Saturday, November 10, 2007

"Enjoy a refreshing ham soda"

from cnn.com

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- Coming soon next to the Coke and Pepsi in a store near you: ham-and latke-flavored soda to make your holiday feast complete. 

Jones Soda's Christmas Pack flavors are Sugar Plum, Egg Nog, Christmas Tree and Christmas Ham.

It even will be kosher, the company making it says -- including the ham.

Jones Soda Co., the Seattle-based purveyor of offbeat fizzy water, is selling holiday-themed limited-edition packs of flavored sodas.

The Christmas pack will feature such flavors as Sugar Plum, Christmas Tree, Egg Nog and Christmas Ham. The Hanukkah pack will have Jelly Doughnut, Apple Sauce, Chocolate Coins and Latkes sodas.

"As always, both packs are kosher and contain zero caffeine," Jones said in a statement.

The packs will go on sale Sunday, with a portion of the proceeds to be given to charity, the company said.

Jones' products feature original label art and frequently odd flavors. Last year's seasonal pack was Thanksgiving-themed, with Green Pea, Sweet Potato, Dinner Roll, Turkey and Gravy, and Antacid sodas.

For its contract to supply soda to Qwest Field, home of the Seattle Seahawks, Jones came up with Perspiration, Dirt, Sports Cream and Natural Field Turf. The company -- fortunately or unfortunately -- prides itself on the accuracy of the taste.

Jones also makes more traditional flavors, including root beer, cherry and strawberry sodas.

"Wicked ultra-modern DJ table: $3,600.00"

as seen on uncrate.com

DJ Kreemy Table

This ultra modern DJ Table from designer Karim Rashid ($3,600) was designed specifically to make you look great even if your lackluster vinyl collection isn't exactly making the crowd bounce. It's got room for two turntables, mixer, and has a dual lighting system of two 25watt lamps and a concealed power cord. Made of molded fiberglass with a steel base, the turntable station is finished with Dupont automotive paint and is available in white, yellow, orange, pink and other custom colors.

Friday, November 9, 2007

'Mr. Toilet' builds commode-shaped house"

from yahoo.com - By BURT HERMAN, Associated Press Writer
 
'Mr. Toilet' builds commode-shaped house

Sim Jae-duck has made his political career as South Korea's Mr. Toilet by beautifying public restrooms. Now he's got a home befitting his title: a toilet-shaped domicile complete with the latest in lavatory luxury.

Sim is building the two-story house set to be finished Sunday to commemorate the inaugural meeting later this month of the World Toilet Association. The group, supported by the South Korean government, aims no less than to launch a "toilet revolution," by getting people to open their bathroom doors for the sake of improving worldwide hygiene.

Representatives from 60 countries will gather in Seoul to spur the creation of national toilet associations of their own and spread the word about hygiene. Organizers argue the issue deserves greater attention and cite U.N. figures that some 2.5 billion people live without proper sanitation or water supplies.

"The toilet revolution should start with talking about toilet issues freely," said Song Young-kwon, head of the organizing committee for the five-day conference that opens Nov. 21.

The Seoul conference will be accompanied by a toilet expo featuring exhibits to excite the public about the cause: including a "Hansel and Gretel" bathroom made from cookies and candy that gives presents to children when they flush, and a "toilet gallery cafe" where people can sit on colorful commodes while drinking tea.

Sim, a lawmaker in the National Assembly, hopes his house in his hometown Suwon, some 30 miles south of Seoul, will help bring attention to the cause and is seeking a guest to pay $50,000 to stay one night with the proceeds to benefit the association that hopes to work with developing nations to build more and better toilets.

Several candidates have already expressed interest, but Sim said he would choose someone who can appropriately represent his cause — with the proceeds set to fund his foundation's work. Visitors just wanting a glimpse inside the bowl will be charged a $1 donation.

"Toilets stand central to people's lives," Sim said as workers scurried to put the finishing touches on the home — including installing the final toilet inside.

The toilet theme is central to the house named Haewoojae, or a "place to solve one's worries," shaped like a 24 1/2-foot-tall toilet bowl. Thinking of how to push forward his cause of having better hygiene and sanitation, Sim tore down his former home to build the $1.1 million building.

In case they had any doubt about who would choose to live here, a plaque inscribed "Mr. Toilet's House" greets visitors. As a former mayor of Suwon, Sim spearheaded a campaign to beautify the city's restrooms — part of a national push to spruce up the country's facilities for hosting events such as the 1988 Summer Olympics and 2002 World Cup.

A showpiece bathroom at the center of the 4,520-square-foot house is on display through a floor-to-ceiling window made of glass that turns opaque at the touch of a button. When guests enter to do their business, a motion sensor activates classical music.

The bathroom emerges into a spacious living room featuring a grand staircase and lined by windows curving around the rounded facade of the building.

The home has four bathrooms that include a whirlpool bathtub, urinals and large glass showers.

Occupants gain access to the roof balcony around the rim of the "bowl" by climbing up stairs through what would be a toilet drain — which is equipped to collect rain for some functions to conserve drinking water. The home is encased in smooth, white-painted steel that appears similar to the ceramics used to make toilets.

"StealthSurfer USB Storage Device Keeps Web Spies At Bay"

 
from foxbusiness.com - by Donna Fuscaldo 
 
StealthSurfer USB Storage Device Keeps Web Spies At Bay
 
Private eyes won't be watching you anymore, at least on the Internet.

Vancouver, BC-based Hush Communications has been selling a portable USB storage device called the StealthSurfer that enables you to surf the Web anonymously and will now alert you if you are making a purchase on a potentially fraudulent Web site. 

For $179, consumers get a 2GB miniature storage device, with built in software that blocks anyone from seeing the Web sites you're visiting, whether you're using your home computer,  a computer at Starbucks  Corp. or surfing on a wireless network.

That means you won't get busted for shopping at work during office hours. It also means your spouse won't have to know every Web site you're frequenting. The computer you're using does need Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP operating system for the technology to work.

"When using the tool and surfing the Web the IP address will not be apparent,'' said Ben Cutler, Chief Executive at Hush Communications. "It works with any computer." 

Hush Communications originally started out selling the StealthSurfer device on its Web site but was so impressed with it that the company acquired the business a couple of months ago.

 "We saw the traffic it generated and when the opportunity presented itself we bought the whole business,'' said Cutler. He declined to comment on how much Hush paid for the StealthSurfer business.

The StealthSurfer drive, small enough to fit on a key chain, is plugged into a computer at which point you're prompted to provide a user name and password. Once that's done, software automatically loads that lets you surf the Web anonymously. An added level of security will alert you to a phishing scam which happens when you visit a Web site that you think is real but is really designed to steal all of your personal information.

