Puppies help to save lost boy, keep him warm overnight
I just heard the most incredible dog story, and it happened right here in my home state. I knew I had to share this with everyone, because even now I'm just in awe. Animals never cease to amaze me, and I'm thrilled to tell you this great news.
A little boy in the tiny town of Hackleburg, Alabama went missing near his house earlier this week. A frantic search was launched, and now 10-year-old Kyle Camp is home, safe, with his family again, thanks to the heroic efforts of four puppies.When Kyle Camp vanished from his house on Tuesday afternoon, his family was, understandably, frantic. A massive search ensued, and local TV news crews were called out to cover the story. Everyone was worried. Kyle has Down syndrome, and his brother, father and other relatives were desperate to find him as quickly as possible.
Finally, on Wednesday morning, a searcher found Kyle Camp in a wooded area not too far from his house. He'd spend a long, cold night outside in the elements, but he had some company. While Kyle was waiting for help to arrive, four puppies were with him. Officials believe that the pups helped to keep the boy warm overnight.
See? I told you it was an incredible story! Thank goodness for these adorable puppies, cuddling with this lost, probably terrified little boy until he was rescued. Amazingly, Kyle Camp only had "minor scrapes and bruises" as a result of his ordeal. He's going to be fine, thanks to the efforts of his four four-legged new best friends!
New DVD options this week include family animated fun, adult comedies and horror
Okay movie fans, get ready, because this week, one of what I think is the year's best movies is finally out on DVD. I'm talking about the Wes Anderson-directed comedy Moonrise Kingdom. I've been patiently waiting on this release so I could tell everyone how much I loved this movie. So far, it is definitely in my top five films of 2012. If quirkiness is your thing, see this film as soon as possible.
If quirky comedies aren't your thing, you've got a lot of additional new DVD options this week, including the animated family film Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted, the Adam Sandler comedy That's My Boy and the horror flick Chernobyl Diaries. How's that for variety?
I've only seen one of this week's new Blu-ray and DVD releases, but it was a doozy: I honestly can't say enough good things about Moonrise Kingdom. I adore Wes Anderson, and the cast in this snappy comedy is stellar: Bruce Willis, Ed Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartzman, and so on. I think Moonrise Kingdom might have a shot at a best picture Academy Award nomination, and certainly it deserves a nod for best original screenplay. Don't miss this movie.
Parents, listen up: Your kids will adore Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted. That's the word from my best friend and mom-of-two, who tells me that her kiddos loved this installment in the series as much as the previous two. She actually added that she liked it as much as the first Madagascar movie too. So there you go...I'd snag this quickly!
The other two big DVD releases this week seem...well...awful to me, but I could be wrong. I'm really not hip on Adam Sandler's comedy films at all (especially the junk that's come out over the past couple of years), but That's My Boy might be okay. Proceed with caution, knowing it might be utterly terrible. And the newest horror DVD movie release, Chernobyl Diaries, looks absolutely awful. Can any horror fans out there who've seen it confirm that it's bad? Either way, it's out, so again, proceed knowing that it might be a colossal waste of time.
Who won the weekend box office race?
In the battle of Liam Neeson versus Ben Affleck, Neeson was victorious -- but there's no way you could call Affleck a loser. His new political thriller, Argo, opened to excellent reviews and managed to finish in second place at the weekend box office. This, of course, means that once again, Taken 2 took the top spot.
Unfortunately, a nasty cold prevented me from seeing Argo on Saturday, but I hear excellent things. I'm trying not to hear too much, however, because I want to be at least a little bit surprised when I do get to hit the theater. Right now, the incessant coughing and sniffling would drive me, and my fellow movie goers, insane.
Enough woe is me, let's get back to the box office numbers: As I mentioned, Taken 2 won the weekend, taking in approximately $22.5 million in it's second week of release. That's impressive, especially considering the pretty tepid reviews. Argo came in a really strong second, with $20.1 million. I cannot wait to see this movie, and it's getting some serious early Oscar buzz for director and star Ben Affleck.
