Toronto's Linda Manzer counts Pat Metheny among her loyal fans
June 29, 2009 Ashante Infantry POP & JAZZ CRITIC
The smell of wood greets you as soon as Linda Manzer opens the door of her Cabbagetown home.
That's as it should be for a world-renowned luthier, whose main floor is comprised of a three-room studio and office filled with the trappings of her craft: stacks of aging spruce and cedar, guitars in various stages of development, tools, photographs of her famous clients.
She's relaxed and generous with laughter, but weathered hands hint at the intensity required to make $18,000 guitars that are so popular her waiting list has been closed. Manzer's instruments have been purchased by Bruce Cockburn, Carlos Santana and Gordon Lightfoot, but her biggest client is elite jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, with a collection of about 20.
If he pulls out an acoustic at tonight's Four Seasons Centre show with the Gary Burton Quartet at the TD Canada Trust Toronto Jazz Festival, it's bound to be a Manzer.
"Her guitars are beautiful and artistic, but also durable," said Metheny in a phone interview. "You can bang on it 120 nights in a row for two, three hours a night and it can really withstand that."
Toronto native Manzer, 56, started down this path as a teenager after seeing Joni Mitchell play a dulcimer at the Mariposa Folk Festival.
"I wanted one, because Joni was my idol; wasn't she everyone's?"
After assembling a dulcimer from a kit – it was cheaper – Manzer had a "this is incredible to create something" epiphany.
A songwriter, self-taught guitarist and "bad folk singer," she dabbled in painting and photography before persuading master luthier Jean-Claude Larrivée to take her on as apprentice.
"As bizarre as it sounds now, he didn't want to hire a woman in 1974, because he was concerned it would distract the other guys."
Manzer struck out on her own in 1978. She kept the first guitar she made. She thinks the second was the one that went to master musician Santana. It's hard to tell from the sketchy handwritten records she kept. "I didn't want to number (the guitars)," she explains. "I felt I was trapping them or something. Now I'm irritated with myself for not keeping better notes."
She met Metheny in 1982 after sending a letter backstage at his Convocation Hall concert.
"It got my attention immediately; it was kind of not like any other guitar I had played," recalled Metheny of the first time he tested a Manzer. "All the notes from bottom to top related to each other, like a piano. Most guitars are clumsy at that kind of thing, but all her instruments have that. She has a very special magic touch."
To celebrate their collaboration and friendship, the pair launched the Metheny-Manzer Signature 6 Limited Edition last fall. The $32,000 six-string guitars, which feature pearl inlays of Metheny's doodles, are made of Indian rosewood and signed by the guitarist.
"We worked to design and capture the essence of the very first guitar I made for him in 1982, which he has played pretty much every night for the past 27 years," said Manzer.
A third of the 30 collectibles have sold; Paul Simon bought the first one.
Manzer, whose work is in the Canadian Museum of Civilization's collection, attributes her success to "confidence and good intuition. I listen to what a player wants and try to nail it. A guitar to start with is usually quiet; they come alive when they're played."
Linda Manzer will discuss her work at the JAZZ.FM91 Broadcast Centre at Nathan Phillips Square at 6 p.m. today.
Iconic poster girl and former Charlie's Angels star Farrah Fawcett remained tabloid fodder right to the end when illness prevented her plans to marry partner Ryan O'Neal on her deathbed.
The actress, who had been battling anal cancer since 2006, died yesterday. She was 62.
"She was an angel on Earth and now an angel forever," said actor Lee Majors, an ex-husband who, like others whose lives touched Fawcett's, was caught up in the media whirl around her.
Best known for her TV role, world famous pin-up poster and flowing locks of hair, her illness ensured the last years of her life were well-documented.
"After a long and brave battle with cancer, our beloved Farrah has passed away," O'Neal said yesterday. "Although this is an extremely difficult time for her family and friends, we take comfort in the beautiful times that we shared with Farrah over the years and the knowledge that her life brought joy to so many people around the world."
O'Neal, a onetime companion who had reconciled with Fawcett during her illness, had made headlines with plans to marry Fawcett, but her condition was too grave for the ceremony to take place.
In May, her cancer battle was chronicled in an NBC prime-time documentary, Farrah's Story, some of it shot on home video. An estimated nine million people watched.
Fawcett had initiated the project with a friend and producer, Alana Stewart, after she first learned of her cancer.
Farrah Leni Fawcett was born on Feb. 2, 1947, in Corpus Christi, Tex., the second of two daughters to James Fawcett, an oilfield contractor, and the former Pauline Evans.
She attended the University of Texas in Austin and studied microbiology before becoming an arts major.
