The supernatural and the mystery of vampires and ancient vampire symbols have always captured the human imagination. There is something about the dark and the unknown that intrigues the human psyche. Of all the things that give us goose bumps, the vampire must be the most compelling, we often as children scared ourselves believing in real life vampires.
Many of us like to experiment with the unexplored and the unknown, which is why scary vampire tattoos are very popular among teenagers. Gothic and vampire tattoos can make all your illusions seem more realistic. If you are fascinated with the history and identity of Count Dracula, getting vampire tattoos to reflect this interest of yours may just be a good idea!
Vampires are mythological creatures; they are the creatures brought back from the dead to live a dreadful life where they can only survive by consuming blood. Vampire tattoos gained popularity due to the emergence of the Goth culture. Vampires symbolize dead humans with unfulfilled wishes, these tattoos to gothic people signify the wish to re-make or to re-live.
There are various types of vampire art for vampire tattoos, in this article we provide you with adequate information about the various types of vampire art for tattoos, to give you a better idea on which type will suit your tattoo needs.
Vampire bites: a vampire bite is also called a vampire kiss, this tattoo sports two puncture marks on your neck. The puncture holes look fresh and seem to be oozing blood. Although it gives a very nice effect, this tattoo is usually done on the side of your neck making it hard for you to hide it. If you want to get a vampire bite done on your body, think of alternate locations other than your neck, where it stays hidden during working hours.
Vampire skulls: vampire skulls are also very popular; you can personalize these tattoos by adding your own imagination. Maybe add a snake to your skull or maybe a spider emerging from an empty eye socket. Webs are also a favorite detail used by many vampire art tattooist.
Bat wings: bats are an important part of the vampire lore; you can opt for bat wings on your back to bring that mystical feeling. A tattoo like this gives your tattoo artist a chance create very fine details making your design extremely special. You can color your bat wings if you want, even shading is a good option.
Tribal vampire designs: if you are looking for something less gothic, try tribal vampire tattoos. Add a single vampire element in the centre of your tattoo to give it that dark and mysterious feel. The possibilities are endless, do your research and dig up some designs you can associate with for that perfect vampire tattoo.
These are the various types of vampire tattoos that you can consider while choosing one as your own. Pick a tattoo and add that personal touch by customizing it your way. Sit down with your tattoo artist and create something new and innovative.
A tattoo is a form of expression, so why be common? .Why go with the same dull boring designs when you can go for something different and unique, go ahead and flirt a little with the dark side, get yourself a vampire tattoo today. The unknown is far more exciting and thought evoking, do you believe in real life vampire tattoos?
Vampire History (Fiction vs. Folklore)
‘Vampires Vs. Zombies’ Is On Its Way To Bad TV, But The Idea Isn’t All Wrong (Really)
When news broke earlier this month that NBC had finally jumped on this latest installment of the vampire bandwagon, I died a little inside. The studio, now synonymous with kicking Conan to the curb and giving David Hasselhoff a career boost as a human clap-o-meter, has purchased spec script Zombies Vs. Vampires, written by Jake [...]
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âexperiences From âthe Flowâ (19): Another Good Tilt With a Bar Girl?â
By Carl “J.C.†Pantejo, Copyright March 2008
(Author “My Friend Yu – The Prosperity Mentor,†Copyright August 2007. Pantejo – Y.N. Vurce Publishing.)
“Prosperity: The eternal flow of all that’s good in life…â€
*Below is the nineteenth episode based on a series of real life events experienced by the author. The only deviations from the truth may be the names of people and places. These stories are also incorporated in “My Friend Yu – the Prosperity Mentor: Book II,†Pantejo – Y.N. Vurce Publishing. Release Date: 2008.
The naïve customer (a person not savvy at “The Game†of Thai bars) doesn’t understand the following: The main thing a Bar Girl sees when a man comes into their bar is the amount of dollar signs he is capable of producing.
And, of course, Bar Girls are experts at helping customers part with their money!
This article is mainly for those fearless souls who, in spite of the discussions we had about Asian Bar Girl/Western Man Relationships in “Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (18)…,†still insist on having a serious relationship with a Bar Girl.
- A Blissful State -
Congratulations.
You believe that you have found a partner that loves you and makes you happy. She is young, beautiful, sweet, and sexy – everything you could not find in your home country, right?
Sure, she is not perfect, especially in the language and finance areas; but when you weighed the Pluses against the Minuses on Your Scale, the Scale tilted toward Obvious Compatibility.
- Devil’s Advocate -
Okay, now I got to be the a$$hole, the party-pooper, the spoiler, etc.
But I do this with ultimate empathy, my friend.
I do this because I don’t want you to end up as a statistic, one of the thousands of Farangs (Thai: foreigners) that think they’ve found the woman of their dreams, only to find out (in short order) that reality doesn’t match their idealized notions of co-habitation with an Asian woman.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but believe me, what I’ve got to say may:
1. Save you a lot of heartache, headaches, and bankruptcy.
2. Help you maintain (or improve) your current blissful state for as long as possible.
3. Raise some questions whose answers, however distasteful, will make you a wiser Farang in Thailand.
- Questions -
Where did you meet your Thai girlfriend/wife?
In a bar?
I ask you this because the ole’ saying: “You can take the girl out of the bar, but you can’t take the bar out of the girl,†is a tried and true axiom.
The cruel fact is that there are only two times you can trust a Thai Bar Girl:
1) When she has just begun her career in the Bar Girl Profession and
2) When she is a bar-weary veteran, ready to retire.
All others are “in between†(i.e., still on “active duty,†practicing and perfecting their sex appeal, schemes, and routines).
A mid-career Bar Girl in “The Game†is quite a sight to be seen, indeed.
She means to be a key player in “The Game†and will do anything to get the most money, as fast as she can, from the “customer pool – menâ€.
For these women, men are only regarded as: past customers, prospective customers, current cash cows, or merely toy/playthings that pay).
In their minds, men are definitely not: friends, lovers, non-paying boyfriends or husbands; in short, men are merely things, not real people with feelings, hopes, and desires).
Why is this so?
Although each Bar Girl is a unique individual, the following are common reasons. In part or parcel, these conditions contribute to their cut throat callousness – the “sharp teeth within their cute, beautiful smilesâ€:
1. Professional Objectivity (staying focused on making money before she gets too old and “unmarketableâ€).
2. Protection from scoundrels (yes, there are many bad men out there).
3. A lack of “good men role models†in their lives. That is, most of the men they’ve seen throughout their lives were usually uneducated, lazy, abusive, or unreliable, often disappearing for years to forever. This is common in the rural, poverty stricken areas “up country†– North Eastern Thailand.
4. Protection from being emotionally hurt. Since most foreigners come and go rapidly, it’s stupid for them to get emotionally attached.
5. The only support system they have is the Bar’s social network of fellow Bar Girls, Mamasans, clean-up boys, and “katoys†(Thai: transsexuals). Leaving the bar scene means venturing into scary, uncharted waters without her usual friends.
6. Most are uneducated, not attending or finishing High School. What would they do and where would they go if they left the bar?
