve and change. What counts is that you’re happy and I am happy.”
Here’s the rundown on today’s crowd:
1. Isabella Rossellini, Suzy Berkowitz Weksel and Katie Lanegran from Sundance Chanel, Frazier Moore of AP, The Los Angeles TimesMeredith Blake, People.com‘s Caryn MidlerWSJ.com‘s Katherine Rosman and yours truly
2. Jimmy Finkelstein
3. Showtime’s Matt Blank and a blonde gal we didn’t get to meet
4. Would love to have been a fly on the wall at this table: Harvey Weinstein and Jeffrey Katzenberg

5.  Allen & Co.’s Stan Shuman
6. The “Imber Gang:” Dr. Gerald Imber, Jerry Della Femina, Andy Bergman and Jeff Greenfield
7.  Artist extraordinaire Kim McCarty (Michael McCarty‘s wife, as if you didn’t know), hosting a table of oh-so-chic pals including Simon Doonan and his husband, designer Jonathan Adler
8. The absolutely ageless Nikki Haskell (Happy Birthday!), celebrating with three pals
9. An impeccably dressed Star Jones with her equally stylish pal CBS News contributor Dr. Holly Phillips
11. Who’s that woman behind those Foster Grants? Jeanine Pirro, rocking some death-defying leopard platforms and bangs. Yowza!
12. Anne Hearst
14. Simon & Schuster’s Alice Mayhew
15. Evan Greene
16. United Stations Radio chairman and CEO Nick Verbitsky
17.  PR maven Lisa Linden and the best dressed lobbyist in New York, Suri Kasirer
18.  Random House’s Jon Meacham
19. Author Wednesday Martin
20. Wenda Millard
21.  Marshall Cohen
22. EIC of Hearst’s Design Group, the dapper Newell Turner
24. Lucianne Goldberg
25. PR guru Tom Goodman and Ed Adler
27. Producer Chuck Pfeiffer
28. Erin Malone
29.The Wall Street Journal‘s David Sanford and Lewis Stein
Faces in the Crowd: DialGlobal’s new CEO Paul Caine who is in Day Four of his new job. Time Inc’s former chief revenue officer told me he took two weeks off before starting his new post  to clear his head so he could start fresh at the audio content syndicator. Good luck in your new gig!
Please send comments and corrections to DIANECLEHANE at MEDIABISTRO dot COM and LUNCH at MEDIABISTRO dot COM.
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Welcoming Al Jazeera America.......

Al Jazeera Opening Detroit, Chicago Bureaus

Al Jazeera America has said that it plans to differentiate itself from the cable news competition by covering stories the others won’t. One way to do that is to have full bureaus in places that the competitors have either a skeleton staff or no one at all.
To that end, the channel says that it will open full bureaus in Chicago, Illinois and Detroit, Michigan. The American auto business is still based in Detroit, and that seems to be the impetus behind having a bureau there.
“We want our reporters to be where the stories are and Detroit continues to be where American business stories and trends are happening,” said Ehab Al Shihabi, executive director of international operations for Al Jazeera in a statement.
Politico’s Dylan Byers has the full list of bureaus that Al Jazeera America is planning, including New Orleans, Nashville and Seattle.


copied from TVNewser.........


from cl.....it is sooooooo fun to watch Al Jazeera English in London, not to mention all of the other news channels from around the world......I feel so international.....It seems just like CNN.........In Italy the cooking shows........the ladies are dressed up like models with spike heels......and the apple cake dessert they make, oh my gosh, if I could look like that and cook like that.......

bill o'reilly: The Ugly American

chb1zapu
bill o'reilly:  American Embarrassment
No Spin...that would be no spin according to the "truth" of bill o'reilly
Problem:  o'reilly's "truth" is "spin."
o'reilly's facts are just plain wrong
Yes, I am happy to give an example.......
Just last evening he said, after he yelled at another expert on the Islamic religion, the people of Afghanistan do not know anything.....he went on further to insult the individuals who have traditionally called Afghanistan their home.
 
