In a global exclusive,

July 10, 2004Unbelievable TruthRaymond Tomlin

In a global exclusive, News of the World has broken the outrageous, tantalizing, titillating and salacious story, Britney was my sex-mad bride (brought to you by VanRamblings for posterity) of just how Britney Spears “bedded her childhood sweetheart (Jason Alexander, 22) ‘like an animal’, then wrecked his life with a 55-hour marriage than stunned the world.”

“We made love in her bed, her shower and her bath,” says Jason. “She asked me to marry her but when the lawyers demanded I end our marriage she didn’t stop them — and it caused chaos in my life.”

VanRamblings’ big mooshy, gooshy heart goes out to poor boy, Jason.
Couple Has Sex On Stage During Rock Concert

Fun-loving couple have sex on rock concert stage

As Kristopher Schau and his band Cumshots were in the middle of their concert, a young couple entered the stage, stripped and had sex on stage during the concert. See photos here and here.
The young couple, Tommy Hol Ellingsen, age 28, and Leona Johansson, age 21, are members of the environmental organization Fuck the Forest. They have sex in public in order to put focus on the rainforest. The last time Ellingsen and Johansson had public sex, they collected US$14,677, but nobody wanted to take the money.
“The goal is to take over the entire commercial porn industry and transfer all the money to protection of the environment,” Ellingsen explained. However, Norway’s Rainforest Foundation is far from thrilled by the way the small organization has chosen to raise money.

“I cannot see that this helps the work for the rainforest,” says Lars Lövold, of Rainforest Foundation Norway. “Generally speaking, we accept donations, but if the money is coming from illegal activity, from someone who abuses the rainforest or wishes to abuse our name, we say ‘No thank you’. This may be the case here.”

The police are investigating if the case is a possible breach of the criminal code’s paragraph 2001 regarding indecent conduct. The sentencing for such crimes is as much as one year in jail or fines.
Tara Reid Takes The Girls For A Test Drive

Looks like our favourite 20-something actress / model / multi-time dumpee, Tara Reid, went for the full meal deal when she decided on breast augmentation surgery. Not for her the modest, demure look. Instead, Tara is out every night on the Hollywood scene, sporting her new ‘friends’. And she accomplishes exactly what by opting for bigger boobs?
Pictures Galore: Hilary and Britney Go Shopping, While Kirsten …

Here’s teen queen Hilary Duff on the town with her boyfriend, just coming home from a shopping trip. Meanwhile, Britney and her new beau, Kevin Federline, are locking lips on the balcony, providing the paparazzi with this prize-winning shot; by the way, here’s Shar Jackson, Kevin’s most recent squeeze, and mommy-to-be with his kid … oh, did we forget to mention, that this will be Kevin’s 2nd child with Shar?).
And, let’s not forget about Hollywood’s cutest young couple, Kirsten Dunst and Jake Gyllenhaal, pictured here at the première screening of Spider-man 2.
Then there’s a particularly hideous Paris Hilton in her new Guess ad. Scary, huh?

U.S. Arrest and Abuse of Iraqi Children Revealed

July 10, 2004PoliticsRaymond Tomlin

More than 100 children report being detained by U.S. occupation forces in Iraq, according to recent information gleaned from the International Red Cross, including detainment in the notorious Abu Ghraib prison.
According to Report Mainz, a German television investigative magazine, 107 children were registered held in custody between January and May of this year, in at least six different Iraqi internment centres, Florian Westphal, speaking for the International Red Cross, told the magazine.
“The number of imprisoned children held could be higher,” Westphal said.
The TV magazine reported testimonies in which U.S. soldiers in Iraqi prisons had abused children. Samuel Provance, an NCO stationed in Abu Ghraib prison said specialists harrassed a 15- to 16-year-old girl in her cell.
Military police intervened only when she was already half undressed. Another time a sixteen-year-old was driven into water in cold weather and afterwards covered with mud. The child welfare organization of the United Nations (Unicef) confirms the capture of Iraqi children by coalition forces.
According to an internal U.N. document, written in June 2004, “Children from Basra and Karbala had been arrested because of alleged activities directed against the coalition … (these children) were routinely transferred into internment in Umm Kasr. Concern was expressed as to the classification of children as legitimate detainees, their indefinite internment without contact of family members, and their denial of due process.”
The German arm of the human rights organization Amnesty International demanded the clearing-up of the reproaches and a statement from the U.S.
As a reaction to the alleged torture of children, Norwegian authorities state they will address the U.S. both politically and diplomatically and clearly state that such activities by the U.S. occupation forces would not be tolerated.
Further, based on published reports, the International organization, Save The Children, called on the Danish government to mediate immediately with the coalition forces in Iraq in order to release children detained in Iraqi jails.

Move Over, Pirate Radio: SomaFM Plays Tunes For The World

July 9, 2004Radio, Web & TechRaymond Tomlin

Ran across this San Francisco Chronicle story the other day.
SomaFM is a commercial-free, listener-supported, underground Web radio network broadcasting from a garage in the Bernal Heights neighbourhood of San Francisco.
Dedicated to high quality MP3 internet broadcasts reaching across the globe, SomaFM’s founder, Rusty Hodge — working with four other Bay Area residents whose music tastes have spun off stations like the indie-rock — broadcasts six RealAudio webcasts 24 hours a day.
The radio stations available range from the ambient beats and grooves of Groove Salad (RealPlayer / WinAmp required for each link), indie pop rocks, and the post-modern mysterioso of secret agent, to the blips ‘n’ beeps (backed w/beats) of cliqhop, the very tasty, atmospheric textures of drone zone, and the deep-house and downtempo chill of beat blender.
Among the salient features of the site (apart from the great music): a song history for each of the webcasts, linked to artist information; introduction to music you won’t hear elsewhere; and … the broadcasts are all perfectly legal, given an arrangement SomaFM has negotiated with the RIAA.
Donations to SomaFM, through Paypal or Amazon.com’s Honor System, are gratefully accepted.

New On DVD: The Dog Days of Summer

July 8, 2004Video & DVDRaymond Tomlin

All and all, this is a relatively slow week for new DVD releases, although not entirely without merit.

An unabashed, even old-fashioned humanist film, Monsieur Ibrahim tells the story of a grizzled, white-haired grocer (Omar Sharif) in a Paris working-class neighbourhood in the 1960s, a gentle man who provides the wisdom of his 70 years to a lonely and depressed young Jewish boy. Surprising and ironic at times, the movie insists that what is important is the interior life of the individual, the cultivation of a deep spirituality. The best new video release this week.

Less worthy, but bound to find an eager group of renters (given that it’s star is teen heartthrob Ashton Kutcher), The Butterfly Effect is, as the Hollywood Reporter suggests, “an entertaining piece of supernatural nonsense whose sheer audacity disarms all (well, nearly all) skepticism.” With off-putting subject matter (maiming, murder and kiddie porn), The Butterfly Effect is maybe not a movie for the whole family.
Otherwise, this may be the week to consider renting a DVD that you missed earlier in the year. VanRamblings offers the following for your consideration: the sweet, funny and empowering Calendar Girls; the magnificent Oscar nominated film, In America; the engaging and understated period drama, Girl With A Pearl Earring; as well as the magical new version of Peter Pan, and the compellingly watchable epic, The Last Samurai.