NO DOUBT IS GOING ON TOUR!!!!!!!!!!!!

The day has come!!!! No Doubt puts on an amazing show, high energy ( SUPER HIGH!), great band, great songs, and HUGE catalog to choose from. And lest we forget Gwen Stefani in all her Rock Star Goddess Glory! This is going to be so much fun!!!!

TOUR DATES!!!

5/03/2009 - East Rutherford, NJ - Meadowlands Sports Complex (Bamboozle Festival)
5/16/2009 - Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay Events Center (Tiger Jam XII)
5/19/2009 - Fresno, CA - Save Mart Center
5/20/2009 - Bakersfield, CA - Rabobank Arena
5/22/2009 - San Diego, CA - Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre (Yes! They included us! They Love us!!)
5/23/2009 - Phoenix, AZ - Cricket Wireless Pavilion
5/25/2009 - Salt Lake City, UT - The E Center
5/27/2009 - Denver, CO - Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre
5/28/2009 - Albuquerque, NM - Journal Pavilion
5/30/2009 - Dallas, TX - Superpages.com Center
5/31/2009 - Houston, TX - Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
6/02/2009 - Tampa, FL - Ford Amphitheatre

6/03/2009 - West Palm Beach, FL - Cruzan Amphitheatre
6/05/2009 - Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre
6/06/2009 - Charlotte, NC - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
6/08/2009 - Raleigh, NC - Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion
6/10/2009 -Virginia Beach, VA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
6/11/2009 - Philadelphia, PA - Susquehanna Bank Center
6/13/2009 -Pittsburgh, PA - Post-Gazette Pavilion
6/14/2009 - Washington, DC - Nissan Pavilion
6/16/2009 - Toronto, ON - Air Canada Centre
6/17/2009 - Montreal, QC - Centre Bell

6/19/2009 - Darien Center, NY - Darien Lake Performing Arts Center
6/20/2009 - Boston, MA - Comcast Center
6/24/2009 - Uncasville, CT - Mohegan Sun Arena
6/26/2009 - Holmdel, NJ - PNC Bank Arts Center
6/27/2009 - Wantagh, NY - Nikon at Jones Beach Theater
6/29/2009 - Cleveland, OH - Blossom Music Center
7/02/2009 - Milwaukee, WI - Marcus Amphitheater (Summerfest)
7/03/2009 - Detroit, MI - Palace Of Auburn Hills

7/05/2009 - St. Paul, MN - Xcel Energy Center
7/06/2009 - Kansas City, MO - Starlight Theatre
7/08/2009 -St. Louis, MO - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
7/10/2009 - Indianapolis, IN - Verizon Wireless Music Center
7/11/2009 -Chicago, IL - First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
7/13/2009 - Winnipeg, MB - MTS Centre

7/15/2009 - Calgary, AB - Pengrowth Saddledome
7/16/2009 - Edmonton, AB - Rexall Place
7/18/2009 -Vancouver, BC - General Motors Place
7/19/2009- Seattle, WA - White River Amphitheatre
7/21/2009 - Concord, CA - Sleep Train Pavilion

7/24/2009 - Sacramento, CA - Sleep Train Amphitheatre
7/25/2009- Mountain View, CA - Shoreline Amphitheatre
7/31/2009 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
8/01/2009 - Irvine, CA - Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
(The Last Shows in their home county of Orange are SURE to be the best!!)

Free Tickets!!

E-Mail The Blog at sticksandstoneslive@gmail.com and I'll let you know where to pick up FREE tickets only blocks from the venue. I think I have about 5-8 of them!!



This week 4 THE DJ brings to you a special event:

DirtyBird featuring Claude Von Stroke & Worthy

DirtyBird is not only one of Claude Von Stroke's labels, it is a party that happens in only select cities of the world and 4 THE DJ is bringing it to San Diego!

Claude Von Stroke is currently of the world's most famous producer/DJ's and Worthy is following right behind him!

This show is a MUST see.

There's going to be birthday's, live video production, and music that is shaping the scene! LET'S GO!


1st 200 People FREE


$5 Vodka Rockstars ALL NIGHT LONG!


$5 Well before 11pm


$4 Drinks Specials before 10pm


RELAXED DRESS CODE!


5 Different Rooms of Music

On This Day In History: Mr. Rogers dies

Beloved children’s entertainer Fred Rogers succumbs to stomach cancer at 74 on this day in 2003. The talented writer and puppeteer, known to generations of children simply as “Mr. Rogers,” hosted “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” on public television for more than 30 years.

A native of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, Rogers filmed the famed show in Pittsburgh, 30 miles east of his hometown. He studied early childhood development at the University of Pittsburgh and, in 1962, was ordained as Presbyterian minister with a mission to work with children and families through television. Beginning in 1954, he worked as a puppeteer on a show called “The Children’s Corner,” before beginning work on his own show, which first aired in 1968.

Singing his well-known theme song, “It’s a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Rogers would enter his living-room-like set at the beginning of each episode, changing his shoes and sweater. He would then take his viewers on a magical trolley ride to the “Neighborhood of Make-Believe,” where he introduced them to characters such as King Friday XIII, his wife Queen Sara Saturday, Curious X the Owl, and Henrietta Pussycat. Even in an era of slick packaging and new technology in children’s programming, Rogers found continued success by sticking to his original message—that children should love each other and themselves. He aimed to help children deal with troubling emotions, like fear and anger, as well as everyday problems, like visiting the dentist.

Rogers composed most of his show’s songs and did much of the puppeteering and voices himself. Despite countless awards and honors, including four Emmys® and a George Foster Peabody Award, Rogers once remarked, “I have never really considered myself a TV star. I always thought I was neighbor who just came in for a visit.” He taped his last show in December 2000, but came out of retirement briefly to film public service announcements helping parents and children deal with the September 11th tragedy. One of Rogers’ trademark red sweaters now hangs in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

Standing Tall and Proud

Barack Obama is 6'1 and Michelle Obama is 5'10. Wowzers!!

On This Day In History: Shirley Temple receives $50,000 a film

Shirley Temple receives a new contract from 20th Century Fox that will pay the seven-year-old star $50,000 a film.

Temple was born in 1928 in Santa Monica and started appearing in a series of short films spoofing current movies, called Baby Burlesks, at age four. At age six, she attracted attention with her song-and-dance number "Baby Take a Bow" in the 1934 movie Stand Up and Cheer, for which she received a special Academy Award for her contribution to film.

