ricky martin boyfriend

Ricky Martin boyfriend photos: "I'm doing great! Stronger than ever" singer reveals on Twitter

Ricky Martin has been in the top of the celeb news this week with his announcement that he is indeed gay. The singer, famous for songs “La Vida Loca” and "She Bangs" is now a hot topic on the Internet as people search for Ricky Martin boyfriend photos.

Martin used his Twitter account on Tuesday night to express his appreciation for the love and support he has received in light of his not surprising announcement.

Whats going on gang?I'm doing great!Stronger than ever!I'm here relaxing @ home enjoying ur messages!I feel the love!Thanx for all!peace

The Latin singing sensation admitted to being a “fortunate” gay man. He is the father of twin boys that were born to a surrogate mother in 2008.

As far as the search for boyfriend photos or information on Ricky Martin's boyfriend, enough already. Although he's a celebrity, he's still a human being who should be afforded some privacy. Good for you, Ricky, for being proud of who you are.

FOCUS ON: FASHION AND ARCHITECTURE

There is one book Alexander McQueen would certainly have liked: it is Heavenly Vault: From Romanesque to Gothic in European Architecture by photographer David Stephenson (released by Princeton Architectural Press). This book is a vertiginous display of sublime cathedral vaults; of choirs, crossings and naves. The mystique of architecture shines from striking gothic sobriety to norman follies. McQueen’s latest effort also evoke this calm magnificence of architectural motives and the pathos of Middle-Age beliefs. We think there could be no better décors for these heavenly creatures than these architectural masterpieces.

Romanesque Architecture 1000 - 1140 - St. Etienne Basilica, France.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Laon, in northern France city, was one of the first cathedrals built in the new Gothic style, with pointed arches showing you the way up to Heaven.

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Stargard Choir - Gothic architecture

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Batalha, Portugal

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

Batalha, Portugal

Alexander McQueen Fall 2010

More about the book:
Internationally renowned photographer David Stephenson has dedicated his practice to capturing the sublime in nature and architecture. Stephenson began to photograph Gothic vaults in Spain and Portugal in 2003, while completing the work for his Domes project, and his first monograph Visions of Heaven: the Dome in European Architecture. He began to focus on the Vaults project in 2006, photographing Gothic churches and cathedrals in England, Belgium and France. With the assistance of an Australia Council Artist Fellowship in 2008-09, Stephenson completed extensive fieldwork for the Vaults project, intensively photographing Romanesque and Gothic architecture in Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Austria, the Czech Republic, Poland, and Germany. David Stephenson's new book of photography is a love letter to the intricate, seemingly sui generis vaults of Europe's Romanesque and Gothic cathedrals and churches.
Source: Images ©: David Stephenson through John Buckley gallery and http://www.160grams.com/

April Fools Pranks

Google Pranks: A History Of The Companies April Fool’s Day Jokes

Google has a history of pulling off various April Fools day pranks. We have a list dating back to 2000 which features various Google pranks pulled on unsuspecting site visitors. From toilet internet services to jobs on the moon, here are some of our favorite classic Google pranks.

MentalPlex (2000): Just sit in front of your computer and Google will scan your brainwave activity, your past browser history and your mouse movements to figure out where you want to go.

Pigeon Based Ranking System (2002): Google announces that they use pigeons to peck away randomly on their computers to find websites. They claim the pigeons are able to grab information at random, allowing for a more meshed web. The idea behind the algorithm was well thought out for the prank.



Google “Moon” Jobs (2004): This April Fool’s Day joke was part of the companies “Google Copernicus Hosting Environment and Experiment in Search Engineering (G.C.H.E.E.S.E.)” Here’s what the job posting said:

Brain Drink That Makes You Think Faster (2005): If Coca-Cola announced this product the speculation would fly, but leave it to Google to reel in a bunch of onlookers. Our favorite part? Google claims the human DNA code is read with a special sensor on the lip of the bottle. According to Google our DNA is just 3 Gigabytes in size.

Google Contextual Dating (2006): Here’s a new way to date, Contextually! If you prefer speed dating contextually Google was also offering the ability to send a mass upload file to their servers. Sure the idea was a bit silly but since 2006 online dating has exploded, albeit not contextually.

Google Toilet Internet Service Provider (TiSP) (2007): Flush your toilet to send your next Gmail message to your friends, family and co-workers, It was the dumbest of the April Fool’s pranks, but I had at least two or three friends email me and ask how I thought it worked.

Google Worldwide Rickrolling + Other Pranks (2008): This is another odd option from Google, they rickrolled the world, including all videos on YouTube. Google also announced gDay, a product that could add Adsense to conversations. They also rolled out a service that could “search pages a day before they’re created.” Basically in 2008 Google went a little prank crazy.

Google Chrome 3D Browser (2009): Google pulled 17 pranks in 2009, but the best by far was their Google Chrome 3D Browser. Basically it blurred everything as if you were watching 3D movies without the glasses.

Now remember, tomorrow is April Fool’s day and given Google’s history of pranking the public, you’ll probably want to be on the lookout.

Is there another Google Prank you prefer over those we’ve listed? Feel free to share your favorites.

passover 2010

Passover 2010 Story: The four themes & Seder meal

Its Passover time for 2010, or Pesach, as it’s known in Hebrew, and it’s the Jewish practice that’s most widespread across the world. A lot of people are not sure what Passover is really all about so we’ll try to give you some idea. It really all revolves around the concept of liberation and how we all need to free ourselves from our personal Egypt, or “tight spot”.

Passover is a celebration of making that move for freedom or ridding ourselves from oppression and is marked in many ways. Brad Hirschfield, via the Huffington Post, feels that there are 4 main themes to Passover. Principle One involves expanding our scope of empathy, listening to people in need and helping out where we can.

