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Jul 26 – Aug 1, 2003 | Aug 2 - Aug 8, 2003 | Aug 9 - Aug 15, 2003 | Aug 16 - Aug 22, 2003 | Aug 23 - Aug 29, 2003 Aug 23 - Aug 29, 2003 By Amanda Tay –
UrbanWire Take
1 According to Soundbuzz.com News, she’s dedicated a track on her new hip-hop album titled Jealous Ones to all those who don’t believe she can score big with her second offering. With well-known American rapper Damon Dash co-writing this track with her, the message in the lyrics is obvious, “When you see that people can't stand when you're happy they're the jealous ones / I ain't mad, I never been more happy." There is also just cause to believe that this track could be a comeback directed at Victoria’s ex-record label Virgin Records, who axed her after her 2001 self-titled debut album flopped. An inside source was quoted saying, “Victoria is still quite bitter about being dropped by Virgin and this song gives her the chance to get things off her chest.” Well, with barbs like that, Victoria better pray her second album can hop its way to the top, because if it flops again, her current label Telstar Records might just follow in Virgin’s footsteps. If that happens, will she change her tune or simply find new material for her third album? [top^] Take
2 E! Online News reported that the release dates of both albums had finally been announced. Clay’s album, which is yet untitled, will be available on Oct 14. Only almost a month later will we see and hear Ruben’s Soulful album on Nov 11. Speculation is rife that the separate release dates and the generous space of one month in between is so that their record label BMG won’t have to worry “about the albums potentially siphoning sales from each other”, said E! Online. But Ruben claims the reason behind the different dates is much simpler, “[Clay] got his album done fairly quickly; with me, I had my own press junket, so studio time was very limited. It just don't make no sense for Clay to have his album chillin' when he could just do his thing.” But if Ruben’s album sales freeze as a result, it’s gonna be a cold, cold Christmas for the Velvet Teddy Bear. [top^] Take
3 According to ChannelNewsAsia.com, the Kolam Ayer Constituency is planning a 13-day celebration called “Lights In Harmony” for the Chinese Lantern Festival at shopping mall Plaza Singapura. And to tie in with inter-racial harmony promotions, chefs from Yang Hua Cake House have been roped in to make the “Largest Racial Harmony Mooncake”. Without being as ambitious as an attempt for a new Guiness Book of Records entry, this snowskin mooncake nevertheless measures a good 3.8m in diameter, 0.38m in thickness, and weighs a staggering 1.5 tonnes. To represent Singapore’s 4 main races, the mooncake skin will be separated into 4 colours – red, blue, green, and yellow. Inside this giant mooncake is 38,000 tiny mooncakes, which will be given out at the opening ceremony. All figures and measurements are made in conjunction with Singapore’s 38th Independence Day. How’s that for taking the cake? [top^] Take
4 Ananova.com reported that their 40 Licks tour has been hit by interruptions recently, mostly due to the frontman’s poor health. 3 tour dates had to be cancelled so far. Jagger, 60, caught the flu bug just before the night of his Twickenham, England, gig, suffered from a sore throat on an Amsterdam date, and couldn’t perform for his Spanish gig due to laryngitis. However, Jagger and his band members look determined to complete their 40 Licks World Tour, which celebrates their 40th Anniversary, despite Jagger’s health scares. Guess it takes more than some bugs to see the stones licked. [top^] Aug 16-22, 2003 By Gloria
Wong - UrbanWire Gloria's Take [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Take
1 The influential Islamic scholar had been safe so far, from keeping a low profile, going out only when necessary, and telling neighbours that he was a salesman. But they didn't believe him, and sensing something amiss tipped off the police. Hambali was trained to avoid detection by well-trained security officers, but he may be better off not discounting nosy, unsophisticated civilians to sniff him out. [top^] Take
2 His real life is a different matter altogether. According to The New Paper, Jackie Chan is, in his own words, "meek and superstitious". To prove his point, the gungfu star revealed that he would never ride a roller-coaster as he is afraid of accidents. The greatest irony is that death, which looked him in the eye on the set of The Medallion when he almost drowned, doesn't scare the oft-injured actor. [top^] Take
3 Absence may make the heart grow fonder, but here’s a no-show that only got red-blooded Singaporeans to turn red in the face. [top^] Take
