Marilyn Monroe costumes for Halloween

Marilyn Monroe costumes and accessories have always been an inspiration for designers as well as female consumers, who still have an unstoppable desire to look like Marilyn Monroe, who was and is famous as a sex symbol, apart from being an accomplished actress and a beautiful woman. Halloween season is one such season when Monroe inspired designs come back to the shelves of top brands of clothing retailers. This year, however, as many reports are showing, Lady Gaga’s infamous meat dress has caught the fancy of those who want to look extra-special this Halloween. There are reports stating that New York butchers are busy, rather overloaded with orders for the Lady Gaga Meat Dress, and the asking price ranges from $2000 to $5000, as the last news I read.

Coming back to Monroe, the video’s author says, the late actress’ dress is always a sure bet to be a hit at any Halloween party. View the designs on this video, which is just a collage of some of Monroe’s best still photos. And make your own ideas for this Halloween.

How to keep yourself safe this Halloween

This Victoria-datelined video, though issued with the precautions specific to Australians in mind, I feel, it contains some important precautions need to be taken everywhere, where Halloween is being celebrated.

While Halloween is just round the corner, people are busy shopping for Halloween costumes, toys, firecrackers, lanterns, masks and other artifacts for the celebrations.

No doubt it is a night that is meant to be fun for kids, teens, and for parents and elders as well. So, here are a few precautions suggested in this video, plus other suggestions.

It is suggested children's costumes and shoes need to fit properly so they don't trip, fall down and hurt themselves. As the trend is to dress as funnily or flamboyantly as possible, it will be wise to avoid Halloween costumes that trail about or get caught in hooks or other objects while children run around.

It is also suggested to avoid putting on masks on kids, as they limit visibility and hence increase chances of getting into trouble, especially on roads, where unexpected traffic can cause accidents. Instead of masks, try facing paint and making impressive designs.

It is also important for trick-or-treaters to make themselves seen by others. Wearing black dresses or dark colors make visibility to almost zero and increase the chances of accidents. It is recommended to carry a torch or flashlight, and add reflective strips to costumes so that they reflect light and increase visibility.

Drivers are advised to be extra cautious and watch out for children while on the road, because children may run around and suddenly appear on the roads.

There are many restrictions or ban on firecrackers, but people just ignore them. Permits are needed to use fireworks in countries like Australia, but firefighters say people still shoot firecrackers off illegally and suffer burns.

Halloween candy buyback offer

Through this latest video, a Madison dentist is offering to buyback Halloween candy, which he plans to send it to American troops serving overseas.

Jessica Alba at the 2008 Paris premiere for The Eye

Photo: Jessica Alba at the premiere of her film ‘The Eye’.

The Eye, a 2008 horror film starring Jessica Alba, is a remake of the 2002 Hong Kong-Thai-Singaporean film of the same name, also starring Alessandro Nivola, Parker Posey, Rade Serbedzija, Fernanda Romero, Rachel Ticotin, Chloë Moretz, and Brett A. Haworth. Alba plays the role of Sydney Wells, a successful classical violinist who has been blind since the age of five.

When Sydney Wells was about 20, a cornea transplant changes her world, and also begins experiencing terrifying visions. Gradually Sydney unravels the mystery of the visions, and tries to convince others, primarily her visual therapist, Paul Faulkner. As it strangely happens in such stories, she finds herself in Mexico, where the donated corneas originally came from.

The donor of the corneas foretold of fires and accidents (Sydney’s visions) due to an industrial accident shortly before she hanged herself because she could not stop the accident from occurring. However, Sydney puts the spirit to rest, and began her trek back home.

As Sydney and Paul wait in a queue of vehicles to cross the border, a daredevil police chase ends with the fugitive crashing through the border barriers and into a tanker full of gasoline. As Sydney is still able to still see the death silhouettes, she begins to try and get everyone she can off the highway.

But as the tanker explodes from a spark in the getaway car's engine, Sydney is blinded by flying glass splinters. After recovering at a hospital, she returns to her life as a blind violinist, but with a more optimistic view of her condition.

The above theme, in the pretext of a psychological thriller full of paranormal experiences, uses mental illnesses such as the monothematic delusion known as mirrored self-misidentification. The film’s story also exploits the concept of precognition, or premonition, and Asian beliefs about the unknown.

