Happy Vampires

It may come as a surprise that some of your best pay offs result from unsuited gappers.

Under what circumstances do you attempt starting hands that typically should be thrown away. The hands we specifically are referring to are 5/7u, 6/8u, 7/9u and 8/10u.

The first condition is that the game is limit texas holdem.

As a practical matter we enter the pot knowing we are taking on over cards. Our objective is to see the flop as inexpensively as possible and no limit poses too many problems to achieve that end.

Player style is a critical element in attempting these kinds of hands.

Preferably we look for tables characterized with a good deal of limping, whether it take the form of tight passives or calling stations. If a maniac or tight aggressive remain in the hand it’s best to wait for next time. Then again you might be aware of a tight aggressive player tendency to slow play big pocket pairs in which case you would want to stick around.

You want your card value entry point to be no less than 5/7u.

We know we are behind in the hand, however, the seven helps since there are more ways to make a straight with this card than any other card in the deck.

If the flop hits you with these types of cards it is very unlikely that anyone will put you on a monster.

This is especially true if you are playing outside of the blinds. Imagine flopping 3,4,6 and your opponent(s) has a big pocket pair or any two big desirables that warrant continued play.

OK, what if the flop misses you entirely with As, Kd and 10h?

No problem! You get out and cheaply too. It was worth the shot for concealment purposes alone.

We prefer no less than three players including you.

The reason for this is we want at least two premium hand types squaring off. The hope is that at least one of their outs lay dead in the other player’s hand and all of your outs are live.

Your read on your opponents will dictate how you play the hand for the maximum pay off.

Chances are that if you are up against limpers you will simply bet out and not try anything fancy. On the other hand, if a tight aggressive has been slow playing a big pocket pair evidenced by his raise on the turn you should be able to extract a few more dollars.

The pay offs are nice and in limit doesn’t cost a lot to get involved. My last endeavor involved 6/8u out of the big blind. Two other players slow played big starters and the flop came 10, 8, 8 rainbow. That was fun and rewarding.

Put this into practice and take down the big ones.

John Ruscio has been playing winning poker for 29 years and offers free instruction at his site Holdem Heights. You are encouraged to sign up for free and ask any questions relating to Limit Texas Holdem at holdemheights.com/ holdemheights.com/

I’m not sure how to start this review, the reason being is, I was once told if you got nothing nice to say, don’t say anything, or always say something nice if your going to slam something next. This movie is fragmented, or disjointed throughout its long three-hour worthless scenes.

I don’t necessarily care for Johnny Deep, he is more or less, a moody character, and looks like an over paid pip-squeak; he’s although made a few good movies, and when he makes bad ones he does a great job in the process. This has got to be one of his worse, or almost worse movies he ever made. On my top ten list of bad movies, he got 3rd place, with that movie years ago: Seizers kid, I hated it so bad I pushed its name so far back in my mind I can only come up with the simplest part of its name; this one isn’t much better. He sounds and looks like he’s got a mouth full of crap. Not sure if this movie had a theme or plot or anything, it just went on for three hours, scene to scene, the first hour not making any sense. The dog made a better show than Deep. I think he’s been spending too much time in his French hacienda. Also in the first hour, he didn’t show up for 20-minutes, and when he did, he never said over 10-words the following 40-minutes.

I don’t want to spend all that much time on this review, it is not worth it, it is a dumb and carelessly acted movie for his skills and or perhaps talents, which he didn’t show at all. You would have thought him a third rate actor, except for what he got paid he seemed like someone trying to come of drugs or something. He was in slow motion, and I suggest he rethink his career plans. What a misuse of money. “Return of Superman,” was better, but not all that much (again you see fragmentation in the beginning; I’m not sure who to blame for that, perhaps the Director).

