British pop singer Imogen Heap takes digital music to the next level

For the layperson, the creation of a pop album is an inscrutable process. Getting from point A (the spark of an idea) to point Z (a polished, neatly packaged record) can seem like alchemy. Rockumentaries and making-of DVDs have provided fans with a peek behind the curtain. But few artists have flung open the door to their studios like British songwriter Imogen Heap.

The avant-pop visionary recently completed a two-year recording cycle that included a continent-hopping writing trip (she used Google Earth to choose inspiring destinations), constructing a home studio (in her family’s heritage roundhouse in Essex) and creating strange, marvelous sounds. When Heap finally released her third full-length solo album Ellipse on Aug. 24, many supporters were waiting to greet her at the (virtual) finish line.



Heap’s fans had cause for excitement — after all, they were with her every step of the way. The web-savvy songstress shared her journey with her thriving online fan community — at press time, she had 1,016,996 followers on Twitter. While recording, she posted a steady stream of tweets and produced 40 video blogs in which she deconstructed the minutiae of making the album.

During a recent interview in Toronto, Heap says documenting the recording process came from a desire to expose what it takes to make an album.

“Most people, even my family and friends, they have no concept of what it is I do. They know I go in [to the studio], and then I come out with a song, but how that happens and how many hours it takes to put something together, what you have to go through to reduce something from many and find this one perfect thing, and what you have to go through emotionally — I guess I wanted them to understand that fully. I wanted the people who listen to my music to understand that process, too.”

At close to six feet, Heap is a statuesque figure with a shock of auburn hair and a penchant for wild, colourful outfits. She may look like a neo-gothic film character — imagined by Tim Burton, played by Helena Bonham Carter — but Heap is a grounded businesswoman who directs her career with a sure hand. Though warm and chatty, Heap also exudes a wary, almost predatory energy. She doesn’t strike you as a person who’d lay it all bare. Heap shrugs when I ask whether she ever regrets oversharing with the Twittering masses.

“I really am just like that. I’ll meet someone on the street and blurt out my most intimate details," she explains. "I think everybody secretly — or not so secretly — wants to be understood, and I just want to connect, you know? Twitter helps me connect to the people who help make my music, or the cycle of an album, complete. Without them experiencing the music, it doesn’t really exist, so it doesn’t make sense to not involve them.”

Heap’s embrace of social media is no surprise, since she’s always been a computer geek. As a bored boarding school student, the classically trained multi-instrumentalist sussed out how to create samples and engineer recordings by fiddling around on basic PCs. She released a solo collection of fraught piano pop called iMegaphone in 1998, but didn’t achieve significant success until she teamed up with producer Guy Sigsworth to form Frou Frou, a dreamy electronic project.

Heap’s lush, evocative work in that group helped her form relationships with film and television music supervisors. Frou Frou’s song Let Go was part of the best-selling Garden State soundtrack, and Heap’s haunting solo tune Hide and Seek could be heard in the second-season finale of The O.C. — and subsequently soared to No. 1 on the download charts.

Major labels have resisted providing too much of an artist’s work for free, fearing that offering fans pre-release tidbits might compromise later album sales. Given that it debuted at No. 4 in Canada — and at No. 5 on the Billboard Top 200 — Ellipse may prove that the reasoning is flawed.

“Labels have been very greedy in the past, and have intentionally kept their artists very far away from the people who buy their records,” she seethes. “As a result, the listener doesn’t feel connected to that person in any way — and doesn’t see the relationship between that person and how they actually live and the fact that you actually need to sell records in order to keep doing what it is you do.”

Heap does note that record sales aren’t her chief source of income; other revenue streams include licensing her music for soundtracks and collaborations with artists like Mika and Jason DeRulo.

Doubters might wonder whether Heap compromised her muse by granting fans such access to the creation process. She insists fan feedback allowed her to “make bolder decisions and feel more confident in [her] convictions.” That might include Ellipse songs like Bad Body Double, a cheeky cacophony of bloops and bleeps inspired by a bout of self-loathing while in Japan, or Aha!, a synth-driven squiggle of a song that skewers the hypocrisy of suburban snobs.

“After the last record [2005’s Speak for Yourself], I was fed up with myself for just writing alternatives on a theme,” Heap says. “Basically, just me being in relationships and the variables of that. You know, I only have so many songs that I’ll write in a lifetime. Do I really want to write about me and my lover, or me wanting to be with somebody else or me, me, me, me .…?”

She laughs. “I feel like I’ve grown up a bit. I’m a bit more confident, and I’ve been reading more, and I’ve had a little more time to myself. I went on this writing trip to gather my thoughts about where and who I am in this world, and why we’re all here. And because of these global-social new ways, you feel a lot more like you’re involved in everyday things which matter to others.”

