Drunkest cities 2011

Drunkest cities 2011

Drunkest cities 2011, Christmas is over, weary travelers are back home after family visits, and everyone is making plans for this weekend’s conveniently timed New Year’s Eve. So as America’s cities gear up for arguably the biggest party night of the holiday season, which destinations are likely to pop a little more champagne to ring in 2012?

According to The Daily Beast’s annual data-crunching, it seems that residents in two Massachusetts cities may be among the most generous drinkers. Boston and Springfield topped their “America’s Drunkest Cities of 2011” list, which averaged statistics on binge drinking, drinks consumed per month and population data culled from market research firm Experian Simmons and Center for Disease Prevention and Control surveys.

Beantown nabbed the top slot with 15.5 average monthly drinks consumed per person and 20.1% of the population listed as being binge drinkers (the CDC defines binge drinking as when 5 drinks or more are consumed in 2 hours by men and 4 drinks or more consumed in 2 hours by women). Springfield followed closely behind, with 14.6 average monthly drinks consumed per person and 19.5% of the population listed as binge drinkers. Milwaukee, Wisconsin arrived at number 3 (it topped the same list last year), and notable college towns like Austin (7) and San Diego (9) helped round out the top ten.

Curiously, two of the largest, and presumably partygoing cities, New York and Los Angeles, didn’t appear on the list. Even Las Vegas checks in midway at number 14, below that of fellow Nevada city, Reno, at number 4. So the top ten cities, as The Beast writes, may well be those where “every season is drinking season.”

Or maybe not. For Bostonians who aren’t pleased with the “drunkest” city labeling, take heart: earlier this year NewsFeed noted that Boston seemed to be the least drunk metro area, according to Men’s Health research.

Read more: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/12/31/tipsy-towns-where-are-americas-drunkest-cities/#ixzz1iA8by92v

600 pound Donna Simpson website

600 pound Donna Simpson website

600 pound Donna Simpson website. For years, 600-pound Donna Simpson was involved in the "feederism" community - that is - a community of people with a fat fetish. People would pay her $19 per month to watch her eat. One person from Germany sent her credit cards with instructions to order take out. Another from California wired her $200 a week to buy groceries with, and then would call to hear what she bought.

Three years ago, Simpson was thrilled to be so heavy, saying in a British newspaper "I love being fat; I wouldn't even mind weighing 1,000 pounds."

However, this 44 year-old mother of two eventually became fed up with it. "I realized that I was their fantasy," she said to MSNBC. "Here I was getting bigger and bigger, and they had their thin wives, with 2 1/2 kids and a picket fence." She decided to get healthy - she moved back to Akron, where she grew up, and began the journey to get healthy. Her website, www.officialdonnasimpson.com, turned away from prerecorded videos of her, and turned into a record of her journey. "I'm not trying to be a size 4," she said. "I'm not trying to be a thin-mint. I just want to be normal and more active."

Simpson told MSNBC that she's struggled with losing weight in the past, so much so, that she even turned to crack cocaine to try to shed the pounds, though it didn't work. "All it did was make me clean my house really, really fast," she said.

She's now on track though. Down 85 pounds, she aims to join a gym and begin walking in a pool soon. Ultimately, she said her goal is to drop 300 pounds, and to be there for her kids.

Some of her viewers are angry that she left, but she said that she has to do what's best for her. "There are plenty of men who will buy you four pizzas and enjoy watching you eat all of them," she wrote on her website, "but what it comes down to is that you become a slave to the food and to your feeder."

She told MSNBC that the people who paid to watch her eat weren't "toothless trolls," but, in fact, often lawyers, accountants or college students who have a specific fetish.

Looking forward, she said that she knows it's a long road ahead, but that she needs to face the challenge. "I have only myself to blame for the position I am currently in, and I must now face the greatest challenge of my life," she said on her website. "In order for the people I love most to have a happy and healthy life, I must regain my emotional and physical well-being."

