A Letter Looking for Friendship Got a Reply After 24 Years!

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MOSCOW – Nearly a quarter-century after a German boy tossed a message in a bottle off a ship in the Baltic Sea, he's received an answer.

A 13-year-old Russian, Daniil Korotkikh, was walking with his parents on a beach when he saw something glittering lying in the sand.

"I saw that bottle and it looked interesting," Korotkikh told The Associated Press on Tuesday. "It looked like a German beer bottle with a ceramic plug, and there was a message inside."

His father, who knows schoolboy German, translated the letter, carefully wrapped in cellophane and sealed by a medical bandage.

It said: "My name is Frank, and I'm five years old. My dad and I are traveling on a ship to Denmark. If you find this letter, please write back to me, and I will write back to you."

The letter, dated 1987, included an address in the town of Coesfeld.

The boy in the letter, Frank Uesbeck, is now 29. His parents still live at the letter's address.

"At first I didn't believe it," Uesbeck told the AP about getting the response from Korotkikh. In fact, he barely remembered the trip at all; his father actually wrote the letter.

The Russian boy and the German man met each other earlier this month via an Internet video link.

Korotkikh showed Uesbeck the bottle where he found the message and the letter that he put in a frame.

The Russian boy said he does not believe that the bottle actually spent 24 years in the sea: "It would not have survived in the water all that time," he said.

He believes it had been hidden under the sand where he found it — on the Curonian Spit, a 100-kilometer (60-mile) stretch of sand in Lithuania and Russia.

In the web chat earlier this month, Uesbek gave Korotkikh his new address to write to and promised to write back when he receives his letter.

"He'll definitely get another letter from me," the 29-year-old said.

Uesbeck was especially thrilled that he was able to have a positive impact on a life of a young person far away from Germany.

"It's really a wonderful story," he said. "And who knows? Perhaps one day we will actually be able to arrange a meeting in person."

____

Eddy reported from Berlin.
By NATALIYA VASILYEVA and MELISSA EDDY
with image from AP (Associated Press)



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Controversial New Wonder Woman Costume

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When "Wonder Woman" announced that Adrianne Palicki had been cast in the title role, buzz on the superhero show quickly shot through the roof. But then fans got a look at the ill-advised costume. Outrage quickly ensued. And hell hath no fury like a comic fan outraged.

The anger stemmed from Wonder Woman's shiny, rubber-like pants and high heels. It looked like a cheap version of a "sexy" Halloween costume. Fans cried out -- this is no way for a superhero, especially one of the most beloved of all time, to dress.

Here's the first costume and the revised one(right corner)


The blogosphere immediately went into cynical overdrive. Commenters on EW's article speculated that the show would be canceled in a matter of weeks. SlashFilm wrote that the outfit did little to inspire confidence in the show's prospects.

Apparently the producers of the show were listening. Some photos of the actress on the set have surfaced, and eagle-eyed fans quickly spotted the changes to Wonder Woman's threads. The shiny pants have been replaced by a more natural-looking fabric. Her footwear has gone through a transformation as well. The bright boots, which were once blue, are now red. And, even more important, no more high heels.

But even though some of Wonder Woman's outfit has changed, much of it remains the same. The red bustier is still intact as are her trademark tiara and lasso of truth. Time will tell if these modest changes to Wonder Woman's threads have a positive effect on the show when it premieres on NBC this fall.

Here's another fan-made version of the costume. The right corner is the revision.


Ms. Palicki is probably best known her work on the acclaimed TV series "Friday Night Lights." And though she isn't well known, fans seem to be pretty supportive of her taking up the tiara. That includes Lynda Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the beloved (and campy) TV show from way back when. Carter even liked the original outfit, saying: "What's not to like! Adrianne [Palicki] looks gorgeous."

The original wonder woman costume during the 70's


Article By Mike Krumboltz, Yahoo! Buzz


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3 Filipinos Executed in China

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Vice President Jejomar Binay confirmed that the three Filipinos found guilty of drug trafficking were executed in China on Wednesday.

