Posted: 28 Dec 2009 08:11 PM PST

IRVING – This is no cosmic coincidence. Philadelphia doesn't just happen to face the Cowboys in Week 17 for the second consecutive season.

This is the work of a schedule maker who appreciates the rivalry and the drama it stirs. That, or a person with a perverse sense of humor.

On the final day of the regular season, the Cowboys are given the opportunity to atone for their transgression to end last season. One year after 44-6 stripped the Cowboys of their dignity and a chance to make the playoffs, here the two teams are again with the NFC East title on the line. The symmetry is delicious.

Who writes this stuff?

"This is a perfect picture right now," cornerback Mike Jenkins said. "It was set up real good.

"We're in a good situation to show everybody what we're made of."

The disappointment of 44-6 still echoes through the halls of the team's Valley Ranch complex. This was the loss that changed a culture, the defeat that stripped away pretense and forced the Cowboys to take a long, hard look at what they had become.

Jerry Jones calls it one of the toughest losses he's had to endure as owner of the Cowboys. His hope is that the players have the emotions of that day burned into their minds as they prepare for Sunday's game.

Linebacker DeMarcus Ware was asked how long it took him to get over the loss to Philadelphia to end last season. February? March?

"Never," he said. "It was a beating when we went up there last year. You usually don't get used to a beating.

"You don't forget about those games. You've got to let them motivate you and keep moving on."

Ware said the Eagles humbled the Cowboys that day. Cornerback Orlando Scandrick and others use the word embarrassment.

"For me it is," Jenkins said. "It's probably a little more personal than any other game, knowing how we got embarrassed last year.

"We've got a lot at stake right now."

The loss made the players more receptive to change implemented by the coaching staff. Accountability replaced what had been an air of entitlement. The departures of Terrell Owens, Adam Jones, Tank Johnson, Greg Ellis and others got the attention of everyone in the locker room.

"We had big personnel changes," coach Wade Phillips said. "Once we did that, they listened more, I think.

"That's part of it. That's part of the change. We had a lot of rookies coming in, we added some new players, and I think there were positive influences among the new players."

This is a different team with a different feel than the one that imploded in Philadelphia last season.

"I know on defense, we're much more united," Scandrick said. "We've got everybody buying in. We've got everyone playing at a high level, flying around, not being afraid to make mistakes."

Think back to this time last season. The Cowboys entered the Philadelphia game after allowing 265 yards rushing in a 33-24 loss to Baltimore. Quarterback Tony Romo and running back Marion Barber weren't completely healthy. Running back Felix Jones was on injured reserve. There were allegations of private meetings between Romo and tight end Jason Witten and receivers being excluded.

This team is coming off road wins over New Orleans and Washington. It has beaten the Eagles in Philadelphia and avoided the dysfunction that dragged down the club last season.

"I feel like we're more of a team this year," Jenkins said. "Last year we had an incident where the team fell apart a little bit.

"You can tell right now all of us are together and we're playing as a team."

Or, as defensive end Marcus Spears said, "It's a positive vibe going on."

It will take more than a positive vibe to beat the Eagles. But after the way last season ended, the Cowboys are thankful to be in this position.

"I think right now we're peaking, and that's a good thing," Ware said. "You want to peak at the end of the season. We've been playing really good ball.

"Everything is going good for us."

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Pa. arts grants benefit area - Cumberland Times-News

Posted: 28 Dec 2009 07:57 PM PST

Published: December 28, 2009 10:52 pm

Pa. arts grants benefit area

Events planned at Windsor Hall, Garrett lakes festival

From Staff Reports
Cumberland Times-News

CUMBERLAND — A Chinese dance group, two bands and a singer/songwriter will be coming to Western Maryland with the support of Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour grants through the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation.

Queen City Performing Arts Development will receive $903 to present a performance by the Pittsburgh cello band Cellofourte and $447 to bring singer/songwriter Jeffrey Gaines to Windsor Hall.

