Richard Wright is On Tanget

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As the great Willie Nelson once told us “on the road again, just can’t wait to get on the road again”. That man spoke a lot of sense in that song but he also smoked a lot of cannabis apparently, so take anything he says with a slight pinch of salt. I know I do. Why am I quoting him? This makes no sense. Which would be fine if I was high but I don’t smoke weed. So anyway the confusion is back at Frost Magazine. For those of you who don’t know, cause let’s face it as Staind said; it has, in fact, been a while, I used to write a lot of nonsense on various things right here at Frost Magazine. And now due an underwhelming lack of public interest in those articles I am back to do some more. No need to thank me I know you didn’t ask me too. So let’s get down do it and do something America can’t do and raise the ceiling! That joke works better if it’s raise the roof but it’s not called the Debt Roof. If it was then the debt roof really is on fire. The roof, the roof, the roof is on fire. Anywho….

Let me introduce this little idea of mine. It’s called “on tangent” and basically I like to wander aimlessly wherever my mind takes me at that moment. There is never a moment when I can truly stay on topic. For example writing this now I have had to avoid slipping into a few lines on the topic chocolate bar. You see I will never be on topic and don’t go looking for a topic because there’s isn’t one. However I can promise that I can stay on tangent. There is to the best of my knowledge no chocolate bar called tangent. There is one in Sweden called Plop but none called Tangent. Plop is actually quite a tasty bit of confectionary. You see my issue. So here I present the first ever on tangent – I’ll keep these brief there is only so long you can read them before they become intolerable.

I thought we could start with something deep. The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return. Unless, of course, you’re a surgeon in which case that’s just not true at all. What I would like to talk with you about today is something that I believe is an important topic that deserves deep consideration. Why does Alexander Armstrong look quite so much like a Toby Jug? That’s not it but it just struck me, and I felt I should share.

Admittedly saying that was a tad pointless. Oh yes that’s right he shoots and he scores. Thank you thank you no need to applaud. I do quite like that quiz though it’s quite a good tea time watch. I wouldn’t mind going on pointless because I wouldn’t win and it would be pointless. I think we can all see the circularity in that. It would be the purest form of the quiz and I would have embraced the totality of the nature of naming the quiz pointless. Because my being on the show would be pointless and therefore that would surely make the lords of quiz naming happy. Although I have a feeling the name was initially rejected as the title for a Katie Price reality show. Or even just as the tagline to her life. I mean that would be a more honest title for one of those shows. Speaking of honest advertising here is a few potential company slogans if the companies involved decided to be a bit more honest about themselves:

1.We’re not ethical but you knew that – NewsCorp
2.We do terrible things but aren’t your trainers comfortable? – Nike
3.Evil vs tasty? Tasty wins – Nestle
4. Want to look like you care without trying too hard? Cadburys Dairy Milk
5. At this point we could probably sell you anything – Apple
6. Come on you don’t even watch Panorama – Primark
7.You don’t really understand it but everyone is else is doing it – Twitter

Speaking of advertising one of the adverts I saw for the new Alpha Romeo Mito made me angrily confused. Now car adverts is one of the places were rhetoric and the use of over the top language is common place and I can accept that for what it is. A ford focus won’t give you more focus. But this? Sorry Alpha this is lying! It runs on Adrenaline? It clearly won’t that’s so over the top stupid I can’t wrap my head around who said that was OK! It’s beyond my tiny mind and maybe that’s why I don’t understand it. But as the weeks role by here at Frost Magazine you’ll soon discover there are many things I don’t understand. And that’s ok. There is nothing wrong with saying I don’t understand. Nick Clegg says it every day when he looks in the mirror. And I can help Nick it’s called standing by your beliefs. Talk to Paddy Ashdown about it he might be able to help you out. You remember him right Nick?

So that’s all for this particular peculiar but always molecular edition of On tangent. I am aware that last sentence makes about as much sense as going to Lycos to do a search for Google but, you know, when you’re the type of person who does go to Lycos and type in Google you run with whatever you can think of. When I went to Lycos and typed in Google I just wanted it to link to a picture of a dog crying with the text “why do you mock me like this? It’s not right. You know where Google is. Why do you have to remind me things aren’t as good as we planned? I hate Google!” Thanks for reading until next time please occasionally use Lycos it will make its little tail wag.

PS – If Lycos had become the world powerhouse instead of Google would the popular phrase for doing an internet search have been “fetching”? It would have been better then “dogging it”

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt To Quit Acting: “We Had a Good Run”

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Angelina Jolie has revealed that she “doesn’t love” acting as much as she used to.

Jolie was in tears when she was honoured for her controversial war movie, The Land Of Blood And Honey, at the Sarajevo Film Festival. She was praised for her directing debut, which is about a Muslim woman and a Serbian man during the Bosnian war in the 1990s. However, Jolie also said that she and Brad plan to quit acting soon.

