The Interviews to Eric Saussine, director of the James Bond fan film Shamelady

Shamelady film poster

The James Bond film series is one of the most popular and successful, having grossed over US$4 billion worldwide. The suave, sophisticated secret agent has secured his place in popular culture as the definitive action hero that has appeared in twenty-three films between 1954 and 2006.

Daniel Craig was announced as the seventh actor to portray 007 in late 2005, making his debut in the 2006 smash hit Casino Royale. While fans await Craig's second outing in Quantum Of Solace, due later this year, they have been able to watch Shamelady, a fan film made by the French film production company Constellation Studios.

Shamelady is a tribute to Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels on which many of the films are based, and EON Productions, the makers of the official 007 films. The film was first released in 2007 and runs just under an hour long. It can be downloaded from Constellation's website or viewed on YouTube.

Legally, the filmmakers cannot profit from Shamelady, but they didn't make it for the money, rather the thrill of creating an original Bond film. The plot is fairly simple, and reminiscent of Casino Royale. Bond is sent to a casino to nab a vicious crime lord, but gets betrayed by a fellow agent in the process. Viewer reaction to the film was positive for the most part, and Constellation Studios has now planned a sequel to Shamelady, which director Eric Saussine speaks of in the interview below.

Although having made several other movies, Constellation Studios is best known for the acclaimed James Bond fan film Shamelady. Tell us about it.

Eric Saussine: Shamelady attempts to be a true James Bond adventure, except in length. Our 007 lasts 54 minutes. The story takes place in Iraq, England and France. James Bond is sent to the south of France to buy information about a secret organization that terrorizes Great Britain. During the operation, a couple of killers put a deadly stop to the exchange. Bond escapes, whereas Mangin - who provided the information - is killed. For MI6, it's vivid evidence that S.P.E.C.T.R.E. - the criminal organization to which James Bond was formerly opposed - is back. From this point, Bond goes to the casino of Luc-sur-Mer, Normandy, in search of Descarpes who is suspected of being the number 2 of the organization. Bond challenges Descarpes at the roulette table and seduces Anna Raykova, a mysterious Russian woman working for his adversary. Our favorite spy escapes several murder attempts but, in a nod to Casino Royale, he soon realizes that he is being betrayed. Anyway, the bad guy dies in the end! Some things are eternal. Shamelady is a tribute to the men at the origin of the myth: original author Ian Fleming and James Bond producers Harry Saltzman and Albert Broccoli.

Why did you make this film? Where did the inspiration for Shamelady come from?

Eric Saussine: In 1953, Ian Fleming created James Bond and therefore the myth we all know. In 2003, for the fiftieth anniversary of the creation of Ian Fleming's hero, I thought that it was time to pay tribute to this literary and cinema myth . In September 2004, I called his friend Pierre Rodiac, a former president a French James Bond fan club. I talked to him about my idea to adapt Casino Royale, the only Ian Fleming James Bond novel that was not seriously adapted by Eon, holder of the movie rights. Pierre was excited by the project and he started writing a synopsis. We worked alternatively on it. It gave way to a script which I wrote and Pierre corrected, that was a faithful adaptation of the novel, with all the trademarks of the movie franchise. Then I immediately started the search for actors and locations.

On February 3, 2005, Eon Productions announced that Martin Campbell would direct the 21st film of the series. The title was... Casino Royale!

I was happy because I had always wanted to see that. I went back to work on my project. I decided to preserve the general plot, change the names of the villains, the bad guy's plan, a few scenes and re-introduced a well known terrorist organization and its chief from the Bond films and novels : S.P.E.C.T.R.E. and Ernst Stavro Blofeld. I wrote a new script in a couple of months and found its title : Shamelady. Pre-production started in 2004. Filming started in 2005 and went on in 2006. Post-production took place in 2007 and the release date was December 11, 2007.

Last summer, you announced that Constellation Studios is at work on another Bond film, Shatterhand. Tell us about it.

Eric Saussine: Well, the team was so happy to do Shamelady. At the end of this movie we were tired but response from the team members themselves that the first of them, Serge Rotelli (Bond) asked that we do another one. Of course I had many ideas going wild in many directions in my mind. So following that wave of enthusiasm I decided to renew the experience and launched the production of a new James Bond 007 adventure. This time, the film will be our way to celebrate Ian Fleming's hundredth birthday.

The plot will stay close to Fleming's literary works and will be derived from the short story Octopussy, the last third of the novel You Only Live Twice, hence the title, Shatterhand, which is Blofeld's pseudonym in that adventure. The new film also includes an original ski chase in the pre-credit sequence and an explosive action finale. Some shots were done for real in Japan. We will probably miss the Fleming centenary in 2008 and will probably release it one year later.

Is this the beginning of a series of non-profit fan films? After Shatterhand, can we expect to see more Bond films from you?

Eric Saussine: It was never seen as a series, but when we released Shamelady, Shatterhand's production was already half-way, and the people at the premiere kept saying to me that they wanted to participate and that I should do a trilogy. Nothing's worth a trilogy. So given the extraordinary willingness of some people we are thinking about one final chapter. Of course my ever-boiling mind has some idea ready. I can tell you that part of a final chapter could take place in Switzerland and that we might see Piz Gloria again for a few seconds. Other than that I am still in the middle of Shatterhand so all this stuff about a third movie is just wishful thinking.

Do you have any advice for amateur filmmakers reading this?

Eric Saussine: Never, ever abandon your project. Too many projects fail or disappear because people don't have the will to go til the end of their ideas and realize that it is much more complicated than they thought it would be and then they drop it. It is a pity. Another advice : steal from the best i.e. the Bond movies for Bond productions, Spielberg, Kubrick and all the others for all movies. Mozart stole from Haydn and transcended him. Why not YOU?

From Wikinews, the free news source you can write!

‘Are All Tahitian Pearls Black?’

Are all Tahitian pearls black? What’s the difference between a cultured pearl and a natural pearl? Are freshwater pearls inferior to saltwater pearls? Are South Sea pearls really golden?

Good questions. With all the different pearl colors and types out there, it can be difficult to know just what you’re looking at. For those interested in buying pearls, or for gem enthusiasts who wish to learn more, here are answers to some of the most commonly asked questions about pearls.

Are All Tahitian Pearls Black?
Not only are Tahitian cultured pearls not exclusively black, they’re also not grown in Tahiti. Called “black” because of their exotic dark colors, Tahitian cultured pearls can also be gray, blue, green and brown. And they’re grown in the lagoons of small islands that are part of a group known as French Polynesia. Tahiti, the largest island, serves as the group’s center of commerce, and not as a pearl growing mecca.

Tahitian pearls are cultivated for about two years in Pinctada margaritifera cumingi, a large mollusk native to French Polynesia. One of the ways this unique oyster differs from other species is its interior shell color, which is dark. This so-called “black lipped” oyster also has black mantle edges—the “lips” that give this animal its descriptive name.

Today, the most sought-after Tahitian cultured pearls are dark green-gray to blue gray with rosй or purple overtones. Pearl colors are determined by several factors, including variations in the host oyster, color variation of the implanted donor mussel tissue, the number and thickness of nacre layers, and variations in growing environment such as temperature and water quality. Tahitians are most often variations of gray, black, green and blue, but other colors exist.

At an average size of 8mm-14mm, Tahitian cultured pearls—especially those specimens that are gem-quality and round—are very expensive. According to the latest information from the Gemological Institute of America, up to 40 percent of implanted black-lipped oysters produce a gem-quality cultured pearl, but only about 5 percent of the pearls they produce are round. And only 1-2 percent of the entire crop will result in round cultured pearls of the finest quality. No wonder a Tahitian pearl strand is so costly! If you want to wear Tahitian cultured pearls, one way to do so without breaking the bank is to choose a pendant-style necklace with a single pearl, pearl stud earrings, a single pearl ring, or baroque (non-symmetrical) pearls. These designs are every bit as exotic and a lot more affordable than a matched strand.

What’s the difference between a cultured pearl and a natural pearl?
Natural pearls are formed when an irritant, such as a parasite, makes its way into a pearl-producing animal such as an oyster or mollusk. To protect itself, the animal coats the irritant in nacre—a combination of organic substances that also makes up what we call mother-of pearl. Over time, the layers of nacre build up around the intruder and eventually form the organic gem we all know as the pearl.

