LADYFIRE

"UP IN ARMS ABOUT THIS ONE"

I caught up to our newest addition, and got to know a bit about this badass vixen. She's dynamite to talk to and down right funny as hell. She's been there and done that. Now she's doing us..."GORGEOUS MAGAZINE" get a preview this Sunday!



photo by: SHARPEYE PHOTOGRAPHY

Tragedy as balloon boy vanishes in Colorado

By Keith Coffman
From: Reuters
October 15, 2009 6:48AM



A SIX-YEAR-OLD boy has vanished in extraordinary and heartbreaking circumstances after he climbed into a home-made helium balloon at his family home and flew away.

The balloon landed about 6.40am Australian time in Colorado in the United States after a frantic rescue effort by emergency authorities - but tragically there was no sign of the little boy.

Emergency workers are now clinging to faint hope that the boy somehow managed to escape the balloon early in its flight and could be alive. Worst fears are that he either jumped or fell during its two-hour flight.

When the balloon hit the ground, rescue workers surrounded it quickly to secure it - but then made the discovery they dreaded most: the boy was not inside.

Television images showed the silver balloon, resembling a flying saucer and about six meters across, floating across the Colorado skies at an estimated 1800 meters, moving at an estimated 50km an hour.

CNN reported that the US. National Guard had scrambled helicopters to monitor the balloon's progress but authorities struggled to work out how to safely land the contraption before it hit the ground.

A Larimer County Sheriff's spokeswoman said that the boy had climbed into the balloon, which she described as "a homemade helium balloon made to look like a UFO" at his family's home in Fort Collins.

The craft then apparently broke away from a pair of tethers holding it to the ground and floated away.

Aviation experts said that the boy could survive the flight but would be cold and possibly disoriented at high altitudes.

Television channels showed live images of the balloon zipping over countryside, twisting around as it moved.

Local police said the boy, Falcon Heene and his father, Richard Heene, were working on the craft in the family's backyard when the boy was believed to have climbed into a plywood enclosed structure beneath the balloon.

The father said the craft was hovering above the ground, but slipped its rope tethers.

The Huffington Post reported that the boy is the son of Richard and Mayumi Heene of Fort. Collins, Colorado.

“Richard is a storm chaser and scientist. The parents were on "Wife Swap" and returned for the 100th episode, so information on the family is online. They apparently sleep in their clothes so they can leap from bed and run after a storm,” the Huffington Post reported. “Falcon has two older brothers, Bradford and Ryo.”

Another website, tv.com, said the family were known risk-takers. The LA Times reported: "The Heene family, with its three rowdy boys, is anchored by father Richard, whose anger arrives in sudden bolts between his fringe science projects."

The US ABC site said the Heene family were science obsessedThe ABC site says the family is "science-obsessed" and the Huffington Post said ABC wrote the following for their second TV appearance:

“When the Heene family aren't chasing storms, they devote their time to scientific experiments that include looking for extraterrestrials and building a research-gathering flying saucer to send into the eye of the storm.

“In this ultimate swap, the Heenes swap lives with a psychic mom who speaks to the dead and can control the weather, her husband and her children -- who believe they are destined to be stars.

“This show will feature aliens, punk rockers, past-life regression and, for the first time ever, the children from the two families will face off in a kids' table meeting. "Heene/Silver," the 100th episode of Wife Swap, destined to become a classic!”

The Wife Swop TV show website describes the family as such: “The Heene family from Colorado live life on the edge. Wife Mayumi (43) and storm scientist Richard (45) take their three kids, Bradford (8), Ryo (7) and Falcon (5), out of school to go on storm chasing missions to prove Richard's theories about magnetic fields and gravity.

“If conditions are right, Mayumi wakes her family by shouting "Storm Approaching, Storm Approaching!" into a bullhorn. The family sleep in their clothes so they can leap out of bed and into the storm-mobile.

“Richard calls Mayumi his 'ninja wife'; she maintains equipment, drives the storm-mobile, films tornadoes and waits with the kids while Richard jumps on his motorbike, heads into the eye of the storm and launches rockets to measure magnetic forces.

“At home the family are as chaotic as a twister: the kids have no table manners and throw themselves around the house, and while Richard devotes every moment to his research, he expects Mayumi to cook, clean and run the house without any help.

“Meanwhile on a quiet street in Connecticut, the Martel family -- wife Karen (43), husband Jay (50) and their two kids, Max (11) and Dean (10) -- live a life of calm and safety.
“Dad is so committed to safety that he runs a child-proofing business devoted to identifying dangers and risks and making sure kids stay out of harm's way.

“With all the precautions taken to keep them safe, Max and Dean seem to be afraid of everything..."you can fall down the stairs, get cancer from the microwave, get tapeworms from sushi, and the lava lamp could explode..."