Really, it was quite embarrassing.....He is the epitome of the ugly American.
My friend from Afghanistan, a lady with whom I worked for many years, a lady who was very knowledgeable, a lady who I felt honored to know.........
In her former life in Afghanistan she was a professor of pharmacy, then she was also a professor of pharmacy in Paris.
One time her son was stopped and held for a very long time at the JFK Airport in New York City.  Since he was innocent of any kind of terrorism he was released but she did remain angry.
It was not that she was not appreciative of the United States, but she would have rather been in her home country, however, that was not possible due to unrest.
It is a complicated situation.
Recently, I have seen two individuals attempt to explain facts about the people of the Muslim faith to bill but he just is not having it.  It's always the same thing.  Just the facts as long as the guest agrees with bill--if not the sit. easily turns into a shouting match. 
Bill, let's try to get all of the facts--not just "bill o'reilly" facts.  If you really love America so much try not to be soooooo embarrassing to this place we all call home.
The Ugly American...bill o'reilly......









--
chloelouise

May 1, 2013

Mostly Milan......

Mostly Milan..........

This slideshow includes a really nice dog park in the center of Milan.




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Kensington Palace, Hyde Park, London, United Kingdom




Published on May 1, 2013
These pictures were taken approximately 2 years ago during the refurbishment of Kensington Palace prior to the wedding of William and Kate. The older gentleman in the photos is Arthur, he has been going there and chatting with the squirrels for many years. He said that Princess Diana used to go jogging in Hyde Park in the mornings and occasionally they would have a little chat. The tour of the Palace was very cute and informational with girls dressed in period clothing and reenacting daily living that would have taken place there during different periods in history.

Anne Rice on Coast to Coast


What a privilege...listening to Anne Rice on Coast to Coast last night.

George Noory really knocked it out of the ballpark...we were lucky enough to hear Interview With The Vampire author, Anne Rice talk about her new book and talk about her writing techniques.

She is sooooooo encouraging to anyone trying to develop their writing skills.  She kept saying "just write, every day; and don't let anyone tell you you cannot do it!"

She also said this is her dream-come-true.  She always wanted to be a writer, she has been writing and making stories since she was a child, and now it is so wonderful that she is actually living her dream.

She said that writing skills develop as one writes--the story is born.  Anne said that she can write about two books a year.  She said she really enjoys watching television these days--she thinks we are in a new golden age of television as far a writing is concerned.  She mentioned the series Game of Thrones and the Borgias.  Ms. Rice feels like television is really doing a good job of telling the historical aspect of the dramas.

Hopefully, her new book, The Wolves of Midwinter, can be made into a series for TV--she would be honored if that happened.

Like many authors today Anne Rice loves her Facebook page and enjoys interacting with her fans.  She often will just throw out a question and see what everyone has to say.

Please...everyone....go to the Coast to Coast website and listen to Anne.  I listen to Coast to Coast every night.  It is one of my best things in life.  It is always so pleasant.  All of the hosts are real good--as in un-angry and letting the guests talk.  The result is a good, as in informational, interview.  The hosts always create a friendly environment.  It is one one the few "talk shows" where the guests or callers actually get to talk....who knew this would work.......

Anyway, I know I am not doing Anne Rice justice...please...everyone...it is great...listen to her interview.

I listen to the past shows on the website but I have heard people say they also listen on you-tube.

I am a member...I just go to the website and then jump to past shows and listen on my windows player and play spider solitaire on the comp.....now that is a good day isn't it....it is really easy to do.

Sometimes I also listen on my phone when I am walking my dog...he is the slowest dog in the United States and sometimes one wants something to do.

On the website there will be all of the pertinent information about Anne Rice and her latest publications...

here is a link now.......

http://www.coasttocoastam.com/show/2013/04/30


I copied this from the website.......

Anne Rice Interview

First hour guest, celebrated author Anne Rice talked about her life, books, and career. She described how her bestseller Interview with a Vampire evolved from a short story, and her fascination with vampires-- they are monsters who are also human; capable of having relate-able feelings yet supernatural beings who live outside of our laws. Her forthcoming book, The Wolves of Midwinter, is a continuation of her new series on man-wolves, featuring a character who kills villains while he's in the wolf state. She also offered advice to writers, suggesting they persevere, and have confidence and belief in their work.

here is the link to Anne's website:

http://annerice.com/


this is Ronnie....isn't he funny?........he likes to wear his sun glasses when he listen to to old Rockers talk on Absolute Classic Rock.......of course, Ronnie Wood is his favorite.....I've seen a picture of Mick with those exact same sunglasses.

