BONDI'S most famous white elephant has sat vacant beneath James Packer's beachside palazzo for the past six years.

Saved ... the premises at 36 Campbell Parade, Bondi.
Packer's 'white elephant' leased

Now the ground floor of Packer's former bachelor pad is to be converted into a Jurlique "wellness sanctuary".

The Campbell Parade block will house the pursuit of "beauty and connecting oneself to the earth" rather than dirty nappies.

The space had been boarded up since iconic retailer Jones The Grocer shut up shop in 2002, and was eventually placed into voluntary administration with $1 million in debts.

The site was supposed to have provided a rental income of more than $3000 a week for Packer, with the grocery shop paying $148,000 a year for panoramic views of Bondi Beach.

International coffee chain Starbucks almost took up residence in 2003 but pulled out after residents' protests - an American chain, puh-lease.

Gelateria & Pizzeria owner George Pompei was also keen but couldn't get permission for outdoor seating.

Packer settled on Jurlique, a cosmetics company in which his CPH Investment Corp paid $25 million in 2002 for a 25 per cent share.

Contractors have already begun converting the site, scheduled to open in July - and it's no dodgy kebab shop operation, either.

According to chief executive Eli Halliwell, Jurlique "is passion" and a chance to connect with the "living energy" of their skincare products.

"Beauty is sustainable connections to the earth," her website says.

style...................

A model wears a creation by designer Paul Elbers for French fashion house Louis Vuitton during its Men's Fashion Spring-Summer 2009 collection, in Paris,

Paris menswear challenges style codes
The Paris menswear collections kicked off Thursday with a focus on individual style, reflecting a downturn in the global economy which has taken the shine off status dressing.

The new mood sweeping men's fashion this season has produced some unlikely style icons.

Megabrand Louis Vuitton drew inspiration from the little tramp himself, Charlie Chaplin, for a spring-summer collection of cropped linen jackets and extrafine collarless shirts in sober shades of white, gray and black.

Fans of the sophisticated French label can rest easy though. The Chaplin influences were subtle, translating into high buttons on jackets that peeled away to reveal the waistband and a slightly curved leg on narrow pants.

Hip hop star Pharrell Williams is down with the new sobriety, having ditched his gold and diamond chains for a simple T-shirt and jeans.

"I think the clothes have to describe who you are," he told The Associated Press.

"I like to be comfortable. It's hot though, isn't it?" he added, peeling off his cardigan as temperatures soared in the glass-roofed mezzanine of the Musee de Tokyo where the show was held.

Japanese designer Yohji Yamamoto celebrated offbeat beauty with models that included a group of gray-haired seniors, lending a dignified elegance to crumpled linen suits embellished with panels of see-through black lace or oversized applique scissors and hands.

British artist and director Steve McQueen, who recently won the Golden Camera award at the Cannes Film Festival, also made his catwalk debut at the show.

"The situation is, I'm not a skinny white boy, I'm the complete opposite," McQueen, who is portly and black, told The AP. "I heard the audience gasp a bit when I came in."

Jean Paul Gaultier has made a habit of using unconventional models, but this season he chose chisel-jawed Adonises for his cowboy-themed display.

Sporting extensions of long hair under straw hats, they paraded in outfits that clashed the French designer's trademark sailor stripes with lumberjack plaids. Trousers in dusty rodeo shades of sand and brick featured full-length front zips inspired by chaps.

Meanwhile, Italian designer Stefano Pilati gave free rein to his flamboyant streak for Yves Saint Laurent, showing glittering evening jackets encrusted with silver sequins in a presentation late Wednesday.

Outfits on show at the museum-like display included crinkled washed silk blazers worn over gauzy layers of fine knits, some featuring moth-holes patched with gold mesh.

The collection was dedicated to the memory of Saint Laurent, who died this month at the age of 71 after revolutionizing 20th century fashion by putting women in pants.

Pilati said men, likewise, could afford to loosen up a little without losing face.