In third place is one film I'm almost certain I won't see in the theaters, Sinister. I've mentioned before that I'm a huge chicken when it comes to horror movies, and this one looks positively terrifying. In other words, if scary movies are your thing (especially around Halloween), you're in luck, because you have two: Sinister and the upcoming Paranormal Activity 4.
Rounding out the top five are Hotel Transylvania and the new Kevin James comedy Here Comes the Boom, which had a rather dismal debut, not surprisingly.
Did anyone hit the movie theater over the weekend? If so, what did you see and how was it? Let me know if anything is worth me upping my cold meds and braving the theater (once I'm not contagious anymore, of course).
Product review: INKnBURN
We recently profiled Megan and Rob Tsuyuki's new company INKnBURN, noting that their creations are eye-catching and totally unique. After running in our very own INKnBURN gear, we have more to say about the brand than just the designs (though those are fabulous, too).
INKnBURN does more than look pretty. With lightweight, high-quality materials and amazing versatility, INKnBURN is hands down the best running apparel on the market.
Every runner knows the importance of high-quality running gear. Wearing the wrong shirt, sports bra or shorts can lead to chafing, and less than perfect fabrics work against you in adverse weather, especially rain. Name any major sports apparel brand -- Lululemon, Nike, Adidas -- and runners will recount horror stories of painful chafing and blistering. We end up recommending every treatment on the market, from Vaseline and Butt Paste to Glide.
Silly us. We should have avoided disaster in the first place by sporting INKnBURN. The brand is made from the most unobtrusive material we've ever experienced. That is to say, when INKnBURN, you can't feel the material. Seriously.
But the fabric is more than just lightweight. It's also incredibly versatile. We ran on a day where temperatures were pushing 85 degrees. We don't know how or why, but out running gear kept us cool. Sure, we were sweating, but the perspiration didn't cling to the material and we never overheated. We've experienced moisture-wicking fabric before, but this was a whole new class of excellence.
And don't even think that INKnBURN will weigh you down in wet weather. We got a little wet on our rainy day test run, but our gear handled beautifully. It was like watching one of those Rain-X commercials where the raindrops go sliding off the windshield.
Lighter-than-air running apparel made from superior moisture-wicking fabric? You know what that means. Good bye, chafing. Forever.
And it doesn't end there. This busy blogger couldn't wait for her newly-washed INKnBURN clothes to dry, so into the dryer they went. I swore that I'd pull the clothes out in a few minutes. When I remembered that my clothes were still in the dryer half an hour later, I was sure I'd ruined the best running gear I'd ever owned. Not so much. INKnBURN survived the heavy-duty dry cycle and emerged like new, with no fading or shrinking.
The versatility of INKnBURN gear goes beyond the fabric and materials. Take a good look at INKnBURN apparel, then consider it outside the context of running. Do you see what we see? That's right. From work to the gym or for a night out, you can wear these clothes anywhere. It's wonderfully deceptive to be sporting comfortable workout gear while looking like a fashionista.
There are added bonuses to INKnBURN, too. It doesn't matter if you go for the higher impact designs or the more conservative styles. Either way, the unique gear draws attention. You'll be getting compliments left and right. Plus, the clothes not only fit extremely well, but they're also flattering: the slimming effect of INKnBURN is like no other.
Should we take a moment to recap? Lightweight and breathable. Wear anywhere versatility. No fading or shrinking, looks great (even better in person than on the site) and fits perfectly. And did we mention that INKnBURN is made right here in America? You know you're sold.
We could go on all day, but that would keep you from your true mission. Get thee to INKnBURN's website and start shopping for the best running apparel on the market. You'll be glad you did.
Vang Vieng is disgusting
Traveling is a blessing. It is a way to see different walks of life, learn from cultures other than your own, and see beautiful landscapes that don’t appear out of your window back home. Though there are many different ideas on travel, and many different ways to do it, one thing is for sure, sometimes tourism can completely destroy a town.
