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Friday, February 29, 2008

Beatles "Please Please Me" Suits

Another bargain at E-Bay! The four Beatles' "Please Please Me" Suits Action have not started yet, that means you still have time to sign up!

Real objects of desire for any Beatlemaniac in the face of the Earth!

Bidding starts at US$ 75.000,00 and the estimate price is of US $150,000.00 - US $175,000.00!


Just follow the link and don't forget to let us know whether you won the auction!

http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320218419776#ebayphotohosting

Good Luck!

Brief and to the Point:

We want to believe these are original pieces!



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John Lennon's Outfits Being Auctined at E-Bay!

Would you bid for the original John Lennon's Abbey Road Suit or even his original "Imagine" Jacket? Well, we, from Brief and to the Point have been following the developments of these sheer objects of desire for any Beatles fan!

For the original white suit John Lennon wore at the famous Abbey Road album photograph, bidding starts at US$ 75,000.00 and the estimate value runs in the neighborhood of US $150,000.00 - US $175,000.00.
As for Lennon's original "Imagine" jacket, bidding starts at US$ 25,000.00 and the estimate value is around
US $50,000.00 - US $60,000.00

Wanna bid? We hope so! If you win the auctions, please make sure to let us know!

Good Luck!

John Lennon's Abbey Road Suit
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=011&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=320218419745&rd=1

John Lennon's "Imagine" Jacket
http://cgi.liveauctions.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320218419767

Brief and to the Point:

We strongly doubt anyone would have the guts to sell something that's not original...
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So Tap Water is Greener, With Lesser Carbon Footprint?


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If Certain Things Were not Open Source

Ford's mass production ideas had a great impact in the ways we produce things. Starting from car manufacturing, his production line model became a paradigm of the 20th century, and it will certainly be for the next coming centuries.

But imagine if his mass production model were proprietary? Do you think we would have as many cars, electronic devices, airplanes around the globe, as we have today? An idea engendered by a man, now became part of the human culture.

The same goes to telephony. If Bell’s patent hadn’t run out, and if telephony had become proprietary up to now, we would still be exchanging snail mails throughout the country. The telephone, such as the Ford production model, became part of an undeniable human heritage.

This is the rationale of the Open Source economy. Instead of concentrating resources to few people, everything is shared, so that human kind, as a culture and civilization can evolve. Isn’t it already time for Windows and Office Software become public, for the benefit of our civilization?

The European Anti-trust commission has imposed a one billion euro fine on Gates’ company, for its monopoly practices. Aren’t we losing precious time because of one company that dominates most of desktops on this planet?

Haven’t they become part of the human cyber-culture? Give Microsoft enough financial compensation and let’s make ISO standards out of Windows and Office Software, for we have more to come, by sharing a common architecture.

Sharing a same open architecture also will bring economic benefits. More companies will be able to develop products, with thousand more inventive ideas than Microsoft alone. More companies in the game, more jobs for everyone, more to choose from, resulting in more performing software because of competition.

Brief and to the Point:
In biological terms, the population with the widest variety of gene pool is more likely to survive. The same applies to the cyber world. The less dependent we are on a single OS, we will be more competitive as an information society.
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Thursday, February 28, 2008

Bollywood Queens - Item Girls

This time, Brief and to the Point would like to clarify the concept of "Item Girl". According to the definition provided by Wikipedia, "Item number" is a term commonly used in Bollywood to describe a catchy, upbeat dance song in an Indian movie that has no relevance to the plot of the film.

The classic meaning of "item number" refers to highly sexualized songs with racy imagery and suggestive lyrics. The "item number" would feature an "item girl" who appeared in the film as a dancer, usually in a bar or nightclub, and was only in the film for the length of that song. It was often frowned upon at that point in time. Today, it is a commonly used term with hardly any negative connotations to it.

The origin of the term is obscure. It may or may not have something to do with the term "item bomb" (a corrupted form of "atom bomb"), a slang term used to refer to a sexy woman. Many movies use this addition in their films as a marketing tool that is used as a trailer or a teaser to publicize the movie on television music channels. Sometimes established female and male actors will lend a "special appearance" to an item number to enhance the film's marketability. Item numbers of this genre are generally less sexualized and have more of a pop flavor.

Mallika Sherawat has become the most expensive "Item Girl", as she charged Rs. 15 million (roughly US$375,000) for the song Mehbooba Mehbooba in Aap Ka Suroor - The Real Love Story.