Principle Two involves questioning everything, and as much as possible, as questioning signifies freedom, even if we don’t always like the answers. Principle Three is all about liberation and remembering that while this means being free, it cannot be gained by not having obligations to others, or not being accountable for our actions.

Finally Principle Four is a reminder of the importance of people in our lives, from inviting people to sit for dinner together, and recognizing the significance of kinship and friendship. One of the special Passover traditions is the ritual Seder dinner, which represents togetherness of people. So here in a nutshell is what Passover is all about, and we hope you can celebrate your own personal path to liberation, whatever that may be.

palm sunday

Christian pilgrims mark Palm Sunday in Jerusalem

Christians from around the world are commemorating Palm Sunday in the Jerusalem, singing hymns and bearing palm fronds as they celebrate Jesus Christ's triumphant entry into the holy city 2,000 years ago.

Pilgrims and local Christians came to Jerusalem's Old City to attend mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, traditionally held to be the site of Jesus' crucifixion.

Others celebrated at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem — the town of Jesus' birth — and in the Gaza Strip, home to a small Christian population.

According to the New Testament, Palm Sunday marks the day Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, greeted by cheering crowds bearing palm fronds. For most Christians, it marks the start of Holy Week, which concludes with Easter the following Sunday.

youtube down

No YouTube Is Not Down (And You Can Still Watch Brigitte Daguerre or any other Videos)

There's a swirling message going around today saying that youtube was down but in fact www.youtube.com is working just fine and you can still search for hot topics like Brigitte Daguerre. There are alot of videos you can watch at youtube, if I had to make a suggestion check out a guy called Redneckrickem on there. He's good for a few laughs.

Apparantly, some users weren't able to log onto the YouTube website earlier today around 7 o'clock in the morning. They saw a message telling them that the service was unavailable.

Anyone who is looking for anything, can literally find some sort of a video of it on youtube whether you're looking for sports, news, politics, cartoons, movie clips, and all around comedy - it's all there.

Frontier Airlines

Frontier Airlines Ticket Sales: Discounted Fares for Summer

The leading discount airlines launched a new round of airfare sales for summer. JetBlue Airways, Frontier Airlines and AirTran Airways sales will end this week so have your booking done before the end of the discount fares.

Frontier Airlines also extends Kansas City International Airport (MCI) and Cancun International Airport (CUN) through Aug. 28, 2010.”The response to our nonstop service to Cancun has been tremendous,” VP of planning and strategy Daniel Shurz said. “Extending our service over the summer now provides the Kansas City community with greater access to their favorite Mexican vacation destination,” he added.

You can get the full details of the discounts and promo mechanics of the Frontier Airlines ticket sales at the Frontier Airlines official website.

new health care bill pros and cons

As the Health care bill were passed from the Congress, now getting into the Law maker sign off. But before that, there’s been some change about the Health Care reform it self.

Cause of that, some argue will makes the new health care bill in pros and cons. We’ve been remembering about Rep. Brian Baird from Vancouver Democrat that says:

“I wanted to be absolutely sure of the pros and cons” of the bill, said the Vancouver Democrat, who is not seeking re-election. “It’s one thing to read it. But it’s another to understand it.”

New Health Care Bill – Pros:

* Everybody can have health insurance if they want it.

1. Insurers will not be able to stop paying for people who are sick, even if they lose their jobs.
2. People who cannot afford health insurance won’t have to pay as much money.
3. People who are already sick will be eligible for healthcare.

* In the long run it will (hopefully) reduce medical costs significantly. Rising medical costs are the main reason the long-term budget projections are so alarming. Something has to be done. Unfortunately, this bill might not do enough. While there will definitely be some savings, it’s not clear that they will be as transformative as hoped.
* Health insurers can no longer cap coverage. In other words, they will no longer say that they have spent enough on you and you’re on your own for the next hundred thousand dollars. This should reduce medical bankruptcy.
* There will be increased competition in the insurance market. It might be from a public option. It might also be from some kind of non-profit, state-specific co-operative. This might push the healthcare companies to lower costs and provide better service.

New Health Care Bill – Cons:

* For the first ten years, it will cost about $100 billion a year. This is about the yearly cost of the Iraq War.
* The bill might increase the cost of health insurance. This depends on whether the gains from increased efficiencies and increased competition are outweighed by the cost of providing additional benefits.
* The Individual Mandate. You will have to either buy health insurance if you don’t have it or have a 2% tax increase. This insurance will be subsidized—but there is no guarantee that the subsidy will suffice for your specific situation.
* There will be a tax increase on very high income people. If you are making more than half a million (or maybe a full million) you will have about a 1% tax increase.

* Other stuff that might be good or bad, depending how you see it

* Increased government involvement in healthcare. Government already pays for huge amounts of healthcare—so this won’t be anything new.
* Additional regulation on insurance companies. This might increase costs. It will increase quality.
* Physicians will have increased access to information about what treatments are most effective for their cost. If two treatments work equally well and one is cheaper, doctors can recommend that one. This was almost universally considered a good thing until a few years ago, but some people have started criticizing it lately.
* Large employers may also have to offer health insurance to more of their employees. If they do not, they may have to pay some extra tax.

Things that isn’t true:

* Death Panels
* Nazis
* Inability to choose your doctor
* Healthcare will be “rationed.” My conservative buddies will claim that this will “inevitably lead” to rationing. I disagree. I do think we can agree that there is nothing in the healthcare bill that will reduce the amount of healthcare available. The topic of what counts as “rationing” healthcare (and whether we already do it) is complex and contentious—but the healthcare bill will not directly cause additional rationing.
* Bureaucrats will tell doctors how to do their jobs (in ways that they don’t already do).

Sweet 16 Bracket

Well I think it’s safe to say that not many people picked this year’s Sweet 16 out of the original field of 64 teams. Download and view/print our Sweet 16 bracket. The biggest upset so far has to be the #9 seed Northern Iowa Panthers, who upset this year’s overall #1 seed in the Kansas Jayhawks in the second round. That certainly wasn’t the only surprise of the second round. #12 seed Cornell dominated #4 seed Wisconsin as well, eventually walking away with a 87-69 victory.

