Madonna turns 50: Highs and lows

Madonna - one of the most successful stars in pop history - celebrates her 50th birthday on Saturday.

Use our interactive timeline to find out more about the ups and downs of her career.

Full name: Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone

Born: August 16, 1958, Bay City, Michigan, USA

Also known as: The Queen of Pop, Material Girl, Madge, Esther, Mrs Ritchie.

Biggest hits: Holiday, Into The Groove, Like A Prayer, Vogue, Ray of Light, Music.

Quote: "A woman who pulled herself up by her bra straps and has been known to let them down occasionally" (Bette Midler, introducing Madonna at Live Aid in 1985).

Madonna's mother, also called Madonna, dies of breast cancer. The tragic event has a lifelong impact on the singer. "You walk around with a big hole inside you, a feeling of emptiness and longing," the star later says.

Madonna moves to New York in 1977, where she studies with choreographer Alvin Ailey and works as a model.

Early music demos recorded with her boyfriend Stephen Bray make their way to Sire Records boss Seymour Stein, who demands to meet her, even though he is in hospital with a heart condition. Impressed with "the drive, the zeal, the ruthlessness" of a young Madonna, he signs her on the spot. But her first few releases only make an impact in clubs.

Holiday becomes Madonna's first breakthrough hit in the US, reaching number 16 in late 1983. Her first top 10 hit comes a year later with Borderline, a song she later disowns. She is more proud of the subsequent, career-defining hits Like A Virgin and Material Girl. The sell-out Virgin Tour begins in 1985 with support from the Beastie Boys.

Madonna receives rave reviews for her role in mainstream film Desperately Seeking Susan (she previously made low-budget sexploitation movie A Certain Sacrifice in 1979).

She also hits number one with Into The Groove, plays Live Aid, and marries actor Sean Penn on a Californian clifftop, their vows drowned out by the roar of press helicopters circling overhead.

True Blue was the first time Madonna had a writing credit on every song.

The album True Blue, with its iconic Herb Ritts cover, cements Madonna's reputation as the first lady of pop, reaching number one in 12 countries and spawning five hit singles.Papa Don't Preach, which deals with teenage pregnancy, confirms the star's willingness to tackle controversial issues, while Live To Tell's raw vocals (recorded on the first take) show new emotional depth.

Her first world tour, Who's That Girl, sees the singer mobbed by adoring fans in cities across the globe.

But Madonna's film career takes the first of many serious beatings with the release of Shanghai Surprise.

A year later, she separates from Sean Penn, and the couple are granted a divorce in 1989.

The video for Like A Prayer caused storms of protest

The release of Like A Prayer marks the moment when critics first begin to describe Madonna as an artist, rather than a mere pop singer. The title track's video, which shows the star kissing a black saint, causes storms of protest – but sends her straight to number one.She follows up the album with the hit single Vogue and the lavish Blond Ambition tour. At the end of 1990, Madonna seals her reputation with a Greatest Hits album – The Immaculate Collection.

The sex book was shot by noted fashion photographer Steven Meisel

A coffee table photo book, Sex, finds Madonna in a number of sexually explicit poses with the likes of Naomi Campbell and Vanilla Ice. The book is derided in the press, and the dark and seedy Erotica album suffers as a result.Two years later, she makes a bizarre, expletive-filled appearance on David Letterman's talk show. Madonna asks the host to smell her underwear, smokes a cigar and quizzes Letterman on whether he urinates in the shower. When she refuses to leave the stage, several audience members shout "get off".

The show marks a low point in public perception of the star.

Madonna's casting in Evita helps to rehabilitate her image - and her film career. Meanwhile, she falls pregnant to fitness trainer Carlos Leon, giving birth to her first daughter, Lourdes, in October.

Ray of Light was produced by British musician William Orbit

Ray Of Light marks a musical return to form. Its laid-back blend of dance and electronica catches the pop superstar in a reflective mood, musing on fame and parenthood. She continues to mine this rich seam of futuristic pop with Beautiful Stranger in 1999 and Music in 2000, albeit with diminishing returns.In the meantime, she meets Guy Ritchie at a party thrown by Sting's wife Trudi Styler. The couple have a son, Rocco, before tying the knot in Scotland days before the new Millennium.

The Re-Invention tour took more than $125m (£62.5m) in ticket sales

After the lacklustre American Life album, Madonna looks to the past for her Re-invention World Tour. Highlights including the yoga-inspired dance routines of Vogue, and a bagpipe version of Papa Don't Preach.She follows it up with a love letter to disco, Confessions on a Dancefloor, produced by the tour's musical director Stuart Price. Based around European dance music - including a prominent Abba sample on Hung Up - sells 8 million copies, but its singles perform badly in the US.

The accompanying tour draws flack when Madonna performs Live To Tell while strapped to a mirrored cross, wearing a crown of thorns.

Madonna 's adoption was challenged by Malawian civil rights groups

Madonna visits Malawi, arriving by private jet in the capital, Lilongwe. She says she is in the country on a humanitarian mission to visit Aids orphans, but government officials say she plans to adopt a child.A week later, Yohane Banda tells the Associated Press news agency the star has adopted his 13-month-old son, David. "I know he will be very happy in America," he says.

Madonna denies she has used her status to "fast-track" the process, and the adoption does not receive final approval until 2008.

Hard Candy features collaborations with Justin Timberlake and Kanye West

Showing no signs of letting up the pace as she approaches 50, Madonna parts company with record label Warner Brothers to sign a ground-breaking contract with concert promoters Live Nation.She is also inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; releases an album, Hard Candy; directs her first film, Filth and Wisdom, and produces I Am Because We Are, a documentary about Aids orphans in Malawi - all while fending off rumours about trouble in her marriage.

