Just wanted my readers to know that my stories will continue starting Monday, March 5th! I apologize to everyone -- the doggone winter cold just kept being passed back and forth to me and my kids. We're finally on the road to recovery and the blog will resume shortly!

In the meantime, I've interviewed Kevin Bacon re: his SixDegrees.org site, Stefanie Powers (remember her from Hart to Hart? she's been doing amazing work for animals), musician Joyce Cooling and her connection to mental health and I'll have more charities and information for you soon on events taking place (hopefully even later today), so stay tuned and stay healthy!

lisa

At the Oscars

It was great, seeing John Travolta and Tom Cruise at the Oscars. What elegant, well spoken, distinguished men, both of them.

A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Jonathan Taylor Thomas

Jonathan Taylor Thomas is a former child star best known for his role as Randy Taylor on the hit 1990s TV sitcom Home Improvement. Thomas was one of three child actors in the Taylor family. The other two were fellow washed-up celebrities Taran Noah Smith and Tachary Ty Bryan. Thomas was the "heart-throb" of the three child stars. It is kind of funny because only in the fantasy world of a TV

Celebs Award Human Rights Watchdogs

Actors Kirstie Alley, Kelly Preston, Priscilla Presley, Marisol Nichols (24) and Anne Archer (Patriot Games, Fatal Attraction) awarded mental health industry whistleblowers who have risked their professional careers to expose dangerous psychiatric practices and warn the public about the dangers and fraudulent marketing of psychiatric drugs.

A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

"I love sucking ass"

"Dave" sent me a photo of his friend's tattoo about two weeks ago with:

A couple of days ago a friend of mine got a tattoo, and upon asking him what it meant, he told me it was a "secret". I know my friend isn't the brightest of stars and I suspect that he had help translating it after he got tattooed and found out it meant "I love sucking ass" or something similar, so I would REALLY love to know what it really means, and since he can barely speak English, let alone Japanese.



At first I thought 举节际乐 (traditional format: 擧節際樂) was some kind of idiom. When my own research turned up fruitless, I then forward it to Alan and he replied with:

What does this jumble supposedly mean? I have no idea. This means nothing in Japanese. Except for perhaps 举 would be recognizable as a variant of 拳.

Even looking at the traditional forms, the characters would be recognized but I don't think that any Japanese person would discern any meaning other than the meanings of the individual characters.

What is this supposed to be? I wonder if the owner of the tattoo simply picked the characters at random.

The whole thing could be backwards (or actually inverted bottom to top), so it should really be read 乐际节举.

This is all I can guess now, but it is really strange that the tattoo would be written inverted even though the characters themselves appear to be fine. Maybe the tattooist was working from a computer-generated font that was cut apart and re-stacked incorrectly like the case of Kimberly.

I tend to agree with Alan and this could be just another case of gibberish been tattooed on one's body. It has even happened to CIA's "Kryptos".

It's time to grow up Ms. Spears

CCHR Event

There were Scientology celebrities galore at the 38th Anniversary of CCHR this weekend.

Four very deserving and courageous human rights advocates were awarded for their work to expose psychiatric crimes.



A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Psychs Busted

Look at this great picture of Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley and Priscilla Presley at the CCHR 38th Anniversary Benefit Gala.

What an incredible evening this was.

I was completely inspired by the awardees and their courage in the face of real threat and harm. You don't take on the psychiatric/pharmaceutical consortium lightly. If they are (and the are) such criminals that they would falsify the facts that their "anti-psychotics"cause psychosis in children and teens, thereby killing children who go crazy on their drugs and commit suicide, what else would they do to protect their billions of dollars in revenue?

I have seen first-hand the kind of character assassination they and their minions carry out, and watched as people who trust the media pass these lies along.