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Danica defends style some view as aggressive
Danica Patrick is the best known driver in the IndyCar Series, and she erased any doubt that she belongs in April when she became the first woman in history to win a major open-wheel race.
Her popularity with the fans, however, hasn't been shared by her fellow drivers of late. After last week's race in Iowa, Scott Dixon called her "a menace," and Ed Carpenter referred to her "normal supreme block job" in suggesting that Patrick's blocking style hampered his finish.

"I don't really know where those comments came from," Patrick said during a meeting with reporters Thursday at Richmond International Raceway, the site of Saturday night's SunTrust 300 IndyCar race.

Patrick's style was further brought under scrutiny Wednesday when Brian Barnhart, the IndyCar Series' president of competition and operations, said she needs to continue treating her fellow competitors with respect or risk losing their respect because of her driving style.

Asked to respond to competitors' objections to her aggressive style and unwillingness to give up track position, she said she's doing her job.

"All I can say is with the words you used — aggressive and giving up spots — those are things that drivers never do," she said.

"You should never give up spots and you ideally don't want to be someone that's just passive out there. As a driver, I'm always trying to be aggressive and I think, if anything, last weekend I maybe wasn't aggressive enough on the restarts. That's where I lost my spots."

Respect, she added, is something she's worked hard to earn.

"One thing I've worked really hard on ever since I entered the series was earning that respect, and walking that fine line between being too passive and getting pushed around and being too aggressive," she said.

Owners Don and Jin Sook Chang know what sells quickly, and they want to sell it to the world.

Don Chang's Forever 21 apparel stores found a niche appealing to trend-hungry, cost-conscious young women then blew it out. The Los Angeles company has sales of more than $1 billion a year.

Fast-fashion fuels Forever 21's expansion
Most retailers are tapping the brakes as they navigate a rocky economy. Forever 21 Inc. has its pedal to the metal.

The fast-fashion retailer is expanding around the globe, increasing product lines and opening showy new stores. The largest yet, which at 90,000 square feet on three levels will be bigger than the size of the Rose Bowl playing field, is scheduled to open in Times Square next year. In South Korea, the birthplace of owners Don and Jin Sook Chang, Forever 21 is preparing to develop a mall adjacent to Inchon International Airport.

The Changs' recipe: Create a niche, and then blow it out.

Having built a $1.8-billion business by focusing on trend-hungry, cost-conscious young women, privately held Forever 21 envisions its future as a comprehensive fashion department store chain, selling clothes and accessories for teens, women, men and children. The Los Angeles-based company has spent $47 million buying competitors -- Rampage and Gadzooks -- and has doubled its square footage over the last 2 1/2 years. The goal is to become a "global retail conglomerate," said Christopher Lee, Forever 21's senior vice president. "Where there's a flash of opportunity, we're stepping in."

Don Chang, who pumped gas, washed dishes and cleaned offices after he and his wife arrived in the U.S. a quarter-century ago, has another way of putting it. "We are," he said, the "American dream."

Forever 21 is known in the industry for its knack for spotting what sells -- or what will sell -- getting it into stores quickly and replenishing merchandise to keep up with what's hot. "Literally, you'll see something on a runway, and they get it into the stores in the next month," said Christine Chen, an analyst at Needham & Co. in San Francisco. "It's really unbelievable."

Critics have claimed it's something else. Forever 21 said it was working to settle what's left of a couple dozen copyright- and trademark-infringement lawsuits, and the company was embroiled earlier in the decade in a legal battle with employees of Forever 21 subcontractors who claimed they worked six days a week, sometimes 12 hours a day, for far less than the minimum wage. The matter was settled out of court and the company, which admitted no wrongdoing, agreed to take steps to ensure that its garments were not made in sweatshops.

Sales, meanwhile, continued to climb. The company has forecasted revenue of $1.8 billion this year, up from $1.3 billion in 2007. And for 2009? The projection is $2.5 billion.

Along with European competitors H&M and Zara, Forever 21 created the inexpensive fast-fashion concept, spurring other apparel sellers to pick up the pace.

