Photo: Fox
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1663093/moulin-rouge-10-years-later-join-our-celebration.jhtml
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
UFC 129 Weigh-In Video
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- Michael David Smith
- Lead Blogger
All 24 fighters who will compete at UFC 129
will first step on the scale Friday for the UFC 129 weigh-ins, and we'll have the video right here at MMAFighting.com.
will first step on the scale Friday for the UFC 129 weigh-ins, and we'll have the video right here at MMAFighting.com.In the main event, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and his opponent Jake Shields will have to make the 170-pound limit, while in the co-main event, featherweight champion Jose Aldo and his opponent Mark Hominick will have to make the 145-pound limit. There is no one-pound buffer for title fights.
The weigh-in starts at 4 PM ET and the video is below.
Source: http://mmafighting.com/2011/04/29/ufc-129-weigh-in-video/
Monday, May 2, 2011
David Foster Wallace's Legacy: A Trove Of Good Reads
Enlarge Giovanni Giovannetti/Effigie
Late author David Foster Wallace's unfinished book, The Pale King, is the sequel to his 1996 novel, Infinite Jest.
Giovanni Giovannetti/Effigie
Late author David Foster Wallace's unfinished book, The Pale King, is the sequel to his 1996 novel, Infinite Jest.
Writers love to grumble about the popularity of self-help books, yet they, like everyone else, are always looking for someone who'll teach them how to live. Just think of all those guys who learned their masculinity from Hemingway or those classy-sounding books with titles like How Proust Can Change Your Life or How To Live: A Life of Montaigne.
One who seemed to know life's secret was David Foster Wallace, whose suicide, oddly enough, only enhanced his stature as a sage. Whether or not he was the most important American writer of his era, he's the one who inspired the deepest affection in life and who, in death, has come to be seen as something of a literary saint. Even those who don't actually like his writing like the idea of him ? enough so that publishers keep releasing posthumous books.
The latest is The Pale King, an unfinished novel about the IRS, boredom and the mind-killing horror of bureaucracy. Skilfully stitched together by his editor, the novel has some superb sections ? for instance, there's a tenderly observant story about two young Christians dealing with an unwanted pregnancy. Then again, some parts are so dull we assume that, had he lived, he surely would have cut or improved them.
It's a reasonable assumption. Wallace was an amazing writer whose head was exploding with perceptions, ideas, facts, and doubts about those perceptions, ideas, and facts ? which is why his writing is thicketed with brainy, sometimes hilarious footnotes. Reading him, you feel engaged with a mind that's engaged with the fundamental question of the modern condition ? how to be sane and compassionate in the face of daily life's often overwhelming craziness. That's the explicit theme of This Is Water, the text of his acclaimed 2005 commencement address at Kenyon College, a small classic of American literature that actually is a kind of self-help book.
Most readers prefer Wallace's journalistic pieces, many of which filled me with envy at their originality. He had a staggering eye for detail, an ability to make startling connections and a mind that was never predictable. He wrote brilliant and admiring pieces on David Lynch, Roger Federer, and John McCain ? not exactly your ordinary egghead trifecta. When Gourmet Magazine sent him to cover the Maine Lobster Festival, Wallace covered it spendidly but startled the editors by turning in a piece that made eating lobsters seem kind of, well, wrong. It's still the best piece I've read about the morality of eating meat, best because not preachy. Wallace himself ate and enjoyed meat, but he makes us think about what it actually means to do it.
If his journalism goes down like ice cream, his fiction was always demanding, especially Infinite Jest, a dystopian vision of the near future that set the standard for a whole literary generation. Here was the landmark novel other writers wanted to emulate or top ? or maybe tear down. Where many of his peers wrote books that felt dinky, Wallace strove to capture the very essence of our time ? the information overload, the power of big institutions to deform our souls, and the way, in a world of seemingly endless possibilities, we can become imprisoned inside our restless brains, aimlessly shuffling thoughts and worries and dreams of escape.