Cultured pearls are formed in the same way as natural pearls, with one big difference: they get their start not by chance, but deliberately, when man intervenes with nature. To produce cultured pearls, a skilled technician, called a nucleator, induces the pearl-growing process by surgically placing an irritant—a mother-of-pearl bead and a piece of mantle tissue, usually—into a mollusk. The animal is then placed back into the water and monitored, cleaned, etc. until the pearl is ready to be harvested.

The Chinese have been culturing freshwater blister pearls (pearls that grow underneath the mantle on the inside of the animal’s shell) since the 13th century, but Kokichi Mikimoto, a Japanese man, is credited with developing modern pearl culturing techniques. By the early 1920s, Mikimoto was selling his cultured pearls worldwide.

Natural pearls can be very beautiful, but due to overfishing, pollution and other factors, they are a rare find indeed. Thus, nearly all pearls sold today are cultured pearls. There are two main types: freshwater and saltwater. South Sea cultured pearls, Tahitian cultured pearls and akoya cultured pearls are all types of saltwater pearls. Cultured pearls of all types can be found in jewelry stores worldwide.

Are saltwater pearls better than freshwater pearls?
It depends on who you ask, but many pearl experts today agree that freshwater cultured pearls can rival the beauty of their saltwater cousins. Due to improvements in culturing techniques, freshwater pearl farmers are producing beautiful, round, lustrous pearls that are a vast improvement over the wrinkled, rice-krispie-shaped gems that typified the freshwater pearl crop of the not-so-distant past.

Produced mainly in China, freshwater pearls are often nucleated, or implanted, with mantle tissue only (rather than a mother-of-pearl bead). Because they do not contain a starter bead, tissue-nucleated freshwater pearls are 100% nacre. This gives them a beautiful luster and a durable surface that won’t easily flake or peel to reveal the inner bead. By contrast, pearls that are bead-nucleated and harvested too soon often have only a thin coating of nacre that will flake or peel. This is a major problem: Unlike many other gemstones, pearls cannot be polished back to perfection.

Freshwater cultured pearls come in many beautiful natural pastel colors including cream, white, yellow, orange, pink and lavender. (Universally flattering lavender pearls are very popular right now.) White pearls are bleached to enhance their natural shine. Black freshwater cultured pearls are treated with dye or heat to produce their inky color.

Overall, freshwater pearls are more plentiful than other pearl types, thus they are generally more affordable.

Are South Sea pearls really golden?
Yes. Pearls produced in the aptly named “gold-lipped” oyster (P. maxima) can be a gorgeous creamy yellow, referred to as “golden” in the trade. (The silver-lipped variety of P. maxima produces beautiful silver or white pearls.) Grown in the South Seas—which stretch from the southern coast of Southeast Asia to the northern coast of Australia—these pearls are grown in one of the biggest oysters used in pearl culturing. Because they can accept a larger bead and secrete nacre faster than their smaller counterparts, these big oysters produce large pearls of exceptional luster and beauty. South Sea pearls’ thick coating of nacre gives the gems a wonderful luster, or glow, that appears to come from deep within the pearl. The warm waters, abundant food supply and low pollution levels of the South Seas also help these oysters produce beautiful cultured pearls.

Although Australia produces 60% of the world’s South Sea cultured pearls, Indonesian farmers work more with the gold-lipped oyster, and thus produce more golden pearls. The silver-lipped variety produces equally beautiful pearls that come in white to silver and often have rosй, blue or green overtones. Aside from giving them a light wash, pearl farmers do not treat South Sea pearls after harvest.

“Feed” Your Skin Antioxidants for a Glowing Complexion

The benefits of antioxidant-rich foods – for inside and out health – cannot be overstressed. That is true even when it comes to obtaining a healthier complexion that glows, as this 518-word article attests. Citing advice from professionals in the field of nutrition, included is a guide that contains three common antioxidant nutrients as well as best sources.

Although there is no conclusive proof that antioxidants keep skin from aging, experts do agree they have the ability to ‘capture’ free radicals and may protect us from certain diseases. Antioxidant-rich foods can also give us a healthier, glowing complexion.

According to Susan M. Kleiner, R.D., Ph.D, a Seattle-based nutritionist, eating foods rich in antioxidants is best. “There’s no substitute for getting nutrients through food. The body absorbs and assimilates them far better than in supplement form.”

Kleiner suggests following the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid, and eating three to five servings of vegetables and two to four servings of fruit each day. Choose at least one citrus fruit, such as an orange, a tangerine, or a grapefruit, for vitamin C. To increase beta-carotene intake, eat at least two orange-yellow or leafy green vegetables each day.

Eat Right for Younger Looking Skin

Eating healthy equals younger looking skin. Drinking a cup of orange juice and eating one raw carrot provides twice the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) of vitamin C and beta-carotene. The RDA for vitamin E is harder to meet, especially for those on a low-fat diet.

“Don’t be afraid to add a couple of tablespoons of olive oil to your diet, or to eat some nuts or seeds,” advises Dr. Kleiner.

The following guideline can be used for RDAs for three of the most common antioxidant nutrients, vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene; good sources and how best to maximize benefits of each are included.

Vitamin C: RDA at least 60 mg. (1/2 cup orange juice = 70 mg.) Citrus fruits and juices and tomatoes are good sources of vitamin C. Eat whole fruit for extra fiber. Avoid juice in glass containers, and heat-pasteurized juice. Light and heat destroy some of the vitamin C.

Vitamin E: RDA 8 mg for women / 10 mg. for men (1 tablespoon of canola oil = 9 mg.) Good sources include nuts, seeds and their oils, fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel, halibut, and trout, and wheat germ. Use canola, olive, or another vegetable oil in place of butter or margarine when cooking.

Beta-carotene: no established RDA. Expert Dr. Kleiner, however, recommends 5-6 mg. (One carrot = 12 mg) Orange and yellow vegetables, and leafy green vegetables, including broccoli, are all good sources. Instead of potato chips or popcorn for an evening snack while watching television, opt for prepackaged, washed and peeled baby carrots.

If you feel you are unable to meet the RDAs through diet alone, by all means take an all-in-one antioxidant vitamin supplement a day, but continue to pay attention to rich food sources.

Summary

Because many over-the-counter cosmetics containing antioxidants don’t have enough to be totally affective by themselves, it is best to ‘feed’ them to your skin in combination with a healthy, antioxidant rich diet for younger looking skin.

We at Savvy Spa Luxuries care about you and your wellbeing. With proper skin care, a healthy diet, regular exercises, adequate sleep, and ample amounts of water, you can enjoy a more fit body, improved quality of life, increased stamina, and a glowing complexion!

By : Lori S. Anton
Savvy Spa Luxuries Editor

“Please help me bring back the love of my life.” Part one of a two-part series.

Understand how the Law of attraction DOES bring the true Mr./Ms. Right your way – because it will work!

Often I receive emails asking me how to use the Law of Attraction to attract a certain person–usually for romatic purposes. One woman, in her 40’s, wrote to me this week and has given me permission to share some of our correspondence with you. Perhaps you (or someone you know) will recognize the feelings expressed here:

“Please can you help me understand how to bring back the love of my life. We only dated for a short time but I know he is the one. He has been hurt badly and didn’t want to end things with me but felt he had to because he was frightened he would be hurt again. It was a very emotional ending for both of us.

I love him so much that I let him go and I respect him so I have stayed away to give him time and space. We have been apart for three months. In my heart I know that we are meant to be together but even though I was so sad and in despair I still felt loving and kindness towards him and my thoughts were always hopeful. And in my longing and praying several ‘co-incidences’ have happened.

Not long after we split up I started searching the web for anything that could give me advice about winning back the man I love and discovered the Law of Attraction. . .Can you help me?”

Sometimes a man will write to me in a similar vein: “I’m in love with this wonderful (or beautiful) woman. I know she is the one for me. Our paths have crossed often. How can I get her to notice me (or go out with me)?”