After celebrating her 50th birthday, the megastar sets off on her Sticky and Sweet world tour next week.

Combined we are the proud gay uncles of six young girls so we understand that you don't want Lourdes to think she isn't pretty enough, because she certainly is gorgeous. She's an absolute stunner! She just needs a little bleach here and there ... please!

Dans mon plus vieux souvenir, car avant cette date, il n'en fût aucun. Ce jour précisément, la conscience entrait en moi.
Je ne crois pas forcément en la réincarnation, et même je me suis toujours fortement posé en doute quant à cette idée. Mais j'espère qu'au point final, vous comprendrez, comme cela me fût révélé aujourd'hui, qu'avant ce jour, je n'étais pas là.

Le film de ma vie commença à se bobiner au seuil de l'escalier en bois, qui conduisait aux chambres de la famille. Je posai mon pied sur la première marche, et c'est là que j'aperçus cette croix ornée d'une feuille de je ne sais plus quoi. La peur m'envahit. Savais-je alors, que ma vie commençait ici? Et que j'allais la passer à pleurer des rivières, par l'incompréhension des Autres? Non, j'avais seulement peur.

Cet escalier me faisait ressentir la mort, l'effroi. Pourtant dans cette maison, tout le monde était croyant, même si certains d'entre eux s'en leurrait tout simplement. Je peux le dire aujourd'hui. Donc, gravissant lentement ces marches d'où s'élevait un grincement, c'est là que je le vis pour la première fois. Bien sûr j''avais été conduite dans plusieurs églises depuis ma naissance, au moins lors de mon baptème. Pourtant, je n'avais jamais vu cette homme clouée sur une croix.

Je n'ai rien demandé à personne, ni d'où il venait, ni qui il était. L'atmosphère était pesante, et il m'était insupportable de le regarder. Aussi impossible de faire face à tous ces objets de culte, qui avait transformé la chambre de mon arrière-grand-mère en musée iconoclaste... Des cruxifix partout, des images de Jean-Paul 2, des vierges de Lourdes...
Bien que j'appris au fur et à mesure à reconnaître qu'Angèle était un être compassionnel et délicieux, ce jour-là tout sentait la mort.

Les jours passant, je me rapprochai de la compagnie de ces aïeuls, ce qui m'amenait à ne souffrir que le soir, à la nuit tombée.
Je dormais dans la chambre d'Angèle, qui n'avait de cesse de prier. Elle avait un don de guérisseuse, et pouvait même soigner les malades à distance. Elle travailler avec l'eau, le feu, et donc la vapeur. Ainsi elle faisait chanter un bol dans l'eau. D'où pouvait venir ce son? J'avoue qu'à l'époque la question ne m'effleurait même pas l'esprit.

Quand le soir tombait, il régnait un noir absolu dans sa chambre, et cela me faisait peur, mais elle me consolait de quelques mots. Je me rappelle qu'ils ne me rassuraient pas pleinement; vains, je devais accepter qu'il en soit ainsi.
Alors le soir, la lumière s'en allait.
Si la lune éclaire dans la nuit, pourquoi s'en cacher? Je ne blâme pas l'inventeur des volets, mais puisqu'il fait nuit quand les paupières se ferment, pourquoi traumatiser les enfants en les privant de la lumière naturelle de l'Univers?

Dans cette famille régnait une sévère superstition. Ma tante, qui passait de temps à autre, ainsi qu'Angèle me racontait des histoires pour le moins effrayantes et étranges. Mais cela devait en être ainsi.
Par exemple, quand quelqu'un allait décéder dans la famille, trois coups résonnaient dans l'armoire d'Angèle. De même quand sa fille de huit ans décéda, deux colombes furent vues dans le ciel par son mari.
A l'époque, je pensais que le monde vivait ainsi, dans ce creuset de croyances, et malgré mes craintes, j'apprenais à écouter tous ces contes, dont on pourrait dire aujourd'hui en France, qu'ils dérivaient d'un autre temps...

Certainement Angèle avait souhaité me garder près d'elle la nuit, afin de me protéger. Car auparavant nous dormions dans la mansarde que mon grand-père Manuel, -qui portait magnifiquement son prénom-, avait aménagé en pièce habitable. Comme s'il s'était douté qu'un jour, il aurait à nous recevoir mes frères et moi.
Dans cette mansarde, je faisais du somnambulisme et ma grand-mère m'avait retrouvé plusieurs fois marchant autour de l'échelle qui conduisait à l'étage inférieur. Aussi voyant que je pourrais me blesser ou même gravement me blesser, j'en étais arrivée à partager la chambre d'Angèle.

Chaque nuit, je m'endormais complètement crispée et apeurée, rien qu'à l'idée que toutes ces ostentations m'entouraient sans que je puisse les voir. Que cette armoire résonnerait, où qu'un mort viendrait me toucher dans mon sommeil.
Seule une statuette de vierge phosphorescente amenait la vie dans cette pièce. Et quand bien même mon regard la croisait, je ne pouvais m'empêcher de me précipiter sous les draps, terrifiée.

Certes, je ne voulais pas affronter tout ce qui m'attendait. Et avec le recul, je me dis que je savais très bien de quoi il allait en retourner. Ce n'était ni l'homme sur la croix, ni la vierge qui m'effrayait, mais bel et bien la force qu'il allait me falloir pour enfin vraiment les regarder, car un jour, il le faudrait.