While most phishing scams come via email, prompting you to click a link to visit a fake Web site, Cutler said there have been cases in which consumers think they are on the check out page of a retailer only to be duped into giving personal information to a scammer. When it is determined to be a potentially fake site, the URL in the browser will turn red. Built into the device is software called Roboform that allows you to store all of your different logons and passwords and a free one year subscription to the company's email service. 


This time of year sees a surge in Internet shopping as well as scams, so Hush Communications is positioning the device as a way to engage in online shopping during the holidays with peace of mind. The hefty price tag and the fact that most phishing scams originate from e-mail may act as deterrents to wide spread adoption. The company also sells a 4 GB version for $225 and an 8GB version for $279.

"From a phishing standpoint, the problem occurs more from email,'' said Rob Enderle founder of Enderle Group. "Even with this technology it doesn't prevent someone from doing something stupid like physically entering information."

Enderle said the idea of anonymously surfing the Web is more attractive than protecting surfers from fraud. Not the mention that the device does let you storage documents and files.

 "This has more uses keeping people from knowing what your doing,'' said Enderle. "What you get is a storage drive and the other capabilities for free."  

"Jay-Z bans his new album from iTunes"

from digitalspy.co.uk - By Kimberley Dadds

Jay-Z bans his new album from iTunes

Jay-Z has banned his new album from being downloaded on the iTunes website because he has insisted that it is a "work of art" that should be bought in its entirety.

The rapper wants the whole American Gangster LP, which is a made-up soundtrack to the new Ridley Scott movie of the same name, to be bought as a single entity rather than individual tracks.

Jay-Z, real name Shawn Carter, said: "As movies are not sold scene by scene, this collection will not be sold as individual singles."

** FYI: This album is far from a masterpiece, but whateva... - Ace:)


"Musician Claims Music Notes Coded Into Da Vinci's 'Last Supper'

ROME (AP)  —  It's a new Da Vinci code, but this time it could be for real.

An Italian musician and computer technician claims to have uncovered musical notes encoded in Leonardo Da Vinci's "Last Supper," raising the possibility that the Renaissance genius might have left behind a somber composition to accompany the scene depicted in the 15th-century wall painting.

"It sounds like a requiem," Giovanni Maria Pala said. "It's like a soundtrack that emphasizes the passion of Jesus."

Painted from 1494 to 1498 in Milan's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie, the "Last Supper" vividly depicts a key moment in the Gospel narrative: Jesus' last meal with the 12 Apostles before his arrest and crucifixion, and the shock of Christ's followers as they learn that one of them is about to betray him.

Pala, a 45-year-old musician who lives near the southern Italian city of Lecce, began studying Leonardo's painting in 2003, after hearing on a news program that researchers believed the artist and inventor had hidden a musical composition in the work.

"Afterward, I didn't hear anything more about it," he said in an interview with The Associated Press. "As a musician, I wanted to dig deeper."

In a book released Friday in Italy, Pala explains how he took elements of the painting that have symbolic value in Christian theology and interpreted them as musical clues.

Pala first saw that by drawing the five lines of a musical staff across the painting, the loaves of bread on the table as well as the hands of Jesus and the Apostles could each represent a musical note.

This fit the relation in Christian symbolism between the bread, representing the body of Christ, and the hands, which are used to bless the food, he said. But the notes made no sense musically until Pala realized that the score had to be read from right to left, following Leonardo's particular writing style.

In his book — "La Musica Celata" ("The Hidden Music") — Pala also describes how he found what he says are other clues in the painting that reveal the slow rhythm of the composition and the duration of each note.

The result is a 40-second "hymn to God" that Pala said sounds best on a pipe organ, the instrument most commonly used in Leonardo's time for spiritual music.

Alessandro Vezzosi, a Leonardo expert and the director of a museum dedicated to the artist in his hometown of Vinci, said he had not seen Pala's research but that the musician's hypothesis "is plausible."

Vezzosi said previous research has indicated the hands of the Apostles in the painting can be substituted with the notes of a Gregorian chant, though so far no one had tried to work in the bread loaves.

"There's always a risk of seeing something that is not there, but it's certain that the spaces (in the painting) are divided harmonically," he told the AP. "Where you have harmonic proportions, you can find music."

Vezzosi also noted that though Leonardo was more noted for his paintings, sculptures and visionary inventions, he was also a musician. Da Vinci played the lyre and designed various instruments. His writings include some musical riddles, which must be read from right to left.

Reinterpretations of the "Last Supper" have popped up ever since "The Da Vinci Code" fascinated readers and movie-goers with suggestions that one of the apostles sitting on Jesus' right is Mary Magdalene, that the two had a child and that their bloodline continues.

Pala stressed that his discovery does not reveal any supposed dark secrets of the Catholic Church or of Leonardo, but instead shows the artist in a light far removed from the conspiratorial descriptions found in fiction.

"A new figure emerges — he wasn't a heretic like some believe," Pala said. "What emerges is a man who believes, a man who really believes in God."

"Coney Island rebirth"

from ny.metro.us - by amy zimmer / metro new york

Coney Island rebirth

Thor Equities hammered as city unveils new plan

CONEY ISLAND. Thor Equities' $2 billion Las Vegas-style plans for Coney Island were shoved aside by the Bloomberg administration Thursday as the mayor unveiled a new vision to transform 19 blocks with apartments, retail space, hotels and a year-round amusement park.

Thor had wanted to develop condos on the boardwalk near Astroland, which it owns. The city wants Thor to build in the Keyspan Park parking lot so another developer can ensure the "world's most famous urban amusement park" remains so "in perpetuity." To do so, the city wants to negotiate either a land swap or to buy out Thor and other property owners.

Thor's Joe Sitt was "disappointed" by the decision, but said he'll continue to work with the city to do "what's best for the people of Coney Island."

Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff said the city would seek "a developer who has real world-class experience in developing a one-in-a-kind, completely unique [attraction] that pays homage to the history of Coney Island." He added, "It's a very different business than developing a shopping center," which is Sitt's background.

Rezoning the amusement area could bring "a high-speed roller coaster that would wind through the district," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. Other "thrilling new icons" to join the Cyclone could include a skating rink, performance spaces and "a year-round water park and hotel with slides, rides and awesome year-round aquatic attractions." The approval process for the plan will begin next year.

Residents and business owners at a Coney Island Development Corporation meeting last night were cautiously optimistic.

Dick Zigun, president of Coney Island USA, praised the city for stepping in and preserving the amusements, but he also said the plan needs some "fine tuning" regarding the type of retail the city hopes to attract and whether new buildings would be taller than the parachute jump. "Can we do what Paris does, where nothing goes higher than its national monument?" he asked.

"I think it's better than any plan we've seen," said Astroland worker Ruth Magwood. "It looks like a great plan now, but you never know what they can sneak in."

