NEW YORK - Messages and wishes for the new year from people around the world will float down on the New Year's Eve revelers in Times Square when the confetti is dropped.What a fabulous idea!
For the first time, anyone can get a message printed on a piece of the multicolored confetti by visiting the Times Square Information Center or by using the Internet to type a message on a "Wishing Wall Online" — http://tinyurl.com/2c5efd.
The message-carrying pieces will be mixed among the more than one ton of confetti, organizers said.
Messages can be serious or silly, said Tim Tompkins, a spokesman for the Times Square Alliance, which organizes the party.
Being carded means I will come up with two wish lists-one that is materialistic and one that is spiritual.And so, here are my lists:
Here are the rules:
1. Each player starts with 5 gifts that they would want for the New Year.
2. People who are “CARDED” need to write their own Blog about their 5 things & post these rules.
3. At the end of your Blog, you need to choose 5 people to get “CARDED” and list their names.
4. Don’t forget to leave them a COMMENT telling them they’re “CARDED”, and to read your Blog.
Queen of Hip-Hop Soul, meet the King of Christmas.(Emphasis added)
Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains stood out as the final marquee release of the year, but Josh Groban's record-breaking holiday run proved to be the soul singer's spoiler. For the week ended Sunday, Groban's Noël bounced back Blige and extended its chart-topping reign to five straight weeks selling another 757,000 copies, according to recent SoundScan numbers.
Groban now claims the year's second-best sales week, trailing only Kanye West's 957,000-copy Graduation bow, and the album's current 3.5 million tally keeps Noël on target to become the bestselling album of the year. The singer also extended his record for the most consecutive weeks at number one with a holiday album, having already broken Elvis' 50-year-old record of three straight weeks.
To recap, the week's Top 10 were as follows:
1. Noël, Josh Groban
2. Growing Pains, Mary J. Blige
3. As I Am, Alicia Keys
4. Long Road Out of Eden, the Eagles
5. Hannah Montana 2: Meet Miley Cyrus, Miley Cyrus
6. Now That's What I Call Music! 26, various
7. Carnival Ride, Carrie Underwood
8. Taylor Swift, Taylor Swift
9. High School Musical 2 soundtrack, various
10. Exclusive, Chris Brown
Each year Worcester Wreath donates Maine wreaths to adorn the headstones of those who serve and those who sacrificed to preserve our freedoms. In 2007, over 10,000 wreaths are destined for the annual wreath-laying ceremonies at Arlington. In addition, 2,500 wreaths will be sent to Togus National Cemetery in Augusta, Maine. Worcester Wreath also donates ceremonial wreaths that will be used as part of the Wreaths Across America events at over 230 State and National veterans cemeteries all across the Country.
I had a seat on a jet filled with British soldiers en route to Cyprus. It’s strange how secure one feels on a flight full of American or British soldiers. I do, anyway, especially after spending as much time in combat with American or British soldiers as I have; my respect will never diminish.Do read the entire thing.
A Suitor for JaneGood luck!
Pretend you are one of Jane Austen's parents. Describe in two or three sentences the kind of gentleman that would be worthy to win Jane's hand in marriage. What sort of man would you accept as a suitable husband for our favorite author?
Then place your description in my comment section. If you feel uncomfortable writing a description, simply list the suitor's attributes. Oh, and you may place an icon of this paragon of husbandhood alongside your description.
The contest is open until January 1. I will then choose the five best answers. Starting January 2, the readers of this blog will have one week to vote for the best suitor!
Holiday sales might be depressing, but it's no blue Christmas for Josh Groban. He just broke a chart record Elvis set back when Eisenhower was President.If you haven't already, go buy Noel! It is gorgeous!
Josh Groban's Noël claimed an unprecedented fourth straight week at number one, a feat never before accomplished by a holiday album. Elvis Presley set the previous record, three weeks, half a century ago with 1957's Elvis' Christmas Album.
For the week ended Sunday, Noël topped the chart and rewrote the record books by selling an incredible 669,000 copies, according to the latest Nielsen SoundScan numbers.
Groban, whose single "I'll Be Home for Christmas" topped the AC charts this week as well, has sold nearly 2.8 million copies of Noël in its 10-week run. That puts Noël in the lead as the year's bestselling album, and if the trend holds, it'll become the first holiday album to top year-end sales in the SoundScan era.
Furthermore, the disc's 669,000-copy week is both a career-best for Groban and a 2007-best for a nondebuting album. Even factoring in first-week debuts, Noël chalked up the fifth-biggest sales week of the year.
Though his sales will drop sharply once Christmas Day hits, Groban still has a full shopping week to try to extend his number one run and further cement his place in chart history. His biggest challenge next week comes from Mary J. Blige's Growing Pains.