After dropping out of the university, Fawcett moved to Hollywood to pursue acting. She soon found work in commercials for Wella Balsam shampoo and Noxzema shaving cream, among other products. A Noxzema commercial in which she shaved the face of the football star Joe Namath was shown during the 1973 Super Bowl.
Fawcett also found acting work in television, landing guest roles on I Dream of Jeannie, The Flying Nun and other sitcoms.
She appeared in four episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man, whose star, Lee Majors, she had married in 1973. When Fawcett was cast on Charlie's Angels, she had a clause written into her contract that allowed her to leave the set every day in time to prepare dinner for Majors. She was billed as Farrah Fawcett-Majors until 1979. She and Majors divorced in 1982.
She will always be synonymous with the '70s, but her post-Angels acting career had its share of highs and lows. After leaving the hit show, she made films in quick succession that never reached the heights of her TV career.
In 1981, she starred in the miniseries Murder in Texas, as the wife of a doctor who is subsequently accused of murdering her; in 1984, she made The Burning Bed, a portrait of a battered wife. Both movies were shown on NBC and both performances received strong reviews. In The Burning Bed, Fawcett was one of the first prime-time actresses to forgo cosmetics in favour of a convincing characterization.
Her portrayal of the victim of a rape attack in Extremities (1986), the film version of a William Mastrosimone play, brought a Golden Globe nomination.
Moving from victim to victimizer, Fawcett starred in the TV movie Small Sacrifices (1989) as Diane Downs, the real-life Oregon woman convicted of shooting her children in a bid to win a man uninterested in becoming a father. Fawcett was nominated again for an Emmy and a Golden Globe.
She played the neglected wife of a preacher (Robert Duvall) in The Apostle (1997). She earned her third Emmy nomination in 2003 for a guest role in the TV series The Guardian.
After splitting from Majors, Fawcett entered a long relationship with actor O'Neal and they had a son, Redmond, in 1985. The couple never married and broke up in 1997. They resumed a close friendship by 2003, and O'Neal was her caretaker and confidante during her battle with cancer.
"I fell in love with her all over again because of how she handled this," O'Neal told People magazine.
With files from The New York Times and the Star's wire services.
Michael Jackson has died at age 50 of a heart attack. Jackson started his career as a child star who fused R&B and soul before his life deteriorated amid increasingly freakish scandals.
In a musical career that spanned more than 40 years and began at age 5, Michael Jackson set album sales records and earned millions of fans around the world
Michael Jackson was a tarnished genius - loved by so many, understood by so few. Now fans mourn the man they hoped would emerge from the shadows.
Elizabeth Renzetti
From Friday's Globe and Mail, Friday, Jun. 26, 2009 06:03AM EDT
Of all modern pop legends, Michael Jackson has been the most present, and the most elusive. His final press conference, to announce the concert dates in London that were to bring him back to respectability and erase his debts, was no different.
Hundreds of journalists and fans – many of them not born at the time of his greatest success, 1982's Thriller – milled about the 02 Centre while the King of Pop kept them waiting for hours.
When he finally did appear, in trademark black wig and shades, and a military-style sequined shirt, he seemed energized and healthy, contrary to reports that had said he was wasting away, or that he needed the help of a wheelchair.
In fact, he seemed so healthy as he spoke his few lines – “I love you all so much … I'll be singing the songs my fans want to hear” – that a rumour went around that this was not in fact Mr. Jackson but an impersonator he used for public appearances.
A rumour that bizarre would quickly have been batted away if anyone else were involved.
But really, this was Michael Jackson, whose nose no longer looked human, whose best friend was a chimpanzee, who slept in an oxygen tent, who made his children wear masks in public.
Key facts about Michael Jackson's life
Katherine Laidlaw, National Post, with files from news services Published: Thursday, June 25, 2009
Michael Jackson, 50, one of pop music's biggest stars, was rushed to a Los Angeles-area hospital by paramedics who found him not breathing when they arrived at his home. Later that afternoon Jackson was pronounced dead, the cause of death is believed to be a cardiac arrest. Below are key facts about Michael Jackson's life:
1958
Born Aug. 29 to Katherine Esther Scruse and Joseph Walter Jackson, in Gary, Indiana as the seventh of nine children.
1963
Michael and his brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine and Marlon first perform together at a talent show when Michael is 6. They walk off with first prize. They form the Jackson 5. Their father is instrumental in shaping the group and promoting their talents in New York and Philadelphia.
March 1969
The Jackson 5 signs a recording contract with Motown Records. A year later, the band records some of its top hits including "I'll Be There," "I Want You Back" and "ABC."
1972
Michael Jackson records his first solo album. The first hit, "Ben," is a love song to a pet rat.