Thanks to Wikipedia once again!

Please, find below our own special videos on Bollywood's Item Girls!

Mallika Sherawat - Bollywood's Hot Item Girl



Amrita Rao - Bollywood's Item Girl


Rakhi Sawant - Bollywood's Item Girl


Yana Gupta - Bollywood's Item Girl

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Albert Einstein Quotes

"One of the strongest motives that lead men to art and science is escape from everyday life with its painful crudity and hopeless dreariness, from the fetters of one's own ever-shifting desires. A finely tempered nature longs to escape from the personal life into the world of objective perception and thought."

"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us “Universe”, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty."

"A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death."

"A person starts to live when he can live outside himself."

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."

"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

"As far as the laws of mathematics refer to reality, they are not certain, as far as they are certain, they do not refer to reality."

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."

"Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater."

"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school."

"Equations are more important to me, because politics is for the present, but an equation is something for eternity."

"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."

"God does not care about our mathematical difficulties. He integrates empirically."

"God is subtle but he is not malicious."

"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."

"Great spirits have always found violent opposition from mediocrities. The latter cannot understand it when a man does not thoughtlessly submit to hereditary prejudices but honestly and courageously uses his intelligence."

"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."

"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder."

"Heroism on command, senseless violence, and all the loathsome nonsense that goes by the name of patriotism - how passionately I hate them!"

"I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."

"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones."

"I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."

"I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."

"If A is a success in life, then A equals X plus Y plus Z. Work is X. Y is play and Z is keeping your mouth shut."

"Imagination is more important than knowledge."

"In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."

"My religion consists of a humble admiration of the illimitable superior spirit who reveals himself in the slight details we are able to perceive with our frail and feeble mind."

"No, this trick won't work...How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?"

"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."

"Now he has departed from this strange world a little ahead of me. That means nothing. People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction between past, present, and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion."

"One had to cram all this stuff into one's mind for the examinations, whether one liked it or not. This coercion had such a deterring effect on me that, after I had passed the final examination, I found the consideration of any scientific problems distasteful to me for an entire year."

"Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding."

"Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one."

"Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."

"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."

"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."

"Technological progress is like an axe in the hands of a pathological criminal."

"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."

"The fear of death is the most unjustified of all fears, for there's no risk of accident for someone who's dead."

"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."

"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed."

"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is comprehensible."

"The only real valuable thing is intuition."

"The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education."

"The release of atom power has changed everything except our way of thinking...the solution to this problem lies in the heart of mankind. If only I had known, I should have become a watchmaker."

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."

"The whole of science is nothing more than a refinement of everyday thinking."

"Too many of us look upon Americans as dollar chasers. This is a cruel libel, even if it is reiterated thoughtlessly by the Americans themselves."

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I am not sure about the universe."

"We can't solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."

"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."

"Whoever undertakes to set himself up as a judge of Truth and Knowledge is shipwrecked by the laughter of the gods."

"Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever."

"You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."
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Things Americana – Coca-Cola Ads of Yesteryears

Things Americana reflect the cultural icons created by the American Dream, a dream that peaked during the 50’s. Since the end of the Depression years, American entrepreneurs understood that it is better to profit 5 cents from millions of customers than to earn 100 bucks from a single client. Making things popular and cheaper was the tune of the day, differing from the European market that preferred to sell expensively to consumers.

Take the Hershey’s chocolate bar for instance. With a nickel, every worker in the United States could afford a bar of chocolate, not affordable before industrialization and mass production. The same goes to Coca-Cola, Ford’s cars, white goods, TV sets, record players and other industrialized, mass produced items that became part of the American Iconography.

Brief and to the Point would like to present the culture created around the mass production saga that shaped so much American lives. Americana icons are not only exclusive to the US, but they became part of millions of people around the globe. The column Americana will explore this subject, starting today with the Coca-Cola ads of yesteryears.

Enjoy!


Coca-Cola Ads - Americana Art

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And You Thought Planet Earth Was Huge!!






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Nickelback's Rockstar Video Appearences - Have You Guessed Right?

What a reality show song!