"I just want to inform you that our three compatriots have been executed," Binay told ABS-CBN television, citing information from the Philippine foreign affairs ministry.

In a statement, the Philippine government said that it has done everything in its power to stop the executions.

"We have been informed that Ramon Credo, Sally Ordinario-Villanueva, and Elizabeth Batain were administered lethal injections to carry out the sentence imposed by the courts of the People’s Republic of China this morning," deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said.

"Our government had taken every available opportunity to appeal to the authorities of China for clemency in their cases, to which the Chinese government responded with a postponement of the execution. In the end, however, the sentence was imposed.

"The nation sympathized with the families of the condemned, sharing their sense of looming loss. We sympathize with these families now. Their deaths are a vivid lesson in the tragic toll the drug trade takes on entire families," she added.

The government spokesperson said that government will "ensure that the chain of victimization, as pushers entrap and destroy lives in pursuit of their trade, will be broken."

"Those who traffic in illegal drugs respect no laws, no boundaries, and have no scruples about destroying lives. Our response must be relentless, with government and the citizenry working together to ensure vigilance and mutual support to prevent our countrymen from being used by drug pushers as sacrificial pawns, whether at home or abroad," the spokesperson added.

From Yahoo news Philippines, with additional reports from Agence France Presse /Latestchina.com / AFP


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An Ad Insulting 9/11 Tragedy?

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One of New York's Bravest is objecting to the use of his likeness in a poster marketing the services of a New York law firm that specializes in 9/11-related illnesses.

The ad in question features a firefighter holding a photo of the devastated World Trade Center site, accompanied by the words, "I was there. And now, Worby Groner Edelman & Napoli Bern is there for me." And therein lies the issue: the man in the ad, Robert Keiley, didn't become a firefighter until 2004.

According to the New York Post's Reuven Fenton and Jennifer Fermino, Keiley is particularly upset that the photo in the poster was manipulated from a generic promotional photo for the department--of Keiley holding his fire helmet. The law firm's ad agency, Barker/DZP, swapped a picture of the World Trade Center in place of the helmet. They then debuted the poster at a fundraiser, the World Police Fire Games Event Gala; a move Keiley thinks makes him look like a "scumbag."

"It's an insult to the Fire Department. It's an insult to all the families who lost people that day," Keiley, an ex-cop who also works part-time as a model and actor, told the Post. "It makes me look like I'm cashing in on 9/11, saying I was there even though I was never there, and that I'm sick and possibly suing, trying to get a chunk of money."

The ad sparked the ire of popular anonymous advertising blogger Copyranter, who expressed to us that the ad reinforced his long-held belief that "law firms shouldn't advertise" because it's "unethical, and they just plain don't know how."

"The 'Fake Testimonial' is a popular sleazy creative method used in advertising -- particularly by hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and in business to business ads," he wrote in an email to The Lookout. "But from what I've seen in my 20 years in this sleazy business, this takes the sleazy cake."

Sadly, this isn't Worby Groner's first brush with 9/11-related controversy. Fenton and Fermino note that the firm was blasted by a federal judge last year for trying to assess a contingency fee of one-third of whatever it wins for its 9/11 responder clientele. The judge stepped in and reduced the fees.

Kim Tracey, a spokesman for Barker/DZP, told the Post that it was fully legal to use and manipulate the image of Keiley in any way the agency and its client choose, saying that in signing the release last year, "he really signed his rights away."

But Barker/DZP did an about-face Monday afternoon, emailing The Lookout a statement offering its "sincerely apologies" for the flap and noting that it had "voluntarily withdrawn from this assignment."

"While our mistake was entirely inadvertent, we understand why the ad has caused hurt, we regret its use, and we accept responsibility," Barker/DZP president John Barker wrote. "We sincerely apologize to Firefighter Keiley, as well as the New York City Fire Department, and the brave firefighters who fearlessly served their city and gave their lives on 9/11."

(Article from Yahoo News by By Brett Michael Dykes)


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