Three new zones

"Coney East" (West 8th to West 19th streets between Surf Avenue and the Boardwalk): the amusement district.

"Coney North" (bounded by Stillwell Avenue, West 20th Street and Mermaid and Surf avenues): up to 1,800 apartments and 100,000 square feet of retail.

"Coney West" (between West 19th and West 24th streets and south of Surf Avenue): 2,700 apartments and 360,000 square feet of retail space.



"ALICIA KEYS "As I Am" : My Review"

I've been a fan of Alicia's since the beginning. I didn't love every track she's ever laid down, but I do believe I fall into the 'fan' category. That said, below is my unbiased review of her new album "As I Am"  - Ace:)

1. "AS I AM" (intro) - Mellow little ivory tickling action followed by am amateur-ishly programmed drum track which uses the snare from Joeski Love's Hip-Hop classic "Pee-Wee's Dance" - ends with applause - it works for what it is I suppose...


2. "GO AHEAD" - The beat isn't that great.... Chord progression is pretty nice.. Her vocals were produced well. Chorus is monotonous. Cool little Stevie Wonder'esque keyboard sounding thing happening...  Is that Billy Squier's "Big Beat" drum sample running towards the end of the song?!? If it is, it is not in synch with the main drum track. Sloppy on purpose? I don't know!


3. "SUPERWOMAN" - (Co-written by Linda Perry) Vintage sounding piano at the top... Again great production with regards to her vocals. Lots of signature Alicia Keys "yeah's" going on. This is one of those uplifting songs that all the females can burn their bras to. (no offense to any bra-burning females reading this)  While it sounds nothing like "A Woman's Worth" it does contain the same spirit. Potential single here.


4. "NO ONE" - Never liked it. Never will. The end.


5. "LIKE YOU'LL NEVER SEE ME AGAIN" - This track sounds like Rose Royce's "I'm going down" in the beginning. Whispery vocals....  The snare bothers me. There's one turn VERY reminiscent of Prince's "Diamonds and Pearls". Pretty good overall. Nice bump-n-grind album cut.


6. "LESSON LEARNED" (ft. John Mayer) - Brilliant track. Well produced.... John Mayer's gee-tar is working for sure. Their voices sound nice together surprisingly. Nice piano... A fine vocal performance. Another hit single for Ms. Keys.


7. "WRECKLESS LOVE" - GREAT DRUMS!!! Fab double time vocal pattern... Sweet vocal performance once again. Strings.. Horns...  SMOKIN' track for sure. As they said way back in the days 'A real toe-tapper'. Big single here.


8. "THE THING ABOUT LOVE" - (co-written by Linda Perry) Zzzzzzzzzzz...... It picks up when she 'takes it to tha bridge though'. Her voice sounds nice here too. Not Auto-Tuned all to hell, which is nice these days. Something about this song makes me want to hear it used as a movie theme. Dunno... Decent track overall.


9. "TEENAGE LOVE AFFAIR" -  The 70's are back y'all! Well, they never left as far as my musical listening habits are concerned. Anyways, total throwback cut. Reminds me of Main Ingredients' "Everybody Plays The Fool". Lots of vocal fills (yeah.uhh) in the background. There's also an Alicia speaking section of the song. The song's a smash. My favorite track on the album.


10. "I NEED YOU" - Nice Neptunes'esque drums. Kind of a boring chune. Interesting use of horns. Suspect lyric: "I Need You, Like the desert needs rain". YIKES. This song runs way too long (5:00) - Album filler.

11. "WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE" - Intro Starts off sounding like an old 78 record complete with that distant mono vinyl record scratch, pop, and crackle.. Again, they used the kick and snare from Billy Squire's "Big Beat". Come on now...  Suspect lyric #2: "Tracks of my tears"?? - Sung repeatedly. Ummmm..... Paying homage to a classic is one thing... Being cliché is another. Not really feeling this one. Glorified album filler. Perhaps they can do a remix for the UK with Dizzee Rascal chanting some unintelligible nonsense on it.

12. "PRELUDE TO A KISS" - Alicia and a piano. 2 minute song. Why?? Album filler.

13. "TELL YOU SOMETHING" (Nana's Reprise) . Well produced song. Rather uneventful however. A bit boring. Nice little drum roll here and there.... Decent album cut.

14. "SURE LOOKS GOOD TO ME" - (co-written by Linda Perry) BLATANT rip-off of Stevie Wonder's "I Was Made To Love Her" to the point where he should sue her ass. FOR REAL. The drums are crap, and she's shouting. Attempting to be one of those 'go out there and conquer the world - you can do it!" songs. Not feeling it. Cut Stevie a check. Sloppy.
 
 
Overall I'm giving the album a C+. I just feel that it could have had more killer and less filler. At the end of the day I do recommend picking it up. There are enough solid tracks to make the purchase worth it. - Ace:)

MY TOP 4 FAVORITE TRACKS ON THE ALBUM
 
#1. "TEENAGE LOVE AFFAIR"
#2. "WRECKLESS LOVE"
#3. "LESSON LEARNED" (ft. John Mayer)
#4. "SUPERWOMAN"
 
 

"Conan O'Brien's Priest stalker"

By SAMANTHA GROSS, Associated Press Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - A priest has been arrested on charges of stalking late-night talk show host Conan O'Brien by writing him threatening notes on parish letterhead, contacting his parents and showing up at his studio, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The Rev. David Ajemian, a priest in the Archdiocese of Boston, was arrested last week while trying to enter a taping session of NBC's "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" at New York's Rockefeller Plaza, said Barbara Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan prosecutor's office.

Ajemian referred to himself as "your priest stalker" in one note and complained of not being allowed in to see an earlier taping of the O'Brien show, court papers say.

"Is this the way you treat your most dangerous fans?" the note said.

The letters and e-mails, which started coming in September 2006, continued even after Ajemian was asked to stop and were "intended to cause annoyance and alarm," Thompson said.

"I want a public confession before I ever consider giving you absolution — or a spot on your couch," wrote Ajemian, who signed the notes "Padre," Thompson said.

Ajemian also has been in contact with O'Brien's parents, Thompson said.

A telephone message left Wednesday night at St. Mary-St. Catherine of Siena Church in Boston, which Ajemian gave as his address, was not immediately returned.

O'Brien is not commenting, an NBC spokesman said.

The Boston Archdiocese said in a statement that Ajemian had been placed on leave and was no longer allowed to minister publicly. O'Brien has participated in fundraising activities for the archdiocese.

The priest and the late-night host may have attended Harvard University at the same time. O'Brien graduated in 1985, and Ajemian graduated from high school in 1979 before attending the Ivy League school, according to an alumni magazine published by his high school.