By 1938, Temple was the No. 1 box office draw and is still considered one of the most successful child stars in the history of the movies. The public loved her, and she routinely upstaged her adult counterparts on the big screen. Her famous blond ringlets appeared in more than 40 films, including Poor Little Rich Girl, Wee Willie Winkie, Heidi, and Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, and her talents helped pull 20th Century Fox out of financial uncertainty during the Depression.

Her appeal faded and her career began to peter out in her teenage years, however. She retired from movie acting in 1949, though she did narrate the television series Shirley Temple's Storybook from 1957 to 1959. She married naval officer Charles Black in 1950, changing her name to Shirley Temple Black. Some 20 years after retiring from Hollywood, she launched a political career, running as the Republican candidate for a congressional seat in San Mateo, California, in 1967 and coming in second of 14 candidates. The following year, President Richard Nixon appointed her ambassador to the United Nations, and she worked for the State Department in the United States and overseas for more than two decades. She was the first woman to ever serve as chief of protocol, a post she held for 11 years under President Gerald R. Ford, and President George Bush named her ambassador to Czechoslovakia in 1989; by the end of her term in 1993, it had become the Czech Republic.

Temple published her autobiography, Child Star, in 1988. She still serves on the Institute of International Studies. The former child star also became a spokeswoman for breast cancer awareness after she discovered a malignant lump in her breast in 1972 and underwent a simple mastectomy. She received a medal for lifetime achievement to the United States and the world from President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hillary.

King and Queen of the Prom Wed

LOS ANGELES, California (CNN)

-- Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen married National Football League star Tom Brady Thursday in an "intimate" sunset ceremony, US Weekly magazine reported on its Web site.
The couple wed at a Catholic church in Santa Monica, California, in front of mostly immediate family members, the entertainment magazine reported. The two had dated since 2006.

The bride wore a Dolce & Gabbana gown. Her three dogs, which attended the ceremony, wore matching Dolce & Gabbana floral lace collars, the Web site said.

Bundchen, 28, is the highest-paid model in the world, the business Web site Forbes.com reported last year. New England Patriots quarterback Brady has gone to the Super Bowl four times, winning three of those games.

Obesity in US military doubled since 2003

Unfortunately this is no laughing matter....

In 1998, the number of military personnel diagnosed overweight or obese stood at 25,652, or 1.6 percent of the entire armed forces. In 2003, it increased to 34,333 (2.1 percent), and from then to 2008 the number doubled to 68,786 (4.4 percent of the total).

A 2005 poll of the US military established that "stress and return from deployment were the most frequently cited reasons for recent weight gain," the report said.

The US military has shown signs of overall exhaustion after years of deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.

And beside weight gain, the US Army has seen a sharp increase in suicides that hit a record 143 in 2008, compared to 115 the year before.

Read The Rest

GREAT. Glad to know the teenagers losing their life overseas are hanging themselves fat and happy. So sad, these men and women are too young to live their life under extreme stress, fear, rage, and darkness. NO WAR IS WORTH THE LIVES OF OUR YOUTH!!!

San Diego Roots Sustainable Food Project

Food for Thought: Free Films about Food
The Garden
2009 Academy Award-nominated documentary
THE GARDEN a film by Scott Hamilton Kennedy
This Saturday, February 28, 2pm
Chula Vista Public Library, 365 F Street, Chula Vista 91910
one block south of E St., between 4th & 5th Avenues


THE GARDEN is a moving documentary about the fourteen-acre community garden in South Central Los Angeles, the largest of its kind in the United States. Started as a form of healing after the devastating L.A. riots in 1992, the South Central Farmers created a miracle in one of the country’s most blighted neighborhoods. Growing their own food. Feeding their families. Creating a community. Then, bulldozers were poised to level their 14-acre oasis.

THE GARDEN follows the plight of the farmers, from the tilled soil of this urban farm to the polished marble of City Hall. Mostly immigrants from Latin America, from countries where they feared for their lives if they were to speak out, we watch them organize, fight back, and demand answers:

* Why was the land sold to a wealthy developer for millions less than fair-market value?
* Why was the transaction done in a closed-door session of the LA City Council?
* Why have the details never been made public?

And the powers-that-be have the same response: “The garden is wonderful, but there is nothing more we can do.”


Includes a discussion about the local food movement in our area and ways you can help support the return to locally grown, fresh and healthy food.

For more information, visit our website:
www.sandiegoroots.org/fft.html.

Food for Thought produced by San Diego Roots and

Slow Food Urban San Diego www.slowfoodurbansandiego.org.

The series is sponsored by Ocean Beach People's Organic Food Co-op.

For more information about People's, a 10,000-family, member-owned co-operative organic food store, visit their website: www.obpeoplesfood.coop.

Rick Rubin is Getting Back Into Hip-Hop

While Rick Rubin looks "to' up from da flo' up" (tore up from the floor up= dishelved appearance), he is one BAD ASS producer and music mentor. The Dixie Chicks album he work on (Long Time Gone), is one of my top 3 best albums of ALL TIME.


From Pitchfork:

Back in the 80s, Rick Rubin co-founded Def Jam Records and produced an absurd number of monster jams for the likes of LL Cool J and Run-DMC. Ever since he left Def Jam, though, Rubin's been busy racking up Dixie Chicks Grammys and becoming the music industry's favorite beardo swami figure, and he hasn't had much time to fuck with rap. In recent years, though, Rubin's occasional toe-dips into beatmaking have been infrequent but devastating: Jay-Z's deathless "99 Problems", for one, or Lil Jon's Slayer-sample pileup "Stop Fuckin' Wit Me". (I could make a Lordz of Brooklyn or Saul Williams joke here, but those records were actually sort of awesome, so fuck it.)

Further proving the occasional sharpness of his instincts, Rubin signed masterful coke-rap free agents Clipse to Columbia in 2007. And last summer, we reported that Rubin and Clipse would be working together on music for Clipse's Columbia debut. But these kinds of things are often rumored and rarely actually take place. So we were stoked when, yesterday, EW.com revealed a few more details of the Clipse/Rubin collabo. The Re-Up Gang blog also posted some awesome photos.

According to EW, they've already finished one song together, and they plan to do one or two more. We already know from their two classic Neptunes-produced albums that Clipse know how to handle themselves over icy, minimal beats. Rubin usually traffics in punchy, metallic, cluttered thuds, so this will be a stretch. But all the people involved know exactly what they're doing, so I'm confident.

