Ismail Kadare is customarily hailed as Albania’s greatest writer. This is probably true, but since few other writers from that isolated nation are even known to the rest of the world, it’s not all that much of a compliment.
Since few readers and even fewer critics know Albanian, we know Kadare through his translators. And the word indeed has to be doubly plural here since David Bellos has translated into English the novella and two stories that make up “Agamemnon’s Daughter” not from the original Albanian but from translations into French by two different hands.
The magnificent achievement of all three parts of “Agamemnon’s Daughter” is to evoke so much in the way of myth and historical inevitability and still leave the reader more than ever convinced of the unquenchable resilience of the human spirit.
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Agamemnon’s Daughter by Ismail Kadare
Arielle Newman, a cross-country runner at Notre Dame Academy on Staten Island, died after her body absorbed high levels of methyl salicylate, an anti-inflammatory found in sports creams such as Bengay and Icy Hot, the New York City medical examiner said Friday.
A medical examiner blamed the 17-year-old track star’s death on the use of too much muscle cream, the kind used to soothe aching legs after exercise.
The medical examiner’s spokeswoman, Ellen Borakove, said the teen used “topical medication to excess.” She said it was the first time that her office had reported a death from using a sports cream.
Newman, who garnered numerous track awards, died April 13. She had gone to a party the night before, then returned home and spent hours talking with her mother.
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Arielle Newman Killed by a Toxic Dose of BenGay
Auriga is a northern constellation. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by Ptolemy, and counts as one of the 88 modern constellations. Its brightest star is Capella, which is associated with the mythological she-goat Amalthea. The three stars ε Aurigae, ζ Aurigae and η Aurigae are called Haedi (the Kids).
Auriga is often shown seated and holding a young goat in his arms, represented by the small thin triangle of stars along the right side of the pentangle. These stars are known as “The Kids”. The star at the tip of this triangle is e (epsilon) Aurigae, a huge star 2,000 light years away which, every 27 years, is eclipsed by something even huger — eclipsed for two full years. What it is that blocks this star is a deep mystery.
The brightest star in Auriga is “Capella”. Part of the reason it’s so bright is because it’s pretty close, 45 light years away. That makes it a little less than half the distance to the Hyades cluster. In fact, it is moving in space at the same speed in the same direction as the Hyades, and may be an “outlier” of that group. Another reason it’s so bright is that it is really two stars orbiting one another, too close for us to see in the telescope. Capella is an important star for navigation because it’s among the brightest stars in the sky, and because it’s so far north that you can see it nearly all year round.
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The Brightest Star in Auriga: Capella
The first man to appear on the cover of vogue was Richard Tiffany Gere
Born: 31 August 1949
Where: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Awards: Won 1 Golden Globe
Height: 5′ 10″
Richard Tiffany Gere is an American actor.
He first became famous during the 1980s, after appearing in several successful
Hollywood films, including An Officer and a Gentleman, and has since retained
his status as a leading man. During the 1990s and 2000s, he starred in several
well-received films, Pretty Woman, Primal Fear, and Chicago for which he won a
Golden Globe award as Best Actor.
Gere’s first major acting role was in the original London stage version of Grease in 1973. He began appearing in Hollywood films in the mid 1970s, co-starring in the thriller Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), and playing the leading role in director Terrence Malick’s well-reviewed 1978 film, Days of Heaven. His acting career took off in 1980, with the successful film American Gigolo, followed by the popular romantic drama An Officer and a Gentleman, which had grossed over $100 million in 1982. Subsequently, he was the first man ever to appear on the cover of Vogue magazine.
Gere was married to supermodel Cindy Crawford from 1991 to 1995. In 2002 he married actress Carey Lowell. They have a son, Homer James Jigme Gere, who was born in 2000, and is named after Gere’s father. They live in Pound Ridge, New York.
Few actors have had such a topsy-turvy ride as Richard Gere. Not many have suffered such depressing doldrums, and almost none have achieved such giddying heights. Somehow - by his looks, his grace, his charisma, his roles? - Gere became that most rare of commodities, a bona fide Hollywood sex symbol.