The priest could face up to a year in prison if convicted of aggravated harassment and stalking.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

"Alicia Keys' MySpace Page Sings with Malicious Code"

Alicia Keys' MySpace Page Sings with Malicious Code

The MySpace pages for singer Alicia Keys and other musicians were hacked with a seemingly new type of hack, says a security expert.

Steven Schwankert, IDG News Service

Keys' MySpace page and that of others, including a Scottish band and a French band, were flagged by users of Exploit Prevention Labs' LinkScanner software, which blocks pages containing malicious code. The discovery came after users began reporting that Keys' page was blocked, according to Roger Thompson, chief technology officer of LinkScanner.com.

"When we saw it was MySpace and Alicia Keys, we took a good look at it," he said in an interview.

When a visitor views the page, an exploit first attempts to install malware on the visitor's computer if it is not properly patched. Thompson said he was not sure yet which flaw the malware was looking to exploit. If that is not successful, the user is then asked to install a fake codec to view a video. Thompson explains the process in this video.

If both of those should fail, the user is also vulnerable if he or she clicks anywhere on the page that is not a legitimate link--including the ads. "If your mouse slips a bit from what you meant to click, you get the background [link]," which references a site based in China, co8vd.cn, and also attempts to install malicious code. Thompson said he had not seen that kind of "image-background link" before.

The domain is registered to Xiamen Hua Shang Sheng Shi Network Co. Ltd., in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, according to the China Internet Network Information Centre's WHOIS listing. The company could not immediately be contacted for comment.

Because the attack affected several different pages, including one of a high-profile figure like Keys, Thompson believes this is a hack of MySpace, and not a case of attackers simply uncovering the user names and passwords for those pages.

MySpace said it had already taken care of the problem.

"Individuals who try to phish our members are violating the law and are not welcome on MySpace. We have blocked and removed the source of this phishing attempt and restored the profile," a MySpace spokesperson said by e-mail. Thompson confirmed that the Keys page was now clean, but added, "We'll see what happens over the next few days."

The hackers success with Keys' page, which Thompson described as "lucky," couldn't come at a better time for them--or worse for the musician. Keys, a Grammy Award-winning singer with several platinum albums, will put out her latest release, "As I Am," on Nov. 13.

"Sex Pistols kick off comeback tour 30 years on"

LONDON (Reuters) - A group of 50-somethings will try to put some anarchy back into rock'n'roll on Thursday as the Sex Pistols launch their brief reunion tour with a gig at Brixton Academy in London.

The British foursome are getting back together to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their seminal album "Never Mind the Bollocks ... Here's the Sex Pistols," considered one of punk music's most influential records.

"I'm back, and I'm here to kick some bottom," lead singer John Lydon told the Daily Telegraph.

The 51-year-old, still snarling after all these years, now lives in Los Angeles, where the band performed a small gig last month as a warm-up to a sellout seven-night set in Britain -- five in Brixton and shows in Manchester and Glasgow.

"It started out as one night at Brixton," Lydon said.

"We thought may be 5,000 will want to see us, but it's turned into a bigger monster than any of us had any concept of. It'll be awfully tiring on the old tonsils."

The tour reunites the four surviving members of the band behind pioneering punk tracks "God Save the Queen" and "Anarchy in the U.K."

Lydon is joined by guitarist Steve Jones, 52, bass player Glen Matlock and drummer Paul Cook, both 51.

The Sex Pistols formed in 1975, united by limited musical ability and a vague belief that they had an alternative to the pompous music of the day.

Matlock, a key songwriter, was ousted in early 1977. He was replaced by Sid Vicious, who could not play bass at all but is considered the band's best-known member.

"Never Mind the Bollocks" topped the U.K. charts in 1977 but Lydon quit the following January during a disastrous American tour. Vicious died of a drug overdose in 1979.

The band first reunited in 1996 for their "Filthy Lucre Tour" and then again in 2002 and 2003. Lydon and Jones live in Los Angeles, the others in London.

The Sex Pistols were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame last year but refused to show up, sending a rude, handwritten note instead.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White; Editing by Steve Addison and Paul Casciato)

Image by me:) - Ace

"Cops raid Amy Winehouse's flat"

from transworldnews.com
 
Amy Winehouse's London home was raided by police on Thursday. The troubled singer was not arrested, but four men were arrested at addresses in east London in the same operation. The men ranged in age from 19 to 25 and were arrested for "perverting the course of justice."

Neither Winehouse nor her husband Blake Fielder-Civil was home at the time of the raid. It is unclear why police stormed the singer's house. Police would only say, "Investigations are ongoing."

 

Winehouse had a run-in with Norway police in October. She was arrested an charged with procession of marijuana.

"Library boasts largest music collection in U.S."

from bgnews.com By: Kelly Nightingale

BGSU's 'broken record': Library boasts largest music collection in U.S.
(Bowling Green, Ohio)


Archivist credited with amplifying the University's recordings to more than 700,000

Take one step into Bill Schurk's office and it's clear why the University's sound recording archivist is responsible for making the school's music library the largest in the country, with more than 700,000 recordings.

Everything in his office confirms his passion for music: Hundreds of records clutter his floor, an animated "Dancin', Shoutin'" James Brown doll, a "Doowop" license plate hanging from his door and vintage band posters line his walls.

For the 40 years Schurk has worked in the recording archives, he has lived and breathed popular music.

Schurk is chiefly credited for expanding the University's music collection to the size it is today, and did so by receiving numerous donations and gifts.

"To think that I've had something to do with every record, every book - it's neat," Schurk said. "Before I came here, there was nothing."

Schurk started his library career all the way back in junior high, where he was a page for the Cleveland Public Library.

After high school, he went to General Motors Institute, a co-op university where he prepared to be an engineer.

His career as an engineer was never fulfilled, however, and his unsatisfactory grades prompted him leave GMI and think about a different career path.

Schurk enrolled at the University in 1963 where he obtained a bachelor's degree in English. He then went on to Western Reserve Library School and completed a one-year graduate program.

Schurk then turned back to BGSU just as the director of the Jerome Library was looking to hire for new positions.

After spending the entire interview talking about jazz records, Schurk was offered a job in the music library and has remained there ever since.

"I've never really had to go job hunting," Schurk said.

In the library, Schurk spends his days selecting and archiving records, books and catalogues to be added to the collection, as well as working the service window.

Rebekah Burchfield, a second-year Ph.D student and Schurk's assistant, said Schurk is great to work with because of his "goofy" sense of humor and personable nature.

Burchfield was also impressed with Schurk's extensive knowledge about popular music, which rivals others' throughout the country. "The term national treasure is not an exaggeration," said Burchfield.

Jay Grayson, a sophomore who works in the library shelving records and CDs, also loves the time he spends with Schurk. "He's a fanatic in every good sense of the word," Grayson said.