"They run lean and mean," said Debra Stevenson, president of Skyline Studios, a consulting firm in Los Angeles. "They have a lot of young people working for them, and they do understand their culture."

Chief Executive Don Chang has been working to understand shoppers since 1984, when he opened the first store in Highland Park. Business was slow, which helped him shape a strategy.

"The customer's always looking for the price," he said. If a purse didn't open, Chang asked questions. What's wrong? The fit? The fabric? "What kind of clothes do you want? I'll bring it for you."

Ilse Metchek, executive director of the California Fashion Assn., remembers her first visit to one of the early stores, a "hole in the wall" jammed with merchandise. "They had no talent for display, none," said Metchek, who called a couple of manufacturers and suggested they come have a look. "They said, 'My God, he's selling at retail for less than we could have made it at wholesale.' "

And Forever 21's styles were "right on," Metchek said. Jin Chang, a former hairdresser who is now chief merchandise officer, had an eye for fashion that the company was willing to bet on.

While their business was growing, the Changs, who are in their 50s, were making a mark in other ways. With a partner, they built the four-story Oxford Palace Hotel in Los Angeles' Koreatown and co-developed the San Pedro Wholesale Mart in downtown's Fashion District. It was the city's first commercial condominium project and built when most people "didn't believe in downtown," said Kent Smith, executive director of the L.A. Fashion District Business Improvement District.

Anyone who has looked at the bottom of a Forever 21 shopping bag has a hint about another important aspect of the Changs' life. Each bag is inscribed with "John 3:16" -- the New Testament passage that says, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

The inscription is "evidence of their faith and their commitment to God," Senior Vice President Larry Myer said.

The Changs have given millions of dollars to the Ttokamsa Mission Church in Los Angeles, where they attend the 5:30 a.m. prayer meetings Monday through Saturday when they're in town, Pastor Ken Choe said. "They are prayer warriors."

The church is part of the Christian Reformed Church of North America and directs more than 70% of its budget for overseas missions. Jin Chang has visited China, the Ukraine and the Philippines to serve meals to missionaries and local pastors, Choe said.

Don Chang teaches at the church and, Choe said, has a "zeal for the Lord" that the preacher sometimes envies. "It's very rare," Choe said. "That's why I believe God has poured his blessing on him."

The church has helped build schools in China, Afghanistan, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines, and Chang gave $3.4 million to build an auditorium at Faith Academy in Manila, a school for children of missionaries.

The Changs' business is looking toward Asia as well. Forever 21 plans to open its first store in Seoul this year and hopes to develop more than five malls in South Korea and elsewhere in Asia. The first store in China opened this month near Shanghai and more are expected in that country over the next year. Forever 21 will debut in Thailand this year and open in Japan over the next two years.

Once the company has its "global infrastructure" in place, Senior Vice President Lee said, it may go public. But not now, Chang said. "If a company wants to grow, I think private is much better," he said.

If the retailer files an initial public stock offering, there should be no shortage of interest, said Frederick Schmitt, a principal at Sage Group investment bank in Los Angeles. Financial institutions and private equity firms have hovered in recent years, "waiting for them to go public, or trying to buy them," he said.

"It's sizable, it's growing, it's seen as a good operator and they're understood to be very profitable, so that makes it an attractive acquisition target," Schmitt said. Shoppers, and investors, are fickle, of course, and trends constantly change. But although "everybody's saying the economy's bad," Chang said, "we're doing better. We are strong."

United Will Lay Off 950 Pilots

Skyrocketing Fuel Costs Have Led the Airline to Cut Back on Flights and Pilots
United Airlines says it will eliminate about 950 pilot jobs beginning this summer as part of a plan to cut 1,600 salaried positions and reduce its fleet.

In this file photo, a United Airlines plane leaves San Francisco International Airport. United has announced that it is requiring minimum stays on nearly all domestic flights in an effort to combat rising fuel prices.