See Dennis’ web site: dennissiluk.tripod.com dennissiluk.tripod.com

Tattooing is a widely practiced method of body decoration in which markings such as signs, symbols and letters are applied to the body by puncturing the skin’s outer layer and inserting color into it. Whether ancient or modern techniques are used, the skin is punctured with a sharp instrument, now usually an electric moved needle. In earlier times and other cultures, Tattooing required one or more needles fixed to a stick and driven into the skin by slight tapping, the very process that has led to the term Tattoo via the early Polynesian sound – equivalent of the tapping action: Tau Tau.
A variety of methods were used to create tattoos. In a classic example of tribal tattoo evolution, among the Sioux, for example, women would draw a circle or line on a person’s skin with clay, punch the design with an awl, and then rub the blue clay over it. By the time the clay was dry it would have penetrated beneath the awl holes. Among California natives, an old woman would scratch the skin of a subject and rub charcoal dust or plant juice into the scratches for color. Following the contact with Europeans, the Ojibwas drew on the skin with a stick dipped in gunpowder dissolved in water. The figure was then pricked with needle dipped in vermillion and the skin was seared with punk wood to prevent festering. The area would then be treated with an antiseptic herbal wash. These processes often took number of days.

Concerning all tribal tattoo styles, the division in black and white is important. Not only of what has been tattooed must have a good shape but also the parts that have been left Blanc must also be well shaped. Besides, it is more beautiful that the shapes follow your body contours. The balance with tribal and Ornamentals are very important. For this reason, it is important to have a tattoo done by someone who understands the different styles.

In technical terms, tattooing is micro-pigment implantation. Tattoos are a type of body modification. A tattoo is a design in ink or some other pigment, usually decorative or symbolic, placed permanently under the skin.
The origin of the word Tattoo is usually traced to the Tahitian taut or tatau, which means to mark or strike. The term tattoo is now universally used, even if it is referred to, in any specific language by some other word.

The most popular scientist Thomas Edison designed the pioneering electric engraving pen, which was developed further by Samuel O’Reilly in 1891. Today, the most common method of tattooing is with an electric tattoo machine. In this procedure, ink is inserted into the skin via a group of needles that are soldered onto a bar, which is attached to an oscillating unit. The unit rapidly and repeatedly drives the needles in and out of the skin, usually 50 to 3,000 times a minute. Tattoo machines operate on an electromagnetic principle.

All these forms of tattooing are generally of permanent type.
Henna tattooing is a temporary form of tattooing. Henna, a type of herbal plant is made into a paste along with coffee or tea, lemon Juice and sugar and applied on to the skin in various areas. These applications may stay for a few days or months – depending on the Henna quality and the application followed.

This article is written by Dagfinn Rognerud, former Norwegian officer. This article may be reproduced as long as all Live links are included. Dagfinn has several pages about tattoos: flower-tattoo.info/ flower-tattoo.info/ henna-tattoosite.com/ henna-tattoosite.com/ lower-back-tattoo.com/ lower-back-tattoo.com/

I have always loved bright colors and movement, like dancing its healing, relaxing fulfilling and challenging as well. The bottom line is the feeling and message that I want to convey through the medium. When I paint, every attempt is to capture the feel of warmth, passion, joy and bliss in none objective or figurative composition. I enjoy experimentation of different media and subjects.

My subject varies based on my emotion and statement but my love for colors is constant. In spite of this, viewers see different forms or figures in my abstract expressions. The good thing about these expressions is the freedom of the viewers to see and appreciate the forms in their mind’s eyes, like face painting in the eye of the viewer. Its also important to mention that “Uli” which is my traditional art style has played a major role in my age long career. The symbols and forms of this art style are reflected in my cubism, abstract images, abstract relief sculpture, seascape, drawing, pastels and watercolor painting.

People see different forms or images in abstract art, the depth of what you actually see when you look at the paintings is partly based on individual exposure and understanding of art forms, color, shapes, line and texture; which are the physical elements that combine to make up the artworks.

A selection of different dark hues, shapes and forms may give various impressions to different minds; light, airy images as mystical; balanced, temperate forms as peaceful. Uli organic forms and shape are symbolical such as colors and forms have meaning in and of themselves. It is a simple truth that you can′t give what you don′t have. I am a believer and my work time is also a meditation time, which can go either way depending on the spiritual consciousness of the creative mind.

To me, my work section is an intimate moment between I, canvas and colors. At this creative moment there is a spiritual impartation from the artist to the Art. Hence the emotional reaction to these elements even if they create no recognizable object for us to hang onto.