Til the Casket Drops, the third Clipse album, is due for release sometime this summer. Hopefully they won't experience any of the same release-date delays that plagued Hell Hath No Fury. EW reports that the first single, "Kinda Like a Big Deal", will be out on March 9. It features Kanye West, and DJ Khalil, who did the beat for 50 Cent's pretty good "I Still Kill", produced it.

The last time I wrote something about Clipse for Pitchfork, the brothers Thornton weren't too happy. So I should point out right here that this Rubin collaboration is a really good idea. It gets way higher than a 7.6. Like 8.2 at least.

On This Day In History: The World Trade Center is Bombed

A bomb explodes in the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center in New York City on this day in 1993. Six people died and 1,000 were injured by the powerful blast, which also caused the evacuation of thousands of people from the Twin Towers.

An informant later identified a group of Serbians in New York as the culprits. However, when the FBI conducted surveillance of the gang they found not terrorists but jewel thieves, putting an end to a major diamond-laundering operation.

Fortunately, investigators at the bomb scene found a section of a van frame that had been at the center of the blast. The van's vehicle identification number was still visible, leading detectives to the Ryder Rental Agency in Jersey City, New Jersey. Their records indicated that Mohammed Salameh had rented the van and reported it stolen on February 25.

Salameh was already in the FBI's database as a potential terrorist, so agents knew that they had probably found their man. Salameh compounded his mistake by insisting that Ryder return his $400 deposit. When he returned to collect it, the FBI arrested him. A search of his home and records led to two other suspects.

Meanwhile, the owner of a storage facility in Jersey City came forward to say that he had seen four men loading a Ryder van on February 25. When this storage space was checked, they found enough chemicals, including very unstable nitroglycerin, to make another massive bomb. Investigators also found videotapes with instructions on bomb making that led to the arrest of a fourth suspect.

Other evidence showed that one of the terrorists had bought hydrogen tanks from AGL Welding Supply in New Jersey. In the wreckage under the World Trade Center, three tanks marked "AGL Welding" were found. In addition, the terrorists had sent a letter to the New York Times claiming responsibility for the blast. Portions of this letter were found on a computer desk taken from a suspect's office. Finally, DNA analysis of saliva on the envelope matched that of the suspect.

The wealth of evidence resulted in easy convictions, and each of the men was sentenced to 240 years in prison.

On September 11, 2001, the World Trade Center was again attacked, when terrorists linked to Osama bin Ladin and al-Qaida hijacked and flew one jetliner into each tower. Within hours, both towers had collapsed, killing almost 3,000 people. A third jet was crashed into the Pentagon, killing almost two hundred people, including those on board the plane. A fourth hijacked jet, apparently bound for a second target in Washington, D.C., crashed into a field in Pennsylvania after passengers--aware of the attacks in New York and at the Pentagon--attempted to wrest control of the plane from the hijackers. All aboard were killed.

Fox's Glenn Bleck Interviews Rob Kampia of MPP

Rob Kampia is cool, calm and collected. He has facts and statistics from reputable sources. Glenn Beck is the opposite. Great interview. MPP-Marijuana Policy Project

On This Day in History: Miami drive-in debuts

Miami's first drive-in movie theater opened on this day. Invented in 1933 by Richard Hollingshead, the first drive-in debuted on Crescent Boulevard in Camden New, Jersey. Admission was 25¢ per car and 25¢ per individual, with no car paying more than $1.00. Hollingshead received a patent for his idea in 1933, but it was later repealed in 1939. Without a patent to hinder them, copycats began opening up drive-ins all across the country. By 1938, most metropolitan areas had drive-in theaters. The drive-in craze would reach its peak in 1963 when 3,502 theaters were in operation across the country.








Drive In Theaters In San Diego

South Bay

Santee

Cinema Under The Stars in Mission Hills (Not a drive in but a cool outdoor theater!)

Update" The Old Spaghetti Factory Gaslmap- ITS OPEN NOW

YES, now a place I can afford to eat downtown besides Pokez or Lotus (during lunch special time) I just read in the San Diego Business Journal that Dussini's is turning BACK into The Old Spaghetti Factory!! They are owned by the same Portland based restaurant group and the switch was originally made because they thought the current higher end entity would do better in the up and coming San Diego downtown landscape. But peeps be poor now! I'm so excited!! They have their famous "Complete Meal" that comes with bread and awesome garlic butter before your meal. You then get an entree, soup or salad, a drink and the best part, ice cream, all for one low price! I can almost taste the spumoni....oh my god and their insane cheese mizithra! All you job seekers take note! While they will be keeping their bar staff they are looking for other workers!!


**NOTE**
-Other Downtown Eatery News:
Max's on 5th is closing
Sun Cafe is turning into a Mexican food restaurant

Read the Article at San Diego Business Journal

California Wants to Legalize Marijuana

Got my vote....

Obama's State of the Nation Address

Is it just me or has it been a loooong time since you've heard of an administration who wanted to spend money on health care, education, and renewable energy? Feels like I'm living in Sweden or something. Obamas address last night was encouraging and uplifting, what did we expect? Yea the guy isn't perfect, he's human, but he's getting it right on so many levels and he really DOES have the nations best interests at heart. Now if he can just end the war and legalize and tax weed we'd have more than enough money to have to never even pay taxes on the stimulus bill.


Check Out The Key Points Of Obamas Speech

Band of Horses Tour Dates

I adore Band of Horses. A friend turned me on to Everything All The Time in the confusing time after I moved back to San Diego after living in my beloved Seattle. I hadn't really worked out but I wasn't sure if San Diego was where I wanted to be. I saw them at Canes but fuck...Canes?? I saw them at Sasquatch and then I saw them at Hollywood Bowl and now I could see them play a damn liquor store, just as long as theyre there and Im there. There music is so luscious and ar out, it seems to go for miles. Alas on this tour they are skipping San Diego...and LA, guess that makes me feel a bit better. It's been a long time dream of mine to get them to play a small show up at Mount Helix here in SD. I am going to make that happen, yea, Im gonna do that...stayed tuned for ticket information.

BAND OF HORSES

Dates:

04-15 Santa Cruz, CA - Catalyst
04-17 Oakland, CA - Fox Theater
04-18 Indio, CA - Coachella Festival
06-10 Norfolk, VA - The Norva *
06-11 New York, NY - Carnegie Hall *
06-12 Baltimore, MD - Ram's Head Live *
06-14 Manchester, TN - Bonnaroo Festival
06-16 Asheville, NC - Orange Peel *
06-17 Charlotte, NC - Neighborhood Theatre *
06-18 Myrtle Beach, SC - House of Blues *
08-15 Copenhagen, Denmark - Beatday Festival

* with Arboretum

MOUNT HELIX

MARDI GRAS!!!