As if that weren’t enough upsets for one round, both #11 seed Washington and #10 seed St. Mary’s both scored wins in the second round, Washington knocking off #3 seed New Mexico and St. Mary’s downing #2 seed Villanova. Sign up for a new account with BetUS and deposit $500 or more to get a $500 match bonus.

It wasn’t all upsets in the second round, however, #1 seeds Duke, Syracuse, and Kentucky all won their games with ease. Three #2 seeds also advanced to the Sweet 16 with Ohio State beating Georgia Tech, Kansas State winning over BYU, and West Virginia knocking off Missouri. Baylor is the lone #3 seed to advance to this round with their win over Old Dominion, while Purdue is the only #4 seed left in the field after their overtime win against Texas A&M. Two #5 seeds still remain with Michigan State pulling the upset over #4 seed Maryland and Butler advancing with their victory over #13 seed Murray State. We also get a pair of #6 seeds with Tennessee and Xavier both winning in the second round.

Be sure to follow the expert cappers at Betfirms with their college basketball picks against the spread as we advance through the tournament. There’s no better place to get winning NCAA basketball betting advice to help you beat the college basketball odds this season.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad is a transfixing train wreck

The great 1 that a majority of viewers don’t know about, the 1 most likely to develop a cult DVD afterlife like “The Wire,’’ the 1 on the front lines of the battle against forgettable TV. About the transformation of Walt White (Bryan Cranston) from a nebbishy chemistry teacher with lung cancer into a Southwestern drug kingpin, “Breaking Bad’’ has become a transfixing small-screen epic. Season three premieres tomorrow night at 10 on AMC.

catamount

Catamounts clocked by an Orange crush - Boston Globe

There was no way Vermont could turn back the clock to 2005 of last night.

The Catamounts faced a hostile crowd as they tried to repeat their fabled upset of Syracuse 5 years ago in Worcester, this time in the unenviable position of a 16th seed. The No. 16s are 0-104 in the era of the 64- and 65-team NCAA fields.

The Orange (29-4) will meet No. 8 Gonzaga here tomorrow at 12:10 p.m. after the Bulldogs held off Florida State, 67-60. Vermont, which equaled its school record for victories, finishes at 25-10.

With the crowd of 18,948 roaring, the Orange exploded to a 35-10 first-half lead and survived a 15-2 Vermont run that pulled the Catamounts within 37-25 at the break. Syracuse quickly put Vermont away in the second with four 3-pointers in the first four minutes.

“Walking into the arena just to see how huge it was and that it’s going to be packed with Syracuse fans, you realize you’re there and it’s not playing Stony Brook in a packed gym of 1,500 fans,’’ said Vermont senior Marqus Blakely, who had team highs of 17 points and nine rebounds in his final game. “This is the real deal. The fact is we went out there and never gave up. The scoreboard might show something different but I’m proud of all of my teammates.’’

“It was awful. I was worried about it all week,’’ said a smiling Vermont coach Mike Lonergan. “I felt like I was going to be at the Carrier Dome II. It was pretty impressive . . . Seeing all that orange, we got off to a bad start.’’

Even with 6-foot-9-inch Arinze Onuaku out with a leg injury, the Orange put five players in double figures with Wes Johnson leading way with 18 points and Scoop Jardine 14 off the bench.

Evan Fjeld was the only other Catamount in double figures with 13 points as Vermont shot just 23 of 66 from the field and 5 of 22 from 3-point range.

“Vermont is a good team. They played well all year,’’ Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. “I just thought we played very well. Vermont made no mistakes. Usually we need to force some turnovers and we could not do that. But we forced their shooters out a little bit and made them take some tough shots.’’

The Joseph brothers, Maurice of Vermont and Kris of Syracuse, shared a big embrace and head taps in the center circle as they were introduced prior to tipoff. (Kris outscored his brother, 8-7).

Vermont scored the game’s first points on Maurice Joseph’s 3-pointer 68 seconds in but the Catamounts then went stone cold. Vermont missed its next nine shots as Syracuse went on an 11-0 run. It was 15-8 when the Orange blew it open as Jardine, who averages 8.8 points per game, poured in 11 to spearhead a 20-2 run that had the crowd in party mode with a 35-10 lead.

Blakely was scoreless until canning a jumper with 5:26 left in the half. But he finished with 9 points, including a trio of rim-rocking dunks that had the Vermont fans out of their seats as the Catamounts closed within 12 at the break.

finding nemo

Pleasure to the fishes in the deep-water of sea, and pleasure of the 9,000 childrens of every age who attended to “Disney on Ice: Finding Nemo” on The dark at Van Andel Arena.

It’s the dearest story of an individual dad, i.e. Marlin, who, with the assistance of a scatty Blue Tang fish called Dory, explores the broadest sea for his missing son, Nemo, the clownfish.

We see Nemo and his daddy in the brilliant red coral reef where they reside.

It is entertaining to watch out the action on the water ice as Marlin and Dory float their minds out to find out Nemo, but even greater to buzz scary-cool, larger-than-sea-life types specified Bruce the shark and the big whale.

The giant, in a sort of scriptural sequence, eats up the pair and they consider certainly as they’re fish food. He was big and made a few of the small ones in the bunch to stare round-eyed at him and his target, whom one could watch inside of him when he steamrolled on the murky sea.

In the meantime, back at the fish tank, Nemo has been plunged into a tabletop fish tank in a dental practitioner office, among unusual aquatics specified bloat the blowfish and Peach the sea star.

With a good story at its center, fantastic, amusing characters, and impressive costumes, lighting and arrangements, “Finding Nemo” interprets very well by movie to ice.

