Whitney Houston Hooked Up With M.J.: Pal

Whitney Houston Hooked Up With M.J.: Pal

Michael Jackson had quite the sexual appetite, according to one of his former bodyguards. He apparently had an affair with Whitney Houston and even hooked up with Lisa Marie Presley after they divorced. Guess M.J. had "it" in more ways than one.

Over the years, Michael Jackson gained a reputation as a Peter Pan character that cherished the childish side of life. This caricature was perpetuated — understandably so — by his Neverland Ranch and penchant for hanging out with prepubescent boys. However, some people "close" to the singer are now saying that he was very much a man with a sexual appetite to match.
The latest story? One of his former bodyguards said he had a torrid affair with another dearly departed icon, Whitney Houston.
"One of the many stories that has never been told about Michael is that he had an ultra-secret affair with Whitney Houston that he never got over," Matt Fiddes told the U.K. gossip magazine The Sun (we know, we know). "They met because they were two of the biggest recording artists on the planet and mixing in the same circles. They instantly connected as kindred spirits because they understood each other’s massive fame."
The pair reportedly met in 1991 when Houston was 28. She was besotted with him — and M.J. reportedly wanted to marry her, but it ended when he found out that she had an affair with his older brother, Jermaine Jackson.
That's not the only recent revelation about the King of Pop. Jackson's ex-wife, Lisa Marie Presley, revealed to Elle in a new interview that she continued to hookup with Jackson for years after their divorce — it only stopped when she remarried in 1996.

So, it seems Michael Jackson was actually quite talented in the bedroom, apparently. We're not sure we're buying all of this (and sadly, we'll never know the absolute truth), but some of his other bodyguards wrote in a 2010 book that he had plenty of ladies circling in and out of his life.

"Being a man… men know men, and we [were] around him long enough to know he was a man," bodyguard Bill Whitfield said while promoting his book with other M.J. bodyguards, In Defense of the King.
"[He had] desires of women like we do. He had lovers," Mike Garcia added. "In the cars that we had, we had a curtain that covered the back seat. You couldn't see in the back seat. They talked back there, they didn't do nothing out of bounds… you can hear the kissing."
Interesting.

Image courtesy FayesVision/WENN.com

A photographer is out on bond after being arrested on child pornography charges.

Dublin Photographer Faces Child Pornography Charges

Wednesday April 25, 2012 5:49 PM
UPDATED: Wednesday April 25, 2012 6:33 PM

GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, Ohio - A photographer who contracts with a number of area schools is out on bond after being arrested in connection with child pornography, 10TV’s Kevin Landers reported Wednesday.

• A photographer is out on bond after being arrested on child pornography charges.

Grandview Heights Police charged Royce Nicely with pandering obscenity involving a minor. He was arrested in March.

According to a search warrant, Nicely allegedly used a cell phone to take pictures of a teen.

The investigation was initiated by Nicely’s wife, who called Grandview Heights police in March.

The search warrant obtained by 10TV News said that Nicely’s wife found videos on a business computer at the couple’s Dublin home that appeared to show a girl in various stages of nudity. Police also searched Nicely's computer at Petty Studio.

Police said that one of the files showed a female from the waist down, and a forensic examination showed that the girl was recorded unknowingly, Landers reported.

The warrant stated that the forensic examiner also found a movie file that showed prepubescent females ages 9 to 11 posing on a Webcam.

For the past five years, Petty Studio, located on West Fifth Avenue in Marble Cliff, was in charge of taking Grandview Heights City Schools’ athletic photos.

The company also took team photos for sports teams from Upper Arlington, Dublin Coffman and Dublin Scioto. School officials said that the photos were arranged by the booster groups.

Grandview Superintendent Ed O’Reilly said that the studio did take the district’s spring sports photos, but Nicely was not allowed to participate, Landers reported.

“Everything we do is about child safety, and as soon as we found out, we ensured that this man was not involved in our students in any way,” O’Reilly said.

Police said that they did not think any of the school photos taken by Nicely or Petty Studio were tied to the investigation, Landers reported.

Watch 10TV News and refresh 10TV.com for more information.
 

Brisbane actress Melanie Zanetti

Brisbane actress Melanie Zanetti, 27, plays down Romeo and Juliet promotional poster in which she appears prepubescent

FORBIDDEN LOVE: The offending QTC advertisement. Source: The Courier-Mail

BRISBANE actress Melanie Zanetti is known for her chameleon-like ability to transform herself. But even she was surprised to be mistaken for a prepubescent child.

The Matilda Award-winning thespian was inadvertently embroiled in controversy last year when a promotional poster portraying her and Romeo and Juliet co-star Thomas Larkin in a passionate embrace was pulled by the Queensland Theatre Company.

