Blue Ivy Carter: Destiny's Child

An open letter to Jay-Z and Beyoncé's brand-new baby girl, in Bigger Than the Sound.
By James Montgomery


Beyonce
Photo: Jim Spellman/ WireImage

<P>Dear Blue Ivy Carter (or whatever your name ends up being), Hi, welcome to the world! We've never actually met, though I did say hello to your dad at that Grizzly Bear show a couple years ago (he kind of nodded back to me), and one time I was in the same room as your mom, so I feel like I'm in a pretty good position to be speaking directly to you right now. Anyway, you are just a few days old and, as such, probably not all that familiar with the way things work, but I figured I'd let you in on a little secret: You are very famous, and you are probably always going to be. Shoot, you've already landed your first feature, and it's better than anything Lourdes Leon has ever done. You are the First Daughter of Hip Hop, not to mention the <i>actual</i> Destiny's Child. And given all that, you childhood is going to be a little unorthodox: You will undoubtedly be the subject of creepy fashion spreads in gossip mags (just ask Suri) and you will definitely never get to go to a Chuck E. Cheese or anything. Sorry in advance. But honestly, Chuck E. Cheese isn't that great anyway. You're not missing much. <CENTER></CENTER> On the flipside, being famous is really, <i>really</i> great. You will get to go to any preschool your little heart desires, you can have anything you want for lunch and you could probably play point guard for the Nets once Deron Williams leaves. I can't even begin to imagine what your first birthday party will be like, but I hope I'm invited to it. You will be afforded the kinds of opportunities we mere mortals can only dream of; yours will be a life unlike most. It goes hand-in-hand with being a celebrity at age zero &#8212; sure, you'll probably be assigned a security detail as soon as you're able to walk, but, really, it's a small price to pay for the unlimited possibilities of fame. But here's the thing: I hope you never actually <i>act</i> like you're famous. You are, despite all evidence to the contrary, just another human being. No more, no less. As you get older, try to follow Louis C.K.'s advice: Don't be an a--hole. A lot of this will be up to your parents, which is a good thing, since they seem to be two of the more grounded folks on the planet, despite being multimillionaires who own part of an NBA franchise. They certainly know the value of hard work (maybe don't ask your dad about said "hard work" in his early days, though), and neither of them has ever forgotten where they came from. Which is why you should probably listen to them, no matter what &#8212; even if they refuse to let you rent out Priv&#233; for your first ballet recital. Trust me, it's for your own good. Because, really, I hope you grow up to be your own person, that you follow your own muse and be happy and well-adjusted. You don't even have to be a celebrity; you could be a teacher or a scientist or a social worker. In fact, maybe you should &#8212; they're all more honorable professions. But if you want to follow in your parents' footsteps, that's fine too; I just hope that when I'm 50 and interview you on some red carpet, I will be relieved to discover that you are a very nice person. I have a feeling you probably will be. You have good role models in that regard. Oh, and please tell your mom and dad congratulations for me. So good luck with your life. It's going to be a wild, wonderful thing. I look forward to seeing how you turn out, and I get the feeling I'm not the only one. I know you've got a busy sleeping/eating schedule ahead of you, so I'll let you get back to it. But before I go, let me leave you with one last piece of advice: Whatever you do, try not to listen to Uncle Kanye. That guy's nuts. Sincerely,<br> James <i>Any more advice for Blue Ivy Carter? Let us know in the comments!</i> <CENTER></CENTER></p>

Related Videos Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1676974/blue-ivy-carter-beyonce-jay-z.jhtml

iron bowl bo jackson bo jackson ibogaine weather houston weather houston small business saturday

Capping an era of L.A. oil exploration

It almost seemed as though oil drilling rigs were ready to tap into Los Angeles' first petroleum field again.

But the workers setting up a pair of derricks south of Echo Park last week were plugging some of the city's oldest wells ? not drilling new ones.

The sealing of the long-abandoned wells by Allenco Energy to make way for a 45-unit affordable housing project marks the end of an era for the Los Angeles City Oil Field, which sparked Southern California's oil boom 120 years ago.

The city's first commercially successful oil well was drilled about 350 feet away, at the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Rockwood Street.

In 1892, pioneering oil wildcatter Edward L. Doheny and partner Charles A. Canfield used picks and shovels and, finally, a sharpened 60-foot-long eucalyptus tree trunk to drill about 200 feet down near the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Colton Street.