A suivre...

vandaag zijn we eindelijk op reis vertrokken, naar Lourdes..., vanochtend vertrokken thuis om 5u45, vertrokken met de trein naar lille flanders om 06u12, opt gemak naar lille flandres, eenmaal aangekomen opt gemakske richting Lille Europe gewandeld, daar een kofietje gedronken èn een uurtje gewacht, dan de TGV op richting Bordaux-St-Jean, het was een vernieuwde TGV-PBA, rustig wat gebabbeld over koetjes en kalfjes tegen de mensen in de carré tegenoverstaand, ettelijke keren gestopt, en juist voor Marne la Valéé 15 minuteen vertraging gemaakt, daar we het ergste vrezen in Bordaux daar we maar 10 minuten overstap tijd hadden, maar tot onze vreugde kwamen we er achter dat de TGV naar lourdes van Parijs kwam èn dus achter onze TGV zat, ie zat overladen vol, dit maal was het een VUILE VIEZE oude niet vernieuwde TGV-PBA, rustig onze zitplaatsen opgezocht, en dan 2uur gereden naar lourdes over ... de gewone lijn, dan aangekomen in Lourdes, taxitje genomen naar ons hotel, en nu verblijven we voor 2 dagen in hotel  Hotel Eliseo **** en om dan maandag terug te keren, we gaan ook eventueel eens mee op een berg met een kabeltreinlift, een verslag van de volgende dagen kan je zeker verwachten !

tot de volgende !

Al pomeriggio invece questo, con la Iso gessata che ha composto i mazzi di fiori coadiuvata dalla Xeena e da Elmar (che mi ha aiutato anche coi fagiolini), e poi sono andato al bar a prendere rapanelli e carote.

Adesso mi faccio un giro tra i blog, mi mangio due spaghi col pomodoro fresco e me ne vado a nanna, sono quasi le due e domani c'è mercato. Alle olimpiadi, a Di Pietro, agli statali che non si ammalano più, al Sudtirolo e alle sue rane crocifisse ci penserò domani

The view that men had determined the course of human history through their aggression and their love of war and cruelty was widely and understandably held by many feminists in the wake of the First World War, lending their writings a tragic note.
(Julia Briggs, Virginia Woolf: An Inner Life)

California is the one place in the world I would like to live but unfortunately would probably never be allowed to. Californian sun would help me a lot to chill out after the late night I had last night.

For some reason I brought my diaries from thirty years ago on this trip and I have just dug out my diary for a school trip to Rome, by train, in August 1978 – the first time I had ever been abroad. I notice I read Chaucer on the way out and Mansfield Park on the way back. I noted when the train crossed the Alps at Airolo “At once noticed different houses – shutters, vines and crumbling facades.”

I went to Lourdes many years later. There was snow on the mountaintops even in August. Some find all those disabled and sick gathered together distasteful. I found it strangely moving – however physically fucked people are they are still treated with dignity and respect.

Looking at my schoolboy diary, I realize how immensely revealing it is about me.

The letters printed on my laptop keyboard are starting to rub off. Good thing I usually touch type. The odd thing is, the wear seems to bear no relation to which are the most commonly used letters. The “e” and “t” are fine. The first one to start to go was “c”. Now the “n” is gone, the “l” and “m” mostly gone, the “d” beginning to go …

I’ve seen the same problem at some retail establishments where keyboards are used, from my days woking for a major UK retailer (The Co-operative Group). A very accurate light application of varnish before the symbol vanishes altogether is a useful ruse, or you may be able to replace the tops of the keys, with some from a similar, but discarded, keyboard from a tip or skip. (It’s best to do this one at a time or with reference to a second keyboard: I have known one case where an employee went at it hammer and tongs and pulled off half the tops thinking he knew where the replacements went, happily positioning them where he thought they ought to be, apparently without telling anybody else or checking: needless to say it created havoc before the reason was identified.)

The real work started on Monday and it didn't stop until an hour before our flight back... literally. I teamed up with a friend I met on induction day and we were assigned a "malade" (french for sick person... apparently it's less offensive) to look after and take from place to place .. in a wheelchair of course :). Our malade was reaaaally nice! He was youngest out lot i think so he wasn't grumpy like most of the others and he was soo funny! He'd rather do something himself rather than force/leave other people to do it for him.

The only thing i didn't like was the curfew. 12 o'clock? Like seriously? My other friends didn't even have a curfew as long as they we're sober for the next day! To top it off.. my "guardian" said that if i wanted to go out, i had to stick with the only other two people from my local group. Let's just say they weren't the social type... they went in the club and after 10 mins came back out and said they we're going home. Leme just say that this was at around 10pm. Like urghh. So i had to go back to the hotel with them and pretended to be asleep for half hour and sneaked back out again :P Once we figured out how easy it was.. we did it every night after that xD  Each night i got about 4 hours sleep each night cos we came back around 2 am (EVERYTHING in Lourdes closed at 2am).

Friday came and i was releaveeeeed to go back home! I'd never done so much work with so little sleep ever! When i got home, the first thing i did was hit the bed. Forget unpacking when you're that tired! hhaaha

I'll try and post some pictures up soon :)

xoxo -dlc

 Le pape Benoît XVI a confirmé sa venue à
Lourdes du 13 au 15 septembre 2008

Le voyage du chef de l'Eglise catholique sera essentiellement consacré au 150e anniversaire de la première apparition de la Vierge à Bernadette Soubirous en 1858 .

