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Caring for Your UGG Boots
You probably spent quite a bit of money on your ugg boots, so it’s important you take care of them properly to ensure they last for a long time. No one wants to run around in a pair of boots that look dirty and ratty, so here are a few things you can do to make sure your UGG boots keep that brand new look for as long as possible.

Start by making sure you take advantage of the ugg Water & Oil Repellent that came with your boots (sometimes called the UGG Protector spray). Pre-treat your boots before you start wearing them. Doing so will help to waterproof the exterior and will protect the sheepskin from light weather (rain and snow) or oils. You still shouldn’t wear your boots out in a blizzard, but they’ll be protected from natural wear and tear.

Do NOT wash your ugg boot. If you should find they’ve been stained you should attempt to spot treat them before you do anything else. You may need to scrub the entire boot if spot treatments do not work, but this is not something you should do on a regular basis.

If you do decide to wash your uggboots you’ll need to start by dipping them in cold water. You’ll then use a brush to gently scrub the exterior and then rinse the boots again. Always use COLD water. Warm water will cause the wool to shrink more than usual.

Make sure you stuff your boots with paper towels or newspapers and place them in a warm area to dry. Never put your boots in front of a direct heat source (like your heating vent) or in direct sunlight as this type of heat will cause excess shrinkage as well.

Treat your uggs kindly and they’ll last for a lifetime. Use the UGG cleaning and repellant solutions as often as necessary to ensure you’re safe from the elements. Otherwise, have fun!

When Times Are Tough, The Cobbler Grows Busy
It strikes fear into the hearts of most business owners, but the recession does not scare Nancy MacMullen, the Island cobbler.

Nancy MacMullen.A look around her Oak Bluffs workshop will tell you why: always cluttered, it is overrun these days with queued shoes.

Ms. MacMullen, 56, is operating a two-week waiting list before she even gets a look at your footwear. Same goes for jackets, luggage sets, golf bags, deck chairs and die cups.

“People are fixing things rather than buying new stuff,” she said, perusing the frayed zigzag stitching on a child’s ugg boots. “Yeah, business is going well.”

Ms. MacMullen provides a broad rage of services at The Cobbler Shop — its motto: saving your soles one shoe at a time — which are very tricky even for the most dedicated penny-pincher to accomplish with do-it-yourself skills.

“You can’t repair shoes yourself unless you use duct tape,” she said. “And something like a zipper, or a new slide, people just don’t have that lying around. I’ve got all the tools. I have the cement and the thing that fits inside the shoe and clamps it down.”

Looks like many islanders are wearing only socks.Mannequins are dotted around the workshop, next to Singer sewing machines, laces, chisels and thread spools. On one workbench is a pair of glossy black patent leather boots which Ms. MacMullen is trying with little success to de-shine. She works with Landis industrial lock and chain stitching machines and uses a curved stitch for parts, since she can no longer get someone to come and repair the old-fashioned equipment.

“They want me to take off the head and send it down to New York. Yeah, right,” she said.

As long as people have shoes on their feet (something this reporter’s father, who grew up during the London Blitz, regularly tells him wasn’t always so), Ms. MacMullen will have a viable business.

But in her experience the Vineyard is a particularly target-rich environment for several more reasons.

Heel to toe, and when she is done they’re just like new, without breaking the bank.“Cobblestones and bricks are my friend,” she said. “New Yorkers aren’t walking on Edgartown streets, getting the leathers all scraped. In New York city they have these places that say, ‘Instant shoe repair.’ They just take off the stiletto and pop a new one in,” she said. “Plus, you can’t go to Wal-mart here and buy something new. And then, of course, people have their favorites.”

Over by one of the four stitching machines she picks up a worn-out leather boat shoe with several patches on the sole.

“This shoe is perfectly good, it just needs to be restitched. They have been in four times. People wear their shoes to death, they’re flopping off,” she said.

Then of course, they don’t make shoes like they used to.

“They’re cutting costs with the materials. More lightweight manufacturing,” Ms. MacMullen said. “I think these designers make shoes for carpeted offices in office buildings.”

Tools of the cobbler’s trade.But she admits that business hasn’t always been this good.

When Ms. MacMullen took over the shop in 1981 and later moved the business from downtown Oak Bluffs to its present workshop, she was hurt by a decline in the use of leather shoes.

“It used to be slow months in the winter,” she said, which is why she decided to expand her business to include clothing and other repair work.

Now she says there are reliable cycles to her business, cycles that mirror somewhat the rhythms of a resort Island in New England.

“It gets really busy in the fall, with people pulling out their shoes after summer. Christmas is hectic, then in January people get their suitcases ready,” she said.

Ms. MacMullen closed last week for a trip to Boston, and the workload waiting for her on her return was formidable.

“It’s hard for me to catch up,” she said, noting that she hasn’t even gotten through all the messages on her machine.

Then she added with a smile: “People have to be patient.”

How to Shop Ugg Boots?
Uggs are all-time-favorite footwear favored by many people across the world for its versatility and chic looks. Many like to prefer this footwear for its stylish and comfort aspects that charms as well as eases your feet with utmost convenience. Earlier, people use to wear ugg boots to keep their feet warm in cold weather but now in modern time people prefer them to gain a great appearance.

Even celebrities love wearing these boots for their comfortable features. You too wanna try out this sheepskin footwear for your family? Well, it’s a great idea. With Sheepskin boots being made in plenty of styles and sizes, you can choose a pair for all members of your family. But are you pondering how to shop for these boots for your family? Stop worrying, all you need to do is to spend time searching for the perfect pair. Well here are some great tips to choose the best pair of uggs for your family.

Men’s Ugg Boots/Shoes:

Men always look ahead for casual style, comfort and simplicity at a great value. They prefer boots that are designed with a bit of extra room in a slip-on style. for added comfort. Beacon, Butte, Berrien are some of the exclusive styles of sheepskin boots that will better serve the needs of men in terms of comfort as well as casualty. If you wanna casual slippers for trudging around the home then ugg slippers is the good bet for you.

Women’s Ugg Boots/Shoes:

Women and Girls are passionate about style, comfort and luxuriousness. They always wish something extraordinary and Uggs are one such exceptional to meet their requirements. Uggs featured with fringing and fur trims can be a nice choice to wear with skirts for a sumptuous look. A nice pair of lace-up uggs with cross over straps is also a great bet for girls and women to stand apart from the crowd.

For a traditional yet rugged style, prefer style. classic tall / short uggs that can be worn with jeans to gain a smashing appearance. Even color matters a lot for girls, so sheepskin boots are available in pink, sand, black and beige. For a casual look, sand, beige or even black color sheepskin footwear will be an ideal choice. And for a girly look, opt for a pair of pink uggs that will give you a pretty cute appearance.

Kids Ugg Boots/Shoes:

Sheepskin footwear for kids comes in an exclusive variety of styles, colors and sizes to keep the little feet just as happy and comfort as big ones. Kid’s ugg boots are designed with finest suede and sheepskin with fleece lining for extreme comfort at all times. These boots feature ridged designed outsole for superior traction on all types of floors. Kid’s Classic, Ultra and Birch are few ugg’s styles that will be the ideal choice for the growing feet of your kids.

Uggs Men's ‘Bloke’
Its winter now and all men get ready to shop for fantastic pair of ugg boots. Do you think why to shop for UGG Ultra Tall Boots? Well guys, whether it is fashion or function, uggs will serve you the best with their comfort and style. aspects. Hurry up! This falls, sheepskin footwear is out with a whole new and trendiest styles and colors to meet your requirements. Here I have for you some of this falls hot picks in Uggs;

Ugg ‘Arapahoe’

There is a style. out there for everyone and one such style. is Uggs ‘Arapahoe’ that will lift your spirit to the endless skies of fashion. The look of this footwear was a major fixture at the Fall 2007 shows, and now it's everywhere. Unlike women, men go for simplicity and comfortness and this pair of Arapahoe is the right bet in this regard Gucci Men's Shoes.

This footwear is engineered with genuine sheepskin that keeps your feet warm and comfy in the cold weather. These Arapahoe sheepskin footwear features exposed shearling cuff that boosts up the retro looks in you. This pair of uggs features rubber outsoles that are highly flexible to enable excellent traction. The genuine sheepskin lining engineered in this footwear wicks away the moisture from your feet and keeps them stay dry and cozy inside the boots Links Bracelets.

Ugg Beacon

With the wintry wind whistling around your ankles, it's time to check out this season's must-have boots. And one such must-have boots for men for this falls is Ugg Beacon. This boots are for the men who prefer the blend of style. and comfort at a great value. Revamp your looks with this chic footwear to look fabulous and feel comfortable.

