Sunday, September 28, 2008

Amnesty International - "Small Places" that you should see.

I know there are a million causes out there, and I know that charity fatigue is a very real problem, but I ask that you take a moment to look at something that my friends in Wide Mouth Mason (one of the best Canadian bands our beloved country has seen) hold dear to them. We've heard a lot since yesterday about the great things that Paul Newman did for the world in which we live; now we can focus on what we can do.

Amnesty International's "Small Places" is all about Human Rights, and what everyone - from musicians to us regular folk - can do to improve the conditions for those whose most basic rights are ignored every day.

Borrowing from WideMouthMason.Com (because they and their Chef de Mission always say it better than I ever could), here's the answer to the question: What IS "Small Places"??




What "Small Places" is:

  • It's a three-month campaign by Amnesty International that is inspired by a statement by Universal Declaration co-author Eleanor Roosevelt that "Human rights begin in small places close to home".

  • It's about artists and other creative folk around the world bringing human rights 'close to home' wherever they happen to be.

  • It's a cross-Canada and 'round the world arts jam with a call to action that celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  • It's a global effort that Wide Mouth Mason wholeheartedly supports and invites all those amongst its Masonite masses around the world to check out and consider making this campaign part of their Small Places in the world.

    With members of Wide Mouth Mason being long-time supports of Amnesty International, Wide Mouth Mason is glad to announce its support of this initiative that has been organised to run right to Human Rights Day on December 10th. Like Amnesty International's Small Places campaign, Wide Mouth Mason wants "to increase global support for human rights in these dangerous times"... and knows Masonites around this wonderful world of ours are a great Mass of Damn Cool people who might be interested in getting involved.

    Each Small Places artist champions a community or individual whose human rights are under attack, by calling on fans and friends to speak out and send appeals to governments, in the coming months.

    Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of almost two million people who work together to protect individuals and communities around the world whose human rights are under attack. Amnesty International appeals for the violations to stop and mobilize public pressure to prevent human rights abuses. Amnesty International takes action to stop grave abuses of human rights, freedom of conscience and expression, and freedom from discrimination.



    I know most of you reading this have access to my private blog, and are more likely to comment there, but for those of you who are seeing this only here, I ask you to check out SmallPlaces.Ca and comment here to let me know what you think. Or to ask for more info. Anything at all. It's a cause worth reading about.

    I promise I'll return (hopefully before I leave for the UK!) for another of my more lighthearted, entertaining entries! But for now, this seemed like an important message to get out there. I hope I've helped in some small way; even if you tell me that you'd never heard about this before I posted it, I'll know that the word is spreading, and that we can effect change.

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Paul Newman - 1925-2008



1925-2008

My heart is broken.

There isn't a soul alive tonight who's been touched my this man's work, onscreen or off, who shouldn't sit down and pay homage to possibly one of the greatest actors - and philanthropists - we will ever see. Sit down and watch something great. Something he gave us.

I bought my first bottle of Newman's Own wine while in New Hampshire in July, and even then my heart was heavy. That was the same weekend I saw a photo of Mr. Newman on the cover of one of those awful magazines, and...we all knew it was coming. But that never makes it easier when it does.

What a man: With writer A.E. Hotchner, Newman founded Newman's Own, a line of food products, in 1982. The brand started with salad dressing, and has expanded to include pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, and salsa, and wine among other things. Newman donates the proceeds, after taxes, to charity. As of early 2006, the franchise has resulted in excess of $200 million in donations.[3] He co-wrote a memoir about the subject with Hotchner, Shameless Exploitation in Pursuit of the Common Good. Among other awards, Newman co-sponsors the PEN/Newman's Own First Amendment Award, a $25,000 reward designed to recognize those who protect the first amendment as it applies to the written word.