In part one of this two-part series, we’ll look at why you are NOT in a relationship with the “love of your dreams.” In part two we’ll look at what to do when a seemingly “perfect partnership” falls apart. I hope that while reading both you will also understand how the Law of attraction DOES bring the true Mr./Ms. Right your way – because it will work!

Part one: “Why am I NOT in a relationship with the love of my life? What’s happening here? Is the Law of Attraction at work?” Of course it is!

The Law of Attraction is always reflecting back to you your vibration. Remember:

You can know what you are vibrating by observing what IS
showing up in your life.
When you think you are in love with someone—and are sure they are “the one,” but cannot seem to convince him or her or attract him or her, then they are NOT “the one”. If they were, you would already be in a relationship with them–a natural, mutual, harmonious relationship that both of you equally gravitated toward.

Two scenarios are really at play here:

You are in love with the idea of this person being in love with you. That someone with these physical attributes, or character traits, or successes in life could want to be with you is an exhilarating idea.

What often happens is that you meet someone who has five (or ten) characteristics that you are looking for in your ideal partner and you assume that he or she is your “ideal mate.” You think, “This is it! I’ve found ‘the one’ for me for the rest of my life.” However, the attraction just doesn’t seem mutual and you do not understand why. Didn’t the Law of Attraction bring them to you? Well, the real question is are they looking for someone like you? Are you a vibrational match for this person?

Remember that the person you are looking at may only appear to have the qualities you desire. Underneath the exterior clothing of beauty and success, there may be person with entirely different goals, beliefs and core values than yours. Even if you are very similar, what is he or she looking for? The role of their ideal mate may be very different from one you would truly like to play.

The second scenario goes like this:

You are in love with the idea of being “allowed” to love this person Seeing their potential and their needs, you may also see how “helpful” you could be for them as a mate. Searching for love with this motive is especially dangerous because, sadly, more often than not there is simply an insecure, life-draining person there, hoping to find someone to give their life meaning and purpose. (Not a healthy thought.) Victims attract someone who can make them a victim again. The poor attract someone who can enable them to continue in their poverty. The Law of Attraction is not fooled, nor can it be manipulated through words and expressions of desires that are not in alignment with the truth.

But you see so many people around you happy and in love, why does it not come your way?

Here is how the Law of Attraction does work, and how you can make it work for you:

In order to attract the “ideal partner”– someone who is in vibrational harmony with who you are–you must be what you seek.

Are you looking for someone who is kind? You must be kind. Do you want someone with good looks? You must care about how you look. Do you want someone who will make a commitment to you? Ask yourself, “Do I keep commitments?” Do you want someone who is successful? Ask your self, “Am I vibrating success?”

Remember, the Law of Attraction is bringing to you exactly what you are vibrating. If you want something different in your life, you must change yourself–your vibration. It’s an inside job and you can only change yourself– you can’t change someone else’s vibration.

I referred to the second scenario as especially dangerous for this reason exactly – you can’t change someone else, and while trying to do so you stop concentrating on yourself, stalling any change and growth that may need to occur in you.

You CAN attract your ideal partner. You CAN find joy in a healthy relationship. Just start with yourself:

KNOW yourself
ACCEPT yourself
HONOR yourself
TRUST yourself
LOVE yourself
When you do, the most perfect relationships happen in a perfectly natural way.

Why? Because your healthy relationship with yourself is reflected in your healthy relationship with that significant other.

Rebecca Hanson is a Master Law of Attraction Coach. Thousands of people have enjoyed her talks or articles about real-life experiences and how she found the “nugget of truth” in every situation. Now she has such a deep grasp of how faith, beliefs and thinking work that she is able to lift others to a higher level, very quickly.

By : Rebecca Hanson

Producing Poster Ads


For a poster to be effective, it should be able to attract attention. And that means having a provoking headline and visual element.
Advertising involves a lot of analysis. It is an analysis of the good points of what you have to offer. You need to analyze your offerings carefully, bring to light all the good points and let the full glare of advertising shine upon them. A good advertising writer is like a sponge. He absorbs every idea within reach and if he does not use the ideas and suggestions the moment they come in, they are absorb in his mind to be later pulled out when required.

Most promotional materials out there are poorly visualized and as a result they are not able to market the products or services successfully. If a promotional material in a crowded marketplace lacks a strong motivational message it becomes a costly mistake to the business. But if you are able to put together a good advertisement you are way ahead of the game.

So let’s say you need to create a good poster to showcase your latest shoe collection. Before you create the poster you should first have a mental picture of the space you are to fill. Fill the space right, with neither too many words nor too little. Be a reporter first and an editor afterwards. As a reporter, get all your best thoughts on paper and as an editor, polish, elaborate and trim until your ad is perfect.

For a poster to be effective, it should be able to attract attention. And that means having a provoking headline and visual element. It should also appeal to your prospects interest. Keep in mind that a poster that tells the readers how they will benefit from your product or service keeps their interest. In addition, it should communicate your company’s advantage. Why should the readers pick your products or services over the others? Most importantly, the poster should stimulate your readers to take action. This is usually accomplished by giving offers such as free trial, a discount or a bonus.

Remember, your poster should do more than just bring you customers. It should bring you more profitable customers. Likewise, it should make your business stronger, smarter and better able to compete. So, be honest, be natural and be sincere in your poster advertisement. If you are able to be these in your ad, chances are you will better be able to motivate your prospects to contact you.

Ranking the Classics: Week One of the 60 in 60, with Seneca in the Lead

When I'm not blogging for Omnivoracious, I'm primarily a fiction writer and anthology editor. This year, with an incredibly busy schedule, I decided to more or less go offline for six months to finish my latest novel, Finch. No personal blogging at my Ecstatic Days site, just guest bloggers. For my return, I thought it might be nice to give myself a little challenge, so I wrote to my friend Colin Brush at Penguin Books UK and said, "If you'll send me the 60 books in your Great Ideas series, I'll review one a day for 60 days." These beautifully designed little books are usually abridgments of longer works. Authors include the likes of Edward Gibbon, Karl Marx, and Virginia Woolf.



Brush replied that he liked the idea and sent me the books. This past week I started in on what has been called by at least one friend "foolish" and by another "the endeavor of a madman." Penguin's own blog questioned my sanity.

Yet, I have persevered to the end of the first week, during which my 60 in 60 audacity was rewarded by attention from among others, the (as book site of the week) and the Harvard University Press, which urged its readers to emulate my craziness.Every Saturday, then, I will report back to Omnivoracious readers on the prior week's reading, Guardian ranking each book I've read and turning a spotlight on the best.

First Week's Reading
1 - Seneca's On the Shortness of Life : Succinct, readable, still relevant, and often profound. Available in the Great Ideas edition or Oxford World's Classics edition. As I wrote in my review, "it offers prescient advice on combating the shortcomings of a modern life in which personal technology like cell phones and computers, coupled with internet addiction, have given human beings ever more ways to distract themselves from the fundamental questions of their existence, including the fact that all of us will eventually be dust."

2 - Niccolo Machiavelli's The Prince : The classic strategic and tactical guide, which I found surprisingly honorable as well.

3 - Marcus Aurelius' Meditations : At times repetitious, but still engaging and full of insights that demonstrate keen insight about the world.

4 - Michel de Montaigne's On Friendship : Although some of the digressions weaken the lesser essays, the title piece and "On the Art of Conversation" are relative classics.

5 - Thomas a Kempis' The Inner Life : Aimed at fellow clergy, this inspirational tome, including a call-and-response between Jesus and a disciple, has provided comfort to many over the centuries.

6 - St Augustine's Confessions of a Sinner : An exploration of personal sin in the context of greater salvation.

Article was published in : Omnivoracious.com at 10:07 AM PST, December 20, 2008 Re-Publised again, here.

New standard of care for HIV-infected infants

In honor of World AIDS Day on December 1, we’re examining the results of a clinical trial suggesting a way to prevent illness and death in babies infected with HIV.

The World Health Organization (WHO) established World AIDS Day to give governments, national AIDS programs, faith organizations, community organizations and individuals a chance to raise awareness and focus attention on the global AIDS epidemic. (See Global Health Specialist Will Talk About World AIDS Day)

Infants infected with HIV type 1 are more likely to die than older children. Treating kids with a cocktail of antiretroviral medications can be effective initially, but long-term administration of antiretrovirals is problematic because the virus often evolves resistance and antiretroviral medications can be toxic.

