Lock up your children! Gary Glitter, incarcerated for child molestation in Vietnam, has been released from prison by the authorities there pending deportation from the country.
And guess what?
He’s contemplating moving to either Hong Kong or Singapore.
Glitter said he was thinking about resuming his singing career and that he might move to Hong Kong or Singapore.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Francis Gadd, was convicted in March 2006 of molesting two girls, ages 10 and 11, from the southern coastal city of Vung Tau. He served two years and nine months of a three-year sentence, which was reduced for good behavior.
He was also charged and convicted of child pornography in 1999. This is one foreign talent that I would NOT welcome if he decides to move here.
It seems like the world is against John Mayer for breaking up with Jennifer Aniston. Or so he says. He had lots to say about the whole breakup affair, defending himself against rumours that he was a cheapskate (Jennifer paid for everything when they were going out) to him being unfaithful to her.
He was obviously pissed when groups of paparazzi hounded him and incessantly asked him questions about the breakup.
“If you guys are going to run stuff and run every lie under the sun, have somebody stand up for somebody. Have me as a man who ended a relationship stand here and write some truth. Have me stand up for somebody and write that Jennifer Aniston is the smartest, most sophisticated person I think I’ve ever met. She’s one of the most lovely people I’ve ever met in my life and I’m going through something that’s a very personal thing and you have to give that up. You have to give everything up because you can’t have it all and it sucks.
“I’m sorry that the story’s not interesting, but it’s about time that somebody stands up for that girl and I think she’s great.”
Mayer reflected on the situation as “the most normal thing in the world – There’s no lying, there’s no cheating. There’s no nothing.
I doubt we’ll really know what went wrong with him and Jennifer Aniston, but she’s keeping largely quiet about it, as she did when Brad Pitt dumped her.
So the “it” couple is no more.
I love John Mayer’s music and he may be a nice guy but when I first read about his relationship with one of my favourite Friends, I knew it wouldn’t last, given his history with women.
The Project Runway whiz kid, Christian Siriano, is launching a maternity line next month.
The fierce and talented designer collaborated with his two friends and founders of Moody Mamas maternity clothes, to create a collection called Fierce for Moody Mamas by Christian Siriano.
No tent dresses are available in this collection, it seems.
Although the movie is a satire about Hollywood, the actors and the movie industry in general, there are scenes in the movie where being intellectually disabled, or ‘retarded’, is funny. A coalition of disability groups, led by Special Olympics, protested to DreamWorks and demanded that certain objectionable scenes be removed, but the studio refused to give in.
I understand parody and I can even laugh at certain stereotypes, eg. about my race or something, and I’m quite liberal when it comes to censorship but when an offensive and hurtful word such as ‘retard’ is used repeatedly such as the case in this movie, it’s crossing the line between parody and downright offensive behaviour, which is disappointing because I like Ben Stiller’s movies before this one. And it’s even more disappointing to know Ben Stiller gave up his time to do a television special in 2006 to raise funds for people with autism.
Sure, some parts of Tropic Thunder is actually funny. I’ve seen the trailer and there are some funny lines in it, but portraying people with disabilities as a joke is cruel.
The Special Olympics-led coalition has issued a protest statement on its website, part of which reads:
Declare that under the guise of “parody,” whether intentional or not, Tropic Thunder demeans, insults, and harms individuals with intellectual disabilities by using the “R- word.” Furthermore, it perpetuates derogatory images and stereotypes of individuals with intellectual disabilities including mocking their physical appearance and speech, supports the continuation of inappropriate myths and misperceptions, and legitimizes painful discrimination, exclusion, and bullying;
TOGETHER, we declare our intention to make the public aware of the need to create and foster inclusion of individuals with intellectual disabilities as a matter of social justice by:
* Boycotting the film and explaining to our nation’s children why the film is harmful;
* Educating the public, especially young people, about intellectual disabilities through far-reaching awareness campaigns to ban the use of the “R-word,” and other initiatives to permanently change attitudes and promote inclusion;
* Calling on Hollywood studios, writers and executives to pledge to make this the final chapter in a sullied history of demeaning portrayals of individuals with intellectual disabilities and assist in public education campaigns; and
* Requesting that Congress investigate and conduct oversight of how Hollywood portrays individuals with intellectual disabilities and the effect these portrayals have on our nation and around the world.
Detailed facts about why the movie is so offensive can be found here.