Interestingly, The Eye, follows a Hindi Naina (2005), starring Urmila Matondkar, Anuj Sawhney and Shweta Konnur, and unaccredited version of the original Hong Kong film, The Eye, and there was a movie titled Kokila (1990) in Telugu, which had a very similar story.

Though made on a $12 million budget, the film grossed, as of October 2008, an international gross of about $57 million, despite the negative reviews it received as it was no match to the original Hong Kong film.

American actress Amy Adams

American actress and singer Amy Adams, 36, began her career on stage in dinner theaters before making her screen debut in the black comedy film ‘Drop Dead Gorgeous’ (1999). It was followed by some television guest appearances and roles in B movies, and then was featured as Brenda Strong in ‘Catch Me If You Can’ (2002).

Her breakthrough role as Ashley Johnsten in the independent film Junebug (2005) brought her critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.

Adams’ next successful venture came when she starred in Disney's film Enchanted (2007), a critical and commercial success, and she received a Golden Globe Award nomination for her performance as Giselle.

She received her second Academy Award nomination and Golden Globe Award nomination in 2008 for her role as a young nun, Sister James, in ‘Doubt’.

Though she has performed a range of dramatic and comedic roles, Adams has gained reputation for playing characters with cheerful and sunny dispositions.

Adams starred in the 2008 film Sunshine Cleaning with Emily Blunt and Alan Arkin. She has since acted in the 2009 films Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian in the role of Amelia Earhart, Julie & Julia portraying the writer Julie Powell, and the 2010 film Leap Year as Anna Brady.

Julie Atlas Muz at Howl Festival 2009

Burlesque star Julie Atlas Muz at the 2009 'HOWL! Festival' in New York City's East Village

Dancer, burlesque artist, stage director and actress Julie Atlas Muz, 37, a performance artist popular in the New York City burlesque scene, was the crown holder of the 2006 Miss Exotic World and the 2006 Miss Coney Island pageants.

In 2010, Julie Atlas Muz was featured in the Cannes-award winning film, ‘Tournee’ along with other burlesque performers such as Mimi Le Meaux, Kitten on the Keys, Dirty Martini, Evie Lovelle and Roky Roulette. Julie has appeared in several TV programs and films.

Brazilian girls in G-strings dance at the swimming pool

Brazilian girls wearing G-string bikinis dance at the swimming pool's border.

Girls in G-string bikinis pose for photos by the swimming pool.

Two girls in G-string bikinis walk on the runway

Yoga and meditation at the beach

Photo above: Pavlina wearing G-strings tries to calm her nerves and soul sitting next to the waves, practicing Yoga at the beach.

Pinagbuyutan Private Beach: a young woman, wearing a blue thong, sitting on a beach and practicing Yoga

Anyone can find any number of articles on the history of bikini that invariably leads to all kinds of underwear, lingerie, swimsuits, bathing suits, etc. But these articles and historical write-ups are rather speculative, as they are written later than the periods of their origin and hence speculative and contradictory. Hence, the origin of the term G-string is also obscure.

According to some accounts, since the beginning of the 19th century, the term ‘geestring’ referred to the string which held the loincloth of Native Americans (American Indians), and later it referred to the narrow loincloth itself. But interestingly, or by coincidence, it structurally is the same as the G-strings (Konaan or Konakam) traditionally worn by the Indian men of the Indian subcontinent, especially Southern parts of India.

William Safire in his ‘Ode on a G-String’ quotes the usage of the word ‘G-string’ for loincloth by Harper's Magazine 15 years after Beadle's and suggested that the magazine confused the word with the musical term G-string (the string for the G note). Safire also mentions the opinion of linguist Robert Hendrickson that G (or gee) stands for groin, which was a taboo word at these times.

It may be a reference to the period when Britain was gripped in the strangleholds of Victorian Prudery, when even showing lowest parts of the legs of women were considered obscene, indecent and antisocial. The times were worse than the restrictions existing now in some Middle East countries. And there are stories that showing or talking about legs of anything, including legs of tables were against Victorian prudery and people used to make covers for table legs so that they are not naked (read A Criminal History of Mankind by Colin Wilson).

But Edgar Rice Burroughs dressed his fictional character, Tarzan, in a G-string for the first time in his book ‘The Son of Tarzan’ (1914, chapter 26). However, Korak, son of Tarzan, used a G-string before his father Tarzan did in the same book (chapter 20).

A beautiful blonde in G- string at the beach

A beautiful blonde woman wearing G- string sunbathes at the beach at San Remo.