At first, their shallow well produced less than 10 gallons of thick, fuel-grade oil a day. But that was enough to begin the stampede for black gold that quickly spread across the Los Angeles Basin and beyond, and made Doheny a rich man.

Soon, drillers were sinking their pumping pipes as deep as 900 feet. When oil at that level started to run out, they bore down to 1,200 feet, then 1,500 feet. Most Los Angeles oil was found no deeper than that.

Four and sometimes five wells were drilled on small residential lots along a narrow swath that extended the Los Angeles City Oil Field about 31/2 miles from the Chinatown area south of Dodger Stadium west to Berendo Street. Tent cities sprang up to house bootleggers and prostitutes who streamed in behind the growing horde of oil drillers.

Modern oil field maps on file with the state's Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources show that about 1,250 wells were drilled into the field before it was sucked dry. When that happened, drillers and speculators moved on to untouched reservoirs in hilly areas in Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs, Inglewood and Torrance.

One of the first eager young oil hunters to join the Doheny rush was Edward A. Clampitt, who had arrived in Los Angeles in 1888. He is listed in state records as the operator responsible for the five wells at the corner of Glendale Boulevard and Rockwood Street.

Although state oil well records are sketchy before 1915, Clampitt's wells are believed to have been sunk before 1900. Later he would own oil-producing land in the Newhall Pass area and serve on the Los Angeles City Council.

Petroleum geologist Dale Kunitomi, who has studied Southern California oil fields since 1967, is among those who are convinced that Clampitt and his colorful family were the inspiration for the Clampett clan in the CBS TV series "The Beverly Hillbillies." It ran from 1962 to 1971 and starred Buddy Ebsen as family patriarch Jed Clampett.

"I went to Belmont High School in the early 1960s, and you would see Clampitt Oil Co. signs on oil field installations up there," Kunitomi said. "I said to myself: So the 'Beverly Hillbillies' are real!"

Kunitomi said early well-plugging was often a casual procedure. "They'd take rocks and debris and toss it down the hole. But pressure can build up and water can seep beneath the oil and push it up," and methane gas can leach out of the ground, he said.

The potential threat from seeping methane and hydrogen sulfide prompted Los Angeles school officials to halt construction of the half-built Belmont Learning Complex in 2000. Finishing the project, now called the Roybal Learning Center, at the edge of the Los Angeles City Oil Field doubled the final cost to more than $400 million.

Don Drysdale, a spokesman with the Division of Oil, Gas & Geothermal Resources, confirmed that such things as old telephone poles were used as oil well plugs before rules were tightened in the 1970s.

These days, rules spell out the type of casing and amount of concrete plugging that has to be done and specify that a "diligent effort shall be made to recover junk" from abandoned wells.

The city has issued a demolition permit for the restaurant, butcher shop and office building that operated near the old wells until recently, and awarded a grading permit to allow plugging to begin, said David Lara, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. Although abandoned wells fall under the jurisdiction of the state, the city also has rules about escaping methane gas.

The affordable apartments will be developed in conjunction with the Filipino Workers Center by LTSC Community Development Corp., operated by the Little Tokyo Service Center. Construction on the $20.5-million project will start in April and take about 18 months, said Takao Suzuki, director of real estate development for the service center.

Because there may be seven abandoned oil wells on the site instead of the five shown on state records, his organization has allocated $1 million for plugging costs, he said.

bob.pool @latimes.com

Source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/la-me-old-wells-20120109,0,644937.story?track=rss

erin brockovich indiana jones and the last crusade hope solo hope solo texas high school football fugazi fugazi

seanyodarouse: Here to record the 2nd Christmas Fantasy Parade of the day (batteries ran out last time) (@ Town Square) http://t.co/XRHnzuKb

  • Passer la navigation
  • Twitter sur votre mobile ? Cliquez ici m.twitter.com!
  • Passer cette ?tape
  • Connexion
Loader Twitter.com
  • Connexion
Here to record the 2nd Christmas Fantasy Parade of the day (batteries ran out last time) (@ Town Square) 4sq.com/xp1xeh seanyodarouse

Sean Rouse

Pied de page

Source:

andy reid elf on the shelf elf on the shelf barney frank barney frank 2012 grammy nominations stephen sondheim

