Happy Feet 'stable' following operation

The emperor penguin dubbed Happy Feet is in a stable condition after surgery in Wellington yesterday but still has a "fair amount" of sand in its stomach.

The bird was found more than 3000km from its Antarctic home on Peka Peka Beach, 60km north of Wellington, last Monday. It was taken to Wellington Zoo for treatment on Friday after vets discovered it was eating sand.

Yesterday morning they removed about half of what was in its system with help from Wellington Hospital gastroenterologist John Wyeth.

Wellington Zoo spokeswoman Kate Baker told NZPA the penguin was "still looking good" this morning but had a "fair amount" of sand in its system.

"Today it will continue to be on the IV fluids...and basically we are hoping it will pass more of the sand naturally," Ms Baker said.

It was being fed a special diet of fish slurry and given laxatives to encourage it to pass the sand.

The penguin would be x-rayed tomorrow and whether it would undergo further operations depended on how much sand remained in its system.

She said an advisory meeting would be held today to decide what would happen to Happy Feet if it should recover.

Millionaire businessman Gareth Morgan has offered to take the bird home by giving it a berth on a Russian icebreaker ship making an expedition to the Ross Sea in Antarctica in February.

"Of course until that time Happy Feet will have to be cared for here in Wellington," he said.

The emperor penguin is believed to have swum about 3200km from the Antarctic home to Peka Peka. The only previous recording of an emperor penguin in New Zealand was at Southland's Oreti Beach in 1967.

Michele Bachmann Lies About Profiting From Govt Subsidized Dairy Farm

On Fox News Sunday today, Michele Bachmann denied that she has personally benefited from government subsidies for her family’s dairy forms, but her disclosure forms tell a different story.

Here is the transcript from Fox News:

    WALLACE: All right. We’re going to talk about the other candidates a little bit later.

    But let me ask you about yourself. With the spotlight comes new scrutiny. The Los Angeles Times has a story out today that says for all your talk of being a fiscal hawk, that, in fact, you have gone after federal and government — excuse me, state government money over the years, both personally and professionally. And let’s it up on the screen.

    A counseling clinic — excuse me — run by your husband got almost $30,000 in state federal funds. A farm, in which you are a partner, got almost $260,000 in federal subsidies. And over the years, you sought more than $60 million in the state earmarks and more than $3.7 million in federal earmarks.

    Question — that’s a fiscal hawk?

    BACHMANN: Well, let’s go through them. First of all, the money that went to the clinic was actually training money for employees. The clinic did not get the money. And my husband and I did not get the money either. That’s mental health training money that went to employees.

    Number two, regarding the farm, the farm is my father-in-law’s farm. It’s not my husband and my farm. It’s my father-in-law’s farm. And my husband and I have never gotten a penny of money from the farm.

Louis C.K. On Leno: Black People Get To Complain More (VIDEO)

The always funny and often controversial Louis C.K. appeared on "The Tonight Show" Friday night and provided Jay Leno's audience with some intriguing material on race. In this third portion of his interview with Leno, C.K. starts off talking about his daughters. Leno asks how the girls are doing and C.K. responds that of course they're great because they're "two little white girls in America," sparking a set of jokes about race that had the audience and Leno cracking up.

Leno tried to steer the conversation toward the holidays, but C.K. decided to use the remainder of the interview to clarify remarks about his daughters complaining too much about things like bubblegum-flavored medicine.

"I'm not trying to say that if you're white you can't complain," C.K. said. "I'm just saying that if you're black you get to complain more."

Leno's audience immediately broke into laughter, as well as Leno who said "don't tell the band that" before the camera panned to the nearly all-African American band.

Louis C.K. followed up with a great bit about white people insisting year after year that slavery was 100 years farther back in history than it really is. He also noted that if you see a black person with gray hair, that they probably remember what it was like to have to use a different toilet so, "give them a little time to be cranky."