Streets of London

Streets of London....Kensington High Street


Apr 30, 2013

Balboa Park Trails in San Diego

This area of Balboa Park Trails is very easy walking and also very beautiful at this time of the year---all of the spring wildflowers are out.  In this area dogs must be on a leash but 2 off-leash dog parks are near by.  The Morley Field Dog Park is about 2 minutes walking distance.  The area in this vid is right behind the swimming pool and the tennis courts and very near a large and uncrowded parking lot.

Sam...the mixer is not a couch!


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Jeremy Irons....Sexy, Trashy and fighting for a good cause....

Jeremy Irons talks trash for his new environmental documentary

Oscar-winning actor explains why he travelled around the world to highlight the environmental problems caused by our waste
Jeremy Irons on the set of movie Trashed
Jeremy Irons on the set of movie Trashed. Photograph: Blenheim Film
Jeremy Irons, the Oscar-winning actor, has teamed up with the British filmmaker Candida Brady to produce a new feature-length documentary called Trashed. It sets out to "discover the extent and effects of the global waste problem, as he travels around the world to beautiful destinations tainted by pollution".
Ahead of its first theatrical screenings in the US later this month, Irons answered my questions about the film via email...
We are used to actors/singers/celebrities, etc, highlighting a particular environmental cause, or narrating a documentary. But it is unusual to see someone such as yourself getting quite so involved in a project liked Trashed. [Irons was also executive producer.] How did you come to be involved so intimately in this film?
I wanted to help create a film on a subject of real social importance. Candida Brady and I talked over various possible subjects, but none, we felt, compared with the problem of waste, which affects us all, and which, despite all the evidence and research available, is not being seriously faced. I felt such a film should be made for theatrical release, rather than TV and such documentaries seem to need a personality on which to hang them. As an actor I've always seen myself as a sort of storyteller and my involvement in Trashed seemed a logical progression of that role. Apart from being the face on the screen, I was also able to help with raising the finance, and in persuading my friend Vangelis [who scored the film] to come on board with us.
You travel widely in the film - Vietnam, France, Iceland, Beirut, San Francisco, Yorkshire, the world's oceans - to report both on the problems and potential solutions associated with wasteful consumerism. Which places/people stood out for you - and why?
Each place had its particular effect on me. Sidon [south of Beirut] showed me what happens if you do nothing. [The film shows a huge rubbish dump on the beach.] Iceland showed me how state agencies can so easily be seduced by experts who promise to make their problems go away, but who become conspicuously absent when their promises do not deliver. With so many "Waste to Energy" plants applying for planning in the UK, Iceland and France's experience of them was a real eye-opener for me.
The danger of dioxins in our environment, our food chain and our bodies is difficult to illustrate, since they are not visible to the naked eye. My time in Vietnam allowed me to see the result of large quantities of them, and therefore understand better the insidiousness of the smaller quantities that have found their way into our lives and bodies.
Yorkshire and Gloucestershire, with their massive toxic waste mounds, showed me the extent of the problem in my own back yard. Since we filmed, these problems have been further exacerbated by the recent research showing that the clay used under liners, designed to prevent contamination of ground water, actually enhance the process of the toxins leaching out!
And San Francisco gave me enormous hope that, if the will is there, then these problems can be dealt with, and in a commercially profitable way.
The film talks about that much-used term - "zero waste". How close can we ever realistically get to that goal? What's more important to tackle at present: reducing our waste stream, or adopting more sensible ways to manage/dispose of our waste?
San Francisco has actually reached 80% diversion or Zero Waste this year. New York, which creates 1.5% of total global waste, currently recycles only 15% of it. State and federal government should provide legislation which designs a waste management policy right across the country. In the UK there is a similar situation in that, depending where you live, the waste management policies and goals differ greatly. I believe that most people would like to cooperate in reducing waste, but to encourage them the national policy should be clear, well advertised and consistent. Even within Greater London there is a huge discrepancy between council policies. I believe a national waste management initiative should be designed and implemented by government. Not to burn it or bury it, but to design and encourage its reduction and recycling. This time of rising unemployment seems ideally suited to the creation of a new and forward-thinking industry that could be profitable and create new jobs. If we became world leaders in recycling technology, then that expertise could be exported around the world.
The film is very critical of incineration and energy-from-waste plants, in particular the dioxins they release into the atmosphere. But was it proportionate to show footage of jars containing preserved foetuses with birth defects in a hospital in Vietnam to make the point about the health risk of exposure to high levels of dioxins? Can you really compare the health impact caused by the spraying of Agent Orange during the Vietnam war with the dioxins emitted by incinerators?
To enlarge on my earlier answer, Candida Brady, the director, thought long and hard about this and decided to show the foetuses for two reasons; firstly, because dioxins and furansPCBs, etc, are all just words, until you can actually see and understand the impact these compounds are capable of having in the human body and on life in general. We felt it was important to show this. And, secondly, a 2001 BBC Newsnight investigation found that ash from a London incinerator, dumped in the open, had a similar level of dioxins to Vietnamese soil after the spraying of Agent Orange. This is just one example we found. 