United told its pilots union about the cuts Monday. The Chicago-based carrier says it's still working with the unions on the reductions.

Flames shot out from a wheel in the landing gear of a Southwest Airlines jet as it landed Monday at Sky Harbor International Airport, forcing the runway to be shut down for more than two hours.

Firefighters put out the blaze within seconds, Phoenix fire Capt. Victor Rangel said. No one was hurt.

Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said overheated brakes caused the blowout in the plane's right rear landing gear. Mechanics inspected the aircraft at a nearby Southwest maintenance facility Monday.


Airport spokeswoman Julie Rodriguez said the aircraft remained on the airport's north runway while the 127 passengers were taken to a terminal.

Other flights used the airport's two south runways for the 2 1/2 hours the north runway was shut down. No flight delays were reported.

Flight 2511 originated in Austin, Texas.

Would you believe . . . $39.2 million?

'Get Smart' 86s box-office rivals
The old espionage spoof trick worked to push Steve Carell's "Get Smart," the big screen update of the 1960s spy sitcom, to the top of the box office over the weekend.

Although reviews were mixed, the Warner Bros. movie surpassed high expectations, according to studio estimates Sunday.

Audiences were less taken with "The Love Guru," the first live-action movie starring Mike Myers in four years. The Paramount Pictures film, with Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake and Ben Kingsley, opened in a disappointing fourth place with $14 million.

Overall, Hollywood's summer of content continued, with total revenue climbing for the fourth straight weekend compared with last year. The industry is on track to beat its revenue record set last summer, when sales topped $4 billion for the first time.

"People are finding solace from the economy, gas prices and the summer heat at the movies," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Media by Numbers. " 'Get Smart' did better than a lot of people expected."

"Kung Fu Panda," the animated comedy featuring the voice of Jack Black, remained in second place with sales of $21.7 million. The film was produced by DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. and distributed by Paramount.

In "Panda," Black's character is a chubby, bungling panda who aspires to be a kung fu warrior. The film also stars the voices of Dustin Hoffman and Angelina Jolie.

Marvel Entertainment Inc.'s "The Incredible Hulk" fell to third place from first with sales of $21.6 million for General Electric Co.'s Universal Pictures.

"Iron Man" cruised past the $300-million mark in the U.S. after nearly two months in release, becoming the first film this year to hit that mark. The Paramount hit's domestic box- office total after this weekend is an estimated $305 million.

In "Get Smart," Carell re-creates the blundering Maxwell Smart character created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry. The show starred Don Adams as Agent 86 of a secret U.S. government spy agency under the guise of a greeting card salesman. Anne Hathaway plays Agent 99, Smart's capable partner.

In the film, the duo try to thwart a plot to arm unstable governments with nuclear bombs. Dwayne Johnson co-stars as a spy colleague and Alan Arkin as the spy agency's chief.

Some critics derided the movie for forgoing the verbal comedy of the TV show in place of uninspired action but new and old fans of the franchise appeared undeterred. Nearly 60% of the audience was 25 or older, leaving a larger than expected younger audience.

The film marks the highest weekend opening for Hathaway. Her previous top weekend opener was 2006's "The Devil Wears Prada."

In limited release, "Kit Kittredge: An American Girl" opened strongly with $222,697 in five theaters, averaging $44,539 a cinema, compared with $10,012 in 3,911 theaters for "Get Smart."

Released by Picturehouse, "Kit Kittredge" is based on the popular line of American Girl dolls and stars Abigail Breslin as a 9-year-old aspiring newspaper reporter during the Depression.
more....
Plot: Maxwell Smart, a.k.a Agent 86 (Steve Carell) of CONTROL battles the ruthless forces of KAOS alongside the beautiful agent 99 (Anne Hathaway).
Review: Let's get one thing out of the way- there is only one agent 86- and that man is not Steve Carell. I love Carell as much as anyone - THE OFFICE is terrific (and just as good as it's British counterpart), and THE 40 YEAR OLD VIRGIN is one of the funniest films of the last decade. While I hated EVAN ALMIGHTY I think Carell is a comedic genius, and he's got a long, successful career ahead of him- but he's no Don Adams.




