Old Home Remedies

There was a festival in a large city. It was put on by people who wanted to share who they are. These people had their families come from different countries.

This festival was for families. Many families came out to learn about life in the different countries. The countries are located in Central America, a place south of the United States. There were 21 different Latin countries sharing their way of life at the festival.

People who came to the festival could taste foods made like they are in the other countries. They were able to listen to Latin music. There was dancing as well.

The weather was nice which made for a good day to walk around and see it all. Some people were showing things that they made. People could buy these things from them.

This festival has been going on for 10 years. Each year, more people come. They had a very large crowd this year. It was free and many people enjoyed it.

Crimes against the people of America need to be reduced. The Crime Prevention Coalition has named this year’s theme “Safer Communities, Brighter Futures.” They believe that what really drives crime from our streets is everyone helping each other.

By helping each other, crime has been reduced in those areas where entire neighborhoods are involved. Building trust among neighbors has helped keep the crime figures low in those communities.

The facts concerning crime in America have changed. Violent crime has gone down since last year. Property crime has also decreased. The number of young people getting arrested for violent crimes has gone up. More young people have been victims of violent crimes too.

Children in America have also suffered. More parents have been charged with abusing their children. A number of young girls have reported to have been beaten by boyfriends.

Although many different crimes are being stopped, many more are still happening. People who live in a community with crime can make a difference. They can get involved with reducing the crime in their neighborhood. By working together, neighbors can make a safe neighborhood.

In the year 1986 there was a terrible explosion. The explosion was at a nuclear power plant in the another country called Ukraine. The radiation caused a lot of damage. It contaminated the soil and other things. People lived in the area when the explosion happened. Twenty years later those people are still suffering. Effects from the explosion will go on for a long time.

Over two million people still live in the contaminated areas. Only 56 people died from the explosion but many other problems have been caused because of it. Some types of cancer are more than 200 times above world average. Many children have cancer now and birth defects have doubled since the accident.

Some people in the United States are worried about the children living there. One group has been trying to raise money. They are called the Chernobyl Children’s Project. They want to bring children from the Ukraine to the U.S. each summer.

A spokesperson for the group says that radiation is the highest in the summertime so it is a good time to get the children out of the country. They want to help the children get away for a little while. The Project wants them to be safe from radiation.

It costs $1,500 to bring each child to the United States for six weeks. The group raised enough money to bring 28 children to the United States. They children were able to do lots of fun things. They enjoyed clean air, healthy food, and plenty of outdoor fun.

One little nine year-old girl who got to come to the United States said that she likes America.

A spokesperson for the Project said that the children that come to America during the summer miss less school when they return home.

The California Highway Patrol, people who work at a medical center, and a local news station had a special program early one morning. They organized a demonstration in a big parking lot. They showed parents and grandparents how to keep children safe while riding in a car. They showed people how to use children’s car seats.

The officers and medical experts showed adults how to properly place a car safety seat in an automobile. A safety seat must be tightly fastened so that it will not move. They gave demonstrations on how to place a child in a safety seat and to use a car’s seat belt to lock down a safety seat. The straps of a safety seat must be secure at the shoulder of a child. That way the seat is safe and effective.

People drove in their own cars to the demonstration. They brought their children with them along with their car seats. The experts showed them how to position their car seats properly. The experts also looked at the seats that the parents were using. The parents were told whether their child’s seat was safe. The experts looked at the seat to make sure it was not damaged or broken. They also checked to make sure it was not recalled.

Most of the problems that the experts found were resolved. The biggest problem was that the seats were too loose or the straps were too low for the children. The parents were given new seats if their child’s seat was damaged or unsafe.

It is a law in California that all children must be in a safety seat or booster seat when they are in a car. A child must be in a safety seat until they are 6 years old or weigh at least 60 pounds. A child can ride in a car with a regular seat belt after they become 7 years old or weigh more than 60 pounds.

