Book Buzz: New Murakami Novel Causes Stir
by Claudine Zap
41 hours ago

The plot is a tightly held secret. The title gives no clue. And that, just like "Harry Potter" buzz, is the nifty marketing formula to make the newest Haruki Murakami tome a hit in Japan—before it's even hit the shelves.
Except unlike the boy-wizard series, this author writes esoteric epics like "The Wind-up Bird Chronicles" and "Kafka on the Shore." Not exactly the stuff of summer blockbusters. According to the AP, the popular Japanese writer is a ringer for the Pulitzer Prize in literature. Just to be clear, this is also the country that brought us "Godzilla" and "Hello, Kitty."
Although a marketing campaign to sell a literary novel seems contrived, it's actually in response to the last time the author released a book, five years ago. Fans complained that the impact of the novel was diminished by too much press coverage, the Christian Science Monitor reports.
This time around, it's very hush-hush—and the secrecy has only fueled pre-order book sales. The publisher had to rush another 100,000 copies into print to keep up with the reading frenzy. Theories abound on the title, the not very helpful "1Q84." An homage to George Orwell's "1984?" One thing's for sure: The writer's not talking.
Maybe the bookworms will celebrate the novel's arrival by dressing up as their favorite characters and showing up at bookstores at midnight. While there's no telling when the book will be translated into English, who knows—a movie based on the book could already be in the works. Take that, wizard boy.

back, motherfucker

I'm fucking back.

Anonymous, your fuckin' ass is mine.


coyote

Shit To Review For August ... Sorry, been busy as fuck ...

Time to cover alot of shit in such a short amount of time ...

Hactivist John Georgelas waived his rights to plead the 5th and went with [what's behind door number two, Johnny? ] GUILTY and sentenced for close to 3 years for using his webservice AT WORK to try to deface the website for the American Isreal Public Affairs Committee. The FBI arrested him in April BEFORE the defacing occure. He also had to pay back 44k to his former employer to recover any liablity due to this stunt. Note : He was 22. Also, it is interesting that although the FBI brought up " chat logs " to show he had DIRECT ties of Al-Qaeda, AUTHORITIES PRESENTED NO EVIDENCE THAT DIRECTLY LINKED HIM (Mr. Georgelas)TO ANY TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. And to top off this story, his mother didn't have a clue this was going on.
Wow. Next time kid, go TP a neighbor's house, k?
Shinzo Abe is the new HARDLINER LOOKING TO LEAD JAPAN. Good. No frills, no extra.
Just meat & potatoes politics. Finally. Note : He is unapologetic about Japan's World War II past ... why shouldn't he be? It's like every time I turn, someone tries to rewrite history ... leave it alone! And let him visit the shrine of the soldiers of Japan, for Haikamata's sake!! They say that by visiting the warriors of World War II, the Japanese leaders shame not only Japan, but spit in the face of their neighbors .. . And? Like what has North Korea not done lately that has caused more concern??
Evacuees urged to work in Houston ... Why not? What, they expect the Federal Government to provide them liquor and cigarette money forever?
Highland Park, Texas bigwigs expected to conserve water. They can't even save the
rest of Dallas ... now they want them to cut watering their lawns?
So let me get this understood ... Democrats who DO NOT AGREE WITH BUSH are aiding and abetting the enemy? Since WHEN??
The Texas Rangers have a fight? Wow. You'd think MILLIONAIRES would act adult. Who knew? (note : It was with the California Angels ... I knew as hot as it was around here, we are the REAL Devils, not New Jersey )
Other things : A hotelier is shortchanging legal aliens and it's illegal now to promote the DEAD in this WAR ON TERROR, in just showing their images and names.


We live in fucked up times. I mean, it's like common fucking sense has gone out the fuckin' window and we are left with ... this bullllshit above....

Oh. And BEBOP great Duke Jordan passed away August 8th.


till next time ....


use your fuckin' noodle


dr phibes

A quite Sunday thought ...

Dependability. What a great, deep word that is. Like corndogs at the state fair, hotdogs with the extras at a baseball and the rotating world tours of the Rolling Stones. What we lack these days is consistent dependability. Even me. I am the most inconsistent blogger ever. I blog when I want to blog, not when people actually want to read. What do I think about? I remember listening to Bay City Rollers Money Honey and England Dan and John Ford Coley, when I was a kid. Along with John Denver & Elvis Presley.

Mercury News

They say that your childhood times are the " good ol' days ". To a point. There was sort of a notion that all was well with the world and things could not get worse. Well, these days, it's hard to feel the same. Things seem to go from bad to worse, but then again, why ahould I give up ... should anyone?


Okay. That's it for now.


Till next time : You can be a bastard or you can fight the bastard.



dr phibes

What Men (Really) Mean - JOKES

WHAT MEN MEAN


Have you ever asked what men are really thinking when they say the things they do? Well now is your opportunity to answer that very question...

"I'm going fishing." Really means... "I'm going to drink myself dangerously stupid, and stand by a stream with a stick in my hand, while the fish swim by in complete safety."

"Let's take your car." Really means... "Mine is full of beer cans, burger wrappers and completely out of gas."

"Woman driver." Really means... "Someone who doesn't speed, tailgate, swear, make obscene gestures and has a better driving record than me."

"I don't care what color you paint the kitchen." Really means... "As long as it's not blue, green, pink, red, yellow, lavender, gray, mauve, black, turquoise or any other color besides white."

"It's a guy thing." Really means... "There is no rational thought pattern connected with it, and you have no chance at all of making it logical."

"Can I help with dinner?" Really means... "Why isn't it already on the table?"

"Uh huh," "Sure, honey," or "Yes, dear." Really means... Absolutely nothing. It's a conditioned response like Pavlov's dog drooling

"Good idea." Really means... "It'll never work. And I'll spend the rest of the day gloating."

"Have you lost weight?" Really means... "I've just spent our last $30 on a cordless drill."

"My wife doesn't understand me." Really means... "She's heard all my stories before, and is tired of them."

"It would take too long to explain." Really means... "I have no idea how it works."

"I'm getting more exercise lately." Really means... "The batteries in the remote are dead."

"I got a lot done." Really means... "I found 'Waldo' in almost every picture."

"We're going to be late." Really means... "Now I have a legitimate excuse to drive like a maniac."

"Hey, I've read all the classics." Really means... "I've been subscribing to Playboy since 1972."

"You cook just like my mother used to." Really means... "She used the smoke detector as a meal timer, too."

"I was listening to you. It's just that I have things on my mind." Really means... "I was wondering if that red-head over there is wearing a bra."

"Take a break, honey, you're working too hard." Really means... "I can't hear the game over the vacuum cleaner."

"That's interesting, dear." Really means... "Are you still talking?"

"Honey, we don't need material things to prove our love." Really means... "I forgot our anniversary again."

"You expect too much of me." Really means... "You want me to stay awake."

"It's a really good movie." Really means... "It's got guns, knives, fast cars, and Heather Locklear."

"That's women's work." Really means... "It's difficult, dirty, and thankless."

"Will you marry me?" Really means... "Both my roommates have moved out, I can't find the washer, and there is no more peanut butter."

"Go ask your mother." Really means... "I am incapable of making a decision."

"You know how bad my memory is." Really means... "I remember the theme song to 'F Troop', the address of the first girl I ever kissed and the Vehicle Identification Numbers of every car I've ever owned, but I forgot your birthday."

"I was just thinking about you, and got you these roses." Really means... "The girl selling them on the corner was a real babe."

"Football is a man's game." Really means... "Women are generally too smart to play it."

