Despite dudes like this, this show can actually have very informative and thought provoking topics. One of the most interesting and entertaining guests they have had was Bob Thurman, Uma's papa.

Will it be the Torchlight Parade or a day along Lake Washington watching the Hydroplane races this year? Both events offer hours of fun and entering into their 58^th year of entertaining.

Southwest Airlines Torchlight Parade 7:30pm Saturday July 26^th

Seafair :: Festival Events :: Torchlight Parade

Hydroplane Races Fri-Sun August 1-3

Seafair :: Festival Events :: Hydroplane Races

Seafair Concert and Fireworks 6:45-10pm Saturday Aug 2^nd

Seafair :: Festival Events :: Fireworks & Concert

Arriving into town a need a place to stay? May I suggest Hotel Sierra, located just off the I-90 and 405 intersections and a block away from the Eastgate P&R – offering easy and quick access to Seattle and many Seafair events.

The staff was friendly, efficient and wanted to make sure everything was perfect. Here are just a few amenities:

• Evening Bistro with premium wine and beer, salads, fresh-baked pizza, and specialty appetizers
• Complimentary full breakfast buffet with made-to-order omelet’s. During my stay they offered pancakes, sausages, bacon, fresh fruit, ham, roast beef, potatoes, cereal, juices, coffee, pastry and much more.
• Waffle terry bathrobes, Gilchrist & Soames^® bath amenities, lighted make-up mirror, and hair dryer
• 32’ Flat screen TVs, expanded cable and movie channels, Sharper Image^® radio with MP3 docking station
• Starbucks^® espresso coffee bar
• In room coffee maker with starbucks coffee. Suites offer kitchen with full size stainless steel refrigerator.
• Multi-station business center with printers
• Pool, hot tub, superb exercise room with chilled towels.

Check out their websites for other features and their great rates!

Hotel Sierra

Enjoy your Seafair weekend!  

Hana Kimi Taiwan vs. Hana Kimi Japan!

I watched the Taiwan version first, then I started watching the Japanese one simultaneously. Other than the fact that they are both based off the Japanese manga Hana Kimi, where a girl flies from California to Japan,disguising herself as a boy to attend an all-boys school to meet Sano, the former all star high-jumper, the two dramas are stylistically very different. I'm a firm believer that good stories are character-driven, so I'll dish my rant about them:

1. RuiXi/Mizuki

...as portrayed by Ella Chen: Overboard

Image by Jamd 

Ella, more than anyone else, showed me what audience the Taiwan Hana Kimi was targetting--adolescent girls. Her pouts and her wriggling eyebrows may be cute for middle-school girls, but for a college girl who has disguised herself as a boy in an all male school? Inappropriate. However I do appreciate her atleast trying.Before she completely annoyed me at the end when she enclosed herself into a bubble with Quan with total abandon of her female identity, she atleast made me laugh a few times.

...as portrayed by Maki Horikita: Real

Image by The Notice Board

I'll admit I hit pause when I first saw Maki. She's too pretty to play this role.

I was wrong. She acted waaay more boyish than Ella did. Whereas Ella inflected her voice to show her masculinity, Maki reflected it in her actions.  She showed strength when she told off Sano,and though she did let her girlishness show, when she was confronted by others she did the more natural thing--instead of provoking more suspicions by talking, she stayed quiet. She's not that good at crying scenes but overall she was alot more believable as a boy.

2. Quan/Sano

...as portrayed by Wu Zun in the Taiwan Version: Terrible.

Image by mop

 Wu didn't put any emotion into his acting. He wasn't acting cold in the beginning when Sano was supposed to be a moody bitch, he wasn't acting painful when he explained why he quit high jumping, he wasn't acting like a big brother when his little brother was yelling at him, he didn't even pretend to have chemistry with Ella,he just knitted his brows together and regurgitated his lines. Towards the end, he was feeding off Ella's cutesey energy and feminized himself in his acting, going completely out of character as a result. His acting, like his face, is bland at best and mentally nauseating at worst.

