Anne Bouey

"The Australian's bizarre obituary of bestselling novelist Colleen McCullough has received international attention for its sexist second sentence: "Plain of feature and certainly overweight, she was, nevertheless, a woman of wit and warmth."  McCullough's The Thorn Birds sold over 30 million copies worldwide, making her the most successful author in Australian literature.  So for your pleasure I have written a few other obituaries in the style of The Australian." - Anne Bouey

Jean-Paul Sartre Paris, April 15 None of Jean-Paul Sartre's glasses suited his face and a wandering left eye made an unbearable impression. The chain smoking existentialist reeked of tobacco... - Anne Bouey

Wacky Taiwanese animated news report. - Anne Bouey

Man...if the Madden games were like that, I'd own ALL of them. - Anika

Bump for a game preview! - Anne Bouey

Thought Melly might be interested in this. - Anne Bouey

Happy New Year, Anne! :) - Jenny H.

Happy new year, Anne! - Maitani

Happy new year, Anne! - Stephen Mack

Happy new year :) - Eivind

Happy New Year, Anne. - Micah

Happy new year, Anne! :) - ma∟ıĸ

So very tasty! - Anne Bouey

Yay! - Jennifer Dittrich

Merry Christmas! - Rodfather

Merry Christmas! - Son of Groucho

Is this your photo? It's near you? I love whoever did this :-D - Starmama

It's in my neighborhood, Starmama. We get lots of deer around here still. :) - Anne Bouey

I love this stuff. I saw one like it near Princeton in the 1980's. - bentley

"Irene Mecchi has her phone at the ready, in case a call comes in from “Peter Pan Live!” rehearsals and she’s called upon to do a quick rewrite. The San Francisco native, a graduate of St. Rose Academy and UC Berkeley who splits time between her hometown and Los Angeles, needs to be on alert with NBC’s Dec. 4 broadcast only 10 days away. “It’s phenomenal,” says Mecchi, whose credits include “The Lion King” (stage and screen), “Brave” and the upcoming “Strange Magic.” “It’s rehearsed like a Broadway musical. It’s a three-ring circus. We have an extraordinary director, Rob Ashford, who has many pieces of the puzzle working at the same time; an extraordinary stage manager that keeps everyone on time; and a level of professionalism that I hope audiences will so respect.” If ever a project was a dream come true, “Peter Pan Live!” is it for Mecchi. At one time, she considered becoming a stage director or character actor. It was local actor Joy Carlin who suggested Mecchi consider writing when she studied with her at ACT. Long before that, Mecchi was crazy about musical theater, ever since her mother — to whom she’s dedicating “Peter Pan Live!” — took her and her sister to see a touring production of “The Sound of Music” when she was a child. “I was bitten by the musical theater bug. Not as a performer, I just enjoyed it. So I would read the Pink section every Sunday looking for shows that were coming to town,” she says. After the ratings success last year of the live broadcast of “The Sound of Music,” NBC Entertainment Chairman Robert Greenblatt, a musical theater buff, decided to make an annual event of airing musical classics live. Mecchi first worked up a draft of “Peter Pan” with executive producers Craig Zadon and Neil Meron, with whom she’d previously collaborated on a 1999 television adaptation of “Annie,” back in 2006. At the time, no network was interested. But now the time is right." - Anne Bouey

Haha, Jessie. ;-P - Anne Bouey

That was the third one and strongest today. - Anne Bouey

Yikes! Didn't feel anything here, though. Unsure if cats acting weird because of earthquake activity or because they're cats. - vicster.

Happy Thanksgiving to you & yours, Anne! - Corinne L

Happy Thanksgiving, Anne! - Tamara J. B.

You too, pretty Anne - MoTO Boychick Devil

"Tens of thousands of San Francisco commuters have probably taken a few moments to ponder this simple statement, which has been posted near the operator’s station of every Muni bus and streetcar since the early 1960s. The message is simultaneously friendly and forbidding, inviting yet indifferent, personable yet coldly professional." - Anne Bouey

I need that shirt, badly - esorciccio a.d.

"Charm Villa is a Taiwanese company that has created something we are surprised hasn’t been done before – a goldfish shaped teabag. While these delightful teabags may not look like much at first glance, once they are submerged in a glass or bowl of hot water, they bear a striking resemblence to the real thing." - Anne Bouey

mee too Shannon, cat before fish - djangol judas

Excellent! Pour one out for my lovelife! - Spidra Webster

Did you do your own makeup? - Jessie

:))) - Jenny H.

http://www.standunited.org/petitio... The FriendFeed team : Don Not Shut Down the FriendFeed! - ‌‌ ‌‌گرگان نت ‌‌‌ (✓)

"Staff, dressed in red rain ponchos, marked the launch of the Royal British Legion's Gloucestershire poppy appeal by forming the 38m (125ft) poppy. The 1,308 civilian staff were joined by black-uniformed Royal Navy personnel, who made up the centre of the poppy, and military personnel who created the 28m-long (92ft)stalk. A GCHQ spokesperson said: "Thanks to military planning and some loud hailers, it took just over an hour to get everyone into position." The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is one of the three UK intelligence and security agencies, alongside MI5 and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)." - Anne Bouey