"Oh, don't fuss. I just cut myself, it's no big deal." Really means... "I have actually severed a limb, but will bleed to death before I admit I'm hurt."

"I do help around the house." Really means... "I once put a dirty towel in the laundry basket."

"Hey, I've got my reasons for what I'm doing." Really means... "And I sure hope I think of some pretty soon."

"I can't find it." Really means... "It didn't fall into my outstretched hands, so I'm completely clueless."

"What did I do this time?" Really means... "What did you catch me at?"

"What do you mean, you need new clothes?" Really means... "You just bought new clothes 3 years ago."

"She's one of those rabid feminists." Really means... "She refused to make my coffee."

"But I hate to go shopping." Really means... "Because I always wind up outside the dressing room holding your purse."

"No, I left plenty of gas in the car." Really means... "You may actually get it to start."

"I'm going to stop off for a quick one with the guys." Really means... "I am planning on drinking myself into a vegetative stupor with my chest pounding, mouth breathing, with pre-evolutionary companions."

"I heard you." Really means... "I haven't the foggiest clue what you just said, and am hoping desperately that I can fake it well enough so that you don't spend the next 3 days yelling at me."

"You know I could never love anyone else." Really means... "I am used to the way you yell at me, and realize it could be worse."

"You look terrific." Really means... "Oh, God, please don't try on one more outfit. I'm starving."

"I brought you a present." Really means... "It was free ice scraper night at the ball game."

"I missed you." Really means... "I can't find my sock drawer, the kids are hungry and we are out of toilet paper."

"I'm not lost. I know exactly where we are." Really means... "No one will ever see us alive again."

"We share the housework." Really means... "I make the messes, she cleans them up."

"This relationship is getting too serious." Really means... "I like you more than my truck."

"I recycle." Really means... "We could pay the rent with the money from my empties."

"Of course I like it, honey, you look beautiful." Really means... "Oh, man, what have you done to yourself?"

"It sure snowed last night." Really means... "I suppose you're going to nag me about shovelling the walk now."

"It's good beer." Really means... "It was on sale."

"I don't need to read the instructions." Really means... "I am perfectly capable of screwing it up without printed help."

"I'll fix the garbage disposal later." Really means... "If I wait long enough you'll get frustrated and buy a new one."

"I broke up with her." Really means... "She dumped me."

"I'll take you to a fancy restaurant." Really means... "Someplace that doesn't have a drive-thru window."



Anyone that needs a good joke, there ya go.


It's been one of THOSE weeks, so I'll be back later.





dr phibes

MAD MAX'S A BOOZER AND DR. PHIBE'S MENTAL BUFFET ... NO DOG'S COOKED HERE (YET) !!!!

MAD MAX IS A BOOOZA!!!


Mel Gibson "Out of Control"

By Joal RyanSat Jul 29, 7:54 PM ET

Mel Gibson "acted like a person completely out of control."

This, according to Mel Gibson, who apologized Saturday for his behavior during a drunken-driving arrest in Malibu. The Oscar-winning star did not elaborate on how he "disgraced" himself; TMZ.com did.

The entertainment news Website, citing, in part, a report filed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's deputy who took Gibson into custody, charges the actor-director, only two years past criticism that his film The Passion of the Christ set back Christian-Jewish relations, spouted anti-Semitic remarks, addressed a female deputy as "sugar t-ts," tried to evade arrest, got rough with a telephone and threatened to urinate in his jailhouse holding cell.

"My life is f--ked," the Mad Max star said, more than once, per TMZ.com, after being pulled over by a sheriff's deputy early Friday morning on Pacific Coast Highway.

According to the sheriff's department, Gibson was flagged for speeding in 2006 Lexus sedan--allegedly going about 80 mph in a 45-mph zone. A sobriety test revealed Gibson's blood-alcohol level to be 0.12, exceeding California's 0.08 legal limit, the department said.

Gibson was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, booked at the sheriff's Malibu/Lost Hills Station, and, after posting $5,000 bail, released from custody at about 10 a.m. Friday, online records show.

When asked Friday afternoon if Gibson gave deputies any trouble, sheriff's department spokesman Steve Whitmore said no. Gibson's own apology--not to mention the TMZ.com report--says otherwise.

"I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested and said things I do not believe to be true and which are despicable," Gibson said in a statement.

According to TMZ.com, Gibson called the arresting deputy a "motherf---ker," whom he was going to "f--k" on account of "he [Gibson] 'owns Malibu' and will spend all of his money to 'get even' with me [the deputy]."

Later, the Website reported, Gibson ranted about the "f--king Jews," who "are responsible for all the wars in the world," and asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?" (Gibson, who helped build a Catholic church in Malibu, is not.)

A request by the deputy for Gibson to get inside the patrol car was met with a dash by the actor back to his Lexus. Or, as the report posted on TMZ.com put it: "Gibson attempted to escape arrest."

At the Malibu/Lost Hills Station, the Website reported, Gibson remained ornery, demanding a trip to the bathroom, and banging a telephone when he had trouble making a call.

"I disgraced myself and my family with my behavior and for that I am truly sorry," Gibson said Saturday. "I have battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse."

Gibson, 50, previously was arrested for drunken driving in 1984 in Toronto. By 1991, he later told ABC News, he was so steeped in addiction that he considered jumping out a window.

During the promotion for his self-financed Biblical epic, 2004's The Passion of the Christ, Gibson often recounted how religion had helped him beat his demons.

The Passion of the Christ, which Gibson wrote and directed, was the biggest box-office hit of the star's career, a favorite of evangelical audiences, and a target of Jewish leaders who feared its portrayal of Jesus' final hours would incite anti-Semitic violence. Gibson maintained that neither he, nor his film, was anti-Semitic.

A two-time Oscar-winner for Braveheart, Gibson's latest film, Apocalypto, described as a Mayan action-adventure, is scheduled to be released in December.

Gibson arrest sparks new accusations of anti-Semitism

Sun Jul 30, 1:59 PM ET

The arrest of Mel Gibson for drunk driving prompted renewed accusations on Sunday that the Oscar-winning director and actor harbored anti-Semitic feelings.

Gibson, whose controversial 2004 film "The Passion of the Christ" was a major hit, was arrested in the early hours of Friday morning for allegedly driving his 2006 Lexus at 87 mph (140 kph) along the Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu, the beach town north of Los Angeles.

Celebrity Web site TMZ.com posted portions of what it called the arresting deputy's original report, which said Gibson was abusive, shouted anti-Jewish slurs and boasted that he "owned Malibu."

The TMZ report quoted Gibson as saying, "F..... Jews. The Jews are responsible for all the wars in the world." He then asked the deputy, "Are you a Jew?"

Gibson issued a statement on Saturday in which he apologized for driving while drunk and for his "belligerent behavior" toward the Los Angeles County deputy sheriffs who arrested him.

In his statement the 50-year-old actor said he has "battled with the disease of alcoholism for all of my adult life and profoundly regret my horrific relapse."

He added: "I acted like a person completely out of control when I was arrested, and said things that I do not believe to be true and which are despicable."

The Anti-Defamation League said in a statement on Sunday that Gibson's response was "unremorseful and insufficient" and that his tirade "finally reveals his true self."

Many Jews and others were upset that "The Passion of the Christ" revived ancient Christian accusations that Jews bore responsibility for Jesus' death.

"It's not a proper apology because it does not go to the essence of his bigotry and his anti-Semitism," said ADL national director Abraham Foxman.

"We would hope that Hollywood now would realize the bigot in their midst and that they will distance themselves from this anti-Semite," he said.

