From the living room window of my new apartment (I'll post pictures soon, I promise!) I have an amazing view of the Empire State Building. The 3 tiers at the top of the building always seem to change colors on a semi-irregular basis but I never knew what the colors meant... so I looked it up!1932: The first light to shine atop the Empire State Building (November, 1932) was a searchlight beacon which told people for 50 miles that Franklin D. Roosevelt has been elected president of the United States.
1956: Revolving beacons, the "Freedom Lights", were installed. The "Freedom Lights", four beacons each five feet in diameter and weighing one ton, were installed 1,095 feet above the streets to symbolize not only a welcome to this country but also the unlimited opportunities in America and the hopes and prayers of the American people for peace.
1976: Colored lighting was first introduced by Douglas Leigh. The tower was lit in red, white and blue in celebration of the American Bicentennial.
1977: A lighting system, permitting a wider range of colors, was inaugurated on October 12, when blue and white lights flashed to announce that the Yankees had won the World Series.
Very interesting, indeed. Now I know what I'm staring at out the window each night. You can click here for the most recent lighting schedule.
I really enjoy architecture, but tend to ignore most of it in the city for fear of looking like a bewildered tourist staring up at "all them tall buildin's." I'm fairly particular to the Rockefeller Center area for obvious reasons, but there are tons of amazing places to gawk at in the city.
What's your favorite spot in New York City or your home town?
Found this story on Yahoo! News this morning and felt the need to share. At most jobs employers offer several types of "days off" depending on the company and the need to miss a day of work. There are sick days, personal days, vacation days... maternity leave, etc. One company in Japan is giving its female workers "heartache leave" so they can stay home and "cry it out" after a bad breakup or end of a relationship. Here's a snippet from the article:Tokyo-based Hime & Company, which also gives staff paid time off to hit the shops during sales season, says heartache leave allows staff to cry themselves out and return to work refreshed. "Not everyone needs to take maternity leave but with heartbreak, everyone needs time off, just like when you get sick."Apparently the workers' age is a factor in how many days they get to stay home and cry themselves to sleep...
Staff aged 24 years or younger can take one day off per year, while those between 25 and 29 can take two days off and those older can take three days off, the company said. "Women in their 20s can find their next love quickly, but it's tougher for women in their 30s, and their break-ups tend to be more serious."Those poor, old, loveless ladies... You can have an extra day to stay at home with your cats. The good news is that "heartache leave" isn't the only bonus type of leave the employees have! They also can take a day to go shopping without fear of ridicule or termination.
"Before, women could take half-days off to go to sales, but you'd have to hide your shopping bags in lockers by the train station," Hiradate said. "But with paid leave, we don't have to feel guilty about bringing our shopping bags to work, and we can enjoy the best part about sales shopping -- talking about our purchases afterwards."Now... I'm sure these bonus days are a very nice perk for the employees of this company, but can I just ask a dumb question? Isn't that what personal days are for??? I know that I would much rather take a "personal day" than let my entire office know that I'm sitting at home eating a gallon of Häagen-Dazs. Maybe that's just me.
Just a quick personal post in the middle of the day. My wonderfully talented roommate (and vlog partner) Carolyn was just featured by her alma mater Appalachian State University about her achievements in New York City.
The Real Housewives of Orange County is probably one of my favorite shows on TV, without me realizing it until the finale rolls around. I'm clearly a big fan of the Bravo shows, and I've been following the Housewives since the very first season. I actually had the chance to meet Lauri, Vicki, Jeana, Tammy and Jo before and they were all so much fun and pretty much exactly like you see on the show.
More importantly, Lauri was preparing for her wedding to soul mate, George. They had been hyping the wedding all season, so I was excited to see how it was going to turn out. The majority of the show was spent showing Lauri get her hair and makeup ready, and pulling out her massively huge gown (which was designed by Austin Scarlett from Project Runway.)
If you do not have Timbaland's latest album Timbaland Presents Shock Value then you should probably stop what you're doing and go out and get it. Unless you're driving or performing heart surgery or something... you should probably finish that up first. It's not too often that I pump up a particular music artist or CD, but this is definitely one that you should own.
Do you remember the show Rich Girls on MTV? It aired in 2003 and was one of the first reality shows that simply followed someone around during their day-to-day life. The stars were 2 rich girls: Jamie Gleicher (who I still don't know what she did or where she came from) and Ally Hilfiger, daughter of fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger.
Simon, Randy and everyone's favorite crackpot, Paula Abdul, are back as the newest season of American Idol kicks off tonight at 8pm on Fox. Although AI is always a ratings giant, it's expected to do even better than normal this year due to the writers' strike and a few tweaks to the show's format.Exec producer Nigel Lythgoe concedes that mistakes were made last year. For starters, Lythgoe says the show spent too much time on big-name guest mentors and performers, at the expense of investing viewers in who's who (particularly early in the show's competish).The show isn't completely ditching its celebrity guests, but will shift the focus away from already famous stars to making their own. The production is also getting a boost with new graphics, opening credits and some interesting upgrades to the actual set and visuals. Expect to see not only the contestants vocal abilities, but instrumental skills, too. Producers are saying that the hopefuls will be allowed to play instruments and do more than just stand and sing this year. Should be interesting.