Meat eating panda video

Meat eating panda video

Meat eating panda video. BEIJING: A camera at a Chinese nature reserve has spied a wild panda eating meat. Pandas spend most of their days eating bamboo.Staff at the Wanglong Nature Reserve in southwest Sichuan province set up the camera after noticing dead animals with chew marks. It was not known if the panda had killed the animals.The Pingwu County forestry bureau says the panda appears to be healthy and strong. Conservation group WWF says only about 1% of a panda's diet is meat or plants that aren't bamboo.

The panda looked like he has been caught out helping himself to a forbidden snack. And perhaps this panda realized he had given away a secret kept under wraps for years as he is captured red-handed tucking into a dead antelope. It was previously thought the creatures were strictly herbivores.

According to the World Wildlife Fund China pandas have the digestive system of a carnivore and will eat meat if available, but adapted a long time ago to a vegetarian diet.

Because of this carnivorous digestive system the panda derives little energy and protein from consumption of bamboo so must eat as much as 14kg a day to stay healthy. It has taken millions of years living in bamboo forests for the panda to improve its ability to digest cellulose from bamboo.

It is unlikely the panda pictured killed the antelope and may have fortuitously stumbled across the animal in the forest.

Teacher student sing strip

Teacher student sing strip

Teacher student sing strip, Teacher student sing strip. A former Tacoma Community College music instructor will be in court next month to answer charges that he convinced one of his voice students she could reach lower octaves if she took off her clothes or did sex acts while singing.

Kevin Gausepohl, 37, is charged in Tacoma Municipal Court with seven counts of communicating with a minor for immoral purposes and one count of obstructing a law enforcement officer. The charges are misdemeanors.Gausepohl allegedly told a Gig Harbor High School student he was conducting a study on how sexual arousal affects vocal ranges. The girl, 17 at the time, was attending the college as part of the Running Start program.She complied with some of his requests to strip naked or touch herself during private voice lessons at the college, court records show. Other students told investigators Gausepohl approached them about being part of the study, court records show. They declined.Gausepohl resigned in October after college administrators launched an internal investigation into his conduct.The investigation, conducted by a private agency, concluded Gausepohl “more likely than not” violated college policies on sexual harassment and discrimination.In statements to investigators and in his resignation letter, Gausepohl said he did nothing wrong.“…

I do not admit any guilt or liability in the matters currently under investigation,” Gausepohl wrote in his Oct. 14 letter. “In fact, I vehemently deny all of the allegations that have been made against me.”He said he chose to resign rather than fight the allegations because his wife was ill and he needed to devote his energy to her.Gausepohl told outside investigators hired by the college that he was interested in how sexual arousal affects vocal range but had yet to get to the “human participant level,” according to a report produced by the agency.The New Tribune obtained a copy of the report from the college through a public-records request.“Gausepohl explained that those he approached, he did so not necessarily as potential participants, but rather to see if there is an interest in this matter,” the report states.On the advice of his attorney,
Gausepohl declined to answer direct questions from the outside investigators about his alleged interactions with the high school student.A colleague of Gausepohl’s interviewed by the investigators said he told the girl about his interest in sexual arousal and vocal range and also what “muscles are involved in the female anatomy to properly breathe and support the entire body,” the report states.She said she used some of the breathing suggestions and saw positive results.The woman told investigators she has known Gausepohl for eight years, and “he always focused on the education and mentorship of his students …,” the report states.“She has nothing but the highest respect for him and hopes he comes back very soon,” it states.

 I do not admit any guilt or liability in the matters currently under investigation,” Gausepohl wrote in his Oct. 14 letter. “In fact, I vehemently deny all of the allegations that have been made against me.”He said he chose to resign rather than fight the allegations because his wife was ill and he needed to devote his energy to her.Gausepohl told outside investigators hired by the college that he was interested in how sexual arousal affects vocal range but had yet to get to the “human participant level,” according to a report produced by the agency.The New Tribune obtained a copy of the report from the college through a public-records request.“Gausepohl explained that those he approached, he did so not necessarily as potential participants, but rather to see if there is an interest in this matter,” the report states.On the advice of his attorney,

Gausepohl declined to answer direct questions from the outside investigators about his alleged interactions with the high school student.A colleague of Gausepohl’s interviewed by the investigators said he told the girl about his interest in sexual arousal and vocal range and also what “muscles are involved in the female anatomy to properly breathe and support the entire body,” the report states.She said she used some of the breathing suggestions and saw positive results.The woman told investigators she has known Gausepohl for eight years, and “he always focused on the education and mentorship of his students …,” the report states.“She has nothing but the highest respect for him and hopes he comes back very soon,” it states.

