This is getting beyond a joke now! The Cheryl Cole love-fest needs to end! 

ITV has confirmed plans to air a Cheryl Cole special.

The X-Factor judge, singer, ‘national treasure’, ‘nations sweetheart’ and alleged racist /convicted batterer of toilet attendants show, will be titled Cheryl Cole’s Night In.

Via Digital Spy

The programme will see the X Factor judge perform songs from her recent solo release ‘3 Words’, as well as feature appearances from acts including Rihanna, Will Young, Alexandra Burke and will.i.am.

“2009 has been an incredible year for me with a number one single and a number one album and being part of The X Factor,” Cole said. “And I couldn’t be happier that ITV have asked me to round off the year with my own show, working with some of my favourite artists.”

The woman is so fake!

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, all those acts from overseas who have agreed to appear on her show and those who continue to co-sign the woman (ie Will.I.Am), need to start doing their research before jumping on the Cheryl Cole bandwagon!

Sophie Amogbokpa

The new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition comes with a new beginning. It’s visual. Instead of opening to a boring list of names, it opens to a colorful chart.

It is an hourglass chart, with ancestors to the left and descendants to the right, and the person it centers on is Henrietta Marie Morse Chamberlain, Mrs. King Ranch. Her husband founded the world famous King Ranch of Texas, then passed away rather early, leaving her in charge for 40 years. 

When you right-click on any person in a chart you will be presented with a list of options that will let you move forward or backward in time from that person, look for additional facts about that person, ancestors, descendants, check sources, dates, etc. 

From that opening chart it is possible to zigzag through thousands of years of generation-by-generation family ties to reach Monticello, The White House, Bunker Hill, Hollywood, the Mayflower, the Alamo, the Lewis and Clark expedition, the moon landing, ancient Rome, The Bible, etc., etc., etc. In short, many of the key people, places, and events in human history. 

At the top of the screen in the National Treasure on the right are two pull-down menus. These will give you a wealth of information. 

The Help menu will show how to use Progeny’s software, create charts and reports and print. A video tutorial is available online from Progeny Genealogy. 

The National Treasure Info pull-down menu will explain how to navigate and search for nuggets of discovery. Please follow your curiosity in the Family Forest® for the delight and enrichment of you and your family.

FOGS SPRING EQUINOX NEWSLETTER 2002 volume XII no.2

Bishop's Palace, Fetternear; heritage project under threat

QUANGOS are non-Governmental, but the Executive seems to have become ‘responsible’ for them, as non-departmental public bodies (NDPB)- a different animal altogether.

This issue deals almost exclusively with this matter because it would appear ministers have not initiated adequate consultation within professional and academic groups whose opinion is of supreme importance. If bureaucratic systems are implemented wholesale, the work of generations of fine minds may be relegated to the bin in a ‘baby-with-bathwater’ attempt at civil service rationale. We may not wish to comment on internal Parole Board workings or how the Royal Botanic Garden educates the planet. It is relevant to FOGS, however, that some of our greatest institutions with documentary evidence of our heritage collected over centuries, may be under immense threat.

Wishing to go further, the Executive is now looking at all Scots public bodies and the ‘role they play in delivering Ministers’ policies’. Overall aim is to modernise infrastructure by reduction or initiating appropriate systems, to ensure appointments are ‘suitable’ and that ‘public bodies are properly accountable to Ministers and Parliament.’

We all know that we live in the most over-governed small country in the world. Within it, nevertheless, are national treasures, resources and a long history of care for heritage and environment independent of bureaucrats. Our voluntary groups and charitable societies rival any in the English-speaking world. There are descendants of Scots in every nation, many of whom despair of our careless disbanding of tradition, value and history, seen in recent government efforts to remake ‘cool Britannia’.

It seems ‘Scottish Ministers want the changes to the framework within which public bodies operate to yield lasting benefits and to command widespread support.’ This initial review will not be the last word. The process of dialogue and consultation invites comment by April 12th 2001 [address below], but will continue beyond May. Every public body which remains will be subject to a ‘modernized, focused rolling review process.’

Annex B of the consultation document states ‘if the case is not made for the QUANGO, we will abolish it.’

One wonders how, for instance, the National Library, legal repository for every work published in Great Britain and Ireland, having an unrivalled Scots collection, will fare.

The Ancient Monuments Board has traditionally advised ministers on the exercise of their functions under the Act of 1979. Do ministers now intend a little rôle reversal to advise the Board on how they should guard monuments?

