Song of the Moment: Annie Lennox-Why

I also absolutely love Kelly Clarkson's cover of it. One of the few times where the cover artist really does the original justice. Simply beautiful.

Houses made of strange materials

I saw a show on TV the other day, about this little town in Arizona, where everyone builds these houses out of tires, and they are almost entirely self sufficient.

This got me wondering about what other types of housing material has been used. I found some pretty neat stuff.

A house made of trash. I guess no one will really notice that your house is messy, since it's made of garbage.


Another view of the same home.


A house made out of tires, like the one in the TV show.


A house made of newspapers. Pretty neat, until you need to use the stove, or turn on an electrical device...


A house made of doors. Perfect way to keep out intruders, cause they can't find the right door.


A house made of plastic bottles. An ideal building material, assuming there is no wind where he lives.


A house made of two old boats. When the rain starts falling, he'll have the last laugh.


A house decorated with beer bottles. Class act.


An airplane house. Check out the inside. Awesome.


A mud and straw house. Pretty typical in some regions of the world, though this one seems to be more of a designer house, than one built out of necessity.


A house made of glass bottles. I hear that the air trapped in the bottles makes a great insulator.


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Source: nowthatsnifty.blogspot.com via Neatorama

'Bones' Season 5 promo

Ok, seriously no more teasing in regards to Booth and Brennan hooking up. You just know they're gonna drag it out some more.

Oh, who am I kidding I'm gonna enjoy every minute of it!. :D.

R.I.P. John Hughes

The US film director and writer, John Hughes, who created some of the most famous comedies of the 1980s and 1990s, has died at the age of 59.

The director died after a heart attack in New York, his spokeswoman said.

Hughes was the director of such successful films as Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

He was also a leading script writer, penning films such as Pretty in Pink and Home Alone.

Over the past decade, Hughes withdrew from Hollywood and became a famer in the Midwestern state of Illinois.

Hughes had been in Manhattan on a family visit when he died.

1980s zeitgeist

The BBC's Vincent Dowd says Hughes had not directed a film since Curly Sue in 1991, but it did not matter - his early movies had become part of the 1980s zeitgeist.

John Hughes in 1984, the year he directed Sixteen Candles

If, in 1986, Ferris Bueller's Day Off owed something to the on-screen energy of the young Matthew Broderick, it also benefited from Hughes' sharp script and direction, our correspondent says.

He worked well with young talent, as he had already shown the year before in The Breakfast Club starring Emilio Estevez and Mollie Ringwald, he adds.

In the high-school story, our correspondent says, Hughes cleverly portrayed teen America to itself - and the box office was enormous.

"Many filmmakers portray teenagers as immoral and ignorant, with pursuits that are pretty base," Hughes told the Chicago Tribune newspaper in 1985.

"They seem to think that teenagers aren't very bright. But I haven't found that to be the case. I listen to kids. I respect them. I don't discount anything they have to say just because they're only 16 years old," he added.

'Quintessential filmmaker'

Born in 1950 in Michigan, where he set many of his films, Mr Hughes started out as a journalist and advertising copywriter before trying out script writing.

I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend Matthew Broderick

His biggest hit of all came in 1990 with Home Alone, which he wrote and produced, but did not direct.

The film made the central character, a then 10-year-old Macaulay Culkin, the biggest child star for decades and grossed almost $500m (£300m) worldwide.

"I was a fan of both his work and a fan of him as a person," Culkin said. "The world has lost not only a quintessential filmmaker whose influence will be felt for generations, but a great and decent man."

In a statement, Matthew Broderick said: "I am truly shocked and saddened by the news about my old friend John Hughes. He was a wonderful, very talented guy and my heart goes out to his family."

By the mid-1990s, Mr Hughes had disappeared from the public eye almost totally, though he continued to produce and write screenplays.

He wrote under the pseudonym of Edmond Dantes, a character in the Alexandre Dumas novel, The Count of Monte Cristo.

His credits under the name include Beethoven and Maid in Manhattan.

Our correspondent says Mr Hughes will above all be remembered for a small number of movies which perfectly captured the spirit of 1980s America.

Source: bbc.co.uk


I have always been a fan of this man's work. His collaborations with John Candy remain among the most memorable to me.

Films like Uncle Buck, Planes Trains & Automobiles, Home Alone, Ferris Bueller's Day Off and the iconic The Breakfast Club are absolute classics.

The world of entertainment has lost another wonderfully creative soul. He will undoubtedly be sorely missed, but his work will live on and be remembered for future generations to come.

Kim Clijsters on juggling motherhood and tennis

It has not quite got to the stage where players will be issued with feeding bottles as well as water bottles, but the tennis family is about to welcome more babies into the fold. Roger Federer, a new father of twins, returns to the tournament circuit in Montreal next week, while Kim Clijsters, with her daughter Jada in tow, makes her long-awaited comeback in Cincinnati.

