Miss Dior Cherie: The Model or The Actress?

Maryna Linchuk in 2008

Natalie Portman in 2011

Both directed by Sofia Coppola.

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Diana Wynne Jones (1934-2011)

Rest in peace, Mistress of Magic.
(Anybody who holds a cat like that knows old magic.)

Thank you for the dreams and fantasies and… possibilities.

Go to:
Diana Wynne Jones Wikipedia Page
Diana Wynne Jones Official Website

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Give to Japan IV

Read also:
Give to Japan I
Give to Japan II
Give to Japan III

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Give to Japan III

So I’ve been reading this blog for a year, maybe two.

Ai is Japanese. She writes about music for a living. She blogs (mostly in English) with lovely photographs of what she cooks and eats. Sometimes, she features her very adorable niece and nephew.

Her parents live in Fukushima. But her niece and nephew are staying with her now.

She is still blogging. Go take a look.

it will stop raining*

Read also:
Give to Japan I
Give to Japan II
Give to Japan IV

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Give to Japan II

If you’re in Singapore, these are the ways you can give to Japan.

1. Online sales
Many online stores are donating part or even all of their proceeds to Japan. Crafters, designers, artists and photographers are contributing their work for sale. Buy from them, help Japan.

2. Singapore Red Cross
If you prefer to donate directly, SRC accepts

SMS donations
Every SMS you send to 75772 donates $50 to Japan.

Bank transfer donations
For OCBC donations, refer to SRC’s Annex 1 for the user guide.
For DBS donations, refer to www.dbs.com.sg for information.
For UOB donations, refer to www.uob.com.sg for details.

Cheque donations
Cheques are to be made payable to the “Singapore Red Cross Society.” At the back of the cheque, please indicate:

i) Name
ii) IC/Passport No.
iii) Address and Contact Number
iv) “Japan Disaster 2011”

Cash donations
Walk in to 15 Penang Lane from
Mondays to Fridays 9.30am-9pm or
Saturdays, Sundays and Public Holidays 9.30am – 6pm.

All donations are non tax-deductable.

3. Cold Storage, Market Place, Giant, Guardian, Shop N Save, 7-Eleven
They are partnering with Singapore Red Cross to raise funds for Japan. Look for collection tins at the cashiers.

4. Popular, Harris, {prologue}, UrbanWrite
Singapore Red Cross donation tins are also available at all stores.

5. Takashimaya
If you’re going downtown this weekend, Takashimaya is collecting cash and cheque donations on behalf of Singapore Red Cross. Follow SRC’s format for cheque donations. Donation boxes are at Level 1 Main Entrance and The Atrium.

6. Via corporations
Some corporations are matching donations dollar for dollar. Google to find one you are comfortable with.

Read also:
Give to Japan I
Give to Japan III
Give to Japan IV

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Give to Japan I

Retail billionaire Tadashi Yanai, founder and president of Uniqlo’s parent company Fast Retailing, will donate 1 billion yen ($12.2 million) of his personal fortune towards relief efforts in northeastern Japan. An additional 400 million yen ($4.9 million) will come from the company coffers… Uniqlo will also distribute coats, jeans, towels and 300,000 pairs of its Heattech thermal underwear to victims, representing an additional $8.6 million of aid.

[Source]

That’s USD$25.6 million altogether.

In contrast, Singapore — a country, as opposed to a retail store — has donated $0.5 million.

So here’s how the cookie crumbles:

Haiti humanitarian relief aid — $50 000
Japan humanitarian relief aid — $500 000
Singapore Presidential salary — $890 700

Give to Japan. Because we can.

Read also:
Give to Japan II
Give to Japan III
Give to Japan IV

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And there are 15 days of CNY!

CNY Day 5

BFF Y was back from Perth. She brought her little girl K over for CNY breakfast.

I could hardly bear to let her leave. Is it going to be another 2 years before we see each other again?!

I miss her.

CNY Day 11

Early 元宵 dinner with my family over the weekend.

Last 鱼生 for the year.

And 汤圆!

Mr Fluffy Hubby’s green and white.

I got green and pink! 2 pinks! I couldn’t stop laughing. 😀

CNY Day 14

My parents asked us over for a simple dinner at the cafe outside their house. And then 元宵汤圆 again! Homecooked by my mother this time. Pink and white stuffed with peanut, sesame and red bean paste. We had 3 big ones each, even the little girl!