The feast before the fast
by Holly Hartman and Chris Frantz

"Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday." Traditionally, it is the last day for Catholics to indulge—and often overindulge—before Ash Wednesday starts the sober weeks of fasting that come with Lent. Formally known as Shrove Tuesday, Mardi Gras has long been a time of extravagant fun for European Christians. In fact, some people think Mardi Gras celebrations have their source in the wild springtime orgies of the ancient Romans.

In the United States, Mardi Gras draws millions of fun-seekers to New Orleans every year. Mardi Gras has been celebrated in New Orleans on a grand scale, with masked balls and colorful parades, since French settlers arrived in the early 1700s. Hidden behind masks, people behaved so raucously that for decades in the early 19th century masks were deemed illegal in that party-loving city.

Masks, Music, and Mayhem

French royals, feather-covered showgirls, Energizer bunnies, painted clowns, masked lions—you can find them all (and countless others) in the streets of New Orleans at Mardi Gras. By dawn on that most famous Tuesday, people have claimed the best spots on the streets to watch fabulous floats, outrageous performers, and visiting celebrities go by. Many travel hundreds of miles to be a part of the excitement.

Marching bands, some of them founded more than a century ago, also take to the streets with music and festive dress. They open the day by spreading jazz music through the city before the more than 350 floats and 15,000 costumed paraders take over the scene. Crazy costumes and wild make-up are the order of the day for paraders and parade-watchers alike. The most lavish get-ups can be seen at the cross-dressing beauty pageants in the French Quarter, where bawdy costuming may reach new heights (over seven feet, in heels).

Krewes: New Orleans Royalty

Mardi Gras has long combined wild street activities open to everyone with events organized by private clubs known as krewes. Today, thousands of people belong to about 60 krewes that plan the parades and balls of New Orleans' Mardi Gras. The oldest krewe, the Krewe of Comus, was founded in 1857 by men who feared the outrageous antics of Mardi Gras would lead to the holiday being outlawed. They hoped that secret societies could keep the celebrations alive. The Krewe of Comus withdrew from the parade schedule in 1992 when it refused to sign an ordinance prohibiting racial discrimination.

In 1872 the Russian grand duke Alexis Romanoff visited New Orleans at Mardi Gras. A group of businessmen organized the Krewe of Rex to host a parade for the occasion, and appointed a "king for the day" so that the grand duke could have a royal reception. Naming kings and queens at Mardi Gras balls has been a tradition of the krewes ever since. Another tradition began with that royal visit: the Romanoff house colors—purple for justice, green for faith, and gold for power—became the official colors of Mardi Gras.

Catch as Catch Can

The millions of colorful beaded necklaces thrown from floats are the most visible symbols and souvenirs of Mardi Gras. In addition, millions of cups and toy coins known as "doubloons" are decorated with krewe logos and thrown to parade-watchers. Some "throws" are especially prized: only the luckiest folks manage to take home the hand-decorated coconuts from the Krewe of Zulu.

People do outrageous things to catch the most throws. Some dress as priests, hoping the many Catholics on the floats will shower them with goodies. Others dress their children in eye-catching costumes and seat them, holding baskets to catch the loot, on ladders that tower over the crowds. Others give up on the costume ploy altogether, finding that taking clothes off can be the quickest attention-getter.

MARDI GRAS COLORS:
Purple represents Justice; Green represents Faith; Gold represents Power.

MARDI GRAS!!!

HILLCREST

Hillcrest Mardi Gras

DOWNTOWN

When:	Where:	Tickets:
6 pm Tue, Feb. 24, 2009	Gaslamp Quarter Fifth Avenue and Market Street San Diego, CA 92101	Price: $15-$20. Ages: 21 Get tickets

GASLAMP MARDI GRAS

The Gaslamp's annual Mardi Gras celebration is housed in one huge festival area: the Masquerade Parade starts on Fifth Avenue and E Street.

Strolling dancers and performers treat audiences to music and Mardi Gras revelry, and the fan-favorite parades (at 7:30 and 10 p.m.) shower the throngs with beads. Cajun, Creole and other eats line the streets, along with craft and bead booths. Three stages of live entertainment will also be in full swing featuring traditional Zydeco, blues, retro, house music and more.

For $40 partygoers can upgrade to VIP status, which includes amenities at 10 Gaslamp nightlife hotspots (Belo, The Keating's Minus 1 Lounge and the Merk, Thin + Onyx, Red Circle, Bondi and SIN, among others). Also available are $30 tickets that include dinner at several downtown eateries.

No umbrellas, cameras or video cameras are allowed. You'll just have to try and remember your Fat Tuesday debauchery.

Complete 81st Academy Award Results

I watched the Oscars with friends while recovering from a crazy weekend of drinking on an open top double decker bus for my birthday. The cozy and warm feeling from the Oscars helped me recover faster than the greasy mexican food and joint. It was a mix of night that ultimately ended sweetly. The dresses were bad, the musical numbers lackluster BUT. Slumdog, the darling of the Oscars took home many much deserved awards. The speeches were heartfelt and elegant and all the nominees completely deserved their elections. Now I just have a TON of great movies to catch up. A personal recommendation from me is : GO SEE MILK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Best picture
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
"Frost/Nixon"
"Milk"
"The Reader"
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire"

Director
WINNER: Danny Boyle, "Slumdog Millionaire"
Stephen Daldry, "The Reader"
David Fincher, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Ron Howard, "Frost/Nixon"
Gus Van Sant, "Milk"

Actor
Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
Frank Langella, "Frost/Nixon"
WINNER: Sean Penn, "Milk"
Brad Pitt, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

Actress
Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
Angelina Jolie, "Changeling"
Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
Meryl Streep, "Doubt"
WINNER: Kate Winslet, "The Reader"

Supporting actor
Josh Brolin, "Milk"
Robert Downey Jr., "Tropic Thunder"
Philip Seymour Hoffman, "Doubt"
WINNER: Heath Ledger, "The Dark Knight"
Michael Shannon, "Revolutionary Road"

Supporting actress
Amy Adams, "Doubt"
WINNER: Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
Viola Davis, "Doubt"
Taraji P. Henson, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"
Marisa Tomei, "The Wrestler"