“As Brad and I get older, we’re going to do fewer films,” she said. “I’ve been working for a long time, he’s been working for a long time. We’ve had a nice run and don’t want to be doing this our whole lives.”

Jolie added: “I’ve never not been grateful to be an actor. But I think when I was younger, I needed [acting] more. I was trying to question things in life, so you find these characters that help you find things and grow. I’m older and I know who I am, and I’m less interested in the character helping me answer something than in being able to answer it for myself, as a woman, as an adult, with my family.”

Jolie was Forbes highest paid actress in 2009 and 2011, and she and boyfriend Brad Pitt are parents to six children, Maddox, 9, Pax, 7, Zahara, 6, Shiloh, 5 and twins Vivienne and Knox, 3.

She said: “Home is wherever we are. I’m very bad at staying in one place. I’m also bad at sitting still. There’s so much to explore in the world, so I love travel. If you can travel I think it’s the best way to raise kids.”

Amy Winehouse Was 'Physical Wreck' – Death Leaves A Trail Of Grief And Denials

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Amy Winehouse’s grieving mother has said that the singer was “a physical wreck” the day before she died and that her minders had to help her down the stairs. Janis, who suffers from MS, added that Amy was “completely out of it.”

The singer was apparently having weekly health check-ups and her doctor visited her 24 hours before her death but had ‘no concerns.” Her bodyguard, Andrew Morris, also checked on her in the morning, but when he returned in the afternoon, she had died.

After her funeral on Tuesday, Winehouse’s father gave fans her clothes, leaving one fan wearing a vest the singer owned. It also emerged that she was in the process of adopting a poor, 10-year-old, St Lucian girl.

Since the singer’s death, tributes have flooded in, and her family released a statement saying: “Our family has been left bereft by the loss of Amy, a wonderful daughter, sister, niece. She leaves a gaping hole in our lives. We are coming together to remember her and we would appreciate some privacy and space at this terrible time.”

Amy’s phone was apparently “routinely” hacked by members of the press, as were Winehouse’s parents, brother Alex and ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil, according to investigative journalist Charles Lavery.

Talking about the troubled Londoner’s attendance at rehabilitation centres, a source told Lavery: “The press knew where she would be, who would be there, what time, at any given time.

“They were able to be there too, to befriend her and actively encourage her, as if they had arrived by chance. That made better copy and, more importantly, better photos for the snappers both inside and waiting outside.

Ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil said that losing Winehouse has left him “inconsolable”, while Fielder-Civil’s mother hit out at critics who said he was responsible for the singer’s untimely, saying he had nothing to do with it.

Amy joins the ’27 Club’ – a list of famous rock stars who died at the same age  – which also includes Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin and Brian Jones.

Tony Blair On The Rack Over Iraq

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Tony Blair is to be heavily criticised for his role in leading the UK to war in Iraq, according to the Mail on Sunday.

The paper points to a number of damning points, saying:

    • The Chilcot inquiry will criticise Mr Blair for failing to admit a secret pact he made with former president George Bush in 2002.
    • Mr Blair apparently withheld vital information from cabinet colleagues, preferring instead, a ‘sofa style government’ with a close knit group of allies.
    • He was also be heavily criticised for failing to come up with a post war plan for Iraq.
    •  The inquiry is thought to be most damning regarding Mr Blair’s claim to parliament that Saddam Hussein’s possession of WMD was ‘beyond doubt’. Blair claims to have misunderstood the infamous 45 minute claim dossier, in which it was argued that Saddam Hussein could launch WMD in 45 minutes. This claim was later found to be nonsense.

A spokesman for Tony Blair said: “This is a deliberate attempt to pre-judge a report that hasn’t even been written yet. We’re not going comment until it has been published.”

Spin doctor Alistair Campbell and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw are also thought to come in for heavy criticism.

If the allegations prove to be true, what justice will the British public now demand? Some of the criticisms are the result of incompetence or lack of foresight. However, others, such as failing to disclose the secret war pact and the WMD claim, raise a vitally important question. Was there a deliberate attempt to mislead the British public?

We will have to wait until Autumn for the full Chilcot inquiry to be published.

Wendy's Baby Diary: 17 Weeks

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Hi, I’m Wendy. I’m in my thirties and I have a 17-week-old baby called Dillon.

I’m going to keep a weekly blog on what’s been happening with Dillon, which will hopefully be helpful to anyone who’s pregnant or has a young baby themselves. And I’m also hoping that it will be a great record for him to read when he grows up – or possibly just plain embarrassing.  :o)

In the meantime, if you have a baby or pregnancy-related question you would like answered, you can contact me via frostmag or email editor@femalearts.com and I’ll reply via this blog.