1979
Mr. Jackson's album, Off the Wall, is produced by Quincy Jones and sells 11 million copies.
1982
Michael Jackson releases Thriller, also produced by Quincy Jones. The album yields seven top-ten singles including "Billie Jean" and "Beat it." It sells 21 million copies in the United States and at least 27 million more worldwide.
1983
Mr. Jackson unveils his trademark "moonwalk" dance move while performing "Billie Jean" during an NBC special.
1984
Mr. Jackson's head is burned while filming an ad for Pepsi. He begins to remodel his facial features, starting with the reduction of his nostrils. His skin colour also begins to lighten.
1985
Mr. Jackson writes the charity hit, "We Are The World," to benefit the fight against hunger in Africa.
1987
Mr. Jackson's album Bad is released, selling 26 million copies and marking the end of his collaboration with Quincy Jones.
1988
Mr. Jackson moves into the $17-million U.S., 2,700-acre Neverland ranch outside Santa Barbara, Calif. He turns it into a real-life Neverland, including a zoo, a video arcade and an amusement park with a merry-go-round and a ferris wheel.
1990
Mr. Jackson begins wearing surgical masks in public. Thriller reaches 21 times platinum, making it the highest-selling album of all time.
The video for "Black or White" is released, prompting discussion over Mr. Jackson's strikingly different skin tone.
1991
Mr. Jackson's album Dangerous is released, selling 22 million copies.
1992
Enters the Guinness Book of World Records as the highest-paid entertainer in the music industry.
1993
Mr. Jackson reveals to Oprah Winfrey in a rare interview on her show that he has a skin condition called vitiligo, which causes the skin to lose its pigmentation.
The same year, Mr. Jackson is accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy and police raided his ranch.
He also announced in 1993 he was addicted to painkillers and cancelled a world tour.
1994
Mr. Jackson reaches an out-of-court settlement in the sexual molestation lawsuit arising from his friendship with a 13-year-old boy, Jordan Chandler. The settlement was later reported to be $23-million. Mr. Jackson denied the allegations. No criminal charges were ever filed.
The same year, Mr. Jackson married Lisa Marie Presley, the only child of Elvis Presley, in a secret ceremony on May 26. The marriage lasts 18 months.
1995
Mr. Jackson releases HIStory - Past, Present and Future, Book I.
1996
Mr. Jackson divorces Ms. Presley and marries Australian dermatology nurse Debbie Rowe the same year. He and Ms. Rowe have two children, a son, Prince Michael Joseph, and a daughter, Paris Michael Katherine. The couple divorced in 1999. They never lived together.
Ms. Rowe granted Mr. Jackson sole custody of the children, whose faces he often kept covered in public.
2001
Mr. Jackson releases his sixth solo album, Invincible, which reportedly cost $30-million U.S. to make. It flops. Mr. Jackson was also inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
2002
In July, Mr. Jackson accuses record executive Tommy Mottola of exploiting African-American artists. Mr. Jackson fathers another son, Prince Michael II and nicknamed "Blanket" from a surrogate mother he reportedly never met. On Nov. 19, 2002, Mr. Jackson dangles the nine-month-old baby over a fourth-floor balcony at a hotel in Berlin, Germany, eliciting panic from fans and media gathered below and garnering widespread criticism. He said later he regretted the incident.
2003
In an interview with Martin Bashir, Mr. Jackson is pictured holding hands with an adolescent boy. In the interview, the singer said sharing a bed with a young boy was a "beautiful thing."
"It's very right, it's very loving. Because what's wrong with sharing a love?" he said in the interview. He also said he never abused a child.
Later that year, Mr. Jackson was accused of multiple counts of lewd or lascivious acts with a child under 14, 12-year-old Gavin Arvizo. He posts $3-million bail.
On November 18, police raid Mr. Jackson's Neverland ranch. The same day, his Number Ones album is released.
2004
On April 30, Mr. Jackson is charged with 10 counts, including child molestation, extortion, child abduction, false imprisonment and giving a minor an intoxicating agent. He pleads not guilty.
February 2005
The prosecution accuses him of being a closet pervert who used wine and pornography to lower the inhibitions of a 13-year-old boy. The defence counters that authorities investigating the allegations of child molestation found no DNA from his accuser when they searched the pop star's bedroom.
June 13, 2005
A jury finds Mr. Jackson not guilty on all the counts against him. A member of the jury later says in an interview that he believes Mr. Jackson "probably has molested boys," but there wasn't enough evidence to convict him. Mr. Jackson subsequently spends time in Bahrain, Ireland and France with his children.