Schurk's passion is also evident in his home life.

Kristin Tuttle, 36, and one of Schurk's three children, said there was always music in the house growing up and it was sometimes hard to get her dad to turn it off.

Tuttle still recalls sitting on hotel beds during vacations while her dad flipped through the phone book to find the closest Goodwill in town to hunt for used records.

Even now, Schurk loves going to the Goodwill and Salvation Army to try to find materials to add to his collection.

Tuttle also said her father is a good role model for her and her siblings. "He's so energetic and passionate about his job," Tuttle said. "He's really such a kid at heart."

Schurk said he doesn't know when he will make the choice to retire from the library. But after listening to music for 67 years and surrounding himself with countless tunes at work, a harder choice may be simply determining his favorite band.

"Don't ever ask me what my favorite rock and roll artist is," he said. "There are just too many."

"Records get new life as headwear"














from edp24.co.uk - by Dominic Chessum


They are a musical relic of a bygone age but it seems today's Ipod generation have found a unique use for old vinyl records.

While plugged in to the latest music, downloaded onto their MP3 players, two young fashionistas from Norfolk have created a new line in headgear that pays homage to the roots of playing music at home.

The pair, who style themselves Bad Hatters, have taken to making wacky headgear out of old singles and LPs - and what started as a hobby is spinning quickly into big business.

The elaborate fascinators are selling like hotcakes and have even attracted celebrity interest.

Now Kirsty Alston, 22, and Hollie Etheridge, 21, who are both graphic art students at Norwich School of Art and Design, are working flat out just to keep up with demand.

And with the slogan "Every day is ladies' day," they are hoping to cause a storm at Ascot next year.

Ms Alston said: "We have sold about 155 so far and have an order for 200 more for a festival next year.

"We are also preparing another 50 for a special hat launch we are holding in Norwich next month."

The pair, who share a house in Alby, near Aylsham, began making the fascinators in April 2006. Both are into dance music and spent hours listening to dance records until, one day, they got out a glue gun and decided to do something a little bit different with them.

Ms Etheridge said: "We took 50 of them to the Glade music festival near Reading this year and we sold them all by Saturday afternoon. All different kids of people buy them and the bigger ones are popular with the drag queens in Soho in London.

"We did some for a wedding and we are hoping to see them at Ascot next year."

The hats range in price from £10 to £30 and can feature flowers, sequins, feathers and gemstones atop a vinyl disc the pair get from charity shops.

The pair also take commissions through their website and say they have several celebrities interested in their work.

But though the fascinating idea may be on the verge of making it big, neither has forgotten why they started.

"Life is just better with hats," said Ms Alston.

For more information go to www.myspace.com/thebadhatters


"In test, nicotine-blocking vaccine helps smokers quit "

from the nj star ledger - by angela stewart

In test, nicotine-blocking vaccine helps smokers quit

An experimental nicotine vaccine that works by zapping the pleasure of cigarette smoking has significantly improved the ability of people to quit, according to the latest data from a study.

The findings presented yesterday to the American Heart Association were based on a trial involving 310 patients who smoked an average of 24 cigarettes (1.2 packs) a day. After five injections of the vaccine over six months, 16 percent of the smokers were able to abstain completely from cigarettes over the next 12 months, versus 6 percent of a group of 100 people who received placebos.

"I believe data from this trial are very encouraging -- for smokers who are trying to quit as well as for the field of smoking-cessation vaccines," said lead investigator Stephen Rennard, a professor of medicine at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The vaccine, called NicVAX and manufactured by Nabi Pharmaceuticals of Boca Raton, Fla., is designed to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that bind nicotine in the bloodstream, preventing it from entering the brain, which normally produces positive-sensation stimulants as a response to cigarette smoking.

Five injections over six months is considered the optimal dose.

The data presented yesterday at the annual American Heart Association Scientific Sessions in Orlando, Fla., seemed to confirm the abstinence trends seen at previous intervals in the study.

Six months after being vaccinated, 24.6 percent of smokers who had a higher level of nicotine-specific antibodies in their bodies reported they had abstained from cigarettes for the previous eight weeks, compared with 13 percent of smokers who had received a placebo.

Ten percent of smokers who had a lower level of nicotine-specific antibodies in their system quit smoking in the same time period.

Some experts in New Jersey questioned whether a vaccine would find acceptance among people looking to quit, considering other smoking-cessation methods have shown to be effective.

"If given the choice of taking a pill, putting on a patch or chewing some gum, it seems like those are an easier way to do it, rather than having to go to your doctor to get an injection," said Jonathan Foulds, a professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey's School of Public Health in New Brunswick.

He added that such a vaccine might be instrumental in preventing people from taking up cigarettes in the first place.

"If someone is at high risk of becoming a smoker, in theory you could vaccinate them so they wouldn't get any effect from smoking," he said.


"Stripper Mistakenly Sent to School, Whips Teen"

from foxnews.com

Officials at a U.K. high school were aghast after a stripper visited a student during class and whipped him in front of other students and a horrified teacher, Sky News reported Thursday.

A booking error is to blame after a mother arranged to send a "gorilla gram" to her son on his 16th birthday, an arrangement she cleared with Nottingham's Arnold Hill School and Technology College. Instead, the agency sent a stripper clad in a policewoman costume, Sky reported.

After whipping the teen, the stripper placed a collar around his neck and led him around the classroom with a leash, telling him he had been a "bad boy" for not doing his homework. She then put on a Britney Spears tune and stripped for the shocked class, witnesses told Sky.

The police were not called and no one was suspended from the school in the incident, and officials said they were investigating.

"Hip-Hop Falls Out Of The Top 15 On Sales Chart"

from hhhnlive.com
 
Hip-Hop Falls Out Of The Top 15 On Sales Chart
 
Not a single Hip-Hop release cracked the top 15 of Billboard this week.

The following are the 5 top ranking R&B/Hip-Hop releases on this week's Billboard Top 200:

#17 Kanye West 'Graduation' 35,092 sold this week/1,612,565 total
#18 Keyshia Cole 'Just Like You' 34,741/539,466
#19 Soulja Boy 'Souljaboytellem.com' 34,129/269,051
#27 Playaz Circle 'Supply & Demand' 26,318/26,268
#29 Fergie 'Dutchess' 25,822/2,876,816

Project Pat debuted at #47 selling 17K copies of his new album "Walkin' Bank Roll" while 50 Cent's "Curtis" album fell to #41 selling just over 20K copies. The album has sold 1,069,428 since its release Sept. 11th.

Chamillionaire has to be dissapointed with his "Ultimate Victory" album selling 6,322 copies this week giving it a total of only 159,291 since its release September 18.