The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that a civilian committee overseeing the sheriff's department would investigate whether officers tried to cover up Gibson's behavior and statements to save the star from embarrassment.

Gibson rocketed to fame in the late 1970s in the movie "Mad Max" and scored huge box office hits playing a cop in the "Lethal Weapon" movies.

In 1995, he acted in and directed "Braveheart," about 13th century Scottish rebel William Wallace. The movie earned 10 Oscar nominations and won five of the top film awards, including directing for Gibson and best picture of the year.

So. Let me wrap my tiny, pea sized peon brain around this ... Gibson is a raunchy, sexist, alcholic, holier than thou anti-Semitite who says he OWNS the company that made his vehicle, a gas guzzling monstrosity, all the while known for making millions of dollars on movies about carnage and criminal activity and having known to have been hanging around fellow machoistic, masochistic motherfuckas who smoke Havanas and pimp off their lives like their shit don't sting ... Hmmm. Road Warriors' a whiner after all!! Who knew?

Okay. Here's a few bits and pieces for y'all. Nothing heavy, since today is the end of the weekend and we ALL have to go back to our nine to fiver's tommorow * sigh * and sittin' back today, enjoyin' the HUMID, SUNNY TEXAS SUMMER. Enjoy.

Composer Dika Newlin dies at 82

By ZINIE CHEN SAMPSON, Associated Press Writer 13 minutes ago

Dika Newlin, a composer and musicologist who was deeply influenced by the avant-garde master Arnold Schoenberg and brought his style into the punk rock era, has died. She was 82.

Newlin, a child prodigy who was still on the musical cutting edge 70 years later, died July 22 at a Richmond nursing home, according to Sabine Feisst, a professor of musicology at Arizona State University.

"I don't know any other artist who had such a unique career and who was so diverse," Feisst said in a telephone interview.

Newlin taught at several universities, finishing her academic career at Virginia Commonwealth University, where she worked from 1978 to 2004.

At age 11, Newlin composed a symphonic work, "Cradle Song," which was performed by the Cincinnati Symphony. A few years later, in 1941, the work was performed in New York with another prodigy, 11-year-old Lorin Maazel, at the NBC Summer Symphony podium.

But Newlin was best known for her writings and correspondence with Schoenberg, the Austrian composer who moved beyond the traditional musical scales with his 12-tone composition method. He came to the United States in the 1930s and died in 1951, and Newlin was one of her few surviving students.

She had studied with Schoenberg at UCLA after graduating from Michigan State University at age 16.

Newlin translated several of Schoenberg's writings from German to English. Her journals about her experiences with him were published in 1980 as "Schoenberg Remembered: Diaries and Recollections (1938-76)."

"She was a very gifted student, very much appreciated by Schoenberg," Feisst said. "When he talked about gifted American composers, he always mentioned her name."

A composer of several operas and chamber works, Newlin began exploring popular music in the mid-1980s. Inspired by her college students, she sang and played keyboards in a band called Apocowlypso. More recently she performed as a flame-haired punk rocker and performance artist, singing works such as "Murder Kitty," composed solely of meows.

"Even in her punk-rock period, she refers to Schoenberg in that she uses the motifs in his works, or quotes from text in his works," Feisst said.

Her career also included appearances in alternative films, including a 1995 horror film called "Creep" and a short documentary titled "Dika: Murder City."

A memorial service will be held in the upcoming months, she said.

_______________


How to Write a Deep and Thoughtful Blog Post People Will Want to Read

Have you tried writing on your blog, but all that comes out is how many pieces of pizza you ate today? Are you tired of meaningless pieces of information filling your blog? Well, you've found the right place!
Steps

1. Find a song that is sad, slow, deep, dreamy, floaty, thoughtful, and/or makes you want to cry, sob, remember, and/or sleep.
2. Play it at a reasonable volume on repeat and close your eyes for a while as you listen.
3. Open up your eyes once you feel floaty and dreamy enough.
4. Choose a deep topic you feel close to (e.g., nostalgia and rememberance, life and death, war and peace, racism and prejudice, etc.).
5. Start with a sentence that captures people's attention, no matter how confusing. Use sentences like "At times, I'm trying to be a person who I want to be, but I find that trying to be that person makes me be who I am not.", not "I don't know who I am."
6. Continue on about the subject, as much as you can.
7. Once you feel like you've written as much you want (or can), end the post with a dramatic statement.
8. Title your post. You can name it the title of the song you listened to, the title of a book or movie that coincides with your topic, a saying or idiom that relates to your post, or something that you make up yourself.


Tips

* Use your heart and mind at the same time. Say things that you believe in and are true to yourself.
* Make references to movies, books, songs, or anything. This only adds depth to your writing.
* Don't worry if you end up talking about some topic completely different from what you started with. You can always end with something like this: "And now I've slowly drifted completely off topic from what I started talking about. Funny how that happens. It's like life."
* At the end of your post, add a quote. They really spice up and dramatize your post. A line from the song you were listening to is great.
* One word titles are great and easy to think up.
* If you've used a word in your blog that emphasizes your topic/post, look up a synonym or the definition of that word, and use it as your title.


Warnings

* Don't call people's points of view bullshit, or other derogatory terms.
* Don't call them dumbasses, even if they are.
* Don't tell them their thoughts are only worth laughing at.
* Don't criticize silly things like someone's use of font. They may have visual problems or simply want to break up the sterility of the written word.


Related wikiHows

* How to Exercise an Open Mind
* How to Become a Philosopher
* How to Perform Self Hypnosis


__________________________________

Doctor, your sponge is beeping

38 minutes ago

Technology that helps airlines keep track of baggage and sounds an alarm when a shoplifter tries to leave the store may be able to stop surgeons from losing a sponge inside a patient, a study said on Monday.

Doctors at Stanford University School of Medicine who tested sponges embedded with radio frequency identification tags said the system accurately alerted surgeons when they deliberately left a sponge inside a temporarily closed surgical site and waved a detector wand over it.

But they said the size of the chips used -- 20 millimeters or about 0.8 of an inch -- was too large and would need to be reduced to be practical on sponges and surgical instruments.

Alex Macario, a physician and professor of anesthesia who led the study, said the future probably will see a combination of tags and other techniques such as counting instruments and sponges before and after an operation.

"We need a system that is really fail-safe; where, regardless, of how people use this technology, the patient doesn't leave the operating room with a retained foreign body," he said.

The Stanford study, published in this week's Archives of Surgery, involved eight patients. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health and by a grant from the Small Business Innovation Research Program, using sponges developed by ClearCount Medical Solutions Inc. in Pittsburgh.

Macario has no financial interests in that company but two of the study's co-authors own several patents related to tagged sponges and work for the Pittsburgh company.

The tags use a circuit that emits an identifying a signal when prompted by a radio signal. Such tags are widespread commercially for uses ranging from luggage tracking and preventing currency from being counterfeited to shoplift loss protection and automated highway toll collection.

One earlier study found that medical personnel left foreign objects, most often sponges, inside a patient's body in one out of every 10,000 surgeries causing complications and even death.

Copyright © 2006 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon.
Copyright 2006 © Yahoo! Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Send Feedback | Help

______________________________

Owen Wilson's Steely Response

By Natalie FinnSat Jul 29, 5:38 PM ET

Owen Wilson doesn't know who this Steely Dan guy thinks he is, but the actor doesn't agree with what "he" has to say.

The funk-rock duo that is Steely Dan took Wilson to task last week over his character in the recently released You, Me and Dupree, posting a letter on the band Website (randomly addressed to Luke Wilson) claiming that the title character played by Wilson was a rip-off of their 2000 Grammy-winning tune "Cousin Dupree."