Christening

We recently had Dillon Christened, which was a great day and a good event for extended family and friends to officially welcome Dillon into the world, as well as the church. If you’re not religious. a naming day is a good alternative. A Chinese friend told me they have a tradition of celebrating when the baby is 100 days old.

I think having an official day to celebrate your baby when they are approximately three months old is good for many reasons. Immediately after the birth is too soon to be bombarded with well-wishers. You need time and some privacy to get used to your new arrival yourselves, with perhaps just close friends and relatives. But if you leave a bigger get together until their first birthday, they’re no longer a small helpless baby, but moving about and possibly talking, and even walking.

So, the three month mark is a good compromise. Not so young that you can’t cope, but not so old that the relatives think they have missed out. Three months also seems to be the age that babies appear on TV or book covers as the standard image of a baby. When they’re born, they look too small – because we’re not used to seeing them that size!

Goods

We all know that children are expensive. They shouldn’t be, but we live in a consumer society and we are anxious parents who want our children to be safe, well-educated and stimulated. Guilt sells so many items!

I hate the parent guilt trip, so please do whatever makes sense to you, as parental instinct will see you right. However, I am happy to recommend products that have worked for me and Dillon.

Pampers – You can try other brands of nappies and we did – cheaper, store own brands. And the baby’s shit leaked everywhere. Pampers do a great job of keeping everything in, so long as you change the nappy regularly (after a feed or every two to three hours).

Nappies in general – Make sure your baby is wearing the right size. This changes quickly. Dillon is nearly four months old and in size three, so that’s nearly one size change a month. Buying in bulk may seem like a good idea, as they can get through as many as 12 nappies a day! But you could end up with a lot of nappies left over, as they grow so fast. Of course, you could go down the eco-route and buy washable Terry nappies. I think our environment is important, but I had to draw a line.

Clothes – Similar to nappies. Don’t be tempted to buy loads of newborn outfits. If your baby is born at an average weight (anywhere between 5-8lbs) they may only be in newborn clothes for a matter of weeks. Then the next size of clothes (0-3 months) will only last another couple of months before they’re into the next size (3-6 months). I find it hard to believe that an entire new set of clothes are required every three months. Why hasn’t someone invented adjustable clothes that last six months or a year? But this is capitalism at its best, so be careful and don’t get carried away buying expensive outfits which will only be worn a few times.

Bumbo – Funny sounding seat that is brilliant for babies once they can hold their head and want to sit upright. It is ergonomically designed to hold the baby in place and they seem very happy in their throne. Dillon used his for the first time today and was so delighted, he christened it in the typical ‘throne’ manner (perhaps potty training will go well). I have a lot of chairs for Dillon, some better than others. We live in a three-storey town house, so I want one baby chair on each floor to avoid having to carry chairs up and down the stairs – as well as the baby.

Fisher Price Aquarium Take Along Swing – This is a musical chair that Dillon really enjoys sitting in for about 15 minutes, before he gets bored or frustrated! This was a used gift from friends of my in-laws. I recommend not buying everything new for a baby. It is too expensive and these items take up a lot of space. But if you don’t know where an item has come from (e.g. not passed down by relatives or friends) then of course take precautions and check the product thoroughly for safety. And if in doubt, don’t use it. However, the only items that should always be brand new are your baby’s cot mattress and car seat.

What’s new this week

Dillon is now rolling himself onto his side and his front. It came to light when my husband asked me if I’d put Dillon to bed on his front. “Of course not,” I replied indignantly (as this is a known cause of cot death) we turned him onto his back, and he immediately flipped himself onto his front again!

It’s a good thing for babies to do this (when awake) because they are getting ready to crawl.

Until next time – happy parenting,
Wendy.

© Wendy Thomson 2011
http://www.femalearts.com

Royal Wedding: Zara Phillips Marries Mike Tindall

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You wait years for a Royal Wedding and two come along at once. Zara Phillips has married Mike Tindall at a lavish palace reception.

The Queen’s granddaughter married in a private ceremony in Edinburgh’s Canongate Kirk with the Queen, Kate Middleton and Prince William in attendance. The Duchess of Cambridge also accompanied her husband, and while this wedding didn’t have the scale of Westminster Abbey, more than 6,000 people turned up to watch sports star Tindall marry into the monarchy, including England coach Martin Johnson, his predecessor Sir Clive Woodward, Scotland’s coach Andy Robinson, Lawrence Dallaglio and Jonny Wilkinson.

For the fashionistas, Zara’s dress was created by the Queen’s favourite designer, Stewart Parvin, and the bride paid tribute to Scotland with thistles incorporated into her bouquet of white blooms.