Pour prendre connaissance du calendrier des célébrations cliquez sur le lien suivant :

http://www.lourdes2008.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&MenuItemid=83&Itemid=83

Des milliers de  pélerins sont donc attendus sur place et dans les  environs . Le recueillement et  la prière tiendront bien entendu une place prépondérante lors de ces journées . webcam grotte à Lourdes

Mais la vallée de l'Ouzom située entre les Hautes-Pyrénées et les Pyrénées-Atlantiques regorge de nombreuses richesses culturelles et gastronomiques, alors accordez vous un peu de temps pour les découvrir . Zoo d'Asson , les plus beaux sites , gastronomie

Le département des Pyrénées-Atlantiques étant  limitrophe du département des Hautes-Pyrénées, les Gîtes de France des Pyrénées-atlantiques vous proposent des chambres d’hôtes et des gîtes pour vous loger au calme, à quelques kilomètres de Lourdes .

Maison Bonnevigne

Pour avoir accès à l'offre des chambres d'hôtes cliquez ici.

Pour avoir accès à l'offre des gîtes cliquez ici.

Vous pouvez consulter toute l'offre des Gîtes de France sur le site www.gites64.com

A cantora Madonna, 49, participou neste fim de semana de um festival de cinema em Traverse City, Michigan, onde apresentou seu documentário "I Am Because We Are" ("Eu Sou Porque Nós Somos", em tradução livre).

A artista chegou no sábado à Traverse City acompanhada de sua filha Lourdes, 11, e do diretor do filme, Nathan Rissman, para participar do festival organizado pelo cineasta Michael Moore, natural do Estado norte-americano de Michigan.

(...) O documentário conta a história dos órfãos de Malauí, o país natal do filho adotivo da cantora com seu marido, Guy Ritchie.

Madonna e Moore -- diretor de "Tiros em Columbine" -- trocaram elogios durante a apresentação do filme na noite de sábado.

Leia mais clique aqui.

Isolde, guarda che lo so che la Nutella l´hai nascosta in quel piccolo scomparto della cucina, dietro alle salviette verdi. Lo so da domenica scorsa e non l' ho ancora toccata e allora, visto che non ti fidi di me, mi tocca raccontare di quella volta che hai messo il grana sugli spaghetti allo scoglio.

Era una delle ultime volte che ci siamo permessi una vacanza estiva, prima che il dedicarsi principalmente allla produzione ortofrutticola ce lo impedisse. L´idea era di andare in Slovenia a godersi la bellissima terrazza sul mare della Frau Rosa, solo che arrivati al confine ci hanno fatto notare che ambedue avevamo la carta d'identitá scaduta e quindi nisba, l´unica era cercare un posto in Italia. Dopo vari giri a vuoto e tentativi andati male, avevamo trovato un grazioso appartamento a Lignano Sabbiadoro e lì ci siamo accampati, io, te e il primogenito.

Il giorno dopo, avendo saltato la colazione per mancanza di materia prima, mi propongo come cuoco per il pasto di mezzogiorno e, consapevole della sua importanza, decido di uscire e dare il meglio di me stesso per preparare un piatto di spaghetti allo scoglio fatti come Dio comanda. Il pesce lo trovo da un ambulante appena arrivato per il suo giro, un kilo di cozze e uno di vongole, una decina di scampi e delle sarde stupende appena pescate, che con lo scoglio non c' entrano nulla ma come antipasto vanno più che bene.

Con lo stesso metodo mi procuro poi dei pomodori e della cipolla rossa oltre ad un peperoncino ricevuto in omaggio e con tutto l´occorrente torno all´appartamento, fuori tutti dalla cucina e ci vediamo in terrazza per il pranzo. Lavo e spurgo i mitili, preparo il soffrittino e li faccio aprire per poi togliere quasi tutti i gusci, qualcuno come decorazione deve rimanere, aggiungo il pomodoro, butto la pasta e adesso basta aspettare. Vien fuori un capolavoro, arrivo in terrazza, servo i piatti e mi giro un attimo aspettando i conati di piacere quando la Iso e il primogenito assaggeranno la prima forchettata.

Saranno  stati al massimo trenta secondi, mi volto e vedo una montagnola di formaggio grana depositata sugli spaghetti allo scoglio della Iso e del pargolo. Mi è caduto il mondo addosso