According to Wilson, there's no relation whatsoever.

"I have never heard the song 'Cousin Dupree' and I don't even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is," the Wedding Crashers star snickered in a statement. "I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, HEY 19."

"Hey Nineteen" being a hit single from the 1980 Steely Dan album Gaucho, of course.

"Cousin Dupree" is about a guy named Dupree who has been sleeping on his aunt Faye's couch while he plans his next move in life, only to start salivating over his "little cousin," Janine. "What's so strange about a down-home family romance?" Dupree lasciviously wonders. Meanwhile, the film, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, is about a guy named Dupree who's figuring out his next move in life while sleeping on his newly married best friend's couch. The buddy, played by Matt Dillon, then starts wondering if his best man is putting the moves on his bride.

Bandmates Walter Becker and Donald Fagen had been aiming for an in-person mea culpa, however.

"Hey, Luke, man," the duo wrote July 17 from their hotel room in Corpus Christi, Texas, while they were between gigs, "there is one petite solid you could do for us at this time--do you think you could persuade your bro to do the right thing and come on down to our concert at Irvine and apologize to our fans for this travesty?"

Oh yeah, and Becker and Fagen also said that the movie kinda sucked. And that Wilson was losing major points as an actor in their eyes, despite the fact that they really liked Bottle Rocket. From 1996.

Wilson obviously didn't show up last week to placate the Everything Must Go rockers, but perhaps he has suffered enough. You, Me and Dupree attracted few nice words from critics upon its release July 14, and even less nice money from moviegoers. With $52 million in box office receipts to date, the film hasn't quite recouped its production costs yet, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.

So if you're going to compare Duprees, "Cousin Dupree" is ahead by a mile, having scored Steely Dan a Grammy in 2001 for best pop performance by a duo or group.

So far Wilson hasn't had to defend his animated turn as a hotshot racecar in need of a comeuppance in Cars, which is one of the year's biggest movies. The 37-year-old has also teamed up with Ben Stiller and Robin Williams for the comedy Night at the Museum, due out Dec. 22.

There's no word yet on when HEY 19 hits multiplexes.

__________________________________________


Directors tell Gen X'ers to grow up

By Bob Tourtellotte 19 minutes ago

They broke out of the independent movie pack at the Sundance Film Festival in the mid-1990s as voices of Generation X, and a decade later writer/directors Kevin Smith and Edward Burns have something new to tell their peers: Grow up.

Smith's new movie, "Clerks II," hits theaters on Friday, and Burns' "The Groomsmen" is now playing in New York and Los Angeles with plans to roll out more widely in the coming weeks.

Smith's film is a sequel to his 1994 comedy "Clerks" about two slackers working in a convenience store, and while Burns' "Groomsmen" is not a follow up, it will remind audiences of "The Brothers McMullen," his 1995 hit about three brothers dealing with love and family ties.

While far different in story and style, the films share key themes. New Jersey-native Smith, 35, and New Yorker Burns, 38, look at guys in their mid-30s who refuse to face adulthood.

Moreover, the movies join a growing list of works in pop culture, such as Christopher Noxon's book "Rejuvenile," that reflect a generation which, as it matured, took its childhood with it.

"It feels like our generation was given this bizarre, 10-year stay of execution of, like, you don't have to become adults, necessarily. My father's generation, there were no bones about it. You got a job. You had a family, and supported the family," Smith said.

Burns' take is a slightly different: "Our lives revolved around fun...and I think when you've been doing that for 10 or 15 years, the idea of giving it up is difficult," he said. "If you don't have kids, you probably don't recognize the upside."

Whatever the psychology, both said that after recent years of making less personal films, it was time to reach back into their own lives for stories about getting married, having kids and moving on.

"Clerks II" mini-mart co-workers Dante Hicks (Brian O'Halloran) and Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) return to the spotlight. They now have weathered faces, bigger waistlines and jobs flipping burgers at Mooby's fast-food restaurant. The movie takes place on Dante's last day at work before he moves to Florida to get married and work for his father-in-law.

He is leaving Randal behind, but before he can go, life has a few surprises for the pair of childhood friends, including a performance by a sex worker specializing in bestiality.

"Clerks II" is filled with hallmarks of Smith's past work: Rapid fire dialogue that offers insight into his generation's thinking and rude jokes about farts, feces and having sex.

PASSION PROJECTS

For years, Smith vowed not to make a sequel to the first film, and he denies "Clerks II" is merely an attempt to cash in on the notoriety of its predecessor. "Clerks" was a hit on video and spawned a comic book and an animated TV series.

"If I was going to try to make money, I would have made (big-budget movie) 'The Green Hornet.' I would have made, like, $5 million just to direct," Smith said. "'Clerks" (II) whole budget was 5 million bucks," Smith said.

Similarly for Burns, "Groomsmen" was a labor of love. It was derived from an old script he wrote after his 2001 "Sidewalks of New York" and 2002 "Ash Wednesday" bombed at box offices. The original script aspired to be a mainstream Hollywood comedy, but Burns said he could not finish it because he was not good at broad Hollywood-style comedy.

He credits his wife, model Christy Turlington with whom he has two kids, for telling him to take the old script out, dust it off and "write the story you want to write."

"Groomsmen" centers on one guy, Paulie (played by Burns), in a group of five high school buddies on New York's Long Island who reunite for some male bonding before Paulie gets married to his pregnant girlfriend, Sue (Brittany Murphy).

Paulie is having second thoughts and, in fact, over the course of the week, his buddies all confess to being burdened with issues of adulthood they would rather not face. His cousin Mike (Jay Mohr), for instance, still lives with his dad and mows lawns for a living like he did in high school.

If "Groomsmen" sounds like it might be a typical beer-soaked comedy with guys visiting strip bars, it's not. These five 30-somethings play softball and go out for quiet dinners. Instead of focusing on raunchy partying, Burns turns his attention to their personal issues, and what emerges is a human drama about men passing from boyhood to adult life.

"These are the movies I love as a moviegoer. Even though, they are few and far between these days, I still aspire to be that same kind of filmmaker I was," he said. "I've matured, and I think the writing has gotten more mature."

NOTE : Isn't it ironic that he wants US to grow up when he gets a B*fit over Joel F*kin' Siegel. Just seemed ... oh ... HYPOCRITICAL, dont'cha think?

__________________________


The Game is blessed with a strange strain of multiple personality disorder. Though most rappers are prone to swapping allegiances while searching for a comfortable balance between credibility and mass appeal, this man takes such dualities to an artful extreme. On this hot-tempered street cut-- an Ice Cubed take on Gollum's two-faced soliloquy-- the Game begins and ends several bouts and floats ambiguities into the ether. It sounds like a send-up of a man divided; a fascinating study of the Game's internal switchboard.

Dr. Dre is referenced five times in the first 30 seconds of the song-- but he didn't have anything to do with it. Are the two on good terms? Does the Game even know? Regarding his most infamous foe, the verbal Yosemite Sam taunts, "Everybody know that I'm the heir to the Aftermath dynasty," only to claim "I ain't got beef with 50" in the next verse. Jay gets the same bait and drop when "You 38 and you still rappin'? Ugh," is followed quickly by "No beef with Jay." Still, there's a knowing cartoonishness-- as in the laugh-with-him delivery of "ugh"-- that indicates a playfulness hidden behind his token grimace. So it doesn't really matter whether the guy with a butterfly on one side and a teardrop on the other is threatening to trigger-up Lil Jon or lick a shot when "Snap Yo Fingers" comes on. For this nimble provocateur, every heartbeat brings change.