One beneficiary of his philanthropy is the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, a residential summer camp for seriously ill children, which is located in Ashford, Connecticut. Newman cofounded the camp in 1988; it was named after the gang in his film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). Newman's college fraternity, Phi Kappa Tau, adopted "Hole in the Wall" as their "national philanthropy" in 1995. One camp has expanded to become several Hole in the Wall Camps in the U.S., Ireland, France and Israel. The camp serves 13,000 children every year, free of charge.[3]

In June 1999 Newman donated $250,000 to the relief of Kosovo refugees.

On June 1, 2007, Kenyon College announced that Newman had donated $10 million to the school to establish a scholarship fund as part of the college's current $230 million fund-raising campaign. Newman and Woodward were honorary co-chairs of a previous campaign.
[from Wikipedia]



So, from someone who never had the great honour of meeting the man, I wish peace to him, and to his family, and tonight I will watch The Hustler for the eighteenth time and cry like the world is ending.

Because a little piece of it has.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Julian Lennon's latest project(s)...

Over at Julian's MySpace, we are all abuzz about his upcoming album (check out the songs he's posted; they're brilliant)...but there's more! "WHALEDREAMERS" is a film project in which Julian is very involved (and about which he is understandably quite passionate), and the trailer is finally up on the Apple website!



The description:

whaledreamers - the title alone evokes hypnotic visions of these most magnificent and ancient creatures. This visually stunning film offers an incredible glimpse into a rarely seen and scarcely understood tribal culture whose entire story of creation revolves around whales and has endured for centuries. The film passionately explores the connection between the subtle elegance of these “mothers of the sea” and ancient civilizations around the world whose culture and very existence is based on whales. Intertwining incredible underwater footage with ancient legend, whaledreamers examines the complex past and the possibly dire future of human civilization. Told with moving optimism and spiritual strength, it is a clarion call encouraging humanity’s reconnection to the profound beauty of the natural world and is an appeal to embrace all living beings thereby creating the unity and peace which the Earth itself can bring.

If you have a passion for saving the earth and celebrating nature as it was meant to be, you MUST check out your local listings on September 26th to see if the film is playing near you. (I promised the good Mr. Lennon in his blog that I'd help get the word 'round as much as I could, so there you have it! GO SEE WHALEDREAMERS!!!)

German Lesbians Pick Top 10 Sexiest Actresses

Yes. I'm serious.

I'd originally intended to submit this to Oh No They Didn't!, a celebrity gossip blog to which I occasionally contribute, but another member beat me to the punch. Still...this has to be the most random poll ever - talk about a niche! - but I found it amusing & thought I should share! (And yes, these ARE the wretched photos the article chose to feature; I coulda done much, much better than most of these, so for the sake of eye candy, I HAVE. SERIOUSLY, if you're trying to make a case for any of these women being attractive, WHY wouldn't you choose the photos that I opted for???) The barely-there commentary beneath each photo is right from the source, too. Blasé!! Anyway, enjoy this image-heavy post (made much prettier by the photos I chose), and ask yourself how much money was spent on polling for the results. I don't get it.

From the source:

Lesbian Poll Tallies Up Top 10 Sexiest Actresses



Lesbian choice:
Hollywood’s sexiest women

8. September 2008, 14:55 Uhr


Lesbians rate [redacted so you'll be SURPRISED] as their top sexual fantasy, a new poll has revealed. The British actress took the number one spot in the 'Women We’d Love To Love' poll of 4,000 gay women.

#10. CATE BLANCHETT

Cate Blanchett just made it into the Top 10.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]




#9. CATHERINE ZETA-JONES

Not only men seem to like her: Catherine Zeta-Jones is No.9.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]





#8. EMILY BLUNT

No. 8: Emily Blunt, 24, (front) played in 'My Summer in Love' with Natalie Press.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]






#7. THANDIE NEWTON

No. 7: Actress Thandie Newton.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]






#6. KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

British actress Keira Knightley (6th place) poses for photographers as she arrives for the world premiere of her film 'The Duchess'.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]






#5. NAOMI WATTS

The English-born Australian actress Naomi Watts (5th place).