Animated feature
"Bolt"
"Kung Fu Panda"
WINNER: "WALL-E"

Adapted screenplay
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," screenplay by Eric Roth, screen story by Eric Roth and Robin Swicord
"Doubt," written by John Patrick Shanley
"Frost/Nixon," screenplay by Peter Morgan
"The Reader," screenplay by David Hare
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," screenplay by Simon Beaufoy

Original screenplay
"Frozen River," written by Courtney Hunt
"Happy-Go-Lucky," written by Mike Leigh
"In Bruges," written by Martin McDonagh
WINNER: "Milk," written by Dustin Lance Black
"WALL-E," screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Jim Reardon; original story by Andrew Stanton, Pete Docter

Art direction
"Changeling," James J. Murakami; set decoration: Gary Fettis
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Donald Graham Burt; set decoration: Victor J. Zolfo
"The Dark Knight," Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Peter Lando
"The Duchess," Michael Carlin; set decoration: Rebecca Alleway
"Revolutionary Road," Kristi Zea; set decoration: Debra Schutt

Cinematography
"Changeling," Tom Stern
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Claudio Miranda
"The Dark Knight," Wally Pfister
"The Reader," Chris Menges and Roger Deakins
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Anthony Dod Mantle

Costume design
"Australia," Catherine Martin
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Jacqueline West
WINNER: "The Duchess," Michael O'Connor
"Milk," Danny Glicker
"Revolutionary Road," Albert Wolsky

Documentary feature
"The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)"
"Encounters at the End of the World"
"The Garden"
WINNER: "Man on Wire"
"Trouble the Water"

Documentary short
"The Conscience of Nhem En"
"The Final Inch"
WINNER: "Smile Pinki"
"The Witness -- From the Balcony of Room 306"

Film editing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Kirk Baxter and Angus Wall
"The Dark Knight," Lee Smith
"Frost/Nixon," Mike Hill and Dan Hanley
"Milk," Elliot Graham
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Chris Dickens

Foreign language film
"The Baader Meinhof Complex," Germany
"The Class," France
WINNER: "Departures," Japan
"Revanche," Austria
"Waltz with Bashir," Israel

Makeup
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Greg Cannom
"The Dark Knight," John Caglione Jr. and Conor O'Sullivan
"Hellboy II: The Golden Army," Mike Elizalde and Thom Floutz

Original score
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Alexandre Desplat
"Defiance," James Newton Howard
"Milk," Danny Elfman
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," A.R. Rahman
"WALL-E," Thomas Newman

Original song
"Down to Earth" from "WALL-E," music by Peter Gabriel and Thomas Newman, lyrics by Peter Gabriel
WINNER: "Jai Ho" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music by A.R. Rahman, lyrics by Gulzar
"O Saya" from "Slumdog Millionaire," music and lyrics by A.R. Rahman and Maya Arulpragasam

Animated short
WINNER: "La Maison en Petits Cubes"
"Lavatory -- Lovestory"
"Oktapodi"
"Presto"
"This Way Up"

Live-action short
"Auf der Strecke (On the Line)"
"Manon on the Asphalt"
"New Boy"
"The Pig"
WINNER: "Spielzeugland"

Sound editing
WINNER: "The Dark Knight," Richard King
"Iron Man," Frank Eulner and Christopher Boyes
"Slumdog Millionaire," Glenn Freemantle and Tom Sayers
"WALL-E," Ben Burtt and Matthew Wood
"Wanted," Wylie Stateman

Sound mixing
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Mark Weingarten
"The Dark Knight," Lora Hirschberg, Gary Rizzo and Ed Novick
WINNER: "Slumdog Millionaire," Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty
"WALL-E," Tom Myers, Michael Semanick and Ben Burtt
"Wanted," Chris Jenkins, Frank A. Montaño and Petr Forejt

Visual effects
WINNER: "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron
"The Dark Knight," Nick Davis, Chris Corbould, Tim Webber and Paul Franklin
"Iron Man," John Nelson, Ben Snow, Dan Sudick and Shane Mahan

The Life of Legendary NY Aristocrat Brooke Astor

(CNN) -- New Yorkers feasted on the stories when the news broke in 2006: Brooke Astor, a socialite and megaphilanthropist with Alzheimer's, had allegedly been swindled of millions and mistreated by her own son.
Brooke Astor and grandson Philip Marshall outside her New York country estate, Holly Hill, in 2001 or 2002. Brooke Astor and grandson Philip Marshall outside her New York country estate, Holly Hill, in 2001 or 2002.

Anthony "Tony" Marshall, her only child, was indicted on criminal charges including grand larceny, possession of stolen property, forgery and conspiracy. Jury selection for the criminal trial was scheduled to begin Monday. But co-defendant Francis Morrissey's attorney filed an 11th-hour motion to sever his client's trial from Marshall's.

The motion was denied late Friday, and a new trial date has been set for March 2. Morrissey, Marshall's former lawyer, faces charges including forgery and scheming to defraud. A lawyer representing Marshall, Fred Hafetz, would say only that there would be "no plea" and that he hopes his client will "be vindicated." Video Watch author Meryl Gordon discuss the case. The trial is likely to resuscitate the tabloid feeding frenzy, which has fostered headlines such as "Bad heir day," "Mrs. Astor's disaster" and "DA's kick in the Astor."

It's not the way those closest to Astor want to remember her. And the disclosures expected to spill forth from the witness stand aren't the type that Astor, who died in August 2007 at 105, would want shared in public. "She would have been mortified," said Vartan Gregorian, a longtime friend and president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. "She was very private."

Through her late husband's Vincent Astor Foundation, Astor was credited with giving New York, where the Astors made their fortune, about $200 million. And although she felt it was expected of her to be proper and elegant, Gregorian said, her wealth didn't define her. Talk of money, real estate and other people's misfortunes were off-limits at her dinner parties, he said. "She was not ostentatious. ... She was very funny, very witty and very caring."

When a would-be robber accosted her, she foiled the holdup attempt with this response: " 'Excuse me. My name is Mrs. Astor. I don't think we've been properly introduced,' " Gregorian remembered with a laugh.

For 23 years, Linda Gillies directed the Astor Foundation and witnessed her hands-on approach to doing good -- not just for her "crown jewels," which included the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the New York Public Library, but also for lower-profile programs. Astor was often quoted as saying, "Money is like manure; it's not worth a thing unless it's spread around." But for her, again, it wasn't just about the money.