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - December 10, 2007) - Josh Groban's faithful fans are growing by the millions; it was confirmed today by the news that copies of his Christmas album "NOEL" are flying out of record stores in unprecedented numbers. The runaway success of Groban's magnificent collection of holiday classics will be Groban's fourth multi-platinum album in a row. "NOEL" sold well over one million copies in the last two weeks and remains the Number One album in America after eight weeks on the pop charts.(emphasis added)
"NOEL" is also the first Christmas album to reach No. 1 in 13 years with industry buzzing that it may be one of the biggest-selling albums of 2007 and the biggest Christmas CD of all time. The album is also the No. 1 Digital album, the #1 record at Amazon and the No. 1 record at Barnes & Noble.
According to Chuck Gorman, vice president of music for Barnes & Noble, "Josh Groban's 'NOEL' has already sold more copies than any holiday CD in our history. The numbers are staggering."
With upcoming TV appearances -- "Rachael Ray" on Dec. 20th, a re-airing of "Oprah Winfrey's Favorite Things" show on December 24th, "Larry King" and "Good Morning America" both also on December 24th and the "Disney Christmas Special" December 25th -- Groban's sales are expected to continue at this pace through the end of the year and may reach a record-breaking four million units.
"Josh Groban's talents continue to grow along with the quality of his work as an artist. His last album 'Awake' and the new one 'NOEL' are both masterpieces. The entire Warner family is so proud of this success," stated Warner Bros. Records CEO Tom Whalley.
There is an email going around encouraging people to send cards to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, but unfortunately they won't accept them. But if you want to help, here is what they have posted on their website:
Walter Reed Army Medical Center cannot accept packages, letters, and holiday cards addressed to 'Any Wounded Soldier' or 'A Recovering American Soldier'. The U.S. Postal Service is no longer accepting "Any Service Member" or "A Recovering American Soldier" letters or packages. Mail to "Any Service Member" that is deposited into a collection box will not be delivered.
However, through a unique partnership between the American Red Cross and Pitney Bowes Inc., communities across America are invited to mail cards along with personal messages of support to wounded service members at military hospitals around the country.
With the support of the U.S. Department of Defense and Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and with help from Pitney Bowes Government Solutions, the American Red Cross will collect, review and distribute holiday greeting cards to wounded military personnel. For security reasons, the Red Cross will be able to accept only holiday cards but not packages. Red Cross volunteers will receive and bundle the cards, which will be shipped by Pitney Bowes Government Solutions. Then, Red Cross volunteers at the medical facilities will distribute the cards throughout the holiday season.
Please address your holiday cards to:
We Support You During Your Recovery!
c/o American Red Cross
P.O. Box 419
Savage, MD 20763-0419
Be sure to affix adequate postage. Cards must be received no later than December 27. Cards received after this date will be returned to the sender. Again, senders are reminded that "care packages" are not part of the program--send only cards and notes. Also, please refrain from using glitter or any other inserts that would not be appropriate in a hospital environment.
People who want to express their appreciation to American service members may also consider making a donation to one of the more than 300 nonprofit organizations dedicated to helping our troops and their families listed on the "America Supports You" website, www.americasupportsyou.mil
Other organizations that offer means of showing your support for our troops or assist wounded servicemembers and their families include:
http://www.usocares.org/
http://www4.army.mil/ocpa/tooursoldiers/
http://www.redcross.org
The outpouring of gratitude and encouragement from the general public, corporate America and civic groups throughout the past year has been incredible. Our Warriors in Transition are amazed at the thanks and support they receive from their countrymen.
LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - Some of Josh Groban's fans think he has the voice of an angel, so it seems appropriate that his first attempt at a Christmas album carves out a rare niche in chart history.Congratulations, Josh! Noel is a beautiful, classic Christmas cd. Go get a copy (or 6!) and listen to the Angelic voice.
With Thanksgiving week's store traffic and an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" accelerating an album that already had momentum, his "Noel" captures an 81 percent sales increase and No. 1 on the Billboard 200. That makes his set the first Christmas album to lead the big chart in 13 years, and only the second to top the list since 1962.
"Noel" garners 405,000 copies (moving from No. 2 to No. 1), the strongest week of Groban's career and the largest by any Christmas set since Celine Dion's "These Are Special Times" topped 460,000 in two different weeks of 1998. Groban's uptick of 182,000 copies easily seals The Billboard 200's Greatest Gainer award.
[...]
Between now and Christmas, Groban is also lined up for "Live With Regis and Kelly," "Rachael Ray," "Larry King Live" and a Christmas Eve return to "Good Morning America," along with a rerun of Oprah Winfrey's November 20 "My Favorite Things" episode, which fueled this week's rise to the top.
11/27- Oprah Winfrey Show - Behind the Scenes of Oprah's Favorite Things on ABCExciting!