In the past, Heap would start posting blog entries midway through the recording process, but the instant gratification of Twitter provided a therapeutic lifeline.

“If you’re feeling down, which I am quite a lot when I’m in the studio — like I can’t do it, and I’m rubbish, and I should get some help and stop being so pigheaded — [it’s invaluable] to receive a message that says, ‘I love what you did last night! I can’t wait to hear the record.’ Or to wake up in the morning and read, ‘This song got me and my boyfriend together’. One little thing, one connection that lets you know somebody’s gotten something from what you’ve made, that really helps. And that gets me back into the studio.”

Ellipse is in stores now.

Sarah Liss writes about the arts for CBCNews.ca.

this article is taken from http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/09/10/f-imogen-heap-ellipse.html

TRUE BLOOD Season 2 Finale

Derren Brown 'predicted Lottery'

stourbridgenews.co.uk reported that Derren Brown has claimed to have correctly predicted the National Lottery numbers live on TV.

Channel 4 screened the illusionist's attempt to call last night's draw across its five channels - the first time the broadcaster has given over its entire network to a single event.

He promised to explain to viewers how he achieved the feat in a show tomorrow (Friday).

A smiling Derren said: "I can't believe it" when he turned over the numbers he said he had selected in advance to reveal they matched all six in the official draw.

The stunt marked the start of a new series of television tricks from Derren, whose past shows have seen him perform Russian Roulette live, apparently contact the dead in an interactive seance and convince members of the public to take part in the robbery of an armoured security van.

He set up the Lottery event in a secret studio location, telling viewers only he and two cameramen were present.

To prove his show was live he switched on a television in the studio showing the BBC1 National Lottery draw programme.

"I should say this is the culmination of a year's obsession over this," he said.

A National Lottery spokeswoman said: "Congratulations to Derren Brown on the illusion he created (last night) on Channel 4. It's impossible to affect the outcome of the draw and Derren Brown did not suggest he was able to do this."

Nine Inch Nails Last Tour Tonite

Nine Inch Nails were supposed to perform their final show last Saturday (September 6) at Los Angeles’ Echoplex, but now their upcoming show at The Wiltern will be the bands last.




The final tour dates are:

Los Angeles, CA - Henry Fonda Theater (September 8)
Los Angeles, CA - The Wiltern (10)

Beautiful Poppy

A poppy is any of a number of colorful flowers, typically with one per stem, belonging to the poppy family. They include a number of attractive wildflower species with colorful flowers found growing singularly or in large groups; many species are also grown in gardens. Those that are grown in gardens include large plants used in a mixed herbaceous border and small plants that are grown in rock or alpine gardens.

The flower color of poppy species include: white, pink, yellow, orange, red, and blue; some have dark center markings. The species that have been cultivated for many years also include many other colors ranging from dark solid colors to soft pastel shades. The center of the flower has a whorl of stamens surrounded by a cup- or bowl-shaped collection of four to six petals. Prior to blooming, the petals are crumpled in bud, and as blooming finishes, the petals often lie flat before falling away.

The pollen of the oriental poppy, Papaver orientale, is dark blue. The pollen of the field poppy or corn poppy (Papaver rhoeas) is dark blue to grey. Bees will use poppies as a pollen source.

The opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, is grown for opium, opiates, or poppy seed for use in cooking and baking, for example poppy seed rolls, in addition growing for the decorative flowers.

Poppies have long been used as a symbol of both sleep and death: sleep because of the opium extracted from them, and death because of their (commonly) blood-red color. In Greco-Roman myths, poppies were used as offerings to the dead. Poppies are used as emblems on tombstones to symbolize eternal sleep. This aspect was used, fictionally, in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz to create magical poppy fields, dangerous because they caused those who passed through them to sleep forever.

A second meaning for the depiction and use of poppies in Greco-Roman myths is the symbolism of the bright scarlet colour as signifying the promise of resurrection after death.

The poppy of wartime remembrance is Papaver rhoeas, the red flowered Corn poppy. This poppy is a common weed in Europe and is found in many locations, including Flanders Fields. Canadian surgeon and soldier, John McCrae wrote the poem In Flanders Fields on May 3, 1915, after witnessing the death of his friend, Lt. Alexis Helmer. The opening line of the poem vividly describes the image of the poppies blowing in the wind amongst the many crosses that mark the resting places of fallen soldiers.

In 1915 US professor Moina Michael inspired by the poem published a poem of her own in response, called We Shall Keep the Faith. In tribute to the opening lines of McCrae's poem -- "In Flanders fields the poppies blow / Between the crosses row on row," -- Michael vowed to always wear a red poppy as a symbol of remembrance for those who served in the war. Thus the plant became a symbol for the dead World War I soldiers.

