KiwiCoromandel

Swank ordered to pay $200 fruit fine Mar 30, 2005 One of the world's most famous actresses has been ordered to pay a $200 fine for bringing fruit into New Zealand. The Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) says Oscar-winner Hilary Swank has to pay the fine, plus court costs of $30, after failing to declare she had an apple and an orange in her luggage. Swank, 30, arrived at the Auckland International Airport on a flight from Los Angeles in January. It's not clear what she was doing in the country. Biosecurity staff gave the Hollywood star the choice of paying the instant $200 fine, or she could defend her case. Swank wrote a letter which was filed at the Manukau District Court along with a letter from MAF outlining their case. Last month Swank won the Oscar for best actress for her role in Million Dollar Baby directed by Clint Eastwood.

LOS ANGELES: American Pie actress Tara Reid is suing to block an ad urging her to "let it all hang out," calling it a taunting reference to a red carpet arrival in which she accidentally bared her breast. Reid filed suit against Sky Las Vegas Condominiums Inc. on Wednesday in Los Angeles to stop the ad in Vegas magazine, which she said had "caused her humiliation, embarrassment, hurt feelings, mental anguish and suffering." Read more....... http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3214384a5620,00.html

Jennifer Aniston laughs at 'Breakup' 23 March 2005 LOS ANGELES: Jennifer Aniston's next movie is called The Breakup, but she has given no details about her own personal life in her first interview since her highly publicised split from actor-husband Brad Pitt in January. "There is always going to be the tough and the nasty," Aniston told syndicated TV show Access Hollywood, referring to rumours and tabloid reports surrounding the Hollywood couple's surprise separation. "You just tune out to that." The interview aired on Monday. Read more...... http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3226499a5620,00.html

Glastonbury introduces the silent disco 30 March 2005 LONDON: Britain's Glastonbury music festival will feature a "silent disco" this year in an effort to sidestep a noise curfew, festival organiser Michael Eavis said yesterday. Instead of DJs blasting their sounds through speakers, thousands of revellers partying past midnight at the open-air music event will be given wire-free headphones with volume controls that directly tune in to a stereo system. "It's a unique way for people to party without offending those who want to sleep or disturbing the villagers nearby, who have complained about the noise," said Eavis, who founded the festival in 1970 on his farm in western England. "We've been looking at a solution like this for ages...The system was developed by a Dutch firm and successfully used at parties in the Netherlands and we hope it works here too," he told Reuters. The idea is one of several introduced in recent years to improve relations with local villagers. A giant "super-fence" was erected around the site in 2002 to cut down on crime and foil gatecrashers. Glastonbury, an annual three-day festival famous for its mud and mayhem, has attracted some of the biggest names in music over the years, including REM, Radiohead and James Brown. But Eavis wouldn't spill the beans on who would headline this year's event, scheduled for June 24-26. "I can't say who's going to top the bill this year, but the act is as big and will be as good as Paul McCartney was last year," he said.

my personal favourite......Thinking About Your Axe-Wound... :) http://rathergood.kewlio.net/flash/thinking_about.swf

there seems to be some positive thinking going on there by the judiciary.......a couple of statements that sound hopeful..... :)

r.i.p.

wow.... .... talk about stereotyping....and ignorance....

them

" spoonful "...ten years after from the remastered album " ten years after "...

same here..only the old give a stuff about god down here......it`s full on sex, drugs, fast cars and rock n roll with the kids down here...and a job to finance it all...(if they can find one that pays enough).... :) the teeshirt sucks...... :bigsmile:

Band life took toll on House Jester 29 March 2005 Paul Hester was the Australian larrikin who gatecrashed his way into two of New Zealand's most acclaimed bands. He was the last member to join Split Enz before it disbanded in 1984, and he and Neil Finn would go on to form Crowded House, a group that conquered the United States, sold millions of albums and sparked an intense debate as to whether the band was Kiwi or Australian. Hester hanged himself in a Melbourne park on Saturday aged 46. During the Split Enz farewell tour, the Melbourne-born drummer and Finn were interviewed on television. The two mentioned they were setting up a new band after Split Enz and needed a bass player. Australian Nick Seymour saw the interview, went to a Split Enz show and asked Finn if he could join. Hester and Finn agreed, after an audition. The new band was called the Mullanes. Soon it was changed to Crowded House. Read on....... http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3230909a1860,00.html

LONDON: British rock band Queen has kicked off its first tour since the death of Freddie Mercury in 1991, hoping that the strength of the songs makes up for the absence of the charismatic frontman. Two of the original band members strutted the stage at a south London venue late on Monday accompanied by Paul Rodgers, the man handed the unenviable task of filling Freddie's shoes. The crowd of 4,700 did not seem to mind as Brian May on guitar and drummer Roger Taylor led them through classic anthems "I Want to Break Free" and "Fat Bottomed Girls" before winding up with a rousing rendition of "We Are the Champions". Bass guitarist John Deacon has decided not to join the band on the tour, which begins with dates around Europe before extending to the rest of the world. Surviving Queen members have played concerts since Mercury died of Aids, including in South Africa earlier this month, but this is the first tour since the flamboyant rocker performed in front of more than 100,000 fans at Knebworth, England, in 1986. Read more........ http://stuff.co.nz/stuff/0,2106,3232238a1860,00.html