7. They have tried (or simply dislike) regular “daytime jobs†and were disillusioned with the hard work and low pay. The bar scene is all they know. It can be fun. It’s easy – all one has to do is look pretty and entertain – AND definitely pays better.
It’s a system that swallows up thousands of “fresh from the farm†girls and spits out seasoned, “bar-tested†veterans.
- True Love? -
A young serviceman friend of mine in Japan told me that the woman (an Asian woman) he met at a bar in the infamous “honch†area outside of Yokosuka U.S. Naval Base was truly in love with him.
He actually considered asking her to marry him.
And he wanted some advice from “a salty dog†(meaning: me).
His naivety was painful to observe.
In him, I saw a young version of myself, full of all the right motives, but without the where-with-all that only comes from years of schlepping in and out of Asian bars.
My response to him?
“Go back there and tell her you’re out of money. Better yet, tell her that you want to move in with her, but you need to borrow money until payday. Good luck, son. I’ll talk to you next week.â€
Of course, he was singing a totally different tune when I saw him a week later. He was very pissed-off and his comments about her were acidic, bordering on murderous.
I told him to chill out.
“Don’t’ take it personal. A girl’s got’ta eat. Think of it this way: You’re mixing her business with your pleasure. If you really think it’s love, wait, wait, and wait! And for God’s sake always know where your valuables are!†I said.
I don’t’ know whether my words sunk in (or not) because I haven’t heard from him for over a decade now. I can only hope that my words prevented a few personal disasters.
Ah, Bar Girls. I could go on and on about them.
They’re amazing. Aren’t they?
They’re terrible. Aren’t they?
- Some Advice: Take it or Leave it, Your Choice -
Since only a fraction of one percent of Asian Bar Girl/Western Man relationships succeed (usually because she is either a rookie or a ready-to-retire veteran), I will be submitting a short list of things to ponder at the end of this article.
If you met your “compatible partner†in a bar, I advise you to have a healthy paranoia.
Don’t go buying a car for her. Or even worse, a house in her name! (As ridiculous as this may sound, it happens frequently in Thailand).
In short, don’t go broke over her.
I have too many friends who have taken out unsecured, personal loans and maxed out their credit cards over Bar Girls who’ve long since disappeared.
In fact, I know of three individuals who came home from work to a barren house or apartment. No furniture, refrigerator, TV, stereo, clothes, dishes, etc.! Everything was gone! Nothing, I mean nothing was left! My friends literally had to borrow money for food and sheets!
Best advice?
Just wait and watch.
It might sound like a prison sentence to you, but waiting and watching not only protects you from being ransacked; it also gives you time to observe her true character – in every light.
How long?
A good rule of thumb, if she says she’s new, is at least triple the time she “says†she’s been working in the bar. Of course, you may never know the true length of her Bar Girl career; so it’s a safe bet to assume whatever she tells you about it is a “low-ball†lie.
If she’s a veteran, waiting at least 18-24 months is a conservative time span to consider.
Patience and wariness will prevent much of the emotional turmoil and financial catastrophes so commonly found among “ex†Asian Bar Girl/Western Man relationships.
Additionally, if she is (or looks) older than 20, look for the following hallmark signs of veteran Bar Girls:
1. Nocturnal living. Even after months with you, she can’t get out of bed until 1:30-3:30PM. In fact, getting up early to see the sunlight gives her a raging headache. Also, she will display the demeanor of a vampire that has been violently disturbed from her cryptic slumber.
2. She is a total slob (worse than Oscar from “The Odd Coupleâ€) and can’t cook – even a piece of toast – because she’s too used to hotel cleaning staff, room service, restaurants, and 7-11 “cup noodlesâ€.
3. She appears to have very few belongings. Why? They are strewn about her co-workers apartments or “ex†boyfriend’s places. Bar Girls are like gypsies; they are experts at making hasty get-aways.
4. She’s a spendthrift. Forget “like water through her fingers,†“air†is more like it! The cost of her “daily needs†easily surpass the normal, daily salary of any hardworking, college-educated, Thai worker.
5. In spite of no formal schooling (i.e., a university degree or night English classes at a Language School), she suspiciously speaks above-average English.
6. She disappears at a moment’s notice for hours and her explanation upon returning doesn’t hold water (a blatant lie).
7. She can drink you under the table.
8. You find drug paraphernalia.
9. She always wants to include “her friends†in everything that you two do. In fact, she will always choose time with her Bar Girl comrades over any time alone with you. Her overdependence on (and lavish affection for) her girlfriends will have you wondering if she is actually a bi-sexual. (And I know what you’re thinking. No, she is not a bi-sexual who likes to share!).
10. She’s constantly on the phone at odd hours with her “family,†especially the male members of her “familyâ€.
If the majority of the above items describe your current partner, she is probably not in the “newbie†Bar Girl category: and therefore, should not be trusted without a long (a very long) trial period.
Sorry to be so blunt; but I must humbly confess that I’ve “been there and done that, mateâ€.
Again, when in doubt, wait, observe, and for God’s sake, protect yourself.
Did you hear me?
I said, “Wait. Observe. Then wait and observe some more.â€
After that, you can make up your own mind based on your own real life, “hard-knocks†experience.
Continued in “Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (20): Maintaining and Improving your Good Tilt.â€
“Until next time, find ‘The Flow’ and jump in!â€
Note: If you want to read more about Asian and Western cultural differences, finding unconditional love, exorcising past personal demons, and the Illusive Secret of Happiness, please read the following articles:
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’: From Heartbreak to Happinessâ€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (2): Coincidence or Synchronicity: FROM RELAPSE TO MIRACLES…â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (3): LOST AND FOUND – Kindred Spirits and Mistakes made in Haste.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (4): LOST AND FOUND – Meant to Be?â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (5): “The Strayâ€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (6): “New Beginnings, Old Endingsâ€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (7) – Living Well? Farangs and Finance: The Mythâ€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (8) Living Well? Farangs and Finance: The Reality, Stupidity, and Hard Knocks.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (9): New Girlfriend, New Life.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (10): Farangs and Asians – Polarized Views.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (11) – Farangs: In (or considering) a long-term Western/Asian Relationship? Read This Now!
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (13) – Farang: Compatibility Issues IIâ€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (14) – Farang: Tipping the Scales. Good or Bad?â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (15) – Farang: Interpretation of Your Results.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (16) – Farang: Make Your Scale Sway or Walk Away.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (17) – Farang: Further Interpretation. Lopsided Scales.â€
“Experiences from ‘The Flow’ (18): A Good Tilt with a Bar Girl?â€
“How Dare She! Out of Desperation I Learned How to Forgiveâ€
“Remember Who You Are!â€
“Need to Heal Your Broken Heart? Read on. Overcome Heartbreak and Learn the Illusive Secret of Happiness.â€
(By Carl “J.C.†Pantejo and published internet-wide, keyword: [title of article] or “Carl Pantejoâ€)
Pantejo@ynvurcepublishing.com
The Unexplained-Vampire Myth 2/5
Lila Shapiro: The Vampire Chronicles: A Conversation With The Passage Author Justin Cronin
Cronin’s vampires (or virals, as he calls them) don’t sparkle in the sun or fall in love; they hide in the dark and rip their victims in half. Makes for a lively conversation.