March 5, 2009
Mr. Jackson announces a comeback tour in London. He was set to start his slate of 50 concerts at London's O2 Arena on July 13. The shows sell out within hours of going on sale in March.
Governor Mark Sanford tearfully admitted on Wednesday he had been unfaithful to his wife, likely ending any chance he might be a Republican contender for the U.S. presidency in 2012. And this...Texas billionaire and cricket promoter Sir Allen Stanford is facing up to 250 years in prison if he is found guilty on all charges relating ...
South Carolina Governor Sanford admits extramarital affair
ATLANTA (Reuters) - South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford tearfully admitted on Wednesday he had been unfaithful to his wife, likely ending any chance he might be a Republican contender for the U.S. presidency in 2012.
Sanford resigned as chairman of the Republican Governors' Association and was replaced by Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, another possible 2012 candidate.
"Any aspirations for 2012, if he had any, are certainly out of the question," said Robert Oldendick, a political scientist at the University of South Carolina.
Sanford's confession at a tumultuous news conference ended days of speculation over his whereabouts. After he disappeared last week, his staff first said he was hiking on the Appalachian Trail. It later emerged he had traveled to Argentina to be with his lover, leaving his family over Father's Day weekend.
"I spent the last five days of my life crying in Argentina," he said.
Shedding tears, Sanford apologized to his wife Jenny, his family, friends and staff when he made the shock announcement after returning on Wednesday from Buenos Aires.
Sanford's wife Jenny said she and her husband had been undergoing a trial separation and she regretted his actions and the damage it had done to their children.
But she added in a statement: "I remain willing to forgive Mark completely his indiscretions and to welcome him back."
Sanford explained how he had "developed a relationship" with a "dear friend" from Argentina. "It began very innocently ... in just a casual e-mail back and forth," he said.
"But here recently over this last year it developed into something much more than that. And as a consequence, I hurt her. I hurt you all. I hurt my wife. I hurt my boys. I hurt friends ... I hurt a lot of different folks."
With his tearful admission and groveling apologies, Sanford became the latest member of a fast-growing club of U.S. politicians who have confessed their sexual indiscretions before a public audience.
Sanford was one of several Republican governors seen as possible 2012 presidential candidates. Others include Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Minnesota's Tim Pawlenty, and Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
REPUBLICAN FORTUNES AT LOW EBB
As chairman of the governors' association Sanford has been one of the party's most visible spokesmen when its fortunes are at a low ebb.
Last week, Senator John Ensign, another potential Republican presidential contender in 2012, announced he had an affair and resigned from the Senate leadership.
Texan cricket billionaire facing 250 years in jail
Texas billionaire and cricket promoter Sir Allen Stanford is facing up to 250 years in prison if he is found guilty on all charges relating to an $8.5 billion scheme to defraud investors.
Stanford, a one-time promoter of Twenty20 cricket, has appeared in a Virginia court with four others facing charges of conspiracy to commit wire, mail and securities fraud.
Prosecutors says Stanford orchestrated an $8.5 billion fraud by advising clients to buy bogus certificates of deposit from his Antigua bank.
A judge has declared him a flight risk and ordered him to be held in custody until a detention hearing can be held in the 59-year-old's home state of Texas.
US assistant attorney-general Lanny Breuer says Stanford faces up to 250 years in jail.
"[Stanford faces] seven counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of mail fraud, conspiracy to obstruct an investigation by the SCC, obstruction of an investigation by the SCC and conspiracy to commit money laundering," he said.
Stanford has previously declared his innocence but US authorities say he and some of his company executives swindled up to 6,000 investors.
Court documents show his co-accused include Stanford's chief investment officer Laura Pendergest-Holt and the head of the financial services regulatory commission in Antigua, Leroy King.
A 50-page indictment reveals the alleged fraud dated from 1999 until last February.
What people, events or things drain your energy? What part of you is not going with the flow? What are you resisting?
Plug your energy leaks and experience what it feels like to work on all cylinders.
"Everything you are against weakens you. Everything you are for empowers you."
-- Wayne Dyer
Know Yourself and Grow Yourself - The degree that you know yourself defines the degree to which you grow yourself. Know yourself in depth. Answer in detail ‘Who am I?’
Leo (July 23 — Aug. 22)
Even simple discussions can create misunderstandings. Make sure that a certain person is actually listening to you. Your skills of persuasion are all you need to work miracles.
San Francisco man spent 34 years and 100,000 toothpicks to create his own San Francisco
Someday, Scott Weaver's living room will belong to his wife again. But for now, and the past several decades, it's living proof of what happens when toothpicks, pingpong balls and the imagination collide.
