Archive for September, 2007



Billionaire’s Secret Philanthropy

Chuck Feeney, co-founder of Duty Free Shoppers, may be one of the greatest philanthropists in American history.

He wears a $15 watch, flies economy class and does not own a house or car. For years. few guessed that Chuck Feeney was one of the world’s biggest philanthropists, secretly giving away his billionaire fortune.

(…)

Witty, self-deprecating, frugal and astute, Feeney was listed by Forbes Magazine in 1988 as the 23rd richest American alive and worth $1.3 billion, richer than Rupert Murdoch and Donald Trump. He wasn’t.

Four years earlier, Feeney had placed most of his money in charitable foundations.

Inspired by the great 19th century philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, Feeney helped fund schools, hospitals, universities, medical research and human rights from the United States and Ireland to South Africa and Vietnam.

VIA

Bureaucracy Gone Mad

Supermarket staff at Morrisons refused to sell alcohol to a white-haired 72-year-old man - because he would not confirm he was over 21.

Check-out staff at Morrisons in West Kirby, Wirral, demanded Tony Ralls prove he was old enough to buy his two bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Mr Ralls asked to see the manager who put the wine back on the shelf.

The grandfather-of-three said he had refused to confirm he was over 21 as it was a “stupid question.”

Mr Ralls, a retired insurance firm regional manager, said he expected the store manager to resolve the situation but he was disappointed.

Continue reading here.

Primetime Emmy Awards 2007: Winners

Here’s the list of winners at the 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards:

Drama Series: The Sopranos (HBO)
Comedy Series: 30 Rock (NBC)

Actor in a Drama Series: James Spader, Boston Legal (ABC)
Actress in a Comedy Series: America Ferrera, Ugly Betty (ABC)
Actress in a Drama Series: Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters (ABC)
Actor in a Comedy Series: Ricky Gervais, Extras (HBO)

Reality Competition Show: The Amazing Race (CBS)

Writing in a Comedy Series: Greg Daniels, The Office (NBC)
Directing in a Comedy Series: Richard Shepard, Ugly Betty (ABC)

Individual Performance in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Program: Tony Bennett, Tony Bennett: An American Classic (NBC)

Writing for Drama Miniseries or Movie: Frank Deasy, Prime Suspect (BBC)
Directing for Drama Miniseries or Movie: Philip Martin, Prime Suspect: The Final Act (BBC)

Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Helen Mirren, Prime Suspect (BBC)

Made-for-TV Movie: Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee (HBO)

Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie: Judy Davis, The Starter Wife (USA)

Variety, Music or Comedy Special: Tony Bennett: An American Classic (NBC)
Variety, Music or Comedy Series: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart (Comedy Central)

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series: David Chase, The Sopranos (HBO)
Outstanding Director for a Drama Series: Alan Taylor, The Sopranos (HBO)

Outstanding Miniseries: Broken Trail (AMC)

Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie: Robert Duvall, Broken Trail (AMC)

Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: Rob Marshall, Tony Bennett: An American Classic (NBC)
Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Program: Late Night with Conan O’Brien (NBC)

Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series: Katherine Heigl, Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)
Best Supporting Actor in a Miniseries: Thomas Haden Church, Broken Trail (AMC)
Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series: Jaime Pressly, My Name Is Earl (NBC)
Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series: Jeremy Piven, Entourage (HBO)
Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series: Terry O’Quinn, Lost (ABC)

Happy Birthday, Peter Falk!

This Sunday is Peter “Columbo” Falk’s 80th birthday. CLICK.

59th Primetime Emmy Awards

This year the nominees for the Primetime Emmy Awards are:

Outstanding Comedy Series

  • 30 Rock
  • Entourage
  • The Office
  • Two And A Half Men
  • Ugly Betty

Outstanding Directing For A Comedy Series

  • 30 Rock: Scott Ellis
  • Entourage: Julian Farino
  • Extras: Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant
  • Scrubs: Will Mackenzie
  • The Office: Ken Kwapis
  • Ugly Betty: Richard Shepard

Outstanding Directing For A Drama Series:

  • Battlestar Galactica: Felix Alcala
  • Boston Legal: Bill D’Elia
  • Friday Night Lights: Peter Berg
  • Heroes: David Semel
  • Lost: Jack Bender
  • Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip: Thomas Schlamme
  • The Sopranos: Alan Taylor

Outstanding Directing For A Miniseries, Movie Or A Dramatic Special:

  • Broken Trail: Walter Hill
  • Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee: Yves Simoneau
  • Jane Eyre: Susanna White
  • Prime Subject: The Final Act: Philip Martin
  • Tsunami, The Aftermath: Bharat Nalluri

Outstanding Directing For A Variety, Music or Comedy Program:

  • American Idol: Bruce Gowers
  • Saturday Night Live: Don Roy King
  • The Colbert Report: Jim Hoskinson
  • The Daily Show With Jon Stewart: Chuck O’Neil
  • Tony Bennett: An American Classic: Rob Marshall

Outstanding Drama Series:

  • Boston Legal
  • Grey’s Anatomy
  • Heroes
  • House
  • The Sopranos

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Comedy Series:

  • 30 Rock: Alec Baldwin
  • Extras: Ricky Gervais
  • Monk: Tony Shalhoub
  • The Office: Steve Carell
  • Two And A Half Men: Charlie Sheen

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series:

  • 24: Kiefer Sutherland
  • Boston Legal: James Spader
  • House: Hugh Laurie
  • Rescue Me: Denis Leary
  • The Sopranos: James Gandolfini

Outstanding Lead Actor In A Miniseries Or A Movie:

  • Broken Trail: Robert Duvall
  • Jesse Stone: Sea Change: Tom Selleck
  • Longford: Jim Broadbent
  • Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From The Stories Of Stephen King: William H. Macy
  • The Ron Clark Story: Matthew Perry

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Comedy Series:

  • 30 Rock: Tina Fey
  • Desperate Housewives: Felicity Huffman
  • The New Adventures Of Old Christine: Julia Louis-Dreyfus
  • Ugly Betty: America Ferrera
  • Weeds: Mary-Louise Parker

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Drama Series:

  • Brothers & Sisters: Sally Field
  • Law & Order: Mariska Hargitay
  • Medium: Patricia Arquette
  • The Closer: Kyra Sedgwick
  • The Riches: Minnie Driver
  • The Sopranos: Edie Falco

Outstanding Lead Actress In A Miniseries Or A Movie:

  • Life Support: Queen Latifah
  • Prime Subject: The Final Act: Helen Mirren
  • The Robber Bride: Mary-Louise Parker
  • The Starter Wife: Debra Messing
  • What If God Were The Sun: Gena Rowlands

Outstanding Made For Television Movie:

  • Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
  • Inside The Twin Towers
  • Longford
  • The Ron Clark Story
  • Why I Wore Lipstick To My Mastectomy

Outstanding Miniseries:

  • Broken Trail
  • Prime Subject: The Final Act
  • The Starter Wife

Nominees for supporting roles and best writing can be found at the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ website.

Is he gay or is he straight?

Watch his walk to find out the answer! A new study says that body movements reveal your sexual orientation.

As the gay men walked, they slightly swayed their hips. The observers were accurate in assessing the men’s sexual orientation a little more than 60 percent of the time.

Click here for article and video at MSNBC.

World’s first non-stick chewing gum

Finally scientists invented a chewing gum that doesn’t stick and can easily be washed off pavements, tables or your shoes.

DailMail.co.uk writes:
But scientists may have found a solution: the world’s first non-stick gum. Washed off pavements by rain alone, it could save millions in cleaning costs - and put an end to the days of having to scrape discarded gum from shoes, clothing and even out of the hair. 

The world gets better every day. Then again…

User generated medical information

Technology and society: Is the outbreak of cancer videos, bulimia blogs and other forms of “user generated” medical information a healthy trend?

Millions are now logging on to contribute information about topics stretching from avian-flu pandemics to the extraction of wisdom teeth or the use of acupuncture to overcome infertility. You could call it user-generated health care, or Health 2.0.

Continue reading here…

Seniors love Nintendo’s Wii

The Sun reports that seniors can’t put their Wiimotes down.

Residents as old as 103 have ditched knitting and bridge after getting hooked on the console.

Jayne Naylor, director of the Sunrise Home in Birmingham, said it took off after a chef brought in one of the motion-sensitive consoles which mimic sports like tennis, bowling, and boxing.

Article here.

Britney Spears buys $9+ million house

Time for a TRASH CAN post again: Britney Spears bought a new house, namely, a $9.35 million villa in Ramirez Canyon Road, Malibu, CA. The trashy singer just recently sold her 9,130 sq.ft. house in Beverly Hills for $7,495,000. But forget about her old house… Her new Malibu residence has 7 bedrooms and 6 bathrooms, about 8,500 sq.ft. Poor Britney, with her hair and alcohol and… you know.

VIA & VIA




All right, Mr DeMille, I'm ready for my close up.

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