...as portrayed by Shun Oguri: Good

Image by Titidingo

I'll admit that I don't like Sano as a character in the manga, but wow...Shun pulled it off well. He conveyed as much, if not more, in a single glance than in Wu's 5 minute babblings about how RuiXi didn't get it. Throughout the drama he was very calm and controlled, only given to change when touched by Ashiya or driven by his desire to high jump. I especially loved when he slapped Ashiya to wake her up. My only regret was that he still remained too cool in the end. Yeah I wanted to hear him say "I love you" to Ashiya, but I guess he did kiss her.

 3. Siu Yi/Nakatsu

...as portrayed by Jiro Wang: LOVE

Image by Kawaii-Crazed

Jiro commited himself entirely in the acting. He matched the action to the word, the word to the action. He was ridiculously dramatic but when he cried--I cried with him. Jiro put the appropriate craziness when he confessed to RuiXi in public, Jiro put the appropriate subtlety when he yelled "WHAT?" to Julia, and he ALMOST made his ending believable (That's saying alot, seriously, watch the ending). When Jiro said that the World Cup was his dream, I believed him. I also savoured the times when he didn't say anything, he still showed alot of emotion when he was involved in the cheating scandal. Jiro was the only reason I kept on watching the drama past episode 10. All in all, Jiro made the drama worthwhile and made me a devoted fangirl.

...as portrayed by Ikuta Toma: Amazing LOVE.

Image by Sakuranotoki

In the first episode, Toma was in the background, so I was skeptical after reading everyone else's rave review of Toma's performance at Crunchyroll. During the second episode, I was totally amazed. Toma interpreted Nakatsu in a more subtle way than Jiro but he never lost his funny. Though I felt pained for Toma throughout most of the drama, his inner-monologue gestures were hilarious, and I always smiled when he came on. One thing I will never forget were his classic lines...and I really wished that Ashiya would chose Nakatsu rather than the source of her pain.Toma did a such a great job, I still can't stop thinking about how real yet removed his character was. Real in the sense that he was deeply rooted in the environment that was Osaka High, and removed enough for me to idolize this smiling-cold type boy and leave me yearning for more in real life.

4. Other Random Characters Deserving Honorable Mention, Thoughts, and a Question:

Ah, who could forget the crazy doctor from the Taiwan version? Tang Zhi Ping was realistically creepy,brilliantly creepy, intensely creepy-- he played the role so well. HIs "sexual advances" towards RuiXi weren't believable but hey--he's gay. Maybe he did it so well that he even put that into account.  

Kayashima was a very cute aura reader. He did exude a mystical feeling, and the music and special glow effects helped, I'm sure. But he did a much better job than DaShu, who came off as creepy in a chilling way and just seemed superfluous in the drama.

The Hibari FOOOH! were alot more entertaining than just Julia. Julia's English was perfect and she made a good tough girl, but I think ultimately Hibari and her posse were alot more entertaining. I felt pity for the girl that Nakatsu dated,but I was touched by her courage to never give up.

Overall, the Taiwan Hana Kimi was targeted towards girls who love idol dramas, was a literal interpretation of the romantic comedy genre, meant for laughs and keeping alive the hope of love for so many Chinese high school students who are told not to date until college.  The Japanese version concentrated on teamwork and friendship. Overall the Japanese one is more real and profound. Oh and it didn't drag on forever either.The only complaint I have against it is the random "EHHHH?"s.

So I recommend the Japanese version, short and sweet. But I'm taking Jiro Wang home.

Why are the villains the hottest guys in both dramas?

 
Oh wow, here's the list of VistaVision Films and it includes "The Trouble With Harry,"  "Funny Face," "North by Northwest" and a whole list of films that used it for special effects ("The Abyss," "Star Wars," "The Dark Knight,"...wow.  I'm sticking with digital (too cheap and broke for film, plus I like the look of HD), but WOW: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_VistaVision_films

(Sometimes I worry about some of you.)

Alas though, many things conspired to get in the way of food porn being available for a wee while, but today, porn is once again the order of the day! 