Call it what you will, the Scientology magazine, called FREEDOM and Citizens Commission on Human Rights blew the whistle on Ely Lilly in 1989 when the adverse reports on Prozac started rolling in. The pressure Lily put on media to ruin our reputation is now a matter of public record. And nearly 20 years later the the truth finally surfaces. THEY KNEW THESE DRUGS CAUSED VIOLENCE AND SUICIDE AND WITHHELD IT FROM THE PUBLIC!

Make your own decisions on that one.

A culture is only as great as its dreams, and its dreams are dreamed by artists. — Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard

Help Wanted: Master's Thesis on Chinese Character Tattoos

Several days ago, Mariah Miller contacted me seeking help for her Master's thesis.



I am looking for individuals with Chinese character tattoos to fill out a short questionnaire for my master's thesis.

I am a student in the Global Studies Programme run jointly by the German University of Freiburg, the South African University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and the Indian Jawaharlal Nehru University. This is an interdisciplinary program focused on the study of globalization in either the political, governmental or cultural aspects.

I am writing my MA thesis on Chinese character tattoos. For my study, I need as many respondents from as many locations across the world as possible. I would be very grateful to anyone willing to fill out the questionnaire and/or pass the word about my study on to their friends.

Thanks!


If you are willing to participate, please complete Ms. Miller's questionnaire posted above and email it to her at the following address:

Haley Joel Osment

Haley Joel Osment is a former child star best known for his role in 1999 smash hit movie The Sixth Sense. He has also appeared in other major motion pictures such as Pay It Forward and Artificial Intelligence: AI.I first saw The Sixth Sense when it hit the theatres in 1999 and thought it was a great movie. Osment was perfect in his role as a child with an extraordinary ability to see dead people

Hi everyone....

A little update from me... I'm around... just haven't posted in a while because I'm extremely busy with work... plus I think I'm totally burnt out on celebrities. I'm sick of them all.

So I hope to come back soon with a post here and there.

Take care and thanks for visiting!

~staci

Celestial Navigations - Valentine

Celestial Navigations is difficult to quickly describe so I'll call it a "band' to keep things simple. The members are all Scientologists, probably the best know are actor Geoffrey Lewis (father of Juliette Lewis) and musician/composer David Campbell (father of Beck and worked on over 400 gold and platinum albums).

The music accompanied stories they produce are magical and especially for Valentine's Day they have created a new story called (appropriately) Valentine. You can hear it on their MySpace site: Celestial Navigations - Valentine. Enjoy!

"Bugs?"

Professional English-Japanese translator Alan Siegrist writes:

Hi Tian,

OK, so I was looking over the kanji tattoos at Bmezine.com again (yes, it is getting addictive), and I found this picture:


http://www.bmezine.com/tattoo/A70121/high/bmepb441572.jpg

The first thing I thought of when I saw all of these guys with the character 昆 on their shoulders was the combination 昆虫, but I couldn’t for the life of me think of why they would want to tattoo themselves with the word for bug or insect.

Then I thought it might be a Chinese thing, so I looked it up in a Chinese dictionary. I think that 昆仲 or 昆季 can mean “brothers.” Is that the first association a Chinese person would make upon seeing the character 昆? Or would you think of 昆虫 also? Even if the meaning of “brother” is right, why would they use only 昆 which means only “elder brother”?

If they really wanted to do a guy thing and tattoo themselves with the Chinese or Japanese for “brothers” wouldn’t 兄弟 be a better choice?

Anyway, I know you must be busy, but I still appreciate the work you put into Hanzismatter.com.

Best,


Alan


昆 may have once meant 'brother.' However, just like any other language, its meaning has changed with time. Similar to the word 'gay' no longer exclusively meaning 'happy' in modern day English.

La Presse

link & pdf

In Jan. 31 issue of La Presse, there was an article briefly mentioned Hanzi Smatter:

"Et il y a bien pire. Tian, jeune blogueur chinois aujourd’hui installé en Arizona, s’amuse justement à répertorier les tatouages les plus ridicules. Et il n’en manque pas. Sur son site (www.hanzismatter.com), qu’il alimente depuis deux ans, il a collectionné 400 perles. Parmi elles, mentionnons le tatouage d’une Américaine : « folle diarrhée ». Aïe !"