**A note: I don’t pull any punches here, so if you haven’t read New Moon and you don’t want to be spoiled, don’t read this.**
Writing a sequel is a very different experience than writing a story. It was for me, at least.
If you’ve read the story behind Twilight, then you know that I didn’t set out to write a novel or begin a career as an author. I was just writing down a story for my personal enjoyment, letting it grow as it would and lead where it would. No pressure, just fun.
The first sequel I wrote to Twilight—Forever Dawn—was more of the same. I wasn’t planning a sequel any more than I was planning to write a book in the first place. Originally, Twilight had a more defined ending. But, when it was ended, I started writing epilogues. After I’d written three epilogues, all of them over a hundred pages long, I realized I wasn’t ready to stop writing about Bella and Edward. One of those epilogues turned into Forever Dawn.
(People often ask me if I’m ever going to make Forever Dawn public. The answer is no. For one thing, it’s not great—it’s downright embarrassing in some places. However, some of the content will work as a loose outline for book four, so I can’t tell you what happened, either.)
I was about three hundred pages into Forever Dawn when my life got turned upside down. Twilight was going to be published. People were going to read what I was writing. More specifically, young adults were going to be reading what I was writing. Unintentionally, I’d written a young adult novel. I realized pretty quickly that Forever Dawn did not follow the rules of YA. Because I was caught up in the story, I finished Forever Dawn anyway, knowing that it would never see the light of day; I gave it to my big sister as a birthday gift. And then I started on the real sequel.
The biggest non-YA thing I’d done with Forever Dawn was this: I’d pretty much passed over the rest of Bella’s high school experience entirely, skipping ahead to a time in her life with more mature themes. So, as I began to sketch out New Moon, I went back to Bella’s senior year of high school and asked my little cast of characters, “What happened?”
I swiftly regretted asking them for the story. Because they gave me a story I wasn’t expecting. More specifically, Edward told me something I didn’t want to hear.
I should probably mention here that I am not crazy (that I know of), it’s just that I am a character writer. I write my stories because of my characters; they are the motivation and the reward. The difficulty with strong, defined characters, though, is that you can’t make them do something that is out of character. They have to be who they are and, as a writer, they’re often out of your control.
As I started plotting New Moon (untitled at that point), it became clear that Edward was Edward, and he would have to behave as only Edward would. And, because of that, Edward was leaving.
NO! I didn’t want Edward to leave. I pitched a fit every bit as violent and tearful as those I’ve seen in New Moon discussion forums. I tried to talk him out of it. I presented him with other plot options. I begged. Edward remained unmoved.
Someday, when Midnight Sun (Edward’s version of Twilight) is available, I think you’ll understand better what was going on in the boy’s head. See, just as Bella doesn’t think she’s good enough for Edward, Edward sees himself as a soulless monster destroying Bella’s life and endangering her afterlife. The incident with Jasper acts as a catalyst, forcing him to act. He is determined to save Bella. He thinks the best way to do this is to take the vampires out of her life.
Is he being silly? In some ways, yes. But he can’t see any other way to protect Bella. Edward’s dealing with the idea that if he hadn’t been quick enough, if he hadn’t read Jasper’s thoughts just in the nick of time, then would that—death—have been better for Bella than a life with Edward? If she died at eighteen and went to heaven, wouldn’t that be better than an immortal but soulless and damned existence? Edward thinks so. However, he knows he’d never be able to watch her die. Consequently, he’d better get away from her before something happens that makes biting her a necessity…
So there I was, with Edward leaving. It was a hard pill to swallow, but once I accepted the inevitability of it, I had an interesting question on my hands. (And writers live for interesting questions.)
WHAT IF… What if true love left you? Not some ordinary high school romance, not some random jock boyfriend, not anyone at all replaceable. True love. The real deal. Your other half, your true soul’s match. What happens if he leaves?
The answer is different for everyone. Juliet had her version, Marianne Dashwood had hers, Isolde and Catherine Earnshaw and Scarlett O’Hara and Anne Shirley all had their ways of coping.
I had to answer the question for Bella. What does Bella Swan do when true love leaves her? Not just true love, but Edward Cullen! None of those other heroines lost an Edward (Romeo was a hothead, Willoughby was a scoundrel, Tristan had loyalty issues, Heathcliff was pure evil, Rhett had a mean streak and cheated with hookers, and sweet Gilbert was much more of a Jacob than an Edward). So what happens when True Love in the form of Edward Cullen leaves Bella?
I let Bella answer the question for herself, writing to see what she would do. It was hard to write her pain, because I had to live it to write it, and I was often writing through my tears. At the same time, it was always interesting. Bella surprised me with her grit and dogged determination. She pushed through the agony, living for others—Charlie in this case—as has always been her style.
(Side note: there are those who think Bella is a wuss. There are those who think my stories are misogynistic—the damsel in distress must be rescued by strong hero.
To the first accusation, I can only say that we all handle grief in our own way. Bella’s way is no less valid than any other to my mind. Detractors of her reaction don’t always take into account that I’m talking about true love here, rather than high school infatuation.
I emphatically reject the second accusation. I am all about girl power—look at Alice and Jane if you doubt that. I am not anti-female, I am anti-human. I wrote this story from the perspective of a female human because that came most naturally, as you might imagine. But if the narrator had been a male human, it would not have changed the events. When a human being is totally surrounded by creatures with supernatural strength, speed, senses, and various other uncanny powers, he or she is not going to be able to hold his or her own. Sorry. That’s just the way it is. We can’t all be slayers. Bella does pretty well I think, all things considered. She saves Edward, after all. Side note/rant over. Back to the story.)
And thus was born the basic premise of New Moon, and with it the title. To follow after Twilight, I needed a time of day to reflect the mood of the sequel. As this is the blackest period of Bella’s life, I thought it appropriate to name the book after the darkest kind of night, a night with no moon.
When the advanced reading copies began to fall into the hands of my fans, I asked people read New Moon twice, promising that I would explain why later. It’s later, and this is why: the first time through New Moon, I’ve found that readers are so anxious about the absence of Edward that they can’t settle into the middle portion of the book. They skim and speed read and flip ahead until, at last, they find him again. However, at that point they’ve missed the main section of the novel almost completely. On a second reading, knowing that Edward will return to the story at the proper place and time, the reader can slow down and enjoy the wondrousness that is Jacob Black.
And with that as a segue, on to the benefits!
I didn’t realize until I was working on the resolution how much my characters had gained from this experience. Vital stuff. Without this painful separation, Bella might never have realized that Edward really is hers to keep. No matter how perfect she thinks he is, or how imperfect she thinks she is, he belongs to her. Words can’t quite capture the life-changing nature of this knowledge for Bella.
