Here are the birthdays upcoming in August!
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Monday, October 29, 2007
Top-Echelon Toyota Executive Jim Farley Jumps to Ford
DEARBORN, Michigan — Wonder no more about who will take the helm of marketing at the Ford Motor Company. James D. Farley, Lexus group vice president and general manager, is coming to Ford after two decades in Toyota Motor Sales.
The 45-year-old will be Ford's first head of global marketing and communications and will report directly to CEO Alan Mulally. He is to start in November.
Farley, who was present at the creation of the hot Scion youth-oriented brand of Toyota, moved throughout Toyota since 1990, when he joined the company's strategic planning department. He rose to become VP of marketing for Toyota immediately before his promotion to group VP of marketing and general manager of Lexus.
In a statement issued today, Mulally called Farley "one of the most successful and talented leaders in the industry" and pronounced himself "thrilled" at the acquisition of the new marketing executive. For his part, Farley said his first car was a 1966 Mustang that he bought as a young teen, restored and drove from California to Michigan. "I am excited to make that trip once again," Farley said.
What this means to you: Quite a coup for Ford. Now the question is: We know Farley loves Mustangs, but is he crazy about Mercury?
McNally Finds Farce at `The Ritz'
NEW YORK — When Terrence McNally's "The Ritz" debuted more than 30 years ago, bathhouses were the center of many gay men's universes _ a place where one could find sex, work out, get a massage, see a show or even participate in "amateur night."
McNally captured that 1970s underground gay sex scene so remarkably well, it feels fresh and lively three decades later. This probably has as much to do with the Roundabout Theatre Company's ambitious restaging of "The Ritz" on Broadway, though, as it does with McNally's play.
The Roundabout has assembled a delightful cast, including Rosie Perez, Kevin Chamberlin and former gay porn star Ryan Idol who looks far too comfortable dressed only in a sheer white towel. Pluses also include the work of Tony Award-winning set designer Scott Pask, who has created what could be the Pantheon of all bathhouses _ a three-level palace of cherry-red doors, hidden passages and cutaway rooms.
Under the direction of Joe Mantello, the show starts off as a boisterous romp, with Gaetano Proclo (Chamberlin) checking into the Ritz bathhouse to hide from his brother-in-law, Carmine, who is out to kill him. Proclo stumbles around in a bad wig and sunglasses, bumping into the seminude denizens of the bathhouse as they saunter about.
Then he meets Googie Gomez (Perez), the Ritz's in-house talent, who thinks Proclo is a Broadway producer who could finally discover her prodigious talents. Proclo, meanwhile, thinks Googie is a transvestite who wears bad wigs of her own.
Set against the backdrop of the farcical comedy are McNally's observations about gay life, seen through the eyes _ in this case _ of a heterosexual man trapped in a den of sexual eroticism. McNally mostly pokes fun at his characters, who include an effeminate drama queen wrapped in a lavender kimono and a self-described "chubby chaser" who is only attracted to fat men.
Such stereotypes are deeply ingrained in gay culture, which could cause McNally's characters to come off as tiresome or worse, offensive. But the actors play with restrained campiness, and it's almost impossible not to laugh at Brooks Ashmanskas' overly affected Chris (the drama queen) or Patrick Kerr's disturbingly creepy Claude (the chubby chaser).
To avoid making his audiences too uncomfortable, McNally only alludes to gay sex (all the real action takes place behind those closed, cherry-red doors) and the most homophobic comment uttered by one of the straight characters is when Proclo indicates that two of the bathhouse employees are abnormal because they are in a relationship; the play is so politically correct, he immediately apologizes.
But McNally isn't interested in being political with "The Ritz." The play is meant to be a farce and he gets top-notch performances from his actors, chief among them Perez. She plays the washed-up lounge singer so perfectly, one almost wishes the play revolved around her rather than a silly Italian family squabble.
Dressed like a Latina "Annie" in a turquoise, sequined pants suit and blond, curly wig, Googie puts on one of the worst performances the Ritz nightclub has probably ever seen, complete with bad choreography, off-key singing and only one high heel (the other she kicks through the curtain backstage). Perez bares her teeth in frustration through it all, showing off her tremendous comic abilities.
Mantello keeps the action under control throughout the more subdued first half, but things get manic in the second act when Carmine shows up and the thin plot line returns. Suddenly, Carmine and Proclo are diving under beds, a detective with a gratingly high-pitched voice mixes up their identities and Proclo's wife's mink gets stolen, sparking an obligatory chase scene.
Dialogue gets lost in the mayhem and the hilarity seems a little forced. Relief comes in a final confrontation between Carmine and Proclo on the Ritz's nightclub stage, but by then, the farce has run a little flat and all those 1970s haircuts are starting to look a bit outdated.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Koreans Flocking to Internet to Buy Sex - FOX News
SEOUL, South Korea — South Koreans are increasingly turning to the Internet and mobile phones to buy sex following a tougher anti-prostitution law in 2004 targeting brothels.
Major red-light districts throughout South Korea dropped 42 percent since 2004 to 992 this year, according to National Police Agency records released by a legislative office.
But the number of alternative locations where sex can be bought — karaoke bars, barber shops and massage parlors — increased 26 percent to 139,273 during that period, the records showed.
In a news release, the office of Ahn Myoung-ock, a member of the National Assembly's health and welfare committee, said the Internet and mobile phones are emerging as key conduits for prostitution.
The office cited data by the state-run Korea Internet Safety Commission showing it received reports that 11,724 Web sites and mobile phone content operators were arranging prostitution as of this past June, more than quadruple the 2,680 in 2005.
The commission didn't provide figures for prior years.
The office said sex Web sites are posting prices and services along with photographs.
"In particular, female university students are looking for easy, convenient part-time jobs through these sites, but the oversight over these sites has been insufficient," the office said in a statement.
Prostitution is illegal in South Korea, and the 2004 law imposed tougher punishment on human traffickers, pimps and others involved in prostitution.
NYC Hotel Offers Sleep Concierge - FOX News
NEW YORK — A New York City hotel is so determined to make sure its customers get a good night's rest that it's got its own sleep concierge.
"I've learned a lot about sleep since I started this job," said Anya Orlanska, who four months ago took the job at The Benjamin, a midtown Manhattan hotel. "There are so many things that can be done."
The hotel, which created the position several years ago, is serious about its mission.
It offers customers a mattress specifically created for the hotel and a menu of over a dozen different pillows including one with a speaker built into it and a cord that plugs into an iPod.
Guests also have the option of a before-bedtime massage and snacks believed to make you sleepy _ for an extra charge.
"We've done a lot of research regarding sleeping, how to make people comfortable," Orlanska said Monday.
She said she's taken the hotel's different types of pillows _ some made with buckwheat, others with down _ home with her to try them out for a couple of days.
"You have to experience it yourself to actually sell the product," she said.
The hotel guarantees customers will sleep as well at the hotel as they do at home, or they get a free night's stay.
Room rates vary depending on the day of the week and the time of year, anywhere from a couple to at least several hundred dollars a night. In the time Orlanska has been there, no one's taken them up on it.
The reaction tends to be more like the one she got from a woman whose husband was a hardcore snorer. The pillow they used was so effective at quieting him down, Orlanska said, that the woman wanted to buy it and take it home with her.
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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