Betty Cooper Wallerstein, a community organizer who benefited from Astor's help in saving 2,500 low-income apartments on Manhattan's Upper East Side, described Astor as being equally comfortable mingling with tenants as she was in high society. She remembered attending Astor's 90th birthday party and being struck by the diversity of the crowd waiting to get inside. Around her were elected officials, the social elite, big names such as Henry Kissinger as well as Astor's staff members and activists such as herself. "She was as lovely to me as she was to the dignitaries who were there," Wallerstein said. "It was such a beautiful and democratic line."

Many close friends and staff members would not speak to CNN, as they will be testifying in the trial or will be involved in a later suit to contest Astor's will, which her son is said to have changed. But those who did speak were quick to share memories they'll always hold dear. The tears came quickly when Carmine Fasciani, 73, remembered Astor. The one-time police detective sergeant, whom Astor always called Sergeant, said he handled security and later served as the full-time head of staff at Holly Hill, Astor's New York country estate. He was employed by her for three decades, up until he had a stroke eight years ago. But his status as employee hardly described their relationship. "She was my friend. She was a good lady," he said, his voice cracking and his words slightly slurred because of the stroke. "She said, 'I love you' ... and I loved her."

He built the gazebo where Astor watched sunsets and brought her the pink roses she loved. She took him to see a house that she knew he'd fall for and helped secure a good price. When Astor lost part of a finger breaking up a dog fight, she called on Fasciani to fly in to be by her side.

And two years after his stroke, he sought Astor's approval, which she gave with a wink and a nod, before marrying his wife, Marilyn, who helped speak for Fasciani by phone from Florida.

But working for Astor had its distractions, said Alicia Johnson, who was head of staff at her Maine estate, Cove End, for about 12 years. "We had the Irish maid fighting with the French maid, the English butler fighting with the cook from Jamaica," Johnson said, laughing at the memories. "Mrs. Astor was a peach. The problem was everyone else."

In Johnson's Maine closet, there are still items Astor insisted she take, including a dress Astor "hauled out" for her to wear when she announced that she was getting married in 2000. "It was a size two, and I was a size 12," she said.

Employees stayed with Astor for years, until her son reportedly fired most all of them. But the loyalty of Steve Hamor and his two sons stands out. Hamor, 65, was her groundskeeper in Maine for 42 years. Hamor's son Scott, who with his brother also would grow up to work on the grounds, spent his childhood running around the estate as if it was his own playground. As a teen, he remembered "Mrs. A" beckoning him from mowing a lawn to say hello and introduce him to Barbara Walters.

Astor wanted to send him and his brother to university. They refused. But when Scott found himself in his mid-20s, going through a divorce and with custody of two boys, he accepted her assistance -- and insistence -- in helping him settle into a new apartment. "She was always wanting to know how you were doing and what she could do for you," said Scott, 42, who now works on Maine property owned by David Rockefeller.

Concern that not enough was being done for her is what drove Philip Marshall, defendant Tony Marshall's son, to file a petition for guardianship for his grandmother in 2006, alleging, in the words of his lawyer, "elder abuse" by his father. The intention was nothing more than to ensure that she was cared for, removing control by his father and transferring care to Astor's dear friend Annette de la Renta.

Though he wouldn't discuss the details that prompted his actions -- "I won't survive this conversation if I do," he said -- the successful petition mentioned her sleeping in torn nightgowns on a urine-stained couch and eating bland leftovers.
advertisement. "To the rest of the world, she was Brooke Astor. To us, she was our grandmother," said Marshall, 55, who grew up in Vermont with his twin brother, Alec, and was not "of the New York world."

The practicing Tibetan Buddhist, who is a professor of historic preservation at Roger Williams University in Rhode Island, never anticipated the findings that led to his father's indictment and said he merely wanted to "provide my grandmother with the care, comfort and dignity she deserved."

Read More About Brooke Astor on Wikipedia

In Honor of Conan O'Brians Last Late Night

I bring you Triumph The Insult Comic Dog in one of my favorite instances. I didn't watch Conan much but I respect a guy who has held a captive audience since 1993 and is an incredible writer. I also adore Triumph!! His last show was really nice and touching and I wish him the best in his new post on The Tonight Show in LA!!

Snakes In The City

According to a spokesperson for Animal Care & Control in New York City, approximately 20 boas constrictors are captured annually in New York by animal control services.

Read Story of Boa Constricter Found In A Sofa (It allegedly entered the house via toilet. CREEPY!!)

Odd New Band Alert

From Pitchfork:
According to Billboard.com, there's a new band that exists on earth called Tinted Windows featuring former Smashing Pumpkin James Iha, Cheap Trick drummer Bun E. Carlos, handsome Hanson brother Taylor, and Fountains of Wayne bassist Adam Schlesinger.

Note: I have no idea what to think. I like all the bands though...YES, even Hanson. Album comes out April 21, this is no joke.

Read More at Pitchfork

On This Day In History: A Death and A Birth

Lamborghini dies

Ferrucio Lamborghini died on this day in 1993, leaving behind a remarkable life story of a farm boy with big dreams. Born on his family's farm outside of Bologna, Italy, Lamborghini grew up tinkering with tractors. He enrolled in an industrial college near Bologna, where he studied machinery. Graduating just before World War II, Lamborghini then served as an engineer in the Italian Air Force. After the war he returned to his family's farm and began assembling tractors from leftover war vehicles. Lamborghini built such high-quality tractors that by the mid-1950s, the Lamborghini Tractor Company had become one of Italy's largest farm equipment manufacturers. But Ferrucio dreamt of cars. In 1963, he bought land, built an ultra-modern factory, and hired distinguished Alfa Romeo designer Giotti Bizzarini. Together they set out to create the ultimate automobile. In 1964, Lamborghini produced the 300 GT, a large and graceful sports car. By 1974, Ferrucio Lamborghini had sold out of the business bearing his name, but the company would never deviate from his initial mission to create exquisite vehicles at whatever cost.

Ansel Adams is born

The famous western photographer Ansel Adams is born in San Francisco. Adams' dramatic black and white images of Yosemite and the West are some of the most widely recognized and admired photographs of the 20th century.

Ansel Adams discovered his love of photography and the West during a family trip to Yosemite when he was 14 years old. He made his first photographs of the dramatic Yosemite Valley during that trip, and he returned to photograph the park every year thereafter for the rest of his life.