Caviar Russian morgue

Caviar Russian morgue

Caviar Russian morgue _ Even people who think caviar is worth dying for might lose their appetite when it's stored in a hospital morgue.

But that's where St. Petersburg police found a huge stash of the delicacy this week -- 385 pounds stored in the refrigerated space where cadavers are kept.
A morgue employee and a businessman were arrested after the Wednesday discovery, but police said Friday the matter is still being investigated and it is unclear if the men will be charged.
The arrested men said the caviar was to be a treat for hospital employees at a New Year's party.
Caviar consists of unfertilized eggs from sturgeon, a widely endangered fish. Amid heavy restrictions on sturgeon fishing, caviar is increasingly produced and sold illegally.
In the run-up to New Year's, one of Russia's most lavishly festive holidays, police have made a series of other seizures of caviar.
A day after the morgue discovery, St. Petersburg police said they seized an additional 220 pounds intended for illegal sale at local markets.
On Friday, the Interfax news agency reported that border guards in the eastern Ukraine city of Kharkiv confiscated 249 cans of caviar worth almost $22,000 that was allegedly being smuggled from Russia to Ukraine.
In the far eastern region of Khabarovsk, a vehicle inspection turned up 1,100 pounds of caviar, leading police on a weeklong investigation, the ITAR-TASS news agency reported. They raided a village home on Friday and found another 57 pounds.
At two different spots along the Amur River basin, police found 47 sturgeon carcasses and 2.5 tons of live sturgeon. Sturgeon fishing in the Amur basin is prohibited.


Read more: foxnews

Worst celebrity baby names of 2011

Worst celebrity baby names of 2011

Worst celebrity baby names of 2011, What distinction do Mariah Carey, Alicia Silverstone and "Top Chef" contestant Tania Peterson share? They all had babies this year, and they all chose poorly when it came time to fill out the birth certificate.

According to a poll of 10,000 visitors to the website BabyNames.com, Silverstone and husband Christopher Jarecki tied with Mariah Carey and husband Nick Cannon for the worst celebrity boys' name.

Carey and Cannon gave birth to twins on April 30, but their girl Monroe was spared any infamy. Carey and Cannon's son, Moroccan Scott Cannon, was not so lucky. A few days later, on May 5, Silverstone and Jarecki had Bear Blu Jarecki. And it was done.

Meanwhile, pastry chef Tania Peterson and husband Phil are all alone at the top of the worst celebrity baby names for girls. Their daughter, Zuzu Audrey Peterson, was born Jan. 30.

But not all celebs display astoundingly bad judgment when it comes to naming their offspring. Pink and her motocross racer husband Carey Hart gave birth to daughter Willow Sage Hart on June 2. She topped the poll for the best celebrity girl's baby name. Ne-Yo (real name Shaffer Chimere Smith Jr.) and girlfriend Monyetta Shaw gave birth to their second child: Mason Evan Smith. He topped the poll as having best celebrity boy's baby name.

Some celebs seemed to be channeling one another: Neil Patrick Harris, Tiffani Thiessen and the Beckhams all chose the name Harper, which is now 2011's 10th most-popular baby name overall.

Among the parents-to-be who might appear on the poll in 2012: Kourtney Kardashian, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard, Robert Downey Jr., Alyson Hannigan, Jessica Simpson and "Dancing With the Stars" winner J.R. Martinez.

Here's hoping they all choose to get creative in the maternity ward.

Famous January birthdays

Famous January birthdays

Famous January birthdays

January marks the start of the new year and birthdays for an astronaut, an artist and a former vice president. Check out these and other celebrities who celebrate turning one year older at the start of 2012.

Buzz Aldrin birthday

Buzz Aldrin - date of birth: January 20, 1930

Astronaut Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the second man to walk on the moonafter Neil Armstrong in 1969. An officer in the U.S. Air Force, he was part of the crew in both the Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 missions.

