bahduh

Unfortunately the WWE (still WWF to me) has lost another guy.

I am a casual fan of WWE - I end up missing weeks / months at a time, then catch a few. I have enjoyed watching wrestling for many many years.

civgeek

Motley Crue extends tour into 2006

NEW YORK (Billboard) - Having racked up an improbably successful reunion tour this year, Motley Crue is heading back on the road in 2006.

The hard rock quartet will close out the year with a December 31 New Year's Eve show in Auburn Hills, Mich., and then resume touring February 10 in Columbus, Ga.

The trek will focus on secondary markets such as Evansville, Ind., Roanoke, Va., and Sioux Falls, S.D., where it will wrap up on April 1. It will also visit Lincoln, Neb., on March 31, where drummer Tommy Lee filmed his recent reality series, "Tommy Lee Goes to College."

Afterward, Motley Crue plans to begin work on its first new studio album since 2000's "New Tattoo." A handful of new songs were included on the compilation "Red, White & Crue," which debuted in February at No. 6 on the Billboard 200.

IMPORTANT INFO ABOUT AREA CODE SCAMS

We actually received a call last week from the 809 area code. The woman said "Hey, this is Karen. Sorry I missed you--get back to us quickly. Have something important to tell you." Then she repeated a phone number beginning with 809. "We didn't respond".

Then this week, we received the following e-mail:

Subject: DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809, 284 AND 876

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION PROVIDED TO US BY AT&T. DON'T EVER DIAL AREA CODE 809

This one is being distributed all over the US. This is pretty scary, especially given the way they try to get you to call. Be sure you read this and pass it on to all your friends and family so they don't get scammed! MAJOR SCAM:

Don't respond to Emails, phone calls, or web pages which tell you to call an "809" area Phone Number.

This is a very important issue of Scam Busters because it alerts you to a scam that is spreading *extremely* quickly, can easily cost you $2400 or more, and is difficult to avoid unless you are aware of it.

We'd like to thank Verizon for bringing this scam to our attention.

This scam has also been identified by the National Fraud Information Center and is costing victims a lots of money.

There are lots of different permutations of this scam.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS:

You will receive a message on your answering machine or your pager, which asks you to call a number beginning with area code 809. The reason you're asked to call varies. It can be to receive information about a family member who has been ill, to tell you someone has-been arrested, died, to let you know you have won a wonderful prize, etc In each case, you are told to call the 809 number right away. Since there are so many new area codes these days, people unknowingly return these calls.

If you call from the US, you will apparently be charged $2425 per-minute. Or, you'll get a long recorded message. The point is, they will try to keep you on the phone as long as possible to increase the charges. Unfortunately, when you get your phone bill, you'll often be charged more than $24,100.00.

WHY IT WORKS : The 809 area code is located in the British Virgin Islands (The Bahamas). The 809 area code can be used as a "pay-per-call" number, similar to 900 numbers in the US. Since 809 is not in the US, it is not covered by U.S. regulations of 900 numbers, which require that you be notified and warned of charges and rates involved when you call a pay-per-call" number.

There is also no requirement that the company provide a time period during which you may terminate the call without being charged. Further, whereas many U.S. homes that have 900 number blocking to avoid these kinds of charges, do not work in preventing calls to the 809 area code.

We recommend that no matter how you get the message, if you are asked to call a number with an 809 area code that you don't recognize, just disregard the message.

Be wary of e-mail, or calls, asking you to call an 809 area code number. It's important to prevent becoming a victim of this scam, since trying to fight the charges afterwards can become a real nightmare. That's because you did actually make the call . If you complain, both your local phone company and your long distance carrier will not want to get involved and will most likely tell you that they are simply providing the billing for the foreign company. You'll end up dealing with a foreign company that argues they have done nothing wrong.

High Tide for Aquaman

Actors with "incredible swimmer's bod[ies]" are encouraged to apply.

So goes a current casting notice for a possible WB series about underwater overachiever Aquaman, according to the fansite AquamanTV.com.

Ideally, the future Arthur Curry--that's Aquaman's alter ego--also should be between "18-24 years old, [have] blond or light brown hair [and, of course, be] drop-dead handsome," the site said, quoting the announcement.

As indicated by casting notices and fansites, if not Entourage storylines, Aquaman is a superhero in play.

The Hollywood trade papers boosted the buzz Monday with confirmation that an Aquaman pilot will be shot next year in Florida, where the potential series would be set.

Smallville's Alfred Gough and Miles Millar will executive produce. Like their current WB series, the duo's Aquaman pilot will not be rife with capes, tights and codpiece accoutrements. Rather, the show will be a "grounded version of the Aquaman mythology," Gough told Daily Variety.

Aquaman debuted in DC Comics in 1941--the adopted son (in some versions of the origin) of a lighthouse keeper who grows to learn his birthright lies in the submerged island of Atlantis. Befitting his name, Aquaman is at his best in the water, where he telepathically talks to fish, plays mind games with whales and spends time with a young charge called Aqualad.