Car booster seats have to be used with a car’s lap and shoulder belt. A booster seat raises a child so that the vehicle’s seat belt can be used correctly.

An adult driving with a child in the car without a safety seat will be fined. They will have to pay a ticket and they will have a mark on their driving record called a point. If a person receives too many points on their driving record they can lose their privilege to drive.

A business is giving a big gift to people who lost their homes after Hurricane Katrina. The company is called VSP, and will give hurricane victims $15 million worth of free eye care services.

Roger Valine is the man who runs VSP. He thought many people who lived where the hurricane hit had lost their glasses in the rush to leave their flooded homes. “It made me think, what can we do?” said Valine.

Roger Valine quickly came up with a plan. The company has already given out 23,000 certificates for free eye exams and glasses. That is about half of what VSP plans to give.

VSP is the largest eye care company in the country. The people who work there are not surprised that VSP wants to help these victims. They say it is a nice place to work.

The victims who are being helped by VSP are very grateful. One school nurse says that with VSP’s help, two children have gotten glasses that they need. Many people are being helped by this company.

Chantal Akerman’s Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975) has been notorious for so long, mainly because of its extreme unavailability on video, because of its lengthy running time, and having a reputation that seemingly nothing happens in it. But now that the film has been officially released on DVD, via Criterion no less, all those things should fall by the wayside as the film itself can now be seen for what it is: a masterpiece.

The nominees for this year’s Edinburgh Fringe comedy award have been unveiled.

The prize, formerly known as the Perriers and the If.comedies, is without a sponsor for the first time in its 29-year history.

About 400 shows were eligible for the award, with the shortlist including Tom Wrigglesworth, Tim Key, Russell Kane and Idiots of Ants.

The other nominees for the awards – this year called The Eddies – are John Bishop and Jon Richardson.

The comedy awards also gives a prize to the best newcomer.

This year’s nominees for that prize are Carl Donnelly, Jack Whitehall, Jonny Sweet, Kevin Bridges and Pete Johansson.

The winner of the main prize, which will be announced on Saturday, is awarded to the best performer doing a run at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Comedy festivals

“Star” names, who have already had TV series or can perform in a 500-seat venue under their own name, are not eligible.

The winner receives ￡8,000 and an invite to appear at international comedy festivals in Montreal, Toronto and Chicago.

The award was first made in 1981 to a Cambridge Footlights cast which included Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, Tony Slattery and Emma Thompson – all future comedy stars.

Its golden age came in the early 90s when it was won by Frank Skinner, Steve Coogan and Lee Evans.

Awards producer Nica Burns has spent about ￡120,000 of her own money to keep the prize going without a sponsor.

She said she had offers of sponsorship but one was a conflict of interest which could have compromised the independence of the awards and a second was “not the right brand”.

The producer said she was confident a sponsor could be found for next year, as she could not afford to pay for it herself a second time.

She said the shortlist was “very strong” but it was “disappointing” that there were no female performers named.

Only two females – Jenny Eclair and Laura Solon – have ever won the prize outright.

Ms Burns said she hoped that performers such as Sarah Millican – last year’s best newcomer – were having a “development year” and they would come back even stronger over the next few years.

She said: “It is disappointing but I am hoping senior female performers will keep encouraging women and they will come through and reach the top.”

The nominees are:

 Idiots of Ants: This Is War

 John Bishop: Elvis Has Left The Building

 Jon Richardson: This Guy At Night

 Russell Kane: Human Dressage

 Tim Key-The Slutcracker

 Tom Wrigglesworth’s Open Return Letter to Richard Branson

The actress behind a one woman show of Faust said she feared her lip-synching had been lost in translation.

Bridge Markland thinks her work would have been judged as artistic in her homeland of Germany.

But its merits have been missed at the Edinburgh Fringe due to a difference in cultural tastes.

The 48-year-old, who has performed with successful cabaret circus La Clique, has had a four star review but also received one star critiques of her Faust In The Box, at the Underbelly.

