Penny Franklin

Laughter is the best medicine

We live is a hectic and chaotic world.
The news we tune into reminds us daily
of the worst in humanity.
Sometimes it helps to laugh instead of cry.

Laughter relaxes the body, reducing stress
both physically and chemically.
Giggling boosts the immune system,
chuckles and chortles release endorphins
for that feel-good effect.
A hearty guffaw and hysterics alike
have social, mental, and physical
benefits to us all.
It’s one of the few things
that works whether it is faked or not!
Rolling...
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Toby Swordis

Bang Bang

Time to ponder again. Although pondering does not convey the current urgency that seems so pervasive these days. No I have not confused urgency and idiocy, but I can see why you might think I had. I may have to admit that idiocy no longer ires me as much as before. Perhaps I just expect it - and I do actually. As Dylan wrote so long ago...

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouthBlowing down the back roads headin' southIdiot wind, blowing every time you move your teethYou'...
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Off The Record

It’s Been a Helluva Week for New York Media

The Village Voice

What a week!

First, “restructuring” at the New York Daily News resulted in a flurry of long-anticipated pink slips.

“It is a process that has been difficult and painful,” News editor in chief Colin Myler and publisher Bill Holiber wrote in a staff memo that was first obtained by Capital NY. “But it is an inevitable consequence of the challenges we continue to face.”

The difficult and painful process spanned two...
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Teenage burglar with electronic tag pulls a fast one on G4S security official

telegraph.co.uk - by Richard Holt - A 16-year-old burglar sentenced to a home curfew pulled a fast one on the security company which was setting up his electronic tag, a court heard.

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Rich Manhattan moms hire handicapped tour guides so kids can cut lines at Disney World

nypost.com - By TARA PALMERI - They are 1 percenters who are 100 percent despicable. Some wealthy Manhattan moms have figured out a way to cut the long lines at Disney World — by hiring disabled people to pose as family members so they and their kids can jump to the front, The Post has learned. The “black-market Disney guides” run $130 an hour, or $1,040 for an eight-hour day. “My daughter waited one minute to get on ‘It’s a Small World’ — the other kids had to wait 2 1/2 hours,” crowed one mom, who hired a disabled guide through Dream Tours Florida.

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Thief who fell off getaway van loses bid for damages from DRIVER'S insurers

informationng.com – By niyi   - A thief badly hurt when he fell from a getaway van today failed in a second bid to claim damages from the driver’s insurers. David Joyce’s first claim was blocked by a High Court judge a year ago, and the Court of Appeal today dismissed his latest attempt. Judges upheld an objection by an insurance company, saying the law did not allow a criminal to recover compensation from an accomplice.

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Bacon Bacon aroma set to end

sfexaminer.com - By: Andrea Koskey – San Francisco, CA. - Few food items have enjoyed a more surprising recent resurgence than the savory strips of pig fat known as bacon. It is being wrapped around entrees, used to swizzle cocktails, and even serves as a flavor of ice cream. But now a popular pork-focused restaurant in the Upper Haight must close its doors Friday following months of failed negotiations with neighbors over neighborhood concerns about porcine aroma and grease disposal.

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Listening to Sad Songs heals the blues

telegraph.co.uk - By Andrew Hough - Sir Elton John once sang that listening to Sad Songs was the perfect way to recover from a relationship breakdown. But now psychologists appear to have uncovered evidence to support the pop star’s conclusions that they really do “say so much.” A new international study has found listening to sad music was the best way to recover from a relationship break-up as it had the same soothing effect as a sympathetic friend.

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Doug Ernst

STP’s ‘Out of Time’ featuring Chester Bennington: Imagine a tank being driven by lions

What does it feel like to cheat on someone you love? If you’re a fan of Scott Weiland, it’s probably a lot like listening to Linkin Park’s Chester Bennington take the lead for the Stone Temple Pilots. When I first heard the new single ‘Out of Time’ I felt a little dirty; STP has and always will be Scott Weiland’s band to me — but Bennington is so darn good that I’ve crossed over to the dark side. I would plunk down serious change to see them...
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Ashley Angeles

Rockstar Couple #1

There’s something so interesting in looking at the various relationships rockstars have.  This picture really caught my eye…

 

Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull

 

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Doctor Bizarre

After pulling pressure cookers, Williams-Sonoma mulls embago on forks, knives

The Boston Terror attack occurred less than a month ago, but its repercussions will go on for years. Dzhokha Tsarnaev is in custody and Tamerlan is dead — but so are sales of pressure cookers in Boston-area Williams-Sonoma stores.

Patch reports:

Williams-Sonoma, the specialty retailer of home furnishings and gourmet cookware with over 250 stores in the United States, has pulled pressure cookers from their shelves following the Boston Marathon bombing.

“It...
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Greg David

NYC's job juggernaut rolls on

The headline on last week's report on jobs was that city's unemployment rate had fallen sharply to a four-year low. That is good news of course, but that most unreliable statistics on the city's economy is actually less important than the strong jobs performance.

The city gained 45,000 jobs in the first four months, according to the seasonally adjusted report from Eastern Consolidated, putting New York on track for an increase this year of 100,000, which is close to the record. If it...
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