Equally as cataclysmic—Edward finally realizes the intensity of Bella’s feelings for him, something he has always underestimated. Here’s the thing about Edward: he knows human nature pretty well. He’s seen a hundred thousand human relationships from the inside, and none of them have come close to touching the depth and everlasting devotion of Carlisle’s and Esme’s love, or Alice’s and Jasper’s, or even Rosalie’s and Emmett’s. Can you blame him for thinking himself—after one hundred years of immortal experience—capable of a more profound love than his eighteen-year-old human girlfriend? Edward is, understandably, a bit of a know-it-all. He learns a lot through this experience, the most important being that Bella’s feelings for him are an exception to the human rule. Something else he learns (not quite as important, but still good to know) is that, despite all his knowledge, he is fully able to make hideous mistakes in judgment.
Ah, and then there is my favorite gift that New Moon gave to me: Jacob Black.
Jacob’s development into a major character was a strange journey. Originally, Jacob was just a device. In Twilight, Bella needed a way to find out the truth about Edward, and the conveniently located Quileute Tribe, with all their fantastic legends, provided a cool option for that revelation. And so Jacob was born—born to tell Bella and Edward’s secret.
Something happened then that I didn’t expect. Jacob was my first experience with a character taking over—a minor character developing such roundness and life that I couldn’t keep him locked inside a tiny role. (Since Jacob, this has reoccurred with several other meant-to-be-minor characters. I really love it when this happens, though it often destroys my outlines.) From the very beginning, even when Jacob only appeared in chapter six of Twilight, he was so alive. I liked him. More than I should for such a small part. Bella liked him. Her instinctive trust and affection came without my intervention. And it wasn’t just us; my agent did, too. “I love that Jacob kid,” Jodi said (or something to that effect-this all happened in 2003). My editor agreed. “Can we get more Jacob in the story?” Megan asked.
Oh yes, we could!
I was writing New Moon and editing Twilight simultaneously. So, when Jacob Black started taking over New Moon, I was able to go back and weave Jacob and Billy throughout Twilight more centrally.
Lots of people give me more credit than I deserve; they think I knew Jacob was a werewolf from the very beginning. This is not the case.Twilight was supposed to be a stand alone novel, remember. There was no thought of werewolves in my mind as I wrote it. The Quileute (Quill-yoot) legends Jacob tells Bella in chapter six of Twilight are all genuine Quileute stories that I learned when I was researching the tribe (which is a real tribe with a truly fascinating and mystical history). All actual Quileute legends, except for the vampire myth about the ‘cold ones.’ I latched onto the wolf story (the actual Quileute legend claims that the tribe descended from wolves transformed by a sorcerer) because it fit with my sketchy knowledge of vampires and werewolves always being at each others’ throats (ha ha, pun intended). The dream Bella had of Jacob transforming into a wolf to protect her had no foreshadowing significance at the time. It was just my way of letting Bella’s subconscious articulate the situation.
Of course, I of all people should know that dreams can have a serious impact on your life.
Bella’s wolf dream was always one of my favorite visual images from Twilight. When I started working on New Moon, that image stuck with me. And I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be cool if it was true—if ALL of Jacob’s legends were founded in absolute fact? What if Jacob was descended from wolves?
It all started to come together then. Sam on the beach in Twilight was no longer just a believer in old traditions—he was the first contemporary wolf. Billy’s warnings were more vital—he had concrete evidence on his hands, rather than just suspicions. And Jacob, my poor, sweet Jacob, had a whole secret heritage just waiting to come crashing down on him.
At that point all the crucial supports of the story were in place, and I only had to write it. Ha. Easier said then done.
It’s hard to explain how joyous the writing process was for me when I was creating Twilight. It was something I did for fun and excitement, with no concern for what anyone else might think, because no one else was ever going to read it. With New Moon, I knew people were going to read it. And some of those people were going to have bright red pens in hand while reading. I knew enough about the editing process to know that there were painful changes ahead; the parts I loved now might not make the final cut. I was going to have to rethink and revise and rework. This made it very hard to put the words down, and I had a horrible feeling much like stage fright the whole time I was writing.
It took about five months, but the editing process was much longer and more difficult than the same process with Twilight. New Moon was a very hard story to tell, not only emotionally, but also functionally. It needed a lot of work. The New Moon outtakes I posted explain some of the bigger renovations that I had to make.
The good news is that I got over—or rather got used to—the stage fright. Book three was much easier in a multitude of ways. I learned a lot through the New Moon experience, and I grew as a writer. Even better, my characters grew and matured in interesting ways that gave me so much to work with throughout the rest of the series! I’m writing book four at this moment in time, and let me tell you, Forks is a very exciting place to be these days.
Fantasy World Once Real?
Nowadays, you see all these video games, books, and even authentic historical documents talk about elves, dwarfs, goblins, giant sea serpents, gryphons, centaurs, magic, alchemy, vampires, werewolves, and the like… but my question is were all these things real at one point in history and might they be still here just hidden away from plain sight?
I think so. I think that most mythical creatures reside on a different plane than us- kinda like ghosts, spirits and deities.
It’s been theorized that all things vibrate at different frequencies. The physical plane vibrates at the lowest/slowest frequency, and other planes vibrate at a higher frequency, which makes them unable to be seen (except for those who know how).
So that’s my theory. Take it or leave it lol.