Five-second rule? :) - Anne Bouey

Heh! - Stephen Mack

"According to a new study, the hallowed practice of bedtime reading is falling by the wayside — and that some quarter of a million children in the UK do not own a single book. This is a terrible shame, as regular bedtime stories have been shown to increase children’s performance in school, and are also awesome and can help create strong lifetime bonds, both with literature and with parents. So, from the peanut gallery of those who loved being read to (and still wouldn’t say no to a bedtime story): 50 books that every parent should read to their child. For the purposes of this list, we’re only considering books aimed primarily at children under 10 (according to the School Library Journal), which means you won’t find outstanding children’s chapter books like The Hobbit, A Wrinkle in Time, Patricia C. Wrede’s Enchanted Forest Chronicles, or C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia here, nor will you find mention of your favorite bespectacled wizard — the idea being that these are books kids are more likely to read for themselves, without your pesky interference. Of course, many parents will want to read these aloud as well, but with any luck, your kids will be sneaking the book open and reading ahead long after you’ve gone to bed. We’ve also limited ourselves, for sanity’s sake, to one book per author. And finally, though these are, in Flavorwire’s estimation, 50 books every parent should read to their child, they are not the only 50 — so add any personal favorites in the comments!" - Anne Bouey

http://www.standunited.org/petitio... The FriendFeed team : Don Not Shut Down the FriendFeed! - ‌‌ ‌‌گرگان نت ‌‌‌ (✓)

"Forget Colorado, stoners. The real frontier of narcotic edibles is in Shaanxi province, China. A restaurant owner there just confessed to police that to keep customers coming back, he had infused his noodles with 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) of pulverized poppy buds—which can contain narcotics like morphine and codeine—that he bought in August for 600 yuan ($98). Apparently, it worked; the restaurant boss said customer numbers leapt (link in Chinese) after he started using his “special” seasoning. Chinese authorities say doses were enough to addict frequent diners, reports the South China Morning Post (paywall). Police launched an investigation only after one of the restaurant’s repeat customers tested positive for opiates in a routine urine screen. But Zhang, the shop owner, wasn’t the first Chinese restaurateur to strike upon this idea—not by a long shot. An investigative report in 2011 found that illegal poppy products are available in Shaanxi markets—with restaurant owners being the prime customers. In the opiate dining market, however, Shanghai gives Shaanxi a run for its money. Just last May, a Shanghai restaurant owner was sentenced to 10 months in jail for zesting up soups with morphine. In March 2014, police jailed Shanghai restaurant owners for using Narceine, another poppy-shell opiate, to dope up a famous crayfish dish called xiaolongxia. In 2010, three Shanghai hotpot restaurants (link in Chinese) were shuttered for adding opiates." - Anne Bouey

http://www.standunited.org/petitio... The FriendFeed team : Don Not Shut Down the FriendFeed! - ‌‌ ‌‌گرگان نت ‌‌‌ (✓)

I only learned this when I saw a banknote with his signature during a visit with the kids to the Children's Discovery Museum in San Jose in 1990. - Anne Bouey

Oh, Jessie, your handwriting was never as neat and legible as Gerald's. ;-p - Anne Bouey

"If you have ever owned a cat, you know that you simply can’t turn your back on them. They will get into everything you own – even if you try and place it somewhere you think they couldn’t possibly reach. Here are 25 of our favorite moments where these lovable piles of purr turned into four-pawed agents of chaos." - Anne Bouey

"How can something small stand tall? By being the shortest of its kind on the planet – like Lilieput, a Napa house cat who now has a place in the Guinness World Records book. Standing but 5.25 inches (13.34 centimeters) from the floor to her shoulders, the 10-year-old black-and-mocha Munchkin, who is owned by Christel Young, is listed as the world’s shortest domestic feline in the Guinness book’s latest edition, published Sept. 9. Young first contacted editorial staff for the annual reference book of superlatives last year, believing Lilieput to be closer to the ground than Fizz Girl, whom the publication had measured at just under 6 inches (15 cm) in 2011. After a Napa veterinarian measured Lilieput in July 2013, Young shared her pet’s story with the Napa Valley Register, though Guinness publishers did not allow her to officially confirm the record until the book’s publication last month. Lilieput’s place in a bestselling book alongside the tallest buildings, fastest eaters and all manner of the world’s extremes is a far cry from the stretch of Old Sonoma Road where Young first discovered her as an abandoned castoff eight years ago. After adopting and naming her new four-pawed housemate, Young, a professional pet-sitter, stuck by her as the cat endured a near-fatal pregnancy, the August earthquake, and even scorn from passers-by she said belittled her ankle-high pet as a “freak” or “weirdo.”" - Anne Bouey