This week's #1 album was from legendary Rock group The Eagles who sold 711,000 copies of their new album "Long Road Out of Eden" in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

According to Billboard.com, album sales are up 10.9% from last week at 9.25 million units and down 13.3% from the same week in 2006 (10.67 million).

"Long Island Lolita: Amy Fisher Sextape cumming soon"

from nypost.com - by David K. Li

November 7, 2007 -- A Los Angeles porn peddler yesterday said he's going forward with plans to sell an Amy Fisher sex tape, despite her threats to take him to court.

David Joseph, CEO of Red Light District, said he's on firm legal footing and will sell "Amy Fisher Caught on Tape" on Nov. 14, for $40 a pop.

Fisher's husband, Lou Bellera, sold footage of the couple's sex romps to Red Light this summer when he and the Long Island Lolita were briefly estranged.

"I made this deal with Lou Bellera, and I'm very confident we have everything legally done," Joseph told The Post.

But Fisher's lawyer, William DalesSandro, said that his client never signed off on Bellera hawking the tape and that she has an airtight case of copyright infringement.

Joseph credited Bellera, a professional videographer, with producing good footage.

"I've watched it several times. The lighting is good, the sex is good, Amy looks good," Joseph said.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

"Children's Toy: AquaDots Recalled for Containing Date Rape Drug"

from foxnews.com

Report: AquaDots Recalled for Containing Date Rape Drug

The popular children's toy AquaDots was recalled Wednesday after it was discovered that the beads used in the top-selling toy could poison children with the date rape drug GHB if swallowed.

Toys 'R Us, Target and Amazon.com all stopped sales of AquaDots after its North American distributor, the Canadian company Spin Master Ltd., stopped shipment and asked retailers to remove the toys from their shelves. The Australian manufacturer, Moose Enterprise, recalled the toy in Australia, where it is sold under the name Bindeez.

AquaDots are brightly colored beads that adhere together with water to form shapes. The beads are supposed to contain non-toxic glue, but instead contain a chemical that, when swallowed, is converted by the body into GHB.

Three Australian children became seriously ill after swallowing Bindeez beads, prompting the recall in Australia and North America. Most Australian states have banned the sale of Bindeez. Tests conducted by Moose Enterprise showed that the beads, when swallowed, were converted into GHB by the body.

Product safety agencies in Canada, the U.S. and Australia were working with the manufacturer and distributors to determine how the toys became contaminated.

Ingesting GHB can cause nausea, headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, amnesia, vomiting, loss of muscle control, respiratory problems, loss of consciousness and paralysis, and can often be fatal, CHN reported. Street names for the GHB include Liquid X, Everclear, Liquid E, Fantasy and Liquid Ecstasy, among others


"Third of hit songs mention alcohol, drug use: study"

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - Chances are your teenage son or daughter has heard these lines before -- "Let's party, everybody bounce with me. Sip champagne and burn a little greenery."

It's not a plan for a New Year's Eve party but the lyrics of rapper 50 Cent's "Disco Inferno," which hit number three on the Billboard charts in 2005.

Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, who studied the lyrics of hundreds of popular songs, found that one in three mention alcohol or drug use.

"We're learning that media affects a lot of different health behaviors," said assistant professor Dr. Brian Primack who headed the study.

"Tobacco in movies, for example, is now known to lead to smoking. We started realizing adolescents are exposed to two and a half hours a day of music. What's in the music?"

Primack and his team, who presented their findings at a medical meeting, looked at the top 279 songs on the Billboard charts in 2005. They found that 33 percent made references to alcohol and drug use.

Nearly 80 percent of rap songs mentioned substance use, followed by 37 percent of country music lyrics, 20 percent of R&B/hip-hop and 14 percent of rock songs. Only nine percent of pop songs referred to drug or alcohol use.

The researchers only included songs that clearly referred to using drug and alcohol. They also named the substances which included alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, prescription drugs, inhalants, hallucinogens, and substances of unknown origin.

"If someone says, 'I had one of those pills,' and you don't really know what that was, we call that non specific," Primack explained in an interview.

Rap music contained the most references to alcohol, marijuana and non-specific use, while country music commonly made allusions to alcohol, according to the research presented at the American Public Health Association's Annual Meeting in Washington.

Most lyrical references to substance use were associated with partying, sex, violence and, or humor. The use of drugs and alcohol was motivated by peer pressure, sex, and, or money. Only four songs explicitly had anti-use messages.

At the beginning of the study, the researchers said they found it interesting that Billboard separated rap and hip-hop.

"These really are different markets, with different messages and I think that's something that's really useful to the public health community," said Primack.

He said the next step will be to see if there is a relationship between lyrical content and behavior.

"The Roots Announce New Album"

from undercover.com.au - by Tim Cashmere

The Roots Announce New Album

The Roots will release their new record 'Rising Down' on April 29. That's right, April. Six months away.

It will be their eighth album, and second for Def Jam.

Drummer Amir "?uestlove" Thompson told Billboard, "We are using a lot of synthesizer, but I don't know if I could call this the electronic album or not. Pretty much five or six songs are done, and four of them are synth-heavy. I know somehow I'm going to find the common thread of all this stuff. I don't know what to call it, but it's something."

The album's title is inspired by the literary piece 'Rising Up and Rising Down: Some Thoughts on Violence, Freedom and Urgent Means', written by William T. Vollmann.

Thompson has also made a name for himself as a session drummer, playing with Joss Stone, Lenny Kravitz, Erykah Badu and N*E*R*D, amongst many more.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

"MIT Developers Plan Collapsible Car for City Driving"


from foxnews.com

MIT Developers Plan Collapsible Car for City Driving

Developers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are giving gas to an idea they hope will reduce traffic congestion and parking woes, CNET.com reports.

Lithium-ion batteries would power the City Car, which would be able to be collapsed and stacked like a grocery cart, with six to eight of the vehicles fitting into one parking spot.

The two-seater would weigh between 1,000 pounds and 1,200 pounds and is being designed as a shared car that someday may be available through kiosks around a city.

A prototype is slated for 2008.

"Man Admits to File-Sharing ID Theft"

Man Admits to File-Sharing ID Theft

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle man charged with using online file-sharing programs such as Limewire to commit identity theft pleaded guilty Monday in federal court.

Gregory Kopiloff, 35, pleaded guilty to one count each of mail fraud, accessing a protected computer without authorization to further fraud, and aggravated identity theft.

As part of a plea agreement, another count of aggravated identity theft was dropped.

Kopiloff acknowledged using file-sharing programs to invade victims' computers to get access to their personal information in tax returns, credit reports, bank statements and student financial aid applications. He then used that information to open credit lines and shop online.

Kopiloff admitted using the personal information of more than 50 people to fraudulently purchase and resell more than $73,000 in merchandise.