  1. Boy at a baseball field: "I'm through with standing in line to clubs I'll never get in"

  2. Lindsay Shaw in front of the Cloud Gate: "It's like the bottom of the ninth"

  3. Man in front of the Flatiron Building: "and I'm never gonna win"

  4. Cindy Taylor on a pool float: "This life hasn't turned out"

  5. Old woman on the Millennium Bridge (London) in front of St. Paul's Cathedral: "quite the way I want it to be"

  6. Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top: "Tell me what you want" (voiceover)

  7. Wayne Gretzky: "I want a brand new house"

  8. Three women in Times Square: "on an episode of Cribs"

  9. Kendra Wilkinson in front of the Playboy Mansion: "And a bathroom I can play baseball in"

  10. New York City policeman: "And a king size tub"

  11. Gene Simmons in front of his wall of gold and platinum records: "big enough for ten"

  12. Paul Wall in front of a highway: "plus me"

  13. Billy Gibbons again: "Yeah, so whatcha need" (voiceover)

  14. Park ranger at Jay Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park: "I'll need a, a credit card"

  15. Dominique Swain in a bubblebath: "that's got no limit"

  16. Three men (one US MP, one East German border guard, and one civilian) at Checkpoint Charlie facing the American Sector: "And a big black jet"

  17. Twista, Mayz from the Speedknot Mobstaz, and unknown man riding in a limo: "with a bedroom in it"

  18. Man in Grand Central Terminal: "Gonna join the mile high club"

  19. Holly Madison in the Playboy Mansion grotto: "at thirty-seven thousand feet"

  20. Woman in Los Angeles: "Been there, done that" (Billy Gibbons voiceover)

  21. Street musician in Union Square: "I want a new tour bus"

  22. Same street musician with performers in Union Square: "full of old guitars"

  23. Three girls on the bank of the Chicago River in front of Marina City: "My own star on Hollywood Boulevard"

  24. Gene Simmons again: "Somewhere between Cher"

  25. Paul Teutul, Sr. of Orange County Choppers: "and James Dean is fine for me"

  26. Billy Gibbons: "So how you gonna do it?" (voiceover)

  27. John Rich on a pool table with a banjo: "I'm gonna trade this life"

  28. Woman in Union Square: "for fortune and fame"

  29. Chuck Liddell: "I'll even cut my hair"

  30. Man in a Chinese restaurant: "and change my name"

  31. Two Blazin' Saddles employees[7] in front of a General Lee-inspired RV: "'Cause we all just wanna be"

  32. Eight kids in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge: "big rockstars"

  33. Wayne Gretzky again: "and live in hilltop houses"

  34. Parking valet at Jones Hollywood in West Hollywood: "driving fifteen cars"

  35. Man on Lambeth Palace Road in front of the Houses of Parliament: "The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap"

  36. Jenna Westerbeck sunbathing: "We'll all stay skinny"

  37. Kid Rock: "cause we just won't eat/And we'll"

  38. Twista, Mayz, and unknown man again: "hang out in the coolest bars"

  39. Jessie Coleman in Grand Central Terminal: "In the VIP"

  40. Eliza Dushku: "with the movie stars"

  41. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in front of a Union 76 gas station: "Every good gold digger's"