Muhammad Ali birthday

Muhammad Ali - date of birth: January 17, 1942

Former heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali was nicknamed "The Greatest" because of his impressive win record . Though diagnosed with Parkinson's disease in 1984, he continues his humanitarian efforts and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2005.

Mikhail Baryshnikov birthday

Mikhail Baryshnikov - date of birth: January 28, 1948

Dancer and actor Mikhail Baryshnikov  began his dance career in the former U.S.S.R. with the Kirov Ballet before defecting to the United States, where he performed  with the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre. He earned an Academy Award nomination for his role in "The Turning Point," and was more recently recognized as one of Carrie Bradshaw's love interests in the television series "Sex and the City."

Mary J. Blige birthday

Mary J. Blige - date of birth: January 11, 1971

Grammy Award-winner Mary J. Blige  started her career on a high note with her successful first album "What's the 411?" in 1992. She continues to record  and perform  with her latest album released in November.

Kate Bosworth birthday

Kate Bosworth - date of birth: January 2, 1983

Kate Bosworth's background in horse riding helped earn her first movie role in "The Horse Whisperer." She continued her film career with widely varied roles in "Blue Crush," "Wonderland" and "Superman Returns" among others.

David Bowie birthday

David Bowie - date of birth: January 8, 1947

British glam rocker David Bowie saw a rise to fame with his alter-ego Ziggy Stardust, which he followed with several decades of hit songs. He married this supermodel in 1992.

Drew Brees birthday

Drew Brees - date of birth: January 15, 1979

NFL quarterback Drew Brees  led his team to Super Bowl XLIV, where he won the MVP award. He published his first book "Coming Back Stronger: Unleashing the Hidden Power of Adversity" in 2010.

Dick Cheney birthday

Dick Cheney - date of birth: January 30, 1941

Former Vice President Dick Cheney first worked in the White House during the Nixon administration and served in various roles in Washington, including a 10-year run in the U.S. House of Representatives ? He took a brief hiatus from public office and served as the CEO of a Fortune 500 company .

Katie Couric birthday

Katie Couric - date of birth: January 7, 1957

Television journalist Katie Couric earned her nickname "America's Sweetheart" as co-anchor on "Today". She left "Today" after 15 years to anchor "CBS Evening News.” She stepped down as anchor in May and currently has plans to host a daytime talk show with an air date in September 2012.

Paula Deen birthday

Paula Deen - date of birth: January 19, 1947

Queen of Southern cooking, Paula Deen serves up her bubbly personality and cooking tips on her Food Network show "Paula's Home Cooking". You can try your hand at her cuisine with the help of her cookbooks.

Ellen DeGeneres birthday

Ellen DeGeneres - date of birth: January 26, 1958

Comedian and actress Ellen DeGeneres added talk show host to her resume with her popular daytime show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show". She married actress Portia de Rossi in 2008.

Placido Domingo birthday

Plácido Domingo - date of birth: January 21, 1941

World-renowned tenor Placido Domingo was part of the famous trio The Three Tenors He has had a successful solo career and currently serves as general director for the Los Angeles Opera.

George Foreman birthday

George Foreman - date of birth: January 10, 1949

Former two-time heavyweight champion George Foreman won his second title despite being 19 years older than his opponent . He credited his comeback with healthy eating, which led to his role as the spokesperson for the George Foreman grill.

Stephen Hawking birthday

Stephen Hawking - date of birth: January 8, 1942

Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking achieved fame outside academia with his best-selling book "A Brief History of Time," among other works of popular science. In 2007 he participated in a zero-gravity flight, becoming the first quadriplegic to take the flight .

Etta James birthday

Etta James - date of birth: January 25, 1938

Blues singer Etta James is best known for her hit "At Last" but has had hits in the R&B, jazz, rock and gospel genres . She discusses her troubled past in her autobiography, "Rage to Survive".

January Jones birthday

January Jones - date of birth: January 5, 1978

Best known for her role as Betty Draper on "Mad Men," January Jones has appeared in a string of movies, most recently in "X-Men: First Class." She welcomed a son in September.

