Very sad and of course reminds me of the terrible violent act during the kite festival in "The Kite Runner". But somehow I still think that the idea of "kite-fighting" sounds pretty cool - much better than video games. But I had not thought of the possibility of throat slashing from the sharpened strings. Remember, never grab a kite string in South Asia!!



11 Killed at Pakistani Kite Festival
- - - - - - - - - - - -
February 26,2007 LAHORE, Pakistan -- At least 11 people were killed and more than 100 people injured by sharpened kite strings, stray bullets and other accidents at an annual kite-flying festival in eastern Pakistan, officials said Monday.


The two-day Basant festival is regularly marred by casualties caused by sharpened kite strings or celebratory gunshots fired into the air. Kite flyers often use strings made of wire or coated with ground glass to try to damage a rival's kite, often after betting on the outcome.
Authorities had banned kite flying following a string of deaths at the festival last year, but temporarily lifted it before this year's event. Officials said the ban was re-imposed following the latest deaths.
Police arrested more than 700 people for using sharpened kite strings or firing guns, and seized nearly 300 illegal weapons during this year's festival, said Aftab Cheema, a senior Lahore police officer.
Five of those who died Sunday were hit by stray bullets, including a 6-year-old boy who was struck in the head, said Ruqia Bano, emergency services spokeswoman in Lahore.
A 16-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy died after their throats were slashed by metal kite strings in separate incidents. Two people were electrocuted as they tried to recover kites tangled in overhead power cables, and two people fell from roofs, Bano said.

Just for a laugh!






The Washcloth

There isn't a woman alive today who won't crack up over this! I was due for an appointment with the gynecologist later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor'soffice to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am. I had only justpacked everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45 am. The trip to hisoffice took about 35 minutes, so I didn't have any time to spare. As most women do, I like totake a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn't going tobe able to make the full effort. So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloththat was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in that area to make sure I wasat least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hoppedin the car and raced to my appointment.
I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I'm sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room andpretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away. I was a little surprisedwhen the doctor said, "My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven't we?" I didn'trespond. After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home. The rest of the day was normal . Some shopping, cleaning, cooking.
After school when my 6 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy, where's my washcloth?" I told her to get another one from the cupboard.She replied, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparklessaved inside it."I AM NEVER EVER GOING BACK TO THAT DOCTOR EVER!

Just want to make sure we're meeting in March???

Freakonomics it is!

I should be through my copy shortly and can certainly pass it on to someone.

So it sounds like Freakonomincs is winning? Do we all agree?

Freakonomics is a fine choice, I feel some pressure though to make sure I remember everything so I can provide background clarification if needed. and waiting is okay too

I vote for Freakonomics because I already ordered it from Amazon... only 16.77 for hard cover.

HI Everyone....Either one is fine with me as long as I can get a copy of Freakanomics from the library...I've put my name on the list for it....

Nicole votes the same, either one is fine with her...

I vote for Freakonomics b/c I've been wanting to read that book for a while.

I vote for Naked by David Sedaris, but only bc I've already read Freakonomics. I already have Freakonomics, so the hardcover is not an issue for me (and it's a great read!). I did hear good things recently about Naked though....

Ok Ladies-
Bit of a problem with the book. So not only did I not post it until 2/3 of the way through the month, apparently I did not do my homework well enough and Freakonomics is still only available in hardcover. My apologies....I really thought I had seen it was out in paperback. For the newer members of book club, historically we have read only paperbacks because 1. If purchasing they are less expensive and 2. Means they are older and more likely to be available in the library.

The voting was very close (1 point separated 1st from 2nd) and I know the 2nd place book is available in paperback (Naked by David Sedaris). So, I am looking for a consensus. Go with Freakonomics in hard cover or read Naked in soft cover. Please post your comments on the blog!

Thanks,
Erin
Erin

I think waiting until March is a good idea.

And the winner is........Freakonmics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner.

I apologize for taking so long to count the votes and get the information out. Seeing as it is already Feb 18 (argh where did Feb. go???). I am wondering if we should wait until March to discuss the book? It is on the longer end of what we usually read.

I am posting this onto the blog, so lets move the discussion there!

Stay warm, Erin

TrimSpa, baby!

I'm convinced Anna overdosed on Meth and SlimFast. Who wants to place bets on which guy the father is to her baby?

Has a booked been picked yet?

Sniff sniff... If only I'd had my digital camera for Bookclub Halloween 2003... then I could post Jen McC's moving tribute to Anna Nicole... such an inspiration...