Vang Vieng, aesthetically, is absolutely stunning. The small town, located in the Vientiane province, is set on the Nam Song River, and is surrounded by limestone cliffs, waterfalls and caves. It’s a sleepy town, and not large. With that being said, in the past decade, the town has experienced an identity crisis and morphed into one of the most disgusting representations of western tourism in Southeast Asia.
Vang Vieng has gained popularity ever since it opened up a 10km stretch of river dedicated solely to tubing, while drinking copious amounts of booze and taking illicit drugs. Bamboo bars obstruct the view of the stunning cliffs, and rope swings into shallow pools act as death traps for drugged up tourists. Restaurants littered throughout the town have movie theater style seating, so travelers can watch Friends or Family Guy, while eating western meals, and drinking cheap Beer Lao. Every person working in the town now sees tourists as drunk, loud, ATM machines who deserved to get hustled and sucked dry.
What is so sad about this scene is that not only did western tourism change the entire culture of a once beautiful place, but for the locals who live here, this is the only glimpse of westerns they know. Drunk, drugged up and completely obnoxious. Walking down the street, even while alone and sober, I get approached by locals offering weed, drugs and “clean girls.” The massage parlor attached to my hostel turns into a mecca for cheap sex at night and the sounds of western electronic dance music obstructs the that of the flowing river, birds and bugs.
In the past month, though, all the bars along the tubing area of been shut down. It took 23 tourists dying over the year (which is a very sad statistic), but the local government has now stepped up and decided to change the town’s image and overall practices.
Since closing the bars, and cracking down on illegal drugs, the town has become sleepy once again. Tourism has definitely taken a hit, but locals now interact with tourists again, prostitution has gone down, and the town seems once again like a town in Laos, instead of a seedy ex-pat community. Tourists are returning to visit the natural beauty and experience Laotian culture.
Though those dependent on the bars for livelihood are forced to find new work, the closing of tubing, and reintegration of Laotians into their own town, is a win for this community. Positive tourism, based on natural beauty and local culture, has an opportunity to flourish, and tourists can now act responsibly and positively portray western people.
Running in Vang Vieng
Vang Vieng is a town in the middle of a transition. In fact, since tourists found the town a few years back, it’s seemed to always be in transition. Starting as a sleepy river town, backed by beautiful limestone mountains, the town became a pretty disgusting representation of western party tourism, turning into a drug, sex and tubing mecca. After a few drowning deaths this year, the town has now closed its seedy bars and is returning to a sleepy, quiet village.
I was reluctant to visit the town, due to its history, but having made it here after a long motorbike ride, I found it to be quite charming. The river blankets the edge of the town, and bars have now adopted better food menus and calm dining atmospheres.
Still being in the habit of running at night, after watching the sunset behind the surrounding peaks, I set off on the main road heading toward Vientiane. With the sun setting at my back, the road was actually quite calm. Large cargo trucks had stopped their rigs for the evening, and besides a few roadside eateries, the path was almost deserted.
I continued to push my way down the “highway,” with visibility becoming a bit less clear. With no lights from cars, nor street lamps, I realized that my plan to run at night without a light may be flawed. I was hopping to get in about seven miles, but without being able to see the missing pieces of streets, I was thinking I would need to turn around.
Before I had time to hit the lap button on my watch, a moped pulled up next to me. He was speeding down the road, but when he caught a glimpse of me running, slammed on the brakes, and started to drive next to me. He yelled out, “where you go?” and I replied, “On a run!” He thought this was funny, and continued to ask questions most locals will when talking to falang. He told me that he rarely gets to practice his English, so for the next few k’s, he drove by my side, lighting the way and asking me questions.
When it came time to turn around, my new friend followed in suite, and lit my way for the rest of the run. Even as the lights of the city came into focus, he continued to ride alongside and chat, all the way back to my hotel. As I stopped and started walking to cool down, he slowed his bike, shook my hand and took off on his way. The impromptu ESL lesson helped me get in the 7+ miles I was hopping to run.