Should HIV-positive infants begin treatment before clinical symptoms develop, or are the current guidelines of waiting until symptoms develop more effective?

The Children with HIV Early Antiretroviral Therapy (CHER) trial tried to answer this question. At two hospitals in South Africa (Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, Soweto and Tygerberg Children’s Hospital, Cape Town) physicians randomly assigned 6- to 12-week-old infants who had HIV infections but no clinical symptoms into three groups.

One group began antiretroviral therapy immediately for 40 weeks, a second group for 96 weeks, and a third group began treatment only after they displayed a clinical symptom of infection (low number of CD4-positive T cells, HIV-associated lung disease and pneumonia, kidney or heart problems, oral thrush, failure to thrive).

Antiretroviral therapy beginning at, on average, seven weeks after birth reduced mortality to 4 percent (10 babies died out of a total of 252), compared with 16 percent in babies that began treatment only after displaying symptoms (20 of 125). Disease progressed to more advanced stages in only 6 percent of infants who received early treatment (16 of 252), compared with 26 percent in the deferred therapy group (32 of 125).

Early antiretroviral treatment reduced infant mortality by 76 percent and HIV progression by 75 percent.

Immediate treatment is so effective that the CHER trial led to a new standard of care – instead of postponing treatment until signs of illness or a weakened immune system appear, WHO now “strongly” recommends starting antiretrovirals in children under age 1 immediately after HIV diagnosis, regardless of their state of health.

To learn more about the story of HIV/AIDS, check out:
http://www.hhmi.org/biointeractive/disease/lectures.html

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) presents four 60-minute presentations examining the story of HIV/AIDS:

• From Outbreak to Epidemic by infectious disease specialist Dr. Bisola Ojikutu
• AIDS and the HIV Life Cycle by HHMI investigator Dr. Bruce Walker
• Drugs and HIV Evolution, by Dr. Ojikutu
• Vaccines and HIV Evolution, by Dr. Walker

“Early antiretroviral therapy and mortality among HIV-infected infants” by Avy Violari, Mark F. Cotton, Diana M. Gibb, Abdel G. Babiker, Jan Steyn, Shabir A. Madhi, Patrick Jean-Philippe, James A. McIntyre, and the CHER study team appears in the November 20, 2008, New England Journal of Medicine.

CHER was supported by the National Institutes of Health; the departments of Health of the Western Cape and Gauteng, South Africa; and GlaxoSmithKline.

By : Daniel Gorelick

5 Easy Ways to Lift the Spirit
Under Alternative Medicine

I tried the conventional way for many years and found that nothing ever really changed for me. I still got sick, still got sad, and was still unhappy for long periods, rarely experiencing joy and peacefulness.


What to do ?

Luckily for me there’s always been that curiosity of what’s out there in the alternative world including the alternative therapies. I’ve tried many of them over the years and will continue to do so, all in the hope I can make things better for my body, mind and spirit. And it has.

I’m aware that what may work for me may not work for someone else, so the message is to keep trying until you find something that will suit your needs.

Many times I’ve been told they’ve tried everything. What is everything? What it actually boiled down to you could count on one hand. It’s worthwhile to keep searching, you may find that your world expands in a most amazing way by the making of new friendships (I have) and picking up useful skills for your ‘self-healing’ tool-kit.

So what do I do when I’ve reached a cross-road and need some direction or could do with some healing?

Below I’ve listed 5 basic points that have helped to lift my spirit and with practice will also help yours:

1. Meditation! Meditation is one of the greatest self healing tools available and costs nothing except a little of your time! There are many meditation techniques out there, find one that suits you and begin.

By putting some meditation music on and spending time in quiet contemplation it can soothe your soul and reconnect you with the highest aspect of yourself.

2. Aromatherapy and Essential Oils.

Rebalance and rejuvenate your spirit through blending a selection of essential oils together in an aromatherapy oil burner. I’ve found the following blend works extremely well when there’s a need for nurturing, support and healing:

Approximately an hour before retiring to bed place a few drops of the following in an aromatherapy oil burner with some water (for safety’s sake, extinguish the flame before lights are turned off for the night):

4 drops Jasmine

4 drops Rose

4 drops Neroli

3 drops Lavender

3 drops Bergamot

The smell divine! I use this one every now and again and not only sleep like a baby but anxiety and stress disappears, and feels like the weight of the world has lifted from my shoulders by the following morning! (If you have a small bedroom you might like to half the amount of drops)

3. Breathe! Stand with feet a shoulder-length apart. Take 3 slow and deep breaths using the diaphragm muscles. Breathe in through the nose, and breathe out through slightly parted lips. As you do these imagine you’re inhaling your personal power, filling every cell in your body, from your diaphragm up to the top of your head.

Be your personal power and notice how much taller, straighter and stronger you become. Repeat the steps above.

4. Be in the Present Moment. Take a few deep breaths and focus totally on this moment, right now.

If you’re reading a book or magazine, or even this article, totally focus on the words and take in their meaning. There is only you and this article now in the present moment.

If you’re in the workplace, focus totally on the task at hand, and only this task, and what you must do in order to complete it. Nothing else matters except you and the task at hand.

5. Set an intention. When I’m on the lookout for something new and useful for me, I set my intention on what it is I’m after.

For example, I may want to find a book that will give me answers in regards to directing me to another healing modality or skill. I then meditate on this intention, give it a timeframe then open my heart to it. Lo and behold I will have a book in my hand in no time at all! I love the power of intention – I also use intention for getting a parking space when I go shopping!

These days I rarely get sick and when I do and have a medical checkup, doctors tell me I’m actually very healthy (surely they can find something so I can get some sympathy around here!) which also includes blood test results.

I still do sadness and unhappiness well (I’m still human) though neither lasts long whereas in the past it would last many days sometimes weeks. What lasts much longer is a peaceful state.

When using the 5 points above, my spirit lifts and life once again becomes more peaceful and joyful.

Top 7 Tips Creates 8 Articles

Here’s a very simple article template that you can use to create (8) articles with less effort than you may think.

Two steps:

Step #1: Start with the Top 7 article template of writing an article with (7) tips, strategies or insights on any given topic centered around your core expertise. This is article #1 for you.

Step #2: Write an article expanding on each of the (7) tips you gave in the 1st article. This is article #2 through #8.

This strategy works because you’re addressing two very different audiences:

Your Top 7 Tips article gives just the strategies, tips and facts …FAST and with little more than a sentence or two as to why the tips are important. The other (7) articles you write that expand on each of the tips goes more in-depth on each strategy telling why, how, who else has done it, and gives more examples for those who want to better understand.

Notes about implementing this strategy:

* The best articles with (7) tips are the ones that include an original (7) tips that others have not heard before. ie: Use your brain, experience and history in your niche to come up with the (7) tips instead of regurgitating the same (7) tips everyone else in your niche uses.

* Do not mention the other tips or your primary article in any of the other articles. ie: Each of your (8) articles in this strategy MUST stand alone. Article marketing is not *article parts friendly* (2).

* Use a simple Introduction–Tips–Conclusion paragraph approach to help your reader understand your context.

* Aim for at least 400-500 words for each article. It’s rare when someone can deliver real value in 250-400 words… yet avoid the temptation to include filler/bloat words. Sometimes this means writing 100s of words and cutting your article down in size until you’ve found the best way to deliver the message in few words.

By : Christopher M. Knight

Dad's Guide to Getting Your Baby to Sleep

Getting a baby to sleep often presents a major parenting concern. Babies don't naturally take to sleeping through the night and most dads and moms have to work at 'teaching' their infant to sleep by setting up a sleep schedule for them.

For some parents, getting their children to sleep is no problem at all. For others, it invariably involves a major struggle. Here are some easy tips on putting your kids to bed:

• The first step to ensuring that your children take to their bed without much fuss is to establish a bedtime routine. When children sleep at the same time everyday, their body adapts to the cycle and they fall asleep easily.

• It helps to restrict activities that are physically or mentally stimulating, such as watching a television or computer screen or indulging in physical play, at least a couple of hours before bedtime. More sedate activities such as reading, drawing, or playing with stuffed toys are fine.