The Game
“One Blood”
[2006]

__________________________


Office drone by day, stripper by night
Diablo Cody reveals all in 'Candy Girl'

Wednesday, July 26, 2006; Posted: 3:17 p.m. EDT (19:17 GMT)

Cody
Diablo Cody, now a writer for a Minneapolis newspaper, spent a year as a stripper.
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MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota (AP) -- Catholic girl. Office drone. Self-described dork.

Nothing in Diablo Cody's background seems to explain why she decided to take her clothes off in front of paying strangers.

She had never so much as entered a bikini or a wet T-shirt contest when she saw a downtown topless bar advertising amateur night, as she trudged home one evening from her copy typist job.

Cody soon returned and, ignoring the bouncer's laughter, gave it a try.

"I just thought I have to do it. I really don't know what got into me. I just thought it sounded like fun. And I'd really hit the wall of boredom," she recalls.

She quickly found out she was the only amateur competing, but despite losing -- "I was definitely the worst stripper there" -- Cody kept stripping for the next year and turned her adventures into a sharp and funny memoir, "Candy Girl," subtitled "A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper."

After a rollicking appearance on "Late Show With David Letterman" -- where he named "Candy Girl" the first pick of "Dave's Book Club" -- Cody awaits the start of production this fall on her movie script, "Juno." Brad Silberling ("Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events," "Moonlight Mile") is slated to direct.

Cody, who just turned 28, also is planning another memoir -- this time, about everything that's happened to her in the past year.

"It was like being shot out of a cannon," she says, looking punk with her tongue stud, black fingernails, skull-and-crossbones head scarf and upper-arm tattoo of a bikini-clad miss emblazoned with the words "JONNY'S GIRL" -- Jonny being her husband.

Talking about sex has never been a problem for Cody, a longtime blogger who grew up the younger of two children in a boisterous Italian family in Lemont, Illinois, near Chicago, and attended Catholic school for 12 years. (Brook Busey-Hunt is her real name. She chose Diablo Cody for its cool, androgynous sound while visiting Cody, Wyoming. As a stripper, though, she used names such as "Bonbon" and "Roxanne.")

"For some reason, I've always just had total verbal diarrhea when it comes to sexual issues. I've been making people's jaws drop with frank sexual talk since I was about 10 years old," she says.

Her "textbook parents" -- dad works for the state of Illinois, mom's an office manager -- are "cool" with her new fame, Cody says.

"My dad always told me that his main objective in life was ensuring that I was not ordinary. So he's happy to see me stand out," she says.

In high school, Cody was "lead screamer" for Yak Spackle, a punk band she and her friends started. "It was such a horrible band, it almost qualified as performance art," she recalls. But the exhibitionism was a precursor to her stripping.

She got her first tattoo the day she turned 18. Besides the arm tattoo featured on the cover of "Candy Girl," Cody has another tattoo of a pinup girl on her left leg and the word "yes" -- her reply to her husband's marriage proposal -- on her left wrist.

She wears a simple dark dress with a crucifix at her neck to an interview. Her hair, which has been "every color on the visible spectrum," is at the moment its natural reddish-brown, and her slate-blue eyes are rimmed in black. While she wears dresses every day, Cody says, "I always say it's drag for me. I always say I'm a big drag queen."

"I don't think I'm a very sexy person," she says. "I am just loaded with testosterone. I'm just like a hairy, trash-talking woman, and I have no grace." (During her month as a phone-sex worker after she quit stripping, her low voice served her well when she would pretend to be a transsexual.)
Attracted by 'her voice'
cover.cody.jpg

Highly intelligent (her IQ exceeds 140, she says), Cody aspired to be a writer and attended the University of Iowa, famous for its Writers' Workshop, but hated academic life. "I could not get out of college soon enough," says Cody, who graduated in 2000. She eventually she met her 35-year-old musician and graphic designer husband, Jon Busey-Hunt, on the Internet and moved to his hometown of Minneapolis in 2003.

A blogger since 2000 (her blog's name is not family friendly), Cody spent her year as a stripper writing by day in coffeehouses, then lugging her laptop to write more at night at strip clubs, where people assumed she was doing her homework.

"People aren't used to seeing a stripper writing her memoirs in real time," she says.

"Candy Girl" hit bookstores just after last Christmas and sold out its initial shipment, said Lauren Marino, executive editor at Gotham Books. She says the hardcover is enjoying "a nice long, steady sale" and got a bounce in sales at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and Borders after Cody's appearance on Letterman in March.

Marino said she wasn't looking for a book about stripping and strippers.

"It wasn't so much the subject matter that attracted me as it was her voice. She can write about anything and make me want to read it. She's so intelligent and witty. She's funny, she's edgy and she's got a great sensibility," Marino said.

Cody always had seen strip clubs as dangerous, creepy places -- "I would actually shiver a little" walking past them, she says -- but she soon got over her fear of stripping.

"It occurred to me very quickly that it is not that scary to be on stage naked," Cody says. "Because, that's what you're supposed to be doing. If you're a waitress, you carry sandwiches. If you're a stripper, you take your top off."

Cody had a job typing up radio ad copy when she entered amateur night at the Skyway Lounge. She remembers being shocked when some guy tipped her five bucks the first time she stripped.

"That's when I started to think to myself, 'This could be a nice way to make money.' And it'd be a lot more fun than typing copy."

But she soon discovered that clubs would expect the strippers to sell a quota of lap dances or T-shirts. At the end of a long shift, dancers could end up with the club taking a big cut, says Cody, who was a low-earner.

"To be a stripper, it's not just about your body or your face or how erotic you can be on stage. It has to do with being able to create a fantasy for men and maintain that illusion for them, so that they actually believe that you are their girlfriend or companion, and that you are interested in what they have to say.

"And I cannot feign interest in anything to save my soul."

Cody was living with her husband -- her fiance at the time -- while working as a stripper. His reaction?

"He loved it," Cody says. "He's never been the type of guy to hang out with women of ill repute. Now he was engaged to one, and it was very exciting for him." They still exchange smiles when a song from her stripping days comes on the radio, she says.

After getting married, Cody wrote "Juno," about a geeky pregnant teenage girl who develops a sexually charged rapport with the adoptive father of her unborn baby. Her screenplay, which she says is based on her best friend, was among the top of the 2005 Black List of "most-liked" scripts in Hollywood and was hailed by Entertainment Weekly, which graded it A-minus.

Until her appearance on Letterman, Cody says her neighbors didn't know about her stripper past. She says they thought she only wrote for the alternative weekly City Pages, where she's the TV critic.

But the response has been positive, says Cody, who is now a suburban stepmom to her husband's 7-year-old daughter, from his second marriage -- this is Cody's first marriage.

And she bristles at suggestions that anyone who strips could write a book.

"If that were the case, the legions of women that I worked with, who were desperate to get out of it, would have done the same. There's a reason that I did it and they didn't. And the reason is, that I'm a storyteller."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/books/07/26/books.diablo.cody.ap/index.html?section=cnn_showbiz


________________________________

Stress can cause all sorts of problems for us in our daily lives. Not the least of which is a decreased ability to think productively and creatively. Progressive muscle relaxation is a widely used method of relaxation. It can be used to reduce stress whenever you have a few moments of free time.

This method works in two steps. The first step is to deliberately tense a certain muscle group for about 8 seconds. Notice how it feels for the muscle to be tense. Now, fully relax the muscle and pay attention to the difference in feeling. Keep this muscle relaxed for about 15 seconds before moving on to the next muscle group. With the knowledge of what the two states feel like, you can learn to relax muscles at the first signs of tension. Once you can achieve physical relaxation, mental calmness will follow.