In a point of fact, one may go until now as to tell that a swimmingly blast was had completely. Finding Nemo is a great movie after all.

tiny youtube converter

With these eleven downloads and Web-based services, you can share large files, save ink, monitor action items, and accomplish even more.

DoPDF Free PDF Converter: Want to turn a Word document, Excel spreadsheet, or Web page on your PC into a PDF? Simply install this download and then choose the Print command in whatever program you’re using. Select the DoPDF “printer” and tweak the settings, and your PDF is done.

Drop.io for Outlook: If there’s an easier way to share big files than the Drop.io Web service, we haven’t found it. And now you can grab the beta plug-in for Outlook (or add-ons for Chrome and Firefox). It allows you to select up to 100MB of files and then choose your own custom download URL to share them.

Ecofont: This font set looks a lot like the familiar Arial typeface, but with one key difference. Each letter has lots of holes punched in it, and so requires less ink to print–which means that you’ll spend less money on ink cartridges.

Illustration by Andrew Bannecker
Everything: A search tool on steroids, this app indexes all of the items on your hard drive and then performs lightning-fast searches for files and folders. The tiny program takes the place of the regular search function in Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Windows 7, and it produces dynamic real-time results.

FlockDraw: If you have an idea that you need to express visually to people who aren’t in the same room, this Web-based service can act as a shared cocktail napkin. Invite other people to view your drawing and even to draw along in real time.

Fonolo: Sick of navigating phone menus? This Web service, which gives you access to the phone menus for common customer service numbers, lets you pick any menu item and then connects you right to it, helping you bypass the hassle.

iCurrent: Personalize this free news site to match your own interests. This beta service shows you the latest news in your chosen areas, in the familiar format of a daily paper. It can take some work to set up, but it is a good way to keep track of a broad range of subjects.

Liaise: Many e-mail messages represent action items, namely things you need to schedule, track, and get done. This Outlook add-in automatically recognizes action items as you type a new message, and then keeps tabs on them and helps you finish them on time.

MakeSomeTime: Invoice management poses a real challenge for the self-employed. Sign up with MakeSomeTime to keep tabs on invoices, clients, projects, and billable time, all within the confines of your browser. The free plan lets you manage up to five clients and send one invoice per month.

ScreenToasterScreenToaster: Say that you need to show Uncle Al (who lives halfway across the country) how to copy and paste text in Word. The easiest approach? Create a “screencast”–a recording of your own computer screen–and then send him the video. Sign up at the ScreenToaster site, press Alt-S, and you’re recording. Once you have finished recording, you can add captions and then upload the video to the site’s servers or to YouTube, or download it as an AVI file.

Tom’s Planner: Gantt charts, with their neat sets of overlapping color lines or blocks, are a nice way to visualize a project schedule. In some apps, however, creating them can involve huge amounts of painful data entry. With Tom’s Planner (free for a year with sign-up during the beta), you go straight to the final product.

google tv

Google TV Should Finally Push Apple TV Beyond A “Hobby”

For the past couple of the years now, when talking about the Apple TV product, Apple likes to throw out the word “hobby.” It’s as if they’re ashamed of the device. And considering sales are anemic next to Macs, iPods, and iPhones, it’s no big surprise that they talk this way.

But there’s actually nothing to be ashamed of. The Apple TV is a good product. Apple just needs to put some proper time and energy into it, to expand it to its full potential. And news today about the so-called “Google TV” should do just the trick.

Apple and Google are on the verge of war. The formerly close allies are increasingly competing in key spaces for both, and the living room is likely to be a new battleground because it’s still very much up in air. As the New York Times reported yesterday, Google is working with partners including Intel, Sony, and Logitech to bring a Google TV experience into the living room. This is, of course, where the Apple TV resides. And Apple would be foolish to simply cede any ground it does have to its new favorite rival just because it’s focused on other things (*cough* iPad *cough*).

That’s a Microsoft move.

As Nick Bilton points out, this Google TV would be based around the Android platform. This means that the key idea is likely to have third-party developers work on it to make applications built for a television set. That’s easier said than done, but Android’s open nature should yield some interesting results rather quickly.

Apple, meanwhile, is of course anything but open with regard to their devices. In fact, the Apple TV is entirely closed right now, as only Apple is able to modify its software (without hacking it, of course). I suspect that will change, following this revelation.

The idea of running iPhone-style applications on the Apple TV has long been a sexy one. Hell, people have even ported apps over to a TV screen to show how well it could work. The main problem with developing iPhone apps for the Apple TV seems to be resolution. With the iPhone (and iPod touch), Apple offers only one screen size/resolution, ensuring developers have an easy time making great-looking apps — while at the same time, making sure end users have a great experience.

But the iPad has already changed everything. With their new device, Apple has kept things as simple as possible by making iPhone apps scale up two times to work on the bigger display, but it’s still shows a willingness to move beyond the one screen size. Unfortunately, with the Apple TV, it can be attached to a screen that could be a huge variety of sizes, so it would be hard to control that.

Google doesn’t care about that because Android already runs on dozens of phones with different screen sizes. But Apple clearly cares about how apps look on its devices (so much so that the iPad itself was likely designed at a strange ratio simply to make scaling apps look as good as possible). So does that mean they start offering an actual Apple TV (as in a screen)? Rumors of that have been around for a long time. Or maybe they black-box apps to a certain resolution — similar to what they’re doing on the iPad when an app isn’t scaled up?

Who knows. But what I do know is that upon hearing this Google TV news, the Apple TV became a little less of a “hobby” yesterday.

Aside from calling it a hobby, Steve Jobs has referred to the Apple TV as being a potential “fourth leg” of a chair Apple is building. Leg one is the Mac, leg two is the iPod, leg three is the iPhone, and Jobs had hoped the Apple TV would complete the chair one day. But it seems clear now that he thinks the iPad could be the fourth leg instead.