The patter of tiny feet is not an uncommon sound in players' lounges across the world, but in the vast majority of cases they are the children of tennis-playing fathers rather than mothers. While not many fathers win Grand Slam titles – just eight have done so since 1980, with only Jimmy Connors winning more than one – no mother has triumphed since Evonne Goolagong won Wimbledon in 1980, three years after the birth of her first child. The previous mother to win at the All England Club was Dorothea Lambert Chambers in 1914.

Given the parlous state of women's tennis, there are many who predict a highly successful comeback for 26-year-old Clijsters, but history is hardly on her side. Austria's Sybille Bammer, the world No 29, is the only mother in the current top 100 and is one of just eight women since Goolagong who have returned to the main tour after having children.

Most made little impact. Laura Gildemeister won a title in 1989, Rosanna de los Rios reached two tour semi-finals in 2001 and Lindsay Davenport won three tournaments and climbed back into the world's top 25 after her brief return at the end of 2007. The American, who was back on the court barely a month after becoming a mother, gave birth to her second child six weeks ago.

While Federer insists that fatherhood will have no major impact on his career – the world No 1 plans to travel on the circuit with his family – Clijsters will leave any long-term decisions until she completes her three-tournament comeback at the US Open. Her travelling entourage includes her 17-month-old daughter, her husband, her coach, a physical trainer, an osteopath, a media representative and the occasional nanny and friend.

"I'll see how the whole trip went and which things I have to adjust," she said. "It's a new experience for me. I'm travelling with a family. Being back on tour is going to be completely different."

Almost all mothers who return to professional sporting careers agree that practical problems, such as child-care issues, are the biggest to overcome: playing sport is the easy part compared with ensuring the health and happiness of your family.

"There's absolutely no physical reason why players shouldn't come back after having babies," said Dr Anik Shawdon, who has worked as a doctor at the Australian Open. "After pregnancy a woman should be just as strong as she was before, if not stronger. Some women can put on quite a lot of weight during pregnancy, which might mean they will take a little longer to get back into shape, but if you maintain an exercise regime you should be able to come back pretty quickly.

"Many sportswomen actually find that they are mentally stronger when they return. The discipline that you have to follow when you have a baby, particularly if you're breast-feeding, should help you with the discipline you need in your training programme."

Distance runners have been particularly successful. Liz McColgan enjoyed a long and successful marathon career after becoming a mother, while Paula Radcliffe won the New York Marathon only nine months after giving birth. The Scottish golfer Catriona Matthew won the British Open last weekend less than three months after giving birth to her second child.

Davenport's example showed Clijsters what was possible. "Lindsay and I have always kept in touch," she said. "A lot of it was just talking about how the kids were doing, sending pictures of the babies back and forth. We didn't really talk much about life on tour as a mother and as a wife."

Clijsters will be welcomed back into tennis with open arms. Her retirement was a setback for the women's game, particularly as Justine Henin and Martina Hingis quickly followed her off the stage. Her sunny disposition and bold game won both admirers and titles before she quit in May 2007. Although she had only the 2005 US Open to show for her five appearances in Grand Slam finals, the Belgian won 34 singles titles and nearly $15m (some £9m) in prize-money. She was the world No 1 for 19 weeks.

Her commitment to tennis seemed to wane after she struggled with injury problems. She announced her engagement three years ago to Brian Lynch, an American basketball player, married in the summer of 2007 and gave birth to Jada Ellie in February 2008.

The All England Club played a major part in her decision to return. Clijsters played alongside Andre Agassi, Steffi Graf and Tim Henman in an event to test Wimbledon's new Centre Court roof earlier this summer and so enjoyed getting back into shape that she decided to make a trial return to competition. She has accepted wild cards into tournaments in Cincinnati and Toronto as well as the US Open.

Clijsters, who breastfed for nine months and hardly played for two years, said: "When I started playing tennis again my strokes were there very quickly, but physically it was harder. In my mind I know how I wanted to move, when I had to run forward or when I had to take a step backwards, but my mind and body weren't really connecting the same way.

"I really had to tell myself that I had to start from zero and take it one step at a time and try not to look too far ahead, try not to look at negative things. Now, luckily, it feels like it never happened. Now I feel like I'm back in good shape."

Clijsters said the most difficult part was rebuilding her serve. "The timing has to be perfect – bending your legs, rotating your hips, your shoulders, hitting the ball at the right moment," she said. "Everything has to be so correct and precise."

Serena Williams is among those who are predicting a successful comeback. "She was always a strong player and always a fighter," the Wimbledon champion said. "I think she will eventually be able to reach the level she was at before she retired – and probably be even better."

Read more....

Kim playing in Toronto?. Finally, a reason to watch the women's game!.

While the success of her comeback is yet to be determined I think her return will give the WTA a shot of excitement and interest it so desperately needs.

There may be no chance of Hingis coming back on tour, but Kim Clijsters is an excellent substitute.

All the best to you Kim, I can't wait to see you out on court again =).

Song of the Moment: Bear McCreary-Gaeta's Lament

I like this version of the song.

But sometimes there really is nothing better then the original. And I am so glad that this particular version made it on to the season 4 BSG album.

Something about the way the original actor sings it that just grabs you....

One of these things is not like the other

Source: buzzfeed.com via Neatomara