E’ successo.
Lo scorso 8 luglio, il Ministro degli Esteri della Repubblica Ceca, Karel Schwarzenberg, ed il Segretario di Stato USA, Condoleeza Rice, hanno firmato il protocollo d’intesa per l’installazione sul suolo ceco di un radar adibito alla localizzazione di missili. I due Paesi, appena pronto, sigleranno anche l’accordo che regola lo status dei militari statunitensi addetti alla gestione della base, inizialmente previsti in duecento unità. Nel protocollo d’intesa è inserita anche una clausola che contempla l’eventualità di una disdetta, in tal caso gli Stati Uniti avranno tempo due anni per ritirare il proprio contingente.
Ora la parola passa al Parlamento, dove il governo guidato dal premier Mirek Topolanek ha una maggioranza risicatissima. La discussione probabilmente non sarà avviata prima dell’autunno inoltrato, e cioè dopo l’elezione del nuovo Presidente americano. Nel frattempo, Schwarzenberg ha già minacciato di dimettersi in caso di mancata ratifica parlamentare. Fuori dalle stanze del potere, l’opposizione all’accordo continua ad assestarsi su percentuali oscillanti attorno al 70% e domanda lo svolgimento di un referendum nazionale.
In terra polacca, invece, le trattative proseguono, al fine di colmare un divario tra domanda ed offerta che a prima vista pare incolmabile. Fonti ben informate riferiscono di una richiesta dell’esecutivo di Donald Tusk che ammonta a 20 miliardi di dollari per l’ammodernamento delle forze armate nazionali, mentre gli Stati Uniti non sarebbero disposti a concedere più di “soli” 47 milioni, definendo le pretese polacche del tutto fuori dalla realtà.
Ed in effetti, se si considerano i tagli ai finanziamenti per il progetto appena operati dalla Camera dei Rappresentanti di Washington (meno 232 milioni di dollari per l’anno corrente ed addirittura meno 341 milioni per il 2009, con un abbattimento di quasi il 50% rispetto alla somma inizialmente stanziata), il giudizio sembra più che appropriato. Dal canto suo, il Pentagono - attraverso il suo portavoce Geoff Morell - fa sapere che “la Lituania potrebbe essere uno dei Paesi dove installare parte dello scudo, nel caso in cui i negoziati con la Polonia dovessero finire con un fiasco". Al momento, si precisa, comunque non sarebbero in corso negoziati con Vilnius. Terza - ed ultima, per ora - alternativa l'installazione dei missili intercettori su unità navali di stanza nei mari vicini ai Paesi baltici, come ha ipotizzato la stessa Rice.

Il lato più “succulento” - e, per certi versi, persino divertente - della questione sono le reazioni della parte russa, sempre convintissima che sarà lei – e non certo l’Iran né la Corea del Nord – a finire nel mirino dei nuovi insediamenti militari a stelle e strisce. Tanto è vero che un analista dell’Accademia delle Scienze di Mosca, Aleksander Pikayev, ha ipotizzato che in Polonia non vengano dispiegati semplicemente dei missili intercettori con testate convenzionali come annunciato, ma piuttosto dei vettori balistici a corto e medio raggio in grado di portare testate nucleari.
Queste le possibili contromisure minacciate da Mosca:
- la costruzione, che sarebbe già in corso, di una nuova base missilistica nel Caucaso, presso la città di Noyemberyan in Armenia, non distante dal confine con la Georgia;
- il ritiro dal Trattato sulle Forze Nucleari a Medio Raggio firmato nel 1987 ed il dispiegamento, nell’enclave russa di Kaliningrad, con a tiro le eventuali rampe di lancio polacche, di missili Iskander-M e di bombardieri strategici Tupolev-22 armati con missili da crociera a lungo raggio;
- l’interruzione dello smantellamento della divisione missilistica di Kozelsk, nella Russia centrale – realizzato nel quadro dell’Trattato russo-statunitense per la Riduzione del Potenziale Offensivo Strategico (2002) – ed il dispiegamento in loco di avanzate testate ipersoniche in grado di penetrare le difese antimissile. La Russia metterebbe sui suoi missili Topol M testate autonome capaci di staccarsi e cambiare traiettoria, la cui caratteristica è proprio quella di ingannare i sistemi antimissile, che sono in grado di controllare la traiettoria dei vettori ma non quella degli ordigni che lancerebbero. Tale tecnica, unita alla moltiplicazione di stazioni di disturbo per i radar, abbasserebbe di decine di volte l'efficienza dello scudo antimissile;
- lo stazionamento di bombardieri strategici a Cuba, o più probabilmente l’uso dell’isola caraibica quale infrastruttura logistica per la manutenzione ed il rifornimento di carburante ai Tupolev-160 Blackjack e 95 Bear. L’insediamento di basi logistiche per i bombardieri strategici potrebbe riguardare anche il Venezuela e l’Algeria, dove stazionerebbero aerei cisterna Ilyushin-78 addetti al rifornimento in volo, in modo da evitare la presenza permanente dei bombardieri nei pressi del territorio statunitense e degli altri Paesi della NATO;
- la riapertura, sempre a Cuba, della centrale spionistica di Lourdes, che - prima della chiusura avvenuta nel 2002 - rappresentava il più grande ed importante sito del sistema d’intelligence russo Sigint su territorio straniero, capace di tenere sotto controllo i movimenti e le comunicazioni militari nel sud-est USA, nonché gli scambi di informazioni commerciali e politiche fra Stati Uniti e Europa;
- il boicottaggio della… birra ceca;
- la Russia potrebbe infine riprendere il programma di missili orbitali che, evitando i sistemi radar esistenti e potenziali, raggiungerebbero il territorio statunitense attraverso il Polo Sud.

Chi vivrà, vedrà.

Se ne va l´Inter e arriva Ratzi, giusto così, il troppo stroppia. L´umile coltivatore della vigna del Signore è dalle nostre parti per un periodo di riposo e, visto che qui in Sudtirolo ci sono vigne da tutte le parti, proprio non ci arrivo a capire la scelta del luogo. È come se un operaio delle Acciaierie andasse in vacanza nella Ruhr, o uno che lavora alla De Cecco partisse per un tour gastronomico alla scoperta dei cerchi nel grano. Vabbè, ratzi suoi, ognuno organizza le proprie ferie come meglio crede, l´importante è averne.