In many Commonwealth countries, artificial, paper or plastic versions of this poppy are worn to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans and civilians in World War I and other wars, during the weeks preceding Remembrance Day on November 11. In the United States, it is common practice to wear "Buddy Poppies" (artificial, paper or plastic versions sold by the Veterans of Foreign War) during the weeks preceding Memorial Day, the last Monday in May to commemorate the sacrifice of veterans in the various wars;[5] whereas Veterans Day on November 11 is used to honor "living" veterans. It has been adopted as a symbol by The Royal British Legion in their Poppy Appeal.

In Canada, poppies are distributed by the Royal Canadian Legion and the Anavets organization each fall prior to Remembrance Day. The design of the Canadian poppy consists of petals made of red plastic with a felt lining and black centre held on by a pin. In 1980, the Royal Canadian Legion formed a committee to decide the future of the poppy and it was decided that the centre should be changed to green to represent the green fields of France. This proved unpopular with the Legion membership and the design was changed back in 1986. Unfortunately a large quantity of green felt had already been purchased and it was decided to keep producing the green centres until the supply of felt was exhausted. It took until 2002 for the green felt to run out and the traditional black centres reappeared. Those who were unaware or had forgotten that black centres had been used in the design of the poppy from its introduction in 1921 until 1980 found the change somewhat controversial.[citation needed]

In New Zealand and Australia, plastic poppies are widely distributed by the Returned Services Association leading up to ANZAC day (April 25).

The California poppy, Eschscholzia californica, is the state flower of California.

The white poppy seeds form part of the Indian spices. They are added for thickness, texture and also give added flavour to the recipe. Commonly used in the preparation of Kurma, ground poppy seed, along with coconut and other spices, are combined as the masala to be added at the end of the cooking step. It is quite hard to grind them when raw, so they are normally dry fried, and then mixed with a little water to get the right paste consistency. Kannada - Gasagase (ಗಸಗಸೆ) or Telugu gasagasa or gasagasaalu or Hindi - Khas Khas.

The seeds of the opium poppy (Papaver somniferum) are widely consumed in many parts of Central and Eastern Europe. The sugared, milled mature seeds are eaten with pasta, or they are boiled with milk and used as filling or topping on various kinds of sweet pastry. Milling of mature seeds is carried out either industrially or at home, where it is generally done with a manual poppy seed mill.

Poppy seeds are widely used in Karnataka cuisine, Turkish cuisine, Andhra cuisine, Bengali cuisine, Oriya cuisine, German cuisine, Slovak cuisine, Czech cuisine, Russian and Ukrainian cuisine, Malabar Cuisine (Northern Kerala), Romanian cuisine, Hungarian cuisine and the Cuisine of Austria.

Gasagase Payasa (Kannada: ಗಸಗಸೆ ಪಾಯಸ) is very popular in southern part of the South Indian state of Karnataka. It is a liquid dessert made out of white poppy seeds, jaggery, coconut and milk.

In Mexico, Grupo Modelo, the makers of Corona beer, used red poppy flowers in its advertising (almost any image it used had poppy flowers somewhere in the image) until the 1960s.

Although the drug opium is produced by "milking" latex from the unripe fruits ("seed pods") rather than from the seeds, all parts of the plant can contain or carry the opium alkaloids, especially morphine and codeine. This means that eating foods (e.g., muffins) that contain poppy seeds can result in a false positive for opiates in a drug test. The test is true positive in that it indicates the presence of the drug correctly; it is false only in the sense that the drug was not taken in the typical manner of abuse.

This was considered "confirmed" by the presenters of the television program MythBusters. One participant, Adam Savage, who ate an entire loaf of poppy seed cake, tested positive for opiates just half an hour later. A second participant, Jamie Hyneman, who ate three poppy seed bagels, first tested positive two hours after eating. Both tested positive for the remainder of the day, but tested negative seventy-two hours later.[citation needed] The show Brainiac: Science Abuse also did experiments where a priest ate several poppy seed bagels and gave a sample, which also resulted in a false positive.

The results of this experiment are inconclusive, because a test was used with an opiate cutoff level of 300 ng/mL instead of the current SAMHSA recommended cutoff level used in the NIDA 5 test, which was raised from 300 ng/mL to 2,000 ng/mL in 1998 in order to avoid false positives from poppy seeds. However, according to an article published in the Medical Science Law Journal, after ingesting "a curry meal or two containing various amounts of washed seeds" where total morphine levels were in the range 58.4 to 62.2 µg/g seeds, the urinary morphine levels were found to range as high as 1.27 µg/mL (1,270 ng/mL) urine. Another article in the Journal of Forensic Science reports that concentration of morphine in some batches of seeds may be as high as 251 µg/g. In both studies codeine was also present in the seeds in smaller concentrations. Therefore it is possible to cross the current standard 2,000 ng/mL limit of detection, depending on seed potency and quantity ingested. Some toxicology labs still continue to use a cutoff level of 300 ng/mL.