Since I do not understand French, reader Dimitri translated the paragraph for me:

"There is worst. Tian, a young Chinese blogger, now living in Arizona is having fun documenting the most ridiculous tattoos. And there is no lack of it. On his site, on which he has been working for two years, he collected 400 gems. Amongst them, the tattoo of a young female American: "Crazy diarrhea". Ouch !"

RIP: Anna Nicole Smith ~ you'll be missed

Chris deRose

Chris deRose: Last Chance for Animals



Last year, I was flipping through the TV channels looking for something interesting to watch when I tuned into an HBO documentary called “Dealing Dogs.” Watching this documentary was such an emotional experience for me – I wondered why I was watching such a movie that would break my heart when I was just looking for something fun to watch and yet I couldn’t turn it off. And I was glad I didn’t. I cried so much during this documentary and the impact of what I saw stayed with me for a long time. I learned so much.


According to HBO, four years in the making, DEALING DOGS follows the undercover investigation of Martin Creek Kennel by the animal rights group Last Chance for Animals. A young man who goes by the name of "Pete" in the film wore a hidden camera while he worked a low- level job hosing kennels at the dog dealer. Over the course of six months, Pete secretly filmed activities at Martin Creek Kennel, including the beating and shooting of dogs, and recorded footage of animals that were left to languish in their kennels and suffered from malnourishment, life-threatening disease and injury, among other abuses. Dog corpses are shown piled up on the property and in trenches after being butchered for their organs.


Recently, I had the honor of speaking at length with Chris deRose, who founded Last Chance for Animals in 1984. Last Chance For Animals has its roots in fighting and exposing the inherent cruelty of vivisection. In the organization's early years, DeRose led teams of dedicated activists employing non-violent strategies modeled after social movements led by such leaders as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.



He also wrote In Your Face: From Actor to Animal Activist and was the recipient of the 1997 Courage of Conscience International Peace Award.


Why did you start Last Chance for Animals?


I never had a dog or a cat, but I don’t see the difference between caring for a person and an animal. I was in an acting workshop years ago and a dog walked into the class. I was afraid he’d get hit by traffic, so I kept him, fed him and brought him to the pound the next day. I didn’t want the responsibility, so I signed the papers. The dog put his paws on the cage and I decided I was going to keep the dog. I always felt that animals have intelligence. The lady said I had already signed the papers, but another guy said he’d keep the dog for me. I felt relieved until he picked it up by the neck. I (went after him). The cops came and I was told to leave and they wouldn’t press charges. I started to realize that these dogs were orphans, like me, with four legs.
I was about three years into (protecting animals) and I was going into labs and photographing and documenting what I saw in these labs. This is when I started getting into the whole vivisection thing – (originally the surgical cutting of a living animal in scientific research; often used today as a synonym for any type of animal) and vivisection if the blackest of all evils.

Chris protested and has been arrested numerous times for his protests. And then, last year, the Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act almost changed everything.


Last year I learned about the Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act. It basically says that if we are protesting a facility that has anything to do with animals and they say with we are interfering with that economics or enterprise of that business, we are violating this act. When I heard about this I felt defeated – how could our fighting for our animal’s rights be construed as a terrorist act?


(Last year around the time that Chris and I spoke, the Animal Enterprise Terrorist Act was introduced in Congress, but thankfully never became law.)


So, on January 19th, Chris continued his protests and held one against vivisection on the UCLA campus Friday, January 19th. In a release about the event Chris says, “In 1998 LCA was responsible for exposing the horrors of the UCLA animal research laboratories on national TV. The footage was broadcast all over the country via CNN and other news outlets. Almost 20 years later nothing has changed, the same horrors still exist. The student population of UCLA should be ashamed at what goes on in their research labs. UCLA has been abusing animals in the name of science for far too long. We ask that the student population and concerned citizens take a stand against vivisection. Do it for the animals!"