These boots are designed with full grain leather upper with sheepskin that keeps your feet dry and comfy for a long time. The sheepskin sockliner allows your feet to breathe properly by its natural pores that allows air inside the boots and keeps your feet dry. The floating rubber technology incorporated in this pair of uggs makes them feel lightweight and enhances increased flexibility and better traction.

Uggs Men's ‘Bloke’

Extremely craggy and casually trendy, this Bloke sheepskin footwear from UGGS will get you through even the toughest of winters. With classic styling, these uggs look fine, and can easily take the position of shoes in any non-suit situations. This footwear is a good bet for you to boost up your outfit and gain a great appearance.

Featuring elastic gore flanks that supports and snugly fits your feet, these boots come with an array of colors like chest nut, chocolate etc to satisfy your fashion needs. These uggs are crafted with high quality twin-faced Merino grade A sheepskin that gives the boots a luxurious appeal.

Emu Australia recruits VF Corp MD
Emu Australia, the sheepskin footwear company, has named Andy Knowles as CEO Europe with a remit to oversee all European marketing from the brand.

Knowles was most recently VF Jeanswear managing director where he oversaw the Lee and Wrangler brands. He has also held senior positions at Nestlé and Cadbury Schweppes.

Emu Australia entered the UK market in 2006 and has just opened a European head office and sales showroom in London. The company was founded in 1994 and positions itself as a luxury brand with the strapline “naturally Australian”.

The privately owned company is a rival to ugg boots and has just shot the 2009 autumn/winter campaign at a heritage-listed historical sheep station.

Aussie made products vanishing from shops
"THIS is Australian," says the salesgirl. "See here on the label? It says 'Designed in Australia'."

She is holding a leather handbag and letting me see only the top half of the label. The bottom half is obscured by her red-nail-polished thumbnail.

I look at her. Her thumb moves.

"Made in China,'' says the label.

She laughs. I can't tell if it's a guilty or an embarrassed laugh.

"All our stuff's made in Australia, to an extent,'' she says. "I mean, most of it's made in China - but we're a wholly Australian company.

"It's all designed here.''

We're in Pitt St Mall in Sydney at 2.45pm and I'm conducting a little experiment: If I wanted to spend my $900 stimulus payment locally, could I find Australian-made goods worth buying?

Will I end up with nine pairs of ugg boots? I hate uggs.

In every shop, I ask if there are any Australian-made goods.

On every occasion I'm greeted with some degree of awkward throat-clearing or defensiveness.

"Oh, yeah, I know what you're saying, says one saleswoman. "I like to spend my money here too.

Staff tell me there's no Australian content in Hype, Witchery, Nine West, Esprit, Just Jeans, Oroton, Emporio and Strandbags. At Surf Dive 'n' Ski, they're selling green-and-gold thongs bearing the names Surfers Paradise, Bondi, Cottesloe, Maroubra.

All made in Brazil.

How about the flower stall?

"Ah, these ones are Singapore orchids - from Thailand,'' says the florist, holding up flowers so blue they're almost neon.

Laughing with an apologetic air, she adds: "Some of the others are from Africa.''

In the 19 stores I visit, only seven have any Australian-made content - that's 36 per cent. Only one, Jurlique, is all-Australian.

A shop named Glue has an Australian-made Backstage dress for $119.99.

Portmans has a healthy stack of local clothes and at Soul Pattinson pharmacy, there's Le Tan, Sukin skin care and Nude by Nature makeup.

At Sussan, everything's made in Asia except the nail polish and the lip gloss.

Then I get to Borders and it seems a gleaming ray of hope.

Of 28 books on the new-release shelves by the door, only five are printed overseas.

It's an array of Australian-made words. Even the latest books by British authors Jeffrey Archer and Alexander McCall Smith are printed here. I'm delighted to discover such a beacon of localism, right here in the American chain store that locals love to revile.

Borders can't be that bad, if even the foreign books are Australian-made, can it?

But that situation exists only because of protectionism: a long-enduring ban on the parallel importing of books, which the Government is now considering axing because it keeps prices artificially high.

So in this little shopping strip we have a perfect encapsulation of the Australian economy.

There's a bit of manufacturing, a bit of protectionism, a fair amount of free trade - and an awful lot of embarrassment.

"We used to make it here but it's just too expensive now, one young salesman informs me. "It's all Australian ideas, though.

And that's the crux. It's just the reality of our modern economy, right? Australia is no longer really about making things. Manufacturing is 9.2 per cent of our gross domestic product. Mining is 10 per cent.

Agriculture is 2.6 per cent.

We're a services-dominated nation: retail, finance, law, tourism, education, transport, construction, hospitality.

The Pitt St shop girls are the economy, even when selling Singapore orchids from Thailand.

So why all the bashfulness?

Well, here's one reason: The shop girls know as well as I do that it's very hard to be sure about the conditions in those Chinese factories or Thai hot-houses. Are they as good as in Australian factories?

Do the workers get holidays? Are they paid fairly?

AussieBum underwear founder Sean Ashby is still horrified to recall the time he visited a Chinese manufacturer who wanted his business.

The showcase factory was clean, brightly lit and staffed by apple-cheeked employees taking regular tea-breaks.

Then he saw the real factory out the back: dirty, dark and stacked with bunk-beds.

That's one of the reasons it's cheaper to manufacture offshore. That's why Ashby keeps his production in Sydney.

And that should be the issue that concerns us. I don't care if products are made in Bangladesh or Bankstown as long as they're made by people treated decently.

We can't make everything here, or stand alone against the tide of globalisation. Protectionism won't protect us forever.

But we can be inquisitive about what we're importing. We can look beyond the embarrassment and think about how things are made.

We can read labels and ask questions in shops.

I haven't spent my $900 handout yet. Turns out half the ugg boots are made in China anyway. What a relief.

When Fads Unravel
When investing, it can be difficult to determine whether the fired-up growth stock you're eyeing is actually just a fad. People who invested in Crocs at the stock's crazy highs have learned the perils of such a situation. The shoe company's fourth-quarter results provide little reason for anybody to believe that Crocs shares can regain their former overpriced glory.

Crocs did beat analysts' expectations. However, it reported a net loss of $33.2 million, or $0.40 per share, compared to a profit of $38.3 million, or $0.45 per share, during the same period last year. The fourth-quarter net loss included major foreign exchange rate losses; without those, the company still would have reported a net loss of $17.1 million, or $0.20 per share. Revenue plunged 43.9% to $126.1 million.

Crocs also forecast a net loss for the first quarter, guiding in the range of $0.32 to $0.17 per share.

The company emphasized its improved cash position, accounts receivable, and inventory levels, and these are of course important elements. Cash is king these days, and Crocs' major inventory buildup and mounting accounts receivables hinted at big trouble on the way when the stock first began its downward spiral. However, Crocs' constant emphasis on the poor economy's negative impact may be a bit misleading. Although I have no doubt that the consumer spending slowdown is taking a bite out of Crocs, it's also been clear that the fad element of the company's shoes is rapidly unraveling. That implies that the heady growth of yesteryear is over, even when consumer spending revives.

Faddish stocks like Crocs and Heelys are dangerous for investors, even if Microsoft founder Bill Gates apparently believes that Crocs is a good stock.

Navigating the dire economy won't be easy for discretionary stocks like Crocs. Fellow footwear maker Skechers recently got trampled. On the other hand, these tough times could provide investing opportunities. I've wanted to take a deeper look at Deckers lately; its ugg boots may be a fad, but they've shown remarkable staying power for years now, remaining hot even through last year's holiday shopping season.

But in Crocs' case, I continue to firmly advise investors to steer clear. Even though it may look cheap trading in penny stock territory, I don't believe it will ever come near its former growth rates. Buyer, beware.

I love uggs.

Buy cheap ugg boots.

When your food is your child's enemy
Eating disorders can be hard to diagnose and treat, and it can take five years to get to grips with anorexia once treatment starts, writes SHEILA WAYMAN

WHO DOESN’T have some sort of issue with food these days? It’s not surprising when we’re bombarded with advice on what we should or shouldn’t eat; regularly presented with “miracle” diets endorsed by some glamorous celebrity, and it’s deemed “news” when a pop singer is spotted wearing her size eight jeans days after giving birth.

Children are affected by this image-obsessed world from an early age. A US study found 40 per cent of six year olds wish they were thinner. In Ireland, a study of the eating habits of more than 3,000 people under 18, which was published last year, shows that more than of a third of them are dieting.

But why do some youngsters go from having normal concerns about food and weight to developing complex and dangerous eating disorders? The reasons are varied – and sometimes unknown.

It is estimated that at least 200,000 people in Ireland are affected by eating disorders, although there has been no State-funded research on the extent of these conditions. The three main types are anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder (see panel).

