Bollywood blog addict Bachchan celebrates landmark
BOLLYWOOD: Lots of celebrities write blogs, but no one blogs quite like Bollywood superstar Amitabh Bachchan who this week marked three years of writing in which he has often produced 1,000 words a day.
Bachchan celebrated the anniversary of his Internet outpourings with a characteristic array of long postings covering family news, spiritual thoughts and updates on his health, travel plans and sleep patterns.
Each Bachchan message attracts a huge readership and hundreds of comments contributed by adoring Indians who view him as a national father figure as well as an ageing screen star.
“Thank you for your presence and for your gratitude,” Bachchan wrote to followers who congratulated him on his blog landmark.
“You have stood by me in rough weather and fair,” he continued in inimitable style. “You have commented and encouraged, analysed and assessed, laughed and cried.”
“This is indeed a superior class of people and I am proud to have been an initiator for all.”
Bachchan, who is universally known as “the Big B”, blogs about 5,000 words most weeks — a rate that would give him a total output of about 780,000 words since his first posting on April 18, 2008.
Almost every day, and often in the middle of the night, Bachchan — who admits to being an insomniac — writes in detail about his children, his dog “Shanouk”, politics, philosophy and memories of his movie career.
As the patriarch of Bollywood’s leading family, Bachchan’s news is followed avidly, especially concerning his son Abhishek, a successful actor who is married to actress and former Miss World Aishwarya Rai.
As well as his “EF” (extended family), Bachchan’s other favourite topics include cricket, his life on film shoots around the world, and current affairs ranging from Indian government issues to unrest in the Arab world.
Blogs often end with him saying his eyes are about to close with exhaustion.
“I know it’s late — very late! But no matter what time it is I get disturbed and anxious until I put down my post for the day,” he wrote in a piece uploaded at 3:30 am on Wednesday.
After 600 words in which he wondered whether he could post blogs while in his sleep, he complained of “black squares” in front of his eyes and signed off with: “Goodnight my dearest loves.”
The physical exertion on Bachchan, 68, should not be underestimated.
He types all the words himself before posting them on the Internet, though secretaries are thought to help edit and spell-check the reams of often verbose copy.
Any mention in the blog of health problems or family disputes is immediately picked up by readers and soon reaches the national press and TV channels.
Last year fans were aghast when Bachchan blogged that he was suffering from cirrhosis of the liver and needed regular medical care.
He tried to reassure followers that he was not at death’s door, explaining that the disease was linked to a serious accident in which he ruptured his spleen on the set of the 1982 film “Coolie”.
Bachchan, who is treated like royalty in movie-mad India, made his name in the 1970s as a handsome young man playing lead roles in Hindi blockbusters such as “Sholay” and “Deewaar”.
His career later took a dive, but hosting the Indian version of TV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? put him back in the spotlight and his blog has become a key part of his image as Bollywood’s elder statesman.
“Thanks for writing on the net each single day without fail for three years… feel connected with you… it’s a great feeling,” wrote blog follower Madhu Jain this week.
And for those who still can’t get enough of Bachchan, he has also developed into a keen Twitter fan, filing updates several times a day.
Bachchan blogs at http://bigb.bigadda.com and tweets as SrBachchan.
Kiran and Aamir’s holiday plans cancelled due to Dhobi Ghat
On 28th of December this year, Kiran and Aamir will celebrate their 5th wedding anniversary. Funnily, Kiran and Aamir have never been to a proper honeymoon till date. So Kiran was planning one in a big way for this year.
Kiran was planning to go the scenic South of France, and book a chalet over there, where Kiran and Aamir would get to spend quality alone time together. Kiran even threw in a dash of the typical European back packing trip.
She was really kicked about the honeymoon, as since the past 3 years Aamir has had releases (TZP, Ghajini, 3 Idiots) at this time of the year; therefore they have been unable to celebrate their anniversary in a special way. Kiran has planned the holiday to the last detail this year, and had even put in extensive research, behind the holiday. Both of them were very excited to finally have their long due honeymoon.
Everything was in place and Kiran and Aamir were scheduled to leave on the night of 24th of December and return on the 2nd of January.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans, as the mixing of Dhobi Ghat’s sound was not yet over. The producer in Aamir sprung up, and he decided to cancel the holiday. After all, Dhobi Ghat is their baby, and they should dedicate all their time to Dhobi Ghat. It marks the coming together of director Kiran Rao and Aamir the actor. And therefore, after much contemplation, and to Kiran’s dismay, they decided to cancel their trip.