I enjoy the inclusion and deletion of space. The handling of space or the
illusion of space is another powerful element in the artist’s mind. If you are drawn into a yard of three-dimensional space stretching beyond the framework of the painting to sculpture, you are not alone. The impression of depth, perspective, airiness, solidity, textures and other spatial relations are created and controlled to achieve a desired goal.
The overall composition or design of my painting or sculpture is created to guide the viewer’s eyes to understanding and appreciation of the images.

I must admit, most of my figurative compositions is a celebration of womanhood, which I am very proud to be part of for they are the seats of wisdom and knowledge.

I pride in the feeling and reactions of my clients and viewers to my creations. I feel blessed in many ways than words can express. The challenge sometimes is getting the composition right, or balancing the elements of color, lines and shapes while maintaining a dynamic tension and massage beneath.

Energy is the life force that is present in all good art. This is not something that is easily defined. The life force of every work I do is the same, but different energy and different statements. It is this peculiar energy that makes my works speak to you, and makes them unique, original and identifiable to me. This energy is created out of experience and self-awareness, materials and tools, but the end is more than the means in the same sense that a musical composition is so much more than a collection of notes.

You are welcome into my world of abstract wall art or modern art, relax and let your eye leisurely wander over the collection of verities of art forms and styles. Let your heart and mind react to my colors, shapes, figures and textures. Come and spoil yourself a little in the illusion of vibrant spaces, the movement of lines and the mood of blissful atmosphere.
Come, come up close and explore the intricacies of brushstrokes, spatula- strokes, paint thickness, textures and compositional details. Enjoy how the parts are woven together to form the whole.

Take your time. My artwork cannot be understood and appreciated in a ten second glance. Allow my art to grow on you, becoming more interesting and more enjoyable to look at as you live with it.

Chidi Okoye is an award winning sculptor, painter, poet and author whose impressive bodies of work have won the admiration of local and international art collectors.
For Chidi’s artworks and more information: modernartimages.com/abstract-art.htm modernartimages.com/abstract-art.htm chidi.com/african-art.htm chidi.com/african-art.htm artplaza.blogspot.com artplaza.blogspot.com

A futurist recently stated in an online think tank that he believed that genetic 3D tattoos maybe possible within the next couple of decades. He went onto predict that the use of cell expression, cell coating and genetic modification using the latest cutting edge discoveries would indeed aid in the process. The Futurist was latter asked about uses for such a novelty and claimed that such advances in tattoo research would have valuable application in security and military as well as the current and most common use of tattoos; individuality and self expression.

A fellow thinker online stated that; “3-D genetic tattoos can be used for identification purpose instead of finger printing the hologram will absorb and reflect a certain combination of wavelength which can be recognised or sensed by a biosensor or a DNA chip having the same sequence of that person.”

The futurist answered in reply; “Well yes, I was watching a discovery channel special on Tattoos in Russian Gulag and Tattoos are used by gangs for affiliation identification and people use them for self-expression of individualism and identity, you are long the lines of my thinking. I was merging many topics into one. But also realizing that this is 20-years out for human scientists currently. You will find many original thoughts of mine on this website, based loosely on scientific discoveries or trends, which indicate potential eventualities of future events.”

Imagine a future with 3D Tattoos on humans with areas of translucent skin, tattoos which could be turned on or off by frequency switches. Incredible thoughts indeed and worthy of mention as it appears it will be not only a bright and colorful future, but one in 3D. Consider all this in 2006.

“Lance Winslow″ - Online WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/ Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance in the Online Think Tank and solve the problems of the World WorldThinkTank.net www.WorldThinkTank.net/

Music is changing. In fact, the music industry is changing; it is changing even faster than it realises. Major record labels are often up to speed on latest developments, but it is indie music that leads the way in the music world - and everyone else seems to follow. Indeed, with the online music revolution taking place right now, being signed to a major record label is less and less important. However, having your own record label can be more and more beneficial.

Starting out

First of all, you really have to think about the image you want to convey. Every record label has an image, mostly created by the selection of bands on the label. So start off by grouping together with some bands you know that are similar to yours. Make sure that these bands are serious, and that they believe in the record label. You will be doing a lot of band promotion together, and sharing a lot of resources, so you need to trust these musicians, and you need to maintain your brand identity. Because yes a record label is a ‘brand’. Think of certain record labels you know, and you immediately associate them with a certain ethos - a certain type of music. For example, 4AD built its reputation by signing bands like The Throwing Muses, Dead Can Dance, This Mortal Coil, The Cocteau Twins, and of course, The Pixies. It has always been known as an off-the-wall combination of ethereal and edgy rock bands.