Although people have been prosecuted for using networks to illegally share copyright music, movies and software, the Justice Department, after Kopiloff's September arrest, called this its first case against someone accused of using file-sharing to commit identity theft.

According to court documents, Kopiloff used peer to peer file-sharing programs, which are most commonly known for their use in replicating copyright protected music and videos. Using programs such as Limewire, he could search the computers of others who were part of the file-sharing "network" for tax returns and credit reports that had been stored electronically.

He also obtained personal information by more old-fashioned methods, such as stealing mail or taking records from trash cans, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Kopiloff's sentencing was scheduled for Jan. 28 before U.S. District Judge James L. Robart. Mail Fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Accessing a protected computer carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Aggravated identity theft carries a two-year prison sentence, to be served consecutive with the prison time imposed for the underlying conviction.

"Oprah Winfrey Opens A Channel On YouTube"

from cbsnews.com

Oprah Winfrey Opens A Channel On YouTube

YouTube To Feature A Channel Devoted To Oprah Winfrey
(AP) Oprah Winfrey has a talk show, a magazine, a Web site and now a channel on the online video site YouTube.

Harpo Productions and YouTube said the channel will offer exclusive, behind-the-scenes footage from "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which is taped in Chicago.

In a video posted on the site, Winfrey says she's excited to have her own YouTube channel and that it will include videos she creates herself.

Jordan Hoffner, YouTube's head of business development says the channel offers the YouTube community more access to Winfrey and a look into what it takes to produce a hit talk show.

"Prince vs. Fans"

from yahoo.com - dotmusic

Prince vs. fans

Prince is involved in a head-to-head dispute with three unofficial fan websites, after reportedly demanding they remove all images of him.

The sites--housequake.com, princefams.com, and prince.org--have now launched "Prince Fans United," in protest at his action.

Claming they are under "constant threats from Prince and his attorneys," the webmasters from each online community has vowed to fight the move.

They have posted a statement, which explains he is trying "to stifle all critical commentary," insisting: "We strongly believe that such actions are in violation of the freedom of speech and should not be allowed."

They claim the pop star has even demanded the removal of "fan's own photographs of their Prince-inspired tattoos and their vehicles displaying Prince-inspired license plates."

The statement continues: "It is their hope that Prince will reconsider his position and allow these fansites to continue their existence without constant threats from Prince and his attorneys. Should this not be possible, the fansites are fully prepared to defend their position in the proper court of law, as well as fully prosecute any claims to which they are justly entitled."

There has so far been no official comment from Prince about the dispute.


"For Clues on Teenage Sex, Experts Look to Hip-Hop"

from The New York Times - by Tara Parker Pope

Hip-hop, with its suggestive lyrics, videos and dance moves, has long been criticized by public health experts and parents, who fear that it leads to risky sexual behavior among teenagers.

But it has never been clear whether there is something uniquely insidious about hip-hop or whether the problem is simply that most people over 40 just don't understand it. After all, nearly every generation seems troubled by the musical preferences of the next; remember, Elvis's gyrating hips were once viewed as a corrupting influence on the nation's youth. To solve that riddle, public health researchers are deconstructing hip-hop culture, venturing onto club dance floors and dissecting rap lyrics. The hope is that by understanding hip-hop, experts can design more effective health messages — and maybe even give parents insight into the often confounding music embraced by their children.

"There's definitely a popular opinion that hip-hop is music that is bad for you and makes people do crazy things," said Miguel A. Muñoz-Laboy, an assistant professor in the department of sociomedical sciences at Columbia. "We need to try to see how youth understand their own culture without imposing our own adult judgments."

Dr. Muñoz-Laboy spent three years studying the hip-hop club scene, talking to dozens of teenagers and watching them dance. While hip-hop music has been widely assailed as misogynistic, the researchers found that young women were the "gatekeepers" of boundaries on the dance floor, according to research published this month in the journal Culture, Health and Sexuality. Even during the highly sexualized form of dance known as grinding, in which bodies rub against each other, the girls in the study "were consistently vigilant about maintaining control over their bodies and space," the study noted.

Most of the teenagers in the study were sexually experienced. But the researchers found that the overt sexuality of the music and dancing was not the main influence on sexual behavior. Rather it was the old standbys of alcohol, drugs and peer pressure that typically led them into sexual encounters.

The lesson for public health workers is that hip-hop is not just music but a support system and social structure that dominates youth culture, Dr. Muñoz-Laboy said. The language of hip-hop also may in fact be a more effective way to communicate with teenagers. One H.I.V. prevention ad that resonated with women, for instance, mirrored the sexualized lyrics of hip-hop, telling girls, "Don't take it laying down."

Questions remain about whether hip-hop's explicit lyrics encourage early sex. Last year, the journal Pediatrics published research from the RAND Corporation concluding that degrading lyrics, not sexual lyrics, were the problem.

The researchers interviewed more than 1,400 teenagers over two years, asking them about the music they listened to along with factors like peer pressure and parental supervision. They found that adolescents who were exposed to the highest levels of sexually degrading lyrics were twice as likely to have had sex by the end of the study.

The researchers defined degrading lyrics as those that portrayed women as sexual objects, men as insatiable and sex as inconsequential. One example they cited was from the rapper Ja Rule, whose song "Livin' It Up" includes the lyrics "Half the ho's hate me, half them love me." Notably, lyrics that celebrated sex, like those crooned by the band 98 Degrees — "I'm dreamin' day and night of making love" — had no effect on sexual behavior, the study found.

It may be that teenagers who are most interested in initiating sexual activity simply gravitate toward songs with edgier lyrics. But the research suggests that parents should focus less on whether their children listen to hip-hop and pay more attention to the content. "We need to teach teens that these portrayals of women and sex don't represent reality," said Steven C. Martino, a behavioral scientist at RAND.

This year, another paper in Culture, Health and Sexuality titled "Representin' in Cyberspace" studied the way black American girls used hip-hop terms like "freaks" and "pimpettes" to describe themselves on personal home pages. The research led the author, Carla E. Stokes, to form HotGirls (Helping Our Teen Girls in Real Life Situations), an Atlanta-based nonprofit group that holds workshops where girls talk about music, rewrite objectionable lyrics and even record their own music. "We're trying to build on the empowering aspects of the hip-hop culture," Dr. Stokes said.

In fact, many experts believe the keys to communicating with an entire generation of young people can be found in hip-hop. "That's far more powerful than any negative influence the music may be having," said Bakari Kitwana, an artist in residence at the University of Chicago whose book "The Hip-Hop Generation" is viewed as the leading scholarly work on the culture.

"Hip-hop is a generational phenomenon that has united young people," Mr. Kitwana added. "If that's not understood, you're going to miss a lot."