Now, Wallace's fiction isn't always enjoyable. It reminds me of the films of Jean-Luc Godard, which can bore you comatose one minute and then, moments later, wow you with an epiphany that forever changes your way of thinking. Although his novels aren't as emotionally satisfying as those of his friend Jonathan Franzen ? the conventional Truffaut to his radical Godard ? he was his generation's genius, the voice other writers heard in their heads.
This may make him sound pretentious. Yet the reason people loved and still revere him is that he wasn't. He wasn't Olympian like Nabokov, self-promoting like Mailer or reclusive like Salinger. He had a reputation, rare among famous writers, as a decent guy who genuinely cared about being good. That's why he disliked being treated as a guru or prophet or saint ? he never pretended to know all the answers. In fact, with his scruffy beard, bandanna, and informal manner, Wallace seemed to want nothing more than to be a regular American like you and me. It was always his blessing ? and curse ? that he couldn't be.
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Barry Diller's IAC Swings to $18.1 Million First-Quarter Profit
NEW YORK ? Barry Diller?s IAC swung to a first-quarter profit as revenue jumped 22 percent.
The Internet company, which includes Ben Silverman?s multi-media studio Electus, CollegeHumor and production firm Notional and owns half of the Newsweek Daily Beast Company joint venture, among others, reported a profit of $18.1 million. That compared with a year-ago loss of $18.7 million.
The year-ago result was also dragged down by an impairment charge related to an investment. Revenue rose 22 percent to $460.2 million.
Chairman Diller, a former movie studio boss, has in recent years expanded the company's media and entertainment activities.
IAC?s ?media and other? segment, which includes Electus, CollegeHumor, Newsweek Daily Beast and more, grew revenue 13 percent to $54.3 million, with the company citing Electus and Notional as contributors to the gain. The unit?s operating loss narrowed slightly from $3.8 million to $3.7 million. IAC mentioned a narrowed loss at what is now Newsweek Daily Beast as a key reason.
On a conference call, Diller said he expects the value of a recent five-year extension of a search deal with Google to be $5.5 billion, compared with $3.5 billion in estimated revenue for the original deal. "It's obviously significant," he said.
Asked about the outlook for possible future synergies at Newsweek Daily Beast, Diller said it is still early in the process and pointed out that the Daily Beast site already helps sell the Newsweek print product. He added that there may not be much to say about the integration, which is still underway, for at least six months.
Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com
Twitter: @georgszalai
Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/business/~3/6D5-vqm1RpI/barry-dillers-iac-swings-181-182221
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Obama Chides Media For Role In 'Birther' Controversy
Enlarge J. Scott Applewhite/AP
President Obama speaks Wednesday to reporters about the controversy over his birth certificate.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
President Obama speaks Wednesday to reporters about the controversy over his birth certificate.
There comes a moment in almost every American presidency when the commander in chief turns media critic in chief.
For President Obama, that moment occurred Wednesday morning. He released his birth certificate to quell persistent rumors that he was somehow not born in this country ? and his remarks were carried live by the nation's leading cable news channels.
"Let me just comment, first of all, on the fact that I can't get the networks to break in on all kinds of other discussions. I was just back there listening to Chuck [Todd of NBC News and MSNBC]," Obama said. "He was saying, 'It's amazing that he's not going to be talking about national security.' I would not have the networks breaking in if I was talking about that, Chuck, and you know it."
Obama said that for too long the nation has been distracted from weighty matters by "sideshows and carnival barkers." While he did not name whom he meant, the barker he had in mind was a specific New York City real estate developer, reality show host and putative potential Republican presidential candidate. Donald Trump lately has been boasting that he has sent a squad of investigators to Hawaii to pin down the facts of Obama's birth and that people would not believe what they were finding.
Notice, however, the president's words didn't criticize the carnival barker; he criticized those who get distracted, such as the members of the press corps sitting in front of him as he made his remarks.
This seemingly fabricated issue has dogged Obama for three years. It first emerged in the 2008 Democratic presidential primaries and has periodically surfaced in the media thanks to renewed claims of skepticism by a small minority of his critics.