Eating disorders endanger both physical and mental health, with anorexia having the highest mortality rate of all psychiatric illness.

“The mortality rate is higher than schizophrenia or depression put together,” says consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist Prof Fiona McNicholas, author of the above-mentioned study on children’s eating habits. “Half of the deaths occur by medical complication and the other half occur by suicide.”

For a third of people who experience anorexia, it starts between the ages of 11 and 15; while for half of them, symptoms first occur between the ages of 16 and 20.

The services for people affected by eating disorders in Ireland are scant. There are only three public beds for the treatment of eating disorders in the Republic. These are in St Vincent’s Hospital in Dublin and are for over 18s.

There are eight private beds in St John of God Hospital, Dublin, for people aged over 16 with anorexia, and also a small number in St Patrick’s Hospital, Dublin, for those over 14.

The provision of four regional units of six adult beds for the specific treatment of eating disorders was recommended in a policy document drawn up for the Department of Health in 2006, entitled A Vision for Change.

“The same report recommended the development of a specialised centre for the treatment of eating disorders in children and adolescents, to be attached to one of the national children’s hospitals,” points out Jacinta Hastings, the chief executive officer of the eating disorders support and information charity, Bodywhys. “There has been no progress on these recommendations to date.”

The best option for people with eating disorders is outpatient treatment, says McNicholas, sitting in the library of the Lucena Clinic on Orwell Road in Rathgar, Dublin. She divides her working time between here and Our Lady’s Children’s Hospital in Crumlin. Hospital care is reserved for the very unwell, or where the outpatient approach has not worked.

However, recovery from anorexia takes a long time. Only a third of cases will get better within five years of seeking intervention.

For a third, getting better means it is as if they never had the illness, explains McNicholas. Another third will always be vulnerable to stress by over-focusing on weight and they may be the sort of person who will never finish their meal.

“Then there is another sad third who have a chronic form of the illness, where their life is preoccupied by their desire to achieve this never achievable low weight and ultimately they end up with physical complications and mental health difficulties.”

The earlier the condition is identified, the greater the chance of overcoming it. So how, as a parent, do you distinguish between a child’s “pickiness” about food, combined with natural growing awareness of how they look, and the beginnings of an eating disorder which could ruin their life for many years to come?

“The age of the child, the gender of the child and the child’s other personality factors would help alert you to whether there is a possibility,” says McNicholas. “It’s absolutely normal as people get a little bit older that they become focused on their body image, body shape and the way they look, whether they are dressed in peer-appropriate clothes.”

When that starts to become obsessive and negatively affect other areas of their life, there is cause for concern. The child may be very critical of his or her appearance and place undue emphasis on weight, shape and size.

“What might have started out as a health approach, cutting out junk food and a little bit of exercise, which would be recommended and encouraged, they start over-doing it, at the expense of other things,” says McNicholas.

The danger signs are if it is affecting their social life with their peers, their school work, family life at home and their mental health. “They may become a lot more miserable and depressed.”

However, adolescents who suffer anorexia are typically high achievers, very competitive, have loads of energy, are very organised and very academically able, she points out.

“Sometimes for a long time their mood isn’t depressed; they are invigorated by their efforts to succeed in losing weight, which they do. So it may take longer for somebody with anorexia to suffer the negative impact of the eating disorder.”

It is also a matter of observing what and how your child is eating. People with an eating disorder will say they’re not hungry, may try to hide the fact that they’re not eating and become very ritualistic about the way they eat.

“They may hide their physique as well, wearing baggy clothes to avoid people seeing just how thin they’ve become,” says McNicholas. “Sometimes parents will say, ‘it is only when I saw her getting dressed for gym, or in the shower, that I noticed’.

“But not all anorexics hide their body,” she stresses. “I work with some young children who, despite being emaciated, will wear little tank tops. They delight in this bony image.”

The youngest patient she has seen was aged just eight.

Some people who have difficulty controlling their diet will binge and then there will be tell-tale signs of vomiting after a meal, or use of laxatives. They may over-exercise too, running up and down the stairs hundreds of times, in addition to going to the gym, swimming and walking the dogs. Parents should ask themselves is it a normal amount of exercise or does it seem a bit pathological?

A child’s ability to cope with emotions may also make them vulnerable to an eating disorder, says McNicholas. “If they internalise a lot of upsetting events and they have no way of dealing with it, they may suddenly latch on to something that they think they can control, which is their weight. So in an indirect way they are dealing with upsetting feelings by dieting; it kind of numbs your body for a while and you don’t have emotional feelings while you’re starving yourself.”

If you think your child does have an eating disorder, what should you do?

“If you suspect anything, the easiest thing to do with your child is just ask them how they are feeling and try to develop discussions around your emotions. You needn’t even talk about food,” says McNicholas.

However, if the child says there are not any worries, or is in that slightly elated phase where the diet is going really well, you won’t get anywhere with that.

Then it is a matter of observing your child’s weight and shape over time.

If you are concerned that both behaviour and the facts are showing that your daughter is losing weight, or failing to gain weight, a visit to the GP is always the best bet, she advises.

“For a discussion yourself: you don’t have to even mention it to your daughter. Educating yourself is always very, very helpful.”

For anorexic adolescents who have lost a lot of weight, the initial step is medical treatment for weight gain before embarking on therapy to tackle the underlying cause of the eating disorder.

Research shows that family-based treatment for anorexia is best for those under the age of 18. “You empower the parents to refeed their own child,” she says. “It is only when the child starts to eat normal amounts that you can start dealing with the other adolescent issues that will be there, as in all children – autonomy, going out socially, the child’s own concerns about their inner turmoil,” McNicholas explains.

She believes psycho-education could have a considerable impact on preventing the development of eating disorders; if people could learn how to avoid over-focusing on physical image.

“If people would put food and weight concerns in their right place and try to promote in children diversity, how it’s good to be different and not be all the same in our ugg boots and our Abercrombie jackets. It’s nice if somebody is pear-shaped, somebody else is dead skinny straight while somebody else is curvy.”

McNicholas would also like to see children being taught in school how to cope with emotional turmoil. “It’s about promoting positive mental health; eating disorders are a tiny bit in a much bigger piece.”

Amend the Bylaws
I thought my legacy as a Sun columnist would be about something big. I thought it would be about God.

I eschewed the notion that there is order in the universe. I dismissed the idea that we have a larger purpose on this earth. I said I didn’t believe in God. And people were OK with it.

Two weeks later, I said I didn’t “believe” in sororities. Shit hit the fan.

If I was dreaming of apocalyptic fallout before, I found it here, in response to a column that, if anything, I feared was too trite and too insignificant to publish.

The very next day, a guest columnist wrote of my alleged “implication that sorority women sit around like perfect China dolls waiting for a potential husband to smack [them] around.”

Another columnist commended me, but misinterpreted my article to be an attack on sorority girls — on their supposed “dress-code” and penchant for “Ugg boots” — on their behavior as “a bunch of rich, catty girls counting calories and competing for husbands.”

Friends asked if these responses upset me. Not their presence in the paper, certainly. But what I found troubling was the absence of fruitful discussion.

Aha, I thought, when I heard that the Interfraternity and Panhellenic Councils were preparing responses. Here was where the real debate would happen. Here — on center stage, in front of the Cornell community — our Greek leaders would step out and take charge.

'Ladyboys' roused to devour the gods of our imaginations
In an ideal world, you'd think Saturday would mark the decommissioning of cliche. You'd hope it would deposit a stark, bailiff's squiggle under the little, satirical jibes we so enjoy at Leinster's expense.

After all, they roughed up just about everything we mistook for knowledge in Croke Park. It was like seeing Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen cut loose with a chainsaw.

See, we still can't really help ourselves.

As evening bled into night across Dublin, it was quite something to sweep down towards O'Connell Street, this strange blue army tramping in a blur of Chinos and dockers and Ugg boots.

Odd, plummy voices pierced the air with cries of revolution, people who wouldn't ordinarily get vexed in the presence of a burglar now marching with chests expanded like great bay windows.

"I hope the Pacific is as blue as it has been in my dreams," says Andy Dufresne in 'The Shawshank Redemption'. Now Leinster know it is, Andy. First time you see it, it's bluer than a field of cornflowers.

What did Saturday tell us? Maybe that even the most lampooned and put-upon creature eventually locates a temper. The much derided 'ladyboys' devoured a side we had, in our imaginations, put up somewhere with the gods.

In our understanding, Munster, you see, stood for everything that was real and identifiably heroic in rugby. Leinster amounted to a grandiose conceit. We just gathered to watch nature do its cull.