Smoggy Beijing to reveal more pollution data

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 file photo, Tan Liang carries a PM2.5 detector while walking towards a garbage-burning facility located near his apartment to check levels of fine particles in the air in Beijing, China. A bureau in charge of monitoring China's frequently smog-choked capital will release more detailed reports, state media said Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, following a public outcry over the hazards of fine particle pollution. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

FILE - In this Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011 file photo, Tan Liang carries a PM2.5 detector while walking towards a garbage-burning facility located near his apartment to check levels of fine particles in the air in Beijing, China. A bureau in charge of monitoring China's frequently smog-choked capital will release more detailed reports, state media said Friday, Jan. 6, 2012, following a public outcry over the hazards of fine particle pollution. (AP Photo/Andy Wong, File)

(AP) ? A bureau in charge of monitoring China's frequently smog-choked capital will release more detailed reports, state media said Friday, following a public outcry over the hazards of fine particle pollution.

Beijing's decision to publish the data appeared aimed at appeasing residents' anger over the pollution and a lack of government transparency.

Frustration over the issue has been fueled by a Twitter feed set up by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing that reports air quality as measured by a monitor on the embassy roof and publishes it online every hour. Those readings include levels of fine particulate matter, or PM2.5 ? a type of pollution that Beijing authorities also measure but keep secret from the public.

China's environmental ministry has said it will factor PM2.5 into national air quality standards, but not until 2016.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Beijing's environmental protection bureau will also now post hourly online readings for PM2.5 before Chinese New Year, which begins later this month. The city already has six monitoring stations measuring PM2.5 and will add more before the end of the year, Xinhua said.

Beijing is frequently cloaked in yellow haze. Buildings a couple of blocks away are barely visible. Still, Beijing's official air quality index records the pollution as "light" ? a reading at odds with what many people experience.

Sometimes seen as soot or smoke, PM2.5 is tiny particulate matter ? less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, or approximately 1/30th the average width of a human hair ? that can result from the burning of fuels in vehicles, power plants and agriculture. Breathing such fine particles causes respiratory problems and can lead to death.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/bbd825583c8542898e6fa7d440b9febc/Article_2012-01-06-AS-China-Pollution/id-444438feb99246d3b63eb61e44beaaf4

rick perry virginia tech mike martz hokies quadrantid norv turner jerry angelo

Get Sloshed, Set Up Your Robot Defenders, Budget Your Cash, and Tether For Free Without Rooting [Video]

Tether your Android phone without paying your carrier or rooting it. Play a game of wind up robots. Keep track of your money and become a doctor of mixology.

More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/mLQnRb1Jik0/

japan earthquake bosom buddies andrew bynum anderson cooper rodney atkins diplo fergie

Marc Anthony Dating Venezuelan Model Shannon De Lima

Looks like Marc Anthony has found himself a new lady love, 24-year old Shannon De Lima who is a Venezuelan. She is young and smoking hot, kind of like J.Lo?s new man huh? Marc Anthony is moving on from his ill-fated 7-year marriage to Jennifer Lopez. He has confirmed via Facebook that he is dating Shanna De Lima. The singer sent this message via Twitter to the new woman in life. To @Shadelima my statue of liberty, Kisses baby! Don?t you just love social networking, so good for flaunting your new relationship in the face of well perhaps and old love. Not judgment here I am just sayin. Anyway he sure seems happy about his new girlfriend and doesn?t care who knows it. Marc and Shannon met in Miami a few months go and have been hanging out ever since. She has a four year old son from a previous relationship, could be a good playmate for Anthony?s twins Max & Emme, whose mother is Lopez as I am sure all already know. At least one of Latin crooner?s kids is happy about his new found love. Marc?s son Chase, from his marriage to Dayanara Torres, tweeted that the new [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/RightCelebrity/~3/ciNPVx-zzfw/

brandi glanville unemployment rate unemployment rate stephen hawking keri russell drew barrymore jesse ventura

US police kill 15-year-old boy in Texas

The officials said that police officers opened fire on the boy after he allegedly pointed the pellet gun at them.

"The subject pointed the weapon at officers, which in turn, the officers had to use deadly force," a police department spokesman said on Wednesday.

Police claim the boy was given plenty of time to follow police orders and lower the weapon. The boy, eighth-grader Jaime Gonzalez, was shot at least twice.