11/28- Christmas Tree Lighting at Rockefeller Center on NBC
11/30- Good Morning America on ABC
12/10- Regis and Kelly Live on ABC
12/17- Oprah Winfrey Show (Re-Airing of Oprah's Favorite Things) on ABC
12/22- Good Morning America on ABC
12/24- Larry King on CNN
12/24- Oprah Winfrey Show; "What's on Your iPod?" on ABC
12/24- Good Morning America on ABC
12/25- Disney Christmas Special on ABC
Check your local listings for showtimes.
NEW YORK - Food Network is kicking Emeril Lagasse down a notch.FN will still show re-runs of "Emeril Live" and Emeril will still have "Essence of Emeril," and take place in FN Specials.
The celebrity chef's "Emeril Live," which has been on the air for 10 years, will cease production Dec. 11, Food Network publicist Carrie Welch told The Associated Press.
"However, Emeril is under contract with Food Network," Welch said Tuesday. "We love him, we support him and look forward to a long partnership with him."
Welch wouldn't comment on Lagasse's contract.
Asked why the show was canceled, she told the AP: "The only reason would be that it hit a ton of television milestones and, you know, all good things come to an end."
WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2007 - For those seeking a quick way to show appreciation to troops serving far from home this holiday season, look no further than “Giving Thanks,” a new initiative from the Defense Department’s America Supports You program.Please text our troops! Tell them how thankful we are for their service and sacrifices!
America Supports You connects citizens and corporations with military personnel and their families serving at home and abroad.
“This is a simple way to connect our citizens to our soldiers using modern technology,” Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and public liaison, said of the text messaging program.
The program, which already has received nearly 4,000 messages, officially kicks off at 6 a.m. EST Nov. 17 and concludes at midnight PST Nov. 22. Between those times, people wishing to express gratitude to the troops for their service can text a brief message to 89279. Each text message sent will receive a response from an active-duty servicemember in return.
Just in time for the holidays, 13 major recording artists have created a musical “Thank You” for the troops.What a marvelous project! I am especially excited to see Josh Groban on that list!
“CD for the Troops” will be available for anyone with a valid military identification card to download at no cost from the Army and Air Force Exchange Service Web site, www.aafes.com, beginning tomorrow.
“We’re thankful to all the artists who have agreed to lend their name and talent to this special CD,” said Allison Barber, deputy assistant secretary of defense for internal communications and community liaison. “To have ‘CD for the Troops’ produced and dedicated in special honor to our active-duty military members and veterans is just another demonstration of the support so many people in our nation have for our troops.”
[. . .]
Getting this project, which combined the music of Billy Joel, Brooks & Dunn, the Goo Goo Dolls, Jewel, Josh Groban, Los Lonely Boys, Melissa Ethridge, the Neville Brothers, Sarah McLachlan, the Lt. Dan Band, Montgomery Gentry, The Fray, and Five For Fighting, to troops’ ears took true teamwork. John Ondrasik, the singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name “Five For Fighting,” was intimately involved with making sure that happened.
[. . .]
Ondrasik spearheaded the CD after being asked to write a forward and contribute a song to a compilation of local bands sending music to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I thought it was a wonderful gesture,” he said, explaining his belief that music is a unique medium that can affect morale and mental health. “I started making a few calls to friends of mine, and six months later we have the CD for the troops.”
A staunch supporter of the nation’s troops, Ondrasik said he is grateful for the sacrifices of American servicemembers. He said he knows men and women who made and are making those sacrifices have ensured his family’s liberty and enabled him to pursue music as a profession.
“Let’s be honest, there would be no songs of consequence without the soldiers who allow us a voice,” he said. “I can’t speak for anyone but myself, (but) I think it’s important to recognize that artists from across the political spectrum came together to make this gesture of appreciation and thanks to our troops.”
“CD for the Troops” is a compilation of songs from 13 of today’s top musical artists. Active-duty servicemembers and veterans with a valid military identification card will be able to download the CD from the Army and Air Force Service Exchange Web site for no cost, beginning Nov. 17, 2007.Spread the word about this project!
film and this gift set is full of fabulous extras! It came out today and I got it at Walmart this evening for something like $14.96, which is half off. There was no mention of the sale in the dvd section, but after I the checker scanned it I nearly danced the waltz.!
once in the theater, but I am happy to note that it comes out on dvd today!
October 31, 2007And more:
A Proclamation by the President of the United States of America
Throughout our history, America has been protected by patriots who cherished liberty and made great sacrifices to advance the cause of freedom. The brave members of the United States Armed Forces have answered the call to serve our Nation, ready to give all for their country. On Veterans Day, we honor these extraordinary Americans for their service and sacrifice, and we pay tribute to the legacy of freedom and peace that they have given our great Nation.