Screw that. I think it’s time for Apple to build a whole dining room set of furniture. We, as consumers, need a living room arms race between Apple and Google (and Microsoft, TiVo, Roku, Boxee, and the rest) to kick the cable companies’ shitty television user experience to the curb.

LISBON FASHION WEEK/MODALISBOA: TOP TEN FAVORITE COATS FROM A/W 2010-11

While we’re very excited for warmer weather, we can’t help but linger on some beautiful cold-weather pieces from AW10 Portuguese's catwalk. These are the Fashion Heroines' choice: 

Animal printed oversized coat from Alexandra Moura's collection

The ruffle wool oversized coat from Alves/Gonçalves collection

The cerize fur coat from Ana Salazar colection

Tge sophisticated cover of the Little Red Riding Hood form Katty Xiomara collection

The elegante tailoring of Luis Buchinho's collection

The charming trench coat of Miguel Vieira's menswear collection

The military belted coat from Nuno Gama's menswear collection

The patchwork fur coat from Pedro Pedro's collection

The sci-fi futuristic coat from Ricardo Dourado's collection

The double-face oriental coat from TM collection

 

Photos by Joao Lamares

LISBON FASHION WEEK'S CONTENT - This Way For MODALISBOA

Terreiro do Paço - Main entrance to Lisbon Fashion Week stage 1

Lisbon Fashion Week is over! While Lisbon fashionists flock to the North attending Oporto PORTUGAL FASHION shows,  we’ll be here collecting all our reviews, news, gossip, parties, and anything else we posted about these fantastic four days that remained in every fashion heroines/heroes soul.

Pateo da Galé - Main entrance

Bookmark it s’il vous plaît to have immediate access to LFW

xo.  Fashion Heroines

REVIEWS

DAY 1

Alexandra Moura

Ricardo Preto

Alves/Gonçalves

DAY 2

Luís Buchinho

Katty Xiomara

Ana Salazar

DAY 3

Aleksandar Protic

Miguel Vieira

Pedro Pedro

Salsa

Nuno Baltazar

DAY 4

White Tent - MUDE

Filipe Faísca

Nuno Gama

T.M. Collection

T.M. Collection II (Details)

Ricardo Dourado

Dino Alves

Mental by Shunnoz & Tekala

ENTREVISTA A ALEXANDRA MOURA

PHOTOS
THAT'S THE DAY
DAY ONE ( SHOWS DETAILS)

DAY TWO (SHOWS DETAILS
DAY TWO (KATTY XIOMARA DETAILS)
DAY FOUR - MUDE

captiON this/gOssips
Gossips and Pretty Faces - Check In - Day One

Pretty Faces - Day 2

Cocktail Party TMN SONY ERICSSON W 205 Betty Boop
Pretty Faces - Day 3
Gossips and Fashionists - Day 3

DESIGNER'S PROFILE:
Alexandra Moura
Ana Salazar
Ricardo Preto

See also the Portuguese Version in our web page of UNITED PHOTO PRESS

" BODY... AND SOUL" - Alexandra Moura Interview by Fashion Heroines

Alexandra Moura opened this year the ModaLisboa catwalk with "... Body and Soul" as it is called the new collection for Autumn / Winter 2010-11. The symbiosis between our body, our soul, body and soul of the garment. Together they communicate something. Here's the story behind the collection...

Alexandra Moura may not be the most mediatic designer of Fashion Week, but it is certainly the most friendly and one of the most poetic. And she transmitted her poetic soul into her work. But despite the poetry inherent in her, does not mean that her collection is not practical and very wearable, on the contrary, Alexandra conceives the difficult task of creating pieces at once elegant, comfortable and with a unique urban sophistication. And that's what we all want poor girls, something we can wear at work and after, and that makes us feel stylish while maintaining our well-being.


Alexandra Moura agreed to talk to Fashion Heroines about her inspirations, dreams and life. Here is an interview with a portuguese designer who will get the apparent contradictions of life as inspiration to design the soul of her pieces.

FashionHeroines: Your work is very creative and conceptual. Where do you take inspiration and trends?


AlexandraMoura : My work is not developed from trends, but from concepts. My inspiration comes from a variety of situations or moments. It might be a feeling, an image, or a certain state of mind.

FH: What are your visual references?

AM: All that surrounds me. The World.

FH: Where do you take the news?

AM: On the street, in people, the web, in film, music.

FH: Name 3 fashion designers you like or who influenced your work.

AM: I will not name one or two because although my favorites, there are great designers who can fascinate me in different seasons, at different moments and in different ways.

FH: About your new collection Fall / Winter 2010-2011 which is the story behind it? What were your sources of inspiration?

AM: The concept behind this collection has to do with the mood  at the present moment. My need to communicate something different. This collection has the theme "... body and soul ..." and left the symbiosis between our body, our soul, body and soul of the garment. Together they communicate something.

FH: What defines Alexandra Moura now?

AM: Evolution.


FH: You designed the costumes for the Portuguese Contemporary Dance Company, and you also created the wardrobe for  artists like Sonia Tavares and Teresa Salgueiro. What do you prefer design for artists or for woman on the street?

AM: Most of all  I loved  created images which I identify myself and the client also.

FH: Who would you like to wear?

AM: Several people, depend on the moment / occasion.

FH: What makes you laugh?

AM:  Life.


FH: What is your proudest achievement in life?

AM: Being Mom! Allied to my professional side.


FH: What do you most dislike about contemporary culture? And in the fashion world?

AM: The lobbies.


FH: If you could wish for one change in the world what would it be?

AM: The way people look at the world.


FH: What are your plans for the future? What are your dreams?

AM: Speaking at the moment, my great desire is to solidify the brand and its internationalization.


FH: If you could add one question to this project questionnaire what would it be

AM: I don't because it is already an exhausting questionnaire (Laughs).