Everything you need to know
Dear Joe,

I know that I go to a tough school, but I can’t take any more whining. I’m surrounded by complainers, and feel as if they’re always raining on my parade. Any ideas on how to change their attitudes, or make me more complaint resistant?

—Whiny in West Wing

Dear Whiny,

You would think that living in a wonderful city, receiving a great education, and having the world at your fingertips make you happy. Unfortunately, Whiny, for those who are always trying to take from the world, nothing is ever good enough. A week-long vacation to a community college in Bulgaria would teach them a lesson in being thankful. As much as we would like to change the wave of negativity that floats around campus, there’s not much we can do. Like sun radiation, or ugg boots, some experiences simply have to be dealt with. The difference is the protective measures we take against them. Avoid unreasonably negative people. For instance, those who complain about cookies, funk music, and high fives are suspect for investigation.

You should probably note that all people can be whiny at some times. It’s a natural product of being overworked and eating at Skibo Coffeehouse. An important responsibility of friendship is helping friends feel better. When a friend is starting into the downward spiral of misery, try to lift him out before it’s too late. And contrary to popular belief, LEN’s law does not occur. No matter how helpful you are in spreading your optimism, no one will steal your sunshine.

Turn that frown upside down, Joe

Dear Joe,

Don’t laugh at me, but I have a stamp collection. Even for being a Carnegie Mellon student, I get harassed every day for searching through catalogs and the Internet to find that perfect stamp. Why is everyone so hostile toward stamps?

—Posted in Porter

Dear Posted, If you were five years old, I would say that everyone is just jealous of your totally awesome stamp collection. The fact of the matter is: stamp collecting is dorky, even at Carnegie Mellon. Your activity falls into the “classical nerd” category. These are tasks considered “cool” to nerds 40 years ago, but now have given way to blogging, Internet gaming, and hygiene. Examples of classical nerd activities include wearing suspenders, bug or stamp collecting, cartography, and pen pals. Unfortunately, these activities are feverishly fun, which means they’re hard to get rid of when you realize that Eisenhower’s not in power.

Does this mean that you should give up your passion? Absolutely not, Posted. Fight the good fight and defend your quirky and somewhat antiquated hobbies. It’s people like you who tell the world how everything is sorted or what kind of glue goes best with balsa wood for that perfect model plane. Maybe the newer nerds aren’t impressed with your toys, but so be it. At least collecting stamps doesn’t result in repetitive stress injury.

Return to Sender, Joe

Different Types of Uggboots
ugg boots are available in a multitude of sizes, colors, styles and fabric options. And it is no longer necessary to know someone living “down under” in Australia who can hook you up with a pair. Retailers nationwide and around the globe are stocking these best-sellers. It is even possible for you to own a pair without even having to leave the comfort of your own home. There are countless Internet web sites selling this hot item. Of course, once you receive your brand new pair of uggs, you will want to get out of the house and show them off!

Uggboots are made in sizes that will fit every member of the family – infants, children, women and men. Full sizes, half sizes, and all sizes in between are available, if you willing to spend the time looking. But don’t worry; it will not take long to find the perfect size. What may be difficult is picking out the perfect color.

Chestnut, black, lilac, blue, pink, brown and natural sand are just a few of the many different color options that you can find for uggboots. In fact, these trendy boots are so fashionable that you will want to purchase several pairs in different colors. Imagine owning different colored Uggboots to wear to match your different moods. Red is sure to be an attention-getter. Natural give the wearer that casual look. Pink is perfect for that flirty, girly look. And classic black is a color that is sure to go with everything. Uggboots are available in a variety of fashionable styles. You can purchase tall Uggboots or short. If you are unable to decide between tall or short, you can split the difference and get the three-quarter boot length. And if wearing the popular boot by day is not enough for you, they are even available in a slipper style. The latest style to hit the market is a clog style. And more styles are arriving every day.

And there are more. The tall Uggboot style can be found with additional fleece detail on the outside, making this style the ultimate in femininity. When practicality is more important looks, Uggboots are available with a tough molded sole and additional reinforcement in the heel and toe area. This style is great for wearing in slippery areas where traction and resistance can help the wearer avoid potentially dangerous falls.

And the exterior look does not end with color or with sheepskin. These boots are also available in your choice of suede or leather on the outside. A high-quality uggboot will with pure Australian merino sheepskin, but imitation fabrics abound. Zippers and straps and elasticized sides are just a few of the other options that will change the look of this must-have boot.

Big, clunky soles or smooth soles, tumbled leather or milky-smooth leather, real sheepskin or an imitation, short, tall, or somewhere in between, Uggboots are the “in” thing to have in your closet this season. And you’re sure to find a pair that fits your budget.

Kim Sterin hosts Research Symposium at University of Maryland
Kim Sterin, a graduate of Archmere Academy, The Independence School and longtime Delaware resident, recently produced the Honors Humanities’ 2nd annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at the University of Maryland, College Park. The daylong conference was centered on the theme of “Re-imagining the Political Sphere: Critical Thought and Social Justice in Everyday Life” which aimed to engage participants in open dialogue about new approaches to politics with an investment in creating a more socially just world. The research presented reached beyond the traditional notion of politics by recognizing the political issues present in all facets of life from identity construction to popular culture. It featured 14 panel discussions and a keynote speaker, Dr. Diana Owen of Georgetown University. Kim also participated as a panelist and presented her two year long Keystone project, a requirement as a President’s scholar in the Honors Humanities program at Maryland. This subset of the Honors program is regarded as the premier program at the University and is limited to talented undergraduates with interests in the humanities and creative arts. The rigorous and specialized curriculum explores the dynamic history of the humanities, practical applications in the arts, and foundational issues in the disciplines of the humanities. Kimberly’s deans list performance in this program culminated with the book she published of original poetry along with critical essays about contemporary American culture. Entitled, “Busting through the Billboards with my Ugg boots” it creatively directs transformational thinking about American consumer culture and its effects on everyday life. She is the daughter of Jay and Maryann Sterin and will earn undergraduate degrees in both English and Spanish in 2011, along with a citation in Honors Humanities and the Jimenez-Porter Writer’s House.

The Look: Towson's biggest fashion mishaps
A recent letter to the editor titled "When did North Face jackets become Towson's official uniform?" got me thinking about some of the groupthink on-campus trends I've noticed this winter.

Despite the fact that many of our parents are being laid off left and right, almost every girl on campus can be seen sporting The North Face Women's Denali Jacket, which on The North Face Web site runs at $165. Pretty pricey for Polartec fleece.

What confuses me about the Denali's popularity, however, isn't the fact that so many girls are willing to shell out almost 200 bucks to own the new "in" jacket. What confuses me is their choice in brand name.

Just read the details on the jacket listed on The North Face Web site: "A favorite among outdoor enthusiasts, the Denali Jacket offers straight-forward comfort and warmth in cold weather excursions."

Ladies, we live in central Maryland.

I'd hardly call trekking to P-tux in that ice storm we had earlier in the semester a "cold weather excursion."

The true fashion crime being committed isn't the use of the Denali in place of a winter coat (I hear they are actually much warmer than they appear).

The outfit combination that a surprising majority of the women on campus seem to wear on a regular basis is what makes me cringe.

I submit the revised Towson University uniform for the female population: A North Face Denali Jacket, a black tights and a pair of ugg boots.

For the ideal winter outfit, I see several flaws in its design.

Flaw one: the black tights are worn in place of pants.

Apart from the risk of what can only be described as "wicked camel toe," tights used in place of pants can be used to effectively compliment a mini-dress or any article of clothing that reaches well past one's genital region.

Because the Denali lies just above the crotch, this rule does not apply.

Even though the Denali offers both "comfort and warmth," winter is not the best season to forgo pants.

Even though your torso and feet may remain warm in fleece and fur, nothing is going to be warming the most exposed part of your body.

Flaw two: no matter what your body type, this outfit does nothing to flatter it.

The Denali is neither form-fitting nor loose and wavy.

For the upper half of your body, it compliments little more than a hoodie or sweatshirt would.

The black tights leave nothing to the imagination, as they hug every inch of the calf and thigh.

And I don't think anyone really needs another reason to hate uggs.

And lastly, flaw three: you look absolutely ridiculous.

What makes a lasting style is its versatility.

Scarves have become so popular because of the variety of colors, patterns, styles and ways to wear them.

Layers can be worn by multiple girls on campus everyday because accessories can be used to give a plain outfit originality.

The North Face Denali Jacket, black tights and a pair of uggboots, no matter if you change the color of the jacket or tights or the design of the boots, will remain unoriginal, unproductive and unforgivable by fashionable society.

Cobbling together a traditional expertise
From brothel creepers to ugg boots, cobbler Dennis Clarke can chart his career through fashions in shoes.