She said some critics had taken so little time to try to understand the drag show, which is performed using hundreds of different song clips, that she had even been referred to as “he”, because she has a shaven head and white-painted face.

Little regard has been taken of the fact she spent a couple of years trawling through thousands of songs to pluck meaningful lyrics for her production of Goethe’s adaptation of Faust, she said.

Bridge told the BBC Scotland news website: “Lip-synching is my style. I think it is special and funny that I lip-synch my own voice. I adore lip-synching, as it is a technical form of drag shows.”

“It is both possible to laugh and to take my piece seriously, as there are both tragic elements and humorous parts.”

With almost demonic facial twitches and contortions, she paints a Joker-like, mad and angry world, changing between the three characters of Faust, Mephistopheles and Gretchen.

Clad in black with only a white painted face, her play revolves around a large box on stage, where she performs with hand puppets.

Bridge, she explains, is short for Bridgette and her bald head happened when she shaved off her hair 19 years ago for “personal and artistic reasons” during a “crisis” with her boyfriend.

She is an only child and is using inheritance money to fund her Fringe show.

The performer said she was upset about the star system used by critics to rate shows.

“We are pouring our hearts out for our work, so to get a one star review is very hard,” she said.

“I have had my ups and downs. I have had a four star review and friends of mine tell me to keep going.”

Anne-Marie Dentzer, 25, a high school teacher who studied English Literature at Glasgow University, said she went to the show because she thought Ms Markland’s face looked “interesting”.

She said: “I thought it was very interesting to use lyrics to link with the literature of Faust.

“It had the essence of the Faust plot but lacked some of the messages for those who know Faust.”

Alica Eaton, 19, from Oxford, an Edinburgh university chemistry student, said: “My flatmates were all talking about the big production of Faust at Ingliston, in the Edinburgh International Festival, but I couldn’t get a ticket so I came to Faust In The Box instead.

“I liked it. It was very different and it was a good take on it.

“I have never seen anything like it before and she had obviously done her research. I would recommend it as I thought the performer was very good.”

An album made by an office maintenance man in his garden shed is in the running for the prestigious Mercury Music Prize.

Sweet Billy Pilgrim have been compared to last year’s Mercury winners Elbow and their album Twice Born Men will go up against releases by the likes of Kasabian, La Roux and Florence and the Machine at next month’s ceremony.

The trio are led by 37-year-old Tim Elsenburg, who adds everyday noises – the sounds of a dishwasher or an antique steam engine – to traditional instruments to make haunting, heartfelt pop.

Former children’s TV presenter Holly Willoughby has been confirmed as the new co-host of ITV1’s This Morning.

She will take over from Fern Britton, who leaves the flagship daytime show later this week.

Phillip Schofield, who worked with Willoughby on Dancing on Ice, said she was “at the top of everybody’s list to pick up where Fern leaves off”.

Willoughby said in a statement that This Morning had “always been the ultimate dream job for me”.

“To spend my days sat next to Phil on the sofa just makes it that bit extra special,” she added.

“Now I just can’t wait for it all to start.”

Champagne celebration

Writing on his website, Schofield said: “She filled in a few months ago and, from that moment on, everybody knew she was the obvious number one choice.”

He said the “the deal was done” at 1430 BST on Wednesday, just as he was having his photograph taken at the show’s studios “for the opening titles for the new series”.

“Holly immediately jumped into a car and came to the This Morning studios where we all had a couple of bottles of bubbly waiting for her arrival,” he added.

Willoughby, 28, began her career as a children’s TV presenter on programmes including ITV1 show Ministry of Mayhem.

Earlier this year, she had her first child, Harry, with husband Dan Baldwin, a TV executive.

She will begin her new presenting role in September.

Britton, 51, is leaving the show after 10 years to “explore other things” and to “spend more time with my wonderful family”.