Tortie! - Pete's Got To Go

"Strangers who once may have thought the half-pint cat a misfit now give her a friendly welcome, Young said – possibly with an assist from videos of Lilieput her owner has posted to YouTube since gaining Guinness World Records’ seal of approval. “I’m getting more astonishment from people like, ‘Oh, look how cute!’ or ‘She’s adorable!’ I’m getting a lot nicer comments about her,” said the 59-year-old Young, who also shares her Napa home with two other cats. Quite a few know of the record now. “I get more comments on Facebook every day, people saying ‘Oh my God, is that your cat?’” Recognition of her pet’s uniqueness has come not a moment too soon for Young, a 35-year Napa resident, who worried about being able to confirm Lilieput’s record-breaking smallness in the animal’s lifetime. “She’s 10 years old now, and that’s actually near the maximum age for a Munchkin. She’s started getting pancreatitis. She’s moving a bit slower. … I don’t want her to go through any stress. She’s being a good pet; that’s all she’s really wanted to be and that’s all she is.” - Anne Bouey

Lovely. :) - Jenny H.

Beautiful! - Tamara J. B.

(sorry for the OT: some FF users in Italy report they are no longer able to access FF via facebook or twitter login, and password recovery doesn't work either, so they are effectively being shut out. I remember reading that you had direct access to people that can fix stuff on friendfeed, back when search stopped working, so maybe you can help this time as well?) - naltro

"The head of a $2 trillion investment fund has revealed he quit his job after his 10-year-old daughter wrote him a note listing 22 special moments in her life he had missed. California-based Mohamed El-Erian shocked the financial world when he announced his resignation as chief executive of PIMCO in January 2014. Mr El-Erian, who made $100 million 2011 alone, said in a recent essay for Worth that his wife and daughter were at the heart of his decision to quit." - Anne Bouey

http://www.standunited.org/petitio... The FriendFeed team : Don Not Shut Down the FriendFeed! - ‌‌ ‌‌گرگان نت ‌‌‌ (✓)

Hilarious! - Anne Bouey

I love this. - Kristin

It really is a brilliant bit of writing/VO/editing. - Spidra Webster

The chipmunk, puffins, otter and MJ tribute killed. "I'm going to call it, 'the iPod'." HAHAHAHA - Anika

Not really complaining! We desperately need the rain. - Anne Bouey

SOON. - Steven Perez

"It's known that kids say the darndest things...but this also holds true with their tears. Most times, they'll cry about absolutely nothing and everytime it's absolutely hilarious." - Anne Bouey

http://www.standunited.org/petitio... The FriendFeed team : Don Not Shut Down the FriendFeed! - ‌‌ ‌‌گرگان نت ‌‌‌ (✓)

"This beautiful, and classically trained ballet troop did something a little out of the ordinary to keep their audience guessing What a hysterical way to have fun at the ballet, and really enjoy your audience!" - Anne Bouey

Many, many years ago, I saw a ballet on PBS called something like Ballet of Errors, with several mixed pairs of dancers. I've been wanting to watch it again ever since. This was better than the memory of the other one. I'm happy now. - bentley

Delighted to add to your day, Betsy. :) - Anne Bouey

"“I didn’t have any eggs, so I replaced them with a banana-chia-flaxseed pulse. It turned out terrible; this recipe is terrible.” “I don’t have any of these ingredients at home. Could you rewrite this based on the food I do have in my house? I’m not going to tell you what food I have. You have to guess.” “I don’t eat white flour, so I tried making it with raw almonds that I’d activated by chewing them with my mouth open to receive direct sunlight, and it turned out terrible. This recipe is terrible.” “Could you please give the metric weight measurements, and sometime in the next twenty minutes; I’m making this for a dinner party and my guests are already here.” “i dont have an oven, can i still make this? please reply immediately” “Does anyone know if you can make this ahead of time and freeze it?” “Have you thought about making a sugar-free version of this?” “Can you give us a calorie breakdown for this?” “I followed this to the letter, except I substituted walnuts and tofu for the skirt steak, ditched the cheese entirely, and replaced the starch with a turnip salad. Turned out great. My seven-year-old boys have never seen a dessert and I’ve convinced them that walnut-and-turnip salad is “cake.” Thanks for the recipe!”" - Anne Bouey

Hilarious. - Christina Pikas

"A series of earthquakes struck the North Bay this morning. The strongest was a 3.9 magnitude earthquake that struck 1 mile northwest of American Canyon at 5:33 a.m. It was followed by a 2.7 magnitude quake at 5:35 a.m; a 2.8 earthquake struck at 6:12 a.m. and a 3.0 earthquake struck at 6:45 a.m. There have been no reports of damage or injuries. Napa Valley remains on high alert after Sunday's historic magnitude 6.0 earthquake. City inspections are now coming to an end, with recovery expected to start today." - Anne Bouey

:-( - vicster.

The damage I'm seeing is so bad, it looks like too many places were never retrofitted. - Anika

بیا اینم 3.9 ریشتر بوده - خراسانی

Still having them? That's unsettling. =( - The Other Yvonne

I hope and pray no one was hurt and that you're ok! - Halil

Looks like it died with a smile on its face, though. - Spidra Webster

#LOLSpidra - t-ra: sentimental gorgon