Nigella Lawson: I exploded the oven, got raided by police

Nigella Lawson, the television cook, has disclosed that seven "secret servicemen" burst into her kitchen when she was cooking for Salman Rushdie, the author, and the oven exploded.

She said the close protection officers guarding Mr Rushdie reacted to the noise and suggested they assumed that a bomb had gone off.

Instead, a fault on the cooker had caused it to crack and rapidly burst, leaving the roasting lamb inside destroyed but little other damage.

Lawson did not reveal when the incident happened, other than to say that at the time, the Booker Prize-winning author was still under a "fatwa" - a death threat - issued in 1989 by the Ayatollah Khomeini of Iran for what was perceived to be an irreverent section of his book, The Satanic Verses.

He spent nine years accompanied by close protection police officers trying to avoid the attention of anyone who might be tempted to kill him for the £1.5million reward on offer.

During that time, the Japanese translator of his book was killed and both the Italian translator and the Norwegian publisher wounded.

The cook and the author have been friends for many years and Mr Rushdie, who has been married four times, counts many famous women among his closest confidantes, including Dannii and Kylie Minogue, the singers, Kathy Lette, the comedienne, Mariella Frostrup, the broadcaster, and Marie Helvin, the model.

Speaking at the Cheltenham Literature Festival, she described the incident with the policemen, saying: "I was roasting lamb when the oven exploded.

"Suddenly seven secret servicemen ran into the kitchen. I was standing there like something out of 'I Love Lucy' [the US television show] with black patches on my cheeks. The lamb was ruined."

The cook also disclosed that she had hated eating as a child: "For me, mealtimes were hugely uncomfortable. I was not an eater but I was brought up in the old fashioned way of many hundreds of years ago!

"When I was a child if you didn't eat your food it would be kept in front of you till you finished it - and if you didn't finish it, it would be brought back at the next meal, cold. I loathed it.

"I just didn't like eating. It was one long power struggle."

"When I was a child the world was a totalitarian state run by adults - and now that I'm an adult the world is a totalitarian state run by children!"

She also told the audience of around 1,000 people that she was far from a domestic goddess - as she is known on television - because she "can't iron. I never brush my hair at the sides and back."

"On the other hand, I never had any desire to be perfect."

She also recounted her cookery failures, including taking a chicken from the oven "completely raw because the timer had not turned on" and said "I've lost count of the times I've forgotten something and not served it. Often people have all gone when I discover I've forgotten to take the salad out."

The cook and her husband, Charles Saatchi, are currently in dispute with some neighbours after Mr Saatchi had some scaffolding removed from their property and they claimed a £50,000 set of Italian bathroom tiles were damaged in the process.

Source: Andy Bloxham, www.telegraph.co.uk

Minka Kelly: The World’s Sexiest Woman

Minka Kelly_3, originally uploaded by punishor89.

American actress Minka Kelly, 30, has been named 'Sexiest Woman Alive' by Esquire magazine for 2010. In the November issue of the magazine she talks about her transition to fame from a scrub nurse. Kelly currently guest stars in the NBC primetime series Parenthood.

Kelly now joined the likes of Angelina Jolie, Kate Beckinsale, Halle Berry, Charlize Theron, Scarlett Johansson and Jessica Biel who were named as the sexiest women alive by Esquire in the past.

Minka, the only child of former Aerosmith guitarist Rick Dufay and exotic dancer and single mother Maureen Kelly, was born in Bishop, California.

The Friday Night Lights star in an interview with Esquire said, “I’ve never done a sexy photo shoot before. I’ve never really honestly tapped into that side… It was really liberating. It was exciting. I would look at the pictures, like, that’s me?”

Kim Kardashian wet in spotted bikini

Photo: Heidi Montag in Mexico

This photo shot on a beach in Mexico shows Heidi Montag in bikini when she and Spencer Pratt spent some newlywed time there. Then it was back to work for Heidi as she was actually there to shoot a music video for her "Black Out." At that time the couple were married just days before in Pasadena.

Brooke Shields and Miley Cyrus - Behind the scenes, Hannah Montana

This photo uploaded on Jan 26, 2007 shows Brooke Shields and Miley Cyrus, behind the scenes, ‘Hannah Montana’. The episode that was to be aired on 30th had a dream sequence in which Miley Cyrus loses her voice and the dream ends with Miley and her mom singing one of Hannah Montana's songs.