Grants to the Garrett Lakes Arts Festival in Swanton include $2,702 for the acoustic group Time for Three and $1,419 for the Yu Wei Chinese Dance Collection.

The total grant allowance equals $146,370 for 46 engagements with 30 different PennPAT roster artists. Applications were submitted in October and reviewed by a panel of peers from across the mid-Atlantic region who considered the quality of the engagement and the presenting skills of the applicant organizations.

Awards ranged from $447 to $12,940. Other Maryland recipients include the Baltimore Theatre Project and Shriver Hall Concert Series.

PennPAT is funded by The Heinz Endowments, William Penn Foundation, Pennsylvania Council on the Arts and The Pew Charitable Trusts.

It was developed to increase opportunities for professional Pennsylvania performing artists to obtain successful touring engagements.

The Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation promotes the wealth and diversity of the region's arts resources and works to increase access to the arts and culture of the region and the world.

Architectural trends of the decade - San Francisco Chronicle

Posted: 28 Dec 2009 08:32 PM PST

Taking stock at the end of a decade can be arbitrary, but for architecture it has never been more apt.

Construction has slowed to a trickle, design firms are laying off employees and the Big Plans of a few years back - iconic museums! stratospheric towers! - are gathering the digital equivalent of dust on the shelf.

Instead of gravity-defying drama, think empty lots.

It was an era when architecture became hotter and hipper than ever, yet too often was treated as a three-dimensional marketing tool. In fact, it's the art form that shapes the world in which we live, with long-term implications for the environment and our civic culture.

Ten trends capture this tension. I'll start with the one that matters the most.

1. Sustainability

Once a fringe movement, the quest to be environmentally friendly has been embraced by the design profession. And with each high-profile move - such as the California Academy of Sciences' living roof - rival architects are pushed to follow suit. There's hype in this, to be sure. But it's the wave of the future, and it comes not a moment too soon.

2. Tall-tall towers

After the horrific destruction of the World Trade Center, architectural pundits proclaimed the end of the skyscraper era - whereupon the high-rise craze kicked into truly high gear. The most excessive example is the 2,683-foot Burj Dubai, which opens next month; whether or not San Francisco gets its 1,000-foot obelisk at the Transbay Terminal will be decided by the economy.

3. "Icon"

Speaking of our iffy-obelisk, during the 2007 competition for development rights to build the tower, the call went out for "an iconic presence that will redefine the City's skyline." This was right in line with a decade where every structure snazzier than a Kohl's laid claim to icon status. Let's hope that when architectural ambitions come back, the I-word doesn't.

4. Glass

In the latest crop of towers, granite was passe - glass was the fashion statement for architects and developers wanting to be au courant. It's a trend that already looks dated, even with technology that allows more variations than ever, from ultra-clear to lurid blue, both of which can be seen on our very own skyline.

5. Starchitecture

The trend entered mainstream culture after Daniel Libeskind became a celebrity by winning the competition to design the World Trade Center's replacement. It peaked with Frank Gehry's 2005 appearance on "The Simpsons." By the end of the decade, every big city had its own hyped building by a star architect - often with results that weren't "iconic," just odd.

6. Libraries

Whatever the reason - obsolete older facilities, civic pride or both - new libraries continue to rise in cities large and small, often with community space attached. The Bay Area's crop includes a snug delight in Belmont, a user-friendly centerpiece to downtown San Jose, an expanded landmark in Berkeley and a new one in Lafayette, with more on the way.

7. Artificial urbanism

What does a city do if it lacks a downtown? Simple: build a fake one with housing or offices atop storefronts and a multiplex at one end. Anyone who's gaped at downtown Windsor or San Jose's Santana Row knows what I mean; an even more surreal example is the Town Center in El Dorado Hills, off Highway 50 east of Folsom.