And it should be borne in mind that the monitoring of dioxin emissions in the UK could be described as casual, if not cavalier. Incinerator filters are only checked between two and four times annually for a few hours at a time. Even Belgium, which boasts the most advanced measuring system, only measures emissions over a two-week period, before averaging those emissions out over the year. Nowhere are emissions monitored constantly. So the truth is that the real quantity of dioxin emissions from incineration remains unknown. 
Finally, it is important to remember that, in the past, medical research generally looked only into the effects of these compounds at high dosage, whereas recently they have discovered evidence that dioxins are having an effect on foetuses at very, very low doses.
The film gives thanks to Sigrid Rausing at the end, presumably because she, or her trust, financially supported the film. Of course, the Rausing family famously made its fortune from food packaging. What message do you send to the packaging industry? Is it right to cast it as a "villain"? Or could it also be the key to solving our waste problem?
Tetra Pak are a good example of a company working hard to produce recyclable products, and we are very grateful to the Rausing Trust for their involvement. We tried not to cast any one as the villain in the film. Over-packaging is a complicated, though not insurmountable, problem. We have become used to food and consumables which are transported often over great distances. Intelligent packaging is essential, but I believe it should be reusable or returnable for reuse. Toxic chemicals used in the manufacture of food packaging is another, even more alarming, part of the problem. Four hundred million tonnes of chemicals are produced each year and according to a European Commission, information on the risks inherent in 99% of them is 'sketchy'. This is a regulatory issue. We need to stop toxic chemicals being used in these products in the first place.
You visit San Francisco at the end of the film and largely paint it as a beacon of hope - a place that's "doing it right" when it comes to managing waste. What other examples of "hope" and best practice can you give?
Happily, lots. There are wonderful things happening all around the world. From Nova Scotia to Kerala, Bristol to Melbourne, and even in the Philippines, zero waste is on the agenda. I think what's particularly inspiring is when communities don't wait to be told what to do, but just go ahead and do it. In northern Italy, many villages and towns have used their own initiative and achieved 70% diversion, in some cases, in less than a year.
Are we, as individual consumers, ultimately responsible for this global waste problem? Or is, in reality, now the responsibility of politicians, regulators, industry leaders, etc, to sort it out?
It is everyone's problem and all of our responsibility. It's time we were all informed and it's time to get angry and maybe even a little ashamed of ourselves. But it must be up to our elected representatives to do what they were elected for. To represent the best interests of those who put them where they are. To organise a system that will cut the amount of waste we produce, both domestically and industrially, and to mount a campaign to encourage us to recycle and re-use. Our population, and especially our children, the next generation, needs educating about the present problem of waste. For instance, plastic bag usage has risen in the last year in the UK. If you knew that there was a chance that your plastic bag was going to come back to you in your food, you might think twice about using it. The joy of the problem, unlike so many which confront us, is that it is easily surmountable.
When you were researching the film, what were your sources for information and inspiration? Was there, say, a book, film, or academic paper, that particularly influenced you?
Candida Brady collected an amazing amount of research on the subject. She would pass me that information if and when I needed it. There are more than 81 peer-reviewed published scientific papers on the film's website, most of them sources for the film. I think she would agree that the paper which disturbed her more than anything was a 2009 study of umbilical cord blood, which found up to 232 man-made industrial compounds and pollutants present in a child before it is even born. Ten out of ten babies were shown to have chlorinated dioxins in their blood.
Who are you hoping will see the film? How/where will it be distributed? Television, theatrical release, festivals, schools?
It opens in the US on the 14th December at The Quad in New York and Laemmle in LA. It will be released in South America and the UK in the spring, and we are presently finalising the distribution in Japan. Of course, I hope it will finally get distributed all around the globe, since this is clearly a global problem. We have plans to screen it for government, both in London and Washington, and I would hope that all local councils will be made aware of its presence. I cannot believe that once our policy makers have seen it they will not be forced to take action. But it is my dream to find a backer who would finance a shorter cut that we could send out to every school in the world to play in the classroom. I have no doubt, that if seen by the world's children, then, if we don't deal with the problem, they will.
What do you want people to do once they've seen the film?
I would like them to research whether there is a waste-to-energy plant planned for their area, and, if there is, to oppose it. If there is not, then to discover how their local council deals with their waste. I would like them to lobby their MPs for legislation designed to cut waste and to regulate the production of packaging, particularly plastics containing unreported toxins, and particularly where this packaging is used for foodstuffs and bottled water. I would like them to remove all packaging at the point of purchase, thereby pushing the problem one step back towards the manufacturers.
I would like them to use their ingenuity to discover how they can reduce waste both at home and in their workplace. I would like everybody to give a good shopping bag to at least one person this Christmas. And I would like them to tell their friends to see Trashed.