The Royal Commission (RCAHMS) is under most pressure. How will it fit into the category of ‘what Ministers want’? It has an unparalleled (& efficient) library in Edinburgh which gives members of the public unlimited access to archive material collected since 1908. Its enormously innovative & important Canmore website is an independent project like Monuments on Record on CD-ROM, published to mark its 90th anniversary. ‘Canmore’ database attracted 50,000 searches in its first year on the Internet. Recognised as a charity with the Capital Taxes office [SC026749], able to apply for independent funding via Heritage Lottery Fund, the Commission provides a niche for high-profile, irreplaceable archives; but just as NASA and JPL are dependent on amateur astronomers for unusual material, RCAHMS has accepted personal photographic and documentary historical research donated over the years by amateurs. The present much-needed ‘Strath Don’ survey of Aberdeenshire is possible only because RCAHMS technicians are single-minded, dedicated professionals; not a blade of grass is left unturned nor a single mound unexamined. Instead of this remarkable heritage, are we to receive short shrift from a civil servant with a budget to watch? Will our ancient land once again become amalgamated and manipulated to suit some jargon-filled programme?
We invite you to write in support of RCAHMS before April 12th (2001) to:
Scottish Executive, Public Bodies Review Team,
Room 318,16 Waterloo Place, Edinburgh EH1 3DN
Fax: 0131 244 5077
e-mail: ndpbreview@scotland.gsi.gov.uk

Resources Relevant to RCAHMS
MANY FOGS members will know that the English equivalent of Historic Scotland currently wants to pass through the Lords the Culture and Recreation Bill (H.L.) which would give English Heritage extraordinarily sweeping intellectual property rights relating to ancient monuments and historic buildings, including ‘any other intangible assets’ – wording of a clause which it seeks to insert into 1983’s National Heritage Act. If exercised, such rights could significantly undermine work of independent charities, freelance professionals and owners of such properties. As drafted, it could infringe authors’, illustrators’ and photographers’ rights and undermine legitimate arrangements on intellectual property and other rights.

When moved for a second time on 18-01-2001, Lord Scott of Foscote, a Law Lord, observed that it seemed to contravene the Human Rights Act, pointing out: ‘it surely could not have been intended that the exploitation of intellectual property rights (relating to monuments and historic buildings) should be privately owned rights’. Prehistorians and archaeologists are alarmed that a similar situation might follow north of the border, if the present Scottish Executive Review of Public Bodies succeeds.

Among correspondence we have received, Dr PZ Dransart who works within both legislatures, gives a most succinct comparison:
‘Part V of the Culture and Recreation Bill (H.L.) is analogous to the Scottish Executive review. It intends ‘to remove anomalies which hamper efficient/effective delivery of public services’. Three new bodies are proposed, designed to be reconstituted as statutory bodies to ‘provide the Secretary of State with a basis for making grants’. It also makes changes to the way people are appointed to governing bodies of different museums.

‘As you mentioned, all these issues are interconnected. Independence and organisation of our national museums, libraries and RCAHMS is under threat from such proposals. It will dilute professionalism and make bodies less professionally accountable.

‘At present advertisements are placed in the press to invite applications for people to serve on the executive and advisory NDPBs. Paradoxically, the proposals may not even save money, as the Scottish Executive will have to appoint more civil servants to replace people who sit on those bodies.’
P.Z.Dransart, Univ. of Wales at Lampeter; archaeologist Episcopal Palaces project Fetternear, Aberdeenshire.

National’s Treasure director Jon Turteltaub and Naked Gun’s producer Jerry Zucker will team up behind a new film detailing the birth of the environmental organization Greenpeace.

According to the Guardian, the story will be told through the eyes of Greenpeace’s charismatic founders, Bob Hunter and Rex Weyler.

“We want to look at these unlikely heroes who became activists in spite of themselves,” Janet Zucker (one of the producers) told Variety

“Jon likes to make a big adventure movies. And we’ve found that the best way to reach people’s hearts and minds is through entertainment.”

The title of the movie is yet to be determined.

Cheryl Cole has sparked rumours that she and Ashley Cole are splitting up by not wearing her wedding ring for either of this weekend’s X Factor shows.

Despite Cheryl’s claims that she simply forgot to replace the ring after she took it off to wash her hands, sources have told the Daily Mail that her marriage to Ashley has been doomed since he had an affair last year. A friend told the paper: ‘The truth is the marriage is over, even if neither of them wants to confront it. They still have the occasional moment of fun but they both know, particularly Cheryl, that this isn’t going to be forever.’

‘The pattern of their relationship seems to be that she achieves something, he goes off in a sulk and she spends the next three or four days massaging his ego and building him up again. He can be petulant, pouty and vain.’

One of the many advantages of people a National Treasure is that it’s really easy to get a date – go on Cheryl, kick him to the curb and have some fun!

Source

Rich: *vague mumbling* I’m a part of a secret society…

Rob: Wait, you’re what?

Rich: And you need Paul to get in.

Paul: For what?

Rich: You need to take a closet and go inside of Paul.  Then you get comfortable and the initiation begins.

Paul: Don’t you mean go in a closet with me?

Rich: No.

I have noticed a peculiarity in entertainment media, specifically ones that have to do with grave robbing, treasure hunting, and pseudoarchaeology. The most prominent of these media franchises includes the Indiana Jones franchise, the Mummy franchise, the Tomb Raider franchise, the National Treasure franchise, and the most recent Uncharted video game franchise.

In every one of these media franchises there are puzzles left by ancient people. These puzzles come in all shapes in sizes. Some make use of gigantic statues and others are much smaller such as puzzle boxes. And there are many of these puzzles scattered around for the characters of these movies and video games to solve.

I find it somewhat demeaning to the ancient cultures of the Maya, the Aztec and of Cambodia, Tibet, Nepal, and so on to suggest that their main purpose of existence was to build these elaborate puzzles so that they could entertain white archaeologists and grave robbers centuries later.

