EmmaGoodEgg

Obama On Women's Rights

Standing center stage at the Al-Azhar University in Cairo, US President Barack Obama had plenty more to say on Islam and the west but here's what he said about women's rights:

"I know there is debate about this issue. I reject the view of some in the West that a woman who chooses to cover her hair is somehow less equal, but I do believe that a woman who is denied an education is denied equality. And it is no coincidence that countries where women are well-educated are far more likely to be prosperous.

Now let me be clear: issues of women's equality are by no means simply an issue for Islam. In Turkey, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia, we have seen Muslim-majority countries elect a woman to lead. Meanwhile, the struggle for women's equality continues in many aspects of American life, and in countries around the world."

You can find the transcript of the speech here.

New Moon Trailer

Much to the anticipation of many, New Moon the second part to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight saga, is due for theatrical release on 20 November 2009. Here's the official trailer:

Let's hope New Moon the movie has more Mr-Edward-Please-Bite-Me-With-Your-Fangs-Cullen than the book did.

President Obama To Speak To The Muslim World

US President Barack Obama will travel to Egypt for a historic speech in which he will seek to strengthen US relations with the Arab world and the larger Muslim world. The speech is scheduled to take place at 1310 Cairo time on 4 June, or 6.10pm Brunei Time.
For those of you in Brunei, you can watch it live here:

· Al-Jazeera (Channel 513, Astro)
· CNN International (Channel 511, Astro)
· BBC World (Channel 512, Astro)

Why Archie Won't Marry Veronica

Hands-up anyone who has NEVER read an Archie comic book in their life. Well, at least those I know do. My father used to buy Archie comics when I was younger and well-thumbed copies of it were strewn about our home, often in the kitchen and bathrooms (it was our choice of great bathroom reads). The hero of the comic is namesake Archie Andrews, all American ginger-head high school student. He lives in a fictional town called Riverdale and goes to Riverdale High School. His best friend is Jughead, a slothful cute boy who ambles through life devouring hamburgers. His other best friend is Betty Cooper. Blond, all American sweetheart. Betty's best friend is Veronica Lodge, the spoiled dark-haired heiress who has Archie eating out of the palm of her hand. Then there are the great secondary characters of Moose and Midge, Reggie Mantle the III, Dilton Doiley, Miss Bernice Beazly, to name but a few. Their names are enough to bring a little cheer. To this day my sisters read Archie comics over Tabasco and a splash of Indo Mie.

So this is the landmark 600th issue of Archie which the folks over at comicbook.com say will set the tone for the wedding of the century. Where for years Archie has been flitting about through high school like a teenage butterfly between Betty and Veronica, finally proposes to Veronica. There's outrage in the forums on the prospect of Archie marrying Veronica and not long-suffering Betty. But let's see what you think:

poll by twiigs.com

Waxing Lyrical About A Box Of Brownies

I had my hands on a box of Sas Brownies last weekend when Bobby away on a Rinjani-Man-of-The-Mountain trip with a few good men. When I got them they were still warm fresh out from the oven (delivery time accounted for). At first glance a white box of 9x flat square brown chocolate cake, at first smell it was heavenly.

Sas Brownies are baked by none other than, Sas Monroe, blogger formerly known as Pynk. I'm not much of a foodie and my brownie description may be shallow but you must be bitter, very bitter, not to enjoy these chocolate brown mamas. Full bodied and sweet just like their baker, they were a bit on the soft side, though I'm not complaining. A bite releases fudgey, rich, moist and chocolatey goodness. Not tooth-achingly sweet, which was a nice touch. The top was textured crisp and shiny. You can easily, I say a little bit forlorn, eat one whole brownie under 60 seconds. I had mine with a side of You've Got Mail. Bobby had his warmed and with a side of Ben & Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chocolate ice-cream. Deeelicious.

It was decadent and most appropriate for a girl's night home alone, taken slowly yet surely, chick flick/vampire Mills & Boon paperbacks optional. Full brownie points for Sas and her box of sassy, sexy brownies.

You can order Sas Brownies by tweeting Sas @sasbrownies or text 8950000.

Mimi Makes Faces

Smile, frown, smile, frown is her new thing.

Happy Birthday Tweet

My dear Inny-Pooh,

As much as I love Neil Gaiman, I know you love him more. So for your birthday this year I'm getting with the programme and give you a tweet from @neilhimself:

I'm going to tweet my way thru today's line edits of the book I wrote with D. Levithan--who has no twitter. A novelist w/o a twitter? WTF!?

See what he says? You so need to get yourself a Twitter account darling.

Happy Birthday tweet, I mean sweet!

Lots of love,

Emma xx

Twitterverse Is Now In Space

I have it. My family have it. My friends have it. One of my favourite author has it. Queen Rania has it. And of course Mr and Mrs Kutcher have it.

What is it that we all have besides knees? Unless you've been living underneath a rock in the next galaxy, when I answer "Twitter" you would know I'm talking about the microblogging sensation that has taken the world by storm, and not some form of bird speak.

It's slightly disconcerting to me all this twittering business. Its like we've become a world that tweet to all and sundry our (oft mundane) lives in 140 characters or less. Because I follow @neilhimself, I am slightly intimate with the going-ons of Neil Gaiman. He tweets me goodnight and tells me to dream magnificent dreams even. Okay, to me and 386,193 other people. But still.

So this twitterverse has made my world feel even smaller, that's a good thing right? On the other hand, the fact that I spend a considerable amount of time figuring out the best tweet to get Mr Gaiman to @reply me IS rather sad.

I quite like how David Pogue at the New York Times breaks down Twitter's pros and cons:

In the end, my impression of Twitter was right and wrong. Twitter IS a massive time drain. It IS yet another way to procrastinate, to make the hours fly by without getting work done, to battle for online status and massage your own ego.

But it's also a brilliant channel for breaking news, asking questions, and attaining one step of separation from public figures you admire. No other communications channel can match its capacity for real-time, person-to-person broadcasting.

Twitterverse has now crept into space, thanks to astronaut Mike Massimino, who is the first person to tweet from outer space. That's pretty cool man, and not at all a mundane tweet.

Cartoon from here

If You Could Vote

poll by twiigs.com

It should be Adam, but I'm kinda partial to Kris. Oh, and Danny messed up the lyrics for Billie Jean.

Fulbright Graduate Studies Scholarship 2010-2011 : For Brunei Applicants

Please contact Shova at the US Embassy in Brunei for further details.