Rock at Joshua Tree National Park

Rock and Juniper at Joshua Tree National Park in Infrared DSC_6020, originally uploaded by plaskota.

The author of this photo describes, "Rock and Juniper at Joshua Tree National Park in Infrared... a tall thin rock and a juniper (I think) at Joshua Tree National Park..."

The Joshua Tree National Park in southeastern California was declared a U.S. National Park in 1994 vide The California Desert Protection Act. It is named for the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) forests native to the park, which includes parts of two deserts: the higher Mojave Desert and lower Colorado Desert. The rock formations of Joshua Tree National Park were formed 100 million years ago from the cooling of magma.

The higher Mojave Desert is the special habitat of Yucca brevifolia (Joshua tree), which grows in patterns forming dense forests to distantly spaced single trees. The main geologic features of The Joshua Tree National Park landscape are hills of bare rock, usually broken up into loose boulders, or looking as artistic as sculptures, and the vegetation, mostly of desert plants providing a perfect artistic combination to the rocks and Joshua trees. Together with the boulder piles and the Skull Rock, the trees make the landscape otherworldly.

Though Joshua trees dominate open spaces in Joshua Tree National Park, among the rock outcroppings are found piñon pine and California juniper (Juniperus californica), as seen in the photo above.

The Colorado Desert encompasses the eastern part of Joshua Tree National Park and features habitats of Creosote bush scrub; Ocotillo, desert Saltbush and mixed scrub including Yucca and Cholla cactus (Cylindropuntia bigelovii). The lower Coachella Valley is on the southeastern side of the Park.

There are several hiking trails within Joshua Tree National Park. Shorter trails, such as the one mile hike through Hidden Valley, offer a chance to view the beauty of the park without straying too far into the desert. The lookout point at Keys View, towards the south of the park, offers views of the Coachella Valley and Salton Sea.

Joshua Tree National Park is very popular with rock climbers. It was originally a winter practice area while Yosemite Valley and other parts of the Sierra Nevada were snowbound. The climbing routes are typically short, the rocks being rarely more than 230 feet in height.

The Geology Motor Tour is located in the south of the park and provides a self-guided tour for those visitors with four-wheel drive vehicles.

There are over 250 species of birds in the Joshua Tree National Park, including resident desert birds such as the Greater Roadrunner and Cactus Wren as well as Mockingbirds, Le Conte's Thrasher, Verdin and Gambel's Quail. Main birding spots in the park include fan palm oases, Barker Dam and Smith Water Canyon. Queen Valley and Lost Horse Valley also provide good birding. These are good places to watch Ladder-backed Woodpecker and Oak Titmouse.

A nice place to view wildlife is at Barker Dam: Desert Bighorn Sheep and Mule Deer sometimes stop by the dam for a drink, while Mountain Lions and Coyotes prowl the desert hillsides.

Miley Cyrus - from Hannah Montana wallpaper

Hannah Montana, originally uploaded by J.L.Wright.

Roman Polanski - Lifetime Achievement Award to the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity

Roman Polanski at the Lodz Poland International Film Festival Of The Art Of Cinematography closing ceremony to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award to the Director with Unique Visual Sensitivity, on December 1, 2007.

US Health Care Bill: Obama postpones tour

US President Barack Obama told the Indonesian television network RCTI that it is important for him to postpone his trip to Indonesia to focus on the health care debate. Obama spent part of his childhood in the Southeast Asian country. (March 19)

Halloween: Barmbrack

Barmbrack, originally uploaded by podchef.

Photo: Halloween Barmbrack - buttered and ready to be devoured.

The Barmbrack, a type of yeasted bread with added sultanas and raisins, usually sold in flattened rounds, it is often served toasted with butter along with a cup of tea in the afternoon. The Halloween Barmbrack, the center of an Irish Halloween custom, traditionally contained various objects such as a pea, a stick, a piece of cloth, a small coin, and a ring. Each of these meant something related to fortune or to the person whose slice had it. If a person received the slice containing the pea, that person would not marry that year. The stick (to beat one's wife with) meant an unhappy or troublesome marriage. The a piece of cloth is an indication of bad luck or poverty, and the coin, as anyone can tell, indicated that person would get a fortune or become rich, and the ring indicated wedding in the same year.

Halloween: Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat!, originally uploaded by Sicilian Princess.

Halloween Pumpkin

Welcome Great Pumpkin, originally uploaded by anadelmann.

Halloween Girls

Halloween, originally uploaded by memoflores.