Also, in some of these franchises the descendants of the ancient peoples exist, but they are shown to be ignorant of the treasures left by their ancestors. It is suggestive that only a western educated person could possibly be able to read the maps to lead them to the hidden treasure.

But, then again the complex mechanisms that are shown to exist in the puzzles does give some praise to the intelligence of the ancient peoples. And the riches that are eventually reached indicate that these civilizations were once wealthy and powerful in their own times. So, I guess a balance is maintained.

Oscar-winner, Nicholas Cage, claims that he is in financial ruin and blames his business manager Samuel J. Levin. Cage is accusing Levin of pocketing large amounts of money and stearing him towards the financial situation that he faces today.

According to People, “In a lawsuit filed Oct. 16 in Los Angeles, the National Treasure star, 45, claims that his longtime business manager, Samuel J. Levin, “lined his [own] pockets with several million dollars in business management fees while sending Cage down a path toward financial ruin.”

Cage has been forced to sell his numerous homes throughout the country and abroad. “Though Cage claims it was only recently that he learned the gravity of his financial condition, the actor started selling off some of his prized possessions months ago. In April, Cage bid farewell to his Bavarian castle, selling it to his German advisor, lawyer Konrad Wilfurth.”

The actor reportedly owes the government $6.3 million dollars in taxes.

Image

Esaminiamo i dati di ascolto statunitensi della serata di ieri 1° novembre 2009, in base alle cifre preliminari diffuse da Nielsen Media Research e pubblicate ogni pomeriggio da diversi siti web USA come Mediaweek e Hollywood Reporter.
In chiusura, le ultime notizie del panorama televisivo statunitense che potranno anche essere approfondite negli spazi settimanali “TV USA Gazette” e “TV USA Giorno per giorno”, ed un elenco dei prossimi episodi inediti di telefilm a breve in onda negli Stati Uniti.
Per favore evitate nei commenti qualsiasi tipo di SPOILER sugli episodi dei telefilm citati in questo spazio!

ASCOLTI USA di domenica 1° novembre 2009
20 milioni di spettatori per il Game 4 delle World Series di baseball; tiene benissimo ABC con “Desperate Housewives”, ancora male “Three Rivers”; pessima domenica sera senza football in casa NBC
Vi presento la classifica degli spettatori totali dei cinque principali network statunitensi (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX e The CW): nella prima colonna è indicata l’audience in milioni di spettatori, nella seconda il rating e lo share nella fascia di pubblico 18-49 anni.

	AUDIENCE	RATING/ SHARE
	21,12	7,4/18
	10,44	3,4/8
	9,94	2,2/5
	4,36	1,6/4

* Come ogni domenica, il network The CW non è indicato in quanto le stazioni affiliate di ciascuno Stato trasmettono programmi diversi tra loro.

Ecco un elenco degli episodi inediti di serie e sit-com trasmessi ieri sera sui cinque network:

• ore 21.00 Desperate Housewives 6×06 (ABC), Three Rivers 1×05 (CBS)
• ore 22.00 Brothers & Sisters 4×06 (ABC), Cold Case 7×05 (CBS)

Di seguito entro più nel dettaglio dei programmi trasmessi, con una classifica per fascia oraria di trasmissione ordinata in base agli spettatori totalizzati.

ORE 19.00:

1. Su FOX è sforato di circa 75 minuti l’incontro di football del pomeriggio, con circa 30,57 milioni di spettatori (11,2/30), e alle ore 19.30 è seguito il programma sportivo “The OT” con 18,24 milioni di spettatori (6,5/7).
2. Su CBS il programma giornalistico “60 Minutes” ha totalizzato 12,32 milioni di spettatori (2,1/6).
3. Su ABC il varietà “America’s Funniest Home Videos” ha avuto 6,84 milioni di spettatori (2,0/6).
4. Su NBC il programma sportivo “Football Night in America” ha avuto 2,57 milioni di spettatori (0,8/2).

ORE 20.00:

1. Su FOX è andato in onda il Game 4 delle World Series di baseball, con la sfida New York Yankees – Philadelphia Phillies vinta dagli Yankees per 7-4, che ha dominato nuovamente la serata con una media di 20,02 milioni di spettatori (6,9/17) fino alle ore 23.00.
2. Su CBS la sesta puntata del reality-game “The Amazing Race” ha avuto 11,10 milioni di spettatori (3,2/8).
3. Su ABC una nuova puntata del reality “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” ha avuto 10,75 milioni di spettatori (3,4/9).
4. Su NBC, in una domenica sera senza football, è andata in onda tra le ore 20.00 e le 23.00 la replica del film avventuroso “National Treasure” con Nicolas Cage e Diane Kruger, con appena 4,59 milioni di spettatori (1,7/4) fino alle 23.00.

ORE 21.00:

1. Su FOX è proseguito il Game 4 delle World Series di baseball.
2. Su ABC il sesto episodio inedito della sesta stagione della serie Desperate Housewives – I segreti di Wisteria Lane ha ottenuto 13,80 milioni di spettatori (5,0/12).
3. Su CBS il quinto episodio inedito della serie medica flop Three Rivers ha ottenuto 7,71 milioni di spettatori (1,7/4).
4. Su NBC è proseguita la replica del film avventuroso “National Treasure”.