First steps - sharing resources

Sharing your resources as a young record label is very important. It is essential that every band on the label helps in the creation by joining in fully. Finding a rehearsal studio is a good first step - find a location that you can all share, and use your own equipment. You will cut down on costs, and you will find that you have more time available for rehearsing. Secondly, if you have some money behind you, try to assemble your own studio. You can maybe contact other studios to see if they have old equipment that they want to sell second-hand, or you can scour the internet for offers. If you have the equipment to record, then you won′t have to pay for studio time, and you can take as long as you want to record your music.

This initial investment may hurt you, but a record label is a long-term investment, and if you are serious about producing good quality music, you are taking the right steps.

First steps - Responsibilities

Everyone involved in the record label should know their responsibilities. First of all, you should be looking at getting a distribution deal. This means that someone has to contact the distributors and cut a deal with them, and maintain friendly relations. Distributors will often ask record labels for approximately 40% of the cover price of a CD, which may seem like a lot, but it will get your CDs into the record shops.

Naturally, not everyone buys CDs nowadays. Music is changing, don’t forget, and the online revolution means that people are downloading music online more and more. Inclusion on i-Tunes, therefore, is absolutely essential, as is your own page on myspace.com. You should have your own page for the record label, as well as pages for each band - make sure that as many people as possible can hear your music and can see that your label exists.

Someone should be regularly contacting radio stations, both internet radio stations and traditional radio stations. Once you have targeted the radio stations you want to work with, you can cut a deal with them, maintain good relations with them, and carry out your band promotion.

Next steps - Creating The Product

So, once you have set up your organisation, you have to create a product to promote. Make sure that you only release one CD at a time, so that you can focus your promotion - try to have all the groups working to a schedule that is set well in advance. That way, you can organise the band promotion so that everyone benefits from it.

You need to consider copyright as well. Each band has to copyright its own music before putting it out on the net, or distributing it in record shops, and you have to copyright your own brand as well. This is part of the regular paperwork involved in running your own record label, so make sure that you know your country’s administration backwards!

When promoting gigs, make sure that your flyers all carry the same identity, i.e. your record label logo, and the same layout. This gives people the idea that something important is happening, and creating a buzz around your groups is very important. When people see a record label at the bottom of a flyer, they are immediately impressed, so in effect, you are creating your own buzz!

Keeping it going

So you have your rehearsal studio, you are producing your own music yourself, and your bands are playing concerts, and doing well. So keep it up - keep coming up with new promotional ideas, and keep the buzz alive. Create a small festival, make sure that your label is recognised by the owners of the local venues and make sure that you have a good reputation. You have a lot of organising to do if you are going to run your own record label, but it’s worth the time and the effort.

It is also important that you look for independent musicians who might want to join your record label. You will probably receive a lot of demos from various bands, but the best way to add indie bands to your label is to go out and find them yourself. Don’t forget, a record label is really just a name - but it is the driving force behind your band, and if you want to make it work, people have to know you, so that means going to music events, festivals, concerts, etc., and making band promotion your mantra.

Having your own record label, then, means that you improve your own band’s reputation by association. It also means that you create your own local music community with other independent musicians, and that you benefit from each other’s knowledge, know-how, and resources. Indie music has always been at the forefront of musical change - with bands often one step ahead of the crowd. Owning your own record label puts you two steps ahead of the crowd.

bluebeamradio.com learn more about starting a record label or register on our site to get signed with a record label

On Christmas evening my husband roused himself from his Hennessy stupor and football games on TV and brought me to our friend David’s house for Christmas. I had a very enjoyable time there because I sat next to David’s father at the table and I had a full view of the kitchen and livingroom which were inhabited by many of their family members.

I have learned since getting married that skin-color in itself is not a culture. As an American I’ve had a rather skewed and limited view of race. Meeting so many African people from different nations has exposed me to a deeper way of seeing people. I cannot say “Black people…” in general anymore because I’ve experienced so many different cultures and individuals from all over Africa. Color is such a small part of it since everyone has color.

