Cowboys in Paradise

Bipasha Basu - Dalam film pertama yang dirilis penghujung 2009 ini, sutradari Amit Virmani ini berkisah mengenai kehidupan para pemuda Bali yang dikenal dengan julukan ‘Kuta Cowboys’.

Kisahnya, mengekspos para pelancong perempuan yang mencari kehangan dan cinta, serta pertemanan dari pria lokal. Berlatar belakang matahari tropis, pantai pasir putih, selancar dan semuanya menutupi lifestyle yang telah berlangsung selama puluhan tahun.

Dalam film tersebut, terdapat pengakuan para Kuta Cowboys sendiri. Mereka menjajakan seks tanpa memungut biaya. Berbagai cara dan trik mereka lakukan untuk menarik perhatian turis perempuan. Padahal, modalnya hanya fisik sawo matang khas Indonesia dengan bahasa Inggris pas-pasan.

Beberapa turis dalam film itu mengakui, menjadi Kuta Cowboys bukanlah gigolo dan yang mereka tidak melakukan kesalahan. Terlihat jelas, turis sudah terpikat sosok para pemuda Bali ini. Bahkan beberapa pengamat dalam film ini mengagumi para cowboys yang bisa begitu mengerti sosok perempuan.

Kegembiraan merupakan kuncinya. Para turis dalam film ini mencari sesuatu untuk membuat hidup mereka lebih terasa atau dengan kata lain melengkapi diri. Uniknya, beberapa dari para cowboys ini telah beristri. Salah seorang istri di film berkata tak keberatan jika suaminya tak pulang sehari-dua hari untuk menemani ‘tamu’.

Apa yang dilakukan cowboys, tak melulu soal cinta dan uang meski selalu ada ‘transaksi’ antara kedua belah pihak. Amit menyentil penonton dengan baik, mengenai ungkapan men providing love for sex and women providing sex for love.

Astrological Signs

Celebrities Bikini - Yet another woman artist gives you a treat for the senses and mind at the Durbar Hall Art Centre. While Anila Ninan displayed sculptures that spoke of movement, Bindhi Rajagopal shows how the fate of humankind is depicted through the sun signs of the zodiac. Her show titled ‘Uncover the Secrets to Self- Discovery and Fulfillment, Ring of Constellations, the Secret Bodes of the Universe’ takes you into the depths of different constellations and their influence on humans as they unravel many a mystery and myth.

Stars are yours to see wherever you are in the world and zodiac is something that links the whole world breaking the so-called boundaries and barriers. Star forecast does tickle everyone’s curiosity.

If one goes by the zodiac, people born under the same sign are likely to have similar traits and so it’s easy to understand them and life becomes more simple, says Bindhi. As she walks deep into the zodiac science she senses the strength and weakness of the people who disclose their signs and understands their behaviour, temperament and character.

Bindhi has studied zodiac signs and their influence on the human mind and how the laws of the universe, unlike man-made laws, move with precision and harmony.

Her interest in zodiac signs and the laws of nature grew stronger when she participated in a camp at a tribal belt in Mangalore. The symbols representing each sign is an art in itself and Bindhi has explored many aspects that link humankind and nature. Each sign is loaded with connotations and they are intriguing but turn simpler with each reading.

She has dwelled on all the 12 signs, sometimes in a surrealistic manner. Pisces represented by the fish in water and Aquarius pouring water also throw light on environment issues. The scorpion and crab crawling on the ground in earthen shades are a contrast to the dark bull ornamented to the hilt. The twin girls and the ram stand nearby. Bindhi uses animal images from the zodiac to convey more about Nature and its laws, of humans and their nature.

Black is the prominent colour in her works besides the colours of natural pigments which in themselves are meaningful.

She traces the life of the tribal folk in some of the works - the dark trees and tiny houses in deep forests also bring to mind the temples of ancestral homes and the large lamps in front of them, of many rituals and beliefs, of nature worship throwing a shroud of mystery over them.

Bindhi has given modern touches to the miniature and mural traditions of India. “Why should we follow others when we have a rich heritage?” she asks. All the 28 acrylic pieces are dedicated to Nature and the tribesmen and women with whom she interacted recently.

The show of this art teacher of Gregorian Public School and alumnus of RLV College of Fine Arts, Tripunithura, will run through April 18.

Mobile Phone

Bipasha Basu - There is no doubt there is a plethora of UK based sites offering some exceptional mobile phone deals. But how do you decide which is the best deal for you, particularly if you are short of time to search the web? First, decide whether you want a contract or PAYG phone. If the latter, your options are much more limited, so here, we will only consider contract options.

