| Brandon Routh Gets Hitched!
The 'Superman Returns' actor marries his long-time girlfriend. The Man of Steel is officially off the market! 'Superman Returns' star BRANDON ROUTH married longtime girlfriend, actress COURTNEY FORD, on Saturday at JON and MINDY PETERS' 3000-acre El Capitan Ranch, just outside of Santa Barbara, CA. It was a very exclusive, intimate wedding. The 150 guests were made up of friends and family, as well as KATE BOSWORTH, Warner Bros. President and COO ALAN F. HORN and director BRYAN SINGER. The groom was escorted down the aisle by his parents. He wore a cashmere three-piece suit, Sea Island cotton shirt, and satin tie by Looysen Fine Clothing. The bride glowed in a white JUNKO YOSHIOKA gown with Chantilly lace and intricate platinum beading, featuring a unique open back with a dramatic scallop-edged lace cowl.
Downtown condo craze cooling off
On the supply side, there has been a tide of downtown Phoenix condo projects.
Since 2005, city figures show, 383 condos and townhouses have been built in the downtown core, between Seventh Avenue and Seventh Street, and Interstate 10 and the railroad tracks. More than 2,000 more are under construction or are in the pipeline.
With so much on the market, banks have toughened rules for developers who want to build new projects.
During rosier years, banks wanted developers to have pre-sale contracts for 20 to 30 percent of their units before construction. Now, that number is as high as 60 percent.
Concrete, drywall and construction-labor costs have shot up, said developer David Wallach, whose firm is building the Summit at Copper Square.
Antsy McClain And The Trailer Park Troubadours At The Majestic Theatre ...
They are unique in their ability to combine music, theater and comedy into an all-inclusive variety show. "You've gotta love their name; it says it all. And they're certainly something different, with lots of dazzle, guaranteed to deliver intense audience appeal." The "Troubs," as their fans call them, are unpretentious. They are as American as apple pie. Just the boys next door, singing their own original songs about the good life in a small Kentucky town called Screamin' Holler. Their personal brand of music, laced with healthy doses of humor, helps the audience experience the lifestyle of living in their Pine View Heights Trailer Park. Antsy, the main songwriter of the group, has perfected the art of lampooning and elevated it to a new level. Some say The Trailer Park Troubadours are the folk singers of the 21st century.
Enter stage left to applause for lifetime's work
The teenage Irene Beaver never dreamed the Edinburgh People's Theatre would turn into a life-long passion."When I joined, my friend and I worked at the Fringe box office and it all seemed so glamorous," recalls the 59-year-old retired teacher.She recalls the night she got hooked. It was 1966, and the EPT was staging the world premiere of the stage play of Whisky Galore – Sir Compton MacKenzie's famous tale of the shipwrecked whisky-laden SS Cabinet Minister – at the Church Hill Theatre.Although she didn't meet any of the stars, the excitement of the evening, and mingling with the invited guests, was seductive. She says: "The men were all dressed up in their suits. We were just silly wee lassies, but people stopped and took time to talk to us. It was great, and I just loved it."Irene – who taught deaf and hearing impaired children, at St Giles School for the Hearing Impaired in Broomhouse, then Forrester High, until retiring three years ago – is still part of the EPT more than 40 years on.In the intervening decades she has done everything from making the tea to writing and directing, with stage roles – ranging from princess to ugly sister – along the way.On Saturday she received long overdue recognition for her work, receiving the inaugural Edinburgh Playhouse and Evening News Spotlight Award, which recognises an outstanding individual who has dedicated their time and energy to the city's amateur drama world."I was so honoured, more than anything else, especially as I was nominated from someone in my drama group who thought I was worthy of such an award," says Irene, from Kirkliston, who was nominated by her friend and fellow EPT stalwart, Mandy Black, who's been the company's choreographer since 1985.Irene was presented with her trophy and a £1000 cheque before Saturday evening's performance of High School Musical at the Playhouse."Normally amateurs just get on with it, so to be recognised is amazing," says Irene.