David and his father have made their wealth in California by making the most of the real estate market. In contrast, David’s father told me that in Uganda there are no mortgages. He told me that with 20,000 USD I, or anyone could go to Uganda, build a house in the countryside and live off the land. This immediately created the germ of a fantasy in my mind.

This image of abundance was fed by the easy grace that this family had with eachother and the guests they welcomed into their home for Christmas. David’s sister welcomed the new children born this year who were experiencing their first Christmas. We clapped for them and paid them special attention to make it memorable. A beautiful woman was asked to pray and led us all in a powerful prayer that dedicated the occasion to Jesus Christ because it is His birthday and asked for His blessing for the meal.

The meal was not an ostentatious affair, like I would have imagined a typical American wealthy family to present. Instead it was a lavish feast of simplicity. Each person had as much as they desired. There was so much food, not even the sixty people attending could have finished it. There was collard greens, yellow squash, chicken stew, cassava (which I tasted for the first time), lentils, beans, peas, plain yogurt, plantain, biscuits, pork, brussel sprouts, longgrain rice with vegetables and a frosted fruitcake.

My husband, watching the football game grunted to me to bring him a plate. But since I was sitting next to David’s father and enjoying the conversations of the people who loved this man so much as their patriarch, I did not want to give up my seat.

I eat certain things with my hands, like chicken on the bone and hamburgers. I admit that when I’m alone I eat just about any kind of food with my hands. In college, while I moonlighted as a dancer named Sheba, I met the youngest senior resident at the University Medical Center, a tall, gifted Ethopian named Ted. He cooked for me and took me out to eat at Zemam′s in Tucson, Arizona on Broadway. Ethiopian food has a special flatbread that you scoop up other foods with. So I am accustomed to the idea of eating with your hands. Nigerian meals often include a doughy, uncooked “bread” that is eaten by hand. But before last night I had never seen another woman eat all her food with her hands before. It was very liberating. For a moment I realized how many hangups I have about the simple human experience of eating. She put handfuls of food to her mouth gracefully and joyfully. She took bits of food from her father’s plate. When other plates were being cleared she pulled them back to the table if they had a food she liked. She was pretty round though.

I could have stayed all night absorbing the faces of beautiful children alternately pulling on their mothers, then their fathers. I stared at the newborn baby, a son, just six days old with his first wavy, downy hair. The young women were so nicely dressed, enviably slim with flawless skin and impeccable braids and weaves. Some people looked like Ted Gedebou, long, lean with dark eyes and defined profiles. Other people had flat Asian eyelids although they were obviously African. The young men grouped together around the beer cooler and the older single men had seemingly serious conversations at the bar while they sipped their hard liquor.

The men and women with young children did not drink and left early. I was disappointed when my husband declared that it was time for us to go too. My husband and David walked out ahead of me trying to talk business without me. They were talking about us buying one of David’s houses. My husband was lying to David, acting like the deal was already in motion. His eyes were rolling and he was laughing his hyena laugh. There was a group of men my age on the porch dressed in velvet suitcoats and designer shirts. They stole those few moments of my husband’s pretense at business to beg me to stay which made me blush. I stammered, “The car is parked in the red,” and trotted off away from their voices saying, “Let him go. Stay.”

My husband yelled at me on the drive home when I asked about the potential purchase of a home. “You let me do the thinking, bitch. I′ll never make decision that be bad for us.” He’s trying to assert his manliness because he felt intimidated by David, maybe. I don’t know. I didn’t care. I had seeds of abundance planted in my imagination. A million dreams of Africa, love and family filled my consciousness. I opened the window and watched the moon like the Cheshire cat’s grin and then I began to laugh at my husband. I laughed loud and long in a forced cackle.

I feel deflated when I think of myself laughing at someone else like that. I am not an hysterical hyena. I am a lioness. Hyenas scavenge. Lionesses reign in abundance and strength. I vowed to myself never to use that foolish tactic to protect myself in the future. I will remain calm in the face of his coarse expletives, his crude insults, his cruel devaluations because it will make this short time with him more bearable for me now and keep me from any guilt when I leave him.

After all, I can control the words I say despite the adrenaline rush of fear when he’s cursing me. He’s really cursing his ex-wives, his ex-girlfriends who have betrayed him and crushed his ego. It has nothing to do with me. But I can’t control the flinch that makes me jump two meters back whenever he tries to touch me.

