Olio - I on the World - Articles - Zimbio

Welcome to our wikizine called "Olio - I on the World"

Thu, 2 Nov 2007 04:29:21 GMT

posted by drforgot
Wikizines are interactive magazines that anyone can create or edit - and this one is called "Olio - I on the World". Here you can find fresh voices and respond in real time. Some members write articles about recent news and trends related to the wikizine's topic, others recount relevant personal stories or share their favorite pictures and video clips. Got an interesting idea or story to share with other members of this wikizine? Well, then put on your journalist's cap and add your own article!

Planet Hollywood Opens In Las Vegas - Celebrities on the Red Carpet - Interview Video

Thu, 23 Nov 2007 03:15:00 GMT

posted by theclevercynic

Hollyscoop talks to the celebrities on the red carpet at the opening of the Planet Hollywood Casino. This gala features, Sylvester Stallone,"Die Hard" star Bruce Willis, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutcher, Pamela Anderson, Charlie Sheen, Nelly, Joey Fatone, Jamie Kennedy, tennis star Andre Agassi, Danny Devito and Gene Simmons.

Gasp, Wheeze

Fri, 17 Nov 2007 00:20:00 GMT

posted by drforgot
No Offense, I Hate You

I just returned from t trip to California's wine country - Napa and Sonoma Valleys. The trip was great, the plane was on time, the car rental agency didn't rip me off too bad, although I had reserved a sporty car and the only car they had left was a soccer-mom van. But hey, I'm too old to be so macho so I took my soccer-mom van and headed toward good wine and great weather. So if everything went so well what was my problem? I hate smokers. I don't mind spending time of the land of shakes and quakes and don't bat an eye at the fruits and nuts and even the occasional wino. But smokers offensive.

The first brush with the aroma of stale tobacco smoke came when I climbed behind the wheel of the "Non-smoking" soccer-mom van that was the only car left unless I opted to wait 2 hours for the next one. The stale smoke hung in the car like a San Francisco fog, but less inviting to inhale. Since I was anxious to hit the road and get up into wine country (I know, I'm starting to sound like I was in whine country but stay with me) I lowered all the windows and turned the fan up to maximum as I tooled up Interstates 680, 680, 880, and just plain 80 toward CA 29 and the fruit of the vine. It didn't help much and the road noise was irritating. But soon enough I approached the first winery.

As I walked into the tasting room, one addicted to the leaf and his equally addicted life partner stood outside having their last puff or two, or three, or.... well you get the idea. The aroma wafted into the tasting room and challenged the bouquet of the red and white liquids that awaited tasting.When I finally got to the hotel and into another room with the line and circle over the smoking sign, I again discovered that somebody had violated the no-smoking room policy. One's addiction is one's own business, but please do not visit it on me.

Besides the disagreeable manner in which smokers often age and smell, their insurance premiums are high. Have you applied for a term life insurance policy lately? Smokers pay higher premiums. Want to lower your insurance premiums? Forget about giving up demon rum. Stop smoking.

Once you've kicked the habit you are more than welcome to rent the same cars I do and stay in the same smoke free environment. But until then, at least show enough class to smoke somewhere else. Oh, and remember that kissing a smoker is like licking an ashtray so I guess it follows that kissing a nonsmoker is like licking a clean ashtray.

Dr. Forgot

Why Do They All Pillory Hillary?

Fri, 17 Nov 2007 23:53:00 GMT

posted by drforgot

Dems "Debate" in Las Vegas

The world of presidential "debates" came to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Ever since Dan Tanna drove his sports car up and down the Strip and James Bond had an episode in the Valley of the Dollars, Las Vegas has been the setting for movies, TV shows, and docudramas. CSI Las Vegas is a great show and I chuckle at the inaccuracies, such as the CSI team working for the "Las Vegas Police," an entity that does not exist. If you watch the reality show "Cops" you'll know that the police force is the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police, aka Metro. But I guess the producers and writers, when they are not on strike, must take poetic license and be sure the names have been changed to protect the innocent. The events, people and places in the shows are all staged for maximum bang for the buck and in an effort to remain absent libel.

