Farmina
22-09-2005, 09:59
Groom fined for kissing bride
An Israeli couple has been fined $30 after an Indian court found the pair guilty of obscenity for kissing during their marriage ceremony in a Hindu pilgrim town, according to newspaper reports.
The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu marriage while visiting Pushkar town in the temple-studded desert state of Rajasthan this month, The Times of India reported.
But they infuriated the priest as they started to kiss and embrace while he was chanting vedic hymns.
The priest, along with other Hindu holy men, complained to police, who filed charges against the couple.
The court in Pushkar gave its verdict on Tuesday.
The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were outraged.
- Reuters
Humanity leaves me worried, continuously. Kissing at a wedding is obscenity?
Chinese condom company unites Clinton and Lewinsky
A condom maker in southern China's Guangdong province is marketing its products under "Clinton" and "Lewinsky" brands and has registered the names as trademarks.
The Guangzhou Haojian Bio-science Co is selling its wares under the Chinese spelling of the names that read "Kelintun" and "Laiwensiji," the state-controlled New Express reported.
The names in China are easily recognisable as former US president Bill Clinton and his one-time lover, Monica Lewinsky.
The Clinton brand is set to be the company's top product selling for some 30 yuan ($4.80) for a pack of 12, while the Lewinsky brand was expected to fetch 18 yuan.
The company unveiled the product on Monday.
General manager Liu Wenhua expressed confidence the names would not get him into trouble since they are only "trademarks of two foreign surnames and can't be seen as a violation of rights," the report said.
- Agence France Press
I don’t want Clinton in my sex life and that’s final. Although he is fairly wealthy...
'No title needed' on cover of Tom Wolfe novel
In an unusual publishing move, Tom Wolfe's most-recent novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons, will be printed without the title on the cover of its paperback edition - just its author's name in giant letters.
The paperback cover of the sexually charged tale of contemporary US college life contains only Wolfe's name and a picture of a young woman in a green dress, presumably to symbolise Charlotte Simmons.
"We are using Tom Wolfe's name as a brand, rather than the title of the book. He is an icon himself," said Tanya Farrell, publicity director for Picador USA which is printing more than 2 million copies of the 738-page novel in which the 74-year-old writer tries to infiltrate the minds of American college students.
The back cover has reviews of the book but does not name the novel, although the name is printed on the inside cover.
The book sold more than 775,000 copies in hardcover, making it the 11th bestselling novel of 2004, but critics gave it mixed reviews and wondered why the author of the celebrated Bonfire of the Vanities and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test could not find adults to write about.
"Whoever missed the book the first time around should know that Wolfe has written for a new demographic," Ms Farrell said, adding that Picador had hired an outside firm to help market the book to college students.
For his part, Wolfe is giving interviews to college newspapers and doing joint readings with Toure, a 34-year-old writer who once worked for MTV and is idolised by college-age readers.
"As a paperback house, you try to reinvent the book because at a lower price, you have a different audience so you are bound to find new ways to get the book into audience hands," Ms Farrell said.
Wolfe, a pioneer of the style that came to be known as 'new journalism', is also the author of The Right Stuff, about the early US space program.
- Reuters
The arrogance of it. I refuse to buy a book with no title.
Sheepish twist to reality programming
Croatia wound up an Internet reality show starring sheep instead of people.
The winner of the 10-day Stado (herd) competition is a sheep named Josip, which received poetry in its honour instead of money.
The Vecernji List daily reports that those voted out of the seven-member herd might be eaten.
The show could be followed 24-hours-a-day on the website, www.stado.org, where visitors could see how the sheep fed and interacted with each other.
They could then choose which sheep to vote out.
- Reuters
Much better than Big Brother. Good on the Croats, time we had some quality reality TV.
An Israeli couple has been fined $30 after an Indian court found the pair guilty of obscenity for kissing during their marriage ceremony in a Hindu pilgrim town, according to newspaper reports.
The couple had decided to have a traditional Hindu marriage while visiting Pushkar town in the temple-studded desert state of Rajasthan this month, The Times of India reported.
But they infuriated the priest as they started to kiss and embrace while he was chanting vedic hymns.
The priest, along with other Hindu holy men, complained to police, who filed charges against the couple.
The court in Pushkar gave its verdict on Tuesday.
The Asian Age newspaper said Hindu priests were outraged.
- Reuters
Humanity leaves me worried, continuously. Kissing at a wedding is obscenity?
Chinese condom company unites Clinton and Lewinsky
A condom maker in southern China's Guangdong province is marketing its products under "Clinton" and "Lewinsky" brands and has registered the names as trademarks.
The Guangzhou Haojian Bio-science Co is selling its wares under the Chinese spelling of the names that read "Kelintun" and "Laiwensiji," the state-controlled New Express reported.
The names in China are easily recognisable as former US president Bill Clinton and his one-time lover, Monica Lewinsky.
The Clinton brand is set to be the company's top product selling for some 30 yuan ($4.80) for a pack of 12, while the Lewinsky brand was expected to fetch 18 yuan.
The company unveiled the product on Monday.
General manager Liu Wenhua expressed confidence the names would not get him into trouble since they are only "trademarks of two foreign surnames and can't be seen as a violation of rights," the report said.
- Agence France Press
I don’t want Clinton in my sex life and that’s final. Although he is fairly wealthy...
'No title needed' on cover of Tom Wolfe novel
In an unusual publishing move, Tom Wolfe's most-recent novel, I Am Charlotte Simmons, will be printed without the title on the cover of its paperback edition - just its author's name in giant letters.
The paperback cover of the sexually charged tale of contemporary US college life contains only Wolfe's name and a picture of a young woman in a green dress, presumably to symbolise Charlotte Simmons.
"We are using Tom Wolfe's name as a brand, rather than the title of the book. He is an icon himself," said Tanya Farrell, publicity director for Picador USA which is printing more than 2 million copies of the 738-page novel in which the 74-year-old writer tries to infiltrate the minds of American college students.
The back cover has reviews of the book but does not name the novel, although the name is printed on the inside cover.
The book sold more than 775,000 copies in hardcover, making it the 11th bestselling novel of 2004, but critics gave it mixed reviews and wondered why the author of the celebrated Bonfire of the Vanities and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test could not find adults to write about.
"Whoever missed the book the first time around should know that Wolfe has written for a new demographic," Ms Farrell said, adding that Picador had hired an outside firm to help market the book to college students.
For his part, Wolfe is giving interviews to college newspapers and doing joint readings with Toure, a 34-year-old writer who once worked for MTV and is idolised by college-age readers.
"As a paperback house, you try to reinvent the book because at a lower price, you have a different audience so you are bound to find new ways to get the book into audience hands," Ms Farrell said.
Wolfe, a pioneer of the style that came to be known as 'new journalism', is also the author of The Right Stuff, about the early US space program.
- Reuters
The arrogance of it. I refuse to buy a book with no title.
Sheepish twist to reality programming
Croatia wound up an Internet reality show starring sheep instead of people.
The winner of the 10-day Stado (herd) competition is a sheep named Josip, which received poetry in its honour instead of money.
The Vecernji List daily reports that those voted out of the seven-member herd might be eaten.
The show could be followed 24-hours-a-day on the website, www.stado.org, where visitors could see how the sheep fed and interacted with each other.
They could then choose which sheep to vote out.
- Reuters
Much better than Big Brother. Good on the Croats, time we had some quality reality TV.