Adams soon developed a tremendous passion and talent for photography, though it remained only a hobby for many years. From childhood, Adams had studied piano, and as a young man he embarked on a promising career as a concert pianist. It was only when he was in his late 20s that Adams decided to abandon music and make a career out of photography instead, choosing to make the West the focus of his work. During the next 20 years, Adams' distinctive treatment of the western landscape won him a dedicated following, especially among the growing community of outdoor enthusiasts in California. Today his majestic portraits of the snow-covered Yosemite Valley and haunting images of Saguaro cacti under an Arizona moon are so familiar as to almost be visual cliches. It is hard to remember that when Adams first published them, the pictures had a crystalline purity that few other nature photographers had achieved.

A dedicated conservationist, Adams deliberately used his photos to inspire a semi-religious reverence for the natural world that he hoped would encourage more Americans to protect and preserve wilderness. A lifelong member of the Sierra Club, Adams provided images for many of the club's early publications in the 1960s.

Besides being a brilliant artist, Adams was also a technical innovator and a teacher. Along with several other photographers, Adams founded "Group f/64," which was dedicated to promoting deep-focus photography and the use of "straight" images free from darkroom trickery. He created a number of innovative photographic techniques that he introduced to the general public through a series of books and an annual workshop in Yosemite.

In recognition of his lifelong efforts supporting the national park system, Mt. Ansel Adams in Yosemite was named in his honor shortly after he died in 1984.

Rihanna Photos Leaked

Some douche bag at the LA County Police Office is sitting on a shit ton of money. My heart goes out to Rihanna, she was SERIOUSLY beat, very injured. I don't think Chris Brown will survive this if what I hear about Jay-Z's revenge plans are true....

This is a fitting time to mention that February is Teen Dating Violence Month. When this attack went down Chris Brown and Rihanna were 19 and 20 respectively. Hard to believe such violence happens young but it DOES and it's hard to deal with at any age much less as a near child. According to Soroptimist International, fifty-seven percent of teens know someone who has been verbally, physically, or sexually abusive in a dating relationship; females ages 16 to 24 are more vulnerable to intimate partner violence than any other age group.

Don't let your loved ones or yourself suffer in silence, no relationship or situation is worth it and you CAN get help from people who care

National Teen Dating Abuse Helpline: 1-866-331-9474 (1-866-331-8453 TTY) available 24/7

Kanye West Is Very Very Mentally Ill. Shitballs Crazy.

delusions of grandeur - a delusion (common in paranoia) that you are much greater and more powerful and influential than you really are

Kanye West Quotes To Prove The Point:


“I realize that my place and position in history is that I will go down as the voice of this generation, of this decade, I will be the loudest voice,” he said in an interview on Wednesday. “It’s me settling into that position of just really accepting that it’s one thing to say you want to do it and it’s another thing to really end up being like Michael Jordan.”

“I wanna make popular music, but I want less fans. I want the freedom of having less fans. It’s like the freedom of having less money. If you have less money, you have less responsibility.”

“I don’t even listen to rap. My apartment is too nice to listen to rap in. I have to be in a way more grimey environment to turn any rap music on”

"My music isn't just music- it's medicine"

"When your message resonates with the people, then you know your message is from God, and we are building this movement in the interest of all of God's people."

"One of the problems with being a bubbling source of creativity - it's like I'm bubbling in a laboratory, and if you don't put a cap on it, at one point it will, like, break the glass. "If I can hone that then I have nuclear power, like a superhero, like Cyclops when he puts his glasses on."

"There's nothing more to be said about music. I'm the f***ing end-all, be-all of music. I know what I'm doing. I did 808s in three weeks. I got it. It's on cruise control."

On This Day In History: Donner Party rescued

On this day in 1847, the first rescuers reach surviving members of the Donner Party, a group of California-bound emigrants stranded by snow in the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In the summer of 1846, in the midst of a Western-bound fever sweeping the United States, 89 people--including 31 members of the Donner and Reed families--set out in a wagon train from Springfield, Illinois. After arriving at Fort Bridger, Wyoming, the emigrants decided to avoid the usual route and try a new trail recently blazed by California promoter Lansford Hastings, the so-called "Hastings Cutoff." After electing George Donner as their captain, the party departed Fort Bridger in mid-July. The shortcut was nothing of the sort: It set the Donner Party back nearly three weeks and cost them much-needed supplies. After suffering great hardships in the Wasatch Mountains, the Great Salt Lake Desert and along the Humboldt River, they finally reached the Sierra Nevada Mountains in early October. Despite the lateness of the season, the emigrants continued to press on, and on October 28 they camped at Truckee Lake, located in the high mountains 21 kilometers northwest of Lake Tahoe. Overnight, an early winter storm blanketed the ground with snow, blocking the mountain pass and trapping the Donner Party.

Most of the group stayed near the lake--now known as Donner Lake--while the Donner family and others made camp six miles away at Alder Creek. Building makeshift tents out of their wagons and killing their oxen for food, they hoped for a thaw that never came. Fifteen of the stronger emigrants, later known as the Forlorn Hope, set out west on snowshoes for Sutter's Fort near San Francisco on December 16. Three weeks later, after harsh weather and lack of supplies killed several of the expedition and forced the others to resort to cannibalism, seven survivors reached a Native American village.

News of the stranded Donner Party traveled fast to Sutter's Fort, and a rescue party set out on January 31. Arriving at Donner Lake 20 days later, they found the camp completely snowbound and the surviving emigrants delirious with relief at their arrival. Rescuers fed the starving group as well as they could and then began evacuating them. Three more rescue parties arrived to help, but the return to Sutter's Fort proved equally harrowing, and the last survivors didn't reach safety until late April. Of the 89 original members of the Donner Party, only 45 reached California.

KIVA

We Let You Loan to the Working Poor

Kiva's mission is to connect people through lending for the sake of alleviating poverty.


Kiva is the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world.

The people you see on Kiva's site are real individuals in need of funding - not marketing material. When you browse entrepreneurs' profiles on the site, choose someone to lend to, and then make a loan, you are helping a real person make great strides towards economic independence and improve life for themselves, their family, and their community. Throughout the course of the loan (usually 6-12 months), you can receive email journal updates and track repayments. Then, when you get your loan money back, you can relend to someone else in need.

You can donate as little as $25 and make a HUGE impact! Check out KIVA

I Love Booties: Amazin Bootay Shakin!