"I just thought it was bizarre": actress Melanie Zanetti. Picture: Adam Armstrong

Source: The Courier-Mail

Although it received only a single complaint, the Advertising Standards Bureau ruled that "Juliet" appeared too young to be portrayed in a sexual pose.
The offended party said the photo was "shocking" and "suggestive of pedophilia", but Zanetti told Confidential she was bemused by the reaction.

"I just thought it was bizarre," she laughed.
"I'm 27 myself and being told that I look prepubescent . . . was hilarious."
However, the chameleon-like actor joked that the confusion over her age could prove something of a boon in her line of work.
"In this industry it's definitely better to look younger rather than older, especially for a female, so I'm not complaining."
Romeo and Juliet plays at QPAC until May 13.

Politics ugly with imperfections

If formal character tests were part of preselection processes for prospective federal MPs, Federal Parliament would be roomier for it.

The same might be said, of course, for other professions. The law, the media, the priesthood, medicine, accountancy, academia, the arts, building and construction (especially domestic building, come to think of it) and, unfortunately, even the judiciary are full of examples of bad character.
Part of growing up is discovering the world's imperfections. Prepubescent boys of my generation had to come to terms with the fact that I Dream of Jeannie wasn't real. Never mind having to deal with Santa, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy.

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(My household looks forward to the day the truth may be told about these last two characters. The six-year-old is fearful of the freaky intruders, a situation not helped by an elder brother who growls in an East End accent: ''Hey, I'm the flippin' Tooth Fairy - give 'em all to me now or I'll suck ya brains out through ya blinkin' ear hole.'')
The point is that, yes, we learn that unfortunately every walk of life is host to some not-very-nice people. But we expect more of our politicians - odd because the community's expectation is disproportionate to its poor perception of them.
Until recently, I could have argued here that politicians are largely underpaid and overworked; spend too many long periods away from their families; are expected to work miracles with the bureaucracy; and abide by the principle that the voter is always right. But right now the heart of Australian politics is empty and cold. I'll spare you a rant about how the process is undermined by ''pollster culture''; pollsters who tell our leaders that the punters hate them because they are so cynical, so they respond with empty lines written by the same pollsters to allay perceptions that the leaders are too cynical.
The most popular federal politicians in Australia at the moment are those who speak plainly and honestly about the principles that guide them, even if - perhaps especially if - it puts them at odds with their parties. There are few, although Malcolm Turnbull is chief among them.
The latest serious allegations about the Speaker, Peter Slipper, may well have fatally undermined the Gillard government. But, just as importantly, they erode what little public faith remains in big-party national politics.
Voters are naturally repulsed by the suggestion Slipper may have misused his already overly generous travel entitlements or effectively abused his public position by allegedly making sexual advances on Commonwealth employees in his office.
Slipper's career had long been characterised by tawdry allegations of impropriety. When the Gillard government bought his vote by making him Speaker, it chose to live (metaphorically) as dangerously as Slipper apparently does (literally). Voters want somebody to take responsibility. Instead, what you are given is a schoolyard lesson in moral relativity.
Tony Abbott reckons Slipper became Julia Gillard's man when Labor chose him as Speaker. Gillard insists it's now all a matter for Slipper who, in any event, she never really knew very well. Abbott counters that he tried to force Slipper out of conservative politics. Gillard says rubbish - the conservatives kept preselecting him.
Truth and responsibility are buried deep under this steaming pile of bull-rhetoric.
While politics is ultimately the casualty, Labor will pay the heaviest short-term price for its dealings with Slipper. It is not hard to conflate the Slipper scandal with the ugly allegations about Labor MP Craig Thomson that won't go away. And the truth there is undeniable: the wide boys of the NSW Labor Right chose to preselect Thomson after the first credible allegations of impropriety surfaced. Only a fool could have failed to spot the potential heinous threat he posed to Labor's integrity and, perhaps, survival on the floor of the House.
On Anzac Day I spoke at a big service in a small town. The street in front of the lectern was crowded with people who stood in the rain to listen as the bugler played the Last Post.
Good politicians, local and federal, spoke - but not of politics. They spoke about loss, tragedy, meaning and hope - things that resonate with the human condition, the past and the present. The people responded with tears, handshakes, solemn nods and smiles.
It's not that hard.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/politics-ugly-with-imperfections-20120428-1xrgx.html#ixzz1tZ8IwVrN

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears w/The Preservation at Mercy Lounge

Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears w/The Preservation at Mercy Lounge