Currently reading: The Soul of a New Cuisine: A Discovery of the Foods and Flavors of Africa
By Marcus Samuelsson

December 26, 2006 - Tuesday

Shannon Nnanna currently resides in Brentwood, California. mailto:brentwoodcouture@yahoo.com brentwoodcouture@yahoo.com

The 2005-06 television season is just a few weeks old, but there are some clear winners and losers amongst the new shows, both in quality and ratings. I took a bullet for y’all and sat down to watch just about every new show to come down the pipe this fall, sorted through them, and came up with a list of winners that are worthy of your precious free time (which I like to call couch potato time).

Commander in Chief (ABC, Tuesdays at 9:00)
A woman as the President of the United States? Something we may never see in our lifetime comes to the television screen when the President dies and his stunt-appointed V.P. takes over the Oval Office. Echoing the good days of “The West Wing,” we see behind the scenes at the White House and what the new Leader of the Free World must face when not everyone wants her occupying this high-profile gig. Geena Davis is superb and believable in the title role, and the supporting cast is well written and full of familiar faces. If you’ve grown tired of “The West Wing,” this is an excellent reason to make another appointment with the White House.

Bones (FOX, Tuesdays at 8:00)
All you “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel” fans rejoice; David Boreanaz is back in primetime. Instead of fighting beings from the netherworld, this time his character (Booth) is an FBI agent working with a forensic anthropologist to solve crimes based on skeletal remains. Sound icky? Kinda, but the stories take the overdone CSI-like crime dramas to a deeper level while actually exploring the lives of the main characters. Booth and his partner, Temperance Brennan (AKA “Bones”) have an untapped sexual chemistry between them that rivals that of Mulder and Scully from “The X-Files.” Based on the real-life tales of novelist/anthropologist Kathy Reichs, the plots are original and educational in that we discover a lot about what can be learned from our bones.

Prison Break (FOX, Mondays at 9:00)
A far-fetched premise about a man intentionally going to prison in order to break out his wrongly-accused (read: set-up) brother on death row can be easily overlooked once you get wrapped-up in all the action and suspense. With plenty of twists and turns along the way, you are never quite sure where the characters are going next. The only question I have is this: Assuming the end of the season will bring about the escape and validation for the inmates, what will they do for an encore in Season 2?

Invasion (ABC, Wednesdays at 10:00)
The phenomenon of “Lost” has spawned a slew of “what the hell is going on” copycat shows, but this one rises to the top (and incidentally follows “Lost” on the TV schedule). A hurricane hits Florida (a bad-timing premise in light of recent current events), which is basically a smokescreen for aliens to land on earth and do whatever it is that aliens do. Like it’s schedule mate, “Invasion” has lots of unanswered questions that will be a blast to uncover as the series progresses. If you are enthralled by the surprises-at-every-corner hook of ‘Lost,” then leave the channel where it is at 10:00 and strap in for another ride.

Supernatural (WB, Tuesdays at 9:00)
The WB has recycled some of its hunks (Jared Padalecki of “Gilmore Girls” and Jensen Ackles of “Smallville”) and paired them up as a couple of ghoul-chasing brothers in this supernatural (no pun intended) thriller. With their mother killed by an unknown spirit when they were children and their father missing during one of his ghost hunts, brothers Dean and Sam head out on a cross-country trek in search of Dad and any freakazoid entities along the way. Padalecki and Ackles have a humorous chemistry that adds a little light to what could be a very dark drama.

About the Author
When not watching TV, Brian Kohlmeier is a co-founder of SwapThing.com, which changes the way people exchange goods and services through the Internet.
SwapThing swapthing.com swapthing.com is a site focused on building a strong swap community online. The ShareThing swapthing.com/user/Nonprofit.jsp swapthing.com/user/Nonprofit.jsp program helps non-profits get access to item & cash donations as well as volunteers and professional services.
This article comes with reprint rights. You are free to reprint and distribute it, as you like. All that we ask is that you do not make any changes, that this resource text is included, and that the links above is intact.

In the upcoming James Bond film, “Casino Royale,” British actor Daniel Craig will play the lead role of James Bond. This, however, does not sit well with a group of James Bond fans.