• It is a good idea to get your child in the mood for sleep by telling a bedtime story, or putting on some soft music. Besides helping them unwind, such activities form an association with bedtime in children's minds, and help them to anticipate sleep.

• Take steps to make your child comfortable during the night. You may keep a favorite stuffed toy or object alongside to comfort your child.

• Ensure that your child's clothes are comfortable-not too tight, and neither too hot or too cold.

• Once you have tucked your child in bed, leave the room. Let your child learn to settle down and fall asleep without depending on your presence to be able to do so.

As newborn babies grow and develop, these are the various child development stages that they go through. Baby acne is characterized by the appearance of pimples or red bumps on the baby's scalp, forehead, and especially the cheeks. A rough skin, along with pustules, whiteheads, and blackheads is also a common indication of baby acne

Paul Banas is a founder of GreatDad.com. He writes articles on pregnancy and parenting topics related to dads. If you're a divorced dad, share your experiences with other dads about single parenting and raising kids at Fathers Forum

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=P._Banas

Decorating Your Teens Bedroom

When your kid gets to be a teenager, that little kids furniture and bedroom décor just won’t do. Your teen wants a cool new look, and here’s how you can get it.

First of all, don’t toss out that old bedroom furniture yet. Unless the furniture is totally banged up and broken, you may be able to give it a cool new look with some paint and new knobs. Before you start on that, however, you need to figure out the theme of your teen bedroom design.

Todays hot new looks are centered around retro, modern or “cool” designs. Teens actually have pretty good design sense (probably from watching so much TV!) and you can design a really neat room just by adding some new accents. Of course, your teen may need a new desk to do their home work at if the old one no longer works but you can give the old furniture a new look as mentioned above.

Luckily, you don’t have to spend a lot on accents for your teenagers room. Most of the discount department stores like Target offer hip furnishings and accents at discount prices. You can buy inexpensive shelves, or build them yourself, and use it for them to put all their stuff that might normally be thrown on the floor. This will help the room look neat and reduce the clutter.

You can give your teens bedroom a fun but sophisticated look by painting the room in a "cool" color like chocolate, sage or purple and using accents to as focal points. A flokati or rag rug will lend a sophisticated air and you can even put the down as area rugs on top of wall to wall carpeting to give the floor a whole new look. Replace the kids ruffled or theme curtains with tab topped curtains in a denim or canvas for a more adult look.

Bedding for you teen can be plain, or funky - whatever goes with the room. Depending on your teens taste, a neutral colored bed set with nicely textured fabrics like silks or a velvet duvet can add interest with out being too flashy. Or if you want to make the bed a focal point, how about an animal print set or something in bright colors like hot pink and orange?

Accents are where you add interest and give the room personality. Some fun accents include chairs shaped like a giant shoe, faux fur covered lamps in wild colors, bean bag chairs of all types, phones in all shapes and sizes, funky accent pillows, rugs and wall art.

Lee Dobbins writes for Bedroom Designs where you can learn more about bedroom design themes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lee_Dobbins

5 Ways to Soothe Mind, Body and Spirit
By admin On December 19, 2008 Under Alternative Medicine

Sometimes good comes from being blinded by the light

Self improvement (or self help) tools come in many shapes and sizes; sometimes it’s physical in nature (a self help book, having a massage, painting with water colors), or spiritual in nature (flower essences, Reiki, meditation which is both physical and spiritual, etc).


Self improvement (or self help) tools come in many shapes and sizes; sometimes it’s physical in nature (a self help book, having a massage, painting with water colors), or spiritual in nature (flower essences, Reiki, meditation which is both physical and spiritual, etc).

Five of the best self help options that I’ve used successfully to help soothe my own mind, body and spirit, are:

1. Meditation techniques – a fabulous self help tool which greatly benefits overall health and wellbeing. There are many techniques to choose from such as:

Visually guided meditations;

Candle meditation;

Breathing meditation;

Crystal meditation;

Writing meditation (alternating using dominant and non-dominant hand);

Walking meditation;

Body scanning; and

A self healing meditation using either color; breathe work; aromatherapy; etc.

2. Painting with water colors, pastels or oil paints – express your uniqueness through art. This is a wonderful self help tool to employ for inner healing, letting go and for creating something new (a masterpiece for your lounge room wall).

3. Vibrational essences. Part of ancient wisdom, vibrational essences are used in healing to assist with the removal of emotional blocks and patterns, as well as resolving issues from past lives.

Essences are generally in liquid form and can also be used in creams, ointments and oils (I sometimes combine mine with an aromatherapy oil blend).

Vibrational substances are derived from light (sun, moon etc), healing energy (universal or spiritual energy, prana, Reiki etc), plants (flowers, stems, leaf etc), mineral (crystals, gold etc), environmental (sacred places), or animal.

Some examples of essences available (there are many) to explore further as a self help tool are:

Flower, Gem, Angel, Shell, Coral, Sea, Goddess, and Chakra essences

4. Journal writing is a fabulous self help healing tool connecting you with your true essence, your spiritual self.

Find yourself a special journal/diary to write in; something special to write with (can be brightly colored inks or the more traditional black, blue or reds) and make a date with yourself to do some journal writing every morning at the same time (before rising out of bed).

I’ve practiced journal writing as a self help tool for many years and still find it, to this day, one of the greatest self help and self improvement tools around – and it costs nothing!

Write out your worries, sadness, loneliness, or whatever is playing on your mind. When you’ve done that write in your journal the excitement, enthusiasm and passion you intend to experience for the day ahead, the projects you’re working on, friends you’ll catch up with, food you’ll eat, possible miracles that might happen, shopping to be done, your work day etc.

5. Have a massage. Treat yourself to some bodywork like a Swedish massage. Swedish is a more traditional or western soft tissue type of massage, however if you’re after something a little more unique for healing mind, body, and spirit you could choose:

Aromatherapy massage – there’s nothing quite like this one using essential oils for body, mind and spirit.

Ka Huna, LomiLomi – gentle, relaxing, soothing and stretching massage (even watching this massage is relaxing);

Reflexology – therapeutic hand and foot massage;

Reiki – hands on energy healing (aligns Chakras etc)

Vichy Shower – warm water is directed over your body, gently massaging it (this is heavenly, especially after a salt scrub).

Acupressure – form of bodywork based on Chinese Meridian theory

Ayurvedic – part of a traditional detoxification and rejuvenation program of India called Panchakarma – vigorious massage with warm oils and herbs to remove toxins, is calming and balancing, and facilitates profound inner peace.

Hot stone massage – warm smooth stones are applied to the body and employed by the therapist’s hands.

A massage not listed that I experienced while ago was a form of Swedish massage. I was given small smooth rocks to hold in either hand, at the end of the massage the therapist held my feet and ‘tuned’ me, which sounded like a clarinet going up and down the scales. To say I felt relaxed and energised at the same time is an understatement. It was amazing.

I’ve road tested many self help tools over the years; it’s been an amazing journey with the most profound assistance coming from spirit. Sometimes good comes from being blinded by the light.

“Incredible India” with Pushkar Camel Festival
By admin On December 11, 2008 Under Destinations

I fell in love with India years ago when I did volunteer work with Mother Teresa in Calcutta. Initially, it assaulted my 5 senses with such extreme contrasts. It was however, nothing less than fascinating. The aromatic food fantastic, people so friendly, the fragrance and colors so exotic, it was intoxicating. It is my delight to present it to you now on a journey of discovery you will never forget. We focus on the best of India with the highlight of Pushkar, a once in a lifetime experience. In November the weather is perfect and we’ve secured top hotels throughout.


We arrive to the land of 1000 languages and 1000 gods. At the Intercontinental, the women in my group are welcomed with marigolds and branded with the typical red dot on our foreheads. This hotel is an oasis of luxury in a polluted city of 14 million people. Two days are spent touring Delhi. The obligatory sites include Gandhi’s Tomb and many UNESCO World Heritage Sites. No where else have ancient traditions blended with the modern on a scale so evident as in Delhi. Fat sacred Brahma bulls block traffic creating delays. In this Hindu land, cows rule. Dogs, monkeys and children cross at their own risk.