4 British student Mary Swain, 18, won about £700,000 (S$1,828,680) when she took part in The Vault, a live television show. ITV1's The Vault sees contestants trying to break open a "vault" by guessing its combination, and thereafter answering general knowledge questions. Mary, whose winnings stood at £6,900before answering her final question, was overwhelmed by her win. BBC News reports that her knowledge stems not from school, but from researching questions for her father, who is into pub quizzes. Maybe the schools should start to re-look at what makes students actually want to do research on their own accord. [top^] Take
5 She tied the knot with Lance Gerrard-Wright, who was the eligible bachelor on the show she hosted titled Mr Right. Similar to The Bachelor, the show saw 15 women battling it out for the heart of Mr. Gerrard-Wright, or Mr. Right. He didn't find true love among the 15, but consoled himself by finding it in the show's host, Jonsson herself. Let’s hope she’s made right her past record, and doesn’t turn out to be Ms Wrong. [top^] By Melissa Ng - UrbanWire Melissa’s Take [1] [2] [3] [4] Take 1 Stem cells are cells with the potential to grow into specific body parts and organs. The new technology involves implanting a “chamber” into the surrounding tissue. The ample supply of blood vessels reacts positively by harnessing stem cells within the body to grow at the chamber. Dr Wayne Morrison quips, “This development could see some types of organ transplants become obsolete in the next two years.” This is great news for patients every where, and for local celebrities too. Celebs who’ve had to train for and execute ridiculous stunts to raise funds for the National Kidney Foundation will probably heave a big sigh of relief for more reasons than one. [top^] Take 2 Homer Simpson’s colleagues are in more danger than they possibly know. [top^]
Lap band surgery or gastric banding is done by inserting a silicone band into the stomach. This causes one to feel full faster and less inclined to overeat. However, once it is removed, patients will binge again. In Singapore as many as 50 overweight people have gone under the scalpel at 4 hospitals to curb their appetites, according to The Straits Times. Now if only they could prescribe something similar to serial rapists and control other appetites, that would be a boon to society. [top^] Aug 2-Aug 8, 2003 Take
1 In 1999, Dr. Lisbet R. Holmic from the Danish Cancer Society had carried out a 2-year Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) testing in 186 women who had undergone silicone breast implants at the least 3 years before. According to Yahoo! News, out of 317 implants, 280 remained intact while 37 implants were removed. Dr. Holmic and his team had ascertained 10% definite ruptures and 3% possible cases. They then estimated 5.3 ruptures to occur in every 100 implants, every year. They should have known this when the blood-curdling soya breast implants were withdrawn. [top^] Take
2 According to a report on E! Online News, the former Mr Universe will run for governor of California. He made this announcement during a taping of the Tonight Show with Jay Leno. The fate of current governor of California, Gray Davis, will be decided on Oct 7 in a special recall election. Schwarzenegger said, “The politicians are fiddling, fumbling and failing. The man that is failing the people more than anyone is Gray Davis. He is failing them terribly, and this is why he needs to be recalled and this is why I am going to run for governor.” He will temporarily put his movie career on hold as he runs for governor, or as E! Online puts it, “Governator”. Well, if he gets in and doesn’t do a good job, he can bet the 1 line he won’t be able to say is: “I’ll be back”. [top^] Take
3 In a move to raise the profile of one of the company’s new brand of cigarettes, Freedom said that it’s looking to “seed” their cigarettes with celebrities, reports CNN.com. The company apparently paid actresses who are new to the industry or “learners” to smoke their cigarettes at nightclubs and bars all over Manhattan, New York. This is an “effort to promote the fledging brand”, says Freedom’s spokesperson Nancy Tamosaitis. Founder, Patrick Carroll, was also quoted saying that such endorsements “make or break your brand”. The company also happens to be the ones who are behind the Right To Smoke Coalition, which fights public smoking bans. However, they have stated that they do not go for celebrities who appeal to children. As of now, no big name celebrities have been reported to take up their free offer. Maybe this is the move that will eventually backfire and smoke them out of business. [top^] Take