” in URLs he designed for the World Wide Web. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
A Zimbabwean court orders a senior MDC official, Roy Bennett, back to jail on terrorism charges. (Al Jazeera) (South Africa Times)
Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry announces at least 85,000 Iraqis have been killed by bombs, murders and fighting between 2004 and 2008. (Associated Press) (Al Jazeera)
Current events of 15 October 2009 (2009-10-15) (Thursday)
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Treaty of Lisbon:
Czech President Vclav Klaus’s disruption of the Treaty of Lisbon is deemed “absurd, irresponsible and damaging to the country” by his predecessor Vclav Havel. (The Times)
President of Ireland Mary McAleese signs the Lisbon Treaty after returning from Luxembourg. (RT) (Reuters) (Taiwan News)
Ugandan MP David Bahati proposes creating a capital offence of “aggravated homosexuality” for gay sex with people under 18, disabled people or when the accused is HIV-positive. (BBC)
The U.N. General Assembly elects Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Gabon, Lebanon and Nigeria to the U.N. Security Council as non-veto-holding members. (Reuters)
Narges Kalhor, the daughter of a senior adviser to President of Iran Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, applies for asylum in Germany. (Reuters)
Burma and Bangladesh send warships to a disputed area in the Bay of Bengal 50 nautical miles west of St. Martin’s Island. (Mizzima)
Three of the five members of the Norwegian Nobel Committee initially argued against awarding U.S. President Barack Obama the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize. (AFP via Google News) (Primary source: Verdens Gang)
North Korea accuses South Korea of intruding into its territorial waters, further raising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. (Yonhap) (Reuters) (AFP)
Palestinians have urged the UN to act to punish Israel for its offensive in the Gaza Strip last winter. (BBC) (Ha’aretz)
At least 37 people are killed in a series of bomb attacks in Pakistani cities by militants. (The News) (Bloomberg) (Indian Express)
A further six people are sentenced to death over ethnic unrest in China’s Xinjiang region in July. (China Daily) (Al Jazeera) (BBC)
The International Criminal Court opens an investigation into the suppression of an opposition protest in Guinea, in which dozens of people were killed. (Associated Press)
Finland becomes the first country in the world to declare Internet broadband access a legal right. (CNN)
The ruling party in Malaysia, the United Malays National Organisation, announces internal reforms after a series of defeats in local elections. (Al Jazeera) (Bernama)
Militants launch attacks on police in Lahore, the capital of Punjab province, in Pakistan, killing 31 people after a week of violence in which more than 100 people died. (Reuters)
Norwegian pop trio a-ha announce they are to split after 25 years together. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (The Independent)
A worldwide media circus surrounds an incident in which a six-year-old boy is alleged to be flying in a homemade hot-air balloon; the boy was later found safe at home. (CNN)
Current events of 16 October 2009 (2009-10-16) (Friday)
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Voters in Botswana take part in a general election. (IOL) (Al Jazeera)
The United States records a budget deficit of $1.42 trillion. (Bloomberg)
Stephen Gately:
The surviving members of Boyzone fly to Majorca to escort the body of Stephen Gately home to Dublin. (RT) (BBC) (The Belfast Telegraph) (The Irish Times)
The UK Press Complaints Commission’s website crashes after receiving hundreds of complaints about a Jan Moir article in the Daily Mail concerning her views on the singer’s death. Retailer Marks & Spencer withdraws advertising and Nestl disassociates itself from her writing. (Daily Mail Primary Source) (The Guardian) (BBC) (The Irish Times) (The Huffington Post)
Treaty of Lisbon:
Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer says President Vclav Klaus’s disruption of the Treaty of Lisbon is harming the country’s credit. (Ceske Noviny)
An opinion poll shows that 65% of Czechs support President Vclav Klaus refusal to sign the Lisbon Treaty. (Wall Street Journal)
A strong earthquake hits Indonesia, causing mass panic and evacuations in Jakarta. (CNN)
The United Nations Human Rights Council endorses the Goldstone report on the Gaza War, accusing both Israel and Hamas of war crimes. (Jerusalem Post) (AFP) (Al Jazeera)
Five men are convicted in Sydney, Australia of plotting a terrorist attack. (news.com.au) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
One part of Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) ends a three-month ceasefire and resumes attacks on the oil industry in Nigeria. (BBC) (Reuters) (IOL)
Guinea
Guinea’s civil service minister Alpha Diallo resigns after a massacre of opposition supporters, following agriculture minister Abdourahmane Sanoh who resigned days earlier. (IOL)
The Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon announces plans to establish a commission into the killing of unarmed protestors in Guinea last month. (AP via Google News)
Australian pop singer, songwriter, and actress Kylie Minogue makes her Hindi cinema debut in Blue, thought to be the most expensive Bollywood production ever. (The Times)
At least seven people are killed and at least ten are injured in an explosion at a mosque, police station and passenger bus in Peshawar, Pakistan. (Xinhua) (RT) (BBC)
In Berlin, the reconstructed Neues Museum officially reopens after 70 years. (Deutsche Welle) (The Times)
Zimbabwe:
The MDC partially pulls out of the unity government with Zanu PF in Zimbabwe after one of their members, Roy Bennett is detained on terrorism charges. (Zim Online) (Associated Press) (Xinhua)
Roy Bennett is later released from jail on bail, ordered by the High Court. (Reuters) (Associated Press)
North and South Korea fail to agree on further family reunions, after the North linked the prospect with humanitarian aid deliveries. (Korea Times) (Straits Times)
Controversial Dutch politician Geert Wilders arrives in the UK amid protests from the Netherlands, proclaiming “a victory for the freedom of speech”. (CNN) (The Guardian) (Reuters)
Uruguay becomes the first country to provide a laptop for every child attending state primary school. (BBC)
Current events of 17 October 2009 (2009-10-17) (Saturday)
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Czech President Vclav Klaus compares the Treaty of Lisbon to “an unstoppable speeding train” that he is being forced to sign. (BBC)
A report into dumping of toxic waste by Trafigura in Cte d’Ivoire is published. (BBC)
Two police officers are killed after their police helicopter is shot down by drug gangs in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ten drug traffickers were also killed in the violence. (Associated Press) (Brazzil Mag) (Al Jazeera)
The sheriff in Fort Collins, Colorado advises that criminal charges will be laid over the balloon boy hoax. (AP via Minneapolis Star-Tribune) (Sky News)
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) imposes an arms embargo on Guinea after the deaths of opposition supporters at a rally last month. (African Press Agency) (Reuters)
A South Korean legislator claims North Korea is holding 154,000 of its citizens in gulags. (Yonhap) (AFP) (BBC)
A Colombian military official claims that eight FARC guerrillas and five Colombian army soldiers have been killed in heavy fighting in Cauca Department. (AFP via Google News)
Iran frees Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari on bail after four months in detention following the disputed presidential election. (Press TV) (IOL) (Associated Press)
More than one million anti-abortion protesters march through Madrid in one of the largest demonstrations since 2003 and 2004 anti-war protests. (The Australian) (Reuters India)
Thousands of fans, celebrities and politicians attend the funeral of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately in Dublin. (RT) (The Guardian) (The Times) (ABC News)
30,000 troops from the Pakistan Army begin an offensive operation against the Taliban and their allies in South Waziristan. (BBC)
The government of the Maldives, including President Mohamed Nasheed, holds the world’s first underwater Cabinet meeting, to highlight the threat of global warming. (Miadhu News) (BBC)
32 people are killed in a fire at a fireworks warehouse in southern India, during the Diwali celebrations. (Hindustan Times) (CNN)
Current events of 18 October 2009 (2009-10-18) (Sunday)
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Yemen claims to have killed 18 Shia rebels in fighting in the north of the country. (Pro Kerala)
Iraq accuses neighbouring countries of stealing sections of its national archives, including centuries-old documents. (AFP)
Ukraine commences its first presidential election campaign since the 2004 Orange Revolution. (Reuters)
A Rwandan doctor working in a French hospital is suspended after a nurse locates an Internet Interpol arrest warrant, accusing him of a 1994 “genocide, war crimes”. (Reuters)
At least 60 Taliban militants are killed in an ongoing offensive in South Waziristan, northwest Pakistan. (The Guardian) (Xinhua)
Jenson Button wins the 2009 Formula One World Championship in Interlagos, So Paulo, Brazil, by finishing fifth in the 2009 Brazilian Grand Prix.
