They were star-crossed romantics. Kind of like you. So they eloped and formed a perfect union, a sensual mating of sweetness and tang tangled in the rumpled covers of a chewy-sweet rice cake.
Aston Villa are set to provide competition to the Premier League trio of Arsenal, Tottenham and Everton in the pursuit of Blackpool teenager Bright Osayi-Samuel.
The zenith of Sir Stanley Matthews' remarkable three and half decade long career came in 1953 FA Cup final for Blackpool. A match which is now simply known as the "Matthews Final".
Peterborough go goal crazy, Southampton and Derby win again, Kevin Phillips can't stop scoring and Leeds deny West Ham. All these and more in TheHardTackle's Top 6 highlights of Round 4 of the NPower Championship.
Harper (vocals/acoustic guitar) started writing music in the early 1990s. Her passion as a singer, songwriter and rhythm guitar player fuels the Conspiracy. You can count on her to give an authentic and energetic performance.
​​Shaina Ward Siegel (vocals/bass)has been making music with her family since childhood and it shows in the joy that comes through every note she plays and sings. Her work on both upright and electric bass gives depth to the music of the Conspiracy.​​
​Grant Boling (electric guitar)adds tasty and sublime notes to the Conspiracy. He is a multi-instrumentalist, audio engineer and producer. You can also find him writing and recording his original songs.
​Phillip Orozco (saxophone/harmonica) has been playing music in Seattle since the mid 80s, He calls upon his experience of jazz, rock, blues and Latin to create a uniquely heartfelt musical soundscape.
Aidan Ward-Richter (drums) is a drumming prodigy. His skills and understanding of music are well beyond his years. His playing is rooted in the family band, The Ward Trio. He and his sister, Shaina, make up a solid and bonded rhythm section.
After sharing my party tricks with you a couple of days ago, now it is time to confess my secret irrational fear.
But first, have I mentioned that it is hot here? Given that it is 43.7C at 1pm, it is the first time since records began that there have been 3 days over 43 in Melbourne. I was sent the image above through a group that I am in, and I so appreciate the sentiment!
In the effort of trying to stay cool most people have been staying indoors if they can, and for that reason I am glad I am still on holidays. There have been mass train cancellations and I would have been one unhappy commuter if I had of been stranded at the train station in this heat I can tell you!
I decided to go to the beach this morning, just for a chance to get out of the house. I've talked before about the difference between the beaches here and in other places that I have lived, but what I didn't mention is the thing I like least about going to the beach - the seaweed.
I don't remember seaweed being an issue when it comes to the beaches in Perth, but there was definitely seaweed in the beaches in Adelaide. The thing with it was though that it was either dry on the beach (even then I don't like walking on it) or sufficiently deep enough in the water that you could swim over it without having to touch it, but here the seaweed starts when you are still at less than knee depth. Even the parts that look like they are sand are actually seaweed with sand covering it so it is slimy and springy when you step on it.
I have two theories as to why I have an irrational fear of walking through seaweed. Basically I think it is because I don't like walking through water where you can't see the bottom. The first experience which might have contributed to this was when I was about 6 or 7 and we went on a camp where we went swimming in a dam. We all came out of that dam with numerous leeches on our legs - ugh!
The second time is from when I was probably 12 or 13. We went on a caravanning holiday to one of the beautiful beaches in South Australia. You could get up to about shoulder height before you got to the seaweed. We were swimming around when my ex stepfather (horrible, horrible, horrible man) started chasing us with a crab that he had found in the seaweed.
In my head, I know that it will most likely be perfectly safe to walk through the seaweed, whatever it looks like, but it is just something that I hate doing! So we went to the beach and the only reason why anything more than my ankles got wet was because we were splashing around! It was pleasant though, until we stopped and started walking back to the car.
I have a total and complete irrational fear of seaweed. I hate it. There are critters in there that will bite your toes.
And, one of my most evocative olfactory memories (yes, it's a word to lots of you! I just learned it!) memories of arriving in Adelaide with my children in the beginning of April with piles and piles (we're talking 10ft high) of seaweed on the beach.
I don't like the texture of seaweed more than anything. I'm never quite sure if it's just seaweed or if there's some live creature lurking around my feet.
Strumpet, I have certainly been on some Adelaide beaches with smelly seaweed. It's a different seaweed here as well, so not the same issues.