I think I can hear a collective sigh of relief. I know it's hard to go without one's porn. I am truly sorry to have left you dangling...

Today, I'd like to talk about the parsnip.

Apparently the parsnip is the root of all evil according to this story over at the TheSun.co.uk.  Brian Davy, of Wellington, Shrops, found the parsnip you see on your left (which he thought resembled a gargoyle) in his garden, and his wife refused to allow it to see the cooking pot.

Now, while I didn't really find it all that scary... or evil, it did get me thinking about how some folks will see evil wherever they want to see evil.

Take this parsnip for example. Upon first glance, would you label it evil?  It's not all that different from Davy's parsnip... yet here I am using it as the lighthearted butt (no pun intended) of my Friday Food Porn feature. Yes Virginia... it looks like it has a penis. Does that make it evil?

To answer this question, I ventured over to google, and asked my dear friend google, "Is the penis evil?"

According to my very learned friend google, apparently some people do think the penis is evil. There are feminists who think the penis is evil, there are people who think that it's artistic to see nude female parts but that it's wrong to see a nude male part (namely, you guessed it... the penis) and in fact... some people even think their penis might be a terrorist!  

I can't tell you what an eye opener this was. Yes.. at least one of my eyes was opened today, because I happened to choose for my Food Porn post, this very penile parsnip. The other eye... well, it was wincing, because sometimes all I want to do is tell the people I learn about through my good friend google, to just chill the heck out.

I did however, decide that if my parsnip was going to have a  propensity to be pernicious, it should be more anatomically correct. I found the answer in this week's recipe!

Parsnip Balls

Yield: 4 Servings

1 quart cooked parsnips
1 T. (or to taste) butter
cream
salt to taste
3 eggs, well-beaten
2 T. flour
additional butter for frying

Finely mash the parsnips. Season with the 2 T. butter, salt and a little good cream. Add the eggs and flour. Mix well and form into balls. Pan fry in plenty of butter.

[Recipe Source]

Dear Fraccers, from this day forth, should you choose to dine on parsnips, it would please me if you recalled this week's porn.  And for those of you who may suddenly now have the urge to eat parsnips but don't find a ball or two terribly appealiing, I give you...

84 Parsnip Recipes

What better way to kick off my next 1000 posts than to head over to Humor-Blogs.com and vote for this post?

In 2006, the Hong Kong tourists in Surabaya numbered 2,969. Then in 2007, it increased to 4,613. In 2008, "We estimate it'll reach 6,500. If by this year, there's cruise ship stop in Surabaya, even just one, the target will easily accomplished," said Yusak Anshori, Executive Director STPB (Surabaya Tourism Promotion Board), as Antara quoted.

Assistant Vice President Port Operations & Embarkation Star Cruises, Yong Peng Wai, added that Star Cruises will mix several ports in Indonesia as one of their tourism destinations. Places aimed are Seribu Island, Semarang, Surabaya, Bali, Lombok, and the islands of Komodo, during about two weeks of luxurious voyage.

Formerly, Darwin Ports, Australia, also had a plan to put Indonesia into its cruise route. Yes indeed, cruising has become a major part of the world tourism industry, with millions of passengers each year. In Indonesia itself it has started to flourish.

Enjoying the vista of ocean from the deck seems to be such a new pleasure for the rich. The costumers are from individual adventurers, families, to corporations which need to organize some gathering program or merely amusement agenda for the employees on the cruiser.

Timotius was a different story. This young export-import businessman had been rent a cruise ship for his wedding. Hence, with the invited guests and the bride, for full four hours, Timotius sailed on waters all along Jakarta shore.

There are many Indonesian cruise services like what made use by Timotius. You can be a simply passenger, or rent it. Sea Safari Cruises, for instance. They have six cruisers to rent out, but only for sail around Jakarta and Bali. For cruising one day long, they charge 14 million to 8 billion rupiahs. But don't imagine a super luxurious cruise with capacity of thousands passengers. The cruise we're talking about is the small and medium range ones.