Photo by Joao Lamares for Fashion Heroines

minnesota twins

Minnesota Twins – 2010 MLB Baseball season preview

It’s kind of hard to imagine that just a few seasons ago the Twins were a candidate for the contraction. Now in 2010 they open a new ball park. Of course giving up the confines of the Homer Dome is one of the big questions facing this team, which will feel like they are in limbo until they can get catcher Joe Mauer’s autograph on a big phat contract extension. They have Mauer for this year, and they might have to make a serious run at a title to keep him. Other random thoughts abut the Twins include the size of their payroll, small market budget my foot.

I cannot believe that they are going to play baseball outside in Minnesota in early April, or late fall. I lie in Detroit, Michigan and I have been to my share of snow interrupted opening days here, I cannot imagine playing baseball outside, that early, further to the north.The Twins have also given up one of their key advantages, they knew how to play in the dome and hit very well there. I cannot imagine, balls flying out of the new park in frigid air like they did in the dome.

le bistro lighthouse point

Kitchen Nightmares: Le Bistro and the Man Who Can Do No Wrong

This week on the Kitchen Nightmares, Gordon Ramsey took on the man who could do no wrong. He was Andy, chef owner of Le Bistro in Lighthouse Point, Florida. Despite mounting debt and customers who never return, Andy was sure that he was doing everything right at his restaurant. Do you know why? Because he was trained in Europe and in Europe they know food.

Yep, this guy says that Americans don't understand good food. That's why they keep returning half cooked steaks and duck pate with bones in it! This guy even had the nerve to tell a customer to order something else when she asked for her steak to be cooked to medium and not rare. No, wait. He didn't have the nerve to tell the customers, he made his wife do it.

That's what really aggravated me about this chef. He thought he was king of the kitchen but he made his staff deal with the angry customers who got bad food or no food at all. The best bit was how only one waiter was allowed to take all the orders in the bistro to make sure the orders didn't come in too fast.

In order to prove how bad the service was, Gordon waited almost an hour after one group had placed their order at Le Bistro, then he went four doors down to a seafood restaurant, ordered an entree, received it and was eating and still the people at Le Bistro had no food. And the fish he ordered even tasted good!

In order to get the chef to listen, Gordon took Andy and his wife Elin out on a lovely cruise, only once they were underway, he sprung a hold full of unhappy customers on Andy, which was a bit mean. He was stuck there listening to everyone tell him how bad his food and service were. Not that it helped.

By the end, though, as is usually the case on Kitchen Nightmares, Andy got the message. He implemented Gordon's new menu, let his sou chef help cook and for awhile, he upped the level of service. But even with this new attitude, you have to wonder if it's too little too late for these places.

I did some checking and Le Bistro is still in business and claims to have won lots of awards (and not just since Gordon was there which seems odd.) But the most telling piece is an article written by the critic who was in the episode where he talks about the process and how chef Andy dealt (or didn't) with the changes Gordon handed down. Check that out right here.

Andy can criticize, but it does seem like Kitchen Nightmares was a dream come true for the business.

playstation move

The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest – Playstation Move support confirmed

More Sony Playstation Move news for you now, as it has been confirmed that Lord of The Rings: Aragorn’s Quest will be added to the growing list of titles which will support Sony’s latest motion control technology.

As reported from MCVUK, Aragorn’s Quest will be available for the PS3 alongside the PS Move release in Autumn, meaning that this is a confirmed launch title – we’re sure there are many games to follow in the next few months.

As for the game itself, Aragorn’s Quest is a hack and slash type of game, where players will be able to play as Aragorn through events in the LOTR trilogy. Warner Bros has stated that elements of the game will be enhanced to make full use of the Playstation Move’s features, such as gestures and accurate sword swings.

You’ll also be pleased to know, that you can team up with a friend using motion controls, where you can play as Gandalf in a separate co-op mode.

Ocean State Job Lot

No word on future of Ryan’s MarketA company connected to Ocean State Job Lot bought the former Ryan’s Market for $865,000.

It’s been four months since OSJ PEP Investments purchased the property at 70 Brown St. in the heart of Wickford, and only one thing is clear about its future use: it will not be a Job Lot.


“We have plans,” said Job Lot vice president of operations Richard Portno. “But it is not going to be a Job Lot. It’s way too small.”

The building includes 5,200 square feet of retail space, much less than what the company requires for one of its stores. In comparison, a Job Lot store that is set to open in Cranston in mid-May will be approximately 34,000 square feet. Job Lot currently operates 92 stores throughout New England and New York state, and is planning to open three more in March. The Cranston store would be number 96.

Portno said the company typically looks for buildings that are between 30,000 and 35,000 square feet for its stores. He said Job Lot will start working on plans for the Wickford building in earnest in late spring, but he would not discuss possibilities for its use.

“It will be very suited to the village of Wickford,” he said.

North Kingstown Town Manager Michael Embury said no plans have been filed with the town for the building’s reuse.

“We don’t know what their plans are,” he said. “We’re just sitting here waiting to see what they come forward with.”

Barbara Cullen, head of the Wickford Village Association, also has not heard what will be done with the building, which was home to Ryan’s Market, a North Kingstown institution founded in 1886. Faced with increasing competition, the building was put up for sale in 2007 and the market closed the following year. The building has been vacant for nearly two years.

Cullen, owner of the Mystic Scrimshanders shop on Main Street, said the Village Association welcomed redevelopment of the building and its members are anxiously waiting to hear what will happen to it.

“We’re excited that something is happening because it’s been empty for so long,” she said.

CONFIDENTIAL/ MODALISBOA WOMENSWEAR FALL 2010 - ANA SALAZAR

Ana Salazar is one of portuguese designers most well known abroad and the pioneer of fashion design in Portugal. Before Ana Salazar has become the first Portuguese fashion designer, serious  fashion in Portugal was a desert and her shop MAÇA/ APPLE was a really Oasis!