And as the 71-year-old nears the end of his career, business has never been so good.

“The credit crunch has been good for us,” he says. “People are getting their shoes repaired instead of buying new ones.”

Mr Clarke took over the tiny shop in Bell Street, Wolverhampton, opposite the shiny new Wulfrun Centre in 1967. He was offered a unit in the shopping flagship but never gave it serious consideration.

“I wasn’t going to pay their fantastic rates and rent,” he says. “And it’s worked out well. I charge a few quid less than the repairers in the shopping centre but they’ve got carpets and nice clean counters.”

Dennis’s glass display counter is randomly stuffed with laces, inner soles and used plastic bags. Shoes ready for collection are piled high on shelves on the left of the counter. A sign warns customers that any footwear not claimed within three months will be sent for recycling. A surprising number fall into this category.

Mr Clarke started in the cobbling business in 1953, working in Blackheath, Brierley Hill and Dudley for Modern Shoe Repairs, later taken over by Mr Minet.

After National Service and a spell at Smart Shoe Repairs in Wolverhampton, he opened Densen’s Cobblers with business partner Eric Cartwright and another shop in Dudley Road.

After Eric died in 1983, Dennis just kept on the Bell Street business. The finishing machine dominates the narrow workshop at the back. Its multitude of functions include levelling heels before he starts works on them, trimming soles and giving the shoes a shine.

Unlike most cobblers, Dennis also has a stitching machine. Nearly all soles and heels these days are stuck on but only an old-fashioned stitch will do for welted shoes. Generously he allows his mates in the cobbling world to use the machine when they need it. Airguns have taken the place of hammers for knocking nails into soles.

“But when it breaks down, you’ll find me with nails in my mouth hammering away, just like an old-time cobbler,” he chuckles.

He also uses the nails as a code to record when a pair of shoes was brought in, knocking in an extra nail in the right shoe to identify the month - under the fourth nail for April, for example - while the left shoe indicates which week of the month. “If people want to argue about when they left them, I just turn them over and look at the soles.”

Another relic in this retail gem is the cash register which is pre-digital and can only ring up single figures. He closes Sundays and half-day Thursdays and says he wouldn’t know what to do with himself if he retired.

But after 56 years in the business, it is now a consideration. He adds: “I like work, so I’ll hang on until they close me down.”

Mary O’Rourke rode to the defence of her Fianna Fáil sister
Mary O’Rourke rode to the defence of her Fianna Fáil sister. “To taunt and say silly things across the chamber – calling people Marie Antoinette, for example – is puerile and infantile. . . To think anybody would approach with delight saying to people that a Christmas bonus will not be paid would mean that person is very sadistic.”

Mary Hantoinette nodded in agreement from her ministerial chair.

Then Mammy O’Rourke made an interesting observation, which suggests that the Government may yet be contemplating pulling a nice little stroke for Christmas by restoring the Santy bonus in the nick of time.

“The Minister opened a chink in the argument last night. . . and indicated that if there was a chance of giving this Christmas bonus, she would grasp the opportunity and encourage the Minister for Finance to do so as well. . . I add my voice to this and will continue to do so.

“As the months go by and Christmas approaches, we hope there will be some avenue which could be further explored for the partial or whole payment of this Christmas bonus.”

Again, Mary Hantoinette nodded her agreement.

Let us hope this is the case, if only to cheer up Labour’s Ciarán Lynch, who waxed Dickensian during his contribution, which he began by quoting the opening line of A Christmas Carol.

He painted a heart-rending picture of aged grannies without as much as a turkey leg to chew on over the festive season, unable to buy Ugg boots for their ragged grandchildren and bottles of whiskey for their rat-arsed neighbours.

But, like Scrooge, Mary Hantoinette might still see the light. A Christmas Carol is a story of redemption, sniffed Ciarán, moist of eye.

There wasn’t dry seat in the House by the time he finished.

Columbia Sportswear, Deckers Drop; Sector Gains
NEW YORK - Retail shares opened higher Friday while Columbia Sportswear Co. and Deckers Outdoor Corp. both declined after their outlooks fell short of Wall Street expectations. The S&P Retail Index rose 0.6% to 331.17. Columbia Sportswear shares declined 9.2%. Deckers, which sells Ugg boots, fell 3.8%.

Boot haul helps stamp out crime
A £2,000 haul of designer boots was found by police during their clean up Cardiff operation.

The ugg boots were recovered alongside stolen motorbikes and industrial tools, many of which have been traced back to burglaries in Cardiff and Penarth.

Police released the details after the latest leg of their Operation Clean Sweep in Llanrumney and Rumney.

The operation is moving through the city area by area.

Warrants were executed in Llanrumney and Trowbridge and five arrests made for offences ranging from handling stolen goods to burglary.

The uggs, which may have been fake, have been handed over to the council’s trading standards department.

WOMANS DEATH IN SEA ISLE STILL A MYSTERY
SEA ISLE CITY--- The Cape May Co. Prosecutors Office appealed to the public for assistance, on Friday, regarding the death of a Pennsylvania woman whose body was found near a boat ramp in Sea Isle City last Sunday.

Shortly before 8:00 am Sunday morning (Feb. 15) the body of 35 year old Tracy Hottenstein was discovered on a tiny sliver of marsh next to a public boat ramp at the street end of 42nd Pl.

The Conshohocken Pa. resident had been in town for Saturday's annual Polar Bear Plunge.

According to the Cape May Co. Prosecutors Office, Hottenstein was at the Ocean Drive Bar, on Landis Av. later Saturday night, and was last seen leaving the OD around 2:15 Sunday morning.

Although her body had been in the water at some point, an autopsy has failed to determine how Hottenstein died -- furthermore, sources tell NBC 40 that the cause of death is not drowning.

Authorities are still waiting for the results of toxicology tests.

On Thursday and again Friday morning, Middle Twp. and State Police divers searched the bay near where Hottenstein was found.

Described as 5'4" tall and weighing approximately 135 pounds, she was last seen wearing a pink plaid hat, pink scarf, a black long sleeved top and a black vest, along with dark jeans and tan ugg boots.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Cape May Co. Prosecutors Office -- Major Crime Unit, at: (609) 465-1135.

Razing Yahoo!'s GeoCities
Content isn't king at Yahoo! (Nasdaq: YHOO). In fact, it may not even be fit to be a jester. It's more like the messenger getting slain, if we go by the struggling online titan's move to close down its GeoCities site.

Believe it or not, a company that is clearly hungry for traffic and pages to populate with ads -- given its 15% revenue slide this past quarter -- is axing a source of free content generation. GeoCities has stopped taking in new registrations, and is advising existing users to move out before the bulldozers come in later this year.

As anyone who has surfed through GeoCities over the years will tell you, an Internet without GeoCities is like a world of celluloid without Keanu Reeves flicks. The absence of GeoCities won't create a cultural void. Few will miss its passing. It's loaded mostly with hobbyist tribute pages, authored by penny-pinching cybersurfers who put up with primitive tools and gaudy ads in exchange for free hosting. Many of the pages were created years ago, and abandoned like bunny rabbits after Easter Sunday, Ugg boots after winter, and anything Reeves did after the first Matrix movie.

Let's not harp on the fact that Yahoo! acquired GeoCities 10 years ago in a deal originally valued at $3.6 billion -- on the pricey side of the dot-com bubble. Everyone was overpaying at the time.

Yahoo!'s real crime was in neglecting its costly municipality. Instead of making GeoCities more attractive and fleshing out its potential as a social destination for niche audiences, Yahoo! appears to have dusted it under the rug as it moved to sell commercial hosting services instead.

Stupid, right? The guy in GeoCities who is showing off his collection of hissing Madagascar cockroaches or the YMCA basketball coach posting game-day snapshots is never going to upgrade to a paid hosting plan. However, a site like GeoCities can still nurture loyalty from its authors and appreciation from folks who stumble on sites put up by like-minded souls. That has to be worth something, right?

Killing GeoCities is just an invitation for bad karma, even if it's already clear that Yahoo! did something to anger the gods several years ago.

Police search for missing sisters
POLICE are becoming increasingly anxious to locate two girls who went missing last week.

Sisters Nicole and Bobbie-Jo Critchley, who are both under the care of social services, are believed to be with their mother somewhere in Stoke-on-Trent.

The pair went missing on Friday, April 17 from an address in Stone and officers have carried out a number of enquiries in the Potteries in the past week.

Twelve-year-old Bobbie-Jo is described as white, slim build, and about 5ft 2ins tall. She has shoulder length blonde hair and was last seen wearing black jeans, black Ugg boots, a black strap top and a black zip-up hooded jacket.