If the amenities and extravagance of the national class cruiser doesn't make you enthusiast, you may try the international class ships. And cruise further; Asia-Pasific cruises, Carribean cruises, Mediterranean cruises, European cruises, even pole cruise (for certain destinations like Arctic and Antarctica, cruise ships are very nearly the only way to visit). If so, you might need a cruise specialist to ensure you get the cruise that meets your needs and expectations, with the cheapest cost. The Cruise Vacation Center, for example.

Because it can be quiet confusing. Regarding in the competition for passengers, each cruise lines have added many facilities. Something like fine dining, theatre, deluxe staterooms, ice rink and rock climbing wall (on Royal Caribbean's Voyager-class ships). And other cruise lines have started to follow and came up with bowling alleys, water works, open-air supper clubs, and so on. Of course they do. A cruise ship is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, so the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience.

At present, hundreds of cruise ships ply routes worldwide. Some is carrying over 3,000 passengers and measuring over 120,000 gross tons. And they said, the cruising trend will grow more rapidly in 2009. There will be more exotic places to reach by international cruisers, including Indonesia. [photos from Ship Parade]

Stripper drinks.

Yes, indeed. It's an overly salicious name for a rather tasty drink. My husband taught me this fine concoction and I shall teach it to you. He learned it from the strippers at Wild Bill's back in Corinth who would often drink it.

Now lest some of ye clutch the pearls about a man going to a strip club, let it be known I've been to more strip clubs that Jesse has. The one in Corinth was second-to-last in terms of quality, beating out a horrible dive strip club in Tijuana. The best one was in Las Vegas, which if some of you readers remember during Nina's bachelorette party, we got asked to leave for being too rowdy.

I've been to Wild Bill's twice and it's only a topless bar. *yawn* Frankly, you shouldn't even be allowed to call that a strip club. In Europe, they call that a beach. At Wild Bill's, they're so desperate for women that if you're pretty, they'll let you strip there pregnant. Like six months pregnant. What if your water broke during the middle of your set while you were dancing to "Cherry Pie" by Warrant?

Now, I'd tip for that.

Anyway, I digress. The Stripper Drink:

Ingredients:

• Malibu Rum (Parrot Bay preferably if you can get it)
• 1 can of Red Bull

Directions:

• Grab yourself a "lowball" glass .
• Fill it half-way with the Red Bull. This isn't exact science so no measuring cup is needed.
• Toss in one shot or one finger of the Rum, depending on your friskiness.

Here's the best part. I hate the taste of rum. HATE it. Jesse hates the taste of Red Bull. We both love this drink. Both the edge of the rum and the Red Bull are taken away and what is left is a lovely pleasant tasty drink that won't weigh you down or make you sleepy.

It's a small drink too, so it won't fill you up like one of those monstrous Long Island Iced Teas. But then again, if you're someone who has to go out and buy your alcohol by the quart, you probably won't be interested in this subtle drink. On the other hand, I do know this one strip club in Mississippi you'd enjoy visiting.

This is the first year where I do not need to in-charge of any thing in a Leo project besides preparing a speech. Alright..I shall now let the pictures to do the talking. Before that, well done to the Incoming BOD in organising this installation succesfully..I would dance like mad if I didn't injured my knee..haha!

Dalton, looking good as always, and he is the emcee for this year's installation too!

As usual..many speeches during formal function..

This year I'm sure my speech is not as loud as last year. Special thanks to Blaze and the gang who cheered so loudly for me each time when I went up to the stage, especially the "Ruth Roar" part. I admit I'm touch..haha!

Speech by the Incoming Leo President, Leo Lee Kah Jun!

Speech by our Guest of Honour aka Lion President, Lion R. Ranggayah.

It went on as usual..presenting of awards, momentos, certificates etc etc

Presenting of momentos to the Leo Advisor, Lion Joshua Liew. =D

Yee Zing and I took many pictures during the Installation. She is really kind by asking how's my leg when I started to limp a little and kept reminding me to sit on the chair etc etc. Thanks Yee Zing!