Pic via Expresso

In the period before April 25 revolution, the fashion in Portugal was another. Moreover, strictly speaking, fashion, suggesting the existence of designers and setting styles, was little more than beginner. Imitating foreign models, with the permission of the creators and products specifically designed for young people had little expression.

The first store of Ana Salazar was called Maçã/Apple and it was selling almost exclusively imported clothes from London. Despite the restrictions on imports in 1974/75 (due to lack of foreign exchange), Ana Salazar would open a second Maçã/Apple store on Rua do Carmo, she created her own factory and launching the brand name "Harlow". The boom in fashion in Portugal took place in the 80's and since Ana Salazar won the international market including Paris (where he had a store), Japan and the United States.

What are Ana Salazar plans right now? Back to Paris, get in Angola and Brazil. Parade in Milan, sell in Spain and open a new store in Oporto. Ana Salazar back to break ways: it is the first  Portuguese fashion designer to sell her group for professionals.

What defines Ana Salazar's woman today? A woman who likes to be, not only opinion, very safe, feminine, more sensual than sexy. It is daring the difference - answered the designer in a recently interview to L'Express journal.

Where does Ana Salazar seek trends? I try to travel as much as possible to get the air time. It is the street, people and their behaviors - she answered - Greece, Saint-Tropez, Ibiza. New York, always. Tokyo also. Major cities. And the locations of the major events of fashion: Paris, Milan is always enriching.

Ana Salazar Collection Spring 2010 by Armando Franca/AP PHOTO

No doubt that Ana Salazar is one of the most energetic portuguese fashion designers. She never stopped dreaming and she confessed that would like to dress women like Sandrine Kiberlain, who lived with Vincent Lindon. Also, Fanny Ardant and Paradis, wife of Johnny Depp. The Helena Christensen also. Strong women and free spirits.

 Womenswear Collection Fall 2009

WHAT ABOUT THE COLLECTION FALL 2010 THAT SHE WAS PRESENTED TOMORROW, MARCH 12TH, AT LISBON FASHION WEEK?

"Debug over" The reinterpretation of the Baroque era as excessive and decadent. Some elements of clothing characteristic of this period serve as the leitmotif for this collection: shapes, colors, printings and geometries.

COLORS: Black, gold, shades of brown, forest green, purple, blood red, white.

MATERIALS: lace, felt, wool, fabrics with lacquered finishes,satins, muslins, velvets in printings of religious and floral themes.

Lisbon Fashion Week/MODALISBOA: That's the day!

I'm a little bit nervous today, and I don't know why! Do you? I got up early and I thought to write something inteligent about my first Fashion Week, but I couldn't write anything that readers would like to read in a Friday morning, so far...

Then I try to think about what do I wear for my Lisbon Fashion Week debut! And I think I haven't anything good enough to wear in a happening like this. Although my wardrobe ( really TWO wardrobes and more clothes scattered everywhere) cluttered with clothes, shoes, bags and all that women staff. What shoes should I wear? A gorgeous Gianfranco Ferré oversize heels or a comfortable sneakers...To go at Pateo of Galé I must take a train and walking a lot so maybe the Ferré's shoes it ins't a good option. Whatever who are looking you at a Fashion Week? People look at the models and clothes, and perhaps the Very Important People that surround the place!

Not solved the problem of shoes, the doubt remain about opting for comfort at the expense of elegance I'm still a bit nervous! At the last minute, I know that finally I'll opt for Miss Sixty boots that are stylish and not too hard to use. And of course my Patrizia Pepe clutch!

  It wasn´t easy for portuguese blogglers to get into shows and fashion week in general. You can apply for accreditation to get a pass into the exhibitions as I do, but to get in backstage and getting some designer's interviews or models' statements are very difficult. I must confessed that Manuela Oliveira - the press office director - was very nice and I thank her fot that. So my blog isn't the biggest but since November 2009 this baby has taken me many hours of dedication and work!

So finally after almost six months as blogger activity I was heading to Lisbon fashion week. And really my purpose was to share the experience with you guys, find some cool new clothes and trends, find some cool people, find what is happening in portuguese fashion, and help spread the word and love for fashion week.

 I hope you enjoy the Fashion Heroines's coverage and I hope Fashion Heroines will have many readers and comments. You all are welcome to this great feast of Portuguese Fashion.

Colossal Squid

Believed to be the largest known invertebrate, make the Colossal Squid a giant in terms of the other species of its family. The Colossal Squid was discovered and then inevitably named in the annum 1925 by the British Zoologist Guy Coburn Robson who named it M. Hamiltoni under the genus of Mesonychoteuthis.

The span in length of the Colossal Squid is estimated between the range of twelve and fourteen meters though a full sized Colossal Squid hasn’t as yet been found. The estimate of the squid was based on under developed squids of the same species by predicting their full growth span according to their growth cycle and the age they were at when observed.

The Colossal Squid has its variation when it comes to the tentacles as compared to the giant squid. The Colossal Squid has sharp hooks, some of them with three points while others which swivel, evolution, you might think from the giant squid whose tentacles only have little suckers engrained with small teeth.

The Colossal Squid has a bigger head than the giant squid but falls short on its tentacles which are measured to be shorter than those of the giant squid. These proportions significantly increase the overall weight of the Colossal Squid which also has the largest eyes ever to be witnessed in the animal kingdom apart from having a beak that reveals its abyssal gigantism.

The Colossal Squid is known to inhabit the Southern Ocean where it has been spotted in the waters between Antarctica and South America and then between New Zealand and the bottom tip of South Africa.

ron silver

A great American political activist, who wanted to introduce many reforms in politics so that politics is clear and free from all kind of impurities, died on March 15, 2009.