Mr Fluffy Hubby’s rabbits

Last day of Chinese New Year — Day 15. The day after, we cut open our Power Pomelo and ate it up! It was yummy! Happy CNY!

Read also:
Happy Chinese New Year!
CNY Preparations
CNY Celebration in School
Reunion Dinner
CNY Day 1
CNY Day 2
CNY Day 3
CNY Day 4

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CNY Day 3

Most memorable moment: She polished off an entire plate of egg tarts!

Lunch with Mr Fluffy Hubby’s father at the hotel next door. After lunch, we forced him to go over to our place where we made him watch the DVD of her annual school concert. He left with a big bag filled with bak kwa, pineapple tarts and mandarin oranges.

Dinner with BFF S at the the shopping centre opposite. At the restaurant, I pressurized her to order my favourite pizza. Back at our place, I insisted that she sample all our CNY goodies. It was almost midnight by the time I allowed her to leave.

Egg tarts and BFFs rule!

Read also:
Happy Chinese New Year!
CNY Preparations
CNY Celebration in School
Reunion Dinner
CNY Day 1
CNY Day 2
CNY Day 4
And there are 15 days of CNY!

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I’ve so got this World Cup thing

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More controversy about vaccinations for babies & young children

Lots of vaccines at once fine

NEW YORK – PARENTS can rest assured that getting kids their vaccine shots on time will not hurt their mental skills later on, doctors said on Monday.

‘A lot of parents are concerned that children receive too many vaccines too soon,’ said Dr. Michael J. Smith, of the University of Louisville School of Medicine in Kentucky.

Some parents skip recommended vaccines out of fear of autism, for instance, and some choose to space out shots. Although there is no evidence that would be safer, Smith said, he wanted to study the issue to address parents’ concerns.

So he and a colleague tapped into data from more than 1,000 preteen kids who had undergone extensive psychological tests of IQ, memory, attention, and language. Then they divided the kids into those who had received all their shots on time in their first year of life and those who got them late, or only got some.

‘Those children who were late, they never did better in any analysis,’ said Smith, whose study is published in the journal Pediatrics. In fact, when comparing kids who had received the largest number of vaccines as toddlers against those who had received the smallest, the first group scored higher on 15 out of 42 tests.

Earlier studies based on the same data had shown that the mercury compound thimerosal, which was used as a preservative in vaccines until recently, had no impact on kids’ mental skills. But until now, nobody had studied whether getting several vaccinations in a short time could have negative consequences, for instance by overloading the immune system, as many parents believe, according to Smith. He found that receiving as many as 10 different shots – including flu and whooping cough – had no impact. — REUTERS

(Source: The Straits Times)

UK bans autism study doctor

LONDON – BRITAIN’S top medical group ruled on Monday that a doctor who claimed autism was linked to a childhood vaccine can no longer practice in the UK.

The General Medical Council also found Dr Andrew Wakefield guilty of ‘serious professional misconduct’ as it struck him from the country’s medical register. The council was investigating how Dr Wakefield and his colleagues carried out their research, not the science behind it.

When the research was published a dozen years ago, British parents abandoned the measles vaccine in droves, leading to a resurgence of the disease. Vaccination rates have never recovered and there are outbreaks of measles in the UK every year.

In 1998, Dr Wakefield and colleagues published a study alleging a link between autism and the vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella. Most of the study’s authors renounced its conclusions and it was retracted by the journal in February. Many other studies have been conducted since then and none have found a connection between autism and the vaccines. Dr Wakefield moved to the US several years ago and the ruling does not affect his right to practice medicine there or in other countries. In 2005, Dr Wakefield founded a nonprofit autism center in Austin, Texas, but quit earlier this year.

In January, Britain’s medical council ruled that Dr Wakefield and two other doctors acted unethically and showed a ‘callous disregard’ for the children in their study. The medical body said Dr Wakefield took blood samples from children at his son’s birthday party, paying them 5 pounds (S$10.13) each and later joked about the incident.

In a statement then, Dr Wakefield said the medical council’s investigation was an effort to ‘discredit and silence’ him to ‘shield the government from exposure on the (measles) vaccine scandal.’ In Monday’s ruling, the medical council said Dr Wakefield abused his position as a doctor and ‘brought the medical profession into disrepute.’ — AP

(Source: The Straits Times)

I guess the burning question would be:

What about all the testimonies of parents who have been speaking out for years insisting that their kids regressed into autism after the vaccinations? What about Katie Wright? What about Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete on The Oprah Winfrey Show?

I don’t know.

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