The Obama campaign originally released his certification of live birth ? the state record given out by Hawaiian officials to people wanting their own documents, and used for official purposes ? to quell questions of whether he was actually listed as a Muslim (he wasn't) or whether his middle name was "Muhammad" (it isn't).
The question has previously been settled by journalists from FactCheck.org, CNN, PolitiFact and The New York Times, among many other news outfits. PolitiFact went so far in 2008 as to title one entry "The Final Chapter." It did so again in 2009. And PolitiFact has updated the Obama birth certificate file at least twice in the past month.
Enlarge J. Scott Applewhite/AP
This handout image provided by the White House shows a copy of the long form of President Obama's birth certificate.
J. Scott Applewhite/AP
This handout image provided by the White House shows a copy of the long form of President Obama's birth certificate.
Many leading Republicans, including Karl Rove and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, have recently taken pains to dismiss such claims as untrue and counterproductive. But recent polls reflect that a sizable minority of Americans question Obama's birth. The latest poll by The New York Times and CBS found 45 percent of all Republicans say they believe he was born in another country.
Clara Jeffery, co-editor-in-chief of the left-of-center Mother Jones magazine, says the media helped to perpetuate the "birther" myths. Mother Jones dedicated its most recent issue to the question of why people still believe recurring and disproved claims.
"In the broader media, I think there's the reporting on the phenomenon of birtherism ? the phenomenon of Trump ? without taking enough time to debunk what they're saying," Jeffery tells NPR.
Some recent television interviews, and there have been many, notably failed to contradict Trump or others contending there was doubt about where Obama was born. NBC's Meredith Vieira challenged Trump only lightly; ABC's Christiane Amanpour let similar remarks pass from the Rev. Franklin Graham without objection.
"The president, I know, has some issues to deal with here. He can solve this birth certificate issue pretty quickly," Graham said last Sunday on ABC's This Week. "I don't know why he can't produce that."
Today, Obama said that during the budget battle two weeks ago, "the dominant news story wasn't about these huge, monumental choices that were we're going to have to make as a nation. It was about my birth certificate!"
That would appear to be a flat-out exaggeration. That week the economy got nearly two-fifths of all coverage, much more than any other topic, according to a regular survey of news coverage by Pew's Project for Excellence in Journalism.
But Obama appeared to be directing his rhetoric most directly at the cable news networks.
And a review by Pew's journalism project found that cable news did devote a lot of time to the matter. It's hard to pin down precisely how much coverage each cable network dedicated to the "birther issue" because many of those stories are incorporated within larger categories such as the 2012 presidential campaign and the Obama administration.
In the broader media, I think there's the reporting on the phenomenon of birtherism ? the phenomenon of Trump ? without taking enough time to debunk what they're saying.
Mark Jurkowitz, associate director of the Pew project, told NPR that MSNBC devoted the most time to political matters; Fox was next. However, MSNBC has an openly liberal outlook on most of its opinion shows and often spent time disputing the claims. Fox News' opinion lineup is predominantly and strongly right of center.
The liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America says that since early March, guests made false claims in 52 segments about Obama's birth certificate, but that Fox News hosts or anchors disputed those claims in just eight instances.
Nonetheless, in recent days, Fox News anchors such as Shepard Smith and Bill Hemmer threw cold water on doubts regarding the president's birth.
"Fox News can confirm the president of the United States is a citizen of the United States, period," Smith told viewers on Monday.
In an interview with Trump in late March, Fox News opinion host Bill O'Reilly also said Fox's journalists had disproved "birther" theories, and suggested Trump didn't really believe what he was saying.
In recent days, CNN correspondent Gary Tuchman traveled to Hawaii and conducted on camera an interview of the Republican former Hawaiian secretary of health who had examined Obama's actual birth certificate. Tuchman also interviewed another person born on the same hospital wing at the same time.
"We've spent a lot more time, to the degree that we've covered this story ... focused again on what the real facts are, with reporters on the ground, as opposed to just what Trump was saying," Mark Whitaker, CNN's new managing editor for global newsgathering, tells NPR.