Ron Silver, a famous American personality, who earned a name for himself in Hollywood playing a role of producer, director and an actor, was born on July 2, 1946. He also worked as radio host delivering speeches about injustice in society so that public is aware of their rights and how to use them. He was destined not to cross the limit beyond 62 years of age. He was suffering from esophageal cancer that claimed his life.

Ron Silver was a man of strength and words. He had unremarkable quality of fluency in Spanish and Mandarin Chinese, standard Chinese. He also offered himself as a teacher knowing how to share knowledge and what is the best method to education required in society. He was very keen as well as worried about child condition that is why he joined Department of Social Justice, which undertakes the responsibilities of child development and stop child abuse. There, we worked for adoptions, foster care, public housing, supplement nutrition assistance program and adult protective services.

Ron Silver also traveled around the world for different purposes. It is expected that throughout his life, he went to more than 30 countries. His mission was not to do something extraordinary irrespective of his profession, and 1989, he co-founded Creative Coalition for political advocacy and entertainment industry. The organization was formed by social activists and active members of entertainment industry of America.

t bone burnett

Congratulations to Ryan Bingham, T Bone Burnett, Jeff Bridges

Congrats to Jeff Bridges (Best Actor) and Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett (Best Original Song) on their well-deserved Oscar wins earlier tonight.

The obvious thing would probably be to post “The Weary Kind,” but I kind of like the idea that Ryan Bingham has recorded more than the two songs on the Crazy Heart soundtrack, so here’s the music video for “Country Roads” instead.

Michael Foot

In quotes: Michael Foot in his own words

Former Labour leader Michael Foot has died at the age of 96 years. Renowned for his passionate and erudite speeches, he was also a prolific journalist and writer. Here is a selection of some of his most memorable quotations.

Is the Labour Party to remain a democratic party in which the right of free criticism and free debate is not merely tolerated but encouraged? Or are the rank and file of the party to be bludgeoned or cowed into an uncritical subservience towards the leadership?" Writing in Tribune, 1954.

"Socialism without public ownership is nothing but a fantastic apology." Writing in the Daily Herald, 1956. A Britain which denounced the insanity of the nuclear strategy would be in a position to direct its influence at the United Nations and in the world at large, in a manner at present denied us." Newspaper article, 1960.



"A Royal Commission is a broody hen sitting on a china egg." Speech in the House of Commons, 1964. He was without any rival whatever, the first comic genius who ever installed himself in Downing Street." Description of Disraeli in his book Debts Of Honour. Men of power have not time to read; yet men who do not read are unfit for power." In his book Debts Of Honour.

"The national strike of the miners in 1972 performed, I believe, a great service, not only to the miners, but the people in Britain today who wanted coal." House of Commons, 1974.

"People must learn more and more that the strength of this country is the democratic power of the trade union movement." Article in the Morning Star, 1974.

"I have been on the Left of the party since I joined it in about 1934 and I have not seen much reason for altering." Panorama TV interview, 1976.

"If the freedom of the people in this country had been left to the good sense and fair-mindedness of the judges, we would have had few freedoms in this country at all." Article in Daily Telegraph, 1977.

"There is nothing wrong with being a Marxist. Their point of view is essential to a democratic debate." Daily Telegraph, 1977

"What is needed is a strong shift leftwards. This party in Parliament ought to start the process, and if it won't, the party conference will do it for them." Article in Tribune, 1979.

"In my opinion, Marxism is a great creed of human liberation. It is the creed which says that when all other empires fade and vanish, our business is to enlarge the empire of the human mind." At a Morning Star rally in 1980.

"Most liberties have been won by people who broke the law." Interview in 1980.

"She has no imagination and that means no compassion." On Margaret Thatcher, 1981.

"I can well understand the anxieties and pressures that must have been upon you during this weeks and I can understand that, at this moment, these pressures and these anxieties may be relieved and I congratulate you." To Margaret Thatcher after the retaking of the Falklands in 1982.

"It is not necessary that every time he rises he should give his famous imitation of a semi-house-trained polecat." To Norman Tebbit, 1978.

"We had not the armour, the strength, the quickness in manoeuvre, yes, the leadership." Explaining Labour's 1983 election defeat in his book Another Heart And Other Pulses, 1984.

"I think the House of Lords ought to be abolished and I don't think the best way for me to abolish it is to go there myself." On his departure from the House of Commons, 1992.

"No rising hope on the political scene who offered his service to Labour when I happened to be leader can be dismissed as an opportunist." On Tony Blair, Independent, 1995.

susan dey

Susan Dey - Partridge Family on Today Show

NBC's The Today Show features another "big family" in its "Great the TV Families reunited" series. This morning, its the The Partridge Family, with the cast of the popular television families reuniting after several decades. But where's Susan Dey?

Susan Dey (not Susan Day), isn't joining the rest of her former castmates as the Partridge Family reunites.

Susan Dey has had, at least in public, a personal life free of the problems that so often plague child stars.

Dey was a big television star (and the object of adolescent lust) during her run as Laurie Partridge and then went on to even bigger stardom in her role as Judge Grace Van Owen on the 1980's hit drama LA Law. While Dey was a popular figure among the boys (and girls) while on The Partridge Family, her role on LA Law made her a darling of the critics.

After her run on LA Law ended in the early 1990's, however, Dey has maintained a relatively low profile. Dey's most recent television role, in fact, came in 2004 when she appeared on two episodes of Third Watch.

For a star who bridged two eras, and did it brilliantly, and for one who seemed to live a scandal free personal life, Susan Dey was an actress that seemed poised to continue acting forever. Beautiful, talented, and even blessed with a show business name, Dey had 'sure thing' written all over her. The fact that she has had no major roles since the demise of LA Law is one of the great mysteries of modern entertainment.

It could be that Susan Dey decided to duck out of the limelight to enjoy life with her husband. It could be that she just got tired of the business. It could be that the offers did not come the way most assumed that they would.