Thomas Kinkade birthday

Thomas Kinkade - date of birth: January 19, 1958

Artist Thomas Kinkade has popularized his artwork through mass production and marketing. His use of light in beautiful, serene settings is frequently seen in merchandise such as greeting cards and calendars .

Bill Maher birthday

Bill Maher - date of birth: January 20, 1956

Comedian Bill Maher discusses social and political issues in a satirical format on his talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher" . He also makes frequent appearances as a commentator for several cable news shows and was a regular guest on "Larry King Live".

Sarah McLachlan birthday

Sarah McLachlan - date of birth: January 28, 1968

Singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan is a Grammy Award-winning artist best known for her soulful ballads . She founded Lilith Fair, a music festival that features women, in 1997.

Kate Middleton birthday

Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge - date of birth: January 9, 1982

Duchess of Cambridge Kate Middleton wowed the world with her wedding in April. She is considered a fashion icon and has made several "best dressed" lists.

Michelle Obama birthday

Michelle Obama - date of birth: January 17, 1964

First Lady Michelle Obama travels the country to advance her platform, "Let's Move," to end childhood obesity. In an effort to promote healthy eating, she has planted a vegetable garden at the White House.

Albert Pujols birthday

Albert Pujols - date of birth: January 16, 1980

MLB first baseman and power hitter Albert Pujols spent his entire professional career with the St. Louis Cardinals until his recent move to the Anaheim Angels.

Vidal Sassoon birthday

Vidal Sassoon - date of birth: January 17, 1928

British hairstylist Vidal Sassoon made his line of hair care products a household name with his commercial slogan "If you don't look good, we don't look good." "Vidal Sassoon: The Movie," a biographical documentary, premiered at the 2010 Tribeca Film Festival.

Oprah Winfrey birthday

Oprah Winfrey - date of birth: January 29, 1954

Queen of media, Oprah Winfrey rocketed to the top of the daytime talk shows with her top-rated and long-running hit "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which ended in May after 25 years of syndication. She is also an Academy Award-nominated actress and publisher of her self-titled magazine, "O, The Oprah Magazine."

Dwyane Wade birthday

Dwyane Wade - date of birth: January 17, 1982

NBA superstar Dwyane Wade has built a successful career with the Miami Heat including two trips to the NBA finals. An active philanthropist, he started Wade’s World Foundation to support at-risk children.

Eli Manning birthday

Eli Manning - date of birth: January 3, 1981

NFL quarterback Eli Manning was the Most Valuable Player in Super Bowl XLII in 2008. He has appeared in several commercials for Oreo cookies with his brother, Peyton, and other athletes.

Frank Langella birthday

Frank Langella - date of birth: January 1, 1938

Film actor Frank Langella got his start on the stage, and one of his most memorable roles transitioned into a popular movie . His impressive career has garnered him several awards and nominations, including an Oscar nomination for his leading role in "Frost/Nixon."

Howard Stern birthday

Howard Stern - date of birth: January 12, 1954

“Shock jock” Howard Stern hosts a long-running, highly popular and highly controversial radio talk show, “The Howard Stern Show,” which now airs on Sirius XM Radio. He authored two best-selling books, “Miss America” and “Private Parts,” which was turned into a film.

Julia Ormond birthdays

Julia Ormond - date of birth: January 4, 1965

Emmy Award-winning actress Julia Ormond captured the hearts of her fans with roles in "First Knight" and "Sabrina," among others. She is actively involved in Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS and efforts to end human trafficking.

Man steals greyhound bus

Man steals greyhound bus

Man steals greyhound bus, When someone suggests you 'take the bus,' do not literally take the bus.

Police in upstate New York say that a 39-year-old man planning to give himself a lift to a friend's Christmas party stole a Greyhound coach on Sunday, only to be caught by authorities several hours later.

Andrew Hickey, of Peekskill, allegedly boarded the empty bus because it was running and he was cold waiting at the Syracuse bus station, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office told WSYR.

Hickey, who does have a commercial driver's license, proceeded to drive the bus 70 miles toward his friend's Watertown home before Greyhound officials used GPS to remotely disable the bus and notified authorities of its exact location, the Associated Press reports.

Hickey still has a long road ahead of him if he's going to catch transit thief Darius McCollum, who claims he has stolen 150 busses the past decade.