Well, everyone knows how dedicated Aamir is, and Dhobi Ghat being Kiran’s first film, it is extremely close to her heart as well. So they decided to forego their holiday, and instead work on what is the love of their lives – Dhobi Ghat.
Pilgrims flock to Karbala to mark festival of Ashoura
December 16, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
BAGHDAD: Hundreds of thousands of Shiites flocked to Karbala and other shrines across Iraq on Thursday to mark a festival known as Ashoura.
The event marks the anniversary of the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, who was slain in battle near Karbala.
Sunni insurgents in Iraq have frequently targeted Shiite shrines and large religious festivals, and killed thousands of pilgrims since 2004. They have also attacked Iranian pilgrims, very few of whom were allowed to visit Iraq’s holy sites under the former Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein.
Ashoura is expected to peak on Thursday and Friday when the pilgrims – many walking hundreds of miles (kilometres) to reach Karbala to commemorate Imam Hussein’s suffering while dying on the battlefield – converge on the city.
Hussein was the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson.
North Korea: Special parade held at 65th North Korean anniversary
North Korea has begun three days of celebrations to mark 65 years since the founding of the country’s Communist Workers’ Party. On this occasion a special arrangement of a military parade was also organised.
The festivities, which culminate in a massive military parade in capital, Pyongyang, on Sunday, are not only to mark the anniversary of communist rule. North Korean officials are expected to use the weekend’s celebrations to declare the historic handover of power from ailing leader Kim Jong-il to his son and heir apparent, Kim Jong-un. Chiefs of all three armed forces also participated in this parade.
S Korea marks 60th anniversary of Seoul recapture
South Korea held a military ceremony on Tuesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the recapture of Seoul after the invasion from the North. This as North Korea’s ailing leader gave his youngest son his first public title and named him a general.
Thousands of South Korean military officers and civilians along with domestic and foreign war veterans from the 1950-53 Korean War gathered in Seoul to mark the anniversary.
South Korea’s President Lee Myung-bak spoke about the ship sinking incident in March.North Korea’s provocation the other day, which killed our 46 sailors, gave us a heart-breaking lesson. With the armistice between two Koreas for 60 years, there has been some laxity in the mind of our soldiers, said Lee at the ceremony.
North and South Korea are still technically at war since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce without a peace treaty. Ties between the two Koreas had been sour since conservative President Lee Myung-bak took office in 2008 and ended aid to the North demanding an end to its nuclear ambition.
Obama warns of backlash on Quran burning
September 10, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
WASHINGTON: U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday he hopes a Florida pastor refrains from burning copies of the Quran on the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks and warned it could cause “profound damage” to U.S. interests.
“The idea that we would burn the sacred text of someone else’s religion is contrary to what this country stands for,” Obama told a news conference, warning it could lead to retaliation against U.S. troops in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
“This is a way of endangering our troops, our sons and daughters.” he said.
“It is in the age of the Internet something that can cause us profound damage around the world, so we’ve got to take it seriously.”
The Florida pastor, Terry Jones, said on Friday he would not burn the Quran but could change his mind if a proposed meeting fails to take place on Saturday in New York with Muslim leaders
Deluge enters Jati city in Thatta
JATI: Raging flood torrents, unleashed from two breaches in MS protective embankment, have entered Jati city of Thatta District after wreaking havoc in Sujawal, Geo News reported Thursday.
Another roaring floodtide, surging from Hadad Kot, is heading to hit Khairpur Nathan Shah while the city’s 70 percent population has relocated themselves to safer places for fear of flood devastation.
A massive floodtide is 1km away from Kharipur Nathan Shah whereas; another flood torrent through breaches of MNV Drain is raging fast towards Khanpur and Indus Highway.
Several villages have been deluged by floodwater in Jati city.
Many cracks have started to appear in Dhamra Canal, allowing floodwater to flow through them.
Lahore mourns triple bombing as death toll rises
LAHORE: The death toll from suicide attacks that targeted a busy procession in Lahore rose to 37 on Thursday as more people succumbed to their injuries, officials said.
Three suicide bombers targeted a Shiite mourning procession made up of thousands of people on Wednesday at the moment of the breaking of the fast in the holy month of Ramadan, wounding hundreds.