I've never been to a beach with a lot of seaweed but I don't think I'd like it, either. I, too, like to see where I'm walking -- I really don't even like to get too far out in the ocean anymore -- and, if I'm in a lake, I wear water shoes because I hate the way the bottom feels.
I was sure you were going to talk about the smell. When I lived in Madison, the weeds in the lake went through die-off periods due to the overpopulation that came with fertilizer run off. What a smell! It would sometimes carry for blocks away from the lake itself.
Your seaweed fear is just like my fear of hay bales. My grandfather's grandfather was killed when a bale crushed him during a rain storm. I didn't know about that before my fear set in. Does that make it less irrational? LOL!
Bill Hemmer: An elite unit of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards might be responsible for these terror attacks inside of Iraq: a unit now training more terrorists for more attacks in Iraq and possibly in Lebanon and Syria. Alireza Jafarzadeh is the author of The Iran Threat: President Ahmadinejad and the Coming Nuclear Crisis. He’s also a Fox News Foreign Affairs Analyst and welcomed here. Interesting and intriguing topic, welcome to you.
Alireza Jafarzadeh: Well, Ahmadinejad was a top commander of the Qods force for many years. He got all his training as a commander of the Qods force. The Qods force is one of the five forces within the Iranian Revolutionary Guards but it’s the deadliest force; it’s responsible for all the terrorist activities of the Iranian regime: whether it’s in Iraq, whether it’s in Lebanon, or whether it’s terrorist activities as far as the bombing of the Jewish Community Center in Argentina or the Khobar Towers bombing in Saudi Arabia.
Bill Hemmer: So let’s try to sort a few things out here. “Qods” is spelled “Kods” or “Kuds”; it translates from Arabic into Jerusalem in English. How strong is this force? How many members?
Alireza Jafarzadeh: There are thousands of members of the Qods force, but it’s the training and the quality and the agenda that makes them an extremely deadly force.
Alireza Jafarzadeh: Oh, absolutely, they’ve been trained for many years. All they do is terrorism outside the country. During the war in Lebanon there were some eight hundred members of the Qods force who were stationed in Lebanon; an additional six hundred were added. They sent money, arms, and explosives there. Now in Iraq they’re heavily involved in training the pro Iran militia groups that are engaged in bombing the- roadside bombs, killing the American troops. The Qods Force is involved in training the insurgents in Iran, sending them back to Iraq. They’re heavily involved in sending explosives under different covers in Iraq. So, I would say the most visible force, the most deadly force in Iraq now is the Jerusalem force, the Qods force.
Bill Hemmer: You say they also help Hezbollah in Lebanon. You say a recent intercept shows that they have sent millions of dollars to support Hezbollah in Beirut and elsewhere. How much money?
Alireza Jafarzadeh: We’re talking about millions of dollars, Bill. They’re sending increments anywhere between one to four million dollars in each transfer. Only in July, eight hundred thousand dollars was sent first and then an additional two million dollars. Before that, three million nine hundred fifty thousand dollars was sent. They used the state-run Bank Saderat of Iran to transfer money to the Bank’s branch in Europe and then transferred it to Lebanon, using Iranian front companies associated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
Alireza Jafarzadeh: Not really. Very recently, the Bank Saderat of Iran was sanctioned by the Treasury Department but that has very little effect. Iran has not really paid any price for all its terrorism: whether it was in Buenos Aires, whether it’s their terrorism right now. Bombs that are killing Americans and Coalition forces in Iraq are built in a factory near Tehran in Satari Industries. The information is available but Tehran has not paid the price. I think it’s extremely crucial, that in order to see success in Iraq, to hold Tehran responsible because they are the main source of instability in Iraq. If we want to see success in Iraq, we need to contain the Iranian regime’s influence and meddling in Iraq; that’s the single most important source.
Alireza Jafarzadeh: Absolutely Bill, Ahmadinejad was a commander of the Revolutionary Guards. He was involved in a number of terrorist activities outside of Iran. He was involved in assassinating Iranian dissidents abroad and then he turned up as the mayor of Tehran. Basically the Iranian regime groomed Ahmadinejad for years for this new position he has now.
Bill Hemmer: All right, I’m out of time. A lot of information to chew on there, Alireza Jafarzadeh. Thank you for your time today.