Truth be told I've never thought a GET SMART reboot was a good idea, as Adams is simply too well identified with the character. His brand of humor is just too damn hard to imitate. Carell tries his best- but whenever he delivers one of Adams' classic lines (like "missed it by THAT much", or "would you believe...") it sounds strange.
While I think ultimately this film is unnecessary, it's still fairly entertaining and it's certainly better than the recent PINK PANTHER reboot with Steve Martin. A lot of the credit has to go to Carell. While I didn't quite buy him as 86- he remains as likable as ever. Whenever he tries to imitate Adams he falls flat- but thankfully, that's only a small part of the film. Most of the time he delivers his own take on the character, and in that regard he's successful although it makes you wonder why they didn't go the MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE route and make the film more of a sequel to the original show,. They could have easily had Carell play a new agent who inherits Smart's old position as Agent 86. Anne Hathaway also does a really good job as AGENT 99. She's absolutely stunning to look at, and she surprisingly has pretty good chemistry with Carell, despite their considerable age difference (which is cleverly alluded to in the film- explaining that 99 had her faced changed and appears younger than she actually is). I also really liked Alan Arkin as the Chief- although it would have been nice if his role was a bit bigger. Dwayne "THE ROCK" Johnson is fine as Agent 23, although he really takes a backseat to Carell & Hathaway until the last act of the film. James Caan also pops up as the U.S president, and does a fairly amusing Bush impression.

Suspect tomatoes traced to Florida or Mexico

Farmer Robert Dodd shows off his crop in Hanover County, Va. The FDA says Virginia tomatoes are safe.

Tomato Investigation Focuses on Florida and Mexico

U.S. regulators believe that tomatoes grown in Mexico or Florida are the source of a salmonella outbreak associated with 552 illnesses.
Investigators will check farms and other points along the distribution chains leading from Mexico and Florida to identify more precisely where the contamination occurred, said David Acheson, the Food and Drug Administration's associate commissioner for foods, on a conference call with reporters.
The FDA continues to warn consumers not to eat certain tomatoes grown in particular locations, and health officials said they can't be sure whether contaminated tomatoes still are showing up on store shelves. While the FDA has identified farms where the tomatoes may have been grown, Acheson declined to name them.
``We have been able to confirm through our trace-back two different potential legs: one that takes us back to farms in Mexico, one that takes us back to farms in Florida,'' Acheson said today. ``It could be anywhere on that distribution chain where all of these tomatoes were together at one point. It could be in a packing shed, it could be in a warehouse at some point where the contamination has occurred.''
The number of illnesses increased by 169 from the 383 provided by health officials on June 18, according to data posted today on the Web site of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new cases generally are the result of improved surveillance by states, not because of new infections, said Ian Williams, of the CDC in Atlanta, during the conference call.

Probe HFederal investigators plan to descend on tomato farms, warehouses and packing sheds in Florida and Mexico today to search for the cause of a salmonella outbreak that has now sickened 552 people in 32 states and the District of Columbia.
U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials said they have figured out the route that some of the tainted tomatoes took before reaching consumers.
"Now we know the path those tomatoes have traveled, we're looking all along those pathways," said David Acheson, a top FDA food safety official.
The number of illnesses increased by 169 in two days. Officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the jump was the result of state health labs stepping up their surveillance of salmonella cases and completing lab work that linked previously collected samples to the outbreak. Texas alone confirmed 134 additional cases. Many of the new cases date back several weeks.
The outbreak is not over, CDC officials said. A person became sick as recently as June 10, after federal food safety officials had issued a nationwide alert warning consumers to avoid Roma, red plum and red round tomatoes grown outside certain regions.
Ian Williams, chief of the CDC's OutbreakNet Team, also told reporters yesterday that he is aware of more recent illnesses that may eventually be linked to the outbreak. So far, no deaths have been officially associated with the outbreak, but a man in his 60s in Texas who died from cancer was infected with the outbreak strain; the infection may have contributed to his death.