The wedding reception is being staged in the grounds of Holyroodhouse, but their honeymoon is postponed as the newlyweds will be back at training this week. Zara, 30, will be competing in the Gatcombe Park horse trials, and Tindall, 32, is likely to play in the England rugby match against Wales next Saturday.

Celine Dion 'Signature' Perfume Launches

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Celine Dion has once again stepped into the ubiquitous celeb-perfume movement with Celine Dion Signature which launches worldwide in September 2011.

Developed as an ode to Celine’s power to connect and inspire through her music, this timeless scent is the latest addition to the Celine Dion portfolio of fragrances. Since its introduction in 2003, the Celine Dion Fragrance House has continually remained a top performer in major markets across North America and Europe.

“Celine Dion is a signature icon. Her extraordinary ability to move and connect emotionally with her fans has played a major role in the global success of her fragrance franchise,” says Steve Mormoris, Senior Vice President Global Marketing at Coty Beauty. “This fragrance is the ultimate olfactive expression of Celine’s inspiring presence and innate charisma that continue to captivate audiences all over the world.”

Celine Dion’s iconic, powerful music crosses generations and transcends language, forming lasting bonds with people around the world. Through her power to connect and inspire, she holds a singular place in her fans’ hearts which is reflected in her classic new scent, Signature.

“My music provides me with a wonderful creative outlet to express my feelings and share these emotions with my fans,” explains Celine. “Creating the Signature fragrance allows me to reach my fans in a completely different, yet very personal way.”

A SIGNATURE SCENT

Celine Dion Signature is an elegant, classic scent with modern appeal by Firmenich perfumer Ilias Ermenidis.

Top Notes: Mimosa Blossom, Pink Lady Apple, Juicy Guava

Middle Notes: Indian Jasmine, Rose Essence, Magnolia Blossom

Bottom Notes: Sensual Musk, Amberwood, Sandalwood

ICONIC PACKAGING

Celine’s iconic silhouette is etched into the bottle in relief, creating a stunning visual signature that evokes her everlasting appeal. The packaging is a reflection of Celine’s own classic elegance. Celine Dion Signature will be available in September 2011 at mass merchandisers and drug outlets in the United States and Europe.

www.celinedionbeauty.com

New Standard For Digital Banking As Citibank Launches iPad App

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Furthering CEO Vikram Pandit’s vision to become the world’s digital bank, Citibank today unveiled its first-ever consumer banking app designed specifically for iPad. Citibank for iPad provides U.S. consumer banking clients with an engaging, visually rich tool to track, analyze and plan their finances.

“Our iPad app is all about listening to our clients and understanding that they need their digital banking experience to be more engaging and dynamic – beyond the standard static tables you find with other iPad apps, ” said Tracey Weber, Head of Internet and Mobile Banking, North America Consumer Banking, Citi. “We’re offering a whole new way of banking, with enhanced visuals and interactive tools. We’re focused on continually offering modern solutions that help put ease into our clients’ financial lives, wherever and whenever.”

Citibank for iPad is the first app from a major U.S. bank to depart from traditional ledger-style banking and offer graphs and visual representations of consumer accounts and transactions. The intuitive user interface makes it easy for customers to check balances, control their cash flow, pay bills, transfer funds, access rewards and find nearby Citibank ATMs and branches, all at the touch of their screen.

Unlike other banking apps for iPad that mirror the PC or mobile phone interface, the Citibank app takes advantage of the unique tablet experience to provide users with a visually revealing, insightful interface along with a host of interactive new features.

More than just an account management tool, the app allows consumers to more deeply engage with their experience, from basic banking to more in-depth financial management. Advanced features allow users to view information and take actions that will make managing their finances easier, including:

* Plan cash outflows with the help of a unique interactive chart of past and future payments and transfers
* Analyze personal spending habits through automatically generated, customizable charts of payee spending
* Compare personal spending habits with general consumer data, filtering by location, age group, income bracket and purchase category

Citibank for iPad also offers access to resources and information that help users manage their financial lives, including direct access to exclusive, continually updated content from Citi Personal Wealth Management and Women & Co., a service of Citibank. Consumers can also use the app to reach customer service directly. Citi is the only major U.S. bank to offer direct access to its Twitter customer support option via its tablet app.

To Download or Learn More:

* Citibank for iPad is available free from the App Store(SM) on iPad or at www.itunes.com/appstore/.
* View a demo of Citibank for iPad on YouTube at: http://citi.us/okRNbo.
* To learn more about Citi, please visit www.citi.com or www.citigroup.com.

Women & Co. is a vehicle from Citibank for insightful women to build their financial knowledge, bolster their confidence and create financial strategies that will help them achieve their goals. Through access to education, resources, and a community of financially minded women, Women & Co. is Where Wisdom, Wealth and Women Meet. Sign up for free at womenandco.com.