One of my favourite pictures with her. Between she is representing the outgoing secretary of Interact Club of SMJK Nan Hwa.

I totally like this pic! =D

We went to the board's room and started to take more pictures

Derrick and I. He is the Incoming Assistant Secretary of Interact Club. I remember that was my post when I was form 3..nostalgia..haha!

me and Yue Wei. She is the emcee too!

Yes..That's Ruth..somehow I think I like the mirror in that room :D

Photo sessions

Leo Faculty Advisor, Madam Choo

Pearl, Tiff, me, Jou, Nat and Ting

Hwa Zien and I. One of my real great friends. Came all the way to my house this morning to accompany me to school and even helped me to take my books. Good right? Injured once in a while also not that bad eh..haha!

Ju Shuen, me and Xue Li

Thanks Wei Song! That's very sweet of you =)

They were doing something like a comic series. This is one of pictures. It's really hilarious..haha

Me and ever gorgeous Ee Ling.

Thanks for being such an awesome friend =)

The dance floor is opened right after all the Leos and guests went to ballroom. Wait, it's more like a hall no? Anyway i suppose all of us enjoyed ourself. As long we are willing to stand and dance, I'm sure all of us had fun, right? I think only Zhong Quan took pictures at that time..ei..faster send me pictures lar! haha

Besides that, how can I ever missed this picture?!

Outgoing and Incoming president. All the best to the Incoming BOD!

Between, got cha!

tsk tsk..lolz!

More pictures will be uploaded in facebook.

Lastly, ROAR ROAR ROAR!!!

The reason for the delay of WipEout HD on PS3 has been due to the many improvements we have been making and the numerous features we've added to the game. These include: 8 reverse tracks, 4 extra ships, 2 alternative HUDS, 2 Player offline split screen and XMB Trophy support. We look forward to sharing WipEout HD with you very soon.

Regarding the speculation about health issues, we can assure you that we take consumer safety very seriously and monitor it very carefully.

Aw, they care about our health. :)

Now to the big Story

Two minor league teams squared off on Thursday night.  The Reds single A affiliate in Dayton took on the Cubs single A affiliate from Peoria.  The Peoria club was managed by former big leaguer Carmelo Martinez who was subbing for Ryne Sandberg who was off to Cooperstown for the Hall of Fame ceremonies.  Good thing Rhino wasn't there.  Watch the pitcher...he throws the ball at the opponents dugout.  But, there's a reason he's  in single A.  He missed the entire dugout and the ball went into the stands, injuring a fan.  He was hauled off to jail.  Don't bet on his major league future.  Here's the story followed by some video.  The long version is something  you probably didn't see on TV because its over 5 minutes long and is shakey and a bit blurred as it was shot by a fan behind the screen.  The audio from the fans talking is funny and disturbing at times.  The short version is one that sounds like its from ESPN and is less than a minute and one that has probably been seen on most TV's.

***********

Dayton Daily News Story

Long version video-shaky and not as clear but over 5 minutes of stuff.

Short Version video-much more clear but less than a minute with professional commentary

Pryor's voice has taken on a deeper and more mature tone compared to his earlier efforts, which contributes to a more grown-up aesthetic overall. The album is full of short, simple, acoustic tunes. "I'm Sorry Stephen" has a Ben Lee-like quality to it, and "Dear Lover" offers a quiet send-off.

Title-track "Confidence Man" has a great mix of primary and secondary vocals that play off of each other

while accompanied by banjo and harmonica. "Where Did I Go Wrong" is the album's hidden gem, with the silence being just as important as the dark acoustic guitar and pretty electric guitar line that lies closer to Pryor's emo roots.

--

Confidence Man drops 07/29/08.
Check out Matt Pryor's MySpace page here.

This is the 2nd trailer released for the film.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1422613&w=425&h=350&fv=flvbaseclip%3D3007767%26]

I've been so out of the world and everything that's going on around me that I didn't realize one of my all time favorite television shows was coming back for a 2nd season until I saw a brief flash about it on the AOL Welcome Screen yesterday morning.

