August 31st, 2010 by John
Chef Charlie Palmer has a Michelin star, a few James Beard Awards, and a Kramer Knife. Chef Thomas Keller has three Michelin stars, several James Beard Awards, and a Kramer Knife. What's a Kramer Knife? It may fall in the J.P. Morgan category of "if you have to ask, you can't afford it." The hand-crafted Kramer Knives sell for $300 an inch. So figure for a basic 8-inch chef knife, you'll have to pony up $2400. On top of that, there is a waiting list of well over a year. Why? Bob Kramer is one of only a hundred and three people in the world, and the only former chef, to be certified as a Master Bladesmith. He makes each knife by hand, using a multi-step process which encompasses as many as 200 layers of steel. The outcome is a stunning Damascus steel blade with a swirling pattern resembling wood grain and is harder, thinner, sharper, and slices and dices with ease and perfection.. Bob Kramer has been a circus clown, a magician, a chef, a waiter, and a traveling knife sharpener. But it's his ability to slice through a one inch thick rope with one swing and hack through a 2X4 that's helped him achieve rock star status with chefs all over the globe. If you don't feel like waiting for your own custom blade, Williams-Sonoma currently sell more affordable and ready made versions of the Kramer Knives.Posted in Articles
August 28th, 2010 by John
Gerard Depardieu is no fan of fellow French actor Juliette Binoche, saying "she has nothing" in an interview with the Austrian publication Profil. The Guardian translated part of the article, which appeared in German. He asked the interviewer, "Please can you explain to me what the secret of this actress is meant to be? "I would really like to know why she has been so esteemed for so many years. She has nothing. Absolutely nothing!" Binoche, 46, won an Oscar for her role in "The English Patient" and was nominated for "Chocolat." But Depardieu, 61, went on, reiterating, "She is nothing. Compared with her, Isabelle Adjani is great even if she's totally nuts. Or Fanny Ardant - she is magnificent, extremely impressive. But Binoche? What has she ever had going for her?" Binoche also won the Best Actress prize at Cannes this year.Posted in Articles
August 27th, 2010 by John
Late last week, Kimora Lee Simmons Tweeted that she was leaving her job as Creative Director at Baby Phat and Page Six might have uncovered why. According to a Baby Phat insider, "Kimora was going over-budget. She'd pay herself a fee to be in the ads, plus she paid her children fees to appear in ads. It costs thousands of dollars to airbrush her because she's a size 10. Plus, they spent a ton of money on body doubles. They would shoot another model in the clothes, and take Kimora's head and put in on her body." In April, Jezebel matched Kimora's body in her "Dare Me" perfume ad to that of Daria Werbowy on French Vogue's March 2005 cover. Neither Kimora nor her lawyers have commented on the current situation but she did Tweet: Exaactly!--->RT @ShiGyrl: @OfficialKimora - Oh whatever, they r just jealous!! If it costs thousands of dollars to airbrush then u need to hire me!! Ha!! Kimora hasn't given a specific reason for her split with Baby Phat, which is owned by Kellwood. She typed, "No I did not quit. But it is over!" and fielded questions from fans like: Q: Why r u leaving? Can we get a reason? A: At this time I must decline to comment Q: Are u still going to do the fabulosity brand?! A: Absolutely! Q: Are yuh leaving PHAT fashions because of [your ex Russell Simmons]?? A: He and I BOTH are OUT!Posted in Articles
August 25th, 2010 by John
CHICAGO — Retired slugger Sammy Sosa is upset with the Chicago Cubs for not retiring his No. 21 jersey, telling a magazine that the organization doesn't care about him. Sosa hit 545 homers over 13 seasons with the Cubs while becoming one of baseball's biggest stars. But he was traded to the Baltimore Orioles in 2005 after a sour end to his time in Chicago. Sosa tells Chicago Magazine for a story in its September issue that his "number should be untouchable because of the things that I did for that organization." Rookie outfielder Tyler Colvin is wearing No. 21 for the Cubs this season. Sosa finished with 609 homers in 18 years in the majors. He hasn't appeared in a game since 2007.Posted in Articles
August 24th, 2010 by John
The chief operative behind then-candidate Barack Obama's attempt to combat the smears he faced on the campaign trail has penned a memo for Democratic candidates around the country, advising them how to deal with similar attacks as the election approaches. Will Bunnett, who was a senior e-mail writer and producer on the Obama for America campaign and the overseer of the Fight the Smears microsite, advises Democrats in a "working-paper" memo to engage their detractors rather than sit idly by. "The number one rule of smear fighting is don't let a bad narrative about your candidate settle in. Because the anxiety a smear creates leads people to seek information, you have a window to make sure some of what they receive counters the smear." But Bunnett's counsel is more nuanced than just arguing for direct engagement. For example, he urges candidates not to give up "refuting the facts of the smear." "When a smear risks catching on, work on beating back the fear underlying the smear (like the fear that John Kerry is less than who he says he is)... You're more likely to successfully update the 'story' someone has in their head of John Kerry by appealing to someone's gut with a more generic character defense or counterattack than by peppering them with facts about medals and commendations." He also stressed that smear targets frame their push-back "in moral language." "In the [Fight The Smears] context, that means it's not "rumors are going around that Barack is a Muslim." Instead it's "shameful, shadowy attackers have been lying about Barack's religion." That second version involves morality in the forms of shame, cowardice, and deception and uses active voice to give people more of a sense of an opponent." Culled from experiences of the