Posted by The Spin on Mon, Apr 30, 2012 at 11:09 AM

• Photo: Ivor Karabatkovic

When faced with a crucial decision Friday night, The Spin cowered in the face of Bridgestone’s epic Van Halen/Kool and the Gang combo, which would've no doubt had the next 500 words writing themselves with jabs at gratuitous drum and guitar solos, prepubescent bass players and a frontman who’s spent so many years washing up, his skin must be something like a piece of driftwood. Instead, we chose an easier show to watch, but one much more challenging to write up: Friday night's Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears appearance at Mercy Lounge, with openers The Preservation. Fresh talent and fun-loving, hard-working bands in vans aren’t as easy — or deserving — a target for our good-natured ribbing.
Our first impression of The Preservation was impressed via a cover of Donovan’s “Colours” — a stellar jam, the original version of which could scarcely be topped by anyone. But The Preservation's efforts were admittedly noble. From then on, these Austin natives rocked an array of bluesy Texas flavors filtered through vintage Frisco free love and sugared with a tinge of post-Brian Wilson Beach Boys sweetness. Jams favored on the lengthy side — we imagine this quintet must kill it on any given college campus — but for our purposes, we'll say we’ve ordered beers to far more offensive soundtracks.
In the tradition of Austin’s classic guitar-slinging bluesmen, headliners Black Joe Lewis and the Honeybears were almost literally sweating out soul from intro to encore, dipping their dirty toes in elements of Motown, Chicago blues and Muscle Shoals soul amongst others along the way — and it was all injected with a heavy dose of fuzzy overdrive and delivered with a spine-shivering screaming howl. Essentially a power trio accompanied by a blasting brass three-piece, Lewis wailed about the woes of women, jail time, more women and all the other requisite working-class shit that makes this stuff worth listening to.
Blessed with not only a set of invigorating pipes, Lewis is also an impressively expressive guitarist, shredding his custom all-red-everything Telecaster like Chuck Berry rings a bell. In fact, for a moment we closed our eyes and imagined Otis Redding and Jimi Hendrix ripping through Muddy Waters covers on a combo of cheap beer and quality speed.
For the sake of stamina, the band saved their faster tunes for a mid-set second wind, but despite their consideration for dynamics, they seemed to lose almost half a crowd by slipping into a slow jam “for the ladies.” Regardless, tempo changes and amplitude dips were mostly negligible. What one gets with a Black Joe Lewis set is a lightly wavering, hour-long onslaught of mud, sweat and beers that, if it could be bottled, would be called something like “Juke Joint Juice” or simply Scandalous — which also happens to be the name of the band’s latest long player.

Photos Turn Paintball Fields Into Mystical Landscapes

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IT’S LIKE THE SET OF "LOST," EXCEPT EVEN MORE AWESOME.

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Take a look at these photos, and tell us what you think you see: Khe Sanh after the first shelling? Residual of a mammoth nuclear blast? Maybe an outtake from Lost?

They’re actually paintball fields. Yep. Those outdoor funzones stuffed with prepubescent boys giddily blasting the bejesus out of each other also happen to make for some of the coolest, eeriest landscape photography we’ve seen in a long time.

Katja Mayer and Peter Chadwick visited various paintball facilities in the British countryside to shoot the series, Days Lost, using a 6x7 Mamiya. There are no special effects here, beyond minor color adjustments in Photoshop. The nuclear-orange plumes that hover menacingly over the forest floor are just smoke flares paintballers use as shields against enemy players.

Makes you wonder why no one’s thought to photograph paintball in this way before. I guess the answer is pretty self-evident: Stop to appreciate the beauty, and you’re just begging for a round of paintballs in the face.

Days Lost is on view at the Print House Gallery in London until April 19. Prints can be purchased for £250 to £900 (about $400 to $1,440), depending on size. Contact Mayer for more info.

[Images courtesy of Katja Mayer and Peter Chadwick]

Apple fights back against DOJ eBook price-fixing lawsuit

Apple fights back against DOJ eBook price-fixing lawsuit

is pushing back against government claims that it’s trying to inflate the cost of eBooks by as much as $5, insisting that it’s publishers and not the consumer electronics giant that sets prices.

“Just as we've allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore,” spokesman Tom Neumayr told FoxNews.com.

“The DOJ's accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon's monopolistic grip on the publishing industry," he said.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an antitrust lawsuit against Apple and five publishers Wednesday, alleging e-book prices were artificially hiked by $2 to $3 and as much as $5 -- costing consumers tens of millions.

Publishers Simon & Schuster, Hachette and News Corp.'s HarperCollins agreed to settle the suit, avoiding a costly legal battle. But those companies refused to admit any wrongdoing or collusion.

“Hachette was not involved in a conspiracy to illegally fix the price of eBooks, and we have made no admission of liability,” the company said in a statement released to FoxNews.com immediately after the settlement was announced.

“Hachette has decided that the costs, uncertainties, and distractions of this litigation would be too disruptive to our business.”

Likewise, HarperCollins denied anti-competitive activities, adding that the so called “agency model” of pricing led to an explosion of choices for consumers.

But Apple, Macmillan, and Penguin Group are denying price collusion and are prepared to fight the charges of “conspiring to limit pricing competition.”

“The document contains a number of material misstatements and omissions, which we look forward to having the opportunity to correct in court,” John Makinson, Chairman and CEO of Penguin Group, told FoxNews.com.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/04/13/apple-fights-back-against-price-fixing-lawsuit/#ixzz1rw1ZCWRd