Second, decide which type of deal you require. Are you looking for a 12-month contract or longer? Are you looking for free gifts such as an Ipod or a small lcd television? The freebies have certainly improved over the last few years as the competitiveness of the market has increased, but logic suggests the better gifts come with the more expensive or longer contracts, or with the cheaper rather than the more expensive phones. This may, or may not be the case, but it certainly pays to do your homework!

Third, if you are not basing your decision on the type of phone you require make yourself a short-list of two or three phones. This will cut your search time down if you already know roughly what you want.

Of course you may already have such things as an Ipod or maybe you are more cash-driven, so what deal can benefit you the most? The answer is to watch for the free cash deals. By this, it is meant the deals whereby you can get a free mobile phone, but instead of a physical gift, you get part or full refunds on the line rental, calls and texts. These deals in themselves differ from ½ price line rental for a period of months, to full price free line rental for the duration of the contract and the latter often include free calls and texts as well. The downside is that the phones are often not the very newest, typically having been released around 6-months previously.

How does the free phone, line rental and calls deal work? Firstly, know how many minutes you spend on the phone on average during a month and how many texts you send. This is important, as for the maximum benefit, you need to match your usage to the tariff, if you don’t, you’ll be penalised by the extra high cost per minute of going over your pre-paid time for which you will not be reimbursed. However, stay within your ‘free’ minutes and texts and your phone, line rental, calls and texts will be free for the 12 months, in the occasional deal, this may be for 18 months (have only seen this on an Orange deal).

The most important caveat in these deals is to realise that you do have to pay the monthly tariffs first and then claim the cash back usually in 4 or 5 stages over the period of the contract. Also, some companies will charge extra for itemised billing which you may have to take. In addition, watch out for mobile phone insurances, often obligatory in the free deals and free for between one and three months. If you don’t want this, it is up to you to remember to cancel it or you will charged automatically. It is worth checking your home contents insurance as these often cover loss or damage to the phone itself but not for unauthorised usage.

Finally, find a site that has already done a lot of the footwork in finding the ideal mobile phone deal for you. Good luck with finding your deal!

Recipes News

Celebrities Bikini - "One finalist with a simple recipe idea will become a millionaire at the Bake-Off® Contest in April, 2010. It could be a new twist on a family favorite or a variation of a dish enjoyed at a restaurant. Maybe it’s a recipe inspired by leftovers in the refrigerator or the desire to try a new product. As finalists created their original recipes, they considered not only taste, but appearance, creativity and how the recipe will appeal to families across America."

Who wants to be a millionare?

For the first twenty years of the Pillsbury Bake Off's history, the cooking contest was held once a year, and the prize money, although significant, was much less than it is today. The grand prize for the first Pillsbury Bake Off was only fifty thousand dollars.



Eventually, the contest was only hosted once every two years, and in 1996 the Grand Prize became the one million dollars that it is today, along with fifty thousand in runners-up prizes.

44th Annual Pillsbury Bake-Off - 2010 Contest Rules

The next scheduled date for the Pillsbury Bake-Off is scheduled over several days from April 11 -13 2010 in Orlando FL. All eligible entries must have been be received by April 20, 2009 and easily submitted online at pillsbury.com/BakeOff - the contest's official site.

Winners List

Semi-final category winners announced in mid-April this year included Sue Compton of Delanco, NJ (Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups in the "Sweet Treats" category); Niki Plourde of Gardner, MA (Tomato-Basil Eggs Alfredo in Bread Baskets in "Breakfast & Brunches"); Kellie White of St. Louis (Zesty Lime-Fish Tacos, "Dinner Made Easy"); and Evelyn Henderson of Roseville, CA (Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets, in "Entertaining Appetizers").

Several days later, on April 14, 2010 on a special edition of the Oprah show it was announced that Mini Ice Cream Cookie Cups was declared the winning recipe of the 44th annual competition — with its creater Sue Compton named the $1 million grand prize winner!

The 2010 Pillsbury Bake-Off Finalist Recipes have been chosen and there are some really great ones amongst the 100 offerings! Right off the bat I scanned for Tiny Foods and there's quite a few interesting and delicious sounding appetizer recipes I want to try: Caprese Pesto Margherita Stackers, Salmon Pecan-Crusted Tartlets, Pepperoni-Pesto Popovers amongst them. Not to mention a few of the desserts like Java-Glazed Cinnamon Rolls or Pear-Havarti Crêpe Squares.