HIckey is charged with criminal possession of stolen property and unauthorized use of a vehicle.

How to keep new year resolutions

How to keep new year resolutions

How to keep new year resolutions,

New Year Resolutions....

Its January 1, time for new resolution to make and follow. People do make resolutions but face difficulty in following it. Well here is the guide that will help you How to Keep your New Year's Resolution Successfully......?

Making a New Year's resolution has turned into an exercise in futility for many Americans, but you don't need to start the year with a broken promise. Lasting lifestyle changes are possible, and believe it or not, they can start with a New Year's resolution. Set a realistic goal, give yourself a little time to plan and enlist the support of your friends, and you'll be well on your way to making and keeping a New Year's resolution.

Choosing a Theme for Your New Year's Eve Party

Christina Nardozzi offers a tutorial on how to choose a theme for your New Year's Eve party. She reviews theme options and how to obtain an inspired idea that could help make your party a success. This guide is part of a larger series of holiday-themed tutorials offered on the Mahalo.com YouTube channel.

Source: mahalo

New Year traditions

New Year Traditions

New Year Traditions- What color underwear did you wear on New Year's Eve?
Your choice may say something about your culture and your hopes for 2012 -- as might whether you decide to ring in the new year by smashing dishes, respectfully bowing to your elders or feasting on everything from cabbage to sticky rice soup to black-eyed peas.

As they do every December 31, revelers around the world spent Saturday-into-Sunday ushering in the new year in distinctive ways. One of the most common was by watching fireworks light up the nighttime sky, though this was just one of many ways people found to celebrate and do all they could to ensure that the next 12 months proceed as they wish.
And yes, underwear is one way to state your intentions -- at least in many South American countries, including Brazil and Argentina.
If you wore yellow, that supposedly enhances your chances for abundance and reaping in more money. If it was red, then you'll more likely find love in 2012. And if you were sporting white underpants, preferably new and clean, then peace was your top priority for the coming year.
One New Year's theme that resonates across borders, ages and ethnic groups is feasting on foods in an effort to boost your prospects for the future. But the menu varies from place to place.
Cabbage represents money and sauerkraut is for living a long life for some of Northern European ancestry, for instance. People in Spain and many Latin American countries down 12 grapes, one each to "guarantee" a month of happiness. In parts of the American South, year-round favorites black-eyed peas, ham and collard greens carry special importance over the New Year's holiday.
People in the nation of Georgia don't count on a chef for good luck. Rather, they rely on the first person to come through their home's door after midnight -- a person who, theoretically, will bring them fortune for the following year. Snacking on candy on New Year's Eve is another way, in the former Soviet territory, to ensure that 2012 is likewise sweet, and not bitter.
New Year traditions: Scotland to Spain
Brazilians try to optimize their prospects for the coming year by jumping waves or, if they are not near the beach, eating lentil soup or handing out money. Besides raucously banging together pots and pans, Filipinos eat round fruits to bring good fortune.
Some New Year's traditions have nothing to do with luck. A front stoop littered with broken plates in Denmark, for instance, suggests that the person inside has a lot of friends since, each New Year's Eve, people throw their old dishes at the doors of their friends' homes.
The agenda for fun in Canada depends on where you are, from partying at a "reveillon" in Quebec to imbibing Screech rum in Newfoundland to savoring "beaver tail" -- a Canadian fried dough treat-- in Ontario.
Still, for all those who partake in grand New Year's events, there are many more who make their own traditions.
It may be a small gathering of family and friends, watching the Times Square ball drop on TV, or loudly running through the neighborhood. Some may simply go to sleep early, so they can be energized for an early New Year's Day hike -- perhaps while wearing underwear that suits their mood, and wishes, for 2012.

Via : cnn

Beyonce Baby rumors

Beyonce Baby rumors

Beyonce Baby rumors _ The Internet has been running rampant with rumors that Beyoncé and husband Jay-Z welcomed their first child.

People magazine reports that various Twitter sources and blogs have announced the birth of the music super couple’s first child.

Beyoncé allegedly checked into St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital in New York City earlier this week, welcoming the baby girl on December 29.