ORE 22.00:

1. Su FOX è proseguito il Game 4 delle World Series di baseball.
2. Su ABC il sesto episodio inedito della quarta stagione della serie Brothers & Sisters – Segreti di famiglia ha ottenuto 9,37 milioni di spettatori (3,3/9).
3. Su CBS il quinto episodio inedito della settima stagione della serie poliziesca Cold Case – Delitti irrisolti ha avuto 8,64 milioni di spettatori (1,6/4).
4. Su NBC è proseguita la replica del film avventuroso “National Treasure”.

QUESTA SERA IN TV NEGLI STATI UNITI…
Gli episodi inediti di serie e sit-com su network e canali cavo
Informazioni tratte dallo spazio “TV USA Giorno per giorno”.

Lunedì 2 novembre 2009

• ore 20.00 How I Met Your Mother – E alla fine arriva mamma! 5×06 (CBS), Heroes 4×08 (NBC), One Tree Hill 7×08 (CW), Lincoln Heights – Ritorno a casa 4×08 (ABC Family)
• ore 20.30 Accidentally on Purpose 1×06 (CBS)
• ore 21.00 Due uomini e mezzo 7×06 (CBS), Trauma 1×06 (NBC), Gossip Girl 3×08 (CW), Greek – La confraternita 3×10 – finale autunnale di mezza stagione (ABC Family)
• ore 21.30 The Big Bang Theory 3×06 (CBS)
• ore 22.00 C.S.I.: Miami 8×06 (CBS), Castle – Detective tra le righe 2×07 (ABC), Rita Rocks 2×10-11 (Lifetime)

National Treasure: BOOK OF FUG
Rogue Apps – Catch Me if You Can
Lil Wayne – No Ceilings [Official Mixtape] [Download]
hawkeyes
hard haunted mansion 2009 pictures
nascar
rain delay world series
bones
Fuzzy Thurston Bash on Joe McKiegal
ny marathon map
factory five

David Foster calls Charice the “Next National Treasure” of the …
Jack o Lantern Patterns
hunky dory
central time
time san diego
yankees phillies world series
australia movie
pro choice
Trick or Treat Times 2009
the best of what&s on
chipotle mexican grill

The United Kingdom got down on its knees to her. Walking down the street, going into the shops, listening to the radio, reading newspapers and magazines, watching TV, looking on the internet, you can’t miss her  : Cheryl Cole is everywhere and definitely became the new National Treasure. So when the most beautiful Girls Aloud’s member announced her plan to take a brief break to embark on a solo outing, we had great expectations towards her first album “3 words”.  Now is the moment of truth! Is Cheryl’s album as good as expected or is it a repeat of Posh Spice’s r’n’b horror?

Before we even begin, we have to contextualize the release of this album, especially as things have changed a lot for Cheryl Cole. In January 2008, the pop star was humiliated in the Sun due to her husband’s alleged adultery. But, a few tears later, Cheryl Cole kept her head up, reconciled with her husband,  became a judge on Britain’s biggest show on TV – the X Factor –  ; and eventually gets the Media’s adoration  to such a point that she is now probably the most cherished celebrity in Great Britain since Princess Diana’s death. And we have all the reasons to think that these difficult times Cheryl has gone through are the key to understand the theme of her album: “When you want something, if you fight then you’ll get it.”

          As the songs go by, Cheryl explores the different sides of Love which indefinitely fluctuates between Happiness and Heartaches; however she eventually gives us an optimist message with her hit “Fight for This Love”. Love is pain…Love is the key; to sum up Cheryl’s final idea , we would say that “Although Love can be painful, it’s required to be happy so you have to do anything possible to keep it running when it’s worthwhile. Positive aspects always prevail over bad effects” .This album actually sounds like Cheryl’s confidence about her self-experience and the recent love troubles she managed to overcome. That’s why it’s so girly and romantic.

          For the release of this “3 Words”, Cheryl Cole worked with Black Eyed Peas’ international star Will.i.am who produced and featured half of the tracks. Thus, we can hear the new trendy Black Eyed Peas’s musical orientation which sounds really contemporary by mixing R’n’Bish and dance influences. This can be catchy as it can be really cheap, and we have to admit that most of the time, it sounds like old demos. This is really THE disappointment of the album. To say the truth Wayne Wilkins, Steve Kipner and Syience‘s produced tracks are much better.

          The album starts off with “3 Words” which introduces us to a Love celebration anthem. As everyone can guess, the 3 words Cheryl is talking about are “I Love you”, but to say the truth, this song doesn’t sound like a love tune at all or it may be about a withering love since it is really dull and annoying. It’s a decent electro-pop tune you can listen in autumn, when you re depressed but it really lacks of substance to show you how exciting Love is actually. The guitars, the bass, voices never really build up and eventually sound monotonous. Thank God, Cheryl makes up for her first mistake and shows everyone she is able to talk about love without wearying her listeners. Indeed “Parachute” is a memorable r’n’b love song with its military percussions and its sweet choruses. Cheryl is evoking a secret love so brilliantly that we actually wish we could fall in love again. “Baby if I got you, I don’t need a parachute” What a loving metaphor to attest that love is what keeps human being so happy! It’s so nicely narrated that we really want to believe in.