Germany and Israel complain about a Bangkok museum billboard depicting a salute by Adolf Hitler beside the slogan “Hitler is not dead”. (BBC) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
Hurricane Rick strengthens to a Category 5 storm, becoming the strongest hurricane in a decade in the eastern Pacific Ocean. (Associated Press) (Straits Times) (CNN)
The Australian state of Queensland declares a state of emergency after more than 50 wildfires burn out of control. (TVNZ) (Al Jazeera) (The Australian)
Eight people are jailed in Hubei, China, for “disrupting public order” after 10,000 people participated in riots following the controversial death of a chef in June. (BBC) (China Daily) (Bangkok Post)
Scotland Yard investigates a complaint about an article by Jan Moir in the UK’s Daily Mail tabloid concerning her views on the death of Boyzone singer Stephen Gately. (RT)
2009 Pishin bombing:
Senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards are among 35 people killed in a suicide bombing in the southeast of the country. (Zee News) (Press TV) (RIA Novosti)
Iranian state television says Britain was directly involved in the attack and intended it as a distraction from problems it faces in Afghanistan. (Reuters)
The Pakistani charge d’affaires is summoned after Iran says it has evidence the attack had been launched from Pakistani soil. (Press TV)
Seven people are killed and 20 injured after gunmen open fire in a bar in Puerto Rico. (Associated Press)
Two foreign aid workers Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki one Irish and one Ugandan working for the GOAL charity captured in Sudan’s Darfur region more than three months ago are released. (Associated Press) (RT) (BBC)
A boat with 76 migrant workers on board headed for Canada is seized by the Canadian Navy and RCMP off its west coast in the Pacific Ocean. (CTV) (AFP)
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) assists Indonesian and Malaysian agencies with two distressed boats. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
The Icelandic government says it has come to a new agreement with the governments of the Netherlands and the UK over the repaying of $5bn. (BBC)
Current events of 19 October 2009 (2009-10-19) (Monday)
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Charles Wesley Mumbere is crowned king of the Bakonjo people in the Rwenzururu district of Uganda. (NPR) (AP via Google)
United Nationsacked electoral fraud investigators throw out a third of President Hamid Karzai’s votes leading to a runoff in the presidential election. (AP via Google)
Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico says that he will also demand an opt-out in the Treaty of Lisbon if the Czech Republic is granted one. (Der Spiegel)
Abraham Lauhenaspessy (“Captain Bram”), a suspected kingpin people smuggler, is detained in Indonesia. (The Sydney Morning Herald) (The Australian)
The Opposition in the Australian Parliament demands details on the salary of high-profile Kerry O’Brien, presenter of The 7.30 Report for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
32 Extra Solar planets are discovered and announced, this making the record of most exoplanets discovered in one day and in one month. (CNN)
Current events of 20 October 2009 (2009-10-20) (Tuesday)
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Afghanistan’s election commission orders a run-off election for November 7 in the Afghan presidential election. (AP via Jamaica Observer)
In a set of canon laws, the Vatican welcomes groups of Anglicans as “personal ordinariates” into the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI announces. (BBC) (CNN)
A court in Yemen sentences 10 Shi’ite Houthi rebels to death and jailed five others over clashes which killed hundreds of people last year. (Al Jazeera) (Al Bawaba)
Nine North Koreans who entered the Danish embassy in Hanoi, Vietnam last month leave for South Korea. (The Copenhagen Post)
Richard Herman resigns as the Chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as a result of an admissions scandal. (Chicago Tribune)
Sun Microsystems announces plans to lay off up to 3,000 workers as it prepares for a merger with Oracle Corp. (Market Watch)
The entire government of Kyrgyzstan resigns as President Kurmanbek Bakiyev announces a new reform campaign. (AFP) (BBC) (Taiwan News)
Niger is suspended by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) after its President Tandja Mamadou went ahead with a parliamentary election it had asked to be postponed over boycotts. (BBC) (Reuters)
At least four students are killed and many injured in bomb explosions at an Islamic university in Islamabad, Pakistan. (AP via Google)
China pledges to rescue the crew aboard the Chinese ship De Xin Hai after it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The pirates threaten to kill the crew if there is any attempt to rescue them. (Xinhua) (CNN) (The Guardian)
Detectives arrest a man in Belfast in connection with the Massereene Barracks shooting in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, in March 2009. (RT) (BBC) (Press Associaton)
Iran buries its dead members of the Revolutionary Guard, killed in a suicide attack two days ago. Thousands of people attend the funerals. (BBC) (Press TV)
The United States Supreme Court agrees to decide whether federal courts have the power to order prisoners held at Guantnamo Bay to be released into the country. (The New York Times)
Nearly 100,000 Italian women sign a petition after Silvio Berlusconi says a female politician is “more beautiful than intelligent” on live television. (BBC) (Reuters)
Rare footage of the abuse of suspected witches causes controversy in India. (BBC)
The United States observes the National Day on Writing, sponsored by the National Council of Teachers of English (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette) .
Current events of 21 October 2009 (2009-10-21) (Wednesday)
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The Philadelphia Phillies win the 2009 National League Championship Series 4 games to 1 after defeating the Los Angeles Dodgers 104. (New York Times)
A report on the discovery of a new species of dinosaur, Fruitadens haagarorum, measuring around 70cm long, is published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society. (RSPB), (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
After 10 hours, a man armed with a rifle and wearing military camouflage holding 8 people hostage in downtown Edmonton, Canada during the 2009 Workers Compensation Board of Alberta Hostage crisis surrenders peacefully to the Edmonton Police Service (Global Edmonton) (CTV Edmonton)
Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev appoints former mayor of Bishkek, Daniar Usenov, as the new Prime Minister following the resignation of his predecessor, Igor Chudinov. (BBC) (Reuters)
President of the Marshall Islands Litokwa Tomeing is ousted in the country’s first successful vote of no confidence. Ruben Zackhras is appointed acting president until a new election on October 23, 2009. (AFP) (Yokwe)
Hundreds of protestors gather in Lima, Peru, as a bill proposing the legalisation of some form of abortion is approved. (BBC)
The United States is to send a rare mission to Burma for talks with the military government. (AFP) (Reuters)
Several people are arrested over a bomb attack in southeastern Iran that killed 42 people, including members of the Revolutionary Guards. (Associated Press)
Azza Transport Flight 2241 crashes on take-off from Sharjah International Airport, in the United Arab Emirates, killing all six crew. (Gulfnews) (Arabian Business) (Aviation Safety Network)
Armed men take six people captive at a Lidl supermarket in Sevran, France. (BBC) (Euronews) (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation) (Channel News Asia) (Jakarta Globe)
At least thirteen people die in India’s Rajasthan state after the Goa Express crashes into the stationary Mewar Express. (CNN)
A goods train derails east of Poti, Georgia, in an incident described as “sabotage”. (BBC) (The Times of India) (Khaleej Times) (RIA Novosti)
The International Atomic Energy Agency propose draft agreement for Iran and three world powers to agree, aimed at reducing international concerns over Tehran’s nuclear programme. (BBC)
Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk agrees to station SM-3 missile interceptors from United States President Barack Obama’s reformulated missile defense system on the territory of this NATO ally. (The New York Times)
The crypt of Daniel O’Connell at Glasnevin Cemetery in Dublin is refurbished and opened to tourists . (RT)
A Japanese convict who served seventeen years in prison for the murder of a four-year-old girl pleads not guilty during a retrial. (BBC)
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announces plans to curb the number of state companies by privatising some. (RIA Novosti) (Financial Times)
Former President of South Africa Nelson Mandela denies writing a foreword praising Republic of the Congo President Denis Sassou Nguesso’s biography, Straight Speaking for Africa. (IOL) (The Guardian)
Current events of 22 October 2009 (2009-10-22) (Thursday)
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Sweden’s Lutheran Church decides to conduct same-sex marriages, becoming the first major church to do so. (Reuters)
China’s economy grows at 8.9% in the third quarter from a year earlier, the fastest pace in a year. (Bloomberg) (AFP) (CNN)
In a change of policy, the British Broadcasting Corporation controversially gives a platform on Question Time to the far right British National Party (BNP) leader Nick Griffin. (BBC) (Associated Press)
The Microsoft operating system Windows 7 goes on retail sale worldwide. (CNET News)
The Russian civil rights society Memorial is awarded the 2009 Sakharov Prize for freedom of thought. (EP press release) (RIA Novosti) (euronews)
Ethiopia appeals for food aid for 6.2 million people facing starvation. (AFP) (CBC)
Nearly 6,000 Tamil refugees are released from Sri Lanka’s main camp for war-displaced people, to be re-settled over the next few weeks. (BBC)
A U.S. State Department report to Congress alleges that war crimes were committed by the Sri Lankan Military and the rebel Tamil Tigers in the final months of the Sri Lankan Civil War. (AFP) (Guardian) (BBC)
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security will allow Chinese and Russian tourists to travel to the Northern Mariana Islands without a visa. (Saipan Tribune)
The Olympic Flame was lit during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece to start the 2010 Winter Olympics Torch Relay.(Gamesbids.com)
The U.S. House Financial Services Committee approved a measure establishing a Consumer Financial Protection Agency.(Washington Post)
Current events of 23 October 2009 (2009-10-23) (Friday)
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At the end of their three-week synod in the Vatican, more than 200 African Roman Catholic bishops issue a 12-page document urging what they call corrupt political leaders on the continent to repent their sins or resign and criticising multinational companies who exploit and destroy the earth. (BBC) (Reuters) (CBC)
Bernard Fellay, Superior General of the Society of St. Pius X, says that the Vatican is considering the possibility of converting the Lefebvrist group into a personal prelature. (Pakistan Christian TV)
A universal mobile phone charger that works with any handset is approved by the International Telecommunication Union. (BBC)
Jean Todt defeats Ari Vatanen in an election to become the new head of the Fdration Internationale de l’Automobile, replacing former head Max Mosley, who held the position for 16 years. (BBC)
The UK GDP contracts by 0.4% between July and September, meaning that the United Kingdom has been contracting for 6 successive quarters for the first time since records were kept in 1955. (BBC) (RT)
The Swiss Government says that the United States has formally requested the extradition of film director Roman Polanski for having unlawful sex with an underage girl in 1977. (AP via Washington Post)(Yahoo)
A huge explosion rips through an upmarket area of Peshawar in Pakistan. (AFP via Google News & Yahoo News)
A huge explosion occurs at an oil refinery in Catao, Puerto Rico. (Reuters)
Vitit Muntarbhorn, United Nations Special Rapporteur for North Korea, says the country should improve its “abysmal” rights record, adding it should provide food to over 8 million citizens. (Al Jazeera) (Taiwan News) (BBC)
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) launches its first human rights body, the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). (Thai News Agency) (Associated Press)
A white Kenyan, Thomas P. G. Cholmondeley, is released after five months of an eight month prison sentence for manslaughter. (Daily Nation) (BBC)
Current events of 24 October 2009 (2009-10-24) (Saturday)
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The International Day of Climate Action occured worldwide in prelude to the United Nations Climate Change Conference of 2009, with over 5,400 actions to raise awareness of the assertion that 350 ppm is the maximum safe level of carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere, and call for mitigation of global warming before Earth reaches a climatological tipping point. (New York Times) (CNN)
Ten corpses with gunshot wounds thought to belong to a kidnapped Colombian football team are located in Venezuela. (BBC) (Latin American Herald Tribune)
Pakistan reports re-gaining control of Kotkai, South Waziristan, birthplace of Pakistani Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud and also the hometown of the Taliban’s master trainer of suicide bombers, Qari Hussain, after a week of fierce fighting with the Taliban. (BBC)
Morrissey, ex-frontman of The Smiths, is hospitalized after collapsing on stage while performing “This Charming Man” during his world tour. (BBC) (The Guardian) (Sky News)
Rosanna Al-Yami, a female journalist in Saudi Arabia, is sentenced to sixty lashes and a two-year travel ban for her involvement in a controversial sex programme. (BBC) (CNN) (The New York Times) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (Reuters)
Senior envoys from North Korea and the United States hold rare talks on North Korea’s nuclear programme in New York City. (Channel News Asia) (Reuters)
At least 15 people are killed after two trains collide in Al-Ayyat, near Cairo, Egypt. (BBC) (Al Jazeera)
Less than a week after the release of GOAL aid workers Sharon Commins and Hilda Kawuki, the International Committee of the Red Cross confirms one of its French employees has been abducted in Darfur. (The Sydney Morning Herald)
Burma’s Prime Minister Thein Sein tells the 15th ASEAN summit his government is prepared to relax the house arrest on National League for Democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. (Financial Times) (Bangkok Post)
A magnitude 7.0 undersea earthquake strikes off the coast of eastern Indonesia. (Associated Press) (Jakarta Post)
Thousands of people protest in London, England, demanding the withdrawal of British troops from Afghanistan. (BBC) (The Times) (AFP)
The ruling National Movement for the Development of Society wins a controversial parliamentary election in Niger. (African Press Agency) (AFP)
An assassination attempt on President of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov is averted. (RIA Novosti) (Bloomberg)
Current events of 25 October 2009 (2009-10-25) (Sunday)
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The New York Yankees beat the Los Angeles Angels 5-2 in Game 6 of the 2009 American League Championship Series to advance to the World Series. (New York Times)
Israeli police and Palestinians clash at Temple Mount, Jerusalem’s holiest site, resulting in 12 arrests. (BBC) (Straits Times) (Associated Press)
Bomb blasts kill 155 people and injure at least 500 in central Baghdad, the country’s deadliest attack for two years. (BBC) (Reuters India) (The Sydney Morning Herald)
India tells China that the Dalai Lama is an “honoured guest” and will not be barred from visiting Arunachal Pradesh despite protests from China. (Associated Press) (Times of India) (Straits Times)
Nigeria’s main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta, declares an indefinite ceasefire. (NEXT) (African Press Agency) (Xinhua)