Red Hot Chili Peppers' Flea Selling Post-Wildfire Rebuild in Malibu

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist Flea has just listed his brand new Malibu spread. No, it's not another case of fickle celebrity desires. In 2007, a previous house on the 2.4 acre site was destroyed by massive wildfires that swept through this section of Malibu. The structure that used to occupy the site was built in 1978 and had been on the market for $5M. Well, it seems Flea was heart-set on getting close to $5M, because he's listed the vacant Marmol Radziner-designed new house for $4.95M. The only trouble is the new house has a rather uninspiring design. Will Flea ever see his $5M?

Moon Movie directed by Duncan Jones

Sam Bell is nearing the end of his contract with Lunar. He’s been a faithful employee for 3 long years. His home has been Selene, a moon base where he has spent his days alone, mining Helium 3. The precious gas holds the key to reversing the Earth’s energy crisis.
Isolated, determined and steadfast, Sam has followed the rulebook obediently and his time on the moon has been enlightening, but uneventful. The solitude has given him time to reflect on the mistakes of his past and work on his raging temper. He's doing his job mechanically, and spends most of his available time dreaming of his imminent return to Earth, to his wife, young daughter and to get retirement.
But 2 weeks shy of his departure from Selene, Sam starts seeing things, hearing things and feeling strange. And when a routine extraction goes horribly wrong, he discovers that Lunar have their own plans for replacing him and the new recruit is eerily familiar.
Before he come back to Earth, Sam has to confront himself and the discovery that the life he has created, may not be his own. It’s more than his contract that is set to expire.

Ready for more outdoor hockey? How about Michigan-Ohio State at Progressive Field?

Other outlets have since reported that an official announcement of a mid-January game will come on Friday night. A Michigan spokesperson declined to comment on the reports to AnnArbor.com and Curtis Danberg, director of communications for the Indians, would only confirm that Progressive is "in conversations" with both universities and targeting a January 2012 date.

The Detroit News reported that Michigan coach Red Berenson and captain Luke Glendening will participate in a press conference at Progressive Field before Friday night's Cleveland Indians' game against Pittsburgh.

The stadium has a recent history of hosting winter-time events. Last winter it hosted Snow Days, a two-month family-oriented event with a tubing hill and skating track..

The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that discussions of an outdoor hockey game resulted in the first Snow Days. The Indians couldn't finalize the game last winter, but appear to have done so this year.

Are You Blind to Your House?http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5243673922221766785

When we move into a new house, our eyes are wide open. We notice everything. We measure the rooms, take note of the way the light affects the color on the walls, agonize over furniture placement, and make lists of things we want to change.

But have you noticed how our vision tends to blur after we’ve been living in the same place awhile? That’s why you can set a box of Christmas ornaments next to the basement door with the best intentions of carrying it down and putting it in storage, only to walk around it every day until March.

Refreshed MacBook Air expected later this month

According to Reuters, Apple is poised to refresh its popular thin and light MacBook Air family later this month. The news outlet cited a report from Taiwan’s Economic Daily, which suggested that Apple’s first shipment will include 380,000 of the new Air units. The report is in line with earlier rumors suggesting supplies of the MacBook Air were drying up nearing a possible refresh; one analyst with Concord Securities recently suggested that Apple will upgrade its MacBook Air family in June, too. The new models are expected to carry Intel’s Sandy Bridge CPUs, new Thunderbolt I/O ports, and improved Intel graphics. Apple last refreshed its MacBRefreshed MacBook Air expected later this monthook Air family on October 20th, 2010.

More Info on Joss’ New Album, LP1!