Thirty-four years ago, the Rohnert Park resident began gluing the tiny sticks together to form abstract structures. Then he started rolling pingpong balls around them. Soon he built a replica of the Golden Gate Bridge, then Lombard Street.
Three thousand hours and 100,000 toothpicks later, Weaver's whim has spiraled into a massive piece-de-resistance that includes every major landmark of the city that inspired it - and then some.
"[Manifestation is] the art of fashioning a co-creative, synchronistic, and mutually supportive relationship between the inner creative energies of a person’s own mind and spirit and their counterpart within the larger world in order to bring a new and desirable situation into being."
-- David Spangler
I have always understood that Spirit works through us. Only recently have I really come to appreciate how Spirit works WITH us. The divine life force partners with our unique perspective, our passion and our skills to create new life situations.
We are not passive vessels for God’s will. To realize our highest potential, we must co-create with the divine.
"We must see ourselves as co-manifestors -- partners in manifestation -- all engaged in the primal act of unfoldment and emergence. Each act of manifestation may be directed toward a specific outcome, but it also contributes to the greater manifestation of the wholeness, love, compassion, and creativity of the primal source from which we all come."
-- David Spangler
Saturday, June 20, 2009
Water cannons and tear gas used to disperse crowds; possible bomb kills one at Tehran shrine
The Associated Press
TEHRAN–Witnesses said police beat protesters and fired tear gas and water cannons at thousands who rallied in Tehran Saturday in open defiance of Iran's clerical government, sharply escalating the most serious internal conflict since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
The eyewitnesses described fierce clashes near Revolution Square in central Tehran after some 3,000 protesters chanted "Death to the dictator!" and "Death to dictatorship!" Police responded with tear gas and water cannons.
The witnesses told The Associated Press that between 50 and 60 protesters were seriously beaten by police and pro-government militia and taken to Imam Khomeini hospital in central Tehran. People could be seen dragging away comrades bloodied by baton strikes.
Helicopters hovered over central Tehran. Ambulance sirens echoed through the streets and black smoke rose over the city.
Tehran University was cordoned off by police and militia while students inside the university chanted "death to the dictator," witnesses said.
English-language state TV said a blast at the Tehran shrine of Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini had killed one persona and wounded two but the report could not be independently confirmed due to government restrictions on independent reporting.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned opposition leaders on Friday to end street protests or be held responsible for any ``bloodshed and chaos" to come.
Eyewitnesses said thousands of police and plainclothes militia members had filled the streets Saturday to prevent rallies. Fire trucks took up positions in Revolution Square and riot police surrounded Tehran University, the site of recent clashes between protesters and security forces, one witness said.
Web sites run by supporters of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi said he planned to post a message, but there was no statement by the time of the planned street protests at 4 p.m. (7:30 a.m. EDT, 1130 GMT). Some pro-reform Web sites called for people to take to the streets
Tehran Province Police Chief Ahmad Reza Radan said earlier in the day "police forces will crack down on any gathering or protest rally which are being planned by some people."
English-language state TV said the country's highest national security body had ordered security forces to deal with the situation. It did not elaborate.
The government statements were the most explicit warnings yet of force against protesters who gathered in massive rallies last week to demand the government cancel and rerun elections that ended with a declaration of overwhelming victory for hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mousavi says he won but Ahmadinejad stole the election through widespread fraud.
Khamenei sided firmly with Ahmadinejad Friday, saying the result reflected popular will and ordering opposition leaders to end street protests or face the consequences.
The statement effectively closed the door to Mousavi's demand for a new election, ratcheting up the possibility of a bloody confrontation.
The Only Trailer I would live in is this one- how about you?
This high-end motorhome made by German RV manufacturer Volkner Mobil has the perfect solution for all these folks by having a bay underneath the coach that can store a car. Vehicles under 16 feet in length can drive onto the platform which will then slide the car into the mobile garage underneath the RV and close the bay doors, keeping it safe and sound. This RV from Volkner was on display recently at the International Caravan Fair in Dusseldorf, Germany.
Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei defended Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Friday as the rightful winner of a presidential election that has sparked the biggest street protests in the Islamic Republic's history.
In his first address to the nation since the upheaval began, Ayatollah Khamenei demanded an end to the demonstrations and denied any possibility that the poll a week ago had been rigged, as Mr. Ahmadinejad's opponents have asserted.
“The result of the election comes from the ballot box, not from the street,” he told tens of thousands of worshippers who had gathered in and around Tehran University for Friday prayers. “Today the Iranian nation needs calm.”
Here are some highlights from Khamenei's address.
"I am urging them to end street protests, otherwise they will be responsible for its consequences, and consequences of any chaos.
"The result of the election comes out of the ballot box, not from the street."