It has been reported that the couple has named the new baby Tiana-May Carter, after the first black princess ever to be featured in a Disney film (“The Princess and the Frog”).

The couple’s representatives have not commented on reports, further fueling Internet speculation.

The singer shocked the world with a surprise pregnancy announcement at this summer’s MTV Movie Awards.

The focus has been on the singer’s growing belly ever since, with some conspiracy theorists claiming that the entire pregnancy is a hoax.

We’ll just have to wait and see if the rumors are true.



The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Comcast.

source: comcast

Banished words_'Baby Bump' & 'Man Cave' Among 2011's Banished Words

Banished words_'Baby Bump' & 'Man Cave' Among 2011's Banished Words

Banished words_'Baby Bump' & 'Man Cave' Among 2011's Banished Words_Before passing comment on someone’s “baby bump,” take a pregnant pause. Likewise, give up promoting “shared sacrifice.” And if you’re tempted to proclaim your desire to “win the future,” you’ve lost it here in the present.

Michigan’s Lake Superior State University is featuring those phrases in its annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Misuse, Overuse and General Uselessness. The 2012 list, released Friday, was compiled by the university from nominations submitted from across the globe.

What else do the syntactical Scrooges want to cast out with the good cheer in the new year? The list also includes “occupy,” “ginormous,” “man cave” and “the new normal.”

In all, a dozen words or phrases made the 37th end-of-the year list. The list started as a publicity ploy by the school’s public relations department on New Year’s Day 1976, and has since generated tens of thousands of nominations.

(LIST: Top 10 Buzzwords of 2011)

“Amazing” received more than 1,500 nominations, the most of any on this year’s list. Disdain for the superlative was apparently universal among English speakers, garnering disparaging dispatches from across the United States and even the United Kingdom and Israel.

While it lacked a single pop-culture culprit, such as the proliferating protest movement that occupied the word “occupy” or the collective ooh-ing and aah-ing that accompanied Beyonce’s “baby bump,” nominations to banish “amazing” cite its overuse on reality television and by daytime talk show hosts. Social media also spurred the call to surrender the word’s conversational credentials, notably through a Facebook page called “Overuse of the Word Amazing.”

“The word has been overused to describe things only slightly better than mundane,” Alyce-Mae Alexander of Maitland, Fla., wrote in her nomination. “I blame Martha Stewart because to her, EVERYTHING is amazing!”

University spokesman John Shibley said he and his colleagues were surprised that “amazing” hadn’t already graced the archive of about 900 banished words.

“The simple ones are always the ones that get through the cracks — until this year,” he said.

Other terms circulating for years that have finally raised enough ire to earn a spot on the list include “blowback,” “man cave,” “the new normal” and “thank you in advance.” The last one particularly annoys Mike Cloran of Cincinnati, Ohio.

“This is a condescending and challenging way to say, `Since I already thanked you, you have to do this,’” Cloran wrote in his submission.

Lake Superior State University, located in Sault St. Marie — the last stop before Michigan’s northernmost border-crossing with Canada — has seen its list survive despite many banished words stubbornly clinging to the language. For evidence, look no further than last year’s “fail,” “viral” and “a-ha moment.” And then there is, well, blowback from critics who can’t take a little tongue-in-cheek critique.

Shibley said some people have missed the point over the years and complained that the list is an effort to control the language. But most seem to receive it in good cheer, rather than with jeers.

“A lot of people can take this wrong. We don’t mean any malice when we publish it,” Shibley said. “If it makes you angry, it gets you thinking about language. If it gets you laughing, it gets you thinking about language. It’s done its job — to get you to think about how you express yourself.”


Read more: time

Huguette Clark_Huguette Clark’s ‘Worthless’ Girlhood Home

Huguette Clark_Huguette Clark’s ‘Worthless’ Girlhood Home

Huguette Clark_Huguette Clark’s ‘Worthless’ Girlhood Home_ SINCE Huguette Clark’s death last month, many eyes have zeroed in on her sumptuous suite of apartments at 907 Fifth Avenue, one of the most elegant buildings in New York.