Choose a quite place to practice and wear comfortable clothing. Sit comfortably or lie down. Keep in mind that if you lie down, you may fall asleep. You should tense and relax one muscle group at a time. The most popular sequence is listed below. If you are left-handed you may want to reverse the sides.

1. Right foot
2. Right lower leg and foot
3. Entire right leg
4. Left foot
5. Left lower leg and foot
6. Entire left leg
7. Right hand
8. Right forearm and hand
9. Entire right arm
10. Left hand
11. Left forearm and hand
12. Entire left arm
13. Abdomen
14. Chest
15. Neck and shoulders
16. Face


___________________

One of the first steps for preparing to have lucid dreams is to start keeping a dream journal. Any time that you remember a dream, write it down in your journal. Even if it's just a fragment of a dream or a lingering feeling, write it down. The journal will help you notice what your dreams are like. You will probably find that certain things reoccur in your dreams on a regular basis. These things are called "dreamsigns" and with practice you can learn to recognize dreamsigns while in a dream and then become lucid.

Most people remember very few dreams. In fact, it's quite possible that you have already had a lucid dream and not remembered it! Keeping a dream journal next to your bed will improve your ability to remember dreams. Get into the habit of lying in bed for a few minutes after you wake up and try to remember any dreams that you might have had.

Once you are able to recall at least one dream per night, you will have a good chance at having a lucid dream.

_____________________________________

From : Dj GREEN LANTERN

Date: Jul 29, 2006 12:38 AM

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Check it out. You can comment on all the music, pics and everything on the site. unsighned artists, this is a great networking oppertunity FOR HIPHOP, also every week we feature unsighned artists on our site. if you have a a profile with lots of friends well feature you on thestreetspace.com feel me. This is A Invasion Log on, make a page.



____________________

Eric Monte
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Eric Monte is a television writer who has written for some of the most successful shows in TV.

Monte's first big break was a script written for and accepted by All in the Family. From there, he went on to produce work responsible for two '70s sitcoms: Good Times (which he co-created with The Jeffersons star Mike Evans) and What's Happening!! (which was based on his motion picture Cooley High).

After becoming involved in legal disputes against television networks and producers over writing credits and compensation, Monte fell out of favor in the television industry. He received a $1 million USD settlement but lost the bulk of that money when he financed a play he had written. The play failed financially.

Monte eventually fell on hard times and developed an addiction to crack cocaine. As of April, 2006, Monte was living in a homeless shelter in Southern California. He appeared to be maintaining sobriety, as the shelter required regular drug tests. He was actively pursuing further attempts to sell television and film scripts.

________________________________________


Kitten Natividad
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Birthdate: February 14, 1948
Birth location: Ciudad Juárez, Mexico
Birth name: Francesca Isabel Natividad

Kitten Natividad (born Francesca Isabel Natividad on February 14, 1948, in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico) is a Mexican American film actress and exotic dancer. Famous for her enormous 44-inch chest and bubbly personality, the Miss Nude Universe winner of 1970 and 1971 could not help but catch the eye of cult filmmaker and big-bust enthusiast Russ Meyer. Meyer not only featured Natividad in his films Up! and Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens, but picked up the tab for her 1979 breast enhancement. As a couple, Meyer and Natividad lived together on-again/off-again for 15 years.

During the 1980s, Natividad began appearing in hardcore productions, her performances usually limited to appearing topless. She also began the private photo and video Kitten Klub. In October, 1999, Natividad underwent double-mastectomy surgery for treatment of breast cancer. She currently lives with a pit bull and three cats, all featured in the 2005 documentary movie Pornstar Pets.

Natividad is sometimes credited as Francesca 'Kitten' Natividad, Francesca Natividad or Frances Natividad.

Filmography

Kitten Natividad has appeared in more than sixty-five films and video productions. Career highlights and major studio features include:

* The Double-D Avenger (2001)
* Die 120 Tage von Bottrop (1997)
* Another 48 Hrs. (1990)
* Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) (uncredited)
* Airplane! (1980) (uncredited)
* Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens (1979)
* Up! (1976)
* Deep Jaws (1976)
* The New Centurions (1972)
* The Wild Life (1984)

[edit]

Trivia

* Appeared in a 1980s music video for Mitch Ryder's version of the song, "When You Were Mine", which was written by Prince.
* Natividad had a noteworthy brief topless scene in the movie My Tutor, with Caren Kaye, where a young man passes out at the sight of her bosom.


______________________________

Metaphysics (Greek words μετα [meta] = after/beyond and Φυσις [physis] = nature or physical) is a branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the world. Namely, it is the study of being or reality.[1] It answers questions such as: What is real (see realism)? Is it natural (see naturalism) or supernatural (see miracles). A central branch of metaphysics is ontology, the investigation into what categories of things are in the world and what relations these things bear to one another. The metaphysician also attempts to clarify the notions by which people understand the world, including existence, objecthood, property, space, time, causality, and possibility.

History of metaphysics

One theory of the origin of the word "metaphysics" (in Greek, μεταφυσικά) is based on the organization of some of Aristotle's books in the Library of Alexandria. The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle produced a number of works, which together were called the "Physics." In the Library of Alexandria, the works of Aristotle were organized in such a way that another set of Aristotle's works were placed right after the "Physics." These books seemed to concern a basic, fundamental area of philosophical inquiry, which Aristotle himself called "first philosophy." So early Aristotelian scholars called those books τὰ μετὰ τὰ φυσι κά βιβλια, ta meta ta physika biblia, which means "the books that come after the (books about) physics."

The term "Metaphysics" covers the subjects addressed in those books by Aristotle, which have come to be called, collectively, the Metaphysics.

The Metaphysics was divided into three parts, now regarded as the traditional branches of Western metaphysics, called (1) ontology, (2) theology and (3) universal science. There were also some smaller, perhaps tangential matters: a philosophical lexicon, an attempt to define philosophy in general and several extracts from the Physics repeated verbatim.

* Ontology is the study of existence; it has been traditionally defined as 'the science of being qua being', where the Latin word qua is usually translated "as." Hence, in English, "being as being." Although, as Heraclitus's example shows, it can be characterized by the nature of becoming as well.

* Theology means, here, the study of God (or the gods) and of questions about the divine.

* Universal science is supposed to be the study of so-called first principles, which underlie all other inquiries; an example of such a principle is the law of non-contradiction: A = A, A ≠ B, Not both A and B. In other words, the elementary laws of logic as Aristotle knew them.

Universal science or first philosophy treats of "being qua being" — that is, what is basic to all science before one adds the particular details of any one science. This includes topics like causality, substance, species and elements. It also includes topics like relationship, interaction, finitude and a theoretically boundless infinity.

Metaphysics as a discipline was a central part of academic inquiry and scholarly education even before the age in which Aristotle coined the word. Long considered "the Queen of Sciences," its issues were considered no less important than the other main formal subjects of physical science, medicine, mathematics, poetics and music. Since the Age of Reason, problems that were not originally considered metaphysical have been added to metaphysics. Other problems that were considered metaphysical problems for centuries are now typically relegated to their own separate subheadings in philosophy, such as philosophy of religion, philosophy of mind, philosophy of perception, philosophy of language, and philosophy of science. In some cases subjects of metaphysical research have been found to be entirely physical and natural, thus making them part of physics.