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]






#4. KATE WINSLET

Kate Winslet is in 4th place. She was nominated for an Oscar for her acting in 'Titanic'.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]






#3. MINNIE DRIVER

Actress Minnie Driver came in third.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]






#2. NICOLE KIDMAN

No. 2: Nicole Kidman. And the winner is...

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW - you may have to click that source link, because this blog is formatted in such a way that her head may be cut off!! ]





AND THE HOTTEST ACTRESS ACCORDING TO 4,000 GERMAN LESBIANS IS:



#1. RACHEL WEISZ

...actress Rachel Weisz, she is the sexiest of them all.

[ MY CHOICE OF PHOTO (source) BELOW ]







I cannot think of any "sexiest whatever" poll EVER that chose to use THE most unflattering photos of their subjects more effectively than this one!! LMAO @ pics for #s 3 and 8!!! And I even think #2 might be a WAX FIGURE.

So who's missing from this list? I VOTE DREW BARRYMORE, but the majority of these choices seem to be of the underweight, non-curvy sort. Who's REALLY the sexiest actress out there?


[ poll source ]

Monday, September 8, 2008

Mishmash: Linkspam, Terry Fox Run, and Mom's MRI!

Where to begin? I think I should first send out a HUGE thank you to everyone who's pledged in my name for the Terry Fox "Run" I'm doing in 6 days. You guys are amazing! I'm really, really grateful to all of you & I promise I'll make the donation worth your while. I also plan to thank each of you personally after I've accomplished this feat (it being a big deal because of my feet - ha!), but for now I must at least acknowledge those generous donors who've supported me thus far: Jerri, Stacey, Tierney, Matthew, Ian, Vanessa, Kathryn, the McCluskeys, Sara, Dale, and my Mom... I hope I'm not forgetting anyone! I'll make sure each one of you gets to see a wrung-out, gimpy photo of me after the fact. ♥ You've all outdone yourselves!!

Speaking of my Mom, many of you know she's been having a pretty rough time, health-wise, since January, and that she had a much-dreaded MRI this morning (her claustrophobia had prevented her from getting the first one done back in April - it's shockingly common for people to freak out and not get through this test). Well, SHE DID IT, and I applaud her bravery. Even without some of the comforts she'd been promised, which were taken away from her at the last possible second (i.e. me being allowed to go into the room with her; an extra-powerful sedative that she chose not to take after all), she kept it together and we're all so relieved that she can finally relax...and maybe this MRI can tell us more about why her health has been so bad for the past 8 or 9 months. YAY, MOM!! No-one should ever underestimate the guts she has.

Okay - it's MASSIVE linkspam time again! I love getting all those half-amused, half-enraged messages from you guys that blame me for you not getting anything done on the days when I post a bunch of weirdly fascinating links. But, hey, it's Monday! Who wants to accomplish anything on a Monday?? (I know; I use that line for every day of the week. Case in point: last Wednesday's endless list of urban legends!) So sit back and start clicking:



All right. Enough. It's probably Tuesday by now. I hope you found some entertainment in that mixed bag o' links, 'cos if you didn't...well, cripes, they were the best I had at the time!!

I'll close out by saying that, if you were still planning to pledge a couple o' bucks for my Terry Fox Walk-Don't-Run (only 6 days now...egad!), I'm still gratefully accepting donations! You can do it one of three ways:
  • If you see me in person (though I admit it's rare to see me in the wild), I have a pledge sheet and an envelope!
  • You can DONATE AT MY TERRYFOX.ORG SITE & they'll send you a receipt.
  • If you hate using your credit card online, but you have a PayPal account, feel free to transfer funds to me (prettyh@sympatico.ca) straight from your bank account! You can even use this handy button, which immediately puts your money into my Terry Fox Fund.









THANK YOU, AGAIN!!


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