copied from the guardian and cbs


Let's not just go around wrecking the place............

Jeremy Irons

Irons recently produced a new documentary about recycling, titled "Trashed," which shows the terrifying possibility of a future world buried in its own garbage.

"I wanted to make a documentary about something which I thought was important and which was curable," he told CBS News' Tracy Smith. "It's not rocket science."

For more info:
"Trashed" (Official site)

By CBS News.com senior editor David Morgan
Credit: CBS News

Apr 29, 2013

David Bowie's London


David Bowie's London
Right now that would be the Victoria and Albert Museum--where the very popular David Bowie Exhibition is taking place.
In the first place the Victoria and Albert Museum is a great way to spend the day out of the cold weather that is currently plaguing my favorite city.
I could easily spend all day there--the food is excellent and reasonably priced--perfect for tea or dinner--and best of all, admission is free.
There is also an exhibition there about fashion showing styles from the 1700's to the present time.  That portion is also free and it is very worth seeing--it shows the importance of the couture designers on fashion trends and clothing construction.  My sewing teacher had spoken of the the V and A--I had been longing to see it forever--that alone was worth the visit.
The other very convenient thing about the V and A is the location--right at the south Kensington Tube Station--if it is too cold just enter the place from the tunnel underground.
When we were there we thought David Bowie must have been there in person the way the crowd was lining up straight out of the door to see him.


Needless to say the David Bowie Exhibition is very popular.

copied from the v and a website:
23 March – 11 August 2013. The V&A has been given unprecedented access to the David Bowie Archive to curate the first international retrospective of the extraordinary career of David Bowie. David Bowie is features more than 300 objects that include handwritten lyrics, original costumes, fashion, photography, film, music videos, set designs and Bowie's own instruments.
and for more info here is the link:

http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/exhibitions/david-bowie-is/
David Bowie is
--
chloelouise

Apr 24, 2013

will the re-addition of Mick Taylor to the Rolling Stones as a "guest" finally unshackle Mick Jagger from Keith Richards.....

will the re-addition of Mick Taylor to the Rolling Stones as a "guest" finally unshackle Mick Jagger from Keith Richards.....

 

copied from The National......

 

