Tag-Archive for » spain «
You knew the list was gonna leak today, sooner or later.
ABC is set to reveal the cast for its forthcoming “Dancing With the Stars” tonight at the end of “The Bachelor.” TMZ, however, is not waiting around.
The website says it has confirmed 6 of the 11 celebrities who will appear on the show – among them Wendy Williams, who had been rumored to be part of the cast; and rapper Lil’ Romeo, who was booked for the show several years ago but injured his leg and was replaced by his father, Master P.
Below is the list of confirmed celebs and their partners, according to TMZ:
Wendy Williams & Tony Dovolani
Lil’ Romeo & Chelsie Hightower
Chris Jericho & Cheryl Burke
Kendra Wilkinson & Louis van Amstel
Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Disney star Chelsea Kane & Mark Ballas
Internet reports claimed 2010 Supporting Actress Oscar winner Mo’Nique “refused” to be a presenter at this year’s Oscars, even though previous Oscar winners always present the next year (she won Best Supporting Actress in 2010 for Precious).
Word had it that she was upset with Oprah Winfrey for doing a show with her brother Gerald Imes, who had sexually abused the actress when she was a child.
Nonsense, says her manager and husband Sidney Hicks: She had to shoot two episodes of her BET talk show Monday in Atlanta, so she made a point to announce the nominees last month.
The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards air on this Sunday, February 13th 8pm on CBS. Some of the highlights include performances by Barbara Streisand and Mick Jagger, who has never performed at the Grammys before. Jagger is doing a tribute to the late Solomon Burke. There will also be a tribute to The Queen Of Soul Aretha Franklin. She has been awarded 20 Grammys. Jennifer Hudson, Yolanda Adams and Christina Aguilera will be performing in a tribute dedicated to Franklin. Aguilera has a lot riding on this performance since her now famous flub of the National Anthem at this year’s Superbowl.
Some people are so committed to their passions they will do anything to spread the….word. The owner of a sex toy store she’s willing to let people put their differences aside, dip into her merchandise and get a little freaky.
The Pleasures sex toy store in Huntsville, Ala., was put on the map when they opened the first sex toy store drive-thru. Now the owner, Sherri Williams, is serious about making love not war. She’s willing to exchange her merchandise, up to the value of the gun, with folks who want to get rid of the guns and make a treaty with their neigbhbor.
Her program starts today and she’s going to dedicate some of the funds to other charities.
The ancient Chinese New Year tradition of decorating your doorway with Door Guardians and Spring Couplets to ward off evil spirits, has just received new inspiration from a prominent artist dissident. And while it’s struck a sensitive nerve in the Chinese regime, Chinese netizens are delighted with it.
With the Chinese New Year approaching, people in China have been turning to the Internet to purchase traditional Door Guardians and Spring Couplet scrolls, or to get ideas for making their own.
This tradition of hanging Door Guardians and Spring Couplet scrolls on their front doors to keep evil spirits away dates back thousands of years. This year, Door Guardians designed by outspoken dissident and artist, Ai Weiwei, have become a very popular New Year charm for scaring the evil. Chinese Internet censors quickly removed Ai’s blog. But despite their fast action, Ai’s Door Guardians are well on their way to doors all over China.
Old Tradition
The earliest mentioning of Door Guardians can be found in the 2,200 year-old Chinese mythological text “Classic of Mountains and Seas” or “Shan Hai Jing,” in Chinese. The Door Guardians were two ghost hunters who lived in an enormous peach tree on a mountain in the East Sea. They were very adapt in catching evil ghosts and feeding them to tigers.
The legends of the ghost hunters quickly spread, and people started hanging peach wood with the ghost hunters’ names written on it over their front doors, to protect their homes and families from evil spirits. Thus the ghost hunters became the Door Guardians. Later, the peach wood was replaced by paper scrolls with pictures of the Door Guardians and a pair of rhyming New Year blessings, called couplets.
New Meaning
The Door Guardians and couplets designed by artist Ai Weiwei give this old tradition a modern twist that has made them an instant hit with many Chinese netizens.
One of his couplets says: “Eliminate Cruelty and Evil, We Want Fairness–Diminish Ghosts and Demons, We Want Righteousness.”
Another one, freely translated, says: “Kill the Ghosts and Demons, Let Peace be Our Measures–Escape Police and Special-Forces, Here Come National Treasures.”
“National Treasures” refers to new slang terms invented by Internet users aimed at tricking the regime’s censorship software and breaking through the Internet blockade.
The “river crab,” or “He Xie,” is another phrase, and it’s pronunciation is the same as the Chinese word for “harmonious,” which the regime frequently uses such as in “harmonious society” to justify cracking down on any kind of human rights demonstrations.
When designing his Spring Couplets, along with depictions of the Door Guardians, Ai blends illustrations of the grass mud horse and river crab. There may also be a brick hidden somewhere in Ai’s New Year blessings to denote a “fierce battle of words” among Internet users and bloggers, and even an @ sign. All these strange looking characters have a special symbolic significance. They all express an extreme dissatisfaction with the regime’s despotic rule.
Many netizens are delighted with Ai’s Door Guardians and regard them as the perfect vehicle to vent their discontent during the New Year’s festivities. Others are concerned about the consequences if they posted these Guardians on their doors.
One blogger said, “Perhaps the legend is true, the Door Guardians can really make evil shiver.”
Another said, “How to put these couplets up is a problem. You have to worry about how your neighbors will look at you and about the possibility that those women working for the Neighborhood Committee might want to have a talk with you.”
Sunday’s show we will be discussing the institution of marriage. It seem to have become an
obsolete value in America. Is it the cost of marriage, the cost of divorce? Is it the prenup?
Why are more folks living together, than a formal commitment?
These and more questions and hopefully answers on Sunday’s show. Please call in and join
the discussion, we are very interesting in what America thinks about the institution of marriage
and where it is headed in 2011.
www.blogtalkradio.com/Lennis or show title – “Talk 2 ME”
6-7pm only 1 hr. PST time, 646-727-2914.
Thanks to all for your participation, in this hot topic!
Sunday’s show we will be discussing the institution of marriage. It seem to have become an
obsolete value in America. Is it the cost of marriage, the cost of divorce? Is it the prenup?
Why are more folks living together, than a formal commitment?
These and more questions and hopefully answers on Sunday’s show. Please call in and join
the discussion, we are very interesting in what America thinks about the institution of marriage
and where it is headed in 2011.
www.blogtalkradio.com/Lennis or show title – “Talk 2 ME”
6-7pm only 1 hr. PST time, 646-727-2914.
Thanks to all for your participation, in this hot topic!
The former head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remained in jail on Friday after defence lawyers cited problems meeting bail conditions.
Dominique Strauss-Kahn, who denies charges of attempting to rape a hotel maid, posted bail of $1m.
He agreed to be confined to a flat rented by his wife, with an electronic monitor and kept under guard.
But residents of the Manhattan building refused to accept him, forcing lawyers to find other housing, reports said.
Mr Strauss-Kahn is charged with seven counts including four felony charges – two of criminal sexual acts, one of attempted rape and one of sexual abuse – plus three misdemeanour offences, including unlawful imprisonment.
His accuser is a 32-year-old widow originally from Guinea in west Africa who reportedly told authorities Mr Strauss-Kahn accosted her after she entered his hotel room to clean it.
Mr Strauss-Kahn, 62, denies the allegations and on 6 June is set to enter a formal plea.
He has spent four nights at the notorious Rikers Island jail in New York City since his arrest on Saturday over the alleged incident at the Sofitel hotel.