          “Heaven” bears out this conception of love as it’s another enjoyable electro tune. This time, Will.i.am doesn’t make it sound bad nor annoying. But the strongest point is undeniably Cheryl’s sugar voice which attests that happiness can be reached on Earth thanks to Love. “I get a glimpse of heaven for every time I feel your lovin” We can really feel how this sentence is true when we are in love. It may sound quite immature, but I think that when you fall in love, it’s like your second childhood so we mustn’t blame Cheryl for such a thing. It just proves its genuineness. Unfortunately, Cheryl Cole sometimes goes too far when she’s talking about love, so that she falls in stereotypes – lyrically and musically speaking – as “Happy Hour” shows…Despite a pleasant message, this track is really a shame. The melody sounds cheap – like a bad 90’s r’n’b tune- and the ridiculous love analogies don’t help at all. Cheryl Cole vocals are easily getting irritating as they are so simpleton. Someone should have told her that the metaphor of love & alcohol is really outdated! Anyway, we are not surprised to learn that Will.i.am produced this track.

          “A Boy like you” isn’t much better than the previous song and it even emphasizes how weak Cheryl’s vocals are. Of course, the instrumental still sounds really outmoded, a bit like an old demo. Our favourite X Factor judge continues to tell that love is required to be happy, but it’s getting annoying, even when you are truly in love so what will happen then?

          Then, Cheryl managed once more to outshine our disappointment thanks to a beautiful ballad “Don’t Talk About This Love”. In that song, Cheryl stops deceiving us about Love and refers to its double-edged side. “Love is brutal, My Heart is fragile”. Although True Love shows that Heaven exists on Earth, it can hurt you and make you really upset. And we can feel this dimension thanks to Cheryl’s delicate and sweet voice. However, as we can notice, her vocals are sweeter than really fragile, so that it shows that happiness Love brings to us actually prevails over punctual sad moments.

This first part of opus we’ve been through is a way for Cheryl Cole to praise Love which is the most beautiful feeling a human being is able to feel. Nevertheless, as “don’t talk about This Love” conveys, Love also brings its misfortunes to each of us.

          In “3 words”, Cheryl Cole also mentions her heartaches and shows us the other side of Love: Pain. “Rain on me” is obviously the most significant song about this theme, about the way Love can turn out and make suffer a person.  It’s a stunning ballad which suits Cheryl Voice more than anyone else, as the chorus proves it to us. Cheryl can actually sing and that’s not her irresistible “Rain on meee” that will refute my thoughts. I have to admit that the first time I listened to it, I found it really bad due to its mediocre synthesized melody, but it grew on me and got stuck on my head due to Cheryl’s singing which is full of emotions.

           As far as “Make me Cry” is concerned, it’s really a bad outdated R’n’B song. Guess who produced it? Will.i.am! This tune unsurprisingly lacks of substance and catchiness. But we can find it an asset: it hurts our ears so badly that we can realize how pain love can be. We don’t have to be so upset: Nobody is perfect and Cheryl Cole can make mistakes – especially when she chooses her producers-. As you guess, “Heartbreaker” is also about heartaches but I won’t enlarge on that song since –one it’s uninteresting and doesn’t add something new, two – after such a disappointment about Will.i.am,  we shouldn’t take our chance again , – and three Cheryl Cole only sings 30 seconds of it so I even wonder why it’s on her album.

          Nevertheless, although Love can be pain, it really worth having since it brings to us happiness so, according to Cheryl, we have to fight to get it and to keep it running. It’s our only opportunity to be really happy, so we mustn’t waste it. I think this is the key message of this album and our favorite singer refers to it with her two best songs: “Stand Up” and “Fight For This Love”. The first one is a great electro/dance upbeat song about the way to get love:  If you want it, you have to stand up and catch it. At least, I think that’s what this intoxicating chorus implies: “’Cause I came here to dance I’m gonna put up my hands and stand up – stand up ».

           At last, “Fight for This Love” shines above the rest. In fact, this is a treasure among Cheryl’s casket. Its message is really powerful and we can feel that the military beats, its gorgeous chorus and Cheryl’s unique voice is totally proper to render it. There are actually no words to describe how good and intense it is. When we listen to it, we immediately want to believe in love and to fight for it; maybe because it’s like a shout which comes from Cheryl Cole’s heart.

          To conclude, we will say that this debut album doesn’t completely meet our expectations. But this is Cheryl Cole we’re talking about and this is our new obsession, so we can’t be as objective as we’d like to. Anyway, we have to admit that Cheryl did a decent job since she confided in us, talking about love as anyone did. When we listen to this album, it grows on us and we eventually want to meet love again, and that’s the reason why I think that our favorite Girls Aloud girl achieved her goal. So, in order to finish this review about this album, I’ll add only 3 words: Cheryl is Gorgeous.

Here is her first single music video :

What do the two hit TV series Lost and Mad Men have in common? 

One answer is Dwayne Shattuck. The other answer is networked family ties in the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition. 