Her sister, 13-year-old Nicole, is also white, of medium build and about 5ft 3ins tall. She has shoulder length dark brown hair and was last seen wearing black jeans, black jumper and a belt.

Sergeant Dave Ingham, of Stone Neighbourhood Policing Unit (NPU), said: "Nicole and Bobbie-Jo have links within the Stoke area as well as in Stafford and while we believe they are with their mother, we are appealing to the public for their help in locating them.

"We would also urge the pair to make

Anyone with information on Nicole or Bobbie-Jo's whereabouts is urged to contact Stone police on 0300 123 4455.

The urban swan
Picture Estelle in the video for American Boy, her No 1 hit from April 2008.

And while she may ostensibly be just another in a string of R&B ingénues to grace the charts with her aerated paean to Stateside masculinity – a West London girl gone global, jamming with Kanye West – she might also just be something new altogether: the first hip-hop swan princess.

Today, Estelle is wearing a grey jumper with asymmetric zips that looks very much like European avant-garde designer Martin Margiela. It turns out to be Alexander Wang, teamed with second-skin indigo jeans, knee boots and a Louis Vuitton headscarf.

While Hepburn may seem like something of a hackneyed reference point, with everyone from Coleen to Posh citing her as their stylistic exemplar, the miscegenation of Hepburn’s look being adopted by an urban girl does offer a whole new aesthetic. “In Funny Face she was all in black for the majority of the film, and she was an underground hipster kind of a girl,” muses Estelle. “She was able to morph, she was able to go in any direction and still set a trend. Grace Jones was a piece of frigging art, she was a mannequin, she went with the androgynous thing, she took it and went as far as she could go with it; that’s fearless, that’s crazy, that’s not been done and I admire that.”

So, if everyone else is wearing PVC leggings or Ugg boots or any of the other unthinking trends that pollute our sartorial cosmos, does she buy into them? “No. I’d do it when it had finished or I’d do it way before they would do it.”

As you’d expect of a new-school swan, she’s a resolute classicist when it comes to labels. Her favourites are Fendi, Chanel and YSL. “Mr Lagerfeld, we love you. I’d love to meet him,” she enthuses. “I also like Jean-Pierre Braganza. He is great.”

But it’s shoes she reserves her most intense passion for. “I’m a shoe freak – the first thing I go for is a shoe. I’ve got 400 or 500 pairs. I go in for new shoe designers, like Charlotte Olympia. I love Nicholas Kirkwood; I’ve been standing in his shoes for two years. Shoes are like an artwork – they’re investments as well, and they always fit. For regular days, I’m all about the flats. I’m not into people who always run around in dumb high heels. The higher the better on stage, the higher the better when you’re going to a party and the higher the better when you wanna feel sexy.”

Summit teen starts program to help needy children
FRISCO — Kristin Anderson’s vision to bring joy to-less fortunate children began in fifth grade. Now, the 13-year-old eighth grader is days away from her first program to help needy kids at Child to Child — a carnival-like fair at Denver Children’s Advocacy Center Saturday.

Anderson, along with 18 student volunteers at Summit Middle School, will take a bus to the center where they’ll distribute gifts and run numerous games and art projects. Denver Children’s Advocacy Center’s services include children’s counseling, therapeutic work and family resources.

“I can’t remember when I exactly thought of it,” said Anderson, an animated blonde wearing a neon-colored sweatshirt and Ugg boots. “I’ve always just wanted to help kids that are less fortunate and with disabilities.”

On Wednesday, Anderson and her volunteers gathered in the middle school’s art room to make T-shirts to wear at Saturday’s event. The petite girl took control of 16 other kids, helping with them with decorating ideas, discussing each volunteer’s responsibilities for Saturday and even getting her hands covered in Puffy Paint.

Experts reveal how to take the agony out of towering stilettos
EVERY woman understands the power of a pair of sexy high heels.

But we felt Victoria Beckham's agony as she teetered round a Los Angeles theme park last week in five-inch Christian Louboutins.

She broke the pain barrier while tottering on her tip-toes on a family day out but is not alone with the average woman owning 10 pairs of toe-crunching heel-bending heels.

Here GAYLE RITCHIE asks the experts - what is the best way to survive in stilettos?

THE SURGEON

MIKE O'NEILL repairs the damage caused by high heels on a daily basis - and it's an ugly business.

The Society of Chiropodists' surgeon said: "Cramming feet into ridiculous heeled shoes is like a modern day version of Chinese bound feet - a 21st-century torture.

"You squash your foot into an unnatural position, it moulds and eventually takes that shape. Victoria Beckham's feet are full of bunions but she probably only wears them to be photographed. My concern is for the average woman who wears heels all day.

"Feet aren't so glamorous when covered in corns, calluses, blisters and fungal infections. Joints can develop all sorts of deformities which not even surgery can correct. It's ghastly, not glamorous.

"Get the balance right. Wear heels for fashion moments and comfort shoes for everything else.

"And mirror American women by wearing trainers to get to work then change when you get there."

THE SPECIALIST

PODIATRIST Aileen Kelly says it is important to choose the right shoe.

She said: "Get a shoe that suits your foot shape.

Get measured for both width of foot and depth of toe and visit a podiatrist.

"Make sure your shoes are supportive. uggs support the ankle joint and shoes with straps or laces are good."

Aileen also recommends regular treatments to keep toes in tip-top condition. She said: "Go for a foot soak, get the hard skin off, indulge in a massage and deep moisturising treatment. Wear Fit-Flops or MBTs and try comfort pads.

Look after your feet as surgery should be a last resort.

"There's nothing beautiful about limping down the street in agony on a big night out."

THE DESIGNER

SHOE designer Helen Bateman says the secret to happy feet is to train yourself to wear heels.

The Perth-based independent shoemaker said: "Everyone has their comfort zone. Some women run around all day in two inches but find it hard to step up to three.

"Thankfully it is possible to train yourself how to wear heels. It's like exercise - you teach your body to get used to the sensation.

"In high heels, all the muscles in your legs, bum and feet work differently. If you're used to flats, start low and go up a notch at a time."

Helen says it is worth buying good quality shoes with built-in support and cushioning.

She said: "The balance of the shoe is critical - the toe should be raised slightly when you look at it on the shelf.

"Also check the back. It should be slightly pinched at the top if it's good quality."

THE MODEL

FORMER Miss Scotland Nieve Jennings is a dedicated heel wearer.

Her favourites are a pair of 5in Christian Louboutins, similar to those sported by Posh.

She said: "Heels are a beautiful, feminine treat every woman should enjoy.

"I've just learned to suffer the pain. After five fashion shoots in a day, the backs of my heels and the arch ofmy foot ache but I've never needed to use insoles.

"High heels should never be clumpy - a thin stiletto is best. I give my feet a rest in Gucci trainers or ugg boots but mostly I'm in heels. I'd tell people who aren't used to heels to buy only soft leather shoes and get sponge soles."

Tozzi sets scene for more drama
NOT content with being an actor on the rise, Cronulla's Tahyna Tozzi has launched a career as a film producer.

Tozzi, 22, said she had started Avakea Productions in Los Angeles with fellow Australian starlets Teresa Palmer and Nathalie Kelley.

"We are currently working on a film and looking to go into production next year," she said.

The film is a dark, psychological crime thriller set in Sydney in the 1970s.

Tozzi makes her film debut in Beautiful, an Australian drama released today that has her flirtatious character sunbaking in the rain.

"It was so cold that particular day - I remember walking on to set seeing everyone in parkas and ugg boots and here I am in a bathing suit about to be drenched by a ginormous hose."

Tozzi, a graduate of Blue Water High with a role in the coming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, said she was slowly adjusting to life in LA, where she has been based for a year.

"I have managed to find little hobbies and things to do to keep me away from being absorbed by glitz of this town," she said.

Moir’s Big Yin routine is one big yawn
There are 370 shows at the forthcoming Magners Glasgow International Comedy Festival. At 369 of them, the performers will be following the two unwritten laws of comedy: find your own voice and write your own material. At one of them, a man in a black Spandex one-piece and “banana-fied” ugg boots will perform a set “inspired by Billy Connolly’s classics”.

Gary Moir, a former winner of Stars in Their Eyes, makes much of the fact that he, like Connolly, is a failed welder from the Glasgow shipyards. Normally, this would qualify him for delivering Chinese meals or restocking the freezers in Asda, but not Moir.

He had wearied, so his legend goes, of people telling him he was as funny as Billy Connolly. So shipbuilding’s loss would be comedy’s gain. But instead of becoming Gary Moir, hilarious individual performer who wears normal clothes and relies on his own imagination, he became the Big Yin, a Connolly tribute act.

