Gwyneth Paltrow

Gwyneth Kate Paltrow is an American actress.
Paltrow made her acting debut on stage in 1990 and started appearing in films in 1991. She gained early notice for her work in films such as Se7en (1995), Emma (1996), in which she played the title role, and Sliding Doors (1998). She garnered worldwide recognition through her performance in Shakespeare in Love (1998), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards, for Outstanding Lead Actress and as a member of the Outstanding Cast. Since then, Paltrow has portrayed supporting as well as lead roles in films such as The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999), Shallow Hal (2001) and Proof (2005), for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in Motion Picture Drama.


In 2008, she appeared in the highest grossing movie of her career, the superhero film Iron Man, and then reprised her role as Pepper Potts in its sequel, Iron Man 2 (2010). Paltrow has been the face of Estée Lauder's Pleasures perfume since 2005.

Sonar Tori (The Golden Boat)

By Prodipto Roy

Kolkata, India

Clouds rumbling in the sky; teeming rain.
I sit on the river bank, sad and alone.
The sheaves lie gathered, harvest has ended,
The river is swollen and fierce in its flow.
As we cut the paddy it started to rain.
One small paddy-field, no one but me -
Flood-waters twisting and swirling everywhere.
Trees on the far bank; smear shadows like ink
On a village painted on deep morning grey.
On this side a paddy-field, no one but me.
Who is this, steering close to the shore
Singing? I feel that she is someone I know.
The sails are filled wide, she gazes ahead,
Waves break helplessly against the boat each side.
I watch and feel I have seen her face before.
Oh to what foreign land do you sail?
Come to the bank and moor your boat for a while.
Go where you want to, give where you care to,
But come to the bank a moment, show your smile -
Take away my golden paddy when you sail.
Take it, take as much as you can load.
Is there more? No, none, I have put it aboard.
My intense labour here by the river -
I have parted with it all, layer upon layer;
Now take me as well, be kind, take me aboard.
No room, no room, the boat is too small.
Loaded with my gold paddy, the boat is full.
Across the rain-sky clouds heave to and fro,
On the bare river-bank, I remain alone -
What had has gone: the golden boat took all.

Rabindranath Tagore, 1894. Translated by Bhabani Bhattacharya. 

The Red Lantern

By Amitava Nag
Kolkata, India
The red lantern is fighting its last breath. No, its not windy. Its just that its life is no more. Its well past 1 at night. The lust of the night is lull now. He waits in the lawn, hundred meters away. The sky above is studded with jewels. He can still find the ones he wanted as a child – wanted and forgot. Many of his friends could reach up and get them – not him. Alas, he sighed heavily.
Somewhere near the old church clock shuddered the time as he turns – the lantern is dead.

Peeing in public toilets is so intimidating for him. Almost always he feels someone might be looking over from the next slot. He is rather unsure. Is he ok? Or is he small? There are no friends to consult. When he grew up in school everyone jeered at him. ‘Shorty’ was the name he got. What else can he do? He used to hang from trees – an advice someone gave him or his mother. Nothing happened. He only fell and broke his hand. His mom cursed herself – ‘You didn’t get my milk. That’s why you are like this’. He knew that his mother had an infection when he was inside her. Is it the reason? May be. Maybe not. His mother is happy atleast to assign it to some reason. That keeps her satisfied, he thinks.

She is taut. He had desired her so many times. He almost felt her round breasts whenever he thought of her. She was a hit. She never had to be on the street. He was one of them who used to find a client for her. There were two more. He didn’t like the job. Not for her atleast. The other two used to be with some other girls of the area. And he knows they also yearned for her. But he couldn’t be with anyone. How can he do so? ‘You Shorty. No girl will ever take you’ they rebuked. He knew at heart that it was true. But money can buy almost everything. He knew that as well. But he doesn’t have money to waste on useless girls. Can love be bought with money? Novels say you cannot. He is not sure.