the has-been
The rest of our daydreams are more prosaic—like matching budget authority and outlays, or revising the definition of poverty, now hopelessly out of date. When we're feeling especially frisky, wonks close our eyes and imagine the Alternative Minimum Tax being fixed. President Bush has no use for wonks, and hacks have grabbed the headlines in most Bush scandals. But the sheer volume of scandal in the Bush administration has made it possible for even a few eggheads to get a piece of the action. Paul Wolfowitz used to be a classic Washington academic—dean of a public-policy school and charter member of a neoconservative think tank. But at the World Bank, he has pulled off the rarest of feats—a wonk sex scandal, which is just as you'd expect: a dull morass of committee meetings, personnel classifications, and contracts.
McCain: Still Losing GOPs?
So if it's just one guy who wants to blow up the Superbowl, we leave him alone! ... The problem is less dumb bureaucrats than dumb law. ... [Note: I can't find Taylor's column online. If anyone has a free URL, let me know and I'll add it. Otherwise you can always go to National Journal and join for a day.]. Update: Taylor's piece should at some point be available here. ... Always trust content from kausfiles! As foreshadowed in this space, Culture Editor Scott Stossel has escaped from The American Prospect . ... Who else will we soon be able to cross off this list? ...Most revealing line in Stossel's very tactful farewell message: "Much of it has been great fun ..." Kf hears that the White House called Steven Holmes of the New York Times' Washington bureau on Wednesday, demanding a correction to the paper's story of two days earlier that started the controversy over that global warming report the administration had sent to the UN.
happy in the city
Food courts selling essential festival fare such as candy floss and fast food will be located around the site, along with bars, traditional games and an artesania festival involving face painting, mascaradas, music, dancing and theater that runs until Jan. 1.
La Guácima in Alajuela will also have bull event this year, starting earlier on Dec. 22 and finishing Jan. 2, with an entrance fee of 3,000 colons ($6).
Bull fighting will be at 3 p.m. on Dec. 25, 29, 30, and Jan. 1, and at 9 p.m. everyday except Dec. 26 and 28, with live music and many other events going on each day from midday until midnight.
Smaller local versions will take place around the country, continuing well into 2008.
The park of Margarita, Talamanca, will host an event on the weekends of Dec.
American Idol 2008
Normally I enjoy sitting back and soaking things in apathetically, but something about Idol seems to pull me into my most critical self. I don't know how I feel about that. But before I spend too much time being introspective and all that, I'm just going to indulge the urge and weigh in on this year's Idol hopefuls. So up first was Michael Johns. He says that he's a jock and that his main sport is tennis. That doesn't really make any sense to me, since most of the tennis players I've known now have corporate jobs, while most of the jocks I've known still work in a car wash. But maybe it's different for Aussies. Whatever the case, he came out swinging with Fleetwood Mac. The judges were kinda so-so on it, but I found myself nodding along with what I think Paula was trying to say.
Business investment, economy strong
The latest estimate of expenditure for 2007/08 is 0.7 per cent higher than previously forecast at $84.786 billion and 14.7 per cent higher than the equivalent estimate last year. The first estimate of expenditure for 2008/09 is 23.6 per cent higher than the first estimate for 2007/08 at $78.545 billion. Share this article .
Survey Reveals Americans' Surprising Lack of Family Knowledge
PROVO, Utah, Dec. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Are you among the one-third of Americans who cannot name any of their great-grandparents? Or are you part of the four in ten Americans who know both of their grandmothers' maiden names? While family history continues to rise in popularity as one of the nation's favorite pastimes, a new survey conducted by Ancestry.com, the world's largest online resource for family history, reveals Americans know surprisingly little about their own families. With the holidays just around the corner, there's no better time to begin learning about family roots and creating lasting memories, especially as families gather together in celebration. "We have so much to learn about our own families," said Tim Sullivan, President and CEO of The Generations Network, parent company of Ancestry.com.
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