Halloween House

Dorothy Doesn't Live Here Anymore, originally uploaded by Uncle Phooey.

Halloween Cat

he's a halloween cat and he knows it!, originally uploaded by Hotdog Photography.

Vernal Falls, Yosemite

Vernal Falls, originally uploaded by voodooden.

The Vernal Fall, a waterfall on the Merced River just downstream of Nevada Fall in Yosemite National Park, California, has an official height of 317 feet (97 meter), but the United States Geographical Survey has measured it at approximately 240 feet (73 meter).

The Vernal Fall runs all through the year, though by the end of summer the volume of water is reduced there by splitting into multiple strands rather than a single body of falling water.

The falling water produces mist that forms rainbows. Hikers can start at the Happy Isles trail head in Yosemite Valley, one of the shortest (1.3 miles/ 2.1 km). The trail is mostly shaded and inclined upwards until reaching the base of the waterfall where the mist sprays onto the hikers, and can totally drench them.

Christina Hendricks, the buxom American actress

Christina Hendricks 2010Mar11.01, originally uploaded by northern.jackal.

American actress Christina Hendricks, 35, is known for her role as Joan Holloway in the AMC cable television series Mad Men, for which she was nominated for the 2008 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (Mad Men, 2007) along with Bryan Batt, Anne Dudek, Michael Gladis, Jon Hamm, January Jones, Vincent Kartheiser, Robert Morse, Elisabeth Moss, Maggie Siff, John Slattery, Rich Sommer and Aaron Staton. And Hendricks won for the 2009 Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for Mad Men (2008).

The role of Joan Holloway performed by Hendricks is, perhaps, the best performance by her so far, as she also won the 2009 Best Actress - Drama Series award for Mad Men at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival, and she was nominated for the 2010 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Mad Men.

On the award-winning AMC series Mad Men, Hendricks' character is that of an office manager of an advertising agency, where she was providing mentoring to a group of women who were supposed to deal with the callousness of professional advertising executives.

Hendricks, known for her distinctive acting and sometimes bawdy humor, has made a number of guest television appearances, starting as a regular in the series Beggars and Choosers. Since then she has appeared in the series The Big Time and The Court, had recurring roles in ER and Firefly. Also she had guest appearances in episodes of Angel, Miss Match, Tru Calling, Presidio Med, Without a Trace, and Las Vegas. She has starred opposite Kip Pardue in South of Pico, followed by the award-winning indie film La Cucina, and in four episodes of the NBC TV show Life in the recurring role of Olivia.

She also performed in music videos for The Ghost Inside by Broken Bells, and Everclear's One Hit Wonder. As per reports, she is set to appear in a new action thriller, Drive, directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, alongside Carey Mulligan and Ryan Gosling.

She is also known for her red hair but Hendricks is a natural blonde, who began coloring her hair red at the age of ten. In July 2010, Hendricks' hourglass figure was highlighted as a positive influence for women by UK Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone, who said "Christina Hendricks is absolutely fabulous... We need more of these role models. There is such a sensation when there is a curvy role model. It shouldn't be so unusual."

Noted for her buxom, voluptuous figure, Hendricks commented in September 2010 that the media is too much focused on women's bodies and not their actual talents, adding, "I was working my butt off on the show (Mad Men) and then all anyone was talking about was my body."

No wonder Hendricks was named ‘the sexiest woman in the world’ in 2010 in a poll of female readers taken by Esquire magazine.

Nickie Minaj - Suck A Free Mix Tape

suckafree_blackLARGE, originally uploaded by tweezy3.

American rapper and singer-songwriter Nickie Minaj has started her career as an artist with mixtapes. In 2008 she won the Female Artist of the Year award at the Underground Music Awards. Minaj released Beam Me Up Scotty, another mixtape, in April 2009 which received positive coverage on both BET and MTV.

On April 13, 2010 Minaj released her first single Massive Attack, the song featuring Sean Garrett, who produced the song along with Alex Da Kid, with a cameo appearance by model Amber Rose. The single was not successful, and excluded from her debut album.

Later Minaj released ‘Your Love’ as the first official single from her debut album, which went on to become Minaj's most successful single so far, peaking at 14 on the Billboard Hot 100, 7 on the Hot R&B/ Hip-Hop Songs chart, as well as topping the Rap Songs chart, thereby becoming the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002.

On her Twitter page, Minaj tweeted that her debut album, Pink Friday will be released on November 23, 2010.