Food safety officials initially suspected Florida and Mexico as likely sources of the tainted tomatoes because they are the main suppliers of fresh tomatoes to the United States in April, when people began getting sick. Officials have been able to clear dozens of states and a handful of countries based on the timing of their tomato harvest. A complete list of safe areas is at http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/tomatoes.html.

Acheson stressed that investigators have not identified a particular farm or warehouse as a source and that the contamination could have occurred at any point between cultivation and consumption.
"That's why it's so critical to go to all points in this distribution chain and not just farms where harvesting may have stopped," he said. "We've got to continue to be aggressive on this."
A new cluster of cases in Texas might also help FDA officials narrow the list of potential sources. Clusters provide more information than isolated individual cases and allow investigators to work their way down the distribution chain more quickly and with greater confidence.
Tomatoes are especially difficult to trace, Acheson said. In this case, they did not come with the bar codes that the bags of spinach did in the E. coli outbreak two years ago that ultimately led investigators to a farm in California.
Acheson would not say specifically where the investigators were headed this weekend, nor the number of personnel assigned to the probe.
"We're just going to put the resources needed to get the job done," he said.

American Idol” tween David Archuleta signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/Jive Records

“Idol” Archuleta Signs Record Deal

American Idol” tween David Archuleta signed a record deal with 19 Recordings/Jive Records on Thursday and is expected to release an album later this year.
The 17-year-old now joins the list of singers who became famous after participating in “American Idol” such as Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson and Clay Aiken. In a statement, he expressed his enthusiasm concerning the release of his major-label debut and his admiration for the other American Idol alumni.
"Signing a record contract with 19 Recordings/ Jive Records is truly a dream come true," he said. "Being a fan of 'American Idol' since season one and admiring the alumni, I am honored and humbled to be a part of that group. I'm really excited to start working on everything."
The whole list of songs on the coming album is not yet known, but three of teen’s tracks already landed on Billboard’s Hot 100 and Hot Digital Songs single sales charts: his covers of John Lennon's "Imagine" and Elton John's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and the "Idol" finale ballad, "In This Moment." The first came in at No.36 on the Hot 100, the second at No.58, while the third one occupied the 60th position.
Archuleta’s recording contract comes two weeks after he finished second on the American Idol show, which was won by rocker David Cook.
Cook also signed a contract with 19 Recordings/RCA Records last week and announced he was working on his own debut album, which is scheduled to be released this fall. He already said that he planned to include some of his own writing on the album and make it a rock record.
The Idols tour is also approaching, starting July 1 and running through Sept. 13. It will feature this season’s top 10 finalists.

Trishelle spotting! In 'Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling' ring!

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed the cast of CMT's fall reality competition series, Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling. Is it wrong that the person I'm most excited to see is The Real World: Las Vegas' Trishelle Cannatella? Followed by Frank Stallone? Other cast members vying for the title of Celebrity All-Star Wrestling Champion include Danny Bonaduce, Dennis Rodman, Dustin Diamond, Todd Bridges, super-heavyweight boxer Butterbean, former pop star Tiffany, Erin Murphy (Tabitha Stephens on Bewitched), and Playboy playmate Nikki Ziering.

Per the trade, the various challenges wil include, "mastering complex wrestling moves, talking trash and working a live audience." Who will take the title? And who would have thought that this genre of celebreality would still be going strong six years after Fox's Celebrity Boxing?

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CMT's "Celebrity Championship Wrestling" - The horror, the horror
The afternoon anger-management group at a discount therapy clinic in the Valley?

The "Do not cash checks from..." list taped to the register at Liquor Mart on the Sunset Strip?

Your losing tickets from the office Dead Pool in 2003?