"We need to put our hand up and take the blame," he says. "We missed out on telling the best stories. If (contestants) were uninteresting, it's because we made them uninteresting."
As a result, "Idol" is looking to shake things up this year by spending more time on those contestant backstories.
"I want to give up that time and focus on the kids," Lythgoe says. "It's the emotional hooks that sell us, and get us watching every week. I don't think last year we were necessarily an appointment to view. There wasn't a 'I want to watch Bo Bice win' or 'I want to see Justin Guarini get kicked off' feeling to the show."...
"We've had our promos talk a little bit more about 'I'm from Nebraska, I'm a cotton candy maker,' and 'I'm from Oklahoma, I'm a cowboy,' " he says. "We're basically trying to set it up that this is a show about people with stories. ... It's about people who think they're good (singers) and (are) not, and people who think they're good and are great."
Apparently, 2 men in Manhattan thought it would be a good idea to rob a dead man of his Social Security check (I mean, what was he gonna do with it?) The problem was the old man was well-known at his local bank, so how were they going to cash his check? Clearly the best solution is to take a cue from Weekend At Bernie's and just bring the dead guy with them to prove they weren't doing anything criminal. What could possibly go wrong here? Genius. Here's the full article from Yahoo! News and the Associated Press:Two men wheeled a dead man through the streets in an office chair to a check-cashing store and tried to cash his Social Security check before being arrested on fraud charges, police said.Gross.
David J. Dalaia and James O'Hare pushed Virgilio Cintron's body from the Manhattan apartment that O'Hare and Cintron shared to Pay-O-Matic, about a block away, spokesman Paul Browne said witnesses told police.
"The witnesses saw the two pushing the chair with Cintron flopping from side to side and the two individuals propping him up and keeping him from flopping from side to side," Browne said.
The men left Cintron's body outside the store, went inside and tried to cash his $355 check, Browne said. The store's clerk, who knew Cintron, asked the men where he was, and O'Hare told the clerk they would go and get him, Browne said.
A police detective who was having lunch at a restaurant next to the check-cashing store noticed a crowd forming around Cintron's body, and "it's immediately apparent to him that Cintron is dead," Browne said.
The detective called uniformed New York Police Department officers at a nearby precinct. Emergency medical technicians arrived as O'Hare and Dalaia were preparing to wheel Cintron's body into the check-cashing store, Browne said. Police arrested Dalaia and O'Hare there, he said.
Cintron's body was taken to a hospital morgue. The medical examiner's office told police it appeared Cintron, 66, had died of natural causes within the previous 24 hours, Browne said.
"He was deceased in the apartment when he was removed by these two," Browne said.
Dalaia and O'Hare, both 65, were being held by police and faced check fraud charges, Browne said.
A call to a telephone number listed for Cintron at the apartment he shared with O'Hare went unanswered Tuesday evening. Police said they didn't have an address for Dalaia or attorney information for him or O'Hare.
*Man walks towards us, Whistling*
Caitlin: "I hate people who whistle out loud."
Me: "Wasn't that Geraldo?"
"Alone in his tiny plastic sea kayak, marine biologist Trey Snow had hoped to stealthily track a great white shark. But he had the shock of his life when he spotted a giant fin and realised it was he who was being stalked - by surely one of the most feared killers in the world. The magnificent creature initially dived to the seabed, inspecting the kayak from below, before rising menacingly to the surface. Luckily for Trey, the 13ft-long shark was more inquisitive than hungry...This incredible picture was taken by wildlife photographer Thomas Peschak - who had to tie himself to the high bridge of a nearby vessel and lean precariously over the ocean before he could get his shot."You can view the entire gallery of wildlife photos by clicking here.
I'm a total music junkie and always want to get the latest tracks and albums as soon as they become available. Anyone that knows me knows I have a slight CD obsession (Yes, I still by the actual hard copy of the album) and would probably die for my collection. I also enjoy when friends share discs or digital music files with me to introduce me to new jams or artists I haven't heard before. Honestly, I'm probably within the minority, but I almost always legally purchase music after it was "illegally" introduced to me via the internet. I like to have the album artwork, and I just like to have something tangible in my collection.RIAA's hard-line position seems clear. Its Web site says: "If you make unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings, you're stealing. You're breaking the law and you could be held legally liable for thousands of dollars in damages."Read the rest of the article here.
They're not kidding. In October, after a trial in Minnesota -- the first time the industry has made its case before a federal jury -- Jammie Thomas was ordered to pay $220,000 to the big record companies. That's $9,250 for each of 24 songs she was accused of sharing online.
Whether customers may copy their CDs onto their computers -- an act at the very heart of the digital revolution -- has a murky legal foundation, the RIAA argues. The industry's own Web site says that making a personal copy of a CD that you bought legitimately may not be a legal right, but it "won't usually raise concerns," as long as you don't give away the music or lend it to anyone.
Of course, that's exactly what millions of people do every day. In a Los Angeles Times poll, 69 percent of teenagers surveyed said they thought it was legal to copy a CD they own and give it to a friend. The RIAA cites a study that found that more than half of current college students download music and movies illegally.