Foto Bugil Mahasiswi di Facebook

Triunfo Del Amor - foto Bugil Dewi Dua saksi, Joshua dan Kristian, warga Bogor, Jawa Barat, Selasa (13/4) sore, dimintai keterangan oleh penyidik Polresta Bogor, terkait kasus penyebaran foto bugil Devi Sartika (23), warga Ciburial, Ciparigi, Bogor Utara, lewat situs jejaring sosial Facebook. Sebanyak sembilan saksi, sudah dimintai keterangan terkait penyebaran foto Bugil Dewi Sartika itu.

Devi sendiri dalam akun Facebooknya yang memuat gambar foto syur tersebut menggunakan nama Clara Adheline Supit. Pemeriksaan ini belum mengarah pada tersangka, meski sudah sembilan orang diperiksa.

Kepala Satuan Reserse dan Kriminal Polresta Bogor Ajun Komisaris Polisi Irwansyah mengatakan, pihaknya hingga kini masih terus mendalami kasus ini dengan memanggil sejumlah saksi dan kemungkinan akan meminta bantuan pakar teknologi informasi. Tiga orang yang secara intensif akan diperiksa selain Joshua dan Kristian, terdapat nama Albert.

Jika dari hasil pemeriksaan terbukti bersalah, pelaku penyebaran foto bugil ini akan dijerat Pasal 1 dan 3 UU Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik dengan ancaman hukuman enam tahun penjara dan denda Rp 6 miliar (ARL/YUS)

Vegetarian Chefs

Marina Telenovela - Yesterday's decision by the Board of Supervisors to create Meatless Mondays has left one group of San Franciscans as lukewarm as hours-old quinoa pilaf. Today, vegetarian chefs expressed broad approval for the resolution that aligns the city with the worldwide movement to encourage reduced meat consumption, though they weren't exactly aware that the idea had even been floated here.

Annie Somerville, longtime chef at Greens, the city's proto-meatless eatery, said that, until it happened, she hadn't been aware of the push for Meatless Mondays. "The more vegetables, the better," Somerville said, adding she hoped more San Franciscans would ramp up their meatless meal consumption, and buy more vegetables at farmers' markets. Personal vegan chef Jesse Miner said it was a good thing to raise awareness about plant-based diets. "It's a wonderful thing for out health, the health of the environment, and for animals," he said. But just as it did Somerville, the news of Meatless Mondays took him by surprise.

Millennium chef Eric Tucker (partner in the Oakland vegetarian wine bar Encuentro) was more skeptical. "To be perfectly honest, it's kind of strange, and I don't see it doing a whole hell of a lot to change things," Tucker said. "It's great to call awareness to dietary concerns, and the whole interplay between one's dietary choices and the environment, and if it brings a couple more people in on Monday nights, great. I just don't necessarily think it's the best use for the Supervisors' time." Tucker said he'd rather see city officials spend time creating new jobs, helping small businesses survive. "There are a thousand other issues," he said.

Clash of the Titans

That's what "Watch Movie Online" director Louis Leterrier told MTV News in January when the possibility of an 11th-hour 3-D conversion for his Greek mythology epic was first raised. Any worry about a rushed 3-D-ification were dismissed when Warner Bros. decided to convert "Clash" in just 10 weeks and capitalize on the chance to sell premium-price tickets.

After the film grossed $61.4 million during its opening weekend despite widespread criticism of the film's 3-D, it's hard to argue with Warner's business decision. And it raises a compelling question: Does good 3-D not matter? In a post-"Avatar" world, will audiences pay money to see anything in three dimensions, regardless of quality?

"Right now, with the catalyst that was 'Avatar,' studios and exhibitors are flexing their 3-D muscles, and audiences are in awe," said Jeff Bock, box-office analyst for Exhibitor Relations.

Indeed, the record-breaking, $2.7 billion worldwide haul of "Avatar" continues to climb, and the three major 3-D releases of 2010 — "Alice in Wonderland," "How to Train Your Dragon" and "Clash" — have all opened in the #1 box-office spot. "Avatar" was shot using 3-D cameras, and "Dragon" was natively converted to 3-D during the computer-animated process, in each case leading to highly regarded 3-D effects. Meanwhile, "Alice," like "Clash," received its third dimension during a post-production process that delivers a finished product many compare to a pop-up book or watching a movie through a View-Master.