Do your part. Even if you’re not planning to boycott the movie, understand that contrary to the saying “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me”, derogatory and offensive words such as ‘retard’ do hurt. People with disabilities need our understanding and support. Throwing the R-word around and making it seem funny isn’t nice. At all.
It was the the same story, the same pitiful display away from home from the former European Champions, this time in the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. What promised to be an exciting match (and one which, on another day, Liverpool should have won) fizzled out into a duel between the Belgian league champions, Standard Leige, and a Liverpool side that looked out of sorts early in the season.
No doubt the absence of Gerrard in the starting line-up (recovering from a thigh strain), a couple of injured players and some away on international duty at the Olympics, made the Liverpool side slightly unbalanced, it was still a strong side, parading the new strike partnership of Torres and Keane.
Alas the central midfield pairing of Alonso and Plessis failed to control the middle of the park and the defence were caught time and time again ball watching as the Belgian side came straight at them from the start, guns blazing, and they were almost immediately rewarded when the ball bounced off Reina’s right hand post, nearly crossing the line, only for the Liverpool keeper to claw it out.
Reina had to be called upon again when Standard Leige were awarded a dubious penalty for a hand ball on Dossena which appeared to have been outside the penalty box. Reina saved Liverpool from a poor spot kick that ensued.
Liverpool appeared lost throughout the match and despite my initial excitement with the start of Liverpool’s season, it was lost in a sea of mixed frustration and sleepiness. I dozed off at half-time and if not for little Maya waking me up with her cries, I would have missed the whole of the 2nd half, which wasn’t much better than the first.
The team’s over-reliance on Gerrard was evident once again as Liverpool only sparked to life once he came on midway through the second half. Even with Gerrard on the field, the team couldn’t find a way through, devoid of ideas and were lucky to escape with a goalless draw.
[Picture from Sky Sports]
Boss was frustrated (and surprised??) with the team’s poor performance. So was I!
Finally! At long last, the football season gets under way tonight as Liverpool take on Standard Liege in Belgium in the 3rd qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. The close season has been great with Euro 2008 and of course, the Beijing Olympics but I’m just dying for the season to start.
The first matches of the new English premier league season is still two days away, but this is Liverpool’s first major assignment in its 2008/2009 football calendar. For Standard, their season got under way earlier and they already have a major domestic trophy under their belt with a 3-1 win over Anderlecht on Saturday in the Belgian Super Cup.
To say that Standard, who are the reigning Belgian league champions, have an uphill task against Liverpool would be an understatement. The underdogs, though, will try their best to lift the game against the 2005 European champions, whom I think would not take this game as a forgone conclusion. Far from it, I feel that Liverpool needs to get a good result so that they can get this game out of the way comfortably and concentrate on getting a good start to the domestic season - something which they have failed to do for some time now. And we know what the result of a bad start to the season has done to the team with dreams of Premiership glory evaporating before October.
Well, first things first, this European tie is just as important. Standard’s American defender, Oguchi Onyewu, who scored two goals in the Super Cup is suspended while a couple of other players are out due to injuries. Liverpool, though, welcome back captain fantastic, Steven Gerrard, who has recovered in time, although the side is weakened by injuries to Martin Škrtel, Fábio Aurélio and Philipp Degen while Javier Mascerano and Ryan Babel are in Beijing playing for their respective countries.
I’m excited at the prospect of seeing Fernando Torres and Robbie Keane in partnership up front. The game starts in 15 minutes!! The first of many sleepless mid-week nights for me.
If I get this contraption, which promises to eliminate smoke and odour from cigarettes by means of some fancy schmancy smoke to ion conversion process, will I be able to smoke in the office?
It seems that St. Andrew’s Junior College has started a blogging club? I think it’s great that the students are utilizing this medium of communication to report on the various goings-on in and around campus, in addition to the regular school newsletter, IOTA.
And the blog’s using Wordpress too! Cool!
A good try but I feel the blog needs more content and judging from the number of comments, the level of participation isn’t very high. The design and layout could do with some work too.
Still, reading about the rugby finals between SAJC and ACS (I) at the Padang sure brings back a lot of memories. Another loss, eh? Ah …. I’ve experienced a couple of those as a supporter.
And the canteen food reviews made me reminisce about the roti john stall I used to patronise a lot when the campus was still at Malan Road all those years ago.
I’ll be adding this blog to my RSS reader just to catch up with little snippets of Saints news.
VS 
