Interesting news

Some wierd things in the news today

A Kenyan secondary school sent home 20 boys because they were not circumcised - circumcision is not obligatory for admission into the school, but a study released in December said it reduced the risk of contracting HIV/Aids. Message - get your pee pee cut, come back to school and bugger all you want.

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A report from one of Australia's most respected research bodies has shown that alcohol abuse claims the life of an Aborigine every 38 hours. Summary - No job = no money = no food + no home + can't support family = high levels of stress = substance and alcohol abuse

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Clinics offering abortions and cosmetic surgery have been banned from opening in the UK's most famous medical district. Officials said they were trying to move away from "lifestyle procedures" to become a centre of medical excellence. - I've never considered the right to choose as a lifestyle choice but if you really look at it I guess it is.

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Russia has a plan to boost birth rates in the country by introducing a new scheme this year that will allow government handouts of $9,000 [about two years income] for women with more than one child. - Hogwash if you ask me. Russia needs to educate its people about drugs, alcohol and safe sex as this is what's killing them. As a country with one of the fastest growing HIV infection rates the government should set aside funds to treat the people with HIV infections and take care of the children that are born to those with the infection instead of leaving them in clinics to die.

Henri Cartier-Bresson, the father of modern photojournalism

Today as I am reading the news I learn of yet another great photographer. While there seems to be some confusion as to when or how he died there is no confusion over the life he led.

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In 1946 photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson glued the pictures which formed the basis of his first American exhibition into a scrapbook. The prints have recently been restored by the Foundation Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Cartier-Bresson his wife Retna Mohini in 1936

Famous pictures, such as this one taken in Brussels in 1932 (inset), contain some of Cartier-Bresson’s handwritten notes on the reverse. This one states simply: “One of my very first pictures.”

Only a few actual pages of the original scrapbook have survived, and these are also reproduced in Henri Cartier-Bresson: Scrapbook published by Thames & Hudson.

Cartier-Bresson's ability to blend into his surroundings led to writer Truman Capote describing him as “dancing along the pavement like an agitated dragonfly” when he was taking pictures. (Photo: Two children taken in Italy in 1933)

Cartier-Bresson's show in New York was beset by problems. Initially it was thought he had died whilst imprisoned during the war, and then the shortage of photographic paper in Europe meant supplies had to shipped from the US.

The collection also demonstrates how Cartier-Bresson edited the sequences of photographed he'd taken in the search for the one image he would eventually choose to show publicly - here he photographed gypsies in Spain in 1933.

Source: BBC

Feel me up boys

Last night I once again tuned in to VH1 to watch I Love New York. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better it did. New York went on a date with White Boy and they proceeded to slobber all over each other for about fifteen minutes. Back at the house Six Pack and Real led her upstairs where she changed into her swimsuit to prepare for a “massage” and bath by the two “boys”. This was more like foreplay and somewhat pornographic. In her interview when she talked about it she drooled about having an orgasm while they were massaging her. While the two guys were feeling her up, Mr. Boston walked in and started slobbering all over her. That night before going to bed she engaged in long kisses each each of the seven men before going off to bed.

Blah, blah, blah and then came the elimination. During the elimination process, as usual, New York whined and shed a few tears. Mr. Boston picked his nose through the entire thing. He tried once but it seems whatever was up there he couldn’t get it out so he stuck his finger in and kept digging.

In summary, New York is looking for something and I don’t think its true love. I think she’ll be very happy to stay with all the men as they each seem to fulfill a need.

Why we cared about Anna Nicole

This morning the headline on a news brief read “Why we cared about Anna.” It’s the biggest crock of baloney if I’ve seen one. The tabloids didn’t care about her, they cared about their ratings. They loved her because she was a constant source of news and amusement.

I didn’t love Anna, in fact I never even thought about it. I am sad that she is gone, she was only 39 and had the rest of her life ahead of her. One shouldn’t be surprised though, after all how much can one person take? She just lost her son and was having nightmares about him, there were disputes and paternity tests to settle who is the father of her child and then more recently the Trim Spa lawsuits. It seems that while she was down anyone and everyone that could kick her was taking aim. And this only in the past five months.

Poor thing. Hopefully her daughter will have a better and easier life than she did. R.I.P. Anna.

Christo like

In my art class we reviewed art created by Christo and Jeanne Claude. Before I started reading about them I had assumed that Christo was the woman and Jeanne Claude was the man, going simply by their names of course. What interesting characters, and what background. They truly seem to have been destined to be together.

For the class I had to create "wrapping art" following the form of Christo. I didn't mind doing it but I couldn't thow myself into it because I found the images of bodies wrapped in white a bit disturbing. I am muslim and when a muslim person is buried they are wrapped in white cotton before they are placed in their coffin. Looking at the pictures and my own wrapping reminded me of death and my dad.

My mother-in-law is coming to town

Finally after being with my boyfriend for two and a half years I’m about to meet his mother for the first time and I’m as nervous as hell. And with good reason. He absolutely adores her and I’m afraid that if she doesn’t like me it will be a deal breaker.

I will certainly be on my best behaviour but since she speaks french and I speak english we will not be able to talk or have any conversation for that matter. Keeping my fingers crossed, I still have a month to learn french