Whitaker has brought a renewed emphasis on in-depth reporting to CNN, with recent extended looks at BP's role in the Gulf of Mexico and on safety questions in the air traffic control system. In this case, Whitaker says, CNN helped to discredit Trump.
Yet immediately after Obama stopped speaking, CNN cut to a shot of the discredited Trump in an airport hangar in New Hampshire.
"The alternative is to ignore him ? right? To ignore the news. Which is not something we do," Whitaker said.
According to Whitaker, as Trump spoke, he made fresh and misleading claims about the strength of his standing in a CNN poll involving possible Republican presidential candidates.
So, breaking news: The president was born in Hawaii. It's as true today as it was in August 1961.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/27/135778712/role-of-media-in-the-birther-controversy?ft=1&f=1020
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Getting The Top Business Careers | General Business Solution
With great determination and can go to school for a specialized agency can make a big difference in a person?s career to go. On the other hand, there are always people out there in the world in search of a part of the success of his career. This resulted in overcrowded group and seek the same types of jobs. Your freedom is not the best, but for many people at this time. There are, however, other options, such as attending courses to help candidates get more business careers that are available.
The doors to the professions that are not fast moving or closing. Despite this, there is always room for improvement. There are also online courses that people can take to bring their skills in order. The skills are absolutely necessary if you want to get one of the career of leadership in the labor market.
If there is a recession, will be slower. One of the most affected areas of the financial sector. There are many people who normally do not look at this region of potential money. However, if part of the economic downturn, people can no longer rely on reputation. Consequently, banks and other financial charges related to the race will be gone. Forces people to find these positions of employment in other areas or related sectors. If you are looking for a career in business that later in life may also have to go back to school. It can be a career that is new to them, or in other words, you have to start again from scratch.
When looking for a career as a businessman is high, it is important to go with the flow. This means that in addition to school, must be flexible in the workplace. You can get the base back up. It can happen. Career areas with the greatest power to stay is the most difficult for a lot of people worried about her career in the face lives. However, you can still recover from the loss of career and work with patience and determination.
Possibility Related Posts:
Source: http://www.bestcandyever.com/careers-employment/getting-the-top-business-careers-618.html
New Orleans Poet Sets Character Of HBO's 'Treme'
Gian Smith's poem, "O Beautiful Storm" leads the trailer the second season of Treme, the HBO series set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Host Liane Hansen talks to Smith, a New Orleans spoken word artist who was discovered by the producers of the HBO series and will appear in an episode.
Copyright ? 2011 National Public Radio?. For personal, noncommercial use only. See Terms of Use. For other uses, prior permission required.
LIANE HANSEN, host:
Gian Smith, would you read the first stanza of your poem "O Beautiful Storm," please?
Mr. GIAN SMITH (Spoken Word Artist): (Reading) I've got the rain in my veins. The floodwater in my blood makes my heart beat harder. Ive got the scent of the death and decay in the wind, sinking into my nose and under my skin. Shes the music in my ears and the mold in my soul. Move with her like bellies to Congo drums. Write a sonnet to her, serenade her, recite her a poem. Bump her like sissy bounce or mellow into her like Marsalis. Let her weave through your brain like a song thats moved you when you can stop the flow. But dont let her go.
HANSEN: If that poem rings a bell, it's likely that you've seen the trailer for the second season of "Treme," the HBO series set in post-Katrina New Orleans. Gian Smith wrote it, he read it on the trailer and he'll show up in episode five of "Treme" later this season.
Gian Smith joins us from member station WWNO in, where else, New Orleans.
Thanks a lot for being with us.
Mr. SMITH: Thank you for having me.
HANSEN: In "O Beautiful Storm" you give Hurricane Katrina a personality. I mean even a soul. Was writing it a cathartic experience for you?
Mr. SMITH: It was actually. Most of the poem kind of came to me in one wave when I was cleaning my mom's house and I was put on floor duty. So that meant scrubbing Katrina residue from the floor in the living room. And I was moved just by the experience of it in a way that I didn't want to lose it.