I love spiced food and begin each day with a 3 alarm-curry breakfast. We head by coach for Rajasthan, the beautiful desert state where cows are replaced by camels. The air is sweeter and everything more colorful. Here is a microcosm of all that India is. The people are genteel with a humility if spirit and still light up at the sight of foreigners. We continually wave through our windows to those who stare with curiosity and seem to say, “why have you come here?” As a fan of the third world, this place has been on my dream list for years. I now vividly enter that element of travel that provides me astonishment.

We’ve come to attend the annual Camel Fair in Pushkar that has taken place for a thousand years. As the world’s largest, it has at its peak attracted 50,000 camels with 200,000 traders. We unpack at our camp called Exotic Adventures. Our spartan tents did have ensuite toilets but toilet paper was at a premium. There was a 24 hour guard outside who stingily rationed our quota. In the desert, nights are frigid and afternoons sweltering. I confided to a guest there from the American Embassy that I felt like I was in an episode of “Survivor.” She laughed assuring me that it was all worth it. Soon my shock turns to awe as I enter the fairgrounds.

Set on miles of shifting sand dunes with festooned camels and a flood of pilgrims, the scene looks totally surreal. Its like a State Fair on steroids. There is a flurry of horse, bullock and camel races, contests for milking, animal decorating, turban tying, tattooing as well as snake charmers, free carnival rides, mystics, astrologers and dazzling stalls of handicrafts at giveaway prices. The ground reverberates with activities. Thousands of Rajasthani woman have arrived dressed in their finest clothes in near neon colors. I watch trained monkeys, painted cows and cobra’s dance. No words can adequately describe how this helter skelter overwhelms my 5 senses. Others can have Europe with its cathedrals and museums. For me, this exotic exposure and cultural immersion is the ultimate travel!

Covered in dust, we return to camp. Each night there is entertainment under the stars with musicians, folk dancers, puppet show or fire eaters. No alcohol is allowed here and all meals are vegetarian buffets. An Ayurveda Center offers us treatments to cleanse body toxins. We decline them: induced vomiting, enemas, nasal drainage and blood letting.

We tour the holy city of Pushkar with its sacred lake created by Lord Brahma. Pilgrims come from afar to bathe in the ghats and worship round the clock. We learn about religions here: Zorastrism, Sihkism, the mystic Sufi’s, Jainists who won’t kill a mosquito, Hinduism that claims no absolute truth and the caste system. We tour temples at the lake; some are “blessed” by priests. Later, a highlight for me was a one hour Camel Cart Safari behind the scenes of the fair. Children line our route shouting to us “hi, hello, one pen please!” We see a camel slaughtered and half naked people washing. Back inside the grounds, we visit an orphanage and scatter individually to get lost in the feverish revelry. We ride huge spitting camels that provide us a heightened perspective of it all. I purchase a dozen garnet necklaces and silver ankle bracelets. Teenage boys approach Terry to photograph him. He’s 6’5’’. One politely as him, “Sir, what do you eat?”
Our group was wonderful!

There are endless food courts however we must pass all enticements to prevent “Delhi Belly.” I find the cacophony of chaos delightful. Pushkar is truly a party affair for the locals and we are just observant guests. I’m so grateful to experience such but time to proceed on with our busy itinerary.

We arrive to the famed “Pink City” of Jaipur, now more deep maroon from pollution. In touring its palaces, fort and architectural marvels, we learn of the great Amber rulers and maharajahs of the Moghul empire. History comes alive and I find myself so interested in that which I never cared about. And here is a shopper’s paradise for silk sarees, gems, jewelry and marble crafts. I visited an animal sanctuary called “Help In Suffering.” The worst cases of various species are treated here by volunteer veterinarians. Forty five stray dogs are sterilized daily and I witness a surgery. (See www.HIS-INDIA.com) You can simply mail them a check to help.
At ‘Help In Suffering’ a dog spaying Making a donation Volunteer vets talk to Suzy

On to see the grand Fatehpur Sikri, “Ghost City of Akbar” that was abandoned due to scarcity of water. We finally reach Agra, a broken city of 2.5 million. Hawkers harass us. Chained bears dance for rupees in the street. Hungry children beg. We are thankful to lodge at the deluxe Sheraton here with its western cuisine and affordable massages at $20. It was like a galaxy change from the downtown.

After witnessing an eyeful of wonders along the way, we have saved the best for last at the world’s greatest tribute to love. Goosebumps rise as I enter the majestic gate to the Taj Mahal. Morning sunlight illuminates it like a flawless pearl…22 years to build by 200,000 men with 2 million pieces of inlaid semi-precious stones. After a lecture on why this perfect symmetry was created for Queen Mumtaz, we disperse to photograph what looks to be a mirage. It is poetry in architecture and as magnificent as can be imagined.

Back in Delhi, we all enjoy a free day of leisure to explore as we choose! Most go shopping as prices are extravagantly low but how many Pashmina shawls does one need? For our final evening we enjoy a show called “Dances of India” followed by a farewell feast of our Last (Indian) Supper.

I remises another journey well done with excellent guides, drivers, assistance and accommodations. I recall my favorite moment which took place at the fair when I hired two “body guides” to assist me through the crowds, Jamal and Ranshi. These two 11 year old boys bonded to me like barnacles and their beaming smiling faces will forever remain etched in my memory of India. This trip has renewed my curiosity of the world reminding me again that my love of travel proliferates itself. The more I see, the more I want to see.

This country is for the seasoned traveler. I am extremely impressed with the fortitude and patience of my group of 60 people in a land of erratic infrastructure. For some it was their first visit to the third world but they all persevered like pros. To witness suffering first hand is the fullest way to appreciate home. We saw things both appalling and joyful. The word “fascinating” however would sum up the entire trip. I must return again.

7 Ways to Boost Your Energy
By admin On December 19, 2008 Under Alternative Medicine

Everyone would like to feel more energetic during the day. You naturally go through periods of higher activity which contrasts with times of relaxation. The problem occurs when more energy and concentration is required than we can give. Or when we try to sleep and can’t. Follow these invaluable tips to a new you!


Everyone would like to feel more energetic during the day. You naturally go through periods of higher activity which contrasts with times of relaxation. The problem occurs when more energy and concentration is required than we can give. Or when we try to sleep and can’t. Follow these invaluable tips to a new you!

1) Stay on a regular sleep schedule. You can’t stay up late during the week-end and suddenly on Monday morning wake up refreshed. If you do enjoy later nights on Friday and Saturday vow to get to bed early on Sunday to wake up rested.

2) Avoid the sugar and caffeine roller coaster. Eat some protein and foods with a bit of fat in the morning. The brain needs protein and the body does not store it. You don’t have to eat very much- a glass of low fat milk, a piece of cheese, or a handful of nuts will get you going instead of pure carbohydrates like a plain bagel.

3) Take a 5-10 minute power nap around lunch. Even if you just close your eyes and let your mind drift you will be refreshed for the afternoon. This is also effective anytime you feel yourself not concentrating, reading the same material over and over. Give in to the urge and completely relax for a few moments.

4) Drink more water and liquids. I know, everyone says to drink more fluids. But most Americans are in a constant state of dehydration from filling up on coffee, tea, and sodas with caffeine. This is very stressful to the kidneys and can cause irritation to the bladder. Keep a sports bottle filled with your favorite flavored water or just plain and keep it with you at all times. Set a goal- empty by lunch, refill, empty again by the time work is over. Carry plenty of water in the car too for you and your family.

5) Exercise regularly. This is easier said than done with a busy schedule. A poor conditioning level causes you to be short-of-breath and your heart to race when just doing simple things like climbing a flight of steps or doing household chores. Park farther away when shopping and walk Dust off that exercise machine or get an exercise tape to play when weather is bad. Set an example for the rest of your family and maybe they will join in too!

6) A joke a day keeps the doctor away. Seriously, laughter has many beneficial effects on the body. The brain chemicals for experiencing pleasure, happiness, and peace increase with good, hearty laughs. Live alone? Get a funny movie or watch a light-hearted comedy on tv. Nothing sarcastic or put-down, however.

7) Avoid confrontations and situations with negative people. You know who they are. They are not going to change but they will bring you and your mood down. The complainers, gossipers, and generally unhappy souls we all have to deal with on a day-to-day basis drain our energy if we allow them. Be polite but avoid arguing or getting hooked into listening to their constant problems.