  42. Taryn Manning: "Gonna wind up there"

  43. Paul Wall again: "Every Playboy bunny"

  44. Two women in the middle of Davie Street: "With her bleach blond hair"

  45. Jerry Cantrell under Chicago's El tracks and in front of Double Door: "And we'll/Hey hey"

  46. Liam Lynch in Union Square: "I wanna be a"

  47. Nelly Furtado on tour bus: "rockstar"

  48. Man in front of the same highway as as Paul Wall above

  49. Man in Union Square

  50. Two women in Grand Central Terminal: "Hey"

  51. Chuck Liddell with Elliot Segal from DC101 in a headlock:"hey"

  52. Boy in grocery store: "I wanna be a rockstar"

  53. Paul Teutul, Jr., Paul Teutul, Sr., and Mikey from Orange County Choppers flexing muscles

  54. Man in front of Marina City: "I wanna be great like Elvis"

  55. Elvis impersonator: "without the tassels"

  56. Federico Castelluccio from The Sopranos: "Hire eight body guards"

  57. Chuck Liddell again: "that love to beat up assholes"

  58. Grant Hill signing basketball: "Sign a couple autographs/So I can"

  59. Man in Union Square again: "eat my meals for free"

  60. Billy Gibbons again: "I'll have the quesadilla" (voiceover)

  61. Paul Wall again: "Ha ha" (Billy Gibbons voiceover)

  62. Man and woman in the middle of Davie Street: "I'm gonna dress my ass"

  63. Ted Nugent: "with the latest fashion"

  64. Man and woman in front of the Cloud Gate: "Get a front door key"

  65. Kendra Wilkinson, Holly Madison, and Bridget Marquardt from The Girls Next Door: "to the Playboy mansion"

  66. Man in front of the Flatiron Building: "Gonna date a centerfold"

  67. Two men in Washington Square Park: "that loves to blow my money for me"

  68. Billy Gibbons again: "So how you gonna do it?" (voiceover)

  69. Paul Teutul, Jr., Paul Teutul, Sr., and Mikey from Orange County Choppers again: "I'm gonna trade this life"

  70. Man and woman in front of the Reichstag building: "For fortune and fame"

  71. Jordan Carlos overlooking Los Angeles: "I'd even cut my hair"

  72. Man in front of the New York Stock Exchange: "And change my name"

  73. Man at a pink bus-stop bench on Davie Street: "'Cause we all just wanna be"

  74. Lupe Fiasco on a table: "big rockstars"

  75. Woman in front of the Brandenburg Gate: "And live in hilltop houses"

  76. Woman in front of the Chicago Theater: "driving fifteen cars"

  77. Two women at the beach: "The girls come easy"

  78. Taryn Manning again: "and the drugs come cheap"

  79. Eliza Dushku again: "We'll all stay skinny"

  80. Woman in front of the Sydney Harbour Bridge: "'cause we just won't eat"

  81. Three women dancing : "And we'll hang out in the coolest bars"

  82. Gene Simmons again: "In the VIP"

  83. Dominique Swain again: "with the movie stars"

  84. Lupe Fiasco again: "Every good gold digger's"

  85. Chuck Liddell again: "gonna wind up there"

  86. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. again: "Every Playboy bunny"

  87. Two girls in Times Square: "with her bleach blond hair"

  88. Man in front of Beverly Hills High School: "And we'll hide out in the private rooms"'

  89. Eliza Dushku again: "With the latest dictionary"

  90. Federico Castelluccio again: "and today's who's who"

  91. Riki Lindhome at the beach: "They'll get you anything with that evil smile"

  92. Kid Rock again: "Everybody's got a drug dealer on speed dial/Well"

  93. Steel worker: "Hey hey I wanna be a rockstar"

  94. John Rich again, smashing a guitar

  95. Three women in the middle of Davie Street: "I'm gonna sing those songs that offend the censors"

  96. Te'DeVan Rocketman Wacha Kurzweil in Union Square: "Gonna pop my pills from a Pez dispenser"

  97. Lupe Fiasco again: "Get washed-up singers"

  98. Boy in front of a mixing console: "writing all my songs"

  99. Chanelle Hayes overlooking Los Angeles: "Lip sync 'em every night"

  100. Kench at City Market in Raleigh: "so I don't get 'em wrong"

  101. Man on street corner in New York City's Chinatown: "Well we all just wanna be"

  102. Man in front of Big Acorn in Raleigh: "big rockstars"

  103. Eight Blazin' Saddles employees at City Market in Raleigh: "And live in hilltop houses"

  104. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. again:"driving fifteen cars"

  105. The Naked Cowboy in Times Square: "The girls come easy and the drugs come cheap"

  106. Woman at the beach: "We'll all stay skinny"

  107. Boy in Times Square: "'cause we just won't eat"

  108. Cindy Taylor again: "And we'll hang out in the coolest bars"

  109. Woman in front of Buckingham Fountain: "In the VIP"

  110. Grant Hill again: "with the movie stars"

  111. Jayson Woolley in Union Square: "Every good gold digger's"

  112. Ted Nugent again: "gonna wind up there"

  113. Holly Madison again: "Every Playboy"

  114. Bridget Marquardt in a pink bed: "bunny with her bleach"

  115. Kendra Wilkinson again: "blond hair/And we'll"

  116. Boy standing next to City Hall in front of Tower Bridge: "hide out in the private rooms"

  117. Nelly Furtado again: "With the latest dictionary and today's"

  118. Two women in front of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge: "Who's Who/They'll get you anything"

  119. Kid Rock again: "with that evil smile/Everybody's"

  120. Ted Nugent again: "got a drug dealer on speed dial/Well"

  121. John Rich again: "hey"

  122. Dale Earnhardt, Jr. again: "hey"

  123. Worker in front of Marina City: "I wanna be a rockstar"

  124. Wayne Gretzky again, splashing a pool with a hockey stick

  125. Kendra Wilkinson again dancing

  126. Nelly Furtado again: "Hey"

  127. Gene Simmons again: "hey"

  128. Nickelback fans at Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts concert singing: "I wanna be a rockstar"

  129. Pan to Chad Kroeger, pan to Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake


Thanks to Wikipedia again!
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Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Do we owe to the Arabs? Yes we do, in the case of Western Numerals!!