"If there is any bloodshed, leaders of the protests will be held directly responsible."
"Differences of opinion do exist between officials which is natural. But it does not mean there is a rift in the system.
"Ever since the last presidential election there existed differences of opinion between (President Mahmoud) Ahmadinejad and (former president Akbar Hashemi) Rafsanjani.
"Of course my outlook is closer to that of Ahmadinejad in domestic and foreign policy."
"The enemies (of Iran) are targeting the Islamic establishment's legitimacy by questioning the election and its authenticity before and after (the vote)."
"After street protests, some foreign powers ... started to interfere in Iran's state matters by questioning the result of the vote. They do not know the Iranian nation. I strongly condemn such interference.
"American officials remarks about human rights and limitations on people are not acceptable because they have no idea about human rights after what they have done in Afghanistan and Iran and other parts of the world. We do not need advice over human rights from them."
"It's a wrong impression that by using street protests as a pressure tool, they can compel officials to accept their illegal demands. This would be the start of a dictatorship."
"Iran's laws do not allow vote-rigging ... With these laws, how could it be possible to have such vote-rigging." (Reporting by Fredrik Dahl, Parisa Hafezi, Dominic Evans and Hossein Jaseb in Tehran; Editing by Richard Williams)
He said Iran's enemies were targeting the legitimacy of the Islamic establishment by disputing the outcome of the election.
Ayatollah Khamenei said the election showed off the country's religious democracy for the world to see. He said that if the Iranian people did not feel free they would not have gone to the polls in such huge numbers as they did during the June 12th election.
The protests by supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi, runner-up in the poll, are the largest and most widespread since the revolution in Iran, which is also at odds with the West over its nuclear program.
Ayatollah Khamenei said politicians should shun extremism and would be responsible for any bloodshed due to “extremist behaviour,” adding that street protests would not pressure the establishment into accepting “illegal demands” of losing candidates.
Mr. Mousavi has called for the election result to be annulled.
The Supreme Leader, Iran's ultimate authority, in theory stands above the factional fray, but Ayatollah Khamenei acknowledged that his views on foreign and domestic policy were closer to those of Mr. Ahmadinejad than to those of the hard-line president's foes.
People chanting slogans and holding posters of Ayatollah Khamenei, Mr. Ahmadinejad and the late Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomenei, the father of the 1979 Islamic revolution, packed streets outside the university.
At least one police helicopter hovered overhead.
“Ahmadinejad has been our president for four years, and during this time he has always told the truth to our people,” said Javid Abbasirad, 48, outside the university gates.
At the same venue, hundreds of university students had demonstrated in support of Mr. Mousavi on Sunday, hurling stones at riot police trying to disperse protesters outside the gates.
Some in the crowd for Friday prayers were draped in Iranian flags. Others held placards with anti-Western slogans.
“Don't let the history of Iran be written with the pen of foreigners,” one flyer said, reflecting official Iranian anger at international criticism of the post-election violence.
U.S. President Barack Obama's administration has muted its comments to keep the door ajar for possible dialogue.
A group of clerics and citizens left the holy city of Qom for a 150-kilometre walk to Tehran in a show of support for Ayatollah Khamenei, state radio and television reported.
Ayatollah Khamenei's speech followed six days of protests by Mousavi supporters. On Thursday, tens of thousands of black-clad marchers bore candles to mourn those killed in earlier rallies.
Iranian state media has reported seven or eight people killed in protests since the election results were published on June 13. Scores of reformists have been arrested and authorities have cracked down on both foreign and domestic media.
So far, protesters have focused on the results of the balloting rather than challenging the Islamic system of government. But a shift in anger toward Iran's non-elected theocracy could result in a showdown over the foundation of Iran's system of rule.
Even Mr. Ahmadinejad has appeared to take the growing opposition more seriously and backtracked on his previous dismissal of the protesters as “dust” and sore losers.
“I was only addressing those who rioted, set fires and attack people. I said they are nothing,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said in a previously taped video shown Thursday on state TV. “Every single Iranian is valuable. Government is a service to all.”
The crowds in Tehran and elsewhere have been able to organize despite a government clampdown on the Internet and cell phones. The government has blocked certain websites, such as BBC Farsi, Facebook, Twitter and several pro-Mousavi sites that are vital conduits for Iranians to tell the world about protests and violence.
Text messaging, which is a primary source of spreading information in Tehran, has not been working since last week, and cell phone service in Tehran is frequently down. The government also has barred foreign news organizations from reporting on Tehran's streets.