8. Nostalgia for modern architecture

Historic preservation became a force in America in the 1960s because people were horrified at the destruction of cherished older buildings for proudly "modern" replacements. Now, fans of modernism use preservation laws to ward off attacks on the very buildings erected without regard for history. It's a strange world indeed.

9. Smart growth

As opposed to ... and now you know why the term gained favor as a rallying cry for anyone in favor of something besides auto-dependent suburban sprawl. All sides agree it includes dense development near mass transit, and regional planning that protects valued farmlands and open space. Beyond that, one advocate's "smart" is an opponent's "not in my backyard."

10. Affordable housing as high design

Again and again, the sharpest new buildings in San Francisco are ones built for low-income residents. The reason: The city is blessed with architects and nonprofit developers who not only want to do the right thing, but do it with style and with an eye to strengthening the larger urban fabric. This is one trend with no downside at all.

Culture of the decade

The Chronicle looks back on the decade that was:

Monday:

Theater,

classical music

Today:

Urban design,

video games

Wednesday:

Home and

garden, dance

Thursday:

Food and

restaurants

Friday:

Television, Leah Garchik, movies

Saturday:

Pop music, visual arts

E-mail John King at jking@sfchronicle.com.

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India's transsexuals try Internet dating - YAHOO!

Posted: 28 Dec 2009 08:40 PM PST

NEW DELHI (AFP) – It's worked for thousands of singletons the world over and now India's transsexuals are hoping Internet dating can help their marginalised community find love.

A new site offers to help people born as men but living as women find husbands in a country where marriage remains the bedrock of society and gender and sexuality are still conservatively defined.

"Many men are attracted to transgender women, but when it comes to commitment they don't want to do it," the founder of the website, Kalki, who uses one name, explained to AFP.

"The types of grooms that our girls are looking for are men who would respect them as an equal human being, who would treat them with dignity and would introduce them to friends and family as a girlfriend or wife."

Transgenders and eunuchs -- men who have been castrated -- live on the extreme fringes of Indian society, often resorting to prostitution, begging or menial jobs that leave them mired in poverty.

Their numbers are difficult to estimate. Kalki says there are about 20,000 in her adopted state of Tamil Nadu, the most socially progressive area in the country with a total population of about 60 million.

"Because of the discrimination in India, 95 percent of transgenders live below the poverty line," says Kalki, who decided to start www.thirunangai.net after two of her transssexual friends were rejected by regular dating sites.

Poorly educated, often abused and tarred by the social stigma of their blurred gender, it is unsurprising that many in the community struggle to find the love and steady relationship they crave.

"We feel love and passion like anyone else and we want to have a family and a husband, even though we can't bear children. We'd like to adopt children," says Kalki.

The site, available in English and Tamil, features six women, most of whom have had full sex change operations and are looking for "ordinary" men for a long-term relationship and even marriage.

One of them is Sowmiya, a 23-year-old former sex worker who ran away from home aged 15 and is now a campaigner at Kalki's Sahodari Foundation, a non-government organisation that fights for the rights of transgenders.

"I put my profile on the site because I want to get married to a nice man and I want a baby," she told AFP from her home in Chennai. "I don't mind if he is not too educated, but he must be faithful to me and have a kind character."

She said she had received responses already "but I haven't accepted as the respondents were older, far older, than what I am looking for."

Another lonely heart, Deepika, writes on her profile that she is looking for a man with a decent job, a modern outlook and a good dress sense.

"Preferred age group 25-30, with a moustache," says the profile.

Kalki says she had about 200 responses from men in India, Europe, the United States and Middle East, including doctors, engineers, journalists, scientists, teachers and businessmen.

She has high hopes of selecting someone suitable for the women after a "very serious" screening process.

"Out of the six girls, if one person gets married I'll be totally happy," she adds. "The first wedding may be on Valentines Day or on Women's Day on March 8 next year."