A fictional example of such a false positive test in popular culture was in the Seinfeld episode The Shower Head, where the character Elaine Benes was fired after testing positive due to the consumption of poppy seed muffins.

The sale of poppy seeds from Papaver somniferum is banned in Singapore due to the morphine content. Poppy seeds are also banned in Saudi Arabia due to various religious and drug control reasons.

What may be the most well known literary use of the poppy occurs both in L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and in MGM's classic 1939 film based on the novel.

In the novel, while on their way to the Emerald City, Dorothy, the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion walk through a field of poppies, and both Dorothy and the Lion mysteriously fall asleep, as if from the opium of poppies. The Scarecrow and the Tin Man, not being made of flesh and blood, are unaffected. They carry Dorothy to safety and place her on the ground beyond the poppy field. While they are considering how to help the Lion, a field mouse runs in front of them, fleeing a cougar. The Tin Man beheads the cougar with his axe, and the field mouse pledges her eternal gratitude. Being the Queen of the Field Mice, she gathers all her subjects together. The Tin Man cuts down several trees, and builds a wagon. The Lion is pushed onto it, and the mice pull the wagon safely out of the poppy field.






In the 1939 film, the sequence is considerably altered. The poppy field is conjured up by the Wicked Witch of the West, and it appears directly in front of the Emerald City, preventing the four travelers from reaching it. As in the novel, Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion fall asleep, but in a direct reversal of the book, the Scarecrow and the Tin Man are unable to carry Dorothy. Glinda, who has been watching over them, conjures up a snowfall which kills the poppies' opiate power and enables Dorothy and the Lion to awaken. Unfortunately, the Tin Man has been weeping in despair, and the combination of his tears and the wet snow has caused him to rust. After he is oiled by Dorothy, the four skip happily toward the Emerald City.

In Baum's other Oz books, Oz's ruler, Princess Ozma, is often shown wearing poppies in her hair as decoration.

In Persian literature, red poppies, especially red corn poppy flowers, are considered the flower of love. They are often called the eternal lover flower.

How to donate a car to charity

It sounds so simple: Donate your used vehicle or boat to charity, avoid the hassles associated with selling it, and score a tax deduction at the same time. Everybody wins, right?

Not necessarily. As the saying goes, the road to h-e-double-hockey-sticks is paved with good intentions, and it can be surprisingly easy to fumble this well-meaning act.

Before you hand one of your biggest assets over to anyone, read the following tips to be sure you’re making the right moves.

read it more at msn .

These are some good web about donate a car, may be useful for you.

America's Car Donation Center - Donate your car truck RV or boat. Fast, free, and tax deductible. Find hundreds of respected car donation charities and donate your car online.

Donate a car to Cars for Homes - By donating a car to Habitat's Cars for Homes™ vehicle donation program, you help your local Habitat for Humanity affiliate build and rehabilitate houses

Car Donation at Donate Car USA: Donating a car to charity - Car Donation at Donate Car USA - It's fast and easy to give your used car to ... Get free vehicle pick-up whether your car to donate is running or not.

Autos for Arthritis: Donate your car - Donate your car, boat, truck, van, fleet vehicle, trailer or RV to the Arthritis Foundation and receive a tax deduction for its value.

Car Donations - Hold the poor and needy in your heart and donate to Car Angel.

Vehicle Donation Program - Accepts donations of cars to support programs in asthma management and tobacco control.

How to Purchase Structured Settlements

A structured settlement is a financial or insurance arrangement, including periodic payments, that a claimant accepts to resolve a personal injury tort claim or to compromise a statutory periodic payment obligation. Structured settlements were first utilized in Canada and the United States during the 1970s as an alternative to lump sum settlements. Structured settlements are now part of the statutory tort law of several common law countries including Australia, Canada, England and the United States. Although some uniformity exists, each of these countries has its own definitions, rules and standards for structured settlements. Structured settlements may include income tax and spendthrift requirements as well as benefits. Structured settlement payments are sometimes called “periodic payments.” A structured settlement incorporated into a trial judgment is called a “periodic payment judgment."

When law suits are settled, damages may be awarded in a lump sum, or a series of payments. A settlement which is awarded in a series of payments over time is called a structured settlement. Structured settlements are generally created by using a third party intermediary to provide the financing.

* State and federal law may restrict the sale of structured settlements, and there are many legal complications that can arise. Since you'll be exchanging cash for the right to receive future payments, you'll want to make sure that you are protected.

1. Work with an established broker.
2. Look for a structured settlement financing company who is a member of the National Structured Settlements Trade Association who also places settlements with private investors.
3. Get multiple quotes to ensure you get the best deal.
4. Retain an attorney to review the agreement to ensure your interests are protected.