Ahmadinejad's beliefs: the destruction of Israel, world chaos, the return of the Mahdi and global Islamic theocratic rule
...When an aircraft crashed in Teheran last month, killing 108 people, Mr Ahmadinejad promised an investigation. But he also thanked the dead, saying: "What is important is that they have shown the way to martyrdom which we must follow."
The most remarkable aspect of Mr Ahmadinejad's piety is his devotion to the Hidden Imam, the Messiah-like figure of Shia Islam, and the president's belief that his government must prepare the country for his return.
One of the first acts of Mr Ahmadinejad's government was to donate about £10 million to the Jamkaran mosque, a popular pilgrimage site where the pious come to drop messages to the Hidden Imam into a holy well.
All streams of Islam believe in a divine saviour, known as the Mahdi, who will appear at the End of Days. A common rumour - denied by the government but widely believed - is that Mr Ahmadinejad and his cabinet have signed a "contract" pledging themselves to work for the return of the Mahdi and sent it to Jamkaran.
Iran's dominant "Twelver" sect believes this will be Mohammed ibn Hasan, regarded as the 12th Imam, or righteous descendant of the Prophet Mohammad.
He is said to have gone into "occlusion" in the ninth century, at the age of five. His return will be preceded by cosmic chaos, war and bloodshed. After a cataclysmic confrontation with evil and darkness, the Mahdi will lead the world to an era of universal peace.
This is similar to the Christian vision of the Apocalypse. Indeed, the Hidden Imam is expected to return in the company of Jesus.
Mr Ahmadinejad appears to believe that these events are close at hand and that ordinary mortals can influence the divine timetable.
The prospect of such a man obtaining nuclear weapons is worrying. The unspoken question is this: is Mr Ahmadinejad now tempting a clash with the West because he feels safe in the belief of the imminent return of the Hidden Imam? Worse, might he be trying to provoke chaos in the hope of hastening his reappearance?...
People drop messages to the Mahdi down the holy well, because they believe the Mahdi disappeared in A.D. 941, down the well at age 5, and is waiting to return. This would seem to imply they believe he is somehow still down there... reading their messages?
And that comment about the airplane crash victims dying showing the way to martydom that the Iranian people must follow... I suppose it's not really suprising, when you consider that even the students in Iran's state schools are taught to prepare for death by martyrdom. Can you say "death cult"?
...Shiite Muslims believe that the Twelfth Imam disappeared down a well near Jamkaran in A.D. 941, and will emerge from this location at his Second Coming. But first, they believe, the world will go through great calamities and upheavals. This "apocalypse" will set the conditions for the Mahdi's return...
...Ahmadinejad has taken up the banner of the Hidden Imam. His hate-filled rhetoric aimed at the Jews and America is stirring fanatical Muslims the world over...
...As days pass, Ahmadinejad becomes more defiant. It is as if he is daring the nations of the world to try to stop him. How far will he go?
Will he, indeed, launch a murderous attack against Israel or the United States in a misguided attempt to see his dream of the return of the Hidden Imam come to fruition?... Source
It was considered a unique find and the writings were said to be at least three thousand years old!
The piece of stone was removed, brought to the museum, and archaeologists from around the world came to study the ancient symbols. They held a huge meeting after months of conferences to discuss the meaning of the markings.
The President of the society pointed to first drawing and said: "This is a woman. We can see these people held women in high esteem. You can also tell they were intelligent, as the next symbol is a donkey, so they were smart enough to have animals help them till the soil. The next drawing is a shovel, which means they had tools to help them."
Even further proof of their high intelligence is the fish which means that if a famine hit the earth and food didn't grow, they seek food from the sea. The last symbol appears to be the Star of David which means they were evidently Hebrews.
The audience applauded enthusiastically. Then a little old Jewish man stood up in the back of the room and said, "Idiots, Hebrew is read from right to left...... It says: 'Holy Mackerel, Dig The Ass On That Chick
Please Don't Spam Friends and Family Leaving Email Addresses Exposed To Fraudsters And Spammers -
Now I have been considerate and I used B.C.C. fields for all email addresses in a mass emailing effort.
Do You?
If You Use BCC Then This Applause Is For You
Copy this and paste into an email and forward this to all your friends but use B.C.C. If you do $1 million dollars will be given to you by 4:00PM don't break the chain or I get the money
yadda yadda yadda
But!
If You are Guilty Of This Lack Of Email Etiquette Read On!
This has been sent to you and thousands of others are reading this BUT you cannot see their email address and most importantly they cannot see yours!
Where did I get your address?
From some well meaning friend or family member who did NOT protect your identity.
Solution: Demand your spamming
friends and relatives use BCC field when
addressing mass mail, or tell them to stop
sending you jokes , hoaxes, and other email
crap.