Certo che se volesse distrarsi un po' ed evadere dalle vigne senza restarne troppo lontano, potrebbe benissimo venire a darmi una mano ad addomesticare i miei cetriolini. Questa foto è stata scattata a due metri e ottanta d´altezza, sinceramente non mi era mai capitato di vedere delle piante con un simile sviluppo, addirittura per riuscire a passarci in mezzo ho duvuto pergolarle. E qui uno che di vigne se ne intende potrebbe essermi parecchio utile

Where healing by faith is a more extrovert and splendid phenomenon, results are equally impressive, albeit less wanted. A first case should have been enough, but no a second case came along and even a third case. Someone should implement laws that deprive parents like these of their parental rights.

This year, like every year, I travelled by bus, all the way from the North of England, to the deep south of France, high in the mountains of the French Midi-Pyrénées, with its snow covered peaks, its mountain water rivers, its pristine landscapes and it’s picturesque villages. Although I have no love for the French way of life, I would one day love to live there. In particular in Gavarnie, a small French village, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, and probably the most beautiful place I have ever visited.
It was hard for me without Angela, and it was certainly not the same. She was my head of year for five years, she accompanied me to Lourdes twice and my trust in her was absolute. When she died earlier this year, myself, along with everyone who knew her went into what could best be described as shock. Angela was the most compassionate and loving person I had ever met, who is probably the blueprint for an ideal person.
It was also hard for me because I was isolated from the people whom I saw regularly in Widnes, whom I was familiar with. I chose to remain on the Warrington coach; the rest had chosen to go on the Widnes coach. I did see them sporadically, but largely I had to rely on what were essential strangers. However, I did come to love and care for most of them, and all are splendid people whom I have the upmost respect for.
My health had taken a few hits whilst in Lourdes. Because the food was atrociously bad (I have never eaten food quite as bad in my entire life) and due to the fact that many of the people I was working with were sick themselves, and also due to the long hours of strenuous work, I was often too ill to do my duties.  At one point, the hospital took away the guy I was working with because I was a risk to him and myself!
There were times where I felt pretty low. My phone wasn’t working for part of the trip, and I was too ill to go outside so I couldn’t go to the phone box.  Internet was hard to come by and I felt rather disconnected. I am used to having my friends close by should I need comfort or advice. It felt so strange not having them should I need them.
Having said that, I met some wonderful people. Indeed, had I met them in school, it is likely that we never would have got along. They would likely think of me as nerdy or strange. I, myself would have probably used my acerbic tongue to, entirely metaphorically speaking, carve them a new one. I think that is the power of Lourdes. Not some supreme being curing people, nor the old or the dying seeking comfort. It is the camaraderie and love that we all experience, which is shared out for all, with no limits or exceptions.

-Hilda

I have just finished reading "Life with my sister Madonna" by Madonna's brother Christopher Ciccone... I know, here we go, jumping from posts about upcoming stars, to war criminals, to divas. But it's all a part of my world and I am sure that I am not the only one with mixed interests all coexisting in one head... Anyway, enough of me justifying something that doesn't need justification. This is not my intention. What I want, is to comment the book a brother wrote about his sister and the interesting dynamics that lead a family to behave the way they do.

After an entire day spent reading the book from cover to cover I have come to several conclusions. First of all, there are many ways of analyzing this product, and even if it is extremely simple in its nature, being a book for easy reading and quite unpretentious, it is still multi faceted from a psychological point of view.

Lets start with the commercials and hype surrounding it. Christopher has given a couple of TV interviews and several websites have posted excerpts from the book. All these excerpts seemed negative and pretty critical towards Madonna's choices in life, especially when it came to choices and judgment towards Christopher. I started wondering if the entire book was going to be a sort of psycho sniper aimed at the most famous sister in the world. I doubted it because no matter how lousy a person might be, you can hardly fill an over 340 page book with only negative bitchy comments and get away with it as being honest and interesting. In fact, the passages taken out of it were the juiciest when it comes to negatives but the book itself was pretty harmless when it came to the point being: fans want to find out as much as possible about every intimate part of Madonna's life.

At first I thought, reading how many times Christopher was repeating how little Madonna was paying him for his decorating her homes or dressing her during her tours or even directing her tours, he needs the money and has finally decided to write this book out of two reasons: 1) getting back at his sister for making him feel like a servant and not supporting him financially the way he wanted her to and 2) he finally wanted to free himself from her control over him.

Point one is clear, but point two should be further clarified: From the book it is clear that Christopher always felt controlled by his sister in several ways: 1) she kept him at a distance, never too close as to keep her own freedom and power untouched, 2) she needed him to be with her most of the time because she could not trust almost anybody else and by having him close could monitor what he was doing, 3) She would use any flaw, he would have ,against him, by magnifying it to unproportional extents - like when she accuses him of being a drug addict even when the doctors prove her wrong. Even though this part of the story could be only Christopher's way of seeing it. If he really were a drug addict, he still could have opted not to admit it openly and in the end it is his book, so he can write in it whatever he wants. It's up to us to believe him or not. One of the bigger reasons she stopped working with him was supposedly her lack of trust towards him because she was and maybe still is convinced he is a drug addict. If she really believes this or if she is just using it as a cheap weapon against Christopher in order for her to have a fast and apparently solid excuse not to have him close any longer, stays open and is not cleared in the book.

In several parts of the book he clearly states that Madonna's fame also got to his head and he admits that drugs became a reality too but he always denies he had a problem with them. To be honest, to me this is the first symptom of addiction. But if it is true that he got several doctors to prove he was clean, then I see no reason why he should be writing about him using coke in more than one occasion in the book and right after that having to explain to Madonna he is not addicted. He writes that whenever he would do something like taking drugs, he would have his sister on the phone the next day yelling at him. How did she get to know he was using drugs in the first place?! She knew because most of the time he would do drugs with friends they had in common, especially Ingrid Casares. Ingrid would call Madonna immediately to tell her her brother was on coke. Ingrid was on it as well, but this apparently doesn't bother Madonna. Why should it? She just cares about her own family.