In more recent times, an alternate and erroneous usage of the term "metaphysics" has arisen out of ignorance of the term's meaning. People often use the term to refer esotericism and occultism. These other uses are, for the most part, entirely unrelated to the academic philosophical discipline.
[edit]

Central questions of metaphysics

Most positions that can be taken with regards to any of the following questions are endorsed by one or another notable philosopher. It is often difficult to frame the questions in a non-controversial manner.
[edit]

Particulars and universals

The world seems to contain many individual things, both physical, like apples, and abstract such as the British constitution, Greek democracy, and the number "3." Such objects are called particulars. Now, consider two apples. There seem to be many ways in which those two apples are similar, they may be approximately the same size, or shape, or color. They are both fruit, etc. One might also say that the two apples seem to have some thing or things in common. Universals or Properties are said to be those things.

Metaphysicians working on questions about universals or particulars are interested in the nature of objects and their properties, and the relationship between the two. For instance, one might hold that properties are abstract objects, existing outside of space and time, to which particular objects bear special relations. Others maintain that what particulars are is a bundle or collection of properties (specifically, a bundle of properties they have).
[edit]

Change and identity

Identity, sometimes called Numerical Identity, is the relation that everything bears to itself, and which nothing bears to anything other than itself. According to Leibniz, if some object x is identical to some object 'y, then any property that x has, y will have also. However, it seems to us that objects can change over time. If you were to look at a tree one day, and the tree later lost a leaf, it would seem that you could still go look at that same tree. Metaphysicians work to explain what it means for the same object to have different properties at different times, as well as the question of how objects persist through time. (See Also: identity and change)
[edit]

Space and time

This apple exists in space (it sits on a table in a room) and in time (it was not on the table a week ago and it will not be on the table a week from now). But what does this talk of space and time mean? Can we say, for example, that space is like an invisible three-dimensional grid in which the apple is located? Suppose the apple and every other physical object in the universe were to be entirely removed from existence: then would space, that "invisible grid," still exist? Some people say not— they say that without physical objects, space would not exist, because space is the framework in which we understand how physical objects are related to each other. There are many other metaphysical questions to ask about space and time.
[edit]

Necessity and possibility

Metaphysicians investigate questions about the ways the world could have been. David Lewis, in "On the Plurality of Worlds," endorsed a view called Concrete Modal Realism, according to which facts about how things could have been are made true by other concrete worlds, just like ours, in which things are different. Other philosophers, such as Gottfried Leibniz have dealt with the idea of possible worlds as well. The idea of necessity is that any necessary fact is true across all possible worlds; that is, we could not imagine it to be otherwise. A possible fact is one that is true in some possible world, even if not in the actual world. For example, it is possible that cats could have had two tails, or that any particular apple could have not existed. By contrast, certain truths seem necessary, such as analytic truths, e.g. "All bachelors are unmarried." The particular example of analytic truth being necessary is not universally held among philosophers. A less controversial view might be that self-identity is necessary, as it seems fundamentally incoherent to claim that for any x, it is not identical to itself; this is known as the principle of contradiction. Aristotle describes the principle of contradiction, "It is impossible that the same quality should both belong and not belong to the same thing . . . This is the most certain of all principles . . . Wherefore they who demonstrate refer to this as an ultimate opinion. For it is by nature the source of all the other axioms." However, in his monumental work, "An Investigation of the Laws of Thought" George Boole shows that the principle of contradiction follows from a fundamental law of thought introduced in Chapter 2 "signs and their laws." In the logic he introduces, 1 denotes the universe of discourse, x denotes a class of objects, and 0 denotes nothing (which is equivalent to the negation of the universe of discourse). However, since this is not arithmetic, special rules apply:

+ Denotes "and" (basically conjunction from propositional calculus.) (Thus, if a refers to the class of naysayers and b refers to the class of tallywackers, a+b is the class of naysayers and tallywackers). 1 + x = 1, since nothing can exceed the universe of discourse (it contains all classes of objects under consideration).

Juxtaposition, which typically denotes multiplication, just further defines the class. (Let a denote the class of pink things and b denote the class of elephants. Then, ab denotes the class of pink elephants.)

Subtraction denotes, (as in a-b) the class of objects with property a with the class of property b removed. (Let a denote the class of infants, let b denote the class of diapers. Then a − b would be the class of infants without diapers.) Suppose a=c. Then a-b=c-b. (Much Boolean Logic resembles algebra and arithmetic, but it is not the same thing.)

x^2=x. This follows from the fact that x^2=xx. (Through examples, it is quite easy to convince oneself of this. For example, if x denotes the class of all apples, then obviously x^2=xx=x still refers to the class of all apples (remember, this is Boolean logic, not arithmetic)).

The Principle of Contradiction follows from x^2=x.

x^2=x

Hence, x^2-x=0

and x(1-x)=0.

Thus nothing can be in both the class x and the class that excludes x at the same time. Equivalently, nothing can have property x and property 1-x (which excludes property x). This gives structure to Aristotle's "principal of contradiction."
[edit]

Abstract objects and Materialism

Apart from Universals, some philosophers endorse views according to which there are abstract particulars. Mathematical objects and objects in fictions are often given as examples of abstract objects. The view that there really are no abstract objects is called materialism.
This section is a stub. You can help by adding to it.
[edit]

Criticism

Metaphysics has been attacked, at different times in history, as being futile and overly vague. David Hume and Immanuel Kant both prescribed a limited role to the subject and argued against knowledge progressing beyond the world of our representations (except, in the case of Kant, to knowledge that the noumena exist).[citation needed] A.J. Ayer is famous for leading a "revolt against metaphysics," where he claimed that its propositions were meaningless.[citation needed] Martin Heidegger often criticised metaphysics, yet his early work dealt with questions that many would consider metaphysical.[citation needed] British universities became less concerned with the area for much of the 20th century; the later work of Wittgenstein discredited metaphysical questions as nonsense on purely linguistic grounds.[citation needed] However, metaphysics has seen a reemergence in recent times amongst philosophy departments.

A more nuanced view is that metaphysical statements are not meaningless statements, but rather that they are generally not fallible, testable or provable statements.[citation needed] That is to say, there is no valid set of empirical observations nor a valid set of logical arguments, which could definitively prove metaphysical statements to be true or false. Hence, a metaphysical statement usually implies a belief about the world or about the universe, which may seem reasonable but is ultimately not empirically verifiable. That belief could be changed in a non-arbitrary way, based on experience or argument, yet there exists no evidence or argument so compelling that it could rationally force a change in that belief, in the sense of definitely proving it false.
[edit]

Metaphysical subdisciplines

* Natural philosophy
* Ontology
* Philosophy of religion
* Philosophy of mind
* Philosophy of perception

[edit]

Metaphysical topics and problems

* Identity and change
* Problem of free will
* The nature of time
* The nature of the mind

[edit]

Metaphysicians

* Metaphysics writers
* Aristotle
* Thomas Aquinas
* Louis-Victor de Broglie
* William Kingdon Clifford
* Donald Davidson
* Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
* Gilles Deleuze
* René Descartes



* Mary Baker Eddy
* Charles Fillmore
* Neville Goddard
* Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
* Martin Heidegger
* Werner Heisenberg
* Ernest Holmes
* Emma Curtis Hopkins
* Aldous Huxley
* Immanuel Kant
* Saul Kripke



* Gottfried Leibniz
* David Lewis
* George Edward Moore
* Charles Peirce
* Robert M. Pirsig
* Plato
* Max Planck
* Karl Popper
* Willard Van Orman Quine