Maksharip Aushev, human rights activist and opposition leader of Ingushetia, is shot dead while driving his car near Nartan in Kabardino-Balkaria. A female passenger is also attacked. (Xinhua) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (RIA Novosti)
Tunisians vote in a general election. (Al Jazeera)
Uruguayans vote in a general election. (Press TV) (Associated Press)
Easter Islanders vote to restrict the number of immigrants in a referendum. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (BBC)
The oil refinery fire continues to burn out of control in Catao, Puerto Rico, two days after the initial explosion. (Washington Post)
Buildings across the Netherlandst. Martin’s Cathedral, Utrecht, Rotterdam’s Euromast and Groningen’s Martinitorenim their lights as clocks go back in Europe. (Radio Netherlands Worldwide)
Inspectors from the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), arrive in Iran to inspect a newly disclosed nuclear facility near the city of Qom. (CNN)
It is revealed that composer Andrew Lloyd Webber has been diagnosed with prostate cancer. (The Guardian)
Current events of 26 October 2009 (2009-10-26) (Monday)
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President of Tunisia Zine El Abidine Ben Ali wins 90% of votes, his fifth term and a new five-year mandate in the country’s general election. (BBC) (Al Jazeera) (CBC)
Jurelang Zedkaia is elected the 5th President of the Marshall Islands, following the ouster of Litokwa Tomeing in a no confidence vote last week. (Bernama)
At least seven people are killed and at least four others are injured when a three-story building falls down in Palma, Majorca. The dead include at least three from Colombia. (BBC)
Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadi boycotts his own trial as it begins in The Hague. (BBC) (The Guardian) (The Australian)
The UN’s court in Freetown, Sierra Leone sees its final case after seven years of investigating the country’s civil war. (BBC) (Reuters Africa) (Ghana Broadcasting Corporation)
The trial of Japanese singer and actress Noriko Sakai begins in Tokyo. (Xinhua) (BBC) (Japan Today)
South Korean cloning scientist Hwang Woo-Suk is convicted of fraud over his stem cell research. (BBC) (Radio Netherlands Worldwide) (The New Zealand Herald)
King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia removes the sentence of 60 lashes for Rosanna Yami, female journalist involved in the Red Lines sex scandal. (BBC) (Al Arabiya) (CBC)
A Sri Lankan court in Colombo releases Vetrivel Jaseeharan, the publisher of North Eastern Monthly, and his wife after they were charged with conspiracy against the government in March 2008. The editor was given a twenty year jail sentence in August 2009. (BBC) (Khaleej Times)
It is announced that Silvio Berlusconi will stand trial on 16 November. (BBC)
A court in Milan rules that Mediaset run by Silvio Berlusconi is being anti-competitive against News Corporation run by Rupert Murdoch. (BBC)
The five surviving Conway sextuplets, the first sextuplets born on the island of Ireland, return home. (BBC)
At least 10 patients from thirty-four operated on partially lose their sight after free cataract operations in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh. (BBC)
A crater found in northern Latvia, believed at first to be a meteorite strike, is revealed to be a hoax perpetrated by telecom operator Tele2. (Fox News)
Uldis Nulle, a scientist at the Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre, said: “This is not a real crater. It is artificial.” (The Sun).
Prof. Salamat Akhtar demands a repeal of blasphemy laws in Pakistan. (Pakistan Christian TV)
Silvio Berlusconi has been diagnosed with scarlet fever. (The Times)
The composer and pianist Elton John cancels his third concert in several days due to flu. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph) (CBC)
Yahoo! discontinues its free web hosting service GeoCities, ten years after purchasing it from David Bohnett and John Rezner. (The Los Angeles Times)
Australian authorities offer a Aus$1 million reward in their search for a man suspected of ordering the murder of a vampire. (BBC)
A police officer in Liverpool, England is hospitalised in a life threatening condition after undergoing a homophobic attack by a gang of twenty youths. (Sky News) (BBC)
Current events of 27 October 2009 (2009-10-27) (Tuesday)
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A report by the Australian government warns that global warming climate change threatens the coastal lifestyle of the country, with a prospect of a ban on coastal homes. (The Guardian) (The Daily Telegraph)
Grassroots occupations of Austrian universities spread to several more in Vienna, Graz and Linz, demanding free education for everyone. (Boston Herald) (CNN iReport) (Austrian Times)
Qatar inaugurates one of the world’s largest LNG trains, operated by RasGas. (Al Bawaba) (The Peninsula) (Gulf Times)
Pope Benedict XVI appoints Cardinal Peter Turkson of Cape Coast, Ghana, to serve as the new head of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace. (Pakistan Christian TV)
NASA announces a delay in the launch of the Ares I-X test rocket, developed to replace the space shuttle, due to poor weather conditions. (New Scientist) (BBC)
The Church of Scientology in France is convicted of organised fraud. (France 24) (The Times) (Al Jazeera)
China confirms it has executed 2 Tibetans over unrest last year. (Angola Press) (The Guardian) (The Hindu)
The son of ex-French President Franois Mitterrand, Jean-Christophe Mitterrand and an ex-government minister, Charles Pasqua, are convicted for their roles in illegal arms sales to Angola. (Associated Press) (Reuters)
A nephew of Honduran interim leader Robert Micheletti and a high ranking army officer are found murdered. (Times of India) (BBC) (Press TV)
A British couple are missing after their yacht is hijacked by Somali pirates off the Seychelles. (Bloomberg) (AFP) (Xinhua)
North Korea says a South Korean man has defected to the North across the Korean Demilitarized Zone. (Yonhap) (Associated Press) (Xinhua)
Burundi and Uganda tighten security after threats by the militant Somali Al-Shabaab, a group with links to Al-Qaeda, to attack their capitals. (Reuters India) (VOA)
The autonomous Aceh province in Indonesia is to ban women from wearing tight trousers under a new law, while a law authorising the stoning to death of adulterers and the whipping of homosexuals will be reviewed. (Jakarta Globe) (Straits Times) (Reuters South Africa)
Authorities in Venezuela arrest a number of people accused of being secret service agents from neighbouring Colombia, on charges of espionage. (El Universal) (Colombia Reports) (BBC)
Prime Minister of Thailand Abhisit Vejjajiva backs autonomy for the restive southern provinces to bring an end to violence in the region. (The Nation) (Straits Times)
Current events of 28 October 2009 (2009-10-28) (Wednesday)
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Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell is mauled to death by coyotes at the age of 19. (CBC) (The Star)
Voters in Mozambique go to the polls for the general election. (AFP via Google News) (IOL)
A blast in Meena Bazar, Peshawar, Pakistan, kills at least 95 people while 110 are injured. (Geo TV) (The Times)
12 people including six United Nations staff are killed after Taliban militants assault an international guesthouse in the Afghan capital Kabul. (Associated Press) (New York Times)
One of Germany’s last Nazi war crimes trials begins, with Heinrich Boere charged with the killings of three civilians in the Netherlands. (The Local) (BBC) (Deutsche Welle)
Ares I-X, the first test article for NASA’s Ares I rocket, launches successfully from Launch Complex 39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a sub-orbital test flight. (CNN)
The Lebanese army says it has found and deactivated four 107-mm rockets in the garden of a partly built house a day after a rocket fired from Houla hit the northern Israeli border town of Kiryat Shmona. This is the fifth time rocket attacks have been used to try to break the cease-fire. (Reuters)
Chinese police rescue over 2,000 children in a six month campaign against human trafficking. (BBC) (The Daily Telegraph)
Ireland and the United Kingdom agree to ensure drivers disquali…
