Marc Dion: Press '1' for English (Creators Syndicate)
And, after the manner of my testy, urban kind, I say to myself, "How hard is it to press 1 for English? What are you, stupid?" That's it? That's what's ruining the country? You dumbasses can't figure out how to press "1"?
Marc Dion: How My Pop Won the War on Christmas (Creators Syndicate)
I was raised in one of those families in which the phrase, "I gotta work," stopped all conversation. So in 1964, when Pop, who was a bartender, said, "I gotta work Christmas Eve," I shut up. I was 7-years-old.
Terry Savage: Holiday Season (Creators Syndicate)
More important than how you invest the money is the fact that you actually save the money in the first place. It's a process that should be automatic - having the money taken out of your checking account or paycheck and put into savings before you see it and spend it.
Joe Weider: Sweet on Agave (Creators Syndicate)
Tip of the Week: Anytime is a good time to flex your muscles. A lot of people complain that they don't have enough time in the day to exercise. Yet how often do you find yourself sitting in traffic, waiting in lines and sitting at your computer doing little more than answering emails or surfing the Web? While you may not think you have time to work your muscles, the fact is that keeping them toned doesn't require hours a day spent in the gym, only a few minutes here and there, literally.
Victor Charlie: 6 Ridiculous Myths You Believe About Stuff You Use Every Day (Cracked)
Every so often, some company really will admit that it made a terrible, terrible mistake and that one of its products causes cancer or zombies. So in a world full of recalls and class-action lawsuits, it's only natural to be wary of the health scares that show up in your email inbox. The problem is that some of the most well-known product hazards are pure bullshit.
The history of calendars spans several thousand years. In many early civilizations, calendar systems were developed. For example, in Sumer, the birthplace of the modern sexagesimal system, there were 12 months of 29 or 30 days apiece, much like the modern Gregorian calendar. Mesoamerican cultures also developed their own intricate calendars; the ancient Maya had two separate years-the 260-day Sacred Round, and the 365-day Vague Year.
Source
Lois In The Heart Of Oregon was first, and correct, with:
Oh yeah, I know THIS one. It's them damn Mayans, whose
rotten calendar let me down so bad this time last year.
Gotta admit I really like the idea of a "vague" calendar,
though. That could really come in handy when relatives ask
when would be a good time to come vist for a few weeks. On
the other hand, it might make it hard to get
reservations...except at THIS place! HA, your table is
ready!
@Marian...sometimes it seems like everything good was a
long, long time ago.
Charlie said:
Maya
Jim from CA, retired to ID, wrote:
The ancient Maya had two separate years-the 260-day Sacred Round, and the
365-day Vague Year.
Alan J responded:
The Mayans
Adam answered:
The Mayan Calendar.
Marian replied:
Maya
Sally said:
The ancient Maya had two separate calendars-the 260-day Sacred Round Year and the 365-day Vague Year, so 'they' say...
Maya desk calendar...
PS: Loved the piece about the Island of Poveglia (in the Venetian Lagoon).
Having lived in Italy, such stories are common, wish I would have done more exploring when I was there...
Dale of Diamond Springs, Norfallcali took the day off.
CBS starts the night with '60 Minutes', followed by a RERUN'The Millers', then the FRESH, but taped 3 weeks ago & edited, 'The 36th Annual Kennedy Center Honors'.
NBC fills the night with LIVE'Sunday Night Football', then pads the left coast with local crap and maybe an old 'Dateline'.
ABC begins the night with a RERUN'America's So-Called Funniest Home Videos', followed by the movie 'Harry Potter & The Sorcerer's Stone'.
The CW offers a RERUN'SAF3', followed by 2 hours of what passes for local news and other fluffery.
Faux 'Modern Family', followed by another 'Modern Family', then a RERUN'The Simpsons', followed by another RERUN'The Simpsons', then a RERUN'Family Guy', followed by a RERUN'Lucas Bros. Moving Co.', then a RERUN'Golan The Insatiable'.
MY has an old 'How I Met Your Mother', followed by another old 'How I Met Your Mother', then an old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by another old 'Big Bang Theory', then still another old 'Big Bang Theory', followed by yet another old 'Big Bang Theory'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] BANG GOES THE THEORY - Season 5 - Episode 7
[6:40AM] BANG GOES THE THEORY - Season 5 - Episode 8
[7:20AM] BANG GOES THE THEORY - Season 4 - Episode 1
[8:00AM] PLANET EARTH-Ep 5 - Deserts
[9:00AM] PLANET EARTH-Ep 6 - Ice Worlds
[10:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 3 - Ep 3 - Bazzini
[11:00AM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 2 - Ep 9 - Fiesta Sunrise
[12:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 4 - Ms. Jean's Southern Cuisine
[1:00PM] RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES US - Season 6 - Ep 5 - Barefoot Bob's
[2:00PM] TOP GEAR - Season 12 - Episode 6
[3:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 3
[4:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 4
[5:00PM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 12-13 - Episode 1
[6:00PM] ROBOCOP
[8:00PM] JURASSIC PARK III
[10:00PM] JURASSIC PARK III
[12:00AM] ROBOCOP
[2:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 3
[3:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 10-11 - Episode 4
[4:00AM] TOP GEAR: BEST OF 12-13 - Episode 1
[5:00AM] TOP GEAR - Season 12 - Episode 6 (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', followed by a FRESH'Real Housewives Of Atlanta', then a FRESH'Thicker Than Water', and 'Real Housewives Of Atlanta'.
Comedy Central has the movie 'The Longest Yard', followed by the FRESH'Tosh.0: Ladies Night'.
FX has the movie 'Rango', followed by the movie 'Grown Ups'.
History has 'Pawn Stars', another 'Pawn Stars', 'Ax Men', followed by a FRESH'Ax Men', 'Pawn Stars', and another 'Pawn Stars'.
IFC -
[6:00AM] The Birthday Boys-Paychecks!
[6:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Pee-wee Herman Wears a Halloween Costume
[7:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Stupid Girl
[7:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Forwards Backwards
[8:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Forbidden Girlfriend
[8:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Malcolm Holds His Tongue
[9:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Boys at the Ranch
[9:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Grandma Sues
[10:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-If Boys Were Girls
[10:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Long Drive
[11:00AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Kicked Out
[11:30AM] Malcolm in the Middle-Stereo Store
[12:00PM] From Within
[2:00PM] The Children
[3:45PM] Exorcismus
[6:00PM] Joy Ride
[8:00PM] Planet Terror
[10:15PM] Planet Terror
[12:30AM] Scream
[3:00AM] Saw V
[5:00AM] Bunk
[5:30AM] Comedy Bang! Bang!-Jason Schwartzman Wears a Striped Shirt & High Top Sneakers (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00AM] The Jewel of the Nile
[8:30AM] Hot Shots!
[10:15AM] Robin Hood: Men in Tights
[12:30PM] The Manchurian Candidate
[3:15PM] JFK
[7:15PM] Red Dragon
[10:00PM] The Exorcist
[12:45AM] From Hell
[3:15AM] Red Dragon (ALL TIMES EST)
SyFy has the movie 'Lake Placid 3', followed by the movie 'Lake Placid: The Final Chapter'.
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama laughs as he delivers the Jangchup Lamrim teachings in Bylakuppe, about 135 miles west of Bangalore, India, Saturday, Dec. 28, 2013. The ten-day teachings began Dec. 25.
Photo by Abhishek N. Chinnappa
Blues guitarist Tommy Bankhead rubbed shoulders with some of the genre's royalty, from Howlin' Wolf and Elmore James to Albert King and Sonny Boy Williamson.
Be it neglect, inattention or hard times, Bankhead's family never added a grave marker to his burial plot. That will soon change thanks to the Killer Blues Headstone Project, a nonprofit effort to bring belated recognition to long-forgotten blues musicians.
"These guys gave so much to America via music," said Aaron Pritchard, the project's vice president. "They deserve a headstone."
Several years ago, he met a kindred spirit in Steven Salter of Whitehall, Mich., whose own search for his musical idols began with a detour to the Chicago area while en route to the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival.
After stopping at the graves of McKinley Morganfield, better known as Muddy Waters, and Chester Burnett (aka Howlin' Wolf), Salter found an unmarked grave for blues pianist Otis Spann. A letter bemoaning Spann's fate to a blues magazine ignited a successful fundraiser and convinced Salter to launch the headstone project in 2008.
Katy Perry arrives at the "Britney Spears: Piece of Me" Planet Hollywood Launch Party", on Friday, Dec. 27, 2013, in Las Vegas.
Photo by Paul A. Hebert
As soon as the beat started, the young woman bobbed her head to the rhythm, raised her hands to get the crowd clapping and then unleashed a flood of rap lyrics that tackled some of the biggest social challenges women face in the Arab world.
With the Middle East's hit TV show "Arabs Got Talent" as her stage, 18-year-old Myam Mahmoud rapped about sexual harassment, second-class treatment of women, and societal expectations of how a young religious woman should behave.
The Egyptian teenager didn't win the program - she crashed out in the semifinals - but she did succeed in throwing the spotlight on something bigger than herself.
"I wanted to tell girls in Egypt and everywhere else that they are not alone, we all have the same problems, but we cannot stay silent, we have to speak up," Mahmoud, who wears an Islamic headscarf but not a full-face veil, told The Associated Press.
In Egypt, a country where politics have grabbed most of the headlines for the past three years, little space has been dedicated to addressing social problems. So Mahmoud, who is a first-year student of politics and economics at the October 6 University in a western Cairo suburb, decided to draw attention to women's rights through rap.
In 1915, an ill-fated expedition known as the Ross Sea Party took to the New Zealand side of Antarctica to establish supply depots for explorers. After their ship broke loose from the moorings, the six men were stranded and struggled to survive, spending three years on the continent before they were eventually rescued. Now, nearly a century later, a new discovery suggests the men may have left behind more than we realized.
Restoring one of the supply huts used by the party, Antarctic conservators discovered a box of 22 unprocessed cellulose nitrate negatives, believed to have been left there by the Ross Sea Party. The photographs show new views of Ross Island, McMurdo Sound, and two new pictures of the expedition's chief scientist Alexander Stevens, which linked them to the expedition. More surprising after all that time in the ice, most of the damage to the photos is confined to the edges, and the conservators were able to achieve a near-complete restoration of the images. The restored photos can be seen in full at the Antarctic Heritage Trust website.
Celebrity photographer Luis Martinez and singer Miley Cyrus arrive at the "'Britney Spears: Piece of Me' Planet Hollywood Launch Party", on Friday, Dec. 27, 2013, in Las Vegas.
Photo by Paul A. Hebert
Academy members have one more day to catch up on this year's impressive slate of cinematic fare before Oscar polls open on Friday.
Voters will be allotted two weeks to cast their nominations before voting ends at 5 p.m. PT on Jan. 8. Nominees will be announced on Jan. 16. Meanwhile, final voting will commence on Valentine's Day and conclude at 5 p.m. PT on Feb. 25. The 86th Academy Awards will take place March 2.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' 6,000-plus members can vote online or through mail-in ballots. Unlike last year, the new Web voting process will not require mailed VIN codes.
Members of 13 branches will vote in their respective categories, while all 17 groups can vote for the biggest prize of the night: best picture.
Two publishers say they are weighing plagiarism claims against Shia LaBeouf after he lifted their material for his short film and a comic book.
Melville House publisher Dennis Johnson told Publishers Weekly he is "exploring all legal actions" after Labeouf borrowed heavily from Melville House author Benoit Duteurtre's novel "The Little Girl and the Cigarette" in the actor's mini-comic, "Stale N Mate."
Meanwhile, Daniel Clowes' publisher, Fantagraphics, told PW that Clowes is "exploring all legal options," after LaBeouf admitted plagiarizing his character Justin M. Damiano for his short film HowardCantour.com, which was shown at the Cannes Film Festival in May.
It doesn't end there: Another comic by the actor, "Lets F-ing Party," steals from poet Charles Bukowski, and when Labeouf exited the play "Orphans," he explained himself by plagiarizing both David Mamet and Esquire writer Tom Chiarella, Farkas noted.
Raymond Paul gives a peace sign as he leaves the airport with his son, Canadian Greenpeace activist Alexandre Paul (back) in Montreal, December 27, 2013. Paul was detained in Russia for more than three months following a protest against Arctic oil drilling in international waters.
Photo by Christinne Muschi
Britney Spears, in the heels of such performers as Celine Dion and Elton John, late Friday opened a two-year sojourn in Sin City with a dazzling performance to a crowd of adoring fans.
The former enfant terrible of US pop wowed some 4,600 fans with a stunning show at the Axis Theater at the city's Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino.
The Grammy-winning pop songstress was hired to perform her new spectacle, titled "Piece of Me," 50 times a year in 2014 and 2015.
In the 90-minute extravaganza, Spears lip-synched more than 20 songs, including many of the hits she had over her 15-year career from former Disney starlet in the late 1990s to pop diva of the 2000s.
Dozens of Israeli soldiers respectfully rose from their seats as the Israeli national anthem began playing. The tinny recording of "Hatikva," an ode to the Jewish yearning for the Land of Israel, wrapped up a ceremony, held in Hebrew, during which speakers thanked the troops and handed out awards.
It looked like a typical motivational gathering for soldiers of the Jewish state - except that nearly all those in uniform weren't Jews and Hebrew wasn't their first language. They were Christian Arabs, a minority that has historically viewed itself as part of the Palestinian people and considered service in the army as taboo.
The gathering - a pre-Christmas nod to Christian soldiers, who nibbled on cookies and chocolate Santas - was part of a new push by Israel's government and a Greek Orthodox priest to persuade more Christians to enlist.
The campaign has set off an emotional debate about identity among Christians, a tiny minority within Israel's predominantly Muslim Arab minority. So far the numbers of Christian Arabs enlisting is negligible, but with the community's fate possibly at stake, tempers have flared and each side has accused the other of using scare tactics and incitement.
Father Gabriel Nadaf, the priest promoting enlistment, said Christians must serve in the army if they want to integrate into Israeli society and win access to jobs. "I believe in the shared fate of the Christian minority and the Jewish state," he told the conference, held at a local hotel.
Dancers from Romania's northern region of Moldova perform the "bear" dance, a ritual for good luck in the New Year, in Bucharest December 28, 2013. In pre-Christian rural traditions dancers used to tour from house to house in villages while singing and dancing to ward off evil.
Photo by Bogdan Cristel
China on Saturday formally allowed couples to have a second child if one parent is an only child, the first major easing of its 3-decade-old restrictive birth policy.
First announced by the ruling Communist Party's leadership in November, the decision was officially sanctioned by the standing committee of China's top legislature, the National People's Congress, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Implemented around 1980, China's birth policy has limited most couples to only one child, but has allowed a second child if neither parent has siblings or if the first born to a rural couple is a girl.
Demographers and policy makers have estimated the easing would benefit some 15 million to 20 million Chinese parents - mostly in cities - and result in 1 million to 2 million extra births per year in the first few years, on top of the 16 million babies born annually in China. They say the easing is so incremental that the extra births are not expected to strain resources such as the health care and education.
Women carry a figure of a vagina titled, "The Unsubmissive Pussy", during a pro-choice protest against the government's proposed new abortion law in Malaga, southern Spain December 27, 2013. Spain's center-right government moved to make it harder for women to get an abortion, restricting a law that had allowed the procedure on request within a 14-week term, in a bid to rally core conservative support.
Photo by Jon Nazca
Let's be honest, Sprint's "Everything's Important" campaign starring James Earl Jones and Malcolm McDowell are comedy times infinity plus another infinity.
After watching the legendary actors embody bros unsure about evening plans, giddy girls discussing cute boys, and an annoyed married couple, one reaction - after the laughter subsided -seemed to rise above the rest.
How did Sprint get Darth Vader (Jones) and Alex DeLarge (McDowell) to do that?!
To get the answer, omg! went straight to the source and asked the legendary Jones how a phone company got him onboard to perform such frivolity.
"I love doing commercials," the thespian, who just completed a run as Benedick in the London production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing," tells omg!. "It's as simple as that. The work is very specific. All theater is about storytelling and the storytelling we do on a commercial is so, so specific and sometimes - as in the case of the Sprint commercials that we're doing - it's just a few words … and these two old guys, who aren't ashamed of making fools of themselves."
Visitors walk past a giant snow sculpture ahead of the 30th Harbin Ice and Snow Festival in Harbin, Heilongjiang province December 28, 2013. The festival kicks off on January 5, 2014.
Photo by Sheng Li
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