8) Take regular, daily supplements of the highest quality. Our food and diets simply do not meet the amounts needed for maximum health. There is a difference between avoiding nutritional deficiencies and optimum performance.

Synopsis:

Growing up in the Missouri Ozarks in the 1960s and ’70s, Wade Rouse was always a bit of an outsider. While some of his roughneck peers wore Wrangler jeans and had stylish crew cuts, Wade feathered his golden hair and sported a handmade leatherwork belt bearing his unfortunate childhood nickname, Wee-Pooh. Taunted by his classmates, Wade finds comfort in his offbeat but lovable family, but when a tragic motorcycle accident takes his brother’s life, Wade buries his sexuality along with his brother, vowing to be the son he believes his family wants. America’s Boy is Wade Rouse’s tale of self-denial and self-discovery, and a tender tribute to the eccentric family that carried him through it all. Wade’s battle with himself—and the long road back to self-acceptance—forms the heart of America’s Boy, an arresting and utterly moving memoir about a boy learning to live (and love) in his own skin. Told with humor, courage, and boundless joy, America’s Boy is a love letter to a singular time in America’s heartland, to family, and to the growing pains that accompany self-discovery.

Book Excerpt:

“There He Is ...”

I AM five years old and standing as dramatically as a five-year-old knows how in the middle of the Rouse Family log cabin in the Missouri Ozarks. I am wearing the following handpicked items: my grandma Rouse’s red heels (her “whore” shoes, she calls them); my mom’s black-and-white polka-dot bikini (which fits surprisingly well after duct-taping it down, and it shows off my thin, tan body and blond hair); gold earrings that look like marigolds; a faux pearl necklace; a tinfoil crown embedded with glued-on red checkers; and a cardboard sash that says MISS SUGAR CREEK in red magic marker.

I am posing as regally as I know how—back razor straight, head slightly tilted, smiling brightly—while holding a tinfoil-covered Wiffleball bat I pretend is a scepter. I am breathlessly waiting for my family to come back from fishing off our beach on Sugar Creek. It is the Fourth of July, and every year on this holiday my family holds a mock Miss America pageant, complete with eveningwear, bathing suit, and talent competitions. I am always a judge but have never been allowed to be a contestant.

Until now, I have always thought it was because I am too young.

It has finally dawned on me that it’s because I’m a boy.

So while everyone is down at the beach fishing and gathering kindling for our big bonfire, I am sneaking back up and officially entering myself in the pageant.

The moment my family comes in, I wave my scepter and graciously thank them for their decision. They stare at me, blinking in slow motion, trying to act like nothing is wrong, like it is perfectly natural for me to be standing there in a bikini and heels, like a tiny boy Phyllis George.

Then they walk past me and begin putting up their fishing poles, grabbing snacks, continuing with their routines. They do not know what to do with me, so they ignore me.

“I am Miss Sugar Creek!” I scream in my best Queen’s English. “Lavish me with furs, cars, prizes, and scholarships!”

My family freezes dead in their tracks, like in a movie when the action suddenly stops and the actors are still and lifeless. Only my brother, Todd, a true country boy, moves toward me, shaking his head, grabbing the scepter from my hands and motioning with it for me to walk the length of the cabin.

“There he is, Miss Sugar Creek,” he sings off-key.

I feel so honored.

I am Miss Sugar Creek.

Nine years later, however, I will reluctantly have to relinquish my title.

On the Fourth of July holiday in 1979, just a month after I graduated from junior high, a month after Todd graduated from high school, just as I was realizing I liked boys and hated my older brother, Todd died, and I quickly buried two things—my brother deep in the ground and my sexuality deep in me—and chose to remember neither one for a very long time.

I decided, out of pain and shame, out of respect for my family, to change who I was. I would not allow my parents to mourn the loss of a second son in their lives. I decided I would be the son I should be, the son my family deserved, the son to bear them children. I would not be gay. I would be normal.

I would, however, spend years eating my way through my guilt and misery, downing food faster than I could twirl a baton (which I was going to do for the talent portion of Miss Sugar Creek). I would lie and hurt more people than I could even remember. I would eventually put a knife to my wrist and try to end my life.

But in the fog of that moment as I contemplated suicide, I remembered the summers of my youth, my grandparents, my family, those who loved me for who I really was, those who fought for me to have a better life. And I would choose to live.

And slowly, my fog would lift like the morning mist off Sugar Creek.



Growin’ Up in Granby

YOU DON’T really have a say in where you live. It is predestined. Some people get Malibu, Taos, or Aspen; I get Granby, a tiny farm town in the southwest Missouri Ozarks.

My parents grew up in the Missouri Ozarks, in little places that don’t even warrant dots on a map, places with deserted main streets and town squares, old bandstands and courthouses, and very little hope.

My family has hope. And that’s what makes it all so very hard.

My mom, Geraldine (“Geri,” for short), grew up in Granby with my grandparents, Viola and Wilbur “Web” Shipman, and my aunt Peggy. My dad, Ted, grew up in Neosho, the county seat, about eight miles from Granby, with my other grandparents, Fred and Madge, and my aunt Marilyn and uncle Roy.

Everything in Granby is white or off-white—the people, the cars, the clothes, the houses. It is like the black-and-white opening of The Wizard of Oz. When you finally see color, it’s overwhelming.

Even the food in Granby is white or off-white. When I go to dinner at friends’ houses, they eat only gray-looking meat alongside a potato. They snack on potato chips and vanilla ice cream. They drink milk or beer. “We don’t like any food with color,” a friend’s mom said to me once, when I asked if there were vegetables. “They’re weird.”

And so am I. I like to wear starched pink oxfords, sweater vests, and shoes with buckles. I do not like to get my hands dirty.

There is not much to Granby, Missouri, a town where trailers outnumber homes and teeth. There is one gas station; one lonely, dirty little grocery store; a post office; and one restaurant—Rita’s—which rotates its “fried buffet” daily. That’s how Rita’s publicizes it: “fried buffet.” The food is deep-fried and all-you-can-eat; people wobble in—literally wobble—and eat until the steaming silver bins are empty. Monday night at Rita’s is fried chicken with mashed potatoes and cream gravy; corn with mountains of butter that slowly melt until the kernels are actually floating; green-bean casserole; and apple pie, crisp, cobbler, and ice cream. Tuesday is fried fish and hush puppies. Wednesday is fried frog legs and french fries. Thursday is breakfast-all-day (fried eggs and hash browns), and Friday, Saturday, and Sunday repeat with the chicken, fish, and frog legs. There is, of course, a salad bar, but it contains only iceberg lettuce and four dressings: ranch, Thousand Island, bleu cheese, and creamy Italian; the rest is mayonnaise-laden “salads”—macaroni and potato—sitting next to bacon bits and chopped-up ham. My family eats at Rita’s two or three times a week and always shows up for the Sunday buffet during the school year. I try to avoid the buffet—any buffet—but it is impossible in the Ozarks. When I ask for oatmeal, I am told that “oat” isn’t a “meal.”

Granby doesn’t even have a stoplight—just a flashing light in the middle of town whose only purpose is seemingly to highlight the town’s two deserted main streets. The town is so quiet that when you drive by with your windows down, day or night, you can actually hear the blinking light blink—the click, click, click of the yellow.

Granby does, however, have its own language. For instance, the word “nary,” found only once in Webster’s, actually has three distinct meanings in Granby: nary as adjective meaning “narrow” (That’s a nary bridge, or Don’t be nary-minded); nary as contraction meaning “isn’t” (Nary a motel in town); or nary as a noun meaning “contrarian” (Don’t be a nary).

Granby’s claim to fame is trumpeted proudly on its lone water tower: THE OLDEST MINING TOWN IN THE SOUTHWEST. How true that is, I never know. Granby had been—for the briefest of periods—a buzzing ore-mining town. The town had swelled to about 5,000 people at its height. There were dance halls, bars, places to eat, and more bars. Men swarmed for the work, and women followed. One of those men was my mom’s dad, Grampa Shipman.

The beauty of Granby, or of any small town, is its simplicity, its absolute nothingness, where you’re free to concentrate on nature.