We protested Cedar Sinai and I’ve been arrested seven times, but UCLA is three times larger than when we started to protest and nothing more is being done about it. Americans are still complacent about this.


As seen in the HBO documentary, Chris doesn’t give up. “Last Chance for Animals stays on an issue until we put people in prison,” he says. In the 1980s and 1990s, LCA has worked on virtually every animal rights issue, including farming, fur and animals in entertainment. LCA's primary focuses are vivisection, pet theft, fur, and circuses.


You said Americans are complacent, but how do we get involved?


The truth of the matter is there is so much to do. There are a lot of mean people out there. I finally realized it that congressional leaders don’t care about the animals, it’s all about the big industry -- all you have to do is look and see. We have pretty serious problems here.
First, you can get on our national alert list. You can write to people and become involved. Find your own ways. Do demonstrations, set up tables. People underestimate themselves and think “it’s just me.” It’s been a grueling 29 years, but it’s no more grueling than what these animals went through in a lab. The fear of what they go through, the hopelessness. I don’t look at the physical pain, I see their fear. It’s scary when you look at the faces in the lab and see who are going to be slaughtered. Their eyes are bulging because they can hear and smell what’s going on. Pigs, cows, chickens know what’s going to go on too. Help by not eating or wearing them. Factory farm animals suffer tremendously.


Last year, Last Chance for Animals (LCA) lead the protest at the Japanese Embassy in Los Angeles to demand Japan stop the brutal and inhumane slaughter of dolphins. Each year from October through March, in small towns across Japan, thousands of dolphins are confined and brutally killed. These slaughters take place in fishing towns including Taiji, Iki, Ito, Futo, and Izu. During those months, Japanese fishermen herd whole families and pods of dolphins, porpoises, and small whales into shallow bays and mercilessly hack them to death. Most of these animals are sold as meat in restaurants and stores, while others are destined for captivity.


Horrific footage taken by animal rights activists was broadcast across the world, showing Japanese hunters trapping a terrified pod of dolphins in a cove before netting their victims and cutting their throats out with large knives. These gentle, intelligent mammals can be seen thrashing about in agony in a blood-red sea, some taking up to 10 minutes to die from their wounds. Upwards of 20,000 dolphins and porpoises will be butchered by fishermen off the coast of Japan in the next six months, if the Japanese Government does not ban the 400-year-old hunting tradition


"The Japan dolphin slaughter is one of the most horrific acts of violence I have seen," said Chris DeRose, LCA President. "For a culture with so much pride they should be ashamed that they are committing these atrocities year after year. The dolphin slaughter must stop!"
Want to help? Visit Chris’ website at
www.lcanimal.org and see how you can make a difference.

Thanks for all you do Chris and, please, don't stop.

Anne Archer in the UK

Here is a web page on the Church of Scientology in the United Kingdom, which includes a nice photo of Anne Archer with the Jive Aces. www.scientology.org.uk

Vanilla Ice (Robert Van Winkle)

Robert Van Winkle, better known throughout the world as "Vanilla Ice," was born on October 31, 1968 in Orlando, Florida. Van Winkle would later become the first rap artist to score a #1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 when Ice Ice Baby topped the charts in 1990. Van Winkle was on top of the world and was the most popular thing in music from late 1990 through early 1991 at which point he unexpectedly

Mayim Bialik

Mayim Bialik is a former child star who played the title character on the TV show Blossom. Blossom was a sitcom that originally aired on NBC from 1991-1995. Blossom was the only girl in the Russo family on the show. The show centered on Blossom's whiny exploits throughout high school as she discovered boys and came of age.I was not a fan of Blossom. I personally thought that the show sucked,