Seize every minute...look at it and really see it .. live it and never give it back
Avenue Q comes to Atlanta
Topic: Arts
4:36 pm EDT, Jun 16, 2007
In March, Broadway Across America Atlanta presents the Atlanta premiere of AVENUE Q, the 2004 Tony Award® winner for Best Musical. This hilarious smash hit, one of the hottest and hippest new Broadway productions, features a cast of people and puppets who tell their story in a smart, risqué and downright entertaining way. FOR MATURE AUDIENCES ONLY!
Characters include:
Kate Monster, the kindergarten teaching assistant who wants to find a boyfriend and start a special school for monsters
Lucy The Slut, a sexy cabaret singer
Nicky, Rod’s roommate, a slacker
Trekkie Monster, a reclusive porn addict
Gary Coleman, the former child star from the sitcom Diff’rent Strokes.
Brian, a 32-year old aspiring comedian
Christmas Eve, a feisty Japanese therapist, and Brian’s fiancée.
Scientists have transformed mouse skin cells into embryonic stem cells and proved their potency by using the new cells to produce baby mice.
The experiments are seen as a major advance for regenerative medicine, which aims to custom-build tissues and cells to repair ailing and ageing bodies.
Scientists caution there are serious safety issues that must be resolved before the techniques could ever be used on people, but say the advance points to a new way of making embryonic stem cells for patients from their own cells.
There is no need to destroy embryos, and the procedure might allow researchers to sidestep many of the ethical objections now dogging stem-cell research.
Until now, the only way to obtain embryonic stem cells has been to take them from an embryo. Producing cells that are a genetic match for a patient would entail making a clone of that person and harvesting the cells when the cloned embryo is days old, which raises thorny ethical issues and is illegal in several countries, including Canada.
The new work promises cells free of such contentious issues.
"You could take a skin cell, or a blood cell, and reprogram it with these four genes to make embryonic stem cells," Mr. Rudnicki said. The cells could then be turned into any type of cells required for therapeutic use, be they neurons to treat Alzheimer's or insulin producers for diabetics.
He cautions that significant hurdles still need to be overcome.
Substitute Teacher Granted New Trial in Porn Case - Security Fix
Topic: Society
12:18 am EDT, Jun 7, 2007
Decius wrote: There is a lot tied up in the Amero case. I think it really represents frustration over the excesses of the moral panic involving children and the Internet coming to a head.
I whole heartedly agree. It is not just panic over what the children are exposed to it is the risk that you will be held liable for what they see by society imposing an unrealistic expectation of your power over their viewing capabilities.
Jack Malone, a state lawmaker representing Connecticut's 47th assembly district, which includes Norwich, called the case an embarrassment for the state. "I don't know how it ever got this far," he told Security Fix.
Malone added that his office has received dozens of e-mails from people around the world who expressed exasperation and disbelief at the outcome of the trial.
"The overriding sentiment of those e-mails is 'How could you possibly prosecute someone for this kind of error?' Frankly, it makes us look like real hard-liners on the social issues, and I think most folks would agree that stands in contrast to the kind of state we are and the kind of philosophy we have here."
Walt LeBaron, a former educator from New York, said that under the circumstances, it would not be unreasonable for teachers in Connecticut to just turn off their computers, refuse to use them, and leave them off until they get proper training.
State Rep. Malone echoed that sentiment, adding that he, too, is worried about the long-term effects of the case.
"I envision some teacher is going to walk into their classroom and say, 'Nope, not me. Open your books and turn off the computers. These are dangerous things, and I'm not losing my career over it.'"
Public Service Announcement - Innocent Kids Use Jar Jar Dolls As Masturbation Toys!
Topic: Society
9:34 pm EDT, Jun 6, 2007
When Mrs. Tawny Huxton opened her son Timmy's bedroom door, she was shocked to see his innocent white hiney nestled into the new 7ft Jar Jar Binks doll she had bought him for his birthday. Lately, many Americans have suffered similar incidents. Young children are being seduced by the character of George Lucas' latest Star Wars Movie. Jar Jar's soothing voice, and timid childlike manners, seem to lure young teens into a world of lustful abandon. Unsuspecting parents purchase the popular life-size doll, only to find out later that it is being used by the child as a masturbation toy.