Since the WB's Aquaman will be a young man himself, there will be no immediate need for an Aqualad. There also will be no need, possibly ever, for the name Aquaman. The pilot will not be called Aquaman, Gough told Variety, and the moniker will not be mentioned. In that way, Arthur Curry (not Aquaman) will be very much in the mold of Smallville's Clark Kent (not Superman).

Someone that the new Arthur Curry won't be like is the old Arthur Curry as featured in the Oct. 20 episode of Smallville, "Aqua." Gough called that take on the character--identified as a "mysterious swimmer" by the network--"our out-of-town trial version." Since the new series isn't being spun as a spinoff of that adventure, Alan Ritchson, the actor who portrayed Arthur Curry, or A.C., for short, in Smallville, isn't being considered for the series.

For Vince Chase, who nearly walked on an Aquaman feature film despite the appeals of director James Cameron, the lure of a $2 million payday and the promise of an all-new supersuit (no more green-and-orange body stocking), also isn't likely to get a call. That, however, is because Vince Chase doesn't exist-- Adrian Grenier only plays him on TV. With Grenier's movie-star character committing to star in Aquaman in September's second-season finale of Entourage, the HBO show's third season is expected to revolve around the makings of the superhero adventure.

In a noncoincidence, HBO, the WB and DC Comics are all properties of media giant Time Warner.

A limited-edition, two-disc version of the Rolling Stones' latest album, A Bigger Bang, will arrive in stores Nov. 22.

The Cars Re-Union?

Waxing Part One of Two

WARNING: What you are about to read may make you pee your pants!!!

All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal – The epilady, scissors, razors, nair and now….the wax.

My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: “Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet.” So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom.

It was one of those “cold wax” kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you must rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to you leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I’m not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!)

So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. (Cold wax,” yeah…..right!!)

It works! OK, so it wasn’t the best feeling, but it wasn’t too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire!

With my next strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure. I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my “hoo-hoo” and stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek(Yes, it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself….RRRRIIIPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Vision returning, I notice that I’ve only managed to pull off half the strip.

CRAP!!!!! Another deep breath and RRIIPP!!!! Everything is swirly and spotted.

I think I may pass out…. Just stay conscious…. Do I hear crashing drums????

Breathe; breathe….OK, back to normal.

I want to see my trophy – a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair.

I HOLD UP THE STRIP!!

Waxing - Part Two

WARNING: What you are about to read may make you pee your pants!!!

There’s no hair on it. Where is the hair???? WHERE IS THE WAX????

Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip. I touch. I am touching wax. CRAP!!! I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered I cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake…..remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. DAMN!!!

*Hoo-hoo*? Sealed shut!! Butt??? Sealed shut!!!!

I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself “Please don’t let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!! What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!!

I’ll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, Right???? WRONG!!!!!!!!!!

I get in the tub – the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilizes surgical equipment- I set. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub…in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn’t melt cold wax. So, now I’m stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cement-epoxy myself to the porcelain!!

God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put I the bathroom!!!!!! I cal my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It’s a very good conversation starter – “So, my butt and who-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!” I calmly tell her.

There is a slight pause. She doesn’t know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, “Are we talking cheeks or hole or who-ha?? She’s laughing out loud by now… I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else’s night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to scraping the wax off with a razor. Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and…………………………….

I’M PRETTY SURE I’M GOING TO NEED POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS COUNSELING FOR

This event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace…..the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. Its sooooo painful, but I really don’t care. “IT WORKS!!! It works!

I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair…THE HAIR IS STILL THERE……ALL OF IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I’m numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point.

Researchers: Hops in Beer May Be Healthy

CORVALLIS, Ore. - Hops used to brew beer may have some health benefits but researchers warn against expecting any significant effect by drinking a few cold ones.

Scientists at Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute have found a class of compounds called flavonids neutralize "free radicals" — rogue oxygen molecules that can damage cells.

One of those flavonids, a compound called xanthohumol, is found only in hops. It may help prevent some forms of cancer, researchers say.

Some beers already have higher levels of flavonids than others. The lager and pilsner beers commonly sold in domestic U.S. brews have fairly low levels of these compounds, but some porter, stout and ale brews have much higher levels.

Still, the level of the compound in beer is generally considered too low to have any significant preventive effect.

"We can't say that drinking beer will help prevent cancer," said Fred Stevens, OSU assistant professor of pharmacy and scientist in the Linus Pauling Institute.

Hops, from a flowering plant, are used by brewers as a bittering agent in beer. Xanthohumol is a yellow substance that was first discovered in hops in 1913.

But its health effects were not known until the 1990s, when Stevens and colleagues started studying the flavonoid compound. In cell cultures and animal studies, xanthohumol targeted various types of cancer, including breast, colon and ovarian.

His original work, along with new developments in the anti-cancer properties of xanthohumol made during the past decade, was reviewed last year in the journal Phytochemistry.

Now Stevens is collaborating with fellow Linus Pauling Institute scientist Emily Ho to investigate the effects of the flavonoid on prostate cancer cells.