I love watching summer storms roll in from the horizon; they literally unfold in front of your eyes without obstruction and take their sweet time to reach you, winds whipping the hayfields and meadows, the temperature dropping in a matter of minutes. Clouds of unimaginable grandeur fill the sky like some grand painting, blocking the sun, its rays shooting out from the edges. I can see the rain begin to fall miles away. Long before you can hear it, you can smell it. “I can smell rain,” Grandma Shipman says, sometimes before clouds had even formed—a sixth sense that always amazes me.

I love the sounds of the seasons: the crickets in the summer, red and yellow fall leaves in the woods falling heavily upon one another after a rain, the ground in spring actually talking as it comes back to life—grass growing, flowers springing forth—and the utter and complete silence that a heavy winter’s snow brings. These are country sounds, uninterrupted by any other. In the country you hear everything, even these “sighs” from the earth; there are no distractions.

And I love our cabin on Sugar Creek, which sits on the Missouri border, about an hour south of Granby, just before you fall into Arkansas or trip into Oklahoma. It is where I come alive. The room to roam in small towns is limitless. However, the psychological room to roam, especially if you are different, is suffocating; there is not enough anonymity to try new things, to be different, to actually find who you are. You are, in many ways, like a shelter dog, tagged at birth: ABANDONED; COMES FROM A BIG FAMILY, DOESN’T NEED A LOT OF ATTENTION; AGGRESSIVE—JUST NEEDS LOVE; QUIET AND A BIT DETACHED, BUT SWEET. That tag is nearly impossible to shed; once it’s latched on to your collar in your youth, you just can’t tear it off.

I am different, and I know it. My whole family does. We all knew it from the moment I wore a crown and earrings, from the second I stared at boys and told my grandmas they were cute.


Purchase From:

America's Boy: A Memoir

Original Publish Date:

2006-04-06

By : Wade Rouse

Wade Rouse is the author of the critically-acclaimed memoirs, America’s Boy, (Dutton/2006) and “Confessions of A Prep School Mommy Handler” (Harmony Books/2007).

Link Love Vs Lack Love

B.Durant said:

“I’d be interested in knowing why you are so strict when it comes to linking to other websites. I understand quality control but listening to the interview it was almost as if you’d rather not see any links at all but being that this is the world wide web you hold your nose and swallow it down.”

You’ve heard the old saying that you are judged by the friends you keep, right? Websites are judged by the friends they link.

If we link to bad friends (known as “bad link neighborhoods”), we’ll be judged as being just as bad as those sites having just endorsed them via an outbound link.

In addition, we value providing our users a POSITIVE USER EXPERIENCE. Links to sites that deliver a negative user experience reflect poorly on us and everyone connected with the EzineArticles system. Ideal EzineArticles expert authors also want to associate themselves with others of the same respect; therefore to continue to earn their respect, we must reject members who link to sites that break user trust.

Don’t get me wrong; we love links to other sites and this is a CRITICAL component to the value proposition that EzineArticles makes to its’ members! The only way we can reach our goal of being our members highest non-search engine referrer of traffic is by outbound links from the Resource Box of every article we host. Last month, over 3.62 MILLION outbound visitors left EzineArticles to surf the sites of our members.

You’d be floored if I showed you how many thousands of our members have submitted great articles that we had to reject because the links in their articles went to “UNDER CONSTRUCTION” websites or their articles talked about one subject and then they linked to something absolutely completely and utterly having nothing to do with their expertise or what they just shared in the article (we view this as user-deception (regardless as to if it was on purpose or not)).

Get this: Right now we have 951 articles soft-rejected because the link in their resource box goes to a dead/invalid website. Dead links provide a poor user experience obviously.

The stakes are huge and thus, the strictness will continue to rise as it has since day one. This ensures value for those who continue to get their articles accepted every day without any problems.

Posted by Christopher M. Knight on December 10, 2008 at 6:27

Solar Panel Installers

The ever increasing cost of electricity bills and depleting energy sources, many people are turning to solar panels to address their energy consumption needs. Solar energy has emerged as one of the viable option that is capable of serving normal energy supply without hampering the balance of the nature.

Once you have decided to install a solar panel at your home, it is the time to choose the right Solar Panel Installers, who possess required skills to install a panel successfully.


If you are thinking of hiring an electrician for the job then you are wrong. To get the best solution, you should call only professionals who possess required skills and adequate experience to handle the task.

There are many companies that employ professional installers who are capable of meeting the standard installation process. While looking for solar installers, you need to do a thorough research and follow some tips that may help you to pick the right installer for your requirements. Many people go for the lowest prices and do not check the eligibility of an installer that they have agreed to hire for the job. As a result, the final output is not up to the mark.

To get the best and qualified professional for the job, you need to make enquires and find out answers for the following questions:

Total work experience:

Experience plays an important role in getting the best work done. It helps to learn about challenges and probable situations related to the work and help a person to find out the best possible solutions to tackle the posed challenges and difficult situations.

Registration of a company/individual:

Prior handling the task, it is important to check the registration and license of the chosen company. According to the government norms, it is mandatory to have n electrician’s license. Hence, choose a company that has a valid license.

By: Editor22

Article Science Part 1

The hardest part of a science fair project may very likely be getting started. Once you have an idea in mind it is easy to formulate what experiments and research you will need to do. Until you chose a topic you do not have anything to aim toward. The science fair project is typically designed as an educational tool. This article is not designed to hand you an idea for a project. My goal is that these ideas will point you in the right direction or even give inspiration for another related idea. The three descriptions here will give you an outline, not a project; it is your job to expand on a project idea.

Idea number one: The effect of gravity on plant growth. The main focus of this idea is to see if gravity has an effect on how plants grow. Some answers will only be found through research, specifically on ‘auxin’ and ‘geotropism’. Here are two experiments that you can perform to test how plants grow in relation to gravity. Fold a paper towel down to 1.5 to 2 inch strip. Moisten the folder paper towel with water and place pinto beans spaced out on the strip. Roll up the strip of paper towel with beans and tape it to a piece of cardboard. Be sure to draw an arrow on the cardboard pointing up and put it inside a gallon zipper style baggie. Place the board in a vertical position, like against a window. Over time make note of which direction the stems and roots grow. Ask questions like, “How did the roots know to grow down?” Another experiment that can be used is to simply plant pinto beans in two different aluminum pans with potting soil. Leave on pan on a flat surface while elevating one end of the other pan. This will cause your second ‘garden’ to be on a slope or angle. As the beans grow, note the angle of the stems to the soil.

Idea number two: How is water transported through plants? The main focus of this idea is to see how water travels through a plants roots and stems. Some research key words will be ‘xylem tubes’ and ‘sap’. This basic experiment is easy but can be elaborated on. Get a bunch of celery (one bundle) from you local grocer. Be sure to select two stalks from close to the center of the bunch. After cutting off the bottom evenly with the help of an adult, place one in a cup of water (clear plastic cups may work best) and another in a cup of water turned red with food coloring. After 24 hours, dry off and observe the celery stalks. You may want to use a magnifying glass or have an adult cut a section of the stalk so you can view the cut ends. After you test the celery try using a while carnation in the same test. Another more elaborate variation is to take a white carnation and have an adult cut the stem long ways from the bottom to half way up the stem. Place one of the halves in a cup with water died red and the other half in a cup with water died blue. This will help you determine if xylem tubes are connect together or remain separate from each other.


Idea number three: How can seeds break apart rocks? The main focus of this idea is to see if the growth of plant seeds actually pushes apart a solid object. Research key words for this idea are ‘weathering’ and ‘physical weathering.’ In the experiment for this idea, you will need to fill two small disposable cups half full with plaster. (Note: be sure to not rinse plaster covered tools and bowls in a sink, as it will clog the drains.) In one you will place pinto beans into the plaster leaving half above the surface and half below the surface. The cup without pinto beans will be your ‘control’. Moisten a paper towel for each cup (not dripping) and place into the cups so that the towel is snug against the surface of the plaster. After one week remove the paper towels and begin the observation process.

These three science fair project ideas may give you a good place to start on your project. Please be sure to research each idea extensively and even create your own variations of the experiments. More ideas will follow in future articles.

By: Wesley Skile