Hollywood director and producer Dwayne Shattuck and his sister, Hollywood actress and best-selling author Shari Shattuck are first cousins once removed of a good friend of mine here on the Big Island, and they are related to the Angel of the Battlefield and founder of the American Red Cross (ARC), Clara Barton. They also all share Shattuck ancestors with famous Hollywood actor Matt Damon. 

A recent character on Mad Men has been Conrad Hilton, great-grandfather of Paris Hilton Paris shares Duvall ancestors with Wallis Warfield, Duchess of Windsor, President Harry Truman, VP Dick Cheney, Lonesome Dove star Robert Duvall, and President Obama. 

Lost co-star Matthew Fox is a distant cousin of mine. He shares Willard ancestors with Hollywood actress Carole Lombard, and author John Steinbeck. He shares Hubbard ancestors with US Education Secretary Arne Duncan , presidential hopeful Sarah Palin and also famous Hollywood actor Matt Damon. 

Matthew Fox is also said to be a descendant of the victor of the Battle of Gettysburg in the Civil War, Major-General George Gordon Meade. 

The edutaining Family Forest® Project is Networking Family History with Hollywood™ and connecting audiences through actual family ties better than any other digital resource, either online or offline, as the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition will show you.

Has appeared in over 60 films.His most famous role was in Leavin Las Vegas.

From the trailer I’ve seen, Julie and Julia looks like a fun movie.

 To add to the enjoyment, the Family Forest® Project has just posted some additional Ancestors-at-a-glance™ charts. 

One is for one of the main characters, Julia Child, and another is for the famous Hollywood actress who portrays her, Meryl Streep. 

According to the family history already mapped out in the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition, I share an important to me 1600’s ancestor with Julia Child. He is Mayflower Pilgrim George Soule. 

Julia and I also share ancestor George Soule with Amelia co-star Richard Gere and Dick Van Dyke. 

Contrary to what her unusual surname might lead one to believe, Meryl Streep has early American ancestry with much more common surnames, including some who came to America at about the same time as her character’s ancestor, and probably knew each other. 

Some of Meryl’s other ancestral surnames include Betts, Jackson, Walker, Ring, Dean, Howland, Wilkinson, Twining, Conyers, Lacy, Young, Kirk, Elliott, Chapman, Simpson, and Smith. 

One of Meryl’s famous cousins through their royally-descended ancestor Christopher Conyers is Britney Spears. 

If all of the cousins of the cast and characters of Julie and Julia go to see it, this motion picture will be the largest box office hit ever. 

The edutaining Family Forest® Project is Networking Family History with Hollywood™ and connecting audiences through actual family ties better than any other digital resource, either online or offline, as the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition will show.

Some of the voices and faces of those celebrities who have brought us over a century of impactful news through radio and television are indelibly etched in our memories. Now millions of us can see that we have actual family ties to some of those voices and faces.

 Family Forest® Ancestors-at-a-glance™ charts from the new National Treasure Edition have just been posted for some of the instantly recognizable people from broadcasting. 

These new free charts are for Walter Cronkite, Lowell Thomas, Katie Couric, Anderson Cooper, Pat Buchanan, Pat Robertson, G. Gordon Liddy, Maria Shriver, Don Imus and Mike Huckabee.

“And that’s the way it is.”

A new motion picture about America’s most beloved female aviator, Amelia, will be premiering at theatres on October 23, 2009. 

In advance of the release we have just posted a half-dozen related Ancestors-at-a-glance™ charts. 

One is for Amelia Earhart herself, one is for her husband, George “GP” Putnam, and one is for the famous Hollywood actor who will be portraying him, Richard Gere. 

In this role Richard will be portraying a cousin of California’s next Governor, Meg Whitman. Meg shares early New England Buckminster ancestors with “GP” Putnam. 

Another Buckminster cousin of Meg and GP is Bucky Fuller and he was a real life friend of Amelia. A video can be seen here of her in his futuristic Dymaxion car. 

And yet another Buckminster cousin is current US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. 

If all of the cousins of the cast and characters of Amelia go to see it, this motion picture will be the largest box office hit ever.

The edutaining Family Forest® Project is Networking Family History with Hollywood™ and connecting audiences through actual family ties better than any other digital resource, either online or offline, as the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition proves.

One of the most exciting features of the new Family Forest® National Treasure Edition is the ability to generate visually engaging Ancestors-at-a-glance™ fan charts. 

The first of many of the free charts we will be posting to Ancestors-at-a-glance™ is for Prince William. 

There is a wealth of surprising knowledge on this one-page PDF. Simply use Adobe Acrobat Reader’s zoom and scroll features to explore it. 

As the name says, this is simply a glance at Prince William’s ancestry. For greater detail, dozens of centuries of his ancestry beyond ten generations, the source citations behind each note and connections, and much much more, you will be amazed and delighted by what you can discover in the new one-of-a-kind Family Forest® National Treasure Edition.

