To give its original, full title, Kristina från Duvemåla (Kristina from Duvemala), it is an ambitious adaption of The Emigrants, a quadrilogy of historical novels by Vilhelm Moberg, Sweden’s most revered writer, and follows the misadventures of a poor Swedish family as it attempts to make a new life in Minnesota.
Unlike the Seventies film version of the Moberg novels, which starred Max von Sydow as the head of the family, Benny and Björn’s musical puts Kristina, a level-headed and deeply religious matriarch, centre stage. The privations and tribulations she experiences in seeking a better life for her family — from lice infestations on the transatlantic sea voyage to multiple miscarriages — lead ultimately to her questioning God’s existence. Very Swedish.
With its range of themes (which include prostitution, gold rush fever and — in a lighter song — a bilingual fart gag), as well as its almost Wagnerian length (some four hours in its original format), Benny considers it more than your average West End musical. “I think of it as opera,” he says, unsniffily.
See the full article from “Telegraph.co.uk”
March 10, 2010
Local man’s strip club plan generates outcry in ‘Burgh
Residents of Pittsburgh’s West End outraged over a Belle Vernon man’s plan to operate a strip club in their community were expected to express their anger late this afternoon on the steps of City Hall.
“This club is going to be located at the gateway of our community,” said Sheraden resident Marciani Rossi, who organized the 5 p.m. protest. “Anyone coming to visit us, anyone coming to buy a home, to rent, to attend one of our schools is going to have to pass the club.”
She said the club in the 1600 block of West Carson would attract prostitutes and encourage the use of alcohol and drugs.
Patrick Risha, 28, of Belle Vernon, first proposed “Club Marquise” in October 2008.
See the full article from “Monessen Valley Independent”
March 9, 2010
Monongahela man charged with stalking 16-year-old boy
By Valley Independent Tuesday, March 9, 2010Last updated: 1:17 pm
A Monongahela man has been charged with stalking a 16-year-old boy through the city and then threatening a member of the teen’s family at knifepoint.
Russell Michael Marycz, 34, of 310 Anton St., was charged with aggravated assault, unlawful contact with minors, corruption of minors, prohibitive offensive weapons, terroristic threats, possessing instruments of a crime, prostitution and related offenses, recklessly endangering another person, simple assault, stalking, harassment and disorderly conduct and public drunkenness, police reported.
According to police, Marycz allegedly confronted the boy in the 100 block of East Main Street on Thursday night and made “inappropriate sexual advances,” police reported.
The boy went into several businesses, trying to elude Marycz, police reported. The boy ultimately contacted a family member.
See the full article from “Monessen Valley Independent”
March 9, 2010
Sinead O’Connor Rips Catholic Church Sex Scandals
Irish singer Sinead O’Connor has long had problems with the Catholic church, but the latest confrontation with the Dublin archdiocese seems to merit her outrage.
O’Connor went off on church leaders, after Irish bishops asked their poor parishioners for money to pay compensation to children sexually abused by priests.
Her outburst comes as the Vatican today acknowledged that one of Pope Benedict XVI’s ceremonial ushers and a member of an elite choir in St Peter’s Basilica has been implicated in a gay prostitution ring.
Ghinedu Ehiem, a Nigerian, was dismissed by the Vatican on Wednesday from the Giulia Choir after his name appeared in transcripts of police wiretaps, published by an Italian newspaper, in an unrelated Italian investigation.
O’Connor infamously ignited global outrage when she ripped up a picture of late Pope John Paul II in 1992 during a guest stint on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.”
See the full article from “TheImproper.com”
March 9, 2010
And by the time Sigourney Weaver wearing a bold red gown (didn’t she get the memo from the rest of the cast?) appeared onstage to present Best Art Direction to Avatar, there was a sense of relief that the 3D blockbuster was not slighted or ignored by the Academy. Tom Ford, fashion designer and director of A Single Man, and Sarah Jessica Parker, fashion muse, presented Best Costume to Sandy Powell for The Young Victoria. “I already have 2 of these,” said Powell. You can pass your third statuette to me, if you ask me.
