Tête-à-tête

Thought of the week:
"Don't care how you look; it's just how you feel."
-- Spice Girls

Hey, it's May already! Other than myself, your favourite teen magazine turns a year older this month. That's right, it's Taurean season this month.

I've been getting emails about the Shout Out column. Fear not, Crucified and Hitch Hiker are just on study leave, and will be back before you know it. And since this is the usual time for the column to talk about zodiac signs, I think I'll just do that for them, what say?

If you were born between April 21 and May 21, your Zodiac Sun Sign is Taurus. Taureans are patient and reliable, warmhearted and loving, persistent and determined, and placid and security loving. On the dark side, they are also jealous and possessive, resentful and inflexible, and self-indulgent and greedy.

We'll be celebrating the birthday of the Rising Stars all month this May, and you're invited to join us. This week, we have a treat for the ladies. We start off with Rashaam on cover talking about beauty and self-esteem issues. With style tips, and beauty advice in our DIY section, and reasons to stay single and just enjoy being a girl, it's all about feminine fun on page 6. Sorry boys, I guess you'll have to content yourselves with the Game and Science stuff on Centre and Sports on backpack.

Moving on, due to enormous response, we're extending the deadline for the Feat500 contest. You now get up to midnight of May 12 to send in your entries to rs.readers@gmail.com. Winners will be announced on our May 19th issue.

Well, that's all the news I have this week. See you next week with more RS birthday fun.

Send your polls, love letters, hate mails, and opinions to thegirlnextdoor1@hotmail.com, or mail me at my yahoo address at teteatete_tgnd@yahoo.com

By The Girl Next Door

Oddly Enough…

"We need to give time for some American companies to take a breath" Toyota Motor Chairman Hiroshi Okuda's reason for planning to raise the price of his cars
Japanese car makers have taken nearly one third of the US market. Last week, General Motors posted a quarterly loss of $1.1bn, and Ford's profits fell. By contrast, Nissan had record profits, and Honda's net profit rose 27%.

"We need to give time for some American companies to take a breath," said Toyota Motor chairman Hiroshi Okuda. Mr Okuda, who is chairman of the Japanese employers' group Keidanran, said he was "concerned" about the situation at General Motors, the world's biggest car maker.

"Although a trade conflict, like ones....in the past, may be avoided, there may be some impact, because the car industry is symbolic in the US economy," the Asahai Shimbun newspaper quoted him as saying. As a solution, he suggested either forming technical alliances with US firms, or raising the price of Japanese cars sold in the US. -news.bbc.co.uk

The best way to quiet a loud party is: A) Ask them to keep it down. B) Call the police. Or C) stick your .357 magnum into a random partygoer's chest
A 63-year-old man, reportedly fed up with noise from a loud party, assaulted another man with a .357-caliber handgun, police said.

Police were called to the place after a report of a loud party. While they were investigating the complaint, officers heard that the 63-year-old, had stuck the handgun to the chest of a 23-year-old man who was attending the party. He was then arrested for felonious assault and possession of a firearm while intoxicated. -mlive.com/news/

Man murders exco-worker for telling a bad joke seven years ago. Your friends and co-workers are worried.
Police made an arrest and have apparently gotten a confession for an Easter Sunday murder. It all apparently started from a 7-year-old joke. Sixty-two-year-old William Berkeyheiser was shot dead on Easter Sunday, as he answered the door at his home.

That man has apparently told authorities an incredible tale of why and how this deadly murder plot unfolded. Douglas had worked as a maintenance man at a Baptist home where Berkeyheiser had been the director of plant operations in 1998. Douglas wouldn't elaborate on the joke, but apparently held a grudge against Berkeyheiser all this time. He indicated that the reason he killed Mr. Berkeyheiser was that he claimed Mr. Berkeyheiser had told a joke which he considered to be offensive because it had some kind of racial overtones. -abclocal.go.com

Windows, now with builtin spyware
In a move that could infuriate privacy advocates, Microsoft said that it is adding the PC equivalent of a flight data recorder to the next version of Windows, in an effort to better understand and prevent computer crashes.