Your life will never be as bad as this movie.  And you can be happy about that.  Unfortunately, your life will never be as awesome as this movie.  Which sucks, but it’s reality.  Neither do you have the tragedy of living near or having to talk with Larry the Cable Guy.  Nor, on the other hand, can you be as good looking as Bruce Willis or Milla Jovovich while living a life of fantasy in the near non-existent future where aliens exist (and apparently look like armadillos) and Chris Tucker is…Chris Tucker. I’m not sure where I was going with that.  I could have gone a lot of places with that.  None of them would have been good places, though.  Regardless…

Anyways, to get to the point.  I constantly compare my life to the movies I watch.  I lament the fact that my life will never (A) be as interesting or (B) successful as The Lives of Others, and sometimes  wish Danny Kaye would Court Jester his way into my world just once.   Ever since moving to Philadelphia, and probably because I ride my bicycle everywhere (primarily because  I’m too cheap to buy a car, and in no way does my concern for the environment dictate my decision but it is nice that it is a benefit) with my iPod headphones in, I have had the insane hope that one, as I am riding home from work, two rival gangs will bust out into choreographed dance/fighting a la West Side Story, or maybe even a little basketball choreography…whatever gets the youth off the streets these days.  By the way, I did not know that movie won 10 Oscars.  Since Return of the King, Ben Hur, and Titanic are the big 11 Oscar winners they seem to get all the attention, but 10 Oscars is a darn impressive feat.  And until rewatching that YouTube clip, had never noticed that Bernardo wore Converse All-Stars.  That’s just classy.  Or maybe everyone wore Converse All-Stars in the ’60s and I’m just a little young to know or understand.  Either way, classy.  I stand by my opinion.

(Ever since writing this, I’m going to start pushing the theater department at our school to do West Side Story as the spring musical.  This year they decided to do The Wiz.  I’m ambivalent.  The Wiz is apparently done every year at one of the middle schools in Philadelphia.  I have a feeling it’s overdone in urban areas.  Personal opinion.  Although I have to give the theater department props for doing The Outsiders and moving the play from the middle of nowhere middle America in the ’60s to New York City in the late ’80s.  They’re good.)

I am constantly wishing the movies I watch pop up in my own life.  In case you hadn’t clued in yet, this is the MOVIES AS ESCAPISM philosophy.  This is what I believe.  This is why I particularly hate watching documentaries.  I don’t like the world enough as it is, do I have to watch it all over again when I get home?  (NOTE:  This movie is a rare exception to the documentary rule.  Moving on…)  Watching Hoop Dreams was painful.  Crumb?  Just unnecessary.

This is why I’m not convinced by District 9.  It’s a little to preoccupied with NOT allowing the audience member to hopefully ignore the fact that it is really about apartheid to allow the audience member to watch the movie without thinking.  I like movies that make you think.  I don’t like movies that do the thinking for you.  This is also why (but for a slightly different reason) I will never like the National Treasure movies.  The National Treasure movies, unlike District 9, just tell you the answer.  District 9, instead, hammers the obvious into you with a mallet.  Neither is very comfortable or easy to watch.

Clarification: Watching movies about the harsh realities of life is OK.  I don’t know why, but it is.  Watching Year of the Quiet Sun was much nicer than any factual movie I have watched about Europe post World War II.  It isn’t a happy movie.  It isn’t an altogether kind movie.  But because I know it is fiction, maybe it is easier for me to stomach and accept, because I know it isn’t reality.   The movie doesn’t have to be harsh to be hated.  It just has to be real.  Movies, to me, weren’t made to show the world.  They were meant to, at the most, mirror the world, echo the world, re-represent the world, meant to capture our shadows on the cave, not to show our true faces.

This brings be to the review of the article (a personal favorite): Sunshine (I’ll get to Solaris another day.)

I know this is really late.  I know this is two years late.  I’m going to start actually writing about modern and relevant movies when work allows me the time to go out to the movie theater and see relevant movies.  Until then, I’ll review old favorites.

This movie I think is quite wonderful.  I think it is quite wonderful because it was probably a movie made precisely for me.  Ebert got it right when he said the movie was made for nerds. But, it’s more than a movie for nerds.  It’s a classic movie in that it devotes nothing new to the entire subgenre of movies where a crew of people go into outer space, get on each other’s nerves, and grapple with the fact that they’re on a suicide mission all while trying to be both psychological and vaguely sexy.  It doesn’t add anything new because the genre exists solely for B-grade movies.  (The exception is Solaris almost exclusively.  I don’t like Alien or Aliens.  I’ll explain that one later too, I promise.)  I’m pretty sure this movie does not try to be anything more than the best it knows it can be–a B-grade movie.  This is why Ebert will give it a 3/4.   Because that’s all it should deserve.

Fortunately, it is more than that.  It is part Science Fiction, part horror, part drama, part diatribe.  It’s like an all style and no substance movie with a little bit a substance.  Not much, but just enough to be entertaining.  I won’t bother with the plot because the plot doesn’t really matter very much.   You’ve seen it before.  Until a certain moment in the film.  Then it switches genre with one fail swoop and moves into another type of movie you’ve also seen before.  It’s interesting to manage and understand the switch.  It’s not that interesting.  But it is interesting.  What’s more interesting are the visuals, which will always win me over storyline, although the storyline isn’t terrible.  It’s a joy to watch, the visuals will win any viewer over.