But I also wanted to recognize all of the factors that contributed to it, as well, which, you know, it goes beyond just an act of nature. There's elements of government corruption, you know, there's neglect, there's our own arrogance. We probably thought we were bigger than the hurricane.
HANSEN: You were discovered by Treme's producer. Was "O Beautiful Storm" the poem that attracted their attention?
Mr. SMITH: There was a symposium done at a university in New Orleans and I was asked to speak as a representative of the artist community. A friend of mine, he was the one who asked that I be on the panel, and he also came to me and asked that I write a performance piece about the neighborhood of Treme - not the TV show. When I performed that piece, I think it caught the eye of a lot of people, so...
HANSEN: What was that piece?
Mr. SMITH: The piece is called - a poem for Treme - called "You Better Ask Somebody."
HANSEN: Can you recite just a little of it?
Mr. SMITH: I can do that, yeah, I can do that. Let's see:
(Reading) I believe Jesus died for my salvation, and for recognizing that, I get a day off from work and another cause for celebration. Fat Tuesday coming, y'all can't eat no more meat, but Good Friday mean a fish fry and an extra day vacation. See y'all in St. Augustine Church Easter and Christmas only, 'cause when we get ready to fast we pull out that brass and we drink 'til Ash Wednesday and then go to mass.
HANSEN: Nice, nice. What happened to you and your family after Katrina? I mean, you're a native New Orleanian.
Mr. SMITH: Right. Well, actually, my family, we got out of the city relatively early. The day that we left was the Saturday before Katrina hit. I think Katrina hit on a Monday. I ended up going to Silver Spring, Maryland, because my girlfriend at the time was in Howard Dental School.
And, you know, my Katrina experience is not as visually painful as those who might have been here suffering through it. But emotionally it was as taxing as anybody else who, you know, really didn't suffer any physical damage or any human loss. You know, when I was in New Orleans before Katrina, I would walk from one end of downtown to the other with just no regard. You know, it was like taking a stroll in the park for me. No matter what time of night it was, it just felt free and, you know, alive in my city.
And I never really appreciated it, or I didn't appreciate that it was New Orleans that allowed that kind of freedom for me. You know, I thought it was me. Until I got to Silver Spring, Maryland and I was alone. You know, I would walk on the streets of New Orleans by myself but I never felt alone.
HANSEN: So, because it's Easter is it appropriate for me to ask is "O Beautiful Storm" about resurrection?
Mr. SMITH: It is. My goal for "O Beautiful Storm" was that I wanted to, as much as possible, encapsulate the whole of the storm - the before, the during and the after. And I feel like the after is going to be much better. You know, maybe I'm an optimist or maybe I'm a hopeless romantic and, you know, New Orleans is my love, but I feel like there are a lot of beautiful things that we might have taken for granted that we'll know better than to take for granted now.
Obviously, there's, you know, still people who were displaced who would like to get back. But, you know, for the most part, I feel like we're back and I feel like we're better. And so in that way I think it's definitely about resurrection.
HANSEN: Poet Gian Smith wrote "O Beautiful Storm," which was heard in the trailer for the second season of "Treme," the HBO series set in post-Katrina New Orleans. The second season of "Treme" premieres tonight on HBO. Gian Smith appears in episode five. Gian, thank you very much.
Mr. SMITH: Thank you.
(Soundbite of song)
BAND: (Singing) The rebirth is in my (unintelligible), sing it...
HANSEN: You're listening to WEEKEND EDITION from NPR News.
Copyright ? 2011 National Public Radio?. All rights reserved. No quotes from the materials contained herein may be used in any media without attribution to National Public Radio. This transcript is provided for personal, noncommercial use only, pursuant to our Terms of Use. Any other use requires NPR's prior permission. Visit our permissions page for further information.
NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by a contractor for NPR, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of NPR's programming is the audio.
Source: http://www.npr.org/2011/04/24/135678945/new-orleans-poet-sets-character-of-hbos-treme?ft=1&f=10
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