He loved talking to her. She was good to him. At times she would give him good cigarettes, left by her clients. He was shy. The other guys would laugh at her. ‘You are harmless Shorty. That’s why she talks to you so much.’ Whatever it is, he was happy. The shanty where he was staying with his mother is a little walking distance. When he returns almost at dawn he would see his mother sleeping while sitting. ‘Don’t wait for me, ma’ he told many times. The old woman won’t listen. She knows his son is too soft to survive this cruel world.

‘Drink milk’ said the sadhu, ‘and you will grow. Every human drinks milk to grow up.’ He was confused. He loves drinking milk. ‘You have to drink milk from a woman who is having milk. This is what you lacked. Cow milk will not help.’ The idea seemed absurd. Where will he get such a woman? And why will she agree? ‘Any other alternative? Which is easier?’ he asked. ‘Easy alternatives don’t help if the problem is difficult, beta. But still you can hold this stone for a month and see if it helps. There may be a chance. Check, if you wish’, the sadhu had told. He is wearing the ring since then. He is certain there are no improvements. On the contrary he is having stomac problems since then. He doesn’t understand planets but his mother was certain ‘This new ring is causing all the problems. See, you haven’t earned much as well in the last few months. Throw it away’. He couldn’t throw away the ring. Its not his type to be so assertive. But its true that for the last few months his earning is low.

She was in love with one of her clients – the school teacher from the city. The man is perfect, good match – he always thought looking at them together. Problem started few months ago. There were rumours even before but he never knew what it was all about. He was shy to ask as well. She was pregnant. He knew it was that man only. One day she called him and handed over a letter ‘Give it to the schoolteacher. He will be in the ferry-ghat’. So he acted as the messenger. One day when he came to work she had left. She eloped pregnant. No one had a trace. He knew she had fled with the schoolteacher. They all pounced on him for information, they all knew he might know something. But he didn’t tell a thing – not even that the schoolteacher plans to marry her and settle in the big city. No one can find her ever he thought. He was pensive that he couldn’t see her again but she was secretly happy. This is a hell. He will be happy if she can raise her child away from here.
Nature has its own way of judging things. Time changes colours to everything, to minds of people as well. He got accustomed to working for newer girls. When suddenly one day he finds she is back. She is pale and anemic with a son. The owner was good-hearted to take her back though she may take a while to be back on trade. ‘But you need to be taken to doctor for checkup’, he advised. ‘I know but I don’t have any money. That bugger took everything from me’ she started crying. He didn’t want to hear the story. Its an old story. It repeats with perfection. He somehow felt annoyed.

As the night grew old and the clouds moved faster across the ceiling of his thoughts he felt a desire to be at her side. She is a friend to me, he thought. He knew she is very helpless now, more than before and he is her only friend as well. ‘I will take you to the doctor’ he announced the next day. ‘But why? Why will you spend your money? I will be on trade from next month and will go myself’ she reasoned. She couldn’t keep up to it. Two days later she fainted. He took her to the doctor. ‘Nourishment is missing. She has to eat well’ the doctor prescribed along with few medicines. ‘Thank you. You are a friend. I always knew you are. But what can I do in return?’ she was coy. ‘Nothing. That you acknowledge me as a friend is more than what I want. I always secretly admired you. But couldn’t tell you’ he gasped. That he could tell all these he never could believe. ‘ I like you too. You were different from most. You were so natural. So obvious’ she burst into words that flowed over the both of them as they swayed in momentary happiness. The black clouds move away from the face of the moon and in his exuberance he says ‘The sadhu baba told me to drink milk from a woman. I will be a normal man then. Not a shorty any more. Will you let me? When I become normal then we can have a future’. There are words which remain best never uttered. She was frozen. He overlooked in his new found energy and prospect. ‘Okay, come to my room when you are done with your work. I will wait’, she could utter hiding her tears.