"Jam of the moment: 11/5/07"

OK, so here's the deal... I recently received Universal Republic Records' promo A&R Sampler for October 2007. It features 15 tracks from their artists: Amy Winehouse, Colbie Caillat, Godsmack, etc.
 
Anyway... Track #8 is 100% pure FIRE!

ALAWAN "Calabria"
 
I did some Googling to see what I could find out about this track/artist, and didn't come up with too much. It seems she is/was signed to Latium Records, and is now being licensed to Universal or something to that affect. Just assuming here... The (Latium) label's website has next to no information on it's site regarding ALAWAN. No bio, no video, club dates, etc. Just two images of her. One of which I revamped as seen below.©
 

Alawan does have a Myspace page (check the link at latiument.com) - but again, not too much going on there.

What's up with that? You have a potential monster on your hands and must be prepared for an explosion when/if it happens.
 
From what I've been able to find out by doing a bit of digging online is that this song is a remake of Enur (featuring Natasja)'s version of "Calabria". Turns out that Natasja Saad died tragically in June of this year in a car accident.
 
Also a friend of mine hipped me to the fact that the same horn riff was used in Alex Gaudino (feat. Crystal Waters) - "Destination Calabria" jam as well.
 
In any event... To get back on topic here...

ALAWAN's "Calabria" is my Jam of the moment. Without a doubt a BLAZINGLY HOT track that should explode worldwide if given the proper push from the fine folks over @ Universal Republic U.S.

 
I've posted a snippet of the track for you to enjoy. If anyone has more info about this artist, the label, or who produced it you can contact me by clicking 'view my complete profile' on the right of this page - then click the handy-dandy email link. - Ace:)
  

ALAWAN Calabria.

"Shake, Shake, Shake Your Booty for Cash"

Shake, Shake, Shake Your Booty for Cash

By DINESH RAMDE
The Associated Press

MILWAUKEE -- Bust out the boxers, shake what nature gave you, and you might be the $5,000 winner of Jockey's UnderWars. The Kenosha-based maker of intimate apparel is sponsoring an online competition for adults to post videos of themselves dancing in their drawers.

Aspiring exhibitionists have until Nov. 15 to upload their videos. The competition will be capped at 32 participants, who will be randomly divided into tournament brackets and will advance based on online votes.

Dancers, alone or in groups are given plenty of freedom to be creative, as long as men are wearing boxers or briefs and women are wearing panties. Males and females can also wear T-shirts or jackets, as long as their skivvies  of any brand  are partially visible.

"We're trying to keep it clean," said Patty McIntosh, the Internet marketing manager for Jockey International Inc., "The bottom line is, we're just letting people do their thing and have fun."

Because of copyright concerns, dancers have to choose from one of 16 musical clips on the Jockey Web site. The selections range from a 45-second pulsing tango to a 3 1/2-minute techno blast.

For people who don't want to compete in the UnderWars tournament but still want to know whether they're better than their friends at shaking their moneymakers, the site also offers head-to-head challenges for Web surfers to judge.

 

In the three weeks since the site was launched, there have been about 35 individual matches.

"Those winners don't get money, but they do get bragging rights," McIntosh said.

One participant featured in the Web site's Main Match on Monday was BustAmove, a man wearing sunglasses, a white T-shirt and black briefs with white polka dots. The one-minute video shows him dancing on the roof of a bar, a clip that is at once entertaining and slightly disturbing.

The idea for the Web site evolved from a separate Jockey site launched earlier this year as a way to increase brand awareness among the high school and college set. The site, stopsquirming.com, features a man and woman each demonstrating 15 amusing ways to furtively adjust one's undergarments in public.

"Both sites are targeted toward a younger demographic," McIntosh said. "We've just introduced ourselves to this audience _ now we're starting to learn a lot about them."

The early entrants in the UnderWars tournament are seen dancing alone, most in a bedroom or bathroom. But to win the $5,000 prize, Jockey spokesman Mo Moorman speculates the challengers will need more than spiffy dance moves and the looks of a supermodel.

"This is a lighthearted site _ sexy's not going to take it," he predicted. "You'll have to have the whole package."

Monday, November 5, 2007

"Picketing Under Way in TV Writers Strike"

Picketing Under Way in TV Writers Strike

NEW YORK (AP) — The first walkout by Hollywood writers in nearly 20 years got under way Monday with noisy pickets outside the "Today" show — a strike that threatens to disrupt everything from late-night talk shows to soap operas.

A giant, inflated rat was put on display Monday as about 40 people in Rockefeller Center shouted, "No contract, no shows!"

"The seven-word mantra is, `When you get paid, we get paid,'" said Michael Winship, president of the Writers Guild of America East.

The strike is the first walkout by writers since 1988. That work stoppage lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.

The "Today" show is not directly affected by the strike because news writers are part of a different union. The picket was set up behind police barricades in an area adjacent to the NBC studios, where shows like "Late Night with Conan O'Brien" might be forced to play re-runs.

Writers' demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet has been a key issue.

"They claim that the new media is still too new to structure a model for compensation," said Jose Arroyo, a writer for "Late Night with Conan O'Brien."

"We say give us a percentage so if they make money, we make money," said Arroyo.

Diana Son, a writer for "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," said she has three children and getting residuals was the only way she could take time off after giving birth.

"It's an extremely volatile industry," said Son. "There's no job security. Residuals are an important part of our income. There's no cushion. I rely on residuals from my previous work to get me through periods when I am not working."

"It sounds justifiable to me," said onlooker Dan Kelly of Bethlehem, Pa., a retired New York Police Department detective. "Look at all the fine actors from early on who never got residuals."

But Millie Kapzen of Memphis, Tenn., who watched the pickets from across the street, said she was "disgusted. ... I really think they should try harder to negotiate."

Kapzen, wearing her medal from Sunday's New York City Marathon, said she sells advertising for radio stations. "We've already had cancellations of sweeps weeks ads" by the networks.

In Los Angeles, writers also were planning to picket 14 studio locations in four-hour shifts from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day until a new deal is reached.

The contract between the 12,000-member Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producer expired Oct. 31. Talks that began this summer failed to produce much progress.

Writers and producers had gathered for negotiations Sunday at the request of a federal mediator.

The two sides met for nearly 11 hours before East Coast members of the writers union announced on their Web site that the strike had begun for their 4,000 members.

The first casualty of the strike would be late-night talk shows, which are dependent on current events to fuel monologues and other entertainment.

Daytime TV, including live talk shows such as "The View" and soap operas, which typically tape about a week's worth of shows in advance, would be next to feel the impact.

The strike will not immediately impact production of movies or prime-time TV programs. Most studios have stockpiled dozens of movie scripts, and TV shows have enough scripts or completed shows in hand to last until early next year.

AP Business Writer Gary Gentile in Los Angeles contributed to this report.