Yes...I still use AOL. I don't spend any time on it other than to check mail, but I've got it set up as the landing page for all of the browsers I use. Nevermind, it's not important to this piece.

What is important is Mad Men. If you haven't seen this show, I implore you to plunk yourself down on the couch at 10pm EDT on Sunday night and to tune into AMC. Right, AMC. It's one of those cable shows that pulls you in, wraps it's arms around you and doesn't let you go until the last bit of 1960's fashion and exclamations of "Swell," are uttered each Sunday evening. My other all time favorite show, China Beach was of almost the same period, just a little later in the 60's. I don't know if it's the clothing, the language, or the feeling that while things were not all wine and roses back then, it just feels as though times were simpler.

It reminds me of dinner parties my parents had and friends coming over and although I don't have that much in terms of really detailed memories of the times, I do remember being able to help serve hors d'oeuvres to their guests and, when it came time, tasting the left overs in the kitchen. I have no idea what the adults were talking about, but felt special to get to be a part of the fun and I have vague recollections of the clothing being like what we see in Mad Men and I'll bet the word "swell" was used a time or two as the smoke billowed up around their heads.

In any event, Mad Men seems to bring up the feel good memories of those times. So do yourself a favor, no matter how old or how young you are, watch Mad Men! It will be an entertaining hour and if you fall in love with it like I did, you have the opportunity to be a walk on in a Season 3 episode. The details are here -- Mad Men Contest.

No, I'm not going to submit a video. If I am going to put together a video, it should be for The Next Food Network Star casting call! It looks like they are not calling for videos at this point, just personal info and the reason you feel you should be on the show. Hmmm...should be a no-brainer for me, right?!

What do you MEAN you haven't heard of Justopia.com? Have you been living in a vacuum?

Miss Universe, just like any other prestigious event and contest, is mixed with great anticipation and intrigues. Here, the author listed several controversies that happened in one of the oldest beauty pageant in the world.

MIRIAM STEVENSON OF USA (1954)-was the first Miss USA winner of the Miss Universe title in 1954. There it happen the first controversy of the pageant. Miriam tied with Miss Brazil’s Martha Rocha, the organizers decided to break the tie through the pageant’s major sponsor-the Catalina Swimwear, eventually the judging boiled down to who has the greater body. The votes favor Miriam Stevenson, because according to reports, she had the fitter hips compared to Miss Brazil.

GLADYS ZENDER OF PERU(1957)-born on October 1939, Gladys made history as the first Latin woman to win the prestigious Miss Universe title, but she was controversial because of her age. Few months after the pageant, it was revealed that the Peruvian beauty queen was only 17 years old, a year younger than the minimum age requirement of the pageant (18). The pageant organizers however was quick to defend that in Peru a person is considered one year older than their age after 6 months of their actual birthday. She was not dethroned and managed to keep her crown. She married Antonio Meier in 1965 and had 4 children together. Gladys Zender, the youngest Miss Universe winner ever, chose to live a quiet life away from the glittery world of show business.

AMPARO MUÑOZ OF SPAIN (1974)- born on June 22, 1954 in Spain, Amparo was the only Miss Universe titlist from Spain. She won the title in 1974 in Manila, Philippines. Several months after she was crowned, she gave up her title to pursue a showbiz career. She did not replace by the pageant organizer and managed to keep her title.

