Early Evening Anti-Snooze Tidbits

Did you know that the Brokeback Mountain boys, the late Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal both auditioned for the role of the penniless writer Christian in Baz Luhrman's 2001 movie "Moulin Rouge"? Okay, Ewan McGregor obviously has more bohemian appeal than the two. 

Mother's Day is this coming Sunday. It's a happy day for mothers. But some Russian mothers are angry when Russian President Dmitry Medvedev cancelled at the last minute his scheduled meeting with the mothers who lost their children in the bloody Beslan crisis (not Aslan!). According to reports, Medvedev was weary the bereaved mothers would bombard him with criticisms primarily directed to his patron and predecessor Vladimir Putin. 

In the Philippines, a country steeped in island-Catholic faith and a country dubbed by Time Magazine as more Catholic than the Vatican, the long-due Reproductive Health Bill is still in limbo despite the Philippine President's call for its immediate resolution. In contrast, France's timely and much-needed move to make the "royal condoms" available to the young especially within schools is gaining good grounds .    

If you think having expensive and intricate weaves and fancy hair can save you from the slammer, think again. Think hard. Common sense is not common to these people pictured below in their glam mugshots before they headed behind bars. Lyndsay Lohan could learn a thing or two from them if they become cellmates.  

Afternoon Booze: Humor Post

Oh, hello! No Morning Juice because the juicer never made it on time. Milk? Yes. But lots of peeps I know are lactose intolerant.

Anyway, who's funnier than Jimmy Fallon? The three-year old Elmo! What a joy? I wish I have the Tickle Me Elmo interactive stuffed toy beside me. 

Buddy Elmo is funnier than the whole cast of SNL. Take that Lorne Michaels! He always addresses himself or talks about himself in the third person. He's waay mature and naughty at best for a three-year old wide-eyed red furry toddler. Although,  Big Bird is my favorite resident of Sesame Street, Elmo comes in second. 

Here, he outshines and steals the show from Jimmy Fallon's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon":

 


Here's the second part:

Afternoon Booze: Daily Round-Up

The Wall Street Journal says Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao's conditioning, training, and his seemingly effortless ability to win across record eight weight classes continue to defy expectations and confound experts.  
Pacquiao will defend his WBO welterweight title against Sugar Shane Mosley on Saturday in Las Vegas in a Showtime pay-per-view bout.
Whether he will continue to confound experts with his successful weight class-crossing prowess remains to be seen. Next fight: Mayweather (who was recently dropped from Ring Magazine's pound-for-pound rankings because of his notable absence in the ring for the past year).   


Known as the "Little Sparrow," Edith Piaf's love letters to her lover, Louis Gérardin during their 10-month affair have been published in her home country France. Although experts say that the love was almost a lonely one way street. In one of her love letters written in the early 1952 and included in the book, Piaf wrote, "You have taken me like no other man has ever done, and I have given you what I have never before given, which is to say: myself!" 


I've said it before and I'll say it again, Osama's death does not warrant bold jubilation anywhere. And day by day, more and more people are speaking out against it. Unethical, disappointing, callous, arrogant, provoking are only some of the words used by the more sane and sensible ones who spoke against it. And now, add embarrassment. In a story titled, 'Europeans Find the Ground Zero Celebrations Somewhat Embarrassing' , the German publication, Spiegel Online International interviews German political scientist Herfried Münkler. It seems like Europeans are more sensible and more grounded to feel the wrongness and totally unbecoming reaction of Americans. 


Again, in relation to Osama's death and the "somewhat embarrassing" American celebrations, here's a video that proves there are still "somewhat" sensible people or perhaps they're just not in the mood to shout "USA! USA!" or  they're just plain apathetic New York subway riders. No eye-tagging this time!

See more funny videos and Funny Videos at Todays Big Thing.

April was Autism Awareness month. Previously, I featured the wonderful story of Sherwynne Pineda Hughes and her two kids, one of whom has autism. As I've mentioned in that article, dealing with a child's Autism is truly a major undertaking for the parents or the child's primary caregiver. In a touching and eye-opening story in the Sydney Morning Herald, a mother details her back-breaking and time-consuming quest to make her sons well, happy, and in the proper treatment.      


In Canada, Fido, a mobile telecommunications company, once ran ads of people and their dogs that purported pet owners look like or resemble their dogs in some funny and weird ways. This picture of music icon Cher is not from a Fido ad but I think it's true, not in my case though at least in my opinion.  

Morning Juice

Be inspired. Do better each day, each moment. See yourself in others and keep them in your hearts.