No joke, I love booties, I thought about how this girl could move her booty all day yesterday. Maybe you'll be equally mesmerized? Either way it's pretty damn cool.

King Stahlman Dies at 85

"It's better to know me and not need me than to need me and not know me"
You have a King Stahlman matchbook laying SOMEWHERE around your house and if you ever needed a bail bond he is probs the first guy you'd call. It just seemed like this loved San Diego icon always had my back in case I needed him, even though I didn't know him.George Stahlman died of emphysema (with a WW II Purple Heart and a history mention on the 1976 SD Mayor Election ranking (5th)) on Friday the 13th, 2009.

Rest In Peace King Stahlhman


George 'King' Stahlman dies at 85; well-known bail bondsman, San Diego icon
By Dana Littlefield
Union-Tribune Staff Writer
February 13, 2009

SAN DIEGO — George “King” Stahlman, a bail bondsman and fixture in the community for more than 60 years, died Friday morning of emphysema, his family announced.

Stahlman, 85, was known for his gregarious personality and propensity for self-promotion in a highly competitive business. He is widely recognizable from his television, radio and print advertising, many of which featured the jingle: “It's better to know me and not need me than to need me and not know me.”

According to his family, Stahlman's longtime motto was: “Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell and advertise.”

Stahlman was born in Los Angeles County in the Hollywood/Glendale area on June 26, 1923. He served in the Navy from 1941 to 1946 and was awarded a Purple Heart after he was injured in the World War II battle of Guadalcanal in the South Pacific.

His son-in-law, Mike Hardwick, noted Stahlman's ship was torpedoed and sunk in November 1942 on Friday the 13th. He died on Friday the 13th, surrounded by family at his Del Cerro home.

Stahlman started his business in Oceanside in 1946, Hardwick said. Stahlman had the oldest bail bond license in the state, according to a San Diego Union-Tribune profile in 2004.

He had operated King Stahlman Bail Bonds from its current downtown San Diego location since December 1960 and later expanded to storefronts near jails in Chula Vista, Santee and Vista.

He ran for mayor of San Diego in 1967 and finished a distant fifth with 4 percent of the vote.

“He's always been a person who did whatever he could to help our clients out,” said Michael L. Crowley, a veteran attorney and president of the San Diego Criminal Defense Bar Association.

“He's always served the community honorably,” Crowley said.

Stahlman is survived by his three children, George, Cara Mia and Cindy, and his four grandchildren. His wife, Beverly Ann, died in August 2003.

SXSW 2009

I sort of want to go to this!! I've never been to Austin but have wanted to go for a loooong time. Would this almost overwhelming festival be a bad time to experience it first hand??

SXSW SCHEDULE
MARCH 18-22, 2009
Austin, Texas

You won’t be like a man. You’ll just pee like one.

Guys don't know this but popping a squat (female peeing on the go) sucks, even though were laughing and shrieking as we drunkenly do it. The constant fear of peeing on our clothes and the inadequacy of just "shaking [the pee] off" is almost worse than the pain of holding it in till you find a toilet. God it's enough to make me wish I had a dick sometimes just for the ease. A group of women at my work were bitching about this injustice and someone piped up about the Go Girl. It's a pop up funnel spout you pee in and direct into a cup (or the ground). Like a rubber johnson, ready to go. Girl. haha Check it out if you dare

Classic YouTube: Flea Market Montgomery

Yeeeeeeeeeees

The Post Below is Number 420

haha. 420.

When Doctors Used to Finger Their Patients: Female Hysteria

From Wikipedia
Female hysteria was a once-common medical diagnosis, made exclusively in women, which is today no longer recognized by modern medical authorities as a medical disorder. Its diagnosis and treatment was routine for many hundreds of years in Western Europe. Hysteria was widely discussed in the medical literature of the Victorian era. Women considered to be suffering from it exhibited a wide array of symptoms including faintness, nervousness, insomnia, fluid retention, heaviness in abdomen, muscle spasm, shortness of breath, irritability, loss of appetite for food or sex, and "a tendency to cause trouble".

Since ancient times women considered to be suffering from hysteria would sometimes undergo "pelvic massage" — manual stimulation of the anterior wall of the vagina by the doctor until the patient experienced "hysterical paroxysm".

Advertisement from1910.

A physician in 1859 claimed that a quarter of all women suffered from hysteria, which is reasonable considering that one physician cataloged 75 pages of possible symptoms of hysteria and called the list incomplete;almost any ailment could fit the diagnosis. Physicians thought that the stresses associated with modern life caused civilized women to be both more susceptible to nervous disorders and to develop faulty reproductive tracts.In America, such disorders in women reaffirmed that the United States was on par with Europe; one American physician expressed pleasure that the country was ”catching up” to Europe in the prevalence of hysteria.

Rachael P. Maines, author of The Technology of Orgasm: "Hysteria," the Vibrator, and Women's Sexual Satisfaction, has observed that such cases were quite profitable for physicians, since the patients were at no risk of death but needed constant treatment. The only problem was that physicians did not enjoy the tedious task of vaginal massage (generally referred to as 'pelvic massage'): The technique was difficult for a physician to master and could take hours to achieve "hysterical paroxysm." Referral to midwives, which had been common practice, meant a loss of business for the physician.

A 1918 Sears, Roebuck and Co. ad with several models of vibrators.

A solution was the invention of massage devices, which shortened treatment from hours to minutes, removing the need for midwives and increasing a physician’s treatment capacity. Already at the turn of the century, hydrotherapy devices were available at Bath, and by the mid-19th century, they were popular at many high-profile bathing resorts across Europe and in America.By 1870, a clockwork-driven vibrator was available for physicians. In 1873, the first electromechanical vibrator was used at an asylum in France for the treatment of hysteria.

While physicians of the period acknowledged that the disorder stemmed from sexual dissatisfaction, they seemed unaware of or unwilling to admit the sexual purposes of the devices used to treat it.In fact, the introduction of the speculum was far more controversial than that of the vibrator.

By the turn of the century, the spread of home electricity brought the vibrator to the consumer market. The appeal of cheaper treatment in the privacy of one’s own home understandably made the vibrator a popular early home appliance. In fact, the electric home vibrator was on the market before many other home appliance ’essentials’: nine years before the electric vacuum cleaner and 10 years before the electric iron.A page from a Sears catalog of home electrical appliances from 1918 includes a portable vibrator with attachments, billed as ”Very useful and satisfactory for home service.”