He is not alone. There are a host of banjo-strumming, glottal-stopping faux Billys out there, appearing in the sticky-carpet clubs that Connolly played in at the start of his career. (They are also available for weddings, parties and corporate events, for people who imagine their big day would be improved by a singalong version of D-I-V-O-R-C-E.) Moir’s show has been a Glasgow Comedy Festival sell-out for the past three years; this time around, he is expected to fill the Barrowlands.

When Connolly started out, the Barrowlands was a dance hall. He played folk clubs and function rooms: his career-starting Billy Connolly Live! was recorded in the Tudor Hotel, Airdrie. Back then, Connolly was a fresh voice, an accent never heard before on Michael Parkinson’s BBC chat show.

He cheekily mixed up scatology and social observation with spoof songs. Among the mother-in-law gags of the 1970s, reimagining the Last Supper as a bar room rammy was bold and original. He swore like he was still working in the shipyard and made jokes about subjects — masturbation, flatulence, piles — that many of his audience would blush to discuss with their GP.

It was sensational and shocking, while being accessible in a way that the alternative comedians of the next decade never quite pulled off. But it is a product of its time and place: Connolly’s stand-up is a period piece, tied to a time when buses were orange, green and operated by the corporation. Neither Moir nor the other tribute acts on the circuit have adopted the purple beard or flowery shirts favoured by the latter-day Connolly. He has not sung In the Brownies, or worn the big banana boots that Moir copies in his stage costume for 30-odd years. The originals are where they belong — in a museum.

Unpleasant illnesses, evil families, problem drinking. . . the material that took Connolly’s audiences into wild, uncharted territory is now available back-to-back on television. The fabulous Glesca patter has been cleaned up and repackaged for telly, radio and in the acts of plenty of comedians who can stand up on stage without hiding behind somebody else’s hairstyle.

Connolly himself has run into difficulty dealing with contemporary events — there was a huge uproar in 2004 when, at the Hammersmith Apollo, he made a joke about the hostage Kenneth Bigley, who was soon to be beheaded in Iraq.

So the tribute acts such as Moir stay on safe comedy territory. He even borrows other comedians’ lines and puts them into his phoney Connolly mouth. Does his bum, he asks the audience, look big in his catsuit? It was Arabella Weir, not Connolly, who originally posed that question. He ploughs on regardless, with a charmless discussion of the size of other parts of his anatomy. It is about as daring as Kate Middleton’s dress sense and as challenging as an episode of Fireman Sam.

Of course, the audience that goes to see the Big Yin does not want to be taunted or challenged or made to feel uncomfortable. If they did, they would stay in and watch a Sarah Silverman DVD. They are going for nostalgia, for the values of the1970s wrapped up in a fancy-dress outfit. It’s not grown-up and it’s not very funny.

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Chaos is nearer the surface than we imagine, waiting to break through
YOU could argue that for our sanity we need to believe in certain things. We need to believe in order, for example. We need to believe that things are in some way under control, that we, or someone else, is on top of things, has a grip. Beyond our belief in order lies the appalling vista. It is the stuff of nightmares, of horror films.

We need to believe, too, that the Government is in charge. Despite increasing evidence to the contrary, we cling needily to the notion of this paternalistic institution to which we have delegated the running of the bigger picture. Once we can believe that they are there fighting the macro-battle, then we can focus on our own petty struggles. And every time we read about further deterioration in the economy, or the world order, we can console ourselves with the notion that while we are powerless to do anything, we have a Government and it is, presumably, on top of things.

So we literally suspend disbelief as we observe the weekly routine that is the Oireachtas. We will ourselves to believe that the talking, and the plans, and all the rest of it, are going to make a difference, maybe even that they will work. We may disagree with the talk and the plans at times, but part of us gullibly thinks that these guys are, in some way, competent to be in charge. This necessary gullibility is revealed by the fact that until very recently, most of the media -- and many of the public -- wilfully allowed themselves to believe that this Government was on top of things, despite the fact that since before last summer the Government has been adrift.

While much has been made of this Government's apparent need to "get real", many of these exhortations have come from an Opposition that has resolutely refused to get real itself. It is an Opposition that has put playing political games and political opportunism ahead of actually eyeballing what is an extraordinary shift in our whole world, and positioning ourselves for this shift. buy uggs.

But then again, who is going to be the politician to turn to the people and say the real truth? "Things are never going to be the same again. The world as we know it is disintegrating. You need to radically alter your expectations of life. The value of everything is up in the air and could be nothing, as are all the systems and certainties that our lives up to now were based on. Indeed, the very sovereignty of our State is now in doubt as we are moving, with increasing haste, towards bankruptcy. There is a high possibility the country is going to run out of money, and one week soon we simply will not be able to pay people's dole, or nurses' wages or any other bills.

"We're not really sure what will happen then because the very institutions that might bail us out in that situation, like the IMF or the ECB, might not at that point be able to bail us out. We can take nothing for granted anymore, including the world order."

The closest any politician has come to looking the people in the eye and telling them the mind-blowing truth about what's going on is, funnily enough, Brian Cowen, when he told the Dublin Chamber of Commerce that our children would probably not enjoy the same standard of living as we do. It was, when you think about it, a fairly radical thing to tell people because you are asking Irish people to let go of another one of our core beliefs -- that the country is constantly getting better and that each generation enjoys a standard of living that is higher than that of our parents. Remember, this is a country that went from hobnail boots to ugg boots, from poor farmers to farmers' markets, in little more than two generations. We are a country that believed a year ago that things could only get better. The notion that we could now slip back, from being one of the richest countries in the world, to being a Second World, or indeed a Third World country again, is unimaginable for most of us.

Just as we need to believe we have tamed our demons with civilisation and order -- two immutables that cannot break down -- we need to believe too that we have conquered poverty and our past with unrelenting progress.

Of course, one of the reasons that no politician has told people how much in freefall the foundations upon which we have built our lives actually are is because most politicians are in denial too. They believe that conducting the weekly circus in the Dail, having pops at each other and dissing whatever plan the opposite side moots is still, in some way, acceptable behaviour. They do not realise that democracy as currently practised in this country has failed, is in terminal failure, and is now irrelevant.

Can you believe for example, that the Government is still waiting for a report from the Commission on Taxation? Its effort to speed things up has apparently been to tell the Commission to report in July instead of September. We could, as the man says, all be dead in July, but somehow it seems that the Government thinks it is still OK to wait for some report on what we should do about wider tax reform.

This at a time when any taxi driver could probably offer a decent stab of a taxation plan for the country -- and at a time when people are prepared for the worst in terms of taxation. It was last Tuesday before Brian Cowen realised the country was screwed and needed a mini-budget, despite the fact that schoolchildren were muttering the day after the last Budget that it was not enough and we would need another one within months. Mary Coughlan thought, just the other day, that the country's finances were in good shape. Fintan O'Toole, who has set himself up as a tax expert, appears to be running the Opposition's policy -- which is "Eat the rich". Trust me: politics is not working here.

So now we need to consider something different, now we need to consider something that could get a grip on things. If our politicians don't realise this, they will realise it soon enough. Who among them, do you think, will dare leave

the safety of Leinster House to campaign for local or European elections, or, indeed, for a Lisbon Treaty? Who among them will relish going out among the people if there is a general election? Can't you picture it? Politicians getting egged, getting a dig instead of a dig-out? Rival factions of canvassers and supporters going at each other?

Of course by then we will presumably have unrest on the streets anyway, as unions or taxi drivers or whoever else having taken to the city centre are encouraged by the kind of sinister elements who start sowing seeds of unrest wherever there is discontent. It's a miracle that some public gathering hasn't ended in rioting yet, but it will happen soon enough as people lose hope even further and as the vague sense of chaos and drift out there begins to crystallise in people's minds.

The mini-Budget and the continuing inability of the Government to seem to be in charge will form the background to unrest -- will, if you like, provide an ambience that is conducive to unrest. The opportunity and immediate catalyst for unrest will be protests or election campaigns. And once it has happened once, and civil society is breached, and the world doesn't end, then it will happen more and more, and soon at every place where people gather in public there will be tension and the potential for unrest. With trust in the financial system and the political system gone, soon enough people will lose faith in all systems. Chaos is much nearer the surface than we imagine, waiting to break through, and once it breaks through, it's like a virus.

So what kinds of measures should we consider? The idea of a so-called National Government has been batted around a bit recently. However, it is difficult to say if there is anything inherently inspiring about the current incumbents of Leinster House all working together instead of agin each other.

What we probably need to try now are some kind of emergency measures that allow us to react to the situation as quickly as it develops. Waiting for the Commission on Taxation or an Bord Snip Nua to report months down the line makes no sense now. Neither does the Government being unable to cut civil service pay because the legal advice is that they can't. Similarly a Government that needs to spend months fooling around with the social partners before it can make a decision about economics has no place in the world right now. Neither has a Government that is legally constrained from cutting tribunal lawyers' fees. Buy cheap ugg boots.