MARITZA SAYALERO OF VENEZUELA (1979)- born on Feb.16,1961 in Caracas, Venezuela, Maritza became the first Venezuelan to win the Miss Unverse title. When she was named Miss Venezuela, her first runner up Maria Fernanda Ramirez refused to accept the result, Ramirez’s family confronted the jury, nevertheless the title secured by Maritza. But another unfortunate event greeted the first few hours of her reign in Perth, Australia where the pageant was held, when the live telecast was over, the stage collapsed due to the presence of so many journalists taking her photos, several contestants were injured including Miss Brazil and Miss Turkey. The audience panicked but Maritza, with her tiara and sash on, had a presence of mind to save one contestant from a hole of the stage and brought back stage. She then went to New York City to serve her term and responded her role with determination to help charities. She married in 1981 to a Mexican tennis player Raul Ramirez and presently lived in Mexico

IRENE SAEZ CONDE OF VENEZUELA (1981)-born in December 13, 1961 was the only Miss Universe titlist who floated to the world of politics. In the early 1990’s she served a two term as mayor in the municipality of Chacao, Venezuela. Her performance as mayor gained her a nationwide popularity that in 1997 she was considered a potential presidential candidate, but in the 1998 Venezuelan national election she lost to Hugo Chavez. She regained her political career in 1999 when she won the gubernatorial race in the province of Nueva Esparta but gave up her post in the late 2000 when she got married and moved to Florida, USA.

DAYANARA TORRES OF PUERTO RICO (1993)-born on October 28,1974 in Puerto Rico, Dayanara’s victory in the Miss Universe tilt attracted controversy because she did not win any of the 3 major categories in that pageant held in Mexico. She placed 4th in the question & answer portion, fifth in both swimsuit and evening gown competition, nevertheless, Dayanara proved her worth on the crown, during her reign, she worked endlessly on various charities, she became an ambassador of UNICEF helping underprivileged children through out the world. After her reign, she established a foundation which provided scholarships to children. She lived for five years in the Philippines where she became a well-known TV host, actress and model. After her stint in Philippine television, she moved to Puerto Rico and to the US and started a singing and acting career, she married Latin singer Marc Anthony on May 9, 2000 where she had 2 sons, but on October 2003, they announced the sad news of separation and divorced a year after. Currently, Dayanara is dating American actor Amaury Nolasco. Her ex-husband Marc Anthony married Jennifer Lopez whom he had twins.

SUSHMITA SEN OF INDIA (1994)- born on November 19, 1975 in West Bengal, India, is the daughter of Indian Air force wing commander Shubeer Sen and Subhra Sen, a fashion artist and jewelry designer. In May 10, 1994, Sushmita became the first Indian to win the Miss Unverse title in Manila, Philippnes. The pageant result, at first did not suits well to the fame craze Pinoy audience who favored the Venezuelan bet Minorka Mercado, a towering 6’2 varsity player in volleyball. Sushmita, who was a dark horse during the contest, did not win the crowd’s admiration with her not-so elegant gown and appearance, even in the fearless forecast before the actual show she failed to capture the public’s adoration, whose favorites were Kristelle Rolandt of Belgium, Areeya Chumsai of Thailand, Minorka Mercado of Venezuela and the home bet Charlene Gonzales. Sushmita only emerged 3rd during the interview portion and fourth on the swimsuit and evening gown competitions. But she impressed the 8 panel of judges, including the hairstylist of Princess Diana Richard Dalton, with her unique poise, grace and intellect, her winning answer to the final question “What is the essence of being a woman” was inspiring that it became a household quotes among the Filipinos, she said: “A woman is a gift and it should be appreciated, she is the origin of life, therefore should be treated not as a mere sexual object but as an important human being”. After her reign, she joined Bollywood showbiz in India and became a famous actress. At 34, Sushmita Sen, however, is still single but adopted a girl in 2000 whom she named Renee.

ALICIA MACHADO OF VENEZUELA (1996)-born on December 6, 1976 in Maracay, Venezuela, Alicia almost lost her title when she gained too much weight during her reign. As Miss Universe, she was expected to stay fit and trim as she would represent the prestigious beauty contest with glamour and poise. Though Alicia is one of the most beautiful Miss Universe winners ever, she looked haggard and worn out when she ballooned beyond limit. The Miss Universe organization was considering of replacing her with her first runner up Taryn Mansell of Aruba, Alicia, pressured by her title and responsibilities tried hard to loss weight. In the end, she managed to shed off extra pounds and kept her crown. The pageant owner, American billionaire Donald Trump, slighted her with the dismissive title “an eating machine” in the 1997 promotion of the next Miss Universe pageant. After her reign, she made showbiz her lifetime career, debuting on Venezuelan soap opera as “Samantha”, the telenovela, which was shown in the Philippine’s television via GMA channel in 2000, was an instant hit. In February 2006, Alicia generated another controversy when she appeared in the Mexican issue of Playboy magazine as centerfold, making her as the only Miss Universe titlist to pose nude for playboy. She got married and gave birth to a daughter last June 2008.