PLEASE READ and become a better E-mail user. This information is intended not only to make you a neater "E-mailer" but one that is more considerate and more thoughtful. Your friends will bethankful!.
Would you write your friends' phone numbers on the walls of public places? I didn't think so. Then why would you share their private E-mail addresses with a group of strangers when you know that many of whom will CARELESSLY forward the same addresses to even more strangers? DON'T DO IT! Instead, use your E-mail program'S BCC feature.
BCC means Blind Carbon Copy. It provides a way of addressing messages to more than one person so that everyone's address is not displayed for all to see. ALL email programs, including the web-based email services, allow you to address messages using BCC. In other words you can "BCC" one or more recipients when sending a message. Some require that you provide at least one address in the TO: field before sending. If this is the case with your email client (program, application), place YOUR OWN email address in the TO: field. Keep your recipients' addresses in the BCC field.
WHY:
Using BCC protects your recipients' private email addresses from being spread to strangers (from being released into the public domain.)
Using BCC helps prevent SPAM.
When using BCC, messages are easier on your readers because the messages contain less text to sift through. The cleaner the message, the easier it is to read.
Because the messages contain less text, they're smaller and require less bandwidth. They will download faster.
Using BCC shows your consideration of others by not publishing hundreds of your contacts to strangers (and potentially, SPAMMERS or maybe even stalkers.)
HOW:
In most email clients, the BCC field is very apparent and obvious. While in a new message in AOL's web mail, click BCC. In Gmail and Yahoo Mail!, click add BCC. In Hotmail, click Show Cc & Bcc.
In Outlook and Outlook express, it's not so obvious but turning it on is a one-time event.
To activate the BCC field in Outlook Express, create a new message and chooseView, All Headers.
To activate the BCC field in MS-Outlook, create a new message and choose View, BCC.
The Genius Of VW Assembly, Buy your car and watch or even help them build it. Located in Dresdan, Germany. You Gotta See This To See Why North America Car Makers Fail While Germans Succeed!
And Season 2008-2009 after Winning Game 7 over Detroit by 1 goal Stanley swims in Lemuix Pool
Strange Misadventures of the Stanley Cup
Sport’s Most Famous Trophy Caught in Compromising Positions
May 14, 2002 --
What single object is the world's most famous champagne cup, potato chip dish and dog-food bowl, while doubling on occasion as a baptismal font?
It's the Stanley Cup.
The Stanley Cup has partied longer and harder than Ozzy Osbourne over its 109-year reign as hockey's Holy Grail. In a tradition unique in professional sports, every player on the championship team gets at least 24 hours to do virtually whatever he wishes with old Stan.
The cup has visited the White House and Lenin's tomb. It's also visited churches, bars, and strip clubs. It's been to the top of mountains and the bottoms of pools. It's been strapped to a Harley, a dog sled, and a golf cart. And along the way, it's been kissed, hugged, and admired by countless millions. Many, undoubtedly, are not hockey fans. They wait on line for more than an hour simply to enjoy a moment in awe of Stanley's grandeur.
This is what the best in the NHL fight for each year: a 35-pound, 3-foot-high polished silver trophy with five removable rings at the base. Each one lists 13 teams and their players, which remain on the cup for 64 years. The older rings are retired and on display at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto.
‘Yes, You Can Sleep With the Stanley Cup’
After the winning team takes their victory lap, the Stanley Cup really begins its travels, clocking more than 100,000 miles a year, raising millions of dollars for charity and and acting as hockey's foremost celebrity.
For Mike Bolt, the 32-year-old keeper of the Stanley Cup, it's the days with the players, who often take the cup out for some rowdy partying, that presents the biggest challenge. Last year, Rob Blake of the Colorado Avalanche insisted that the cup be taken to Simcoe, Ontario, where it was perched atop the roof of the combine on his family's farm.
Once a player enjoys his 24 hours, the cup's off to a new teammate.
As long as it does no damage to the cup, Bolt obliges. He can't even name all the players who've taken the cup to bed. Mostly, though, it's just good-hearted celebration: a trip to a favorite restaurant, an old high school, a retirement home, a night out on the town. Several players have taken the trophy to a cemetery to show their parents what they've achieved.
The Internet Is Filled With Hoax Websites and Email chain letters and spam letters. This email chain letter hit my email box today. It is filled with interesting facts but is based on a total falsehood, the claim about the Koran scripture.
This is a total falsehood:
Koran ( 9:11 ) - For it is written that a son of Arabia would awaken a fearsome Eagle.. The wrath of the Eagle would be felt throughout the lands of Allah and lo, while some of the people trembled in despair still more rejoiced; for the wrath of the Eagle cleansed the lands of Allah;