The tool will build on the existing error-reporting tool in Windows but will provide Microsoft with much deeper information, including what programs were running at the time of the error and even the contents of documents that were being created. Businesses will also choose whether they want their own technology managers to receive such data when an employee's machine crashes.

With businesses, however, IT managers typically set the policy. If they wanted total information, they could configure systems so that they'd know not only that a user was running Internet Explorer, for example, but also that he or she was watching a video from ESPN.com. Or, they might find out not only that a worker was running Instant Messenger but also that he or she was talking to a co-worker about getting a new job. -news.zdnet.com.

Compiled by Ahmed Ashiful Haque

Know your personality
Chapter I
Arrange the following 5 animals according to your preference:
Cow Tiger Sheep Horse Monkey
Chapter II
Write one word to describe each of the following:
Dog Cat Rat Coffee Ocean
Chapter III
Think of somebody (who also knows you) that you can relate to the following colors:
Please don't repeat your answer twice. Name only one person for each color.
Yellow Orange Red White Green
Make sure your answers are what you TRULY feel.......
Chapter I: This will define your priorities in life:
Cow means CAREER
Tiger means PRIDE
Sheep means LOVE
Horse means FAMILY
Monkey means MONEY
Chapter II
Your description of Dog implies your own personality
Your description of Cat implies your partner's personality
Your description of Rat implies your enemy's personality
Your description of Coffee is how you interpret love
Your description of Ocean implies your own life
Chapter III
Yellow - somebody who will never forget you
Orange - someone whom you can consider as your real friend
Red - someone you really love
White - your soul mate
Green - a person whom you will always remember for the rest of your life.

By Zabeen

Benefits of being single!

1. Travel to an exotic place and have an affair with a dashing gallant stranger. 2. Get that sassy haircut he would have hated; reinvent yourself. 3. Wear an extra large, extra comfortable, T-shirt and ugly boxer shorts whenever the urge overcomes you. 4. You don't have to listen to his belching and grunting. Come to think of it, no one will annoy you with 'so called' witty comments. 5. Your pets are now more meaningful. And they love you! 6. Make girls night out a rollicking adventure! And you don't have to worry about his feelings. 7. You can do whatever you want whenever you want to. See a chick flick in the middle of the day. Don't brush your hair. Jump in the car on a whim and visit a long-lost friend. In short: You have Freedom! 8. Forget about pampering your man...now you can focus on your own needs-and indulgences! (shopping spree, spa weekend, makeover, divine chocolate treats). 9. Hang out with your fun guy friends without getting the third degree from Mr. Jealous. 10. You don't have to put up with his annoying, idiotic friends. The remote control is yours! Goodbye ESPN and blood and gore action adventure flicks .

By Jennifer Ashraf

Do it yourself

Homemade Pumice Pedicure

When bored, or have time to kill, try this Pumice Pedicure at home, and emerge with brilliant nails. Check out what you need to do.
Needed:
Liquid soap/ shower gel (preferably minty)
Tub for soaking feet
Two towels
Toenail clipper
Manicure stick
Pumice stone
Sea Salt Scrub (if you can find some, it's definitely a bonus)
Nail file
Buffer
Moisturizing lotion
Nail polish.
Mix gel/soap in with a gallon of water in tub, and soak feet for 15 minutes. Clip toenails with clipper and push back cuticles with the manicure stick. Then file nails to a square shape.
While one foot soaks, rub the other with a sea salt scrub to remove excess skin, and cleanse pores. Rinse foot. Wet the pumice stone and rub on heels and balls of feet. Rinse again.
Dry and massage in moisturizing lotion, rubbing from knee to tips of feet. Pay special attention to individual toes. Wrap foot in hot towel. Repeat on other foot. Buff nails and apply polish.
Put on high-heeled strappy sandals and go party!

By Jennifer Ashraf

Fun Facts

Mosquito repellents don't repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito's sensors so they don't know you're there.
Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma.
No piece of paper can be folded in half more than 7 times.
Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or Older.
The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley's gum.
The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother's first flight.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class.
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.

By John Doe