Suddenly the lights get dim and in silhouette we find the seven of them – hand in hand gliding over the land. The music is sombre, from a harp supported with violin. He enters her room – its lighted beyond imagination. She lies there – calm and still. There is nothing on her. He could see her naked body for the first time. So silken and white. So full and curvy. He could almost touch her from trance. There was only a piece of cloth round her neck – like the royal scarf she is wearing. Transcendence from the trivial, he felt perplexed and overawed. He never believed that his destiny would come to here. He walks to the lawn. Lies down as if the sky is so near. The atmosphere is still, yet the red lantern dies its death. He looks at it – ‘Poor soul’, he pities it. There was a bird in him which fluttered very recently. He then lets her fly away.

As the screen gets opaque we can hear in voice-over a chanting that fades with the opening lights of the dawn -

“Emperor, your sword won’t help you out
Sceptre and crown are worthless here
I’ve taken you by the hand
For you must come to my dance”

Thursday Nite Tart

And tonight's tart is Rebecca Romijn!
                                   
                                   
                               
                               

Brenda Schultz-McCarthy

Brenda Anne Marie Schultz-McCarthy (born 28 December 1970) is a Dutch tennis player. Primarily known for her maiden name Brenda Schultz, she married Sean McCarthy, a former American football player at University of Cincinnati, on 8 April 1995 and adopted his surname.Schultz is known for her fast serve,holding the record for the fastest serve in the WTA Tour qualifications, tied with Venus Williams. As of July 2009, she the second oldest active player on the WTA Tour after Kimiko Date Krumm.
Schultz' career high was in 1996 when she reached World No. 9. She reached the quarterfinals at Wimbledon and the US Open in 1995. She retired from tennis in 1999 with longstanding injuries. She came out of retirement in 2005, playing Fed Cup and WTA tournaments in 2006. The best result of her comeback came in June 2006 at the Tier III Ordina Open in the Netherlands, reaching the quarterfinals with wins over two players ranked in the top 70 on the WTA Tour.

In July 2006, Schultz-McCarthy claimed her place as the fastest server in WTA history, recording a 130 mph (209 km/h) serve in the first round of the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open qualifying tournament, held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Venus Williams previously held the women's record set in 1998 of 127 mph (204 km/h) in a match in a quarter-finals win against Mary Pierce in Zurich. Williams would tie the record in 2008. In June 2007, Schultz-McCarthy won a challenger tournament in Surbiton.

statics
Country : Netherlands
Residence : United States Juno Beach, Florida
Date of birth : 28 December 1970 (1970-12-28)
Height : 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight : 77.1 kg (170 lb)
Turned pro : September 1986
Plays : Right-handed

Singles
Career record : 403–293
Career titles : 7 WTA, 2 ITF
Highest ranking : No. 9 (20 May 1996)

Grand Slam results
Australian Open : 4R (1989, 1995, 1996)
French Open : 4R (1988, 1993)
Wimbledon : QF (1995)
US Open : QF (1995)

Doubles
Career record : 147–162
Career titles : 9 WTA, 1 ITF
Highest ranking : No. 7 (2 October 1995)

A Message From Arizona For The LA Boycott Crowd

Fitting! Heh.
                                   
                               

Ed (dog shooting) Schultz, This Is Now Your Oil Spill

All seven of MSNBC's viewers loved this.

And right after Obama gets off the golf course, he will ask some one to deal with it.
H/T
Weasel Zippers

Tuesday's Tune

I like the older country rock stuff!

The Best Game Ever

From The Astute Bloggers.
Falling Obama.

A winner every game!

Sunday Morning Coming Down

This probably belongs in a Friday night funny post.
                                   
The best part of Rasmussen's poll is what folks think of Congress.
72% think Congress is clueless on the economy.

Just 27% are even somewhat confident that Congress knows what it’s doing when addressing that nation’s economic challenges. That figure includes only 6% who are Very Confident that Congress knows what it’s doing.Forty-one percent (41%) of voters say that a group of people randomly selected from the phone book would do a better job than the current Congress. Thirty-eight percent (38%) disagree.

Put me in that 41% column.                           