The role of transsexuals and eunuchs, like many things in India, can appear contradictory to the outsider, as they are at once spurned and discriminated against, yet in some ways accepted as part of life.

They are common in Bollywood films where they frequently play comic roles and they often appear at weddings or at the homes of newly-born children where they are paid as a defence against bad luck.

Often they extract money at such occasions by threatening to strip or resort to violence unless they are given a financial inducement to leave.

The idea of transsexuals or "otherness" has a long history in India and eunuchs are mentioned in the earliest Hindu texts, the Vedas, believed to have been written in the second millennium BC.

Being a transsexual or castrated is seen as curse in traditional Hindu culture, but the idea has historically been more widely tolerated and even venerated in India's minority Muslim population.

Many eunuchs rose to powerful positions in the Islamic Mughal regime that ruled the subcontinent for hundreds of years after an invasion in 1526.

Kalki says the outlook is changing for them in contemporary India.

"Slowly we are getting recognised and feel good. We are beginning to feel we are part of society," she said.

In November, the community claimed victory in a long-standing campaign to be listed as "others," distinct from males and females, on electoral rolls and voter identity cards.

In the past, many eunuchs and transsexuals had abstained in elections because they were unwilling to identify their gender on voter forms.

They could write "E" for eunuch on passports and on certain government forms, but had failed in their campaign for acceptance at the ballot box.

Earlier in December, a eunuch called Kamla Jaan was elected mayor in a district in the central state of Madya Pradesh, where another eunuch has electoral success in 2000.

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Radio personality Joe Castelli dies - Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

Posted: 28 Dec 2009 07:14 PM PST

HOLLYWOOD - That's amore-–22 years talking pasta, politics and paesanos.

Once a local radio personality with an Italian-oriented show called Radio Ciao, Joseph "Joe" Castelli died on Saturday after an extended illness. He was 82.

Mr. Castelli loved all things Italian and, after emigrating from his native Sicily, embraced all things American.

With his distinctive voice, Mr. Castelli conveyed both warmth and authority while offering a bridge between cultures, said his son-in-law Frank D'Aquino, of Hollywood.

"I believe it came from the passion for what he was doing," D'Aquino said. "He was so proud to be an American. And his radio program was his way of unifying people. That show was like listening to a family. People of all different backgrounds would call in. His listeners became his friends."

Born in Palermo, Sicily, Mr. Castelli moved to New York in 1956, settling in the Bronx and marrying the love of his life, the late Gianna Maria Nigro.

The couple moved to Hollywood in 1969. A year later, their daughter Rosaria was born.

For 22 years, Mr. Castelli and his wife co-hosted Radio Ciao, broadcasting news, talk, music, recipes and soccer matches from Italy. The show, first broadcast on WAVES AM and later on WSRF (1580 AM), ended when the couple retired in 1998.

Early in his career, Mr. Castelli served as the cultural attaché for the Italian Embassy in New York, his daughter said. Later, in the mid-1960s, he produced and hosted a radio show in New York.

While still a teen, Mr. Castelli served alongside British forces in Italy during World War II. After the war, he remained in Italy to earn a degree in engineering.

Mr. Castelli's 45-year marriage ended when his wife died in 2004.

In addition to his daughter and son-in-law, survivors include his 6-year-old grandson and his sister, Catherine Castelli, of Riverdale, N.Y.

A viewing will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at Landmark Funeral Home, 4200 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. Funeral services begin at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Little Flower Catholic Church, 1805 Pierce Street, Hollywood.

The family requests donations to the American Heart Association or the American Diabetes Association.

Susannah Bryan can be reached at sebryan@SunSentinel.com or 954-572-2077.

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Cultural

Monday, December 28, 2009

“Dallas Cowboys have chance to avenge last season's 44-6 loss - Dallas Morning News” plus 4 more

“Dallas Cowboys have chance to avenge last season's 44-6 loss - Dallas Morning News” plus 4 more

Culture of the decade

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