O.K. so the drug part of the book is a bit fuzzy but it is a passage he needed to go through in order to get to the essence and in the end, probably the justification as to why he really decided to write the book in the first place. He states that Madonna doesn't believe the doctor's diagnosis and pushes him to try another one and he ends up going to the shrink. And here we have it, he loves his doctor and feels she is helping him help himself and he starts the long process of psychic cleansing of the soul. He also decides to write this book because he thinks it really might help him and his sister understand each other more and in a healthier way.

I don't know if I should believe all of it, but the innocent and naive way in which the book is written proved to me that he is a gentle person, fragile too and that this was a sort of childish attempt, if you wish, to get to his sister and make her really listen to him. I am not saying that he is screaming for attention, but I do believe that one of the reasons he wrote this book was because he also thought it was maybe the only way to get to Madonna. She lives in a strange world and does not respond to the logic of common people. If he would have written an over 340 page letter to her, maybe she wouldn't have read it or taken it as seriously. But, as he decided to publish it, she felt a threat, and only then did she maybe take the whole thing seriously. I have seen the movie "Truth or dare" and understand why Christopher is upset with it. But hey, if Madonna can use all intimate family matters and publish them in a movie, including Christopher's life, then that is the language she speaks and that is the language she understands, hence, Christopher's book was written for her in her language, using her media.

In reality, the only thing that worried me was that Christopher wrote a lot of personal things about other famous stars. That was a bad thing to do. He should have kept to his own personal story. He actually wrote he did coke with Jack Nicholson and Donatella Versace and other stars. I would never write such things. I would respect their private lives. If he wants to open up to the world about his habits that is fine with me but he shouldn't use other people to in some way justify those habits by showing that what he does is normal in that world and that almost everybody is doing it. If I were any one of those people he mentioned, I would be pissed with him.

And in the end we have a product that will probably finally give him the economical independence he always dreamed of. He will probably lose a lot of friends but psychoanalysis on the highest levels, where family members have to deal with the most famous sister/woman in the world can only lead to drastic decisions and behaviour. Maybe part of the therapy is to get economically independent from Madonna but I don't know if it is a healthy and good idea to do so by writing a book about you and her. In this way she can always continue to point a finger at you and tell you that all you are worth, you are worth because of her. If she weren't your sister, not many people would read this book. So some or many might see it as a wrong way to prove or declare your independence from her.

But from a purely outsider point of view, I would have wished to have read deeper thoughts and information about their relationship. It all seemed very superficial to me. I represent the voyeur reader, the mass of people that want to discover something new about a star. In this book's case I felt like it never went deep enough. It is written in a classical way, like almost all biographies: chronologically. So by the time you get to the present day, the information gets poorer ad poorer and the author seems to get tired of details. The fact is that the last chapters of the book seem to be written quickly and without much love for detail. The entire story pops like a bubble of soap and there seems to be nothing inside it. And ending it saying something like: "my sister and I remain inseparable in spirit", is a kind of "whatever" ending.

At first you think that the book was written to heal family wounds or personal wounds and it all comes through as a naive childish attempt but then you stop and realize that Christopher is way in his forties by now and a grown up man but the book seems to have been written by a teenager with a head of a little boy. Very immature and disappointing.

Love,

Ivan

It will just be brief and short...

Hi I'm Lourdes Arroyo (oh, easy lang d ko kamag-anak si PGMA noh!) anyways.. I'm very much known as Dyoza sa net world... it all started way back 2003 when I came across a group of bicolano chatters who became my friends. Anyways, I am married to a wonderful man, and was blessed with a healthy, chubby, super cute na baby boy which we named after his daddy. Currently working my beautiful ass at USAutoparts Network Inc, (Philippines) for almost 5 years na, as a researcher....(nang ano? blogsites? pornsites? hahaha wh@tev@h!!!). Sidelines??? Ofcourse madami ako nyan as a mom it is a compulsary now a days... I am affliated with the following:

> Freelance Real Estate Agent

> Chinatrust (Your personal loan assistant)

> oDesk.com (Online part-time Job)

> Avon and Boardwalk (Hulugan Apparels and beauty churva)

> Breeder of Mini-Pin's (sell the puppies ofcourse)

Yun lang and ...

Wh@tev@h!!!

È luglio e fra un po' c´è luna piena, quindi è normale che la trombata sia un argomento che tira, sulla trombamicizia abbiamo discusso quel che serve, ora cambiamo argomento, ma anche no.

La Storia, almeno quella che sappiamo noi (quella scritta dai vincitori), c`insegna che il tradimento è sempre all´origine di guerre e disastri, è nella natura umana ma è meglio che sia occultato e dimenticato il più presto possibile, come la cenere sotto al tappeto. Eppure questo toglie a tutti qualcosa, la paura del dopo e l´imbarazzo del prima si rivelano ostacoli quasi sempre insormontabili, si vive la propria vita come fosse scritta in un destino divino al quale  è politicamente scorretto ribellarsi. Come segretario del Partito per Tutti ho il preciso dovere di porre termine a quest´ingiustizia.