Mexico, A Tourist Destination. (unless you are from Arizona)

This should backfire shortly! First their President tells the US Congress how we should enforce "our" laws (to the cheers of the democRATS) and now this.
                                   
Sheriff Joe is not happy!
                             

The Outsider

By Ishan Banerjee
Siliguri, India

She is the one you see

Staring back at you,

A crowd mills around, all

Faces engrossed in their own being.

She is a part of them,

There, but just on the fringes ---

The one everyone accepts but

Still, happily, cannot yet absorb;

Not quite one of them,

Yet filling the photo frame;

She is detached, and lonely inside,

Secret longings and hidden passions

Make her body of torment.

She wants to express it all but

Finds a mute and silent outlet,

Her lips.

And the crowd washes away,

Like the rustlings of leaves, dead

On the class room floor,

And she still sits there.

Smiling back at you.

Barney The "Frank" Rewrites History

Barney the "Frank" just lies (and not very well either).
                                   
                                
Barney the "Frank" June 27 2005- On the house floor

"We have, I think, an excessive degree of concern right now about home ownership and it's role in the economy. Obviously speculation is never a good thing. But those who argue that housing prices are now at the point of a bubble seem to me to be missing a very important point. Unlike previous examples we have had where substantial excessive inflation of prices later caused some problems. We are talking here about an entity, home ownership, homes, where there is not the degree of leverage that we have seen elsewhere. This is not the dot com situation. We had problems with people having invested in business plans for which there was no reality, with people building fiber optic cable for which there was no need. Homes that are occupied may see an ebb and flow in the price at a certain percentage level but you're not going to see a collapse that you see when people talk about a bubble. So those of us on our committee in particular will continue to push toward home ownership."

But on May 20, 2010 on CNBC the "Frank" said this.
Barney was a major player in the fannie and freddie fiasco's. Deny all you want "Frank", it still won't change reality.
H/T American Thinker

Signs, Signs, Everywhere A Sign

I hope they show up on Interstate Highways everywhere!(Or anywhere else)
These are near Kansas City MO.


Remember Nov. 2, 2010

Friday Nite Funnies

With all the brouhaha over the Arizona immigration law, this seems fitting.


And since it is Friday, a bonus video!


Brewer bashing DemocRATS video via The Astute Bloggers

Something To Make You Feel Good

Take the five minutes and watch some happy people! God bless the troops.

Welcome home!
H/T
NewsBusters

Number Of Az Residents Who Support Immigration Law Up To 71%

Obama thinks it is flawed and not very American. Uh, I think 71% is a whole lot of folks who don't agree with you anymore!
A new Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of Likely Voters in Arizona finds that 71% now favor the immigration law, while 24% oppose it.
In late April, the law was supported by 64% of the state’s voters and opposed by 30%
                                   
The Grand Canyon State welcomes you, if you are here legally!
Thank you Governor Brewer.
                             

Thursday Nite Tart

Tonight's Tart is the the Big Bang Babe, Kaley Cuoco!
                                   
                                    
And a bonus picture, just because I like short skirts!
                                   
                               
                                                             

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron is a South African actress, film producer, and former fashion model. She became an American citizen in 2007.

She rose to fame in the late 1990s following her roles in 2 Days in the Valley, Mighty Joe Young, The Devil's Advocate, and The Cider House Rules. She received critical acclaim and an Academy Award for her portrayal of serial killer Aileen Wuornos in the film Monster, for which she became the first person from any African country to win an Academy Award in a major acting category. She received another Academy Award nomination for her performance in North Country.

Personal life
Theron still resides in her Los Angeles home, though her ex-boyfriend Stuart Townsend, with whom she starred in the 2004 film Head in the Clouds, as well as in the 2002 film Trapped and 2005 Æon Flux has moved to their co-owned property in Malibu. The couple split up in January 2010.

Theron became a naturalized citizen of the United States in May 2007.

Theron signed with William Morris Endeavour in 2009 and is represented by CEO Ari Emanuel.