Richard Gere Trivia
Attended the University of Massachusetts. Dropped out to pursue acting.
Is the second of five children born to Homer and Doris Gere
People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive. [1999]
Graduated from North Syracuse Central High School. [1967]
Was a member of the student council, gymnastics team, lacrosse team, and ski team.
Won a gymnastics scholarship to the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he majored in philosophy; he dropped out in 1969 to pursue acting.
Listed as one of twelve “Promising New Actors of 1977″ in John Willis’ Screen World, Vol. 29. [1977]
Sources:
http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/…
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000152/bio
Beautiful, Brilliant, Brave! Three words to describe CBS News correspondent Lara Logan! A seasoned international reporter, she was named Chief Foreign Correspondent for the CBS radio and TV networks on Feb. 2, 2006. Logan’s bold reporting from war zones over the past 15 years has earned her a prominent spot among the world’s foreign correspondents.
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CBS Hottest Newswoman: Lara Logan
Sixteen years after activist Erin Brockovich first suggested that hexavalent chromium in drinking water might be a health hazard, a federal scientific panel has agreed with her.After a two-year animal study, the National Toxicology Program said there is “clear evidence of carcinogenic activity” if the chemical is consumed in drinking water.
In the study, rats developed cancers of the oral cavity and mice developed cancers of the lower intestine, according to Michelle Hooth, Ph.D., of the toxicology program, which is part of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences here.
But Dr. Hooth noted that the cancers developed after extremely high doses, and the lowest dose given to the animals was still about 10 times higher than the concentration found in groundwater in Hinkley, Calif., the town where hexavalent chromium (or chromium six) first entered the public consciousness.
Brockovich was instrumental in starting a lawsuit against Pacific Gas & Electric Company, alleging that the company’s Hinkley Compressor Station had polluted the town’s water.
The lawsuit, settled in 1996 for $333 million, was dramatized in the 2000 movie named after Brockovich.
Dr. Hooth said the next step is for the report to be approved by the full board of the National Toxicology Program. Once that’s done, she said, it will be available for federal or state agencies to use in setting new regulations if they see fit.
Sources: Scientific Panel Says Erin Brockovich Was Right, By Michael Smith, Senior Staff Writer, MedPage Today
May 17, 2007; Photography by
Universal Studios Home Entertainment is adding a quartet of new catalog faves to its growing HD DVD library this August, including the blockbuster hits ‘Erin Brockovich‘ and ‘Meet the Fockers‘
The four-strong line-up is due August 14, and includes Julia Roberts Oscar-winning turn in ‘Erin Brockovich,’ the smash comedy sequel ‘Meet the Fockers,’ the Bruce Willis action thriller ‘Mercury Rising,’ and the fantasy ‘What Dreams May Come.’
Who is Erin Brockovich? Erin Brockovich-Ellis (born Erin L. E. Pattee June 22, 1960 in Lawrence, Kansas) is a legal clerk who, despite the lack of a formal law school education, was instrumental in constructing a case against the $28 billion Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), of California in 1993.
Official website of the movie: http://www.erinbrockovich.com/home.html
Premiere footage(also Deleted Scenes): http://www.erinbrockovich.com/track.html
More information about Erin Brockovich on Wikipedia: link
The 35-year-old pro wrestler-turned-action star announced his separation from wife Dany Garcia Johnson in a statement to People magazine on Friday.
“We’ve been fortunate enough to spend the last 17 years together as a couple and look forward to spending the rest our lives together as best friends and business partners,” the statement said….
“While certain aspects of our relationship have changed, we are both vitally important to each other’s lives. We will continue to advance and manage our business interests, our philanthropic efforts and most importantly the raising of our child together, as a loving team. We’ve been fortunate enough to spend the last 17 years together as a couple and look forward to spending the rest our lives together as best friends and business partners.”
Johnson, a professional wrestler turned actor who starred in such movies as “Gridiron Gang” and “Walking Tall,” married Dany in 1997.
They have a 5-year-old daughter, Simone Alexander.
About Dwayne Johnson (The Rock) on Wikipedia: link
Sources: Extra TV article; Photography
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