The boy had not threatened any students or teachers before he was shot dead.

Police launched an investigation into the incident, which left no other casualties.

Officials evacuated students to a nearby school and shut down all classes during the incident.

Source: http://www.islamtimes.org/vdcbazb8grhb5wp.4eur.html

magic johnson involuntary manslaughter stevens johnson syndrome verdict in michael jackson trial verdict in michael jackson trial brian urlacher matt forte

You Can Now Post Full Size Instagram Pics To Facebook (And Timeline)

Screen Shot 2012-01-05 at 5.04.38 PMYou know what's cool? When you subconsciously want something and a startup responds to your (unvoiced) requests. Well, mobile photosharing app Instagram has just made a very small tweak that has the potential for huge growth: You can now send your Instagram photos full size to Facebook, and they automatically display "beautifully" in your Facebook Timeline. Photos shared from Instagram will appear in your Timeline with the original caption that you posted on Instagram, as well as a link to the public Instagram URL.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/SNO_SXbvIcY/

cabin in the woods dan quayle brett favre packers stock packers stock mastectomy st. nicholas

Spend over ?25,000 in Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust

A monthly-updated list of all financial transactions spending over ?25,000 made by Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust, as part of the Government's commitment to transparency in expenditure.

Overview Resources (download) Details
Name

financial-transactions-data-epsom-st-helier-university-hospitals-nhs-trust

Licence

OKD Compliant::UK Open Government Licence (OGL)

Geographic coverage
Temporal granularity

month

Temporal coverage from

2010-04-01

Temporal coverage to
Contact information

Source: http://data.gov.uk/dataset/financial-transactions-data-epsom-st-helier-university-hospitals-nhs-trust

nl mvp nl mvp verlander verlander justin verlander pepper spraying cop pepper spraying cop

US envoy visits China after Kim Jong Il's death (AP)

BEIJING ? China and the United States will maintain "very close contact" concerning developments in North Korea following the death of leader Kim Jong Il, a top U.S. diplomat said Wednesday.

Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell is the highest level U.S. official to visit the region since Kim's death last month raised new concerns about poor, nuclear-equipped North Korea's stability and U.S.-North Korean talks that were disrupted just as they were making headway.

His comments followed four hours of talks with Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai and other senior Chinese officials and scholars on issues including a possible resumption of talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament and deliveries of U.S. food aid to the hunger-stricken nation.

"I think the United States and China share a strong determination to maintain peace and stability," Campbell told reporters at Beijing's airport ahead of a flight to South Korea.

"I think we both underscored how important it will be over the course of the coming months to maintain very close contact between Washington and Beijing, and I indicated that we would be closely monitoring the situation there and that we urged all parties to cautiously deal with the situation and to refrain from any provocations," he said.

China is North Korea's most important diplomatic ally and provides important economic assistance to the country. It has frequently been called on by the U.S. and others to use its influence to moderate North Korean behavior.

Following Kim's death, and with a leadership transition to his son Kim Jong Un under way, senior Chinese officials have urged Washington not to take any actions that might provoke or destabilize Pyongyang.

In the past two years, tensions spiraled in the region as North Korea conducted a nuclear test and shelled a South Korean island, among other provocations. With tensions easing slightly, Washington and Pyongyang have held quiet negotiations and were nearing an agreement to resume U.S. food aid when Kim died on Dec. 17.

That agreement was seen as a first step toward restarting the stalled six-nation disarmament talks, which also include China, Japan, South Korea and Russia. But Pyongyang has cast doubt over whether those negotiations will be quickly restored. Its powerful National Defense Commission released a hardline statement last week saying North Korea would never deal with South Korean President Lee Myung-bak.

Campbell, who said his visit to China had been planned before Kim's death, also discussed the Obama administration's warming relations with Myanmar, which has relied heavily on Chinese trade, investment and diplomatic support.

He said they also discussed Chinese allies Pakistan and Iran, as well as Taiwan's upcoming presidential election and a visit to the U.S. this year by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping at a "time of mutual convenience."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/china/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120104/ap_on_re_as/as_china_us

velasquez vs dos santos velasquez vs dos santos manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez manny pacquiao vs. juan manuel marquez cain velasquez vs dos santos cain velasquez vs dos santos oregon stanford