Not the best day I've ever had

[cleolinda]

I knew a third death was coming: Actress-dancer Cyd Charisse dies at 86.

Cinematical Seven: Stan Winston's Greatest Achievements.

The Associated Press: worse than merely foolish, now encouraging people to report "piracy" (remember: five words or more) and claiming that even if you pay, you can't use their words to criticize them. I'll be the first to invoke Godwin's (yay!) and ask when the AP became head of a police state.

How Canada's DMCA will criminalize everyday Canadians.

Jon Stewart v. Fox News [Video]. This is the "Baracknophobia" clip from last night's Daily Show, which I happened to see this morning, and is also brilliant.

Absinthe is Legal Again - 11 Things You Need to Know. Number 12, not listed, is "Only posers set it on fire."

Smithsonian magazine on synthetic diamonds that fool experts and piss the hell off the diamond cartels ("Linares was at a diamond conference a few years ago, he says, a man he declines to describe slipped behind him as he was walking out of a hotel meeting room and said someone from a natural diamond company just might put a bullet in his head").

Topless soccer: ‘Beautiful game’ gets bolder. But... doesn't it hurt?

'Lost' Chicago album released 15 years after recorded.

Isoceles Kitteh has acute nose; escape from Lolcatraz; Trixy Hobbitses.

Jonas Brothers Poised To Annoy, Baffle Adults. Who the hell are these tiny people, and why are their pants so skinny? I mean--I know who they are, and yet I don't understand, you know?

‘Star Trek’s’ George Takei gets marriage license.

Anne Hathaway Leaves Longtime Boyfriend In Search Of Someone Less Oily And Crook-Like; A Brief Field Guide To Raffaello Follieri, Dumped Swindler. Apparently the beneficent influence of Steve Carell showed Hathaway that there is more! more to life than this one asshat! And then Steve Carell laid hands on a bystander and cured him of scrofula. There is no doubt in my mind that this happened.

Please explain Forbes' new celebrity power list (Starring Ashley Tisdale!).

Watson not taking over Coco Mademoiselle for Keira?

Who Are the Difficult Actors Missing From the All-Strop Team? Heeeeee.

It's Alright [sic] For Leading Men To Cry: "The portraits include Tim Roth, Gabriel Byrne, Laurence Fishburne, Woody Harrelson, Michael Gambon, Jude Law, Hayden Christiansen [sic], Ryan Gosling, Robert Downey Jr., Paul Newman, Ed Harris, Benicio Del Toro, Willem Dafoe, and Kris Kristofferson." Pictured at the Gawker link: Christensen and Daniel Craig. AM I THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN SPELL AROUND HERE?

Who else remembers 'Krull'? Man, my mom loved that movie.

Images: The Edge of Love; First Look At Gerald Butler As A Video-Game Killer; 'Burn After Reading' Poster Premiere; Nicole Kidman Does Vogue, complete with pretty, pretty Australia-themed photos with Hugh Jackman; The 'Teeth' Poster You Didn't See.

Trailers and clips: New 'Wanted' Clip; Must Watch: Full Trailer for Woody Allen's 'Vicky Cristina Barcelona'; Must Watch: 'The Curious Case of Benjamin Button' Trailer.

A ‘Harry Potter’ Mini-Movie? All Signs Point To…Maybe; Followup: More on New Harry Potter Mini-Movie Rumor for Theme Park.

Citizens for Batman Delivers Pizzas - Plus New Two-Face Clip Revealed! Also discussed here, but more importantly, the ONTDers spend most of the comments jokerizing each other's icons, which is how you know that the viral marketing has really taken hold.

It's Twilight Tuesday! Which means that MTV is going to get increasingly desperate to find some tidbit to throw up every week leading up to December! First Family Of ‘Twilight’ Unveils The Cullen Crest To MTV.

'Quantum of Solace' Title Theme Rumours Keep Coming.

Is A Visit To ‘Sin City 2′ In Angelina Jolie’s Future? She’s Curious.

Highmore Not Doing 'Eddie Dickens.'

Nick Wechsler Fuels Joe Hill and Stephen King's 'Throttle.'

No 'Dusk Watch' for Bekmambetov?

Len Wiseman to Direct 'Gears of War.'

World got 'Smart': Film's gadgets now exist.

Tidbits: Wahlberg disses Clooney's 'Ocean's' films; Mark Wahlberg Calls Max Payne The Most Complex Character He’s Ever Played.

Rest Of The World Prefers Green Message To Green Monster?

M. Night Shyamalan Talks ‘Indiana Jones’ Experience; Shyamalan: 'The Happening' is 'Best B movie ever.' ALLOW ME TO RETORT.

Comments

[kosher-jenny.livejournal.com]

From the Marky-Mark link: “People tell George Clooney it's great, but we all know it sucked,” Does this mean we'll be hearing his true thoughts on The Happening soon? Somehow I doubt it.

(Although I have to admit, speaking as someone who loves Ocean's Eleven, that the second one did suck)


Wired also did a really good article (http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.09/diamond.html) on the rise of lab-grown diamonds and companies like Apollo and Gemesis a while back. Personally, I wish them the best. Not just for the technological advancements that could be made with access to cheaper, high-quality, (and if I'm reading the Smithsonian article right, more malleable) diamonds, but also to give a big finger to De Beers and co. The Wired article gives more coverage to the cartel's reaction to Apollo:

Several years ago, it set up what it calls the Gem Defensive Programme - a none too subtle campaign to warn jewelers and the public about the arrival of manufactured diamonds. At no charge, the company is supplying gem labs with sophisticated machines designed to help distinguish man-made from mined stones.

There's also this WTF bit:

Jef Van Royen, a senior scientist at the Diamond High Council, the official representative of the diamond industry in Belgium. "If people really love each other, then they give each other the real stone," he says, during an interview at council headquarters on the Hoveniersstraat in Antwerp. "It is not a symbol of eternal love if it is something that was created last week."

Dude, it is a sparkly rock. I like sparkly things as much as the next big girly girl, including gems, but that doesn't mean that I buy into the bullshit mystique that De Beers has built around Diamonds for the past sixty years.

...that said, Apollo should look into hiring some better designers for their stuff, 'cause I'm looking on their site (https://www.shopapollo.com/orderonline_1.html) right now and, um. Some of the plainer rings are okay, I guess?


Re: Absinthe: I knew that the whole thing about the dangers of the drink was mostly hype. One of the interesting theories I've heard as to the cause of this rep had to do with metal poisoning. Something to do with really poor-quality absinthe and the way it tended to be bottled? I wish I could remember the rest of how that theory went.

I haven't tried the stuff yet myself, the fact that it's supposed to taste like black licorice has been putting me off. At the same time, I've always loved the idea that there is a ritual behind drinking absinthe. I think I'll try to pick up a bottle this weekend, and try it out.

[kookaburra1701.livejournal.com]

Woah! Not only are their pieces pretty blah, but they are a total rip off. I realize that as a jeweler, telling you this is like opening my bathrobe and doing jumping jacks in front of you, but I could get a created diamond like the one in the necklace for about $50. I can see getting jewelry with synthetics if all you want is the sparkle, but no way is that necklace worth $745.

And yeah, De Beers is ridiculous with the mystique. If you're willing to spend the time to educate yourself and develop sources, good quality diamonds are actually very reasonable (relatively) in price.