DENISE MARIE QUIÑONEZ OF PUERTO RICO (2001)-born on September 9, 1980 at Ponce, Puerto Rico. She was the first Miss Universe winner to win at home, which gave rise to rumors “ a home court decision”. In Miss Universe history, no pageant host country wins the title. Denise bested more than 80 delegates including the crowd favorite (and my favorite too) Greek model Evelina Papantoniou whom journalists regarded as a deserving winner. Denise pursued a movie career after her term.

OXANA FEDOROVA OF RUSSIA (2002)- born on December 17, 1977 in Russia, Oxana is the daughter of a Russian nuclear physicist whom she did not meet, her parents separated when she was 3 years old and she never heard from her father since then. Oxana became the first Russian to be crowned Miss Universe in the 2002 pageant held in Puerto Rico. She graduated from Russia’s Police Academy and became a police officer and enrolled at the Russian Ministry of Internal affairs University to become an investigator, she also worked as a fashion model. In 2001 she easily won the Miss Russia title but declined to represent Russia in Miss Universe 2001 for unknown reasons, but in 2002 she went on to join the pageant, her glamorous physique made her an event favorite and scored high in three major categories, according to the official tally of scores, she earned an almost perfect score of 9.88 in the swimsuit portion, making her as the only candidate with a highest score for that event in the history of the pageant. But several months after her victory, Oxana was dethroned by Miss Universe organizers for her failures to function on her responsibilities as Miss Universe. On her interview, she denied rumors of pregnancy. She was the official title holder of Miss Universe who was dethroned and the organization did not recognized her as “former Miss Universe winner”, she was replaced by her first runner up, Justine Pasek of Panama.

Now, if only I had a decent camera to join in the revolution. Oh wait, that's the way to break the system. ~evil thoughts hatch~ :P

Speaking of mean/silly thoughts, here's a game for the easily amused:

Oh, that's a fun one - mean, but fun...and disgusting.
~kicks the dog on the way out for getting in the way~ ;P
TGIF!

"Why can't I wear this to the Store?"...he says.

Actually, that was a most fitting response considering this is something you really have to see to believe.

That what happened happened, is indeed a million to one shot.

Incredible.

Dig this, kids....

.

/

It seems every source I go to is quite confused on what is up and down with Sony's "Exclusive" Announcements. As you may have read earlier PlayStation Lifestyle announced Hardware 2 and now they are announcing a major new PS3 Exclusive on August 3rd.

PSLS Announcing MAJOR new PS3 exclusive on 3 August. *Update*

Do you think Killzone 2 looks amazing , are you thrilled about the 256 online player mode of MAG , Looking forward to the great gameplay of inFamous , I’m very thrilled to announce that the 3 previous games are NOTHING compared with the new announcement coming on 3 August. On Saturday 26 July i will give you 2 hints. please check back on 3 August… for the announcement and again its a “ New “
Playstation 3 ” exclusive ” , Let the guessing and the waiting game begin ! (game will release late 2009)

PS: i would like to add that this has NOTHING to do with SE’s event on 2-3 August.

RPG
FPS
Next gen Twisted metal

Countdown: (could not add one on article itself, that host site has nothing to do with the exclusive information)

*Update*

Afterlife has announced the game and given some details on the upcoming title. For more information follow the link below

New information about NEW PS3 exclusive

After clicking the link which was stated to be the one with more information, it sent me to a countdown timer. Come on, quit playing with us. What is going on!? Does anyone know?

Even Kotaku is skeptical.