Radioactive Waste 15 - U.S. Nuclear Fund
In 1982, The U.S. Congress passed the Nuclear Waste Policy Act. Included in the Policy Act was the provision that the U.S. utilities would pay a tax on the radioactive waste being generated by the U.S. utility companies operating nuclear reactors. The money in the fund was to be used by the U.S. government to create a safe permanent disposal facility by 1998. The Yucca Mountain Repository was the intended solution to permanent disposal. The Yucca Mountain Project ran behind schedule and encountered environmental concerns and public backlash in Nevada. In 2010, the Obama administration moved to cancel the Yucca Mountain Project. There has been opposition to cancelling the project. A federal court is going to rule on the effort to cancel by the end of 2012. At this point, there is no plan in the U.S. for permanent nuclear waste disposal.
The fund receives about seven hundred fifty million dollars a year and now contains twenty seven billion of dollars collected from the utility companies. The fund is restricted to only be used on a permanent disposal solution. It cannot be used on an interim solution such as enclosing the spent nuclear fuel in steel and concrete and storing them onsite at the reactor facilities. Since the government cannot use the fund for this purpose, the utilities have been doing it themselves. They have also been suing the U.S. government for breach of contract. Billions of dollars in lawsuits have been filed and over a billion dollars has been paid out. Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent by the U.S. government just to defend itself. There are estimates that the lawsuits may eventually reach sixteen billion in claims.
The U.S. Nuclear Energy Institute and sixteen utilities joined together in 2010 to file a lawsuit to force the U.S. Department of Energy to stop collecting the tax because of the move in 2010 by the Obama administration to cancel the Yucca Mountain Repository Project. The lawsuit said that the fee which is passed along to the public in at the rate of one-tenth of one cent per kilowatt-hour on monthly electric bills should be canceled until the government has a new plan in place for permanent disposal of nuclear waste. The office of the U.S. Secretary of Energy responded that the fee was a federal mandate and would eventually be used for permanent disposal. A blue ribbon commission was being appointed in 2010 to explore alternatives for permanent waste disposal .A few utility companies said that they were not going to invest in any more nuclear reactors until the nuclear waste disposal problem was solved. The commission delivered its report in January of 2010.
Some critics charge that the Obama administration has made it almost impossible for the fund to be used for its intended purpose. They also say that the U.S. government is hoarding the fund to reduce the apparent budget deficit.
Photo from ourenergypolicy.org:
New Companies Likely Coming to Nevada
Two more hi-tech companies are clamoring to locate their core business here in the Silver State. According to the Las Vegas Sun’s Vegas Inc. publication, the companies are Niyato Industries and V5 Technologies.
Niyato Industries converts fuel-based cars into electric powered vehicles, and wants to relocate its facilities to North Las Vegas which would result in 290 new jobs with salaries averaging $25 per hour. The Governor’s office is currently reviewing Niyato’s proposal.
V5 Technologies has already started construction on its new data center located at West Cheyenne Avenue and Buffalo Road in Las Vegas. As previously reported on Las Vegas Job Market, Internet technology companies are finding Nevada is a prime location for their industry, and will be lining up to put their operations here for the foreseeable future.
The new data center will need 16 high-salaried workers initially, but V5 executives say if all goes well, they will build two more data centers in the North Las Vegas, Henderson areas.
Las Vegas | Nevada Jobs Updates
Here is a rundown of the newest positions posted across the web:
Receptionist – Las Vegas, Oct. 15th. Sonic Automotive is seeking a part-time receptionist for its Honda West location. Apply online here.
Front Desk Clerk – Las Vegas, Oct. 15th. Station Casinos is hiring a front desk clerk for its Hotel Boulder establishment in Las Vegas.
Senior Social Worker – Southern Nevada, current. The Veteran’s Affairs Southern Nevada Healthcare System is seeking senior social worker(s). Candidates must be registered at USAJobs.com to apply online.
Pharmaceutical Sales Rep – Las Vegas, Oct. 15th. Astellas Pharma US is looking for a fulltime pharmaceutical sales representative.