4 So on the night of Aug 1, the Best Asian Telecom Carrier recipient offered a 69% discount on calls made to Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea and Taiwan, using their v019 non-premium service. According to The Straits Times, in order “[t]o coax customers not to defect, or ‘churn’”, as , SingTel has followed the footsteps of Starhub by offering free incoming calls – which the latter had done so three years back when it first entered the market. It was the only mobile phone operator to offer this service. Now, not only SingTel and Starhub are offering free incoming calls, so is Mobile One (M1), who is also throwing in extra free talk time to up the ante. [top^] By Mervyn Lim – Urbanwire According to Weekend Today, Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP)’s debating team caused a big stir when they returned home early from an international debating tournament in Malaysia. This appeared to many people as an act of “curtailing of [the] free speech” of a member of the NYP debating team. The student raised doubts as to whether Singapore is truly a democratic nation in a speech, earning him a place in the finals of the public speaking competition. However, he was told that he would be withdrawn from the competition and the entire NYP contingent returned home a day before the finals. However, Mr Anthony Woon, director of academic services of NYP, was quoted by the newspaper as saying that their early return had nothing to do with the student’s speech. Instead, it was because they did not want the students to miss any lessons, as the current school term had started by then. He also claimed that the student had taken part in the public speaking competition without consulting anyone. Mr Woon may have just proven the boy’s point. [top^] Ah, the convenience of modern life. Without moving an inch, you can book your movie tickets in advance, make donations, check today’s weather etc with the use of Short Message Service (SMS). Wives, at least in Malaysia, however must be glad that their government is adamant that divorce notifications can’t be made through SMS-ing as well. In fact, The Straits Times reported that Malaysia would invoke Islamic laws against married Muslims informing their wives of divorce through SMS, emails or faxes. Religious laws are reportedly being reviewed after Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad expressed “disapproval of a recent case in which an Islamic court annulled a marriage” when the wife received an SMS to divorce. Islamic law decrees that a husband declares to his wife his wish to divorce, and again in the presence of a judge of syariah (Islamic) law, who must endorse the annulment. The Malaysian government is also considering a heavier jail term and fine on Muslim men who break the law. Currently, those who pronounce divorces out of court can be fined $1,400 or sentenced to a jail term of 3 years. [top^] People all over the world were probably wishing and praying for Hope on July 27. Renowned comedian Bob Hope lost his battle against pneumonia at home, in California, USA. Born Leslie Townes Hope in England, Hope moved to America with his family and embarked on his acting career, which stretched an astounding 75 years. The centenarian is known for his “Road” movies with the late Bing Crosby, including Road to Singapore in 1939. Off-screen, Hope is also remembered by his performances for US servicemen who were away from home, during World War II and the final Gulf War. His achievements are certainly not ignored. In the Guinness Book of Records, Hope is “the most honoured entertainer in history, having received more than 2,000 awards”, The Straits Times reported. May Hope remember how he made the whole world smile with him. [top^] It had to happen some day. A clothes manufacturer going by the name Wakita would want Wacko Jacko to be the inspiration of a new line of apparel. E! Online News reports that King of Pop Michael Jackson has signed a deal with the Japanese company. The suits will be made available next spring and will be on sale at department stores all over Japan. They will go for about US$500 (S$881) each. Can we expect to see people walking around the streets wearing the pop icon’s elaborate stage costumes as well as a single glittery glove on one hand? No, said Junichi Ota, spokesperson for Wakita. He stated that though Michael Jackson does get the final say in the designs, they would have to be less “wild” as they would have to be sold to “regular people”. What we’re wondering is why a country so advanced in its use of technology would still be caught up with someone so passé? [top^] Singtel has heated up the mobile phone price war. On its press release on Jul 31, the telecommunications service provider announced 4 new price plans that include free incoming calls all day long. Previously only offered by Starhub, free incoming calls are now offered by Singtel’s iOne and iTwo, which also charge only 1 cent per minute for calls made to the home number of the subscriber. Not that anybody is complaining. We can only wonder how much more intense this price war will get as we await the response from rivals Starhub and M1. Will they start paying us to make calls next? [top^] |
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