"When we give the flavonoid to cancer cells, it seems to slow their growth, which is what you want to do for cancer," said Ho, who is also an assistant professor in OSUs department of nutrition and exercise sciences.

svk

DelfinoPie

First-Class Stamps to Go Up 2 Cents

WASHINGTON - The cost of mailing a letter will increase to 39 cents on Jan. 8.

The Postal Service's board of governors approved the two-cent increase in first-class postal rates late Monday. It is the first increase since June 2002.

DelfinoPie

I was just being the smarter ass - plus, I thought it would be great if Joe would host your hair pulling off of body video (without pain).

Keniko

Keniko

Happy 400 posts to you

DelfinoPie

If your hair was being removed - there could be before and after pictures with pictures of Joe (with hair) and now.

Joe could give his thoughts on the best way to remove hair as well.

bahduh

I agree - it should be called the WWF.

Sony BMG recalls copy-protected CDs

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Music publisher Sony BMG, yielding to consumer concern, said on Wednesday it was recalling music CDs containing copy-protection software that acts like virus software and hides deep inside a computer.

"We share the concerns of consumers regarding discs with XCP content-protected software, and, for this reason, we are instituting a consumer exchange programme and removing all unsold CDs with this software from retail outlets," Sony BMG said in an statement.

The XCP software used by Sony BMG, which was developed by British software developers First4Internet, leaves the back door open for malicious online hackers.

Sony BMG, in a separate statement, also announced it would distribute a program to remove the software from a PC where it jeopardizes security.

"We deeply regret any inconvenience this may cause our customers. Details of this (recall) program will be announced shortly," Sony BMG said.

The withdrawal is set to affect millions of compact discs from artists such as Celine Dion and Sarah McLachlan but Sony did not give exact figures or the names of the artists affected.

Sony reiterated that the copy-protection software only installs itself on personal computers and not on ordinary CD and DVD players.

NBC to air audiotapes of Lennon's killer

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The man who murdered John Lennon says in newly released audiotapes of interviews he gave more than a decade ago that his compulsion to kill the rock icon was like a "runaway train" and that "nothing could have stopped me."

NBC said on Tuesday it would present excerpts of the taped interviews with Mark David Chapman as part of a two-hour documentary special set to air on Friday commemorating the 25th anniversary of Lennon's death.

The interviews of Chapman in Attica state prison in New York were conducted in 1991 and 1992 by author Jack Jones, who wrote the Chapman biography "Let Me Take You Down." Most of the tapes from those sessions have never been played publicly.

Chapman, currently serving a sentence of 20 years to life, shot Lennon to death outside the Dakota apartment building in Manhattan on December 8, 1980, hours after getting the musician to autograph a copy of his newly released comeback album "Double Fantasy."

Chapman, who was 25 at the time, has cited J.D. Salinger's coming-of-age novel "The Catcher in the Rye" as his inspiration for the murder. Chapman has said he identified with the book's hero, who hated phoniness, and gunned Lennon down because he thought him a hypocrite.

According to excerpts of the interview tapes transcribed by NBC News, Chapman said he saw Lennon as "a successful man who kind of had the world on a chain, so to speak, and there I was, not even a link in that chain, just a person who had no personality. And something in me just broke."

Recounting the moment he shot Lennon outside the Dakota on a brisk late-autumn evening, Chapman said he "heard a voice in my head, saying, 'Do it, do it, do it.' And as (Lennon) passed me, I pulled out the gun, aimed at his back and pulled the trigger five times in succession."

He also said he remembered "thinking perhaps my identity would be found in the killing of John Lennon."

"I was under total compulsion," Chapman went on. "It was like a train, a runaway train, there was no stopping it. No matter ... nothing could have stopped me."

A guy and a gal meet at a bar. They get along so well that they decide to go to the girl's place.

A few drinks later, the guy takes off his shirt and then washes his hands. He then takes off his trousers and washes his hands again.

The girl has been watching him and says, "You must be a dentist."

The guy, surprised, says "Yes, how did you figure that out?" "Easy," she replied, "you keep washing your hands."

One thing led to another and they make love.

After they are done, the girl says, "You must be a really good dentist."

The guy, now with a boosted ego says, "Well yes, I'm a good dentist. How did you figure that out?"

Things a Talking Car Would Say

5> "Methane level critical. Please crack a window NOW."

4> "Quit bitching about $3 gas, Mr. 'I can't function without my $5.95 Frappuccino.'"

3> "Warning! Commencing Billy Joel evasion sequence!"

2> "Reverse! Neutral! Drive! Neutral! Reverse! Now throw it into overdrive, baby! Yeah, that's right! Who's your Caddy? Who's your Caddy??!!"

and the Number 1 Thing a Talking Car Would Say...

CIA says Castro has Parkinson's disease

Clarky

You are getting close to the magic 2000 posts.

Do The Stu

Welcome back. So, do I take it you are not going to watch the NBC special about Lennon's killer?