Internet banking security questioned Mar 29, 2005 Internet banking is meant to be easy and convenient, just find a computer and an internet connection and you can do your banking anywhere in the world. But how safe is your money? Sunday arranged for a computer hacker to try and break into an internet bank account. What was discovered may teach you a valuable lesson. Nick Van Dadelszen, is 28, wears well-cut suits and blends into Wellington's corporate sidewalks. He looks honest, but he thinks like a criminal - He knows how to break into our bank accounts. Dadelszen, who works for Security-Assessment.com, says it is a thrill hacking into a bank. "When you are sitting there and you find an issue that could potentially, you know, gain access to other people's accounts... when you are doing that hack you know it is an exciting piece of work." Read more....... http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_sto...5%3fformat=html

Indonesia quake result of more stress -Witness says ocean surged 30 metres Indonesia quake death toll in hundreds Mar 29, 2005 A massive undersea earthquake that killed hundreds in Indonesia overnight was a result of increased geological stress caused by the December 26 quake that sent a devastating tsunami across Asia, seismologists said. And they warned they expected a third earthquake in the area. Like the 2004 tremor, the 8.7 magnitude quake off the Indonesian island of Nias was a vertical earthquake where part of the ocean floor was thrust upwards due to another part of the earth's plate pushing beneath it. "It appears to be the same plate boundary where the Australian plate is slipping beneath the Sumatran (Sunda) plate," Geoscience Australia seismologist Phil Cummins told Reuters. Seismologists had warned of a second earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island due to increased geological stress caused by the December quake. The official death toll on Nias was 322 dead on Tuesday but Indonesian Vice President Jusuf Kalla said between 1,000 and 2,000 people may have been killed on the island. The latest earthquake was centred 160 km southeast of the 9.0 magnitude December 26 quake off the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. Geoscience Australia said the earlier quake was two to four times larger than the latest one. More to come Cummins said a third earthquake was to be expected because geological stress levels would rise further following Monday's quake. "There is a chance that the next segment further to the southeast could rupture sooner than we expected," he said. Read more......... http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_technology_sto...9%3fformat=html

Stink end to Czech farmer's life Mar 29, 2005 A Czech tractor driver died under eight tons of manure in a bizarre accident that has baffled his employers, local media reported. The 34-year old man, identified only as Martin T, suffocated after the load fell on him while he was dumping it in a field near the western Czech city of Karlovy Vary, news Web Site www.novinky.cz reported. "It absolutely beats me how this could happen," said Vladimir Erps, chief of the company employing the victim. "The truck is operated from the tractor cabin, using hydraulics. There was nothing for him to do under the truck, but it's tough to blame him now that he is dead," the news site quoted him as saying. Police are investigating the death as a work-related accident. Source: Reuters

Their records only sold modestly, but 1980s British rock band The Smiths inspired unwavering loyalty from their fans - and now, 18 years after they split, an entire academic conference is devoted to their music and lyrics. The unusual honour has been organised by Manchester Metropolitan University, in the band's own home town in the northwest of England, The Times newspaper reported in its Tuesday edition. Academics from Britain, the United States, Portugal, Japan, Ireland, Norway, Turkey and Australia will present papers examining the cultural message of The Smiths' music. A group, who only released four studio albums, were chiefly known for the lyrics of singer and co-songwriter Steven Morrissey. He became infamous for penning wordy and often highly arch discourses on all manner of subjects, with titles including the likes of "Girlfriend in a Coma" and "Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others". Papers to be presented will include one by an Irish academic on "Subjectivity, Suicide and the Smiths", while one from Oslo University will concentrate on the poetry of a single song, "The Boy with the Thorn in his Side", the newspaper said. Many other rock artists, more usually the likes of Bob Dylan and the Beatles, have had their cultural significance examined by academics, and one participant at this week's conference said it was overdue. "The Smiths had a lot to say about issues of class, gender and sexuality, subjects that have been at the forefront of cultural studies," said Kaye Mitchell from Britain's University of Westminster. "They also had a preoccupation with a certain kind of Englishness, simultaneously profound and introspective but also rather parochial. They make you think of draughty seaside towns and teashops and slightly odd old people."

they all do....look at eminem..he can`t keep his hands off his crotch..what`s he hiding??

same old same old...it`s about oil sg...and the re-emergence of what they call the " new " left (whatever that is), in many countries in latin america......countries that have traditionally been spheres of american influence.....

very cool site...love the cat......

right...he was a great dancer, arranger and musician..as you say method..sad indeed..look for more of this sort of thing happening in the future.....guarantee it.....

oh yes..they sue in aussie alright...:read this:....and in nz too...:read this:.....a bloody shocking accident..no question...

" JUDGE NOT, LEST YE BE JUDGED.".......these people need to brush up on their bible studies..... MATTHEW 7:1-5: "Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull the mote out of thine eye; and behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye." Clearly, it is hypocritical judgment that this Scripture condemns. :bigsmile:

speaking as a cat so would i have broken in!!! :bigsmile:

http://tvnz.co.nz/view/news_entertainment_...0%3fformat=html Source: AAP