In fact, come to think of it, much of the country is tied up in red tape that was designed for more genteel times. This is not a particularly relevant example right now but it is a rather telling one: Did you know that 85 per cent of the staff of the Office of Public Works, the Government department responsible for decentralisation, are refusing to move to their decentralised location? Irrelevant right now, but just another example of the kind of rubbish that is still going on as Rome burns.

These are sterner and more urgent circumstances, and it is perhaps time that we looked at suspending some of our more civilised instruments of running the country. After all, it is the very collapse of civilisation that we are battling for right now, so we need to fight a bit dirty, just so the centre can hold in some way. Standing on ceremony, as we are wont to do, could only be a recipe for greater chaos.

Spring forward and fashion back
A few tips ont he new spring chic

Spring is finally here, girls. That means time for a rejuvenation of the mind, spirit and beauty icon inside us all.

DON'T buy jeans that are too small for you. It looks uncomfortable, it feels uncomfortable and nobody wants to see your underwear every time you sit down.

DON'T wear your UGG boots with shorts. This is tacky. If it's warm enough to wear shorts, it's time to break away from the Uggs and get with the spring season.

DO opt for strappy sandals. These are flat shoes but are incredibly elongating to the legs. Right now, golden and black strappy sandals are the top style, some with a cute flower embroidery near the toe strap. Chunky wedges are also big right now, and can be found in every style and color.

DON'T wear a choker, what are you a dog? This look can work wonderfully at times during the cold winter months, but it's too confining for spring.

DO try a bold necklace, an over-sized ring or a funky bracelet to pop out of any outfit making it fun and unique.

These are just a few pointers and tips about the fashion world right now. As college students our main focus is our education, but it doesn't hurt to look cute while we work toward our degrees!

Oxnard College offers free English classes for workers
Oxnard College is offering free English classes for workers at local businesses.The idea is to teach employees the English they need to do their jobs, said Christopher Jones, project director. So a hotel might request a class focusing on housekeeping terms. Or a hospital could offer a class on medical terms.

The college received a $399,000, two-year grant from the chancellor of the California Community College System to start the pilot program, which has 400 spaces available.

So far, two companies have signed up — Catalytic Solutions Inc. in Oxnard, which makes catalytic converters, and Deckers Outdoor Corp. in Camarillo and Ventura.

Deckers, which markets UGG boots and Teva sandals as well as other products, has about 30 people in the classes, said Lou Flores, human resources manager.

The company signed up for the program because it wanted to improve communication between workers and managers, he said.

“Our manager likes to go out on the floor and talk to people directly,” Flores said. “We also wanted to give employees opportunities to take new positions. We look at it as an opportunity for both the employees and for us.”

Republicans Will Fight the Next Cycle“Who are these kids?”
That was the buzz in Northeastern Pennsylvania during the first week of November last year. It was high noon in what would become the most contentious election of our lifetime.

Yet, a group of relentless students screaming themselves hoarse in the town square, daring the disapproval of former President Clinton by showing up uninvited to his rally, and storming the streets armed with literature, captivated the locals. Newspapers and television crews seemed to follow our every move, asking with a detectable degree of incredulity: why did a group of young students come all the way from D.C. to help Congressional candidate Lou Barletta?

We think, with all due respect to our liberal friends, that they were duped. His face was on t-shirts at Urban Outfitters, he had an application for your iPhone, and the DNC looked more like MTV with all of those Obama-crazed stars slinking around the place. Obama was cool, but has he earned our generation’s vote?

To give you some perspective here, Republicans view President Obama and his policies roughly the same way guys look at UGG boots: attractive in the short-run, but ultimately too costly and impractical to sustain.

Admittedly, our Party failed. It neither communicated our message in a modern way nor nominated a candidate to represent those ideals. For this, we are sorry, but before you pick up an Obama pin for your backpack, we ask that you join us, one of the most active College Republicans chapters in the nation, and help us to build a new face for the Party of Lincoln.

Podiatrist: Ugg Boots Do Uggly Things To Your Feet
ugg boots have become something of a phenomenon lately. Hollywood made them trendy and the Midwest made them mainstream.

At more than $100, they're not cheap but they've become a must have -- especially for teenage girls. What many Uggs lovers don't realize though is, according to one podiatrist, the flat, shear ling lined boots are actually bad for your feet.

"They keep your feet warm in the winter and summer. You don't have to wear socks with them, that's the main reason I bought them," said Crystal resident Angie Peterson.

"They're comfortable," said Minneapolis resident Amanda Weinkauf.

They're a major fashion trend that hasn't gone out of style yet in Minnesota.

"I think they're ugly," said Weinkauf.

That doesn't stop thousands of women and girls from wearing and loving the Ugg boots.

"Very comfortable, they feel like pillows on your feet," said Peterson.

However, podiatrists warn the shear ling boots are actually hard on your feet.

"The biggest problem with them is the fact that they have no support. They're completely flat on the bottom," podiatrist Dr. Kari Prescott.

Doctors say that lack of arch support can lead to foot and leg problems.

"If you don't have external support, all the muscles in your legs, really from the knee down, can become achy, sore. Some people refer to that as shin splints," said Prescott.

A foot condition called plantar fasciitis, or heel spurs, may also happen. Slipping in an arch support can help.

"This provides some curvature and it's not ideal," said Prescott.

And even forewarned about potential problems, Ugg wearers still love their boots.

"No, I'd probably still wear them," said Peterson.

"I'd still wear them," said Weinkauf.

"It's always fashion over practicality, isn't it?" said Prescott.

MCC members guide on how to dress
The exclusive social club has sent members a two-page illustrated guide of its strict dress code.

Bare midriffs, torn jeans and thongs are banned from the Member's Reserve.

Men will be refused entry to the Long Room or Member's Dining Room if they have no tie or wear a zippered jacket and women will be turned away in leggings, denim jackets or three-quarter pants.

In case members don't know what tracksuit pants and ugg boots look like, the MCC had models pose in the unacceptable clothes.

The latest MCC membership letter warns members they will not be admitted unless they can pass the fashion police.

"To avoid any embarrassment at the turnstiles, please ensure that your attire, and that of your guests, is appropriate."

MCC chief Stephen Gough said the guide was necessary to inform members, who will this year pay up to $726 in fees.

"It's come about because we have so many occasions when members might bring guests that are unaware of the requirements," he said.

"Sometimes members themselves don't know what is expected of them.

"So we've done this because it can be embarrassing for people to get knocked back and a major inconvenience."

But MCC members said the dress guide was a step too far.

Country member Brendan Carrick said the MCC was pointing out the obvious.

"If you're a member, you know what you're expected to wear," he said.

"You don't need a two-page guide to remind you to wear a collar or to remind your guest that they have to wear a tie."

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OK! Interview: Peter André & Katie Price
The former UK glamour model and her pop star hubby stopped by OK!’s Beverly Hills office, and opened up about their life in the US, the Beckhams, and Jade Goody.

Do you live a normal life here in the US?

Peter: In England, it is constant. Here you get some days when they are there, and some days when they are not. You can be normal.

Katie: You think it’s pretty normal to go and have a 13-mile run along Malibu beach and have twelve paparazzi following you around?

The Beckhams attempt to “conquer America,” was short-lived because it looks like they’re now going back to Europe. What are your thoughts?

KP: Well, we never said that we were trying to break America. I don’t know if they said that they were trying to. It’s sad they’re going to be leaving. I’m sure that she loves it here, and her boys love it here. Just — good luck to them!

PA: I think that they are so successful anyway –who cares. It doesn’t matter, and I think –you know, good luck to them! We love them.

What are your thoughts on Victoria Beckham’s style?

KP: Sometimes, I do think that she tries too hard. I would actually like to see her in a tracksuit, and ugg boots going to the shop buying newspaper – smiling.

What are your thoughts and feelings on fellow UK reality star Jade Goody's battle with cancer?

KP: Oh, it is awful. But I think that it is so brave and I am just gutted for her. We talk about her day and night. I would love to be by her side just the whole way, you know.

PA: It’s really put everything into perspective for us. We are living the American dream but what does it all mean when you think back to someone who can’t see their children after a certain period of time. She will never see them again.

Have the both of you reached out to her?

KP: I’m supporting her.

PA: We’ve sent her some messages, and we have sent her some flowers.

KP: I do say that they need to do a Jade charity, and I would love to be a part of that. I said that next year, I would run the marathon to raise money for that.

PA: Well, I was actually thinking of writing her name across my forehead when I do the London marathon. Buy cheap ugg boots.