Have you ever tried to calculate without the Western numerals? That is 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9? Well the ancient Romans had hard times calculating with their numerals. Try adding MMCCCXDV plus MCLDXII. Now try adding the same value in Western numerals: 2345 + 1462. The answer is 3807. A calculation very easily done in modern times, it took an ancient form of abacus to perform the addition in Roman times. But in Europe, these Roman numerals were present until around 1200’s C.E.

What we call Western numerals today, is also called Arabic numerals, Hindu-Arabic Numerals or more precisely and correctly, Hindu Numerals. Yes you bet, they come all the way from India. The Indian numeral system was considered to better because it had a number other numeral systems of that time did not have: The Zero (0).

Although the Mayans had already a Zero in their numerals around 4 B.C.E, the Indians developed the use of their philosophical concept of void as Zero, circa 5 C.E., affecting cultures all around the Euro-Asian Continent, and the present-day financial system would not have existed if it were not for the Hindi concept of Void or Sunyata. According to Buddhism, the world is Void of definite singular identities. Instead, the world is an inter-dependent and mutually dependent reality.

With the invention of the Zero as a number and not as concept, huge astronomical sums now became possible, and calculating fractions became as easy as dealing with whole numbers alone. The easiness and practicability of the Hindu numerals spread across Asia like fire, until it reached Baghdad, an important ancient cultural and centre of trade.

The Arabs had a reason to adopt the Hindu numerals. The Islamic law stipulates that inheritances be divided, according to the number of wives relative to the number of sons and daughters. This surmounted to a high amount of fractional numbers to calculate. The Zero-possessing Hindu numerals were most fit for that.

In early 13th century, Leonardo Fibonacci publishes Liber Abaci (Book of Calculation). Fibonacci grew in present-day Algeria, where his father, Guglielmo Bonaccio ran a trading post. There, Fibonacci got in contact with the Hindu numerals, but by that time, known as the Arabic numerals.

Fibonacci’s book of calculation presented the Arabic numerals to European merchants, in order to help them calculate huge numbers and fraction without using an abacus. The Arabic numerals were then adopted by the currency exchange tables (banca, banks) widely spread in the Italian cities, because each city had a money system. But because people could not understand the Arabic numerals, they became suspicious about the transactions made by the tables and they would call the authorities to “ruptus” (break in Latim) the table (bank + rupta = bankrupt), literally breaking the tables where the currencies were exchanged.

Banned by authorities, the Arabic numerals did not fare well until 1300’s, when the Pope allowed merchants to charge interest rates. Because of the easiness of counting fractions generated by the percentage of the interests, the private Italian lenders, started to ostensibly use the Arabic numerals. This led to the foundation of the first Commercial Banks in history.

That is when the Arabic numerals start to slowly replace the abacus dependent Roman numerals across Europe.

Brief and to the Point:

Out of something that is worth nothing (Zero), we got a numeral system that represents everything on the planet and far beyond. We wouldn’t have financial markets today and neither have made technological progress without the invention of Zero. How about computers then, that runs on Ones and Zeroes?

Do we owe the Arabs? Yes, we do. But the Arabs owe the Hindus. Everyone owes something to someone. There are no stand-alone cultures. We all live in an inter-dependent and inter-related world. It is null to think that there are individual existences. But this nullity gave rise to the much respected ZERO!!


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Obama African Turban Dress Photo: An Attack by the Uncontrolled Hillary’s Campaign Base?

Well the Democrat Presidential race is taking vicious turns. A site in the Internet published a 2006 photo of Barack Hussein Obama Jr. in African dress and garbs, implying that somehow Obama has Muslim background.
While debate among Senator Hillary and Obama has flared-up, it is obvious that some supporters of Senator Hillary Clinton are up to using any means possible to gather votes.

The problem is that the Obama coincidental relations do not end there. It starts there. A TV network misspelled Obama as Osama, and this association has led the Obama campaign managers to take fierce actions. Also, the second name of Obama, unknown for the Democrat crowd is Hussein. Does anybody remember about the other Hussein? Saddam Hussein?