Mick Jagger's latest bid to break orbit from Keith Richards


Mick Jagger, the frontman of the Rolling Stones, has, according to Keith Richards, been unbearable for 30 years. Richards made this not altogether shocking revelation last year in Life, his appropriately named autobiography. He would also describe his love-hate relationship with Jagger as being "like a marriage with no divorce".
Looking at the band's output over that same period, it's hard to disagree. The creative spark that once propelled the Stones to the top of the world was extinguished years ago, replaced by an efficient, profitable but largely cheerless union of two of rock and roll's greatest figures.
Indeed, Tattoo You, released in 1981, marked the band's last truly great album. There have been high points since - notably, patches of 1983's Undercover and fragments of 1994's Voodoo Lounge - but the modern era has been largely fallow, a time when Jagger and Richards may have stopped fighting, but they also stopped loving each other, too.
Periodically, Jagger has tried to break free from the ties that bind, only to find out that Richards was right all along: theirs is a marriage from which there is no escape. Or is there?
Last week Jagger announced his latest bid for liberation, this time as one-fifth of a fledgling supergroup called SuperHeavy.
Despite the band's big name, Jagger is the outright star of an otherwise middleweight combination, in which the other members are Dave Stewart, most famous for being one-half of the Eighties duo Eurythmics; AR Rahman, the composer of the Slumdog Millionaire soundtrack; Damian Marley, known in these parts for cancelling his appearance at the Womad music festival last year, and Joss Stone, once a platinum-selling teenage prodigy, but most recently in the news for being the subject of a thankfully foiled murder plot.
Miracle Worker, SuperHeavy's first single, broke cover late last week (an album will follow in September) and while the reactions of Jagger's most ardent fans have generally been warm, the song has yet to seriously trouble the download charts in either the US or the UK. Which is a shame. The track, an odd and not particularly innovative mishmash of styles, features vocals by Marley, Stone and Jagger (whose opening salvo is to declare that "there's nothing wrong with you that I can't fix" - a message for Richards, perhaps?) is, nevertheless, hookey enough to warrant a place on a longish list of tracks to wile away the summer to.
According to a video posted on the SuperHeavy website, the idea for the band came to Stewart when he was in the Caribbean where, he explains in the slightly absurd manner of a mystic rock star: "I went to the top of a hill and when I got [there] a light was kind of coming through the leaves on the trees and I had this flash of how there could be a fusion of music from different parts of the world ... I never actually thought it would happen."
But happen it has, and SuperHeavy could well be Jagger's smartest move for a generation. Of all his work outside the Stones, his one-hit 1985 collaboration with David Bowie is most fondly remembered.
Now with SuperHeavy, Jagger might once again have the creative forces surrounding him to ease the burden of expectation we continue to place on the greats of a bygone era, although only time will tell whether the unusual mix of a performer-producer (Stewart), composer (Rahman), dancehall-reggae star (Marley) and soul singer (Stone) will end up delivering that elusive success or even the fusion to which Stewart alluded to.
One thing we do know: Jagger won't be distracted by his supergroup for long, especially when his best buddy-worst enemy is waiting patiently for him to roll home to the Stones. Even if we hurt the ones we love the most, we can't help returning to them either.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/music/mick-jaggers-latest-bid-to-break-orbit-from-keith-richards#ixzz2RPG8kxJZ
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the role of the US Secret Service in the murder of President Kennedy--Mark Lane Speaking at Barnes and Noble in Charlottesville

copied from facebook.....I would love to hear Mark Lane....

Dear Friends:

Exciting news. I have been invited to speak at the Barnes and Noble bookstore in Charlottesville, Virginia on Saturday, June 8 at 1:00 PM. I will be speaking about my two most recent books, Last Word and Citizen Lane. The admission is, of course, free. The address is the Barracks Road Shopping Center, at 1035 Emmet Street.

First of all, please come if you can.

Second, please notify everyone on your lists about the talk. I will be discussing a subject that we have not previously fully explored -- the role of the US Secret Service in the murder of President Kennedy.

Sincerely,

Mark
Mark Lane
The Lane Group, LLC
4 Old Farm Road
Charlottesville, VA 22903

 

I'm Muslim, and I hate terrorism

copied from CNN opinion.......
 
 
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I'm Muslim, and I hate terrorism