It was the first major attack in Pakistan since devastating floods engulfed a fifth of the volatile country over the past month in its worst disaster yet.
“Thirty-seven people have died and a total of 281 were injured,” Fahim Jehanzeb, a spokesman for Lahore”s rescue agency told media, adding that he feared more would die from their injuries.
Sajjad Bhutta, a senior local administration official, also confirmed the new death toll.
A mass funeral was hastily arranged for later in the day with police and paramilitary providing tight security, while local authorities announced a day of mourning with all public and private institutions closed.
A reporter said that all markets were closed and the roads were quiet on Thursday, after the attacks provoked an outpouring of fury in the city a night earlier, with mourners trying to torch a nearby police station.
Police fired tear gas to force back the surging crowd as furious mourners beat the bodies of the suicide bombers with sticks and shoes, while others beat their own heads and chests at the site of the attacks in frustration.
The emotional crowd chanted slogans against the police and the provincial government over their failure to protect the Shiite procession, a correspondent on the scene said.
Lahore, a city of eight million near Pakistan”s border with India, has been increasingly subject to Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked attacks in a nationwide bombing campaign that has killed more than 3,600 people in three years.
The procession hit by the blasts was being held to mark the anniversary of the martyrdom of Hazarat Ali, who is the son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed.
Shiites account for around 20 percent of Pakistan”s mostly Sunni Muslim population of 160 million.
In July, twin suicide attacks on an Islamic shrine in the city, which is the capital of Punjab province and a major military, political and cultural hub, killed 43 people.
There were no immediate claims of responsibility for the latest attack, which came as the United States added the Pakistani Taliban to a blacklist of foreign terrorist groups, whose members now face asset freezes and travel bans.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton designated the Tehreek-e-Taliban as a foreign terrorist organisation on August 12, and it was formally added to the list when it was published Wednesday in the Federal Register.
stonehenge apocalypse
June 13, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Tonight at 9 PM ET on Syfy, Stargate star Torri Higginson will be appearing in the original movie Stonehenge Apocalypse, which also stars Misha Collins (Supernatural), Peter Wingfield (SG-1’s Tanith, recently of Riverworld), Brent Stait (SG-1’s Louis Ferretti, recently of Smallville) and Hill Harper (CSI: NY).
Sci Fi and TV Talk got a chance to publish a few images from tonight’s movie, which centers around the idea that Stonehenge is an alien mechanism that causes the planet to 
become somewhat unstable (to put it lightly), so make sure to visit, since there’s one of Higginson in her role as Kaycee who works with Collin’s Jacob to try to stop the end of the world.
The movie repeats at 1 AM ET. “Meet the Press” (NBC at 10:30) has White House senior adviser David Axelrod, Fiorina, Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, Politico’s Roger Simon and NBC’s Chuck Todd; “Face the Nation” (CBS at 10:30) talks to U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, Republican Govs. Charlie Crist (Fla.), Haley Barbour (Miss.) and Riley; “Washington Watch With Roland Martin” (TV One at 11) hosts Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.),
amish grace
June 13, 2010 by Trend PK
Filed under World News
Amish Country offers with Tornado Mess
enjoy this latest headlines Amish grace and mercy guide Amish. Check back for more of the latest update on the Amish grace. Amish Country offers with Tornado Mess Sugarcreek, Ohio – The heart of Amish country cleaning up after a tornado hit F1 on Saturday. Read more about Fox 8 Cleveland On October 2, 2006, in Nickel Mines, the Amish attracted an entirely different type of attention. Charles Carl 
Roberts, backed up his pickup truck to the the community’s one-room schoolhouse where he proceeded to tie up and shoot 10 girls execution style, killing five, before taking his own life.
The innocence of the girls Charlie shot and his own admission that he was a sexual predator with intent to abuse again, held the world in the grip of horror. This was the third school shooting that first week of October 2006; however it stood apart from the others by its diabolical nature.
The shooter had deliberately targeted the pacifist Amish community because their lack of technology meant that they were more vulnerable. For years he had driven a milk truck, collecting milk from their farms. They trusted him and he betrayed their trust. As he stated in his suicide note, Charlie was mad at God for taking his newborn daughter who died 10 years earlier.
Rather than recoiling further from the rest of society, the Nickel Mines Amish community visited the home of Charlie Robert the afternoon after the murders, offering his widow Amy their condolences and telling her that they forgave her husband. It was an unprecedented act of mercy that left the local news team flummoxed.