Born to a vast fortune, Miss Clark grew up in an equally splendid but far different home. That was the 1911 mansion of her father, William A. Clark, only five blocks north. There, he sought to create the most magnificent dwelling in New York, costing perhaps $7 million but, by his own reckoning, essentially worthless on the day it was finished.

Mr. Clark earned millions upon millions in copper mining out West, and after stints as a prospector, farmer and United States senator, he arrived in New York in the 1890s, when the choicest patches on Fifth Avenue were going, going, almost gone. So Mr. Clark had to be very satisfied with the northeast corner of Fifth and 77th Street; he told The New York Times in 1899 that he was building mainly because one of his daughters lived in the city.

He had 77 feet on Fifth Avenue, but 250 feet on the side street, more than any other rich man on Fifth opposite the park, except for Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Clark could have hired any architect he wanted, but he retained Lord, Hewlett & Hull, at that time not known for much in particular. Later court records from a dispute over fees indicate that they in turn retained Kenneth Murchison, a graduate of the École des Beaux-Arts.

The Beaux-Arts affiliation was good, because Mr. Clark wanted French and plenty of it. This he got, especially after he sent the plans over to Henri Deglane, a well-known instructor at the school, for extra whipped cream. Around 1905, the mansion really began to take shape, combining elements of French-style buildings in the city, like the New York Yacht Club. The Fifth Avenue front was large for a New York house, three great bays of granite topped by a truly outrageous dormer so big it might have been labeled a dormitory.

But it was on 77th Street that the architects built up steam: a long, tumultuous facade rising to an even more elaborate dormer arrangement, set against an Alpine-steep mansard roof. The truly spectacular feature was a colossal four-sided tower with a three-story-high inward-curving arch topped by an open pergola. It had the unreality of an unbuildable student project at the école.

The mansion had 25 guest bedrooms; a 17-foot-high banquet hall paneled in oak supposedly from Sherwood Forest; a sculpture hall 36 feet high — such things are hardly surprising for a man with an income of $12 million per year at a time when a doctor could expect to earn about $2,000 and a lawyer, $1,500, according to The Times.

However, the claim of 35 servants’ rooms does seem like a stretch; even Andrew Carnegie, with a larger house, had only 21, and the 1920 census found a staff of nine tending to Mr. Clark and his family of three, including Huguette, 14.

Our millionaires tend to suffer in the hands of architectural critics, and Montgomery Schuyler, in a column titled “Architectural Aberrations” in The Architectural Record, found the Clark house inexcusable, “an appropriate residence for the late P. T. Barnum.” Everything was wrong: the tower was “meaningless and fatuous”; the rich, rounded rustication on the ground floor suggested the prototype of “a log house”; the French style had long been out of fashion.

In general this dessert was just too rich: “A certified check to the amount of all this stone carving hung on the outer wall would serve every artistic purposed attained by the carving itself,” Mr. Schuyler wrote.

The editor of The Architect called the place “The House of a ThousandCartouches” and regretted the “dolorous and ponderous granite” chosen. These opinions have been parroted many times but, upon contemplation, this is a pretty neat house. If Carrère & Hastings had designed it for an establishment client, its profligacy would certainly have been forgiven, perhaps lionized.

The man The Times called a “cool, calculating fighter” died in his house in 1925, with Huguette in attendance. She and her mother, Anna, short on sentiment, sold it in 1927, and the mansion made way for the apartment house now known as 960 Fifth Avenue.

Together, they decamped to 907 Fifth Avenue, where the annual rental for a full-floor apartment was about $30,000. The historian Andrew Alpern says that at her death, Huguette Clark owned three apartments in the building, two of which constituted a full floor.

Estimates of the value of her holdings at 907 are difficult to establish, since the configuration and condition of what her estate owns are unknown. But Jonathan Miller, the president of the appraisal firm Miller Samuel, says that, extrapolating from the sales of other Fifth Avenue apartments, and with “a slew of caveats,” the price would probably be above $40 million.

How much does the value of real estate fluctuate in New York? Consider that in 1911, Mr. Clark brought suit for a reduction in the assessed valuation of his house, then $3 million. The court agreed with him that few, if any, could buy such grandeur, determining that the house of a thousand cartouches by itself had no market value.


Source: nytimes