The hosts appeared again to show us a spoof of Paranormal Activity. A slapstick act well done, including the watching-the-awards-show-from-backstage scene. In a conspicuous and vulgar move to boost ratings, young starlets and eye candies Taylor Lautner and Kristen Stewart appeared onstage looking radiant (and constipated), sending millions of Twilight fans gushing worldwide. They presented a very random Horror Movies montage, which included clips of Psycho, Rosemary Baby, The Exorcist and…Twilight. Seriously?! I always thought Twilight was a teenager stripper movie (oh the abs!). Somebody return me my $10 movie ticket money stat!
See the full article from “The UrbanWire”
March 8, 2010
… Dany Heatley: The former Atlanta Thrasher was charged with vehicular homicide after speeding in his Ferrari caused a one-car crash in Buckhead that killed his passenger and teammate, Dan Snyder. Heatley avoided a trial, largely because alcohol was ruled to not have been a factor and the push for leniency by Snyder’s parents. He was sentenced to three years probation.
♦ Adam “Pacman”Jones: He was represented by attorney Manny Arora, who used to be a part of Garland’s firm. Jones,
This is the second time Ben Roethlisberger is being accused of sexual assault.
the former Tennessee Titan and Dallas Cowboy, was alleged to have been involved in a fight at a Las Vegas strip club that resulted in a shooting and one patron being paralyzed. He faced two felony charges but eventually accepted a plea deal to one charge of conspiracy to commit disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor. He was given a suspended, one-year prison, probation, and ordered to perform 200 hours of community service.
See the full article from “Atlanta Journal Constitution (blog)”
March 8, 2010
At a pep rally for Grade 9 through 12 students at Churchill High School, students watched as a female teacher received a strip club-style lap dance from a male teacher.
Photograph by: screen grab from YouTube
See the full article from “Edmonton Journal”
March 7, 2010
In a scene from 1803 called “The Bulstrode Siren,” James Gillray, another English engraver, caricatures opera singer Elizabeth Billington and William Bentinck, the third Duke of Portland. Rumors abounded that the duke paid Billington for private appearances at his estate, called Bulstrode. Gillray portrays Billington as a homely woman and the older duke as a youth, highlighting the substantial age difference between the two.
The show features a broad range of emotion.
“Some of it’s lighthearted. Sometimes, it really is quite dark, risque or upsetting. If you were the butt of the joke, it’s not so funny at all,” Ms. Zehnder said.
By age 12, Hogarth was an apprentice learning to engrave silver tankards. In “Marriage a la Mode,” Hogarth makes fun of the nouveau riche, showing a middle-class woman who marries above her means.
But there’s real pathos in Hogarth’s series of nine engravings with the ironic title of “A Harlot’s Progress.” In successive images from 1732, the artist shows a young girl arriving in the big city, hoping to earn a living as a seamstress. Instead, she turns to prostitution, and the end of her life is truly wretched and depressing.
See the full article from “Pittsburgh Post Gazette”
March 3, 2010
At a pep rally for Grade 9 through 12 students at Churchill High School, students watched as a female teacher received a strip club-style lap dance from a male teacher.
Photograph by: screen grab from YouTube
See the full article from “Montreal Gazette”
March 2, 2010
Christians are called to be persecuted for righteousness sake and as such Bishop Ron Dublin-Collins is no martyr. He is merely fulfilling his prophesy. If we are to accept that Bishop Dublin- Collins is no saint and he is in fact, according to Financial Secretary Mrs. Janet Harris, a man of ‘usual aggressive manner’ prone to ‘unjustified attacks’, cheque bouncer and ordinary liar, let us also accept that God has indeed began a work in Bishop Dublin-Collins.
Of the many mysteries of the world and its much wonderment, which humans have unadvisedly pared down to seven, none is said to work as mysteriously wonderful as does God’s workings. The most striking part of God’s tapestry of wonderment is the types of persons he chooses to move forward his manifestations as the true and living God.
The canonical gospel introduces Mary Magdalene as a woman cleansed of seven demons, a prostitute and most likely the woman Jesus used to teach humility and forgiveness to the multitude whom he questioned that if any among them is to be found without sin than that any should cast the first stone.
See the full article from “Democrat Newspaper”
March 2, 2010
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