* Ayn Rand
* Carl Reichenbach
* Richard Rorty
* Bertrand Russell
* Jean-Paul Sartre
* Erwin Schrödinger
* John F Wippel
* Conny Méndez

[edit]

See also

* Aesthetics
* Buddhist philosophy
* Christian Science
* Cosmology (metaphysics)
* Dualism
* Eastern philosophy
* Epistemology



* Ethics
* Fractal metaphysics
* Ken Wilber
* List of spirituality-related topics
* Logical positivism
* Metaphysics of Quality
* Monism



* Mysticism
* New Thought Movement
* Ontology
* Philosophy
* Pluralism
* Pratitya-samutpada
* Reason



* Religious Science
* Quantum metaphysics
* Spiritism
* Taoism
* Theology
* Transcendental

[edit]

References

1. ^ Geisler, Norman L. "Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics" page 446. Baker Books, 1999

* Lowe, E. J. (2002). A survey of metaphysics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
* Loux, M. J. (2002). Metaphysics: A contemporary introduction (2nd ed.). London: Routledge.
* Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa Ed. (1999). Metaphysics:An Anthology. Blackwell Philosophy Anthologies.
* Kim, J. and Ernest Sosa, Ed. (2000). A Companion to Metaphysics. Malden Massachusetts, Blackwell, Publishers.
* Fillmore, Charles (1931, 17th printing July 2000). Metaphysical Bible Dictionary. Unity Village, Missouri: Unity House. ISBN 0-871-59067-0
* Hans Wehrli: Metaphysik - Chiralität als Grundprinzip der Physik, 2006, ISBN 3-033-00791-0

[edit]

External links

* trans. by W. D. Ross
* trans. by Hugh Tredennick (HTML at Perseus)
* Aristotle's Metaphysics at Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
* Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, entry under OBJECT, by Henry Laycock
* Ways of Seeing: A common sense exploration of modern metaphysics

__________________


There ya go ladies and gentlemen, children of all ages!!! A schmorgazboard of mental food to grind on, eat in large mouthfuls or tidbit bites and digest and contemplate on ... Why? Cause this weekend, I felt OVERLY creative and wanted to get some shit out to the masses to enjoy, learn and develop.

Remember. We only get ONE CHANCE. DO WHATCHA GOTTA DO.







dr phibes

Saturday Night's Main Event II - The FallOut

Headline Posted by Feras Ballout on 2:03:46 PM Jul/29/2006


The following news comes re-written from the Pro Wrestling Torch Newsletter. Subscription information can be obtained at PWTorch.com.

Both WWE and NBC executives are reevaluating their plans for Saturday Night’s Main Event. The second return show that aired earlier this month bombed in ratings, lower than the return show back in March. WWE feels that if they can secure a later timeslot on Saturday night, it will help boost the rating. Some people within WWE remain very optimistic because of the exposure of being on broadcast television.

This past Monday Hulk Hogan arrived at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio at 4PM ET to go over his promo with the WWE creative team. His daughter Brooke was not with him, but he did have the camera crew from VH1’s “Hogan Knows Best” filming for the show.

Randy Orton Turning Face & Joining DX?! + Huge WWE Superstar DONE In The Ring For Good

NO COMMENT. WON'T SAY I TOLD YA SO.

A Weekend Roundup ... YeeHaw!

My weekend started off pretty damn strong ... early with Thursday night, as I went to the Lizard Lounge

The_WORLD_FAMOUS_Lizard_Lounge

for Church night, a thrash-style, Gothic missive to the days back when Bauhaus, Type O Negative, Nine Inch Nails and My Life With Thrill Kill Kult were at the peak of their heyday [to be fair, they still are tightly intricate and move you in ways that are deemed bizzare and taboo] ... noticing how they changed the place a little, but it was still dark, diverse and deeply daring ... a trio of couples that came in to do disco moves noted that the music DIDN'T quite match, but I wanted so much to tell them " It doesn't really matter. Not many people here are professional dancers. God knows I'm not! "

The_Church

... It started about 10ish, though the doors were open at least by 9 pm that night [and I thought, My God, I'm late!] ... the music was pumping as various videos of horror slid across the screen along with elaborate cutout effects of women stripping and touching each other [various hallucigenic colorish styles] and strobing patterns. Very cool and extremely gothic. Dj Angry John was at the helm of the room [I believe the large room rather than the smaller, Egyptian themed room]. The smoke was lining the air and the dancing was hot, intense and like a community of vampiristic oneness. Very much like an Anne Rice novel based at a rave sponsored by HP Lovecraft with music from Marilyn Manson. I pumped to full speed and felt my heart wanting to explode, then I found myself outside, walking among the goth kids sitting, smoking and shooting shit with other fellow goth kids, comparing leather pumps with stitched on white vinyls skulls and 5 inch heels to others, who said that the pumps were actually borrowed and " how do you like my fishnets? " ... But for a guy who was 36 and no longer 23, the three hours of fast, pumped thrash/goth/stylized german sidestepping/mosh, without the most pit/even twist dancing [see what I mean when I say I can't dance worth a shit?]... I was sweating off 15 pounds of sweat under a FUCKYOU Dragonfly hoodie and ready to die. So I went home. To five hours of sleep, then 5 hours of work. Then a quick nap and I just decided to go to Final Friday at Gypsy Tea Room

The_Original_Gypsy_Tea_Room_:_Accept_No_Substitutes

and saw the lineup : Dow Jones, Boondox, Thesis & Music Theory [they had a substitute, but it still was hotter than a Texas Sunday fire-burning stove!], ATP with Mista Long, A-1, Hi-Jocker and Main Thang [all tied in with DJ B Smoove working the Technics and also Scion sponsorship and some really awesome artwork from the two guys who painted that night and also designed the tight tees for it! It was a supertight night and rocked the hip hop off the floor and into the air! Speakin' of Ms. Thesis, check out this broadcast. You won't be disappointed :

Texas Gig's Interview With Thesis

and, hopefully with her blessing, this bulletin :
A Little good press never hurt anyone...
Body: Hey Everybody,

Just wanted to tell u to check out the interview at Texasgigs.com. Its my first interview in a few years. The first since completing Heaven's Lemonade. The other one was Cousin Lenny on 89.3 in '04. I'm kinda a rookie at this, but hey gotta start somewhere.

http://www.texasgigs.com/podcasts/texas-gigs/2006/jul/24/interview-thesis/

Also if you're thirsty get your Heaven's Lemonade at CDbaby.com in the New Soul Releases or click

http://cdbaby.com/cd/thesismusic

And...This month I am one of the artists featured on the website for the clothing line Daunda which launched on April 15th (my birthday!)) of this year. Daunda is an up and coming hip hop and urban inspired clothing line. Hot tees ya'll. Will, the designer and co-owner of the line also designed the Heaven's Lemonade logo (the lemon... with the wings... and halo..yep that was him.) What up Trina (co-owner and sis). So check it if u get the time...

http://www.daunda.com/artist.html

Woohooo!!! Hip Hip....Hooray!!!! Yesss!!!!!

Thesis
The night was intensely Hip Hop and Neo Soul, which was what it was supposed to be! The whole experience proved that most times, the smaller venues are worth more than big arena concerts and Paloozas out the ass!
All this and David Johansen from the New York Dolls on Fresh Air [KERA 90.1] being interviewed ... he is off the map when it comes to cool! There is not enough cool to equal how cool he is!!! He makes Fonzie more like Steve Urkel!
Well, I am back to the novel. But I am expecting everyone to have a super weekend!



Remember : You are the one that counts. Period.


dr phibes


P.S. Also caught The Triggermen !! Eminem has nothin' on them !!