Your presence is a gift to the world.
You're unique and one of a kind.
Your life can be what you want it to be.
Take it one day at a time.

Count your blessings not your troubles
And you'll make it through what comes along.

Within you are so many answers,
Understand, have courage, be strong.

Don't put limits on yourself.
Your dreams are waiting to be realized.

Don't leave your important decisions to chance.
Reach for your peak, your goal, and your prize.
Nothing wastes more energy than worrying.
The longer a problem is carried, the heavier it gets.
Don't take things too seriously.

Live a little life of serenity, not a life of regrets.

Remember that a little love goes a long way.
Remember that a lot goes forever.
Remember that friendship is a wise investment.

Life's treasures are people...together.

Have health and hope and happiness.

Take time to wish on a star.
And don't ever forget for even a day...
How very special YOU are!

Osama's Death Should Not Be Celebrated

In my previous entries, I've been clear that in my opinion, Americans should not celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden. Hours after the news came out, as it turned out, I was not alone in my opinion. Columnists, a few political pundits, and even the Vatican all spoke against the initial reactions some Americans (or at least those who showed up in Lafayette Park in front of the White House in Washington, D.C. and Ground Zero in NYC) showed during the immediate aftermath of the big announcement. 

I singled out a banner prominently displayed by one reveler in NYC, which read "Obama=1 Osama=0" because of its taunting and provoking tone (or perhaps intent).  And now here comes another shameful play on the news of Osama's death under the hands of US Navy Seals that callously insinuates sex after an enemy's death is highly gratifying. I can't even imagine how this team of yellow paper journalists put sex and the news of Osama's death together. Add to that, why ask your readers about what they think. But of course, it's TMZ.      

Not a cause for celebration indeed. In Pamela Gerloff's article on Huffington Post today, she writes that people should have the decency to caution themselves against any celebration of sorts. Osama may be the biggest threat to Americans when he was still alive and now that he's dead, it doesn't mean that his death should not be afforded at least a little decency or even modesty. Real victors celebrate with humility and complete respect for their defeated enemy. In this case, we may have slain the beast but the poison remains and it would linger far longer than most Americans have estimated.

As I've said, more people are saying that although it's Osama, world's public enemy No. 1 and most wanted, it's not a cause for public display of celebration like it's a major win in the World Series or the Stanley Cup or the Olympics. Caution and decency are the things we should consider.

Here are the other pundits, intellectuals, and writers that speak and feel the same about how wrong it is for us to celebrate boldly Osama's death: Dr. David P. Gushee (Professor of Christian Ethics) ; the celebrity and well-respected Rabbi Shmuley Boteach (Rabbi and writer) ; Jim WallisChristian leader for social change ; and finally, Rev. James Martin, S.J.Catholic priest and author, 'The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everyt.   

  

The Guy Who Liveblogged The Osama Raid Without Knowing It

Imagine you're living in a remote area and out of a sudden, helicopters start hovering your village at around 1:00 am. You can’t sleep, right? What would you do? For a Pakistani computer programmer, who lives in Abbottabad, Pakistan, he resorted to Tweeter. This guy, who now has thousands of followers on Twitter and for several hours became a trending topic on the micro-blogging site, unknowingly livebloged the now historic US Navy Seals operation that resulted in the capture and death of the world’s foremost fugitive and public enemy no. 1, Osama Bin Laden.

With his early morning Tweets, 33-year-old Sohaib Athar, became an instant Internet sensation and has now appeared on CNN, Al Jazeera, and other major international news organizations. He is now dubbed online and by the news reports as “the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it”.

Uh oh, now I'm the guy who liveblogged the Osama raid without knowing it.less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet ReplySohaib Athar
ReallyVirtual

I need to sleep, but Osama had to pick this day to die :-/less than a minute ago via TweetDeck Favorite Retweet ReplySohaib Athar
ReallyVirtual

Manic Monday Round-up

Last weekend, President Obama hosted the White House Correspondents Dinner with Saturday Night Live’s Seth Meyer as the comedic “roaster”. Although, it wasn’t as funny as the previous years (Colbert is still the funniest!), a lot of surprisingly audacious media-whores attended the event like Donald Trump and Michelle Bachman.

So, here’s the classic spoof video primer, The President's Speech:

And to give warmth to this otherwise damp and sullen spring Monday, watch this trailer of the new Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess movie, "One Day":

If I were you, READ the book first. I don't know but it seems like I almost always enjoy a movie based on a book if I've read the book first. And I think, it really is more classy and snobbish at best. Buy the book: