A PUPPY IS BUT A DOGPLUS HIGH SPIRITSMINUS COMMON SENSE.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
NEW YEARS EVE QUOTES
He may be mad, but there's method in his madness. There nearly always is method in madness. It's what drives men mad, being methodical.
The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.
There is no nonsense so gross that society will not, at some time, make a doctrine of it and defend it with every weapon of communal stupidity.
Rolling Stones year's top grossing act
Band earns $138.5 million on over 1 million ticket sales
Concert-goers know its only rock 'n' roll -- and they were willing to pay for it.
As is the case any time the Rolling Stones go on an extensive tour, they come out as the year's top grossing act and 2006 was no different: The Stones pulled in $138.5 million by selling 1.01 million tickets.
Barbra Streisand's tour grossed $92.5 million but her average ticket price was nearly triple that of the Stones, $298.36.
Pollstar, the concert industry trade magazine that tracks the figures, reported North American concert ticket sales totaled $3.1 billion, a 16% increase over 2005. The year's top 100 tours pulled in $2.3 billion, a 12.6% spike.
Fans purchased 37.9 million tickets to the top 100 concert tours, compared with 36.3 million in 2005, Pollstar reported.
And, as usual, they paid more. The average ticket price rose 8% over 2005 to $61.45.
In third place was the husband-and-wife touring team of Tim McGraw and Faith Hill who earned $88.8 million.
Madonna's tour grossed $85.9 million.
Country singer Kenny Chesney sold more tickets than any other act (1.13 million) and pulled in $66 million. Chesney will be the only artist to land in the top 20 in concert sales and album sales in 2006.
The one non recording artist on the list was Cirque du Soleil's "Delirium," which came in at No. 5, having sold $82.1 million worth of ducats. And Celine Dion, who only performs at one venue, the Colosseum in Las Vegas, sold $78.1 million in tix to land at No. 6.
List of top 25 draws was overwhelmingly filled with veteran acts, among them Bon Jovi, Dave Matthews Band, Elton John, Billy Joel, the Who, Def Leppard and
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.
The "American Idol" tour pulled in $35 million (No. 19).
Saturday, December 30, 2006
NO COMMENT
SADDAM HANGING - THE MUSICAL
Saddam Hussein asked us to create the soundtrack to his execution shindig this weekend. Thoughts?
“Dead Man Walking,” Bruce Springsteen
“25 Minutes to Go,” Johnny Cash
“Gallows Pole,” Led Zeppelin
“Let Him Dangle,” Elvis Costello
“Hang On,” Teenage Fanclub
-- Rolling Stone
Thursday, December 28, 2006
OF THINGS ARCTIC.....ISH
AN AMAZING ICE SCULPTURE
NOT STRICTLY ARTIC I HAVE TO SAY BUT DEFINITELY SNOWY...
A SNOWMAN AND BAMBI!
THERE'S NOT MANY THINGS BIGGER AND MORE POWERFUL THAN THE ICE BEAR ON HIS OWN PATCH, EXCEPT MAYBE A SUBMARINE, THOUGH THE POLAR BEARS THINK THEY CAN PROBABLY TAKE IT ON.
"CAN WE EAT IT?"
THEN WE CAN SLEEP!
YES I KNOW ANY EXCUSE TO POST A PIC OF A POLAR BEAR!!
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Twelve lions kept as pets in UK
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Twelve lions, 14 tigers and 50 leopards are being kept by licensed private owners, researchers studying Big Cats in Britain have said.
The 154 assorted non-domestic cats are owned privately, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
There were also almost 500 assorted monkeys and 2,000 ostriches in private ownership as well as more than 250 poisonous snakes and 50 members of the crocodile family.
More than 300 American Bison are also grazing in our countryside - as well as more than 6,000 wild boar.
The Big Cats in Britain (BCIB) research group said it approached 408 local authorities to discover how many of the wild animals were being kept by licensed private keepers. The figures do not include zoo animals.
Under the Dangerous Wild Animal Act 1976, private owners of all animals that are legally deemed to be dangerous are required to annually buy a licence from their local authority.
The authority inspects the owner's premises, setting standards and confirming that the owner carries third party liability insurance for the animal.
Some smaller cats such as servals and leopard cats are being kept to hybrid with domestic cats to produce the "designer pet" varieties, researchers said.
Scientific adviser to the BCIB Chris Moiser said it was a "pleasant surprise" to see how many people went to such lengths to keep their animals properly and lawfully.
Mark Fraser, founder of the BCIB Research Group, said: "It is not the responsible legal owners that 'lose' their animals, but those that are kept illegally with ill regard and little thought to their welfare.
"More and more exotic animals are being seen in the British countryside today, making it an interesting place to be.
"In December of 2006 the Dangerous Wild Animals Act was introduced in Northern Ireland, and it will be interesting to see what effect this has."
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Twelve lions, 14 tigers and 50 leopards are being kept by licensed private owners, researchers studying Big Cats in Britain have said.The 154 assorted non-domestic cats are owned privately, according to figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
There were also almost 500 assorted monkeys and 2,000 ostriches in private ownership as well as more than 250 poisonous snakes and 50 members of the crocodile family.
More than 300 American Bison are also grazing in our countryside - as well as more than 6,000 wild boar.
The Big Cats in Britain (BCIB) research group said it approached 408 local authorities to discover how many of the wild animals were being kept by licensed private keepers. The figures do not include zoo animals.
Under the Dangerous Wild Animal Act 1976, private owners of all animals that are legally deemed to be dangerous are required to annually buy a licence from their local authority.
The authority inspects the owner's premises, setting standards and confirming that the owner carries third party liability insurance for the animal.
Some smaller cats such as servals and leopard cats are being kept to hybrid with domestic cats to produce the "designer pet" varieties, researchers said.
Scientific adviser to the BCIB Chris Moiser said it was a "pleasant surprise" to see how many people went to such lengths to keep their animals properly and lawfully.
Mark Fraser, founder of the BCIB Research Group, said: "It is not the responsible legal owners that 'lose' their animals, but those that are kept illegally with ill regard and little thought to their welfare.
"More and more exotic animals are being seen in the British countryside today, making it an interesting place to be.
"In December of 2006 the Dangerous Wild Animals Act was introduced in Northern Ireland, and it will be interesting to see what effect this has."
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
THE LIVER BIRDS
The Liver bird is the symbol of the city of Liverpool, England.
The word "liver" in the name of the bird rhymes with "driver", rather than sounding like first two syllables of the city's name (which is pronounced as in the body organ).
What species?
The bird's species has long been the subject of confusion and controversy.
The earliest known use of a bird to represent the then town of Liverpool is on its corporate seal, dating from the 1350s, which is now in the British Museum. The bird shown is generic, but the wording of the seal contains references to King John, who granted the town’s charter in 1207. John, in honour of his patron saint, frequently used the device of an eagle - long associated with St. John. Further indication that the seal was an homage to King John is found in the sprig of broom initially shown in the bird’s beak, broom being a symbol of the royal family of Plantagenet.
By the 17th century, the origins of the bird had begun to be forgotten, with references to the bird as a cormorant, still a common bird in the coastal waters near Liverpool. The Earl of Derby in 1668 gifted the town council a mace "engraved with ...a leaver" - the first known reference to a liver bird by this name. A manual on heraldry from later in the century confuses matters further by assuming this term is related to the Dutch word lefler, meaning spoonbill - a bird rarely found in northern England.
When the College of Arms granted official arms to Liverpool in 1797, they refer to the bird as a cormorant, adding that the sprig in the mouth is of laver, a type of seaweed, thus implying that the bird's appellation comes from the sprig.
The bird thus appears to have originally been intended to be an eagle, but is now officially a cormorant. Many modern interpretations of the symbol are of a cormorant, although several - notably that on the emblem of Liverpool Football Club distinctly show the short head and curved beak more readily associated with a bird of prey.
The modern popularity of the symbol largely dates to 1911, when the Royal Liver Friendly Society built a new headquarters in the heart of Liverpool at the Pier Head, close to the banks of the River Mersey in the heart of Liverpool.
The building - the Liver Building - is probably the best-known building in the city. It is crowned with twin clock towers, each topped with a cormorant-like liver bird designed by Carl Bernard Bartels and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild. This prominent display of two liver birds rekindled the idea that the liver was a mythical bird that once haunted the local shoreline. According to popular legend, they are a male and female pair, the female looking out to sea, (watching for the seamen to return safely home) whilst the male looks towards the city (making sure the pubs are open). Popular legend also holds that the birds face away from each other as, if were they to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist.
There is another local saying that, whenever a truly virgin lady passes by the Liver Buildings, the Liver Birds will flap their great wings. There is no record of this ever having happened.
During the early 1970s, The Liver Birds was the name of a popular British sitcom dealing with two young women in Liverpool, a play on the slang term "bird" meaning young woman.
ON JUNE 19, 1911, the Daily Post wrote about the new Liver Building, noting: "The two ornithological artistic effigies will prove a source of much attraction to citizens and strangers, cosmopolitan and otherwise.
"They are of the traditional type, alert, somewhat fierce in aspect, with half outspread wings, guardians of Liverpool and ready symbolically to defend her premier position among the ports of the world."
As almost everyone in the world knows, the most famous pair perch 300ft from the ground atop the Royal Liver Building on the Pier Head. Each one is 18ft high with a wingspan of 24 feet.
The word "liver" in the name of the bird rhymes with "driver", rather than sounding like first two syllables of the city's name (which is pronounced as in the body organ).
What species?
The bird's species has long been the subject of confusion and controversy.
The earliest known use of a bird to represent the then town of Liverpool is on its corporate seal, dating from the 1350s, which is now in the British Museum. The bird shown is generic, but the wording of the seal contains references to King John, who granted the town’s charter in 1207. John, in honour of his patron saint, frequently used the device of an eagle - long associated with St. John. Further indication that the seal was an homage to King John is found in the sprig of broom initially shown in the bird’s beak, broom being a symbol of the royal family of Plantagenet.
By the 17th century, the origins of the bird had begun to be forgotten, with references to the bird as a cormorant, still a common bird in the coastal waters near Liverpool. The Earl of Derby in 1668 gifted the town council a mace "engraved with ...a leaver" - the first known reference to a liver bird by this name. A manual on heraldry from later in the century confuses matters further by assuming this term is related to the Dutch word lefler, meaning spoonbill - a bird rarely found in northern England.
When the College of Arms granted official arms to Liverpool in 1797, they refer to the bird as a cormorant, adding that the sprig in the mouth is of laver, a type of seaweed, thus implying that the bird's appellation comes from the sprig.
The bird thus appears to have originally been intended to be an eagle, but is now officially a cormorant. Many modern interpretations of the symbol are of a cormorant, although several - notably that on the emblem of Liverpool Football Club distinctly show the short head and curved beak more readily associated with a bird of prey.
The modern popularity of the symbol largely dates to 1911, when the Royal Liver Friendly Society built a new headquarters in the heart of Liverpool at the Pier Head, close to the banks of the River Mersey in the heart of Liverpool.
The building - the Liver Building - is probably the best-known building in the city. It is crowned with twin clock towers, each topped with a cormorant-like liver bird designed by Carl Bernard Bartels and constructed by the Bromsgrove Guild. This prominent display of two liver birds rekindled the idea that the liver was a mythical bird that once haunted the local shoreline. According to popular legend, they are a male and female pair, the female looking out to sea, (watching for the seamen to return safely home) whilst the male looks towards the city (making sure the pubs are open). Popular legend also holds that the birds face away from each other as, if were they to mate and fly away, the city would cease to exist.
There is another local saying that, whenever a truly virgin lady passes by the Liver Buildings, the Liver Birds will flap their great wings. There is no record of this ever having happened.
During the early 1970s, The Liver Birds was the name of a popular British sitcom dealing with two young women in Liverpool, a play on the slang term "bird" meaning young woman.
ON JUNE 19, 1911, the Daily Post wrote about the new Liver Building, noting: "The two ornithological artistic effigies will prove a source of much attraction to citizens and strangers, cosmopolitan and otherwise.
"They are of the traditional type, alert, somewhat fierce in aspect, with half outspread wings, guardians of Liverpool and ready symbolically to defend her premier position among the ports of the world."
As almost everyone in the world knows, the most famous pair perch 300ft from the ground atop the Royal Liver Building on the Pier Head. Each one is 18ft high with a wingspan of 24 feet.
NEW YEAR FOR MACCA, SIR MACCA THAT IS!
At the end of his very own annus horribilis, Sir Paul McCartney is about to revisit happier times.
The former Beatle is planning to make a stage show inspired by his working-class childhood in Liverpool.
"It is based on Paul's classical work The Liverpool -Oratorio," explained Kate Robbins, Sir Paul's cousin, who is working on the adaptation. "Paul will approve every note as musical director."
For the 64-year-old it has been the year when divorce proceedings began between him and his second wife, Heather Mills, and when, in a legal submission, the model-turned-campaigner accused him of drunken and abusive behaviour towards her.
"The project has been delayed by divorce worries," admitted Miss Robbins.
Sir Paul composed The Liverpool Oratorio, his first classical work, with Carl Davis in 1991 to commemorate the city's 150th anniversary.
The story loosely follows the path of the musician's life, with the main character, Shanty, who was born in 1942 in Liverpool, marrying his sweetheart, Mary Dee, after the death of his father. McCartney was deeply affected by the death of his mother, Mary, in October 1956, when he was 14.
Shanty and Mary Dee are forced to deal with the rigours of balancing a happy marriage and their careers, in the same way as Sir Paul and his first wife Linda – reportedly, the couple spent a total of less than a week apart during their 29-year union, despite their demanding commitments.
During a quarrel, Mary Dee reveals that she is pregnant and, after surviving a near-fatal accident, gives birth to their son. Linda was four months pregnant with McCartney's first child, Mary, when they married at Marylebone Register Office in 1969.
This was not the first time McCartney's childhood had been the inspiration for his music: his 1967 song Penny Lane was named after a road in Liverpool in which both he and John Lennon were said to have played as children.
McCartney's upbringing was far from affluent. At his wedding to Heather Mills in 2002, he referred to its poverty. "Back then, I'd have had a wedding just to get the rice," he said. "My trousers were so thin, if I sat down on a penny I could find out which way up it was – heads or tails."
Although theatres in the West End of London are expected to compete to stage the new musical, Sir Paul may decide to open it in his home town during Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture in 2008. The Liverpool Oratorio was first performed at the city's Anglican cathedral and starred the classical singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jerry Hadley, Sally Burgess and Willard White.
Despite receiving a mixed reception from music critics, the recording proved to be a commercial success and topped classical charts around the world.
Sir Paul completed another classical piece earlier in the year, this time not inspired by childhood but by his marriage to Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. Ecce Cor Meum – Latin for "behold my heart" – received its première last month at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
His last pop album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, appeared to be inspired by his second wife – and their very public split. The songs seem to include thinly veiled references to his marital difficulties, most notably the bitter track Riding to Vanity Fair.
Miss Robbins's involvement in the pending musical, which she is working on with the writer Steve Brown, has been given extra poignancy by the fact that, like her cousin, she is undergoing a difficult period in her private life.
The 47-year-old actress, perhaps best known for her work as an impressionist on the satirical television programme Spitting Image, separated in February from the composer Keith Atack, her husband of 19 years, by whom she has three children.
Sir Paul has long enjoyed a close relationship with Miss Robbins, who inspired him to burst into song for the first time since his separation from Mills. After Miss Robbins won a best supporting actress award at the Monaco Film Festival this month for her role in the film Fated, the musician sang his congratulations in a message recorded on video. "I watched you grow up since you were a little sproggling," he said. "Now, not only are you talented, you have real heart."
Miss Robbins said: "Paul is a real family man. He bought me my first piano and helped me get my first record deal.
"We are known as the Liverpool showbiz mafia. In our home growing up, even the sewing machine was a Singer."
The former Beatle is planning to make a stage show inspired by his working-class childhood in Liverpool.
"It is based on Paul's classical work The Liverpool -Oratorio," explained Kate Robbins, Sir Paul's cousin, who is working on the adaptation. "Paul will approve every note as musical director."
For the 64-year-old it has been the year when divorce proceedings began between him and his second wife, Heather Mills, and when, in a legal submission, the model-turned-campaigner accused him of drunken and abusive behaviour towards her.
"The project has been delayed by divorce worries," admitted Miss Robbins.
Sir Paul composed The Liverpool Oratorio, his first classical work, with Carl Davis in 1991 to commemorate the city's 150th anniversary.
The story loosely follows the path of the musician's life, with the main character, Shanty, who was born in 1942 in Liverpool, marrying his sweetheart, Mary Dee, after the death of his father. McCartney was deeply affected by the death of his mother, Mary, in October 1956, when he was 14.
Shanty and Mary Dee are forced to deal with the rigours of balancing a happy marriage and their careers, in the same way as Sir Paul and his first wife Linda – reportedly, the couple spent a total of less than a week apart during their 29-year union, despite their demanding commitments.
During a quarrel, Mary Dee reveals that she is pregnant and, after surviving a near-fatal accident, gives birth to their son. Linda was four months pregnant with McCartney's first child, Mary, when they married at Marylebone Register Office in 1969.
This was not the first time McCartney's childhood had been the inspiration for his music: his 1967 song Penny Lane was named after a road in Liverpool in which both he and John Lennon were said to have played as children.
McCartney's upbringing was far from affluent. At his wedding to Heather Mills in 2002, he referred to its poverty. "Back then, I'd have had a wedding just to get the rice," he said. "My trousers were so thin, if I sat down on a penny I could find out which way up it was – heads or tails."
Although theatres in the West End of London are expected to compete to stage the new musical, Sir Paul may decide to open it in his home town during Liverpool's year as the European Capital of Culture in 2008. The Liverpool Oratorio was first performed at the city's Anglican cathedral and starred the classical singers Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Jerry Hadley, Sally Burgess and Willard White.
Despite receiving a mixed reception from music critics, the recording proved to be a commercial success and topped classical charts around the world.
Sir Paul completed another classical piece earlier in the year, this time not inspired by childhood but by his marriage to Linda, who died of breast cancer in 1998. Ecce Cor Meum – Latin for "behold my heart" – received its première last month at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
His last pop album, Chaos and Creation in the Backyard, appeared to be inspired by his second wife – and their very public split. The songs seem to include thinly veiled references to his marital difficulties, most notably the bitter track Riding to Vanity Fair.
Miss Robbins's involvement in the pending musical, which she is working on with the writer Steve Brown, has been given extra poignancy by the fact that, like her cousin, she is undergoing a difficult period in her private life.
The 47-year-old actress, perhaps best known for her work as an impressionist on the satirical television programme Spitting Image, separated in February from the composer Keith Atack, her husband of 19 years, by whom she has three children.
Sir Paul has long enjoyed a close relationship with Miss Robbins, who inspired him to burst into song for the first time since his separation from Mills. After Miss Robbins won a best supporting actress award at the Monaco Film Festival this month for her role in the film Fated, the musician sang his congratulations in a message recorded on video. "I watched you grow up since you were a little sproggling," he said. "Now, not only are you talented, you have real heart."
Miss Robbins said: "Paul is a real family man. He bought me my first piano and helped me get my first record deal.
"We are known as the Liverpool showbiz mafia. In our home growing up, even the sewing machine was a Singer."
THREE QUOTES TO GET YOU GOING AFTER CHRISTMAS!
Never go out to meet trouble. If you will just sit still, nine cases out of ten someone will intercept it before it reaches you.
No one travelling on a business trip would be missed if he failed to arrive.
Never try to tell everything you know. It may take too short a time.
BOXING DAY BLOG
OK SO IT’S BOXING DAY…….
HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED WHY IT IS SO CALLED?
There are disparate theories as to the origins of the term. The more common stories include:
In feudal times, Christmas was a reason for a gathering of extended families. All the serfs would gather their families in the manor of their lord, which made it easier for the lord of the estate to hand out annual stipends to the serfs. After all the Christmas parties on 26 December, the lord of the estate would give practical goods such as cloth, grains, and tools to the serfs who lived on his land. Each family would get a box full of such goods the day after Christmas. Under this explanation, there was nothing voluntary about this transaction; the lord of the manor was obliged to supply these goods. Because of the boxes being given out, the day was called Boxing Day.
In Britain many years ago, it was common practice for the servants to carry boxes to their employers when they arrived for their day's work on the day after Christmas. Their employers would then put coins in the boxes as special end-of-year gifts. This can be compared with the modern day concept of Christmas bonuses. The servants carried boxes for the coins, hence the name Boxing Day.
In churches, it was traditional to open the church's donation box on Christmas Day, and the money in the donation box was to be distributed to the poorer or lower class citizens on the next day. In this case, the "box" in "Boxing Day" comes from that one gigantic lockbox in which the donations were left.
Boxing Day was the day when the wren, the king of birds,[3] was captured and put in a box and introduced to each household in the village when he would be asked for a successful year and a good harvest.
Evidence can also be found in Wassail songs such as:
Where are you going ? said Milder to Malder,
Oh where are you going ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said Milder to Malder,
I'm going to hunt the cutty wren said John the Rednose.
And what will you do wi' it ? said Milder to Malder,
And what will you do wi' it ? said Fessel to Foe,
I'll put it in a box said Milder to Malder,
I'll put it in a box said John the Rednose.
etc.
Because the staff had to work on such an important day as Christmas Day by serving the master of the house and their family, they were given the following day off. Since being kept away from their own families to work on a traditional religious holiday and not being able to celebrate Christmas Dinner, the customary benefit was to "box" up the leftover food from Christmas Day and send it away with the servants and their families. Hence the "boxing" of food became "Boxing Day".
Sunday, December 24, 2006
COME TO LIVERPOOL AND PUT THE CHRIST BACK IN TO CHRISTMAS
TWO CATHEDRALS.........
SEPERATED BY A STREET CALLED HOPE
BOTH CATHEDRALS PHOTOGRAPHED FROM HOPE STREET
CHRISTMAS BLOGGY BIT
DESPITE SOME OF THE PECULIARITIES THAT THE WEATHER STILL THROWS IN TO THE MIX, THE CHANCES OF A WHITE CHRISTMAS, THROUGH SNOW IN THIS COUNTRY IS VERY SLIM. HOWEVER DENVER, COLORADO IS ALREADY GUARANTEED ONE OF ITS WHITEST CHRISTMASSES EVER AS THIS CAR PARK GOES TO SHOW
A HUMAN CHRISTMAS TREE MADE UP OF PEOPLE SINGING CAROLS, I GUESS, IS CERTAINLY DIFFERENT. LOOKS GOOD ANYWAY BUT IF THEY ARE SINGING IN KOREAN I DON'T RECKON IT WOULD SOUND TOO GOOD.
"HEY MATE GIVE US A 'SILENT NIGHT' PLEASE......"
THE PICTURE BELOW IS REAL QUALITY. OBVIOUSLY A NATIVITY SCENE BUT ITS ALL MADE OF SAND. IT'S SUPERB
BELOW JUST TWO OF OUR TROOPS IN BASRA, GETTING IN TO THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT. IT GIVES WILKO NEWS THE OPPORTUNITY TO WISH THE HAPPIEST OF CHRISTMASSES AND BESTEST NEW YEAR EVER TO ALL OUR TROOPS OF ALL THE SERVICES SERVING OVERSEAS.
SO ALL THAT IS LEFT FOR ME TO MENTION IS
A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE AND ANYONE THAT HAS EVER LOOKED AT THE BLOG. WHAT MORE CAN I SAY?
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