A Few Sunday Goodies

Three updates to the site:

The Gift of Transparency link is now in the sidebar, under Blogs of Note.

A link to Urban Myths' Inept Senior Skeptic maclen's postings from OnlineOpinion.com is now in the Skeptic Zone Section.

STS now has its own favicon! If you use Firefox to view the blog you're probably already seeing it now. IE users may need to favorite the site in order for it to show up.

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Michael Caine was interviewed recently at the UK premiere of his latest film Inception and briefly mentions Nicole.





He must have a had a good time because the movie was 5 years ago! Fans will remember the part of Isabel's father was written specifically for Caine. They were great fun and very sweet to watch together.














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Keith's appearance on a upcoming Wiggles album has hit the internet. He does a cover of Roger Miller's "England Swings" on Let's Eat.

Description: Here’s a serving of music that’s deliciously delightful! The Wiggles have cooked up a feast of fun with some very special guests! Here’s just a taste; Aussie legends Mental as Anything join with The Wiggles and sing Let’s Cook. Singing superstar Keith Urban sings and swings with England Swings! Then for dessert, Anthony, Murray, Jeff and Sam will join Captain Feathersword, Dorothy the Dinosaur, Wags the Dog and Henry the Octopus for a banquet of beats to get your toes tapping. You’ll be hungry for more when you sample a morsel of The Wiggles’ Let’s Eat!

The complete track listing is available HERE




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Here's an interesting read about Keith's appearance at PEI, well-written by a male Taylor Swift fan and blogger. Thanks to BeenThereHeardThat for the link!

The Cavendish Beach Music Festival: Gloriana, Keith Urban

JULY 9, 2010

by Agustin


Wow! Yesterday was nothing compared to today. The festival’s attendance grew exponentially tonight, July 8, at the Cavendish Festival as the international acts took the stage. We here at the Swift Agency- are too tired to make jokes. Let’s get to it.

I was awaiting the sounds of Gloriana. They didn’t disappoint in their performance. The quartet came out to their usually opening number of How Far Do You Wanna Go? which was recognized and sang back word for word by the audience.

There were a few technical glitches. As Tom Gossin said when he switched to the keyboard, “sometimes things happen. Sometimes you get to Canada and your mike stand is not there.” Cheyenne helped Tom figure out a keyboard problem while Mike Gossin improvised a guitar solo. According to Rachel, Cheyenne is the “techie” of the group. However, Cheyenne also run into issues when she switched to a guitar only to discover it wasn’t working. The group quickly improvised and moved along.

The crowd was chanting for Wild At Heart but Gloriana didn’t cut short their set.

I liked their performance of The World Is Ours Tonight. Rachel shined with her rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s Say That You Love Me. They also sang The Way It Goes which was also a crowd favorite. Tom excels on the acoustic guitar on that one.

Wild At Heart was the icing on the cake. It got everybody singing and shouting. I was so glad that I had managed to get VIP access which also allowed me dibs to be in the pit for Gloriana.

Keith Urban was the king of the night, and one excellent headliner. He’s one of those artists with such a gallery of hits that it’s impossible for him to play them all but somehow it feels he did. He opened with Kiss A Girl which made everyone rush forward.

I give Urban his dues, he knows how to work the crowd. I also can’t help but identify which cues Taylor Swift has picked up from him during the time she was her opening act. Keith also moves into the crowd to perform at some point. He makes it back walking through the crowd. Sound familiar? Tay picked up this idea from Keith’s.

Urban is a true artist. He makes sure he travels all the way to each side of the stage and has a mike set up there to keep on singing. He’s one serious guitar player, there’s as much rock as country in his performance. Lighting changes and a different video backdrop for each song, not really the video of the song but color patterns or icons depicting something related.

At some point Keith lets each of his bandmembers do a solo, which also meant singing from both his guitar player and bass player. He also has this custom led guitar that lights up in different colors.

As he was brought for an encore, Keith pointed out a little girl with a sign about him. He brought her on stage, read her sign, autographed it and hugged her. The crowd went wild and I would expect a lot more signs in Keith Urban concerts. An amazing show. I would recommend you try to catch Keith’s tour the next time it comes near you.

Taylor Swift is expected to take the stage as the headliner on Saturday, July 10th.


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That's a wrap on Monte Carlo!


Actress Selena Gomez sent out this sweet group photo of the 3 girls starring in Monte Carlo, a film that's being co-produced by Nicole Kidman's production company Blossom Films.

Selena:) Can't wait for you to see Monte Carlo! We all worked so hard, hope yall like it!


















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UNIFEM is on the move!

UN WOMEN

UN Creates New Structure for Empowerment of Women

2 JULY 2010 | PRESS RELEASES
UNITED NATIONS PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release

United Nations, New York, 2 July 2010 — In an historic move, the United Nations General Assembly voted unanimously today to create a new entity to accelerate progress in meeting the needs of women and girls worldwide.

The establishment of the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women — to be known as UN Women — is a result of years of negotiations between UN Member States and advocacy by the global women’s movement. It is part of the UN reform agenda, bringing together resources and mandates for greater impact.

“I am grateful to Member States for having taken this major step forward for the world’s women and girls,” said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in a statement welcoming the decision. “UN Women will significantly boost UN efforts to promote gender equality, expand opportunity, and tackle discrimination around the globe.”

UN Women merges and will build on the important work of four previously distinct parts of the UN system which focus exclusively on gender equality and women’s empowerment:

Division for the Advancement of Women (DAW, established in 1946)
International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW, established in 1976)
Office of the Special Adviser on Gender Issues and Advancement of Women (OSAGI, established in 1997)
United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM, established in 1976)
“I commend the leadership and staff of DAW, INSTRAW, OSAGI and UNIFEM for their commitment to the cause of gender equality; I will count on their support as we enter a new era in the UN’s work for women,” said Secretary-General Ban. “I have made gender equality and the empowerment of women one of my top priorities — from working to end the scourge of violence against women, to appointing more women to senior positions, to efforts to reduce maternal mortality rates,” he noted.

Over many decades, the UN has made significant progress in advancing gender equality, including through landmark agreements such as the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Gender equality is not only a basic human right, but its achievement has enormous socio-economic ramifications. Empowering women fuels thriving economies, spurring productivity and growth.

Yet gender inequalities remain deeply entrenched in every society. Women in all parts of the world suffer violence and discrimination, and are under-represented in decision-making processes. High rates of maternal mortality continue to be a cause for global shame. For many years, the UN has faced serious challenges in its efforts to promote gender equality globally, including inadequate funding and no single recognized driver to direct UN activities on gender equality issues.


Congrats to UN Women! The new organization is scheduled to be up and running by January 2011.

Another humanitarian we love is Queen Rania. If you don't already know she's had her own Youtube channel for some time. She's teamed up with Funny Or Die and made a video that will make you laugh and sends out a positive message. Such a difference from the doom and gloom attitude of the skeptics!




Happy Weekend everybody!