| The First Step to Finding Your Dream Job
We know it's possible, even if we haven't read The Four-Hour Work Week yet. We know people in our neighborhoods or we've seen people on TV who have dream jobs, so we know they exist. It's the post-millennium workplace fantasy: To do work we love and are passionate about, be paid well for doing it, and to work among smart and supportive team members under the leadership of a wise and ethical chief executive officer. Sounds reasonable on paper. Why is it so hard, in real life, to get all the dream job ducks to line up in a row? For starters, it's helpful to remember that our dream-job requirements often change over time. One job I held in my youth was a dream job at the time but would be impossible for me now because of the working hours. When I was twenty-something and single, I was perfectly happy to sit in a conference room with my workmates, eating pizza and talking shop at 11 p.m.
'Golden Compass' briefly loses its way
(B) The familiar fantasy character of the feisty tomboy heroine gets an upgrade in The Golden Compass. This smart, streamlined adaptation of the first novel in Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy unfolds in a world similar to but vastly different from our own in a time that's like a blend of our 19th and 20th centuries. The movie goes by quickly -- maybe too quickly.
You want the film to slow down so you can savor the alternate-universe England that writer-director Chris Weitz and production designer Dennis Gassner conjure from a millennium's worth of public monuments, as well as a mix-and-match of Victorian and Edwardian architecture and industry. We move from the brushed stones of Oxford to an art deco London without losing our bearings, so cunningly have the filmmakers filled out their vision with burnished wood and coruscating metal and glass.
Barkin finds her Clooney closeup 'Ocean's' of fun
"What the hell is Paris Hilton doing here?" was a familiar refrain this weekend at Art Basel Miami Beach, a gathering of the top players in the global art market. Another unlikely attendee: Lucy Liu. Can't do Jack 'bout being a dog Call 'em Jack's rules: Men are dogs and always make sure you look good in shades. Jack Nicholson also gives an unsurprising thumbs-down to marriage in a frank account of life as Hollywood's most revered rake. Lighter-fingered Brit seen in video shoplift A gang of celebrity photographers caught pop brat Britney Spears apparently stealing a lighter from a gas station convenience store, the Web site TMZ.com reported. Bouncing Britney from the club Last week, the naughty train stopped for Britney Spears, at least at West Hollywood hot spot Winston's.
Green Christmas: Rock Center Tree Lighting Gets Eco-Friendly
A group of friends visiting the city from Caorle, Italy, near Venice, began waiting about 4:30 p.m., securing a position against police barricades. "In Italy each year they show it to us on TV,'' Maria Teresa Marchesano said in Italian of the lighting. Her friend Aurelio Bellini added: "But living this moment live is magic.'' This year's 60-year-old spruce comes from the Shelton, Conn., backyard of Joseph and Judy Rivnyak. It has been covered with 5 miles of wire and 30,000 multicolored bulbs known as light emitting diodes, or LEDs. Using the new lights is expected to reduce the energy consumption of the holiday display from 3,510 to 1,297 kilowatt hours per day. That daily savings would be equal to the amount of energy used to power a 2,000-square-foot home for a month.
'The Golden Compass'
She loses her best friend Roger to kidnappers known as Gobblers. She acquires a magical symbol-reader, the titular "golden compass," which can reveal unknown truths. And the intensely glamorous Mrs. Coulter (Nicole Kidman) brings Lyra into her household but quickly reveals that she's more evil stepmother than fairy queen.
These events push Lyra into a series of cross-country escapades, leading toward the frozen north, where she befriends a gruff, noble polar bear voiced by Ian McKellen. Meanwhile, a set of mustache-twirling villains called the Magisterium is out to maintain moral control of her society "for its own good," largely by performing hideous experiments on children.
The biggest problem with "The Golden Compass" is that it doesn't stake out enough of a unique identity; its visuals, pacing and tone all feel exactly like the fantasy segments of "Bridge To Terabithia," which felt exactly like Walden Media's 2005 adaptation "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," which felt exactly like a child-friendly version of Peter Jackson's "Lord Of The Rings" trilogy.
As Holiday Windows Have Vanished, A Bit of Winter Enchantment Has, Too
Once, we made special trips downtown this time of year, lining up to gape at mechanical bears eating porridge, Victorian cats celebrating in the snow and toy soldiers guarding over our happy holidays. Now, those same jumbo-size windows in re-purposed downtown department store buildings offer views of advertising signs, old photos and waiters grinding $12 guacamole. .
Freeze forecast puts icing on weekend
The cold spell comes not a moment too soon as the 7-Up Christmas on Ice rinks open today at the RDS and Liffey Valley. The rinks will be open until January 13th 2008. AA Roadwatch has warned drivers to expect delays in Ballsbridge and the surrounding area. There will be also congestion around the Lucan exit of the M50, on the N4, on the Fonthill Road and in the area surrounding the Liffey Valley rink. To mark the one-month countdown to Christmas, the lights on O'Connell Street will be officially switched on this Sunday. O'Connell Street will be closed southbound from 3pm and 7pm, between O'Connell Bridge and Cathal Brugha Street, but diversions will be in place. On the sporting front, Connacht will play Ulster tonight in the Magners League at the Galway Sports Ground.
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