“The Martels conduct safety fire drills, make sure the kids wear protective gear on their bikes and pogo-sticks and never let the boys out of their sight. The atmosphere in the house is calm and serene, and Karen and Jay are equal partners.”

Spicy Beef Vegetable Stew

For those cold rainy nights! Or days. hunker down with this quick and hearty meal the entire family will love!



INGREDIENTS

* 1 pound ground beef
* 1 cup chopped onion
* 1 (30 ounce) jar meatless spaghetti sauce
* 3 1/2 cups water
* 1 (16 ounce) package frozen mixed vegetables
* 1 (10 ounce) can diced tomatoes and green chilies
* 1 cup sliced celery
* 1 teaspoon beef bouillon granules
* 1 teaspoon pepper

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DIRECTIONS

1. In a skillet over medium heat, cook beef and onion until meat is no longer pink; drain. Transfer to a slow cooker. Stir in the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours or until the vegetables are tender.

FOOTNOTE

*
Nutritional Analysis: One serving (prepared with lean ground beef, reduced-sodium spaghetti sauce and reduced-sodium bouillon) equals 159 calories, 7 g fat (0 saturated fat), 14 mg cholesterol, 159 mg sodium, 14 g carbohydrate, 0 fiber, 10 g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1-1/2 meat, 1 vegetable, 1/2 starch.

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A First look at Canon's PowerShot G11

The Same 10Mp Sensor in Two Distinct Flavors
Text & Photos by Allan Weitz


Canon PowerShot G11

Ever since the introduction of the original 3.3Mp PowerShot G1 way back in the year 2000, most every succeeding G-series digicam has boasted an ever-increasing pixel count. The G10 capped them all at 14.7Mp. With the introduction of the Canon PowerShot G11, Canon's engineers have taken a step backwards in a sense by turning to a new 10Mp imaging sensor, which contains about a third fewer – albeit larger - pixels than its predecessor, the G10. So the $64 question is- 'How does this drastic dose of pixel-shrinkage affect image quality?' The answer is 'quite well, and thank you for asking'.

It's no big secret the higher-resolution sensors found in many digicams fall short of their lower-res siblings and predecessors. You can subdivide an imaging sensor just so far before the benefits of higher pixel-counts start compromising the dynamic range of the image in the form of blown highlights, murky shadows, and blotchy tonal transitions. Based on comparisons between a G10 and an early production model of the G11, Canon's engineers seem to have taken a good change of course.

As for overall image quality, the image files produced by our test G11 were equal to - and in some circumstances better than - image files produce by the G10. This is noteworthy considering the files produced by the G11 are considerably smaller (about 28.6Mb) compared to the files produced by the G10 (about 41.8Mb). (So much for the more-is-better school of thought… eh Kemosabe?)







The G11 strongly resembles its predecessor, the G10, and thankfully retains the G10's 'real camera' analog control dials for switching exposure modes, ISO sensitivity, and exposure compensation. The biggest exterior difference is the G11's 2.7", 461,000-dot swivel-mounted LCD. If you've used a swivel-LCD in the past, you'd note its absence when trying to shoot from difficult angles with the G10. Not so with the G11. The cost of this convenience is about 9/10th of a millimeter of additional padding on the camera's profile, but such is life. The swivel feature also allows you to face the LCD inward to protect the LCD surface when it's not in use.

Like the G10, the G11 sports an honest-to-gosh optical viewfinder which, peephole-ish as it may be, is a welcome alternative to the camera's LCD when shooting under brighter lighting conditions.

The lens, the same 6.1~30.5/f2.8-4.5 5x (28~140mm equivalent) zoom lens used on the G10, does a fine job capturing sharp stills (JPEG and/or RAW) and video despite a bit of pin-cushion distortion common to most zoom lenses in this genre of cameras, most noticeably at the wide end of the zoom range.

One of the niceties of the G-series PowerShot cameras has been the hot-shoe, which enables the use of all of Canon's Speedlite flashes and compatible third-party flashes. The hot-shoe also facilitates the use of optical and radio transmitters for triggering studio strobes. And if you plan on using the G11 in studio environments, you'll be pleased to know the G11 has a top flash sync of 1/2000th compared to the G10's already-fast top sync speed of 1/500th.

Other improvements found in the G11 include an HDMI output port for playing back still and video on your TV or computer monitor, higher low-light sensitivity, and a Dual Anti-Noise System, that along with the G11's DIGIC 4 image processor, allows for noticeably better low-light imaging at ISO levels up to 3200 (ditto for the PowerShot S90). While image files from most cameras in the point-and-shoot arena start falling apart once you get to around ISO 400 (regardless of manufacturer's claims), the images produced by both the G11 and S90 in the ISO 400-800 range proved to be impressive with reasonable noise levels, and even at 1600 and 3200, both the G11 and S90 produced very usable image files.