Giuro che quando sarò sindaco di qualsiasi posto, il mio primo atto sarà l´istituzione della Festa della Ciavada Foresta, la festa della copula tra chiunque non sia legato tra legami socialmente riconosciuti, un giorno all´anno, anzi abbondiamo, facciamo un uìcchènd. La Festa della Ciavada Foresta sarà il giorno nel quale, in deroga a qualsiasi vincolo sia sentimentale che sociale, ognuno proverà le emozioni che ha solo immaginato, ognuno si toglierà il suo sfizio, ognuno si concederà una pausa godereccia in attesa della "persona giusta".

Ci vuole un posto? Bolzano. La Festa della Ciavada foresta si svolgerà sui Prati del Talvera e per l´occasione verranno usate le baracchette del Christkindlmarkt (il Mercatino di Natale), ovviamente attrezzate per l´occasione con la lampadina rossa che segna occupato.

Ci vuole una data? io a dire la verità una data ce l´avevo (l´idea mi frulla in testa da parecchio), era l´11 Luglio, il giorno in cui nel 1982 l´Italia divenne campione del Mondo, in quel giorno le ciavade foreste si sprecarono, qualcuno ne fece anche più d´una. Fatto sta che nel frattempo l´11 Luglio è diventato il compleanno della primogenita. Allora meglio spostare tutto e fare una roba tipo la Pasqua, la Festa della Ciavada Foresta è ufficialmente istituita per il uicched successivo o concomitante con la prima luna piena di Luglio.

Fidatevi, vedrete che alla fine ne verrà fuori una gran cosa, le prime edizioni saranno magari anche frenate dall´imbarazzo, ma poi diventerà una figata, il " facciamo insieme la Ficieffe?" sarà molto più interessante del "che fai a Capodanno?"

Fratelli e sorelle, la prima luna piena di Luglio è venerdì prossimo, e io ancora non sono sindaco di nessuna parte. Il primo che dice che viviamo nel migliore dei mondi possibili lo strangolo

E la piccola Ingrid (che ha visto la finale con i guerriglieri e gli altri ostaggi - non ci sono più le guerrillas di una volta, commenta il fazioso belga già citato...) parla del gesto di Zidane: "L'ho adorato. Credo che anch'io avrei fatto la stessa cosa! E me la sono presa con chi lo criticava..."

Per carità, anch'io sorridevo della zuccata contro Materazzi, (e mi son beccato degli insulti da antipatriottico mica da ridere) ma siccome sono cattivo nell'animo mi chiedo cosa ne pensa di queste affermazioni la Madonna di Lourdes, appena visitata (suppongo per grazia ricevuta) dalla neoliberata M.lle Ingrid ...

LOURDES - Vi abbiamo raccontato - cari amici del portale dei Papaboys - come questa edizone della Gmg 2008, sia veramente mondiale, e non solamente perchè si svolge in Australia, ma soprattutto perchè in contemporanea con il grande evento australiano si terranno centinaia di altre feste in tutta Europa ed anche in tutto il mondo. Oggi - 15 luglio - è ai nastri di partenza il grande evento preparato a Lourdes, dove Papa Benedetto si recherà in visita nella seconda settimana di settembre, dopo aver visitato Cagliari. L'obiettivo degli organizzatori era quello di VIVERE LA GIORNATA MONDIALE DELLA GIOVENTÚ attraverso momenti di preghiera, di catechesi e la trasmissione, su schermo gigante, delle celebrazioni principali come l'arrivo del Santo Padre a Sydney, la veglia del sabato sera, la messa pontificale della domenica; CELEBRARE il 150° anniversario delle apparizioni a LOURDES attraverso il Cammino del Giubileo, l'evocazione della 18ª ed ultima apparizione del 16 luglio, la Messa Internazionale, il Percorso Mariano; TESTIMONIARE ATTRAVERSO L'ARTE con la partecipazione di artisti e di gruppi di giovani musicisti cristiani, che daranno concerti, e animeranno le celebrazioni liturgiche. Non vi sono dubbi che l'obiettivo dell'organizzazione è stato rispettato in pieno, visto che da questo pomeriggio i più di 5000 giovani che sono in Francia inizieranno a celebrare la Giornata mondiale di Sydney in perfetta armonia con ifratelli e le sorelle dall'altra parte del mondo.

Al tempo delle Apparizioni, Bernardetta aveva 14 anni. Quando partì da Lourdes per Nevers aveva 22 anni. E’ forse per questo che gli adolescenti e i giovani si sentono così bene a Lourdes ? Come a Taizé, come nelle GMG, a Lourdes i giovani, possono incontrarsi, parlarsi, osservare un clima di preghiera e di fraternità, su scala universale. A Lourdes trovano l’aiuto della presenza della Madonna, di tanti altri cristiani di ogni età e quella dei malati. Ma i giovani non si chiudono quando percepiscono che sono positivamente attesi e accolti da persone e da un luogo propizio: Maria li attende e la Grotta accoglie le loro speranze.

Leggi tutto il servizio su

http://www.papaboys.it/news/read.asp?id=1570 

En el camino, los peregrinos se detuvieron en Zaragoza y en Jaca, donde pudieron participar de la Santa Misa en la Basílica del Pilar y en la Catedral de Jaca.

En Lourdes visitaron los lugares designados por el Obispado de Tarbes-Lourdes para ganar el jubileo.

Es visita obligada la participación en la procesión de las antorchas y la procesión con el Santísimo Sacramento, ambas fueron ocasión de muchas gracias para todos los peregrinos. También fue muy bendecido el Vía Crucis, rezado con mucho fervor por todos los participantes.

Fueron días de intenso convivio, mucha oración y acción de gracias al Señor por todo lo que nos concede a través de su Madre Santísima.

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