In times of war and of peace, our men and women in uniform stepped forward to defend their fellow citizens and the country they love. They shouldered great responsibility and lived up to the highest standards of duty and honor. Our veterans held fast against determined and ruthless enemies and helped save the world from tyranny and terror. They ensured that America remained what our founders meant her to be: a light to the nations, spreading the good news of human freedom to the darkest corners of the earth.
Like the heroes before them, today a new generation of men and women are fighting for freedom around the globe. Their determination, courage, and sacrifice are laying the foundation for a more secure and peaceful world.
Veterans Day is dedicated to the extraordinary Americans who protected our freedom in years past, and to those who protect it today. They represent the very best of our Nation. Every Soldier, Sailor, Airman, Marine, and Coast Guardsman has earned the lasting gratitude of the American people, and their service and sacrifice will be remembered forever. In the words of Abraham Lincoln: " . . . let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the Nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle . . . ." On this Veterans Day, I ask all Americans to express their appreciation to our Nation's veterans.
With respect for and in recognition of the contributions our service men and women have made to the cause of peace and freedom around the world, the Congress has provided (5 U.S.C. 6103(a)) that November 11 of each year shall be set aside as a legal public holiday to honor our Nation's veterans.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim November 11, 2007, as Veterans Day and urge all Americans to observe November 11 through November 17, 2007, as National Veterans Awareness Week. I encourage all Americans to recognize the valor and sacrifice of our veterans through ceremonies and prayers. I call upon Federal, State, and local officials to display the flag of the United States and to support and participate in patriotic activities in their communities. I invite civic and fraternal organizations, places of worship, schools, businesses, unions, and the media to support this national observance with commemorative expressions and programs.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this thirty-first day of October, in the year of our Lord two thousand seven, and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and thirty-second.
GEORGE W. BUSH
The Library of Congress invites you to join it in collecting audio- and video-taped oral histories, along with documents such as letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and home movies, of America's war veterans and those who served in support of them during World War I, World War II, and the Korean, Vietnam, and Gulf Wars.You can support our troops by visiting AmericaSupportsYou.Mil and participating in projects or even just posting a note.
LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters Life!) - Nearly 80 percent of Britons have re-read a book, with the Harry Potter series the most likely to be picked up again, a survey revealed on Friday.I couldn't agree more!
Some of the books that are re-read for pleasure are classics such as Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" and Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre."
Others in the top 10 include JRR Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" as well as Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code."
People said they returned to the same books because they are fantastic stories of which they never tire, they find something new in each reading, it is comforting, they can relate to the characters and it cheers them up.
1. The Harry Potter series by J.K. RowlingI've read all but 7 & 10. I have re-read 1, 3, 5, 6, 8, & 9 so many times. I love books!
2. The Lord of the Ringsby JRR Tolkien
3. Pride and Prejudiceby Jane Austen
4. The Hobbitby JRR Tolkien
5. Jane Eyreby Charlotte Bronte
6. 1984by George Orwell
7. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
8. The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobeby C.S. Lewis
9. Wuthering Heightsby Emily Bronte
10. Catch-22by Joseph Heller
Every cent raised for Project Valour-IT goes directly to the purchase and shipment of laptops for severely wounded service members. As of October 2007, Valour-IT has distributed over 1500 laptops to severely wounded Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines across the country.Please donate and help spread the word. We have the opportunity to do do something wonderful for our injured military men and women. Please help us!
Valour-IT accepts donations in any amount to support the purchase and distribution of laptops, but also offers a sponsorship option. An individual or organization may sponsor a wounded soldier by completely funding the cost of a laptop and continuing to provide that soldier with personal support and encouragement throughout recovery. This has proved to be an excellent project for churches, groups of coworkers or friends, and members of community organizations such Boy Scouts.
.there may, I think, be speculation when I am gone. People may read what I have written, and wonder: how could this spinster, this woman who, to all appearances, never even courted—who never felt that wondrous connection of mind and spirit between a man and woman, which, inspired by friendship and affection, blooms into something deeper—how could she have had the temerity to write about the revered institutions of love and courtship, having never experienced them herself?Indeed. And fortunately for the readers, Syrie James is very good at observation. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen begins with Jane's life after she had to leave her beloved home at Steventon and move, with her father, mother, and sister Cassandra to Bath. Five years later Jane's father dies and the women are left without much income. They make extended stays with Jane's brothers and with family friends, but Jane is never settled enough to continue her writing.
To those few friends and relations who, upon learning of my authorship, have dared to pose a similar question (although, I must admit, in a rather more genteel turn of phrase), I have given the self-same reply: "Is it not conceivable that an active mind and an observant eye and ear, combined with a vivid imagination, might produce a literary work of some merit and amusement, which may, in turn, evoke sentiments and feelings which resemble life itself?"
There is much truth in this observation.
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