updated 8:29 AM EDT, Wed April 24, 2013
A woman makes a peace sign gesture at a protest in Los Angeles, California, against religious hatred.
A woman makes a peace sign gesture at a protest in Los Angeles, California, against religious hatred.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Dean Obeidallah says "despise" is not strong enough to convey how much he hates terrorism
  • He says Islam is being wrongly defined by a tiny group of morally bankrupt terrorists
  • American Muslims have denounced terror over and over, he says, but public hasn't heard
  • Terrorists are motivated by politics, he says. Not one Muslim he knows supports terror
Editor's note: Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is a political comedian and frequent commentator on various TV networks including CNN. He is the co-director of the upcoming documentary "The Muslims Are Coming!" and co-host of a new CNN podcast "The Big Three" that looks at the top three stories of the week. Follow him on Twitter @deanofcomedy.
(CNN) -- I'm an American-Muslim and I despise Islamic terrorists. In fact, despise is not even a strong enough word to convey my true feelings about those who kill innocent people in the name of Islam. I hate them with every fiber of my being.
I'm not going to tell you, "Islam is a religion of peace." Nor will I tell you that Islam is a religion of violence. What I will say is that Islam is a religion that, like Christianity and Judaism, is intended to bring you closer to God. And sadly we have seen people use the name of each of these Abrahamic faiths to wage and justify violence.
The unique problem for Muslims is that our faith is being increasingly defined by the actions of a tiny group of morally bankrupt terrorists. Just to be clear: The people who commit violence in the name of Islam are not Muslims, they are murderers. Their true religion is hatred and inhumanity.
The only people terrorists speak for are themselves and the others involved in their despicable plot. They do not represent me, my family or any other Muslim I know. And believe me, I know a lot of Muslims.
Dean Obeidallah
Dean Obeidallah
'God, don't let it be a Muslim'
Group accused of posting anti-Muslim ads
We hate these terrorists more than non-Muslims. How can I say that? Because they harm innocent people in the name of our religion and consequently we suffer a backlash because of their acts. It can be anything from a spike in hate crimes to people viewing Muslims as less than fully American because of our faith. We are the ones called to answer for the sins of people we detest.
Since the Boston bombing has renewed for some concerns about Muslims, I wanted to candidly answer three questions I have been asked repeatedly over the years:
1. Why do some Muslims commit terrorism?
I'm not a terrorism expert but I will share the view of those I have spoken to in the Muslim community. There can be no doubt that some Muslims wrongly believe that their terrorist act is sanctioned by Islam. But to us their true motivation is not religious, but rather political.
Islam is simply used by terrorists as a way to recruit support.They then engage in terrorism to bring attention to their grievances or to achieve their political agenda, just as other terror groups have done in the past.
The recent statement of the Islamic militant group in the Caucasus region denying involvement in the Boston bombing makes this very point. They expressly tell us that they have a specific political agenda: "The Caucasian Mujahideen are not fighting against the United States of America. We are at war with Russia, which is not only responsible for the occupation of the Caucasus, but also for heinous crimes against Muslims."
2. Why don't Muslims denounce terrorism?
Just to be clear: American Muslims and U.S. Muslim organizations have unequivocally denounced terror attacks. Not just once, but over and over.
But that doesn't matter if you haven't heard it. And despite our best efforts to get this message out there, what attracts more media attention: A Muslim denouncing terrorism or footage of an explosion?
Does that mean that we will stop denouncing terrorism? Of course not. But we will have to be more creative in our efforts to attract media coverage to make this point to our fellow Americans.
3. Why don't Muslims stop blowing stuff up?
I have never blown up anything, except maybe a model toy tank when I was a kid. Nor has any other Muslims I've met in person or even on Facebook. But still we are charged by many with the task of policing a religion of more than a billion people.
Although this may not change some people's perception, statistically Muslims have not been the ones involved in most terror plots in the United States. In fact, since 1995, 88% of the domestic terrorist plots have been by right-wing groups, ecoterrorists and anarchists, according to an analysis by the Center for American Progress. But still, 12% were Muslims.
Believe me, we wish that number were zero. But here's the brutal truth: Neither law enforcement nor the American Muslim community can stop every radical or criminal who happens to be Muslim. A "lone wolf" can devise his or her evil plan in secret, making detection almost impossible.
But we are trying. As L.A. County Sheriff Lee Baca testified before Congress in 2011, seven of the past 10 al Qaeda plots in the United States were foiled by tips from the American Muslim community.
And just this past Sunday, NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly told CNN's Fareed Zakaria that his department has a strong working relationship with the New York City Muslim community.
And it's not only American-Muslims working with law enforcement to stop radicals, but Canadians as well. Just this week we saw an Islamic terror plot prevented because of tips from the Canadian-Muslim community to law enforcement
It is my hope that in time, Muslims will not be defined to my fellow Americans by the handful of terrorists, but by the millions of others who are involved in all aspects of American life. Well-known American Muslims range from former NBA star Shaquille O'Neal, TV personality Dr. Oz, U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison to police officers, teachers, judges, deli workers, cab drivers and the millions of American Muslims in between.
These people, not the terrorists, are the true Muslims.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion.
The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Dean Obeidallah.