This, I admit is my major downfall as a moviewatcher.  Oftentimes I’m willing to allow my obsession with great visuals overtake my practical sense of plot, pacing, and acting, none of which is lacking in Sunshine.  Did I mention this is one of my favorite films.  I’m not sure why I’m trying to make it sound so bad.  It’s not.  It’s actually really good.  Give it a chance.  Put it on your Netflix queue.  I doubt you’ll be sorry.

If you are, let me know, and let me know why.  Like my students who all seem to think an opinion ends with yes or no, I will always respond in the same way: an opinion is no good without a valid reason.  Give evidence!  That’s usually when I start raving around the classroom like a lunatic screaming incoherently about the value of justification and evidence.  That’s when all my students stop listening.  Which is fine.  Everything is still fine.

Work goes along. On Saturday I managed to save a woman’s horrible weekend. There was more to the weekend and the series of events that got her to this point, but when I came in her time was almost up on the computer and she was applying for a job and it wasn’t letting her paste her resume and the job closed tomorrow and and and… Through careful application of two keys on the keyboard (“Ctrl” & “V”) I saved her day. She was almost crying in thanks. It was kind of weird.

Last week I managed to piss off beard lady a couple of times by disagreeing with her. She was angry about how the Manitoban won’t run her ads anymore and to prove her point she pulled out this issue: “What word do you think of when you look at this?”

“Upside-down” I said.

“No. Gynecology.”

“No. Gynecology is not the first word anyone other than you would think of.”

“Gynecology. And they put this on the cover….”

At this point she’s about to go off on one of her pornography rants and I try to intercept. “No. There is nothing to do with gynecology on the cover of that newspaper.”

So she folds the paper until the tiny strip showing the hem of the girl’s shirt is the only thing visible on the page. “Look. Gynecology.”

“Beard Lady,” I said (using her real name instead of Beard Lady), “That’s all you. You just folded everything to make your point. No one else is doing that. You are wrong. Gynecology is not the word for that cover.”

And then she got all in a huff and left after telling me that Bruce said she shouldn’t ever listen to anything I had to say. A couple of days later she was back and I printed off copies of the DVD cover for National Treasure 1 and 2 because she didn’t know which one she’d seen in the theatre. She was kind of testy with me then but we made it through all right.

Over the weekend I finished the new one from Dan Brown (Angels & Demons, The Da Vinci Code).  I really enjoyed it.  The Lost Symbol puts professor Robert Langdon back in his familiar role of code breaker.  This time the setting is Washington, D.C. and he is deciphering a map of the masons to help rescue is friend from a mad man.

Brown’s writing is tight and I confess to whipping through 300 pages in one sitting.  Fans of his other books will definitely enjoy this novel.  It did remind me a lot of the Nicholas Cage movie, “National Treasure” but mostly just because they are both set in D.C. (Put the Cage movie seemed in response to The Da Vinci Code anyway)  Any action/adventure lovers, those interested in conspiracy theories, and those who just enjoy a good novel will love this.

But please people, its just a novel.  Novel-by definition not real, fiction.  I guess its a testament to Brown’s writing that he stirs up such controversy with his believable fiction.

Dick Cook, Chairman of the Walt Disney Studios presided over a presentation full of breaking news, new trailers and a ton of surprise guest appearances on Friday at the D23 expo.

It started with a full orchestra performing a montage of music clips from all of the Disney library of movie.  Then, after making it snow inside the convention hall; Director Robert Zemeckis stopped in to talk about Disney’s A Christmas Carol.   “It’s a very timeless story and it’s a timely story and it’s a time-travel story and you know how much I love time-travel stories. So when I read the novel, I realized that Dickens is so magnificent in the way he writes thematically and the images that he conjures are so spectacular. I didn’t think a film had ever been realized in a way that we now have the tools to do it. I think we have the ability now to present the movie in the way Dickens imagined it.”  said Zemeckis.

The next guest was Tim Burton, director of the upcoming Alice in Wonderland, due out in March of 2010.  The movie will be a combination of live action & animation with some 3-D effects thrown in.

Surprise guests John Travolta, wife Kelly Preston and their daughter Ella Bleu.  They were there to talk about their new movie, Old Dogs.  All 3 are in it, and this is Ella Bleu’s first movie. 

Nicholas Cage stopped by to promote his upcoming movie; The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.  Nic Cage came up with the idea based on his love of the movie Fantasia.  The movie will be out in July of 2010.  He also announced that he’d be interested in doing another National Treasure movie, much to the audiences delight.

In a surprise performance Miley Cyrus sang her hit song “The Climb” then the next movie announcement was made: Tim Burton’s Frankenweenie will be coming to a theater near you in 2011.  Down the road Dick Cook announced there will be a Yellow Submarine 3D version of the Beattles classic movie and then the announcement of a new muppet movie!  The Cheapest Muppet Movie Ever Made!  (that’s the name) will be made soon.  To celebrate; Kermit, Miss Piggy sailed onto the stage on a Mark Twain boat and sang Rainbow Connection.

Just when the audience thought it couldn’t get any better; the biggest, bestest guest appearance of the day: Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow!  Captain Jack “drunk as a skunk”  asked the audience “Has anyone else witnessed a talking frog? Where has the frog gone?”  Johnny Depp’s Pirates of the Caribbean — On Stranger Tides is due in the summer of 2011. 

Sounds like a magical time was had by all at the movie preview experience!