Stone’d Records & Surfdog Records are proud to announce their partnership to release Joss Stone‘s next album, LP1 on July 26, 2011. As a world-renowned soul singer who Smokey Robinson calls “Aretha Joplin,” Joss has sold over 11 million records globally. Having just turned 24, Joss has already amassed a career’s worth of successes. She is a Grammy winner, five-time Grammy nominee, and the recipient of several Brit Awards.
Stone recently established her own label, Stone’d Records, and has partnered with Surfdog to release LP1. This is the first album Joss has recorded with total creative freedom. She co-wrote and co -produced it with super-producer and Eurythmics co-founder, Dave Stewart. Together they immersed themselves into a rock n’ soul musical odyssey in Nashville, Tennessee, finishing LP1 in only six days.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had making a record with Crazy Dave Stewart at the helm, and yes the players in Nashville are unbelievable!!!” says Stone. “This album captures a specific moment in time that was spontaneous and full of creativity.”
“Joss can sing with the ferocity of a lioness and dynamically switch to the most delicate whisper in the same phrase,” says Stewart. “She is always honest and full of real emotion. It is an honor to work alongside a true artist who understands so much at such a young age.”

Used Office Furniture NY-The Best Used Furniture in your neighborhood

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About filmmaker Juliane Block

My filmmaking career started in Germany as special fx make-up artist on an underground Zombie flick (“Mutation“, released on DVD in 1999) followed by producer & screenwriter credits on several other shorts (e.g. “Killerbus“, released on DVD in 2004). I got hooked. Even though I have a design masters from the university of art in Braunschweig, I continued with film making.

In 2005 I migrated to Asia to pursue Asian cinema. I directed and produced a no budget feature in 2008 (“Emperor”) which screened at the Asia Pacific festival of 1st Films in Singapore and won the feature category at the Portable Film Festival. Since 2007 I directed, wrote and produced 13 shorts which have been screened in film festivals around the world, and my 2nd feature (“Kinks”) just completed post. I participated in the Berlinale Talent Campus in 2008 and my short film “It could happen to you” was chosen for production in the BTC Hands on Training “Garage studio”. I’ve held lectures about low budget film making in Hong Kong (Hong Kong Int. Film Academy) and Singapore (SAE Institute).

Bipolar Disorder: Tips for Reducing Relapse

For many mental illnesses relapse is part and parcel. Bipolar disorder is one of these. What’s especially unnerving for people is that relapse can seem random, as though you go to bed feeling one way and wake up another, feeling hints of mania or depression.

Why relapse occurs is largely unknown. But we do know certain facts based on research findings, according to Joseph R. Calabrese, M.D., director of the Mood Disorders Program at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, in this excellent article in bp Magazine on relapse:

    “Those who are diagnosed with bipolar II are more likely to relapse than those with bipolar I. Their episodes of depression, mania or hypomania are often shorter than the episodes experienced by those with bipolar I but tend to return more often, according to Calabrese. It’s also far more common to relapse into depression than into mania or hypomania. Calabrese estimates that in bipolar II, there is a 40-to-1 ratio of depression to mania; the ratio of depression to mania drops to 3-to-1 in bipolar I.”

Diamond Dogs lose three to pro baseball

Georgia outfielder Chase Davidson along with pitchers Cecil Tanner and Ben Cornwell have signed professional baseball contracts.

Davidson, a 41st round pick of the Houston Astros, hit .278 with seven home runs and 31 RBI in 2011. He made 38 starts and appeared in 51 games this past season in helping the Bulldogs go 33-32. Tanner, who went 0-0 with a 2.45 ERA in seven appearances, was a 23rd round pick of the Oakland A’s. Cornwell, who went 1-3 with a 5.68 ERA, signed a free agent contract with the Seattle Mariners. Cornwell made 13 appearances including seven starts this year.

Davidson played in 130 games in his Bulldog career, making 92 starts and wound up hitting .241 with 11 home runs and 58 RBI. He hit .333 as a pinch-hitter this season, going 4-for-12 including a two-run home run in Georgia’s thrilling 14-11 comeback victory over Auburn. In his final collegiate at bat, he had a pinch-hit RBI-single against Oregon State in the NCAA Corvallis Regional Final. Incidentally, the Astros drafted Davidson following his senior year at Milton in 2008.