Bailiff – LV/Clark County, Oct. 14th. Clark County District Court is hiring a bailiff. Interested candidates should visit the posting for more info and to apply.
Hospitalist – Las Vegas area, Oct. 12th. Locum Tenens needs three hospitalists to work in area hospitals. Interested candidates can obtain info and apply via email here.
OR Scheduler – Las Vegas, Oct. 10th. The Valley Health System is hiring an Operating Room Scheduler for part-time days.
Restaurant Workers – Las Vegas, Oct. 15th. Outback Steakhouse is hiring for a number of positions, including line/prep cooks, hosts and servers for its Pecos Road location.
Rolling Stones fans, rejoice: The band announces four new shows!
For weeks, I've eagerly followed any and all news about the Rolling Stones. And yes, I'd heard rumors that the Stones were planning several shows to mark their 50th anniversary. Guess what? The rumors were true!
Today, the Rolling Stones made it official, announcing plans for four concerts: Two in London and two in New Jersey. Congratulations to anyone who lives in either area. Now, what about the rest of us? Will the Stones announce a bigger tour at some point?
First, let's get to the biggest news of the day in the rock world: After five years away, the Rolling Stones are finally going to return to the stage. The band announced via a video message that they will play two shows at the O2 Arena in London (November 25 and November 29, 2012), followed by two more shows at Newark's Prudential Center (December 13 and December 15, 2012). Here is the official video announcement:
Woo! Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Ronnie Wood and Charlie Watts, y'all! Sorry, I'm really, really excited about these shows, because I suspect that a bigger Rolling Stones 50 and Counting tour is in the works.
All the details on tickets can be found on the official Rolling Stones website. Special pre-sales are happening, and regular on-sale dates will begin on October 19 (for London) and October 26 (for Newark, New Jersey). Here's where I've got a bit of a problem: The Rolling Stones ticket prices, in my opinion, are ridiculously high. I checked the prices via Ticketmaster for the New Jersey shows, and prices range from $95 (the cheapest ticket) to a whopping $750. I'm not kidding, that's exactly what's listed right now. For that price, I'd expect Mick Jagger to serve me refreshments *during the show.*
Does anyone else think the Rolling Stones concert ticket prices are excessive?
Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson Back Together, Just in Time for 'Breaking Dawn Part 2' PR
Finally, people are actually beginning to question what I've long suspected: Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart's entire relationship is a sham! Look, Twihards, I've tried to believe that Kristen and Rob really are (or were?) in love, but the whole thing has always seemed phony. I could be wrong, but at least now I know I'm not the only one who wonders.
Given the recent mess involving Kristen Stewart's supposedly cheating on Rob Pattinson with her much older, married Snow White and the Huntsman director, Rupert Sanders, it almost seems too predictable that Kristen and Rob are now being photographed together. How convenient, given that the final Twilight movie, Breaking Dawn Part 2, is due out in a matter of weeks!
I can't be the only person in the world who thinks that the entire Robert Pattinson/Kristen Stewart relationship is malarkey, right? I think it was all manufactured to promote the Twilight movies. If so, it worked! Bella and Edward, together in real life? Oh yes, please! Fans ate it up. Honestly people, this wouldn't be the first time a Hollywood coupling was faked for publicity.
If I wasn't suspicious before, I sure am now, with word that Kristen Stewart, aka The Cheater, was photographed with Robert Pattinson, aka The Wounded Ex-Boyfriend, on Sunday night at a popular bar in Los Angeles. Ye Rustic Inn is actually in the Los Feliz neighborhood, where Rob and Kristen once lived together (supposedly). Also, another report suggests that Kristen and Rob were getting cozy together at the Chateau Marmont over the weekend.
Now TMZ is finally throwing The Big Question out there: Are Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart really a couple again, and were they ever? Is this reconciliation "a total set-up"? I think it's a set-up, yes, but I also think these two were never together in the first place.
Does anyone else out there agree with me? Disagree? Let's hear your thoughts in the comments!