And Now She's Dead: Anna Nicole Smith
Not since Cleopatra first cast her spell upon both Julius Caesar and Marc Antony has the world seen a seductress the likes of Anna Nicole Smith. Gifted with the rare combination of beauty, drive, and rapier-like wit, Smith proved that a woman could outgrow her hardscrabble upbringing with a firm sense of herself and the refusal to accept any sort of failure.
In every single way, she was the purest embodiment of the modern female celebrity.
Beginnings
Born Vickie Lynn Hogan in 1967, Smith grew up in the small town of Mexia, Texas, where she eventually found employ as waitstaff at the town's befamed palace of poultry perfection, Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken. Whilst tendering her services, she came into contact with young Billy Wayne Smith (at sixteen, he was actually a year her junior).
Thus blossomed one of the great romances in the storied history of north central Texas. Their ardor proved itself almost immediately; within nine months of their wedding, a child was born.
They named him Daniel, after the Biblical hero tested by lions.
But in 1987, just two years later, she split with Billy Wayne. Because of their bond, and possibly their inability to afford lawyers, they did not officially divorce until 1993.
Young Anna Nicole fulfilled a need to serve her country by working at a Wal-Mart. From that perch, she deigned to accept a spread in Hugh Hefner's publication Playgirlboy in 1992. She was Playmate of the Year in 1993. She only then officially adopted the name Anna Nicole Smith, a moniker composed of an opaque series of extremely personal allusions.
She consented to allow Guess? Jeans to use her as a model.
Her first real run-in with the law was in 1994, in a suit against New York magazine. Offended by their disdain for the lower classes, she claimed damages of $5-million because her own depiction was used to incite hatred of "white trash."
Love and Tragedy and Law
But it was a few years before those contentious political times that Anna Nicole met the love of her life, J. Howard Marshall. In 1991, she was visiting a friend at a fine French restaurant named Gigi's, which featured dance performance. The oil billionaire was immediately smitten.
In 1994, the lovers married. Anna Nicole was 26; her groom was 89. They were married for a little more than a year before they were separated by his untimely death.
Almost immediately after his death, her spouse's son began a decade's worth of cruel litigation over his father's estate. Anna Nicole was forced to file for bankruptcy. Texas and California courts disagreed; the matter went federal.
Not since Andy Warhol's death—another artist of personality, with whom she had much in common—had such probate actions been seen.
Just last year, the Supreme Court itself was forced to intercede on behalf of Anna Nicole, affirming her right to protect herself in federal court. Through her persistence until the very end, Anna Nicole became something of a hero to women who had historically been treated so cruelly in the courts.
She fought until the very end, no matter how endlessly poorly the world treated her.
Women's Health, Strength, and Goodbyes
As a second-wave feminist, Anna Nicole was extremely concerned with women and body image issues. In partnership with a woman-friendly company called Trim Spa, she took her campaign to the streets. Her once waify model-weight increased at last to a healthy state.
She took up animal rights causes, and in 2006, stopped working as a model, citing the vagaries of a woman-unfriendly industry.
But according to a statement released by PETA today, something tragic happened. When Anna Nicole became a vegetarian, she began, dangerously, to lose weight again.
Still, she gave birth to a daughter that year, in September. Three days later, her son Daniel, then 20, died. Just a few weeks later, she was able to conduct a commitment ceremony with Howard K. Stern, in the Bahamas.
As a class-conscious statement, the commitment party was catered by Kentucky Fried Chicken.
To honor her son's memory, she sold the last pictures ever taken of him for $650,000.
That love—nor all the other love she enjoyed—was not enough. Today, in Hollywood, Florida, at the Hard Rock Cafe, paramedics could not revive her, and she died at the age of 39.
A commentator on CNN said a few hours after her death that "This is certainly an unexpected and very tragic turn of events for Anna Nicole Smith." Unfortunately, that was both true and also not in any sense accurate.

Heh heh...