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GORGEOUS GIRL OF THE WEEK

today's gorgeous girl is:

"ELISHA HOWARD"

THIS SEXY MIXED, EXOTIC VIXEN WILL WOW YOU IN OUR MAY ISSUE! "ELISHA HAS THE RIGHT LOOK AND SHAPE THAT JUST SAYS POWWWWW"!

UGGS FOR YOUR KIDS!

"HELP THE RESEARCH OF CANCER...HELP THE CHILDREN"







We invite you to celebrate the much-anticipated release of Where The Wild Things Are with Limited Edition UGG® Australia products for kids.

The Classic Short, featuring Max's Crown or Peeping Eyes and the Erin Baby Bootie featuring Max's Crown will be made available for pre-order only on Saturday, October 24th at the Columbus Ave. UGG® Australia flagship location in New York and at www.uggaustralia.com.

Take home a piece of this timeless children's classic and give back at
the same time. Proceeds from the sale of this special collection will be donated
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Asian Spiced Flank Steak with Shiitake Barbecue Sauce

* 3 pounds flank steak
* 4 tablespoons Emeril's Asian Essence
* Shiitake Barbecue Sauce
* 10 dried shiitake mushrooms
* 1 cup warm water
* 3 tablespoons sesame or peanut oil
* 1 clove garlic, chopped
* 1/2-inch piece gingerroot, minced
* 1/2 cup onion, chopped
* 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
* 1/2 cup bamboo shoots
* 1 bok choy, thinly sliced
* 1 small red pepper, julienned
* 2 tablespoons soy sauce
* 3/4 cup mushroom-soaking water
* 2 teaspoons cornstarch diluted in 3 tablespoons water
* 1 teaspoon dark sesame, roasted peanut, or chili oil
* Salt




Flank Steak:
Rub flank steak with Asian Essence. Let marinate for 1 hour or refrigerate overnight.
†
Preheat grill or broiler. Grill or broil steak on both sides for 6 minutes. Remove and allow to rest for 10 minutes.

Stir-Fry:
Cover the mushrooms with 1 cup warm water and soak for 20 minutes. Reserve the liquid, discard the stems, and slice the caps into strips.
†
Heat wok with 2 tablespoons oil. Stir-fry garlic ginger, onion and mushrooms for 1 minute, then add the remaining vegetables. Stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes or until tender.
†
Add soy sauce, mushroom water, and cornstarch. Cook until slightly thickened. Drizzle with dark sesame oil, and season with salt.
†
To Plate:
Place Stir Fried Vegetables on platter. Thinly slice steak against the grain and fan over vegetables. Drizzle with Shiitake Barbecue Sauce.
†
Yield: 4 servings

HALO ODST

"IT'S HOT AND IT'S FOR THE HALO LOVER IN YOU"!!






Halo® 3: ODST returns players to familiar ground on a vital, top-secret mission. The gripping story, cooperative campaign and new multiplayer content will have Halo fans "Preparing to Drop" in Fall 2009. Originally titled Halo 3: Recon, the new game brings the perspective of new characters to the Human-Covenant struggle, as it explores the ODST, or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers.

* ODSTs: Follow the story of the legendary ODSTs or Orbital Drop Shock Troopers as they drop into the ruined city of New Mombasa, looking for clues behind the Covenant's catastrophic attack on the city.
* A new hero: Prepare to drop. Known for their courage, valor and at times, insanity, Orbital Drop Shock Troopers are among the fiercest UNSC soldiers, priding themselves on being the first unit deployed into hostile situations. While not as large or supernaturally gifted as their Spartan comrades, these Hell Jumpers more than compensate with their ferocious attitudes and unwavering nerve.
* Multiplayer: All the traditional features of Halo 3 multiplayer will be included in the new game, including full-featured integration with the Forge map editor.
* More to come: More information about Halo 3: ODST and the ODST characters will be made available in the near future, so stay tuned!

MISS ELARA

"GLAMOR GIRL"


SHE'S BEEN ON THE COVER AND UNDER THEM...FOR GORGEOUS THAT IS. NOW YOU SEE THAT THIS DOMINICAN BOMBSHELL IS MORE THAN JUST EYECANDY. OKAY OK. SHE'S STILL TANTALIZING IN CLOTHING!! CATCH HER RIOT ACT IN NOVEMBERS, GORGEOUS MAGAZINE ISSUE.

THE UNDESTRUCTABLE FYAAA

THIS FIRE DOESN'T JUST BURN...IT'S THE SEARING HEAT YOU FEEL, PENETRATING YOUR SOUL. SHE'S A HOT LIL NUMBER. THIS NYC NATIVE SHOWS YOU WHAT ULTIMATE MEANS!

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