Obama and Kerry campaigns, the memo's content provides an interesting window into the Democratic psyche heading into the closing months of the 2010 election. Not only does the party remain incredibly wary of Republican campaign tactics, they seem cognizant that the Internet community that helped propel them to office in the past two cycles could now be the conduit for the rumor mongering that facilitates their downfall. The pushback advice is heavy on political psychology and broad messaging tactics as opposed to individual instructions for smears to come. But that may be because the memo is anticipatory in nature and meant for broad usage for any candidate who wants it. "It is certainly preemptive," said Larry Huynh, a colleague of Bunnett's at Trilogy Interactive who contributed to the memo. "The point is to get it out before because people need to understand how to deal with this in an effective way because we expect this to be a pretty dirty cycle."Posted in Articles
August 20th, 2010 by John
Reporting from Washington and Vineyard Haven, — World leaders are planning to invite Israeli and Palestinian officials to Washington in September to begin direct Middle East peace talks, a U.S. official confirmed Thursday. An invitation from the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations is expected to be announced as soon as Friday, nearly two years after the last round of talks broke off. The world leaders are suggesting early September for the first session of negotiations. Details were still being worked out late Thursday, and though acceptance by both sides was expected, officials warned that nothing had been confirmed. U.S. and allied officials in recent days said they had persuaded Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to join the talks. President Obama would be directly involved in the meetings, officials said. The U.S. has spent months on shuttle diplomacy — special envoy George J. Mitchell has been meeting extensively with Israeli and Palestinian officials since May — in an attempt to start indirect talks, with little discernible result. Key negotiators signaled a breakthrough in the effort to begin negotiations this week, when Catherine Ashton, the European Union's top foreign policy official, announced in a letter to other EU officials that Abbas was on the brink of committing to talks. Confirmation of such negotiations, first reported by the Reuters news agency Thursday, would be a relief for Obama, who has made Mideast peace talks a high foreign policy priority in his administration. The resumption of face-to-face meetings would be a measure of political success for his administration, even if the two sides didn't agree to discuss core issues that could relieve long-term hostilities and move the region toward a two-state solution. As in previous talks, major issues would include the borders of a Palestinian state, Israeli security, the claims of Palestinian refugees and competing claims over Jerusalem. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is willing to make sacrifices for peace, but the hard-liners in his right-wing government have been reluctant to give ground to the Palestinians. As for Abbas, it's not clear how decisive a commitment he could make on behalf of the Palestinians from his office in the West Bank. His rivals in the militant group Hamas control the Gaza Strip, home to about 1.5 million Palestinians. Although pessimism may shadow the resumption of Mideast peace talks, a wild card in any new meetings is the role the U.S. may assume. Obama has signaled that his government is willing to take a more active role than the previous administration, which was more reluctant to push the Israelis. Such a prospect has stirred hope among Palestinians, who think Obama may have more sympathy for their cause, and anxiety among the Israelis, who worry the administration may press them for concessions that threaten their security. Even such a small step toward peace is seen among American officials as a move toward building support in the Muslim world for the U.S. and its goals, including the military campaign in Afghanistan and the effort to halt Iran's nuclear program.Posted in Articles
August 16th, 2010 by John
After weeks apart, Rob heads up to Canada to see Kristen and BFF Tom Sturridge on the set of ‘On The Road!’ Finally done filming Water for Elephants, Robert Pattinson made a trip up north to visit girlfriend Kristen Stewart on the set of her new film On The Road! Rob was photographed leaving Kristen’s trailer and a source said of the pair’s steamy visit, “”Rob’s Montreal visit is like a ‘payback’ time, remember Kristen’s surprise Budapest visit last April?” What a great boyfriend! Rob also got to meet up with his best friend and Kristen’s new costar Tom Sturridge during his visit. The trio apparently went out later that night and the source said Kristen was “so happy” to see her boyfriend. And on an amusing note, Rob was photographed wearing a Beastie Boys shirt with this charming lyric on the back — ‘Get Off My Dick.’ Driver from www.hollywood.comPosted in Articles
August 13th, 2010 by John
The question is important for fertility specialists. Women entering menopause do not produce mature eggs, or produce them only occasionally, but still have primordial follicles. So do women whose ovaries fail much earlier in life. If there were a way to stimulate immature eggs to develop, it should be possible for those women to become pregnant. And women who have cancer treatments that shut down their ovaries might want to save some immature eggs in order to have a baby later. Now, Aaron J. W. Hsueh and Jing Li of Stanford University and their colleagues in Japan and China report that they have solved the egg maturation puzzle. In a paper published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, they describe a simple way to signal immature mouse eggs to develop. They fertilized the mature eggs, got newborn mice, reared them and showed they were fertile. They also used their method to get human eggs to mature but did not fertilize them. Dr. Kazuhiro Kawamura in Japan, though, plans to take the next step with patients whose ovaries failed early in life — maturing their primordial follicles, then fertilizing the eggs, Dr. Hsueh says. Dr. Hsueh cautions, though, that “no one can guarantee success” with human eggs. He is a basic scientist and is not planning to treat patients. Dr. Louis DePaolo, chief of the reproductive sciences branch at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, emphasizes that the method is still experimental. “This is something that is possible,” he said, “but further refinement needs to be done.” At this point, he says, “you wouldn’t say to a patient, ‘Let’s try this.’ ” The results may also help scientists generate human embryonic stem cells. A problem with getting those cells has been that it is hard to get many mature human eggs for fertilization. Now, Dr. Hsueh says he wants to try to use immature eggs from ovary tissue of women who had their ovaries removed for other reasons. He hopes to nudge the immature eggs to mature. Scientists have long been amazed by the egg maturation process. A baby girl has 800,000 immature eggs in her ovaries when she is born. When she reaches puberty and starts to ovulate, 1,000 of those egg cells start to develop each month. All but one egg typically drop off along the way. No one knows what happens to all the eggs that do not make it. “They presumably die,” Dr. Hsueh said. “Except for some more advanced follicles, no one knows at what stage most of them die.” Fertility treatments use hormones to help eggs that are already far along to mature. But as happens with women just starting menopause, there may be no eggs that are far along. Until now, nothing could be done. The impetus behind the discovery was an accidental finding by other researchers. They had removed a gene in mice and saw something strange and unexpected: all of the animals’ immature eggs started to mature. The mice, in fact, ended up being infertile later in life; they had used up all of their eggs at once. That led to a realization that the key to making immature eggs develop is to inhibit an enzyme known as PTEN and add a protein fragment to help activate the eggs. Stopping that enzyme took the brakes off egg development. With an extra push from the activating protein, the eggs began to grow. Now, Dr. Hsueh says, the investigators improved the methods they report in their new paper. Of course, they do not want to use up all the eggs in an ovary at once. Instead, he said, the idea is to take a small piece of ovary, activate its primordial eggs and put it back in the body, allowing the eggs to grow and mature. The finding, Dr. DePaolo said, “rises to the level of important,” and not only because it may give women more options when their ovaries fail. In addition, he said, the work provides “basic knowledge of how these early-stage follicles get going.” “We never understood that,” Dr. DePaolo said. For years, reproductive biologists were stymied by a mystery of egg cell development: What are the signals that tell immature egg cells — “primordial follicles” — to develop into mature eggs that can be fertilized? Driver from wwwnytimes.comPosted in Articles
August 12th, 2010 by John
"Project Runway" judge and mom-to-be Nina Garcia talked to The Cut on the release day of her fourth book Nina Garcia's Look Book: What to Wear for Every Occasion. Billed as providing the answer to "What should I wear?" in any situation, in the pages, Garcia "shows us the pieces, the accessories, and the strategies to create the looks that will take us from the first day on a job through the day we ask for a raise and beyond, from the first time we meet our boyfriend's parents (or his children) through the day we see our own children walk down the aisle," according to Amazon. So, uh, where to start? Garcia told The Cut about the first designer item she ever bought: I grew up with a fashion-obsessed mother and an older sister, so there was a lot of fashion in my house. The first thing I remember owning was a Pierre Cardin jumpsuit when I was 9 or 10; of course I didn't actually buy it, but I fell in love with it. When I was older and I first started working, I was obsessed with buying my first Chanel jacket. I saved up my hard-earned money, went to Barneys, and bought a little black Chanel jacket. It saw many, many job interviews and many, many events. I'm not fitting into it lately, but I still have it. These days, Garcia is really into minimalism, but she would like to say bye-bye to some trends. "I have seen everything possible covered in studs and grommets. Also, what I call angry shoes: those platforms with the multiple buckles and studs. I think the polished girl is back." Driver from www.huffingtonpost.comPosted in Articles
August 11th, 2010 by John
A North Carolina woman's claims that Fantasia Barrino's alleged affair with her husband caused the couple's divorce is not true, says the American Idol winner. "Fantasia is certain that she is not responsible for the deterioration of [their] marriage," the singer's manager, Brian Dickens, said in a statement Monday. Court documents filed last week by Paula Cook allege that her husband, Antwaun Cook, and Barrino began a "covert adulterous affair" in August 2009 and that the two made a sex tape. "Fantasia will weather this storm with the dignity and grace that she has exemplified throughout a life in which she has repeatedly overcome obstacles and challenges," adds her manager. A lawyer for Barrino also blasted the woman's allegations and said the Idol champ was dragged into the couple's breakup for media attention. "Mrs. Cook gratuitously included claims about Fantasia to sensationalize that litigation and to insure that her tale would be picked up by tabloids," lawyer Gena Morris tells TMZ.com. "The fact that she would seek such publicity in a case involving her children is particularly disgraceful.” Paula and Antwaun Cook were married in 2005 and split in June of this year, according to court papers. Driver from www.huffingtonpost.comPosted in Articles
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