Tired of Laughter,Beijing Gets RidOf Bad Translations
Many Expats Regret LossOf Wacky English in Signs;'Slippery Are Very Crafty'
By MEI FONGFebruary 5, 2007; Page A1
BEIJING -- For years, foreigners in China have delighted in the loopy English translations that appear on the nation's signs. They range from the offensive ("Deformed Man," outside toilets for the handicapped) to the sublime (on park lawns, "Show Mercy to the Slender Grass").1
Last week, Beijing city officials unveiled a plan to stop the laughter. With hordes of foreign visitors expected in town for the 2008 Summer Olympics, Beijing wants to cleanse its signs of translation nonsense. For the next eight months, 10 teams of linguistic monitors will patrol the city's parks, museums, subway stations and other public places searching for gaffes to fix.
Already, fans of the genre are mourning the end of an era, and some Web sites dedicated to it have seen traffic spike. The bewildering signs were "one of the great things we want to show people visiting us," says financial-services consultant Josh Kurtzig, a Washington native who lives in Beijing. Correcting them is "really taking away one of the joys of China."
Stuck in Beijing traffic recently, Mr. Kurtzig noticed workers replacing one of the classics: "Dongda Hospital for Anus and Intestine Disease Beijing." The new sign: "Hospital of Proctology." He grabbed his BlackBerry and emailed the news to friends around the globe. Their reactions, he says, were swift, and mostly unfavorable. "Nooooooooooo," read an email from one friend.
Not many locals share this sense of loss. "We cannot leave [these signs] up just for the amusement of foreigners," says Olive Wang, marketing manager for a major sportswear company.
Many in China regard the Olympics as the nation's coming-out party -- a milestone in its ascent as a global power. Anticipation of the Games is fueling a surge of national pride, and has sparked campaigns to make people smile more and embrace better etiquette.
The sign initiative is the latest part of a campaign to improve English translations in public, including on restaurant menus. The group behind the effort, called the Beijing Speaks Foreign Languages Program, is headed by Chen Lin, an elderly language professor who acts as its language police chief.
"We want everything to be correct. Grammar, words, culture, everything," says Prof. Chen, whose formal English enunciation would befit a Shakespearean actor. "Beijing will have thousands of visitors coming," he says as he flips through pictures of poorly translated signs on his dictionary-covered desk. "We don't want anyone laughing at us."
The sign police will conduct spot checks "to see if the signs are right," says Beijing Vice Mayor Ji Lin.
China hardly has a monopoly on poor translation. In the U.S., the popularity of Chinese-language tattoos during the past decade has left lots of hipster skin marked with nonsensical character combinations.
In anticipation of the Games, Prof. Chen set up his group in 2002 with backing from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The group's efforts, he says, will pick up over the next 1½ years and will likely involve thousands of city employees and volunteers.
Already, the city has replaced 6,300 road signs that carried bewildering admonitions such as: "To take notice of safe: The slippery are very crafty." (Translation: Be careful, slippery.) Replacing signs will cost the city a substantial amount of money, although it isn't clear how much. Some of the faulty ones, Prof. Chen notes, are decades old and are carved in marble.
The son of a government official and a teacher, Prof. Chen got hooked on English in high school by reading simplified versions of Shakespeare. His interest made him a target during the decadelong Cultural Revolution that began in 1966, when associations with the West were a liability. He was sent off to do hard labor in the countryside.
In 1978, as China began embracing a policy of economic reform and openness, Prof. Chen hosted the country's first television program teaching English. He became a minor celebrity. "Everywhere I went, even in winter, I had to wear sunglasses," he recalls.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, the popularity of the English language grew faster than the nation's proficiency in it. English words were used on billboards and on clothing to denote exoticism and sophistication -- but the words often made no sense. Prof. Chen says that municipal departments sometimes would leave it to employees with only rudimentary English skills and a dictionary to handle translations of public signs. At some of Beijing's most famous historic attractions, tourists were left puzzling over incomprehensible signs.
Prof. Chen's Beijing Speaks committee set up a Web site to solicit volunteer translators, part of a parallel effort to provide standardized translations for Chinese menus. In a little over two months, it drew more than 7,000 responses. "People really want to get involved," he says.
These days, Prof. Chen regularly cruises the city looking for faulty signs, often in the company of David Tool, a retired U.S. Army colonel and longtime resident of China. Sometimes, a Beijing television crew accompanies them, documenting the results. (Two programs on the topic have already aired.)
Some of the many Westerners living in Beijing view the disappearance of China's lost-in-translation signs as part of a broader modernization drive that is causing Beijing to lose some of its character. Other foreigners lament the loss of a source of amusement.
Tourists and expatriates have been posting photographs of what has come to be known as "Chinglish" on Internet sites such as chinglish.de. Beijing's sign-improvement efforts appear to be boosting contributions and visitors to the sites.
In recent months, for example, the number of daily visitors to the Chinglish page of software engineer Everett Griffith's Web site, pocopico.com -- it includes a photo of a restroom sign that reads "Genitl Emen" -- has jumped by 25% to 500, he says.
Some foreigners question whether Beijing authorities should devote such effort to changing signs, given other pre-Olympic concerns such as traffic and pollution woes.
Says longtime resident Jeremy Goldkorn, a South African: "Frankly, I prefer clean toilets to correct English."