Such was the case when CNN brought the Broadway production "The Democratic Presidential Debate" starring Wolf Blitzer to the Cox Pavilion at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I put "debate" in parentheses because any self-respecting debater would have had a good laugh over the format. It should have been called "The Discussion Among Democratic Presidential Candidates. And while we can't say that the participants had foreknowledge of the questions being asked, the "debates were summed up in a most interesting manner.

A 22-year old Political Science major and honor student at UNLV was given the opportunity to provide the culminating question for the "debate." Her question, directed at Senator Clinton of the "Sex Between the Bushes" Clintons, was as follows, "Do you prefer diamonds or pearls?" Hillary answered with an equally lighthearted response that she preferred both.

It did not add up. Why would an Honors Poli Sci student spew out a question that could be considered lighthearted at best and sexist at worst? Her answer to that question was almost Flip Wilsonish, "The Devil made me do it." The devil in the form of CNN. Potential interrogators were required to presubmit and get approval of all questions. The student had proposed a question about children's health care. CNN rejected it. She proposed another about Iraq. Rejected. She was told to submit two more, a serious and a fun question. She submitted one about Yucca Mountain. Rejected. And was told to ask the fun question which had been preapproved. That's her story and she's sticking to it. A little blogging music maestro... how about, "It Ain't Necessarily So?"

Dr. Forgot.

Growing up Clairton

Mon, 30 Oct 2007 17:10:00 GMT

posted by drforgot

Days of Runny Noses

Forget the Days of Wine and Roses, let your mind drift back to the Days of Runny Noses. I grew up in the post-war 1950s in Clairton, a suburb of Pittsburgh, PA. I was born at home because I wanted to be near my mother when it happened, although I don't remember much because I was very young at the time. My parents were in the iron and steel business. My mother would iron and my father would steal.

Kids im my generation started school in the first grade - we had not yet heard of kindergarten - just before 1950. We got our naps and lukewarm milk in the first grade. Somehow we were able to survive the steel mill curses of putrid air and the shingles on the rooves of our homes that turned black with soot within months after they were installed. In fact, Clairton was famous for its coke (not the drink nor the drug but the stuff used to make steel). Clairton Coke Works provided more coke than any other mill in the world.

State street ran along side the mills and whenever the coke was cooled, something called quencher rained down on the cars so heavily that windshield wipers were required to see and the stench was intolerable. We had no OSHA and no seatbelts. No child safety seats nor the myriad of other government required safety devices, but somehow we survived. Nobody ever "broke their neck" despite every mother's warning.

We did have candy cigarettes (nobody caught cancer from them but they might "rot your teeth") jukeboxes (Elvis did not doom us all to Hell), milk delivery in bottles, and the telephone exchange was CLairton - 3 followed by four numbers. Later the CLairton exchange was modernized to BElmont-3, then simply 233. Ah progress. Oh, yes, we still say "Dial a number," but no dials exist on today's phones.

We drove our teachers crazy by smuggling pea shooters into class (although at home we had pop guns that shot corks on a string) and listened to our 45s because 78s were so out of style. We saved S&H Greens Stamps and fastened our roller skates onto our shoes using a skate key. And when the doorbell rang it might be the Fuller Brush Man or a huckster looking to sharpen Mom's knives, but we opened the door for them.

We bought a pack of gum for a nickel, threw away the gum and kept the baseball cards. They have become more valuable than stocks. If we had a penny or two left over we were able to buy penny candy. The most fearful "disease" one could catch from another was "cooties," which some smart marketer turned into a game. Saturday mornings were for cartoons on the black and white TV - if you had one. If not you could build using Lincoln Logs or your erector set. Two boys together equaled 1:1 basketball, three boys together equaled a singing group. More than that equaled tag football.

Our fathers served in WW-II, our big brothers served in Korea and we got to serve in "Viet #$%&%$-ing Nam." Somehow we survived. Today we're helpless, bald, and use diapers. Wait, isn't that how we started out?

Dr. Forgot