Sure enough Barack Obama will have to tackle with his image problems, if he wishes to keep a lead upon Hillary. We from the Brief and to the Point, do not condone this kind of attack on candidates, that lowers the discussion level to a street fight among juvenile delinquents.

Brief and to the Point:
The Presidential race should be around what affects American social, economic, military, health and other important issues and not around petty personal attacks. But we have to agree that junior Senator Barrack Hussein Obama Jr. causes a little inconvenience media-wise, as far as his name and ancestry are concened. Can we blame Obama because you he was born in a Kenyan family? Anyone born on US territory is a good American like any other American. Let us keep the democratic traditions of the US of A alive!!
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Monday, February 25, 2008

Yoko Ono - Hard Times Ahead

This blog saw it coming to Yoko Ono when May Pang's "Instamatic Karma" new book, filled with unpublished pictures of John Lennon - his former Beatles mates are in it as well - was announced.

The first thing that we, from Brief and to the Point pointed out, was that Yoko Ono would have hard times ahead. Sure enough that was an easy guess, and here is the latest over May Pang's "Instamatic Karma": It is endorsed by John Lennon's first wife, Cynthia Lennon surely to rile Ono. Cynthia is such a fan of "Instamatic Karma" to the point that there’s a rumor she will be present in New York for Pang’s book party at the beginnig of March.

Here is Cythia's endorsement on "Instamatic Karma" book jacket:

"My first meeting with May, in the early seventies, was fraught with tension and uncertainty. My efforts to reunite Julian with his father after four years could [have] gone one way or another. May was wonderful, even though she was young and inexperienced in having to deal with such sensitive and emotional issues.

"Before long we became close friends. May was open, caring and compassionate to me and my son, Julian.

"For all that May has done in the past and hopes to achieve in the future, Julian and I will be her greatest champions. She is a lovely, vibrant lady. She was a good friend when my son and I needed one, and a dear close friend now.

"This book of photographic memories is very special and evocative of times remembered. May, We wish you all the success in the world."

We tend to believe our predictions and comments over the upcoming book were not so wrong as we questioned whether Julian Lennon could not have spent more time with his father among other questions we rose in this blog!

Brief and to the Point:

Yoko Ono - Hard Times Ahead........
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Sunday, February 24, 2008

Academy Awards 2008 - The Coen Brothers Triumph!

Hollywood has finally showed recognition for the Coen brothers by granting them with four Oscars*!

It took them over 23 years to reach the top, but it was worth waiting!
What more can be said about moviemakers that come from a nearly underground type of movie and bring this underground approach to the mainstream level?

The Coens, who are based in New York and remain away from the Hollywood establishment, also shared the directing and adapted screenplay awards. Upon accepting the award for best picture - "No Country for Old Men" - Ethan Coen thanked the Academy members for "letting us continue to play in our corner of the sandbox."

This blog would like to congratulate Joel and Nathan Coen as well as actor Javier Bardem who was awareded for his performance with the best supporting actor for his role as the cattlegun-wielding, pageboy-wearing serial killer. Javier thanked the film’s directors, Joel and Ethan Coen by saying they "put one of the most horrible haircuts in history over my head." They surely did, but it did pay off in the end!

Keep up the outstanding work, boys!

Brief and to the Point:

This blog has is a major fan of the Coen brothers and their filmography!
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Academy Awards 2008 - The Coen Brothers

This blog is very pleased with all the nominations received by the Coen brothers. They are truly the most talented screenwriters and directors in the modern North American movie industry. Let’s just put it this way: They got style, they have developed a unique style that was introduced from their first movie back in 1984 – Blood Simple, starred by John Getz and newcomer Frances McDormand (who would later become Joel Coen’s wife) – which has continuously been ameliorated. Their second production, Raising Arizona, starring Nicholas Cage and Holy Hunter kind of defines the basic lines and language that was increasingly becoming more solid at every new movie.

The Academy Award received by Frances McDormand for best actress back in 1996 for the movie Fargo, the Coen’s sixth production, was probably the first step towards a greater recognition from Hollywood. Having received eight nominations for their movie “No Country for Old Men” may be Hollywood’s redemption in regards to the Coen brothers’ body of work.