A statement on the site said that “EON Productions angered fans around the world when they fired Pierce Brosnan at the height of his popularity as Bond. To add insult to injury, EON cast a short, blond, odd-looking Daniel Craig in the role of Bond.”

The site goes on to ask, “How can a short, blond actor with the rough face of a professional boxer and a penchant for playing killers, cranks, cads, and gigolos pull off the role of a tall, dark, handsome and suave secret agent?”

The angry group of Bond fans have threatened to boycott “Casino Royale” and any other Bond films that Craig will star in.

Though Craig may have a wounded pride from all of these happenings, he does have a big supporter in his predecessor, Pierce Brosnan.

“I think Daniel is a very fine actor. These are rocky waters, and they’re going to get him one way or another, but I think he will have the last laugh at the end of it,” Brosnan said.

Craig has had roles in “Munich” and “The Jacket.” He accepted the role of Bond last October, and filming for the movie began last month in Prague. Last week the producers of the film cast French actress Eva Green as Bond girl Vesper Lynd and Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen as the villain le Chiffre.

topcelebritynews.com topcelebritynews.com

If you are over sixty, you probably don’t like to have your picture taken. Older faces are prime victims to harsh lighting, deep shadows, sharp lenses and unforgiving close ups. You probably look fine at night with candle light on your face but once your grand daughter shows up with her digital camera, your pleasant image is history. Arcsoft, Adobe and Corel all sell image editors with the necessary tools.

There are a few measures you can take to alleviate the situation. One is to insist on a full length shot far enough away to produce a small and indistinct face. Another is to slather on the make up and hope for the best. Finally, you can beg to be out of the picture. This last punishes you as well as your loved ones and makes one look vain.

A favorite picture of you that everyone likes can be improved digitally quite easily. It just requires a little effort on the photographer’s part to familiarize yourself with the necessary tools and methods.

Starting at the top, there are stray hairs and dark roots ruining the hair dew. Stray hair is easily cloned out of existence by copying the adjacent area with a feathered clone stamp set at fifty per cent transparency. Dark roots require cloning an area of the hair of the proper color and running in the same direction if straight. I recommend a thirty per cent transparency using several passes for a realistic effect. Work at the highest enlargement of the working area that fits on your screen.

Shiny foreheads are tricky, but can often be improved with a touch of the disturb brush. Set the brush at medium strength and at fifty per cent transparency. Place the size at twice the area of the highlight and feather at 100%. Don’t try to darken the area but a slight fill with the air brush will do wonders. Use the eye dropper to choose an adjacent skin color and fill in the highlight at three per cent transparency.

Blemishes will disappear using the clone at seventy per cent transparency, copying from a near by unblemished area of skin. At eighty five per cent transparency, drag the clone over the bags under the eyes for a younger look. Don’t over do this effect.

The whites of the eyes can be lightened if done carefully. Outline the whites of the eyes with the dotted line mask and make an object of the masked areas. In the brightness/contrast box click on the brightness once at three per cent. Don’t try to make any other adjustments to this area of the eyes. It is possible to open the eyes somewhat but the method is quite advanced. If there is no highlight in the eye, you can place one with a two or three pixel brush using a light warm gray color. A round 100% feathered shape is normal or a crescent shape for an out of doors picture. If the highlight looks too prominent you can use the softener brush to dull it down without removing it.

Teeth often come out dark and yellowish in digital photographs. Draw a dotted circle around the teeth and using the brightness/contrast box, lighten the teeth at five per cent strength and change the color balance with a three per cent magenta adjustment. Crooked teeth can be fixed by reverse cloning a good tooth from the other side of the mouth. However, this method requires a little practice and advanced training to be successful.

Too pale skin can be corrected by using the histogram center arrow. Slide this arrow slightly to the right for darker skin. Conversely, sliding it to the left will darken the middle tones for a simulated sun tan. The ends of the histogram representing the whites (right side) and blacks (left side) remain attached to the extreme ends.

There are other effects that will improve the face. The softening brush used judiciously will smooth the skin, the soft focus filter has the same effect but might be too strong a result. The color balance can be used to warm up the face by masking the face and head and adjusting the color balance two per cent yellow and two per cent red. If the effect is too noticeable, try one per cent. Remember blemishes, windy conditions and dark shadows are temporary conditions. A photograph is forever.

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