Under the guise of family entertainment, Lucas' "Star Wars" prequel has contaminated America's youth with subliminal sexual innuendo. Pastor Ebeneezer Smith of the Landover Baptist Church commented, "The demonic characteristics of the Jar Jar binks creature become obvious when one pays close attention. His forked tongue, his lapping, his malignant features, are all too noticeable to the Christ centered man." Experts who have examined the life-sized doll that has become the favorite 'toy' of 12-14 year old children, say that the evidence is overwhelming. The doll was created for the sole purpose of masturbation. It has four openings, and three extrusions, making it compatible for male or female pleasure.
Members of The Landover Baptist Church are outraged at the Satanic subtlety in which marketing geniuses have moved this horrific abomination into the homes of America's youth. "One Mother was concerned that her young daughter was not interested in boys," a Pastor noted, "she asked her little girl, 'why don't you talk about the cute boys at school?' Her daughter replied, 'oh momma, nobody I know is cuter than Jar Jar Binks.' The mother was horrified."
Landover Baptist Church finds that the only way to resolve this problem is to ban not only life sized Jar Jar Binks dolls from American homes, but to ban any life sized doll. "Any child that has seen this movie is finding that their natural attraction to members of the opposite sex is being replaced with an attraction to a 7ft devil with elephant feet, a 25 inch tongue, polka dot skin, a fish snout, and two phallic eyes that jut out like hard erotic pokers. For the Love of God! If you've got this devil in your house, remove it as soon as possible!
Damn those "marketing geniuses!! Heed thier warnings...This is no prank....It is, "A True Christian Perspective on Local, National, and World News."
So I am teaching kindergarten summer school and have run in to an "issue" with one of my little girls. It is frequent and somewhat disruptive. The parent was no help...so I was doing some research to figure out how to deal with this issue. Little did I know....
Physiologic signs of sexual arousal occur in all children from very early infancy onward. This arousal can happen randomly, in response to physical stimulation, or during the dream phase of sleep. There is evidence that even very young infants find the physical sensation of sexual arousal emotionally pleasurable, and most children will learn how to create this feeling in themselves by the preschool years. Indeed, by the age of 5 or 6 repeated, systematic, intentional masturbation is almost universal! There is some debate over HOW children learn to masturbate. Some think it is initially an accidental or random phenomenon - as the young child explores their own body they by chance discover that touching certain areas feels better than touching others, so they are motivated to touch those places again. Others feel this discovery is more likely related to some discomfort in the genital area which draws the child's attention - such as a diaper rash. It really doesn't matter how it gets started however - once begun, the behavior perpetuates itself.
There is nothing inherently harmful to the child about masturbation itself. It neither causes nor is a sign of any physical or emotional problems whatsoever. The best evidence for this comes from cross-cultural studies which have looked at masturbation and other aspects of sexual development in societies where both adult sexual activity and masturbation are more accepted and "public" than in our own. In these places children are routinely witness to normal adult sexual behaviors, and they in turn they do indeed masturbate more, earlier, and incorporate sexual themes into much of their play among each other as well. It turns out that, if anything, these cultures have lower rates of sexual dysfunction, of deviant sexual behaviors, and family disruption than we do here in western cultures. There are, however, three issues related to masturbation that parents should be aware of and think about: The first is how their own reaction to the discovery of a child's masturbation may affect the child. The second is how masturbation fits into their larger job of teaching children socially appropriate behavior. The third is the need for sensitivity towards what the meaning of the masturbation is to the child, and to what that in turn might signify regarding the normalcy of the child's other sexual experiences and ideas.
In summary, masturbation is a normal and harmless behavior in childhood even at a very young age. It is important that as a parent you not react too strongly to it, and that you avoid disciplining, repressing, or making your child feel guilty about it. On the other hand, you do have a responsibility to teach your child to limit this behavior to an appropriate time and place. Occasionally (but not often) masturbation can be a sign or symptom that a child is under undue stress or has been sexually abused. Should such a situation ever arise, your child needs you to focus on and address the root problem, not the symptom of masturbation, in order to really help them.
The Imaginary Foundation is a think tank from Switzerland that does experimental research on new ways of thinking and the power of the imagination. They hold dear a belief in human potential and seek progress in all directions. Avoiding direct publicity the team has sought streetwear as an unlikely vehicle for bringing their ideas beyond the academic realm and into popular culture.
I love the imagery they use on their shirts. Some of them are amazing.
What was meant to be a mission to save the life of a man in desperate need of a lung transplant ended instead on Monday in the deaths of four members of a medical team and two pilots of a plane that crashed while racing to fly the organs from Milwaukee to Michigan.
Investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board said Tuesday that they thought mechanical difficulties, not a light rain or wind, caused the plane, an eight-seat Cessna jet, to slam into Lake Michigan at about 190 miles an hour on Monday afternoon, just minutes after taking off from General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee.
Besides the two pilots, the accident killed two transplant surgeons and two perfusionists — specialists in transplanting organs — from the University of Michigan Medical Center.
Hospital officials vowed that their transplant program would not be interrupted, despite the loss to their transplant team. The surgeons were among 15 transplant surgeons at the University of Michigan. The perfusionists were among three full-time perfusionists.
The crash highlighted the inherent dangers for air ambulance crews, under pressure from transplant programs to move quickly when an organ becomes available. Both the safety board and the Federal Aviation Administration began scrutinizing medical flights several years ago after an increase in accidents.
“For the flight crews who are doing this routinely, they have a very high death rate,” Dr. Baker said. “It’s a very high-risk occupation.”
I did not realize this was this was a common occurrence. This is really sad.
Car Wash Thursday, June 7 at dusk in Atlanta's Piedmont Park for "Screen on the Green" 2007
Ever wonder how some people can work day after day in unskilled, minimum wage jobs? Sometimes it's simply a matter of attitude. Welcome to Car Wash (1976), a day in the life of a bunch of L.A. car wash employees and the characters and customers who fill their lives. It's an essential slice of the '70s, so packed full of ensemble mayhem it’s hard to believe it's scripted.
This is the actual Screen on the Green website. Here is the info on next Thursday's movie. It is supposedly a comedy classic. I submit this because when we first heard about next weeks show for some reason most of my friends and I got the image of some movie staring Snoop Dog but according to the webiste it had Richard Pryor and George Carlin.
The Coca-Cola Fox Theatre 2007 Summer Film Festival
Topic: Recreation
10:12 pm EDT, Jun 1, 2007
The time-honored tradition of The Coca-Cola Summer Film Festival at The Fox Theatre is an experience not to be missed!
Beat the heat and enjoy a mix of classic and current films on the biggest screen in Atlanta.
Enjoy Movies, Mixers and “Mo!” Come early and enjoy wine tastings, and the tradition of a magical pre-show experience including an organ concert and sing-a-long featuring Larry Douglas Embury and the showing of a classic cartoon.
Sunday, June 3 The Sound of Music — 7:00PM
Monday, June 4 Casino Royale/Goldfinger Dbl Feature —7:30PM
Sunday, June 10 Affair to Remember — 2:00PM
Sunday, June 10 300 — 7:00Pm
Monday, June 11 Pans Labyrinth — 7:30PM
Monday, June 18 Saturday Night Fever — 7:30PM
Sunday, July 8 Meet the Robinsons — 2:00PM
Monday, July 9 The Wizard of Oz — 7:30PM
Wednesday, July 11 Dreamgirls — 7:30PM
Monday, July 30 The Departed/Goodfellas Dbl Feature — 7:30PM
another chance to gather your friends and have some fun this summer.