The Coen brothers’ filmography follows below:

Blood Simple (1984)

Raising Arizona (1987)

Miller's Crossing (1990)

Barton Fink (1991)

The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)

Fargo (1996)

The Big Lebowski (1998)

O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)

The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)

Intolerable Cruelty (2003)

The Ladykillers (2004)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Burn After Reading (2008)[9]

The Yiddish Policemen's Union (pre-production)

A Serious Man (pre-production)

Hail Caesar (TBA)

Source: www.imdb.com

Brief and to the Point:

We, from “Brief and to the Point” have got our fingers crossed for the Coens possible biggest moment!

Check the trailer for "No Country for Old Men" and a Clip that pays tribute to the Coen's body of work!






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Saturday, February 23, 2008

Bollywood Beauty Queens

Much is still to be discovered by the Western countries in regards to India's Beauty Queens from Bollywood. The faster India grows economically wise, the faster its movie industry becomes even more elaborated.

Higher budgets availability seems to ensure the country's production of incomparable Beauty Queens in Bollywood.

We, from Brief and to the Point, are major fans of Bollywood's true Queens of Beauty and Sensuality.

That is one of one the reasons we have decided to produce our own videos in order to show our appreciation both to Bollywood's actresses and the quality of the movies they are in.

Brief and to the Point:

A woman's beauty is to be idolized!


Check our videos below and thanks for visiting us!



Bipasha Basu



Madhuri Dixit



Rakhi Sawant



Katrina Kaif




Shilpa Shetty




Aishwarya Bachchan



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Friday, February 22, 2008

John McCain on Fidel Castro

John McCain on Fidel Castro today: "I hope he has the opportunity to meet Karl Marx very soon". We are astonished by such rabid quote. Shame on you McCain...

As far as this blog is concerned, your health conditions do not allow you to wish someone else's death once the "Grim Reaper follows you at every campaign event" according to Robert Paul Reyes from American Chronicle. We, from "Brief and to the Point", could not agree with Mr. Reyes more when he adds:

"If Hugo Chavez publicly wished that George W. Bush would die soon, pundits and politicians would be up in arms. No presidential candidate should be hoping that a revered leader of another nation die.

McCain's reprehensible comment is proof that he is temperamentally unfit to be the President of the United States."

Brief and to the Point:

"When losers look at the mirror they wear masks."
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Hillary Clinton - CNN Texas Debate

Her performance on CNN’s debate broadcasted from Texas University made it even clearer that not only does she deliver a highly eloquent and quick-witted speech, which is capable of conveying “passion”, but she is also she gutsy woman who is not afraid of mentioning the name George Bush several times showing all her criticizism over the current president.

Obama, on the other hand, could do little, except for copying many of her words and expressions, showing a very careful towards criticizing George Bush and his politics. Definitely Obama has a lot to learn with Hillary as to delivering a highly spontaneous speech and sure enough trying to pursue charisma, which is something he lacks big time.

Unfortunately, by watching Obama, we, from “Brief and to the Point” had the feeling as if he was reading from a script, behaving in his robot-like mannerisms, while Hillary was having her moment.

Hillary is the candidate to be supported as far as this blog is concerned. We have said it before, and we’ll say it again: “The main difference between a woman in power is the fact that she has an added value called “sensitivity”.”

We strongly believe that she would not govern a nation in a war-oriented way, after all, she is a mother, she carried a baby for 9 months, and no one can take that added value away from her. Sensitivity is the name of the game!

Brief and to the Point:

This blog supports Hillary Clinton!
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Thursday, February 21, 2008

Brit Awards 2008 – Quotes by Paul McCartney

“Sir” Paul McCartney seems to have been the great star at the Brit Awards 2008 staged yesterday. Those who expected Macca’s remarks on his widely media covered divorce may have felt kind of disappointed. His speech was “brief and to the point”:

“I’m hugely privileged to have been in The Quarrymen, The Beatles, Wings and the solo stuff,” he said. “I just think British music is the best.”

Prior to accepting the honor, the 65-year-old star insisted: “It’s actually not lifetime achievement. I try to avoid those because it feels like you’re going to die the next second.”

Comments:
“Sir” Paul McCartney seems to be haunted by the idea of death despite his recent attempt to show he copes with the idea in the song “End of the End”.

He also makes it clear that had he not met John Lennon in the late 50’s, perhaps none of his awards would probably exist.

Last but not least, he also found time to sting American music by saying that British music is the best.