It would seem, then, that the process of how a 3-D film is made is less important to moviegoers than the simple fact that it's in 3-D. So it should come as no surprise, as Carolyn Giardina wrote in The Hollywood Reporter, that "3-D conversions are fast becoming an accepted option for both studios and filmmakers."

Yet hitting the #1 spot does not tell the whole 3-D box-office story. David Poland of Movie City News points out that the $60 million-plus gross of "Clash," even benefiting from the premium ticket-price bump, was likely a disappointment to Warner Bros., which had been trying to match spring 2007's $70 million opening of "300." What's more, "Alice" out-grossed "Clash" by a whopping $54 million, and "Dragon" failed to match DreamWorks' 2009 3-D entrant "Monsters vs. Aliens." The takeaway is that 3-D, while it can goose the bottom line, is not some box-office panacea.

"We are basing the idea of 3-D as a 'can't miss' based on two movies — 'Avatar' and 'Alice' — while disregarding the middling performance of 3-D over years past," Poland said.

3-D is certainly a boon to studios and distributors, but it's hardly a failsafe mechanism to drive audiences to the theater. Story still matters, and based on the 30 percent critical rating of "Clash" over at Rotten Tomatoes, the movie's story seems to have left folks underwhelmed. And in the midst of the native-3-D-vs.-converted-3-D debate, there's the very real possibility that when audiences do show up to the theater, they might not know beforehand if they're about to see a film with beautiful 3-D or cardboard cutout-style 3-D. Word-of-mouth about crappy 3-D might only become apparent after opening weekend. Will the second-weekend gross of "Clash" plummet more than that of "Avatar" (1.8 percent drop), "Alice" (46 percent) and "Dragon" (33 percent)? And going forward, will audiences begin to wise up on opening night itself?

"If we continue to see inferior product like 'Clash of the Titans,' theatergoers won't be wowed for very long and certainly won't continue to pay the premium," Bock said. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. This is a gamble that paid off for WB in the short term, but 3-D fatigue is real and we will probably see it soon."

South Africa Urges Calm After Killing

Telenovelas - Police detained two farm workers and said they were investigating the quarrel they had with Terre'blanche, but his Afrikaner Resistance Movement (AWB) says he was battered and hacked to death in an attack with political overtones.

Zuma, who has made it a priority to court white Afrikaners, called it a "terrible deed" and urged South Africans "not to allow agent provocateurs to take advantage of this situation by inciting or fuelling racial hatred."

Terre'blanche, 69, was the voice of hardline opposition to the end of apartheid in the early 1990s although his party has played a marginal role since then and does not have a big following among the 10 percent of white South Africans.

The AWB urged restraint while the funeral is prepared and before the party decides next steps. In Ventersdorp, in rolling farmland over 100 km (60 miles) west of Johannesburg, party followers in paramilitary khaki laid flowers at the farm gate.

"We will decide upon the action we are going to take to avenge Mr Terre'blanche's death," said spokesman Andre Visagie.

Concerns over increasing racial polarization have been thrown into the open by a row over the singing of an apartheid-era song with the lyrics "Kill the Boer" by the youth leader of the ruling African National Congress.

The ANC has defended the song as no more than a way to remember a history of oppression, but it has worried minority groups and particularly white farmers, some 3,000 of whom have been killed since the end of apartheid.

"The killing of Terre'blanche will symbolically be seen as a strain of these relationships," said analyst Nic Borain of HBC Securities.

"But Terre'blanche is an old criminal and I don't think people would come to his defense or his killing somehow invigorate white people opposition to the new South Africa."

Terre'blanche's party did not hesitate to link the murder to the song. He had always described himself as a Boer.

"That's what this is all about," Visagie said.

Zuma's spokesman Vincent Magwenya said, however, there was no evidence at this stage linking the killing to the song sung by firebrand ANC youth wing leader Julius Malema.

Terre'blanche had lived in relative obscurity since his release from prison in 2004 after serving a sentence for beating a black man nearly to death.

The party -- whose flag resembles a Nazi swastika -- was revived two years ago and he had begun efforts to try to build a united front among white far-right parties to fight for a white homeland, but had gained little traction.

Terre'blanche was a powerful orator in his Afrikaans language and was a distinctive figure, heavily built, with a thick grey beard and dressed in khaki. He often attended rallies on horseback during his fight to stop majority rule.

Police said the suspected killers were aged 16 and 21. Both had worked for Terre'blanche.

"It seems there was a dispute between and these guys were arrested ... The police are investigating and the public will be kept abreast," Police Minister Nathi Mthethwa told a news conference. "Somebody is dead, can we keep it at that."