No, it's the cast of "Hulk Hogan's Celebrity Championship Wrestling," now taping in Los Angeles for a fall debut on CMT. That parade of assholes and has-beens is joined by bloated boxer ButterBean, Trishelle from "The Real World," the former Tabitha on "Bewitched" and Playmate Nikki Ziering for what promises to be one of the all-time saddest spectacles on the face of television. I'm just surprised they couldn't get Flavor Flav and Johnny Fairplay and Carrot Top .

The Measure of Success in Life

Now you can't really summarize on life, because life is no more the same then it is different for each and every one of us. I'm always taxed with thoughts on the purpose of life. Or maybe another way to look on that, is how to live a life of purpose. Look at yourself in the mirror. Look at your friends, your family, our world. What drives us? Many things do. Are they good or bad? What is our reasoning behind these things? I'll hit at one because it's always pushed to the forefront in my life. Possesions. What we have. What we consume. Is it human nature to live like this or did one day we put love and being humble aside, and decide we always had to have more than our neighbor? Do you beleive in God's creation of the earth or do you beleive in evolution? Did either of those two things create greed? Did man create greed? Was it human nature in the 'cave age' that created greed out of a need for survival? Or did we make the cave man up, and in times of need is it not true that we are better off when we stick together, with words like share and love?

What if life was looked at and defined by what we gave away. How much we gave ourselves away. I beleive that all of us at one point in our life have been caught up in the problem of chasing what we believe to be the riches of the world. Some succeed, some fail. Both lead to the same end. An end where all will be left behind; and end which bluntly tells us how foolish we were to be chasing after the wind during our days. How much you give not how much you have.

...What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which lavors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest.

...I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me

...A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for witout him, who can truly eat or find enjoyment? To the man who pleases him, God gives wisdom, knowledge and happiness, but to the sinner he gives the task of gathering and storing up wealth to hand it over to the one who pleases God.

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break in and steal; but store up for yourselves treasures in heaven where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

Jump on me for the idea if you want, but keep in mind that no where in the above does it say that it is bad, "to have"; or that God wouldn't be pleased if you have more than someone else. What I'm saying is don't measure yourself to your wealth rather to your ability to humble yourself and be thankful for what you have.

The Measure of Success in Life

1/You may have succeeded at life if...

2/ If you do something noone ever accomplished before.

3/If you give more to the human race than you take away.

4/If you are ever a world champion.

5/If you spend more time happy than sad.

6/If you practice refined taste.

7/If you spend less time thinking about other people than they spend thinking about you.

8/If you have two or more surviving children.

9/If you have sex with more people than your partners.

10/If you die with more money than your parents.

If when the time comes you don't fear death.

If someone remembers you 100 years after you're gone.

If you make a difference in just one person's life.

If you ever get someone to truly love you.

If you accomplish everything which was expected of you and more.

If you never purposefully harm anyone.

...But the truth is, there is no official score.

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Artistic Secret To Greater Success In Life

We know that visualization and prayer works - but intuitively also know that some secret key or keys are missing.

After initial success with spiritual and psychological success secrets and wisdom, including prayer and meditation, positive thinking and visualization (including the Law of Attraction), many people find that their results dwindle or remain at a certain level.

While visualization

helps manifest one's heartfelt dreams, the day to day way one sees the real world can be a huge stumbling block. Inspirational gurus insist that conscious visualization and affirmation overrides the unconscious, but we would have better proof of this through a world blessed by far more peace and abundance, considering all the conscious visualization and prayers (a form of conscious visualization and connection with the Divine) over the centuries and decades.

One answer is right in front of your nose - literally. It is how you see your world - your reality in any given moment on a day to day basis. Yes, you can "overlay" your intended and affirmed vision, but you must somewhat visually perceive reality or else you will walk into real walls, stumble risk physical injury.

For many people the world around them seems to whisper or proclaim unwanted or unrecognized "truths" about who they are, what they have and what they can do, plus what their society or world is like. After beginning the day with prayer, affirmations, meditation, etc., the sights of the day: dishes left in the sink, messy desks, ever higher prices for basic wants and needs, standards of impossibly beautiful people featured on advertising, being stuck in traffic or public transportation, seeing unhappy or angry faces wherever one goes in public, etc, can bring one down.