Brief and to the Point:

At age 65 (touching 66), he can say do and feel whatever it is that pleases him most, even show that amongst several young artists present at Earls Court last night with all their awards and stuff, he is still the best artist to close the curtains.

Click on the video below for a snapshot of his presentation yesterday


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Overhaulin'

This blog wonders how Chip Foose manages to keep focused on his job having a lean mean babe-o-licious machine in his team! Gentlemen, here comes Adrianne Janic from Overhaulin'!

Good job, Foose!


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Neon Lights Across the USA

It is not just a simple sign. Neon lights are a little known form of art that has been shaping the Landscape Americana since the 50's. Sit back, relax and enjoy our exclusive video!


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Pin-Ups By Carlos Cartagena

Carlos Cartagena, born in April 29th of 1960 from Guatemala City.

In school, the teachers were impressed with Carlos drawing ability but later he wanted to do more than just draw.

In 1981, he followed his American dream and migrated to the Unites States, his first ten years in the U.S. he worked in different types of jobs but it was in the late 80,s when he started self teaching airbrush techniques, making lots of mistakes in the process but moving forward with his big dream.


For your eyes only!


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Tuesday, February 19, 2008

Tropa de Elite / Elite Squad – In Praise of Police Violence to Please Upper-Class Brazilians

The past few days have split up public opinion in regards to the acclaimed “Tropa de Elite” (Elite Squad) movie by director José Padilha, which got its upmost peak of fame abroad upon receiving an internationally renowned award, Berlin Festival Golden Bear.

In reality, what does not seem clear to international audience lies on the fact that the awarded movie is a piece of propaganda when it comes to conveying the idea that Rio de Janeiro’s police force is focused on “trying” to be honest and incorruptible.

There cannot be honesty when money talks. And money talks big time when Rio de Janeiro’s police gets full awareness of the fact that drug money wills and deals big time at the Favelas located in that city, which openly corrupts its police force as the local media attests everyday.

The corruption that happens in Rio de Janeiro as well as other major cities in Brazil is a widely known fact to most upper-middle class in the country, which chooses to ignore its existence.

Drug is an income source in a country where most African descendents are harmed by a silent Apartheid. It is a social problem that most likely should be healed with jobs and education. But the Brazilian elite would rather suppress the problem, rather than solving it through income distribution.

It is not only full-grown man involved in the drug traffic. Small children are allured to criminality. The children accept because of the money they can make, but unfortunately, some are threatened with death, if they do not work for the organized crime. The organized crime has deep roots in the favelas' families. It is not a “police gets bandit” case anymore, people non-committed to the crime (women and children as well) are compulsorily drawn to the traffic because the drug barons reign inside the Favelas.

The BOPE elite squad shown in the film makes use of outright violence and sophisticated torture methods. The message therein is that as the squad is composed of the good guys, this type of violence, in disregard of human rights, is to be appraised and condoned. In fact, human rights are a concept which is regarded as an obstruction to law enforcement by the social elite in Brazil. The usual discourse of such elite, is that a “good bandit, is a dead bandit”, or that “human rights exists only for bandits” and not for the taxpayers.

It is a wide belief among the extreme right in Brazil that if they could they would remove poverty by removing the poor. As the upper-middle class is increasingly cornered by the violence ushered by the drug traffickers, there are more and more people becoming sympathizers of the extermination of the poor so that they can drive their luxurious cars in style along their fancy Boulevards. That would be a quick and effective way to make that dream come true.

Many are conniving to the extermination of the poor, but none dares to say it openly for they fear organized crime might retaliate.

In a media-oligarchy ruled country, the view exposed in “Tropa de Elite” (60% of the film casting was supplied by Globo TV Network), will most likely to become the prevalent view about the issue in the country. On one side, there lies the upper-middle class luxury-minded culture (a culture which was vastly spread by Globo Network), and on the other, the world of the un-possessed and unemployed people in Favelas, that live on a culture of violence, crime, homicide and alike to feed their self-esteem.

By not being able to reach the ideal luxury world portrayed by the Globo Network soap-operas by means of employment and social integration, the lower strata is up to get what they want, by the use of force.


Brief and to the Point:

If Brazil spent years years looking for its National Hero, a truculent Capitão Nascimento has just been elected the Middle Upper Class Hero, the true Saviour of the World in flesh and blood, the one who catters for the well-off "Tired Ones" (Cansados).



Check Our Exclusive Video on Fernanda Machado, The Muse of Violence

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