Yet there is a secret way to see the world that has been known and appreciated by scientists (Newton, Einstein), artists (Da Vinci, van Gogh), and spiritual leaders (most all) - the people and kind of people mentioned in The Secret, but usually also known as Judeo-Christian leaders. It is simple to understand, easy to do, but take practice. Learn to see the world in a new way: as energy.A

new Post Conceptual art theory, founded by Judy Rey Wasserman called UnGraven Image depicts the world as energy. It uses symbols

for strokes so you can see the inherent energy. Post Conceptual UnGraven Image is art at the intersection of ancient spiritual wisdom and cutting edge science. Seeing Wasserman's paintings and prints in person or online at www.ungravenimage.com will inspire the way you see the world. In a similar way, artists who are famous for their clearly visible stroke work have inspired new visions of the world, such as van Gogh, Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and the Impressionists. Next time you are at a major art museum, focus on the strokes of the great artists. Se how they become and create the image.

Greater success with prayer, affirmations, positive thinking, and The Secret, including the Law of Attraction can be yours now. Awaken a new way of how to see the world for yourself easily through art. Change how you see the world to change your life. See the physical universe as energies that may be the letters of the words of the he words of the Divine.

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10 Attitude Sins You Must Avoid To Be Successful

1. Pessimism. Your thoughts feed your actions. If you have negative thoughts it will surely slacken your actions and your motivation. Eliminate all your negative thoughts by thinking about your goals.

2. Procrastination. Delaying your scheduled tasks kills time and at the same time kills opportunities. You must always bear in mind that every second counts to be successful. You cannot return back a wasted time.

3. Laziness. Without any work or effort you will not get to success. As what the passage in Galatians (Gal 6:7) says, "...for whatever one sows, that he will also reap." You always earn what you have worked for. So, if you want something to be done, then work for it.

4. Anxiousness. Distress of mind contributes to stress that triggers sickness. Anxiety should be avoided in order to develop a positive mind and healthier body. It is always good to start your tasks without any worries.

5. Greediness. Excessive desire for something either wealth or other things tends to lose your focus and just thinking. For greediness is always the root of unexpected twist of plans that ruins your path to success. You must be just at all times in order to have a clearer mind in making decisions.

6. Ungratefulness. "No man is an island" as the famous quotation says. Accept it or not, you are not alone in making your actions possible. There might be someone, your friend, colleague, or family who supports you in all your endeavors. Without a thankful heart, you will end up nowhere. It is not only about karma but on how you return the kindness of people around you. If you return back the same act of kindness, you attract positive energy that helps you in achieving your desired goals.

7. Vices. In general, vice is always the culprit of something bad either on health or practices. Vices teach you to be unwise and dependent. By eliminating vices, you open the door to positive changes in your life.

8. Unwillingness to change. If you want or desired something, there will come a time that you may need to adapt yourself into a certain situation just to achieve what you wanted in life. It might be hard to make changes particularly if you are talking about a permanent change. Perhaps you need to change a bad habit like tardiness. You may have to exert an extra effort to overcome that and make a permanent change on your habit. Unwillingness to change also means reluctant to maturity. You must accept changes in life enable to learn from your experiences.

9. Cowardice. A person who lacks courage is not capable of moving forward. If you are afraid of taking chances and risks you are also limiting yourself in succeeding. There is no successful man in this world who didn't take the risks. Cowardice to difficulties and life's uncertainties will not get you to the ladder of success. Better be courageous and persevere.

10. Lack of self-confidence. More oftentimes than not, people who lack confidence never succeed. A person without self confidence is also the same to a car without an engine. You cannot pursue your goals if you don't trust your own actions or decisions. However, you must not be overly confident because it blocks great ideas and possibilities. Just remember, anything that is too much will not be good and healthy for you.

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