they closed down Namibia

The whole country?? ...Actually, I had a friend who did her Peace Corps in Namibia, and she kept having to be evacuated due to UNITA rebels being rebellious on the border, so I presume it's actually kind of impossible to shut down the whole country for any reason at all.

Windhoek, maybe -- reschedule all the flights for that day, detour the traffic away from [wherever]. But yeah, I'm not sure I understand why. Trying for tourist dollars, you kind of want to appeal to a big market, you know? Celebrities, while individually lucrative, just aren't a large number of people.

Trying for tourist dollars, you kind of want to appeal to a big market, you know? Celebrities, while individually lucrative, just aren't a large number of people.

I totally understand using two of the most watched celebs to promote your sensitivity--tourist destinations are going to be more desirable the more stars there are there--either by people who want to brush shoulders with celebs, or by people who want to keep up with the Jolie-Pitts.

That part totally makes sense to me.

What I don't like is the degree to which a gesture like that can make the country beholden to the celeb, and it's not a good long term investment.

A kiddie birthday party aboard a boat took a macabre turn yesterday when its pint-sized passengers spotted a corpse floating in the Hudson off Manhattan's Pier 40.

The shocked parents of birthday girl Chloe Carvajal, 3, told The Post that they had shelled out $1,500 for the round-trip jaunt around the Statue of Liberty for about 40 guests, including at least 15 youngsters.

They were horrified when the rug rats got a premature lesson in crime-scene investigation at around 1 p.m.

"There were children there who saw the body, and they were crying," said the girl's mother, Jill Carvajal, 37. "The boat was circling the body."

Chloe's dad, Carlos Carvajal, 36, a commercial litigation lawyer, added, "At least 15 kids saw this. The kids were screaming, crying, 'Mommy! What's going on? What is that?'

[link]

Happy Birthday Juliana!

Oh, amid the migraine sulk yesterday I forgot to mention that I came home to this Sunday night after spending the weekend Dad-sitting: [link]

The drunk/high driver that crashed into it and knocked it over apparently just backed up and wobbled away down the street toward the slum tenements. Oh yeah, primo neighborhood for selling luxury condos to yuppie families.

Also, our office is now growing these on the front lawn: [link]

She says, "I take a three-minute shower. I even brush-wash - brush my teeth while I shower. Every two minutes in the shower uses as much water as a person in Africa uses for everything in their life for a whole day."

The amount of water I use rinsing my teeth after brushing is negligible. And I suspect I finish showering a lot quicker by having both hands free for washing rather than juggling a toothbrush in one hand and a bar of soap in the other.

Assuming one should brush their teeth for two minutes it's not the cleanest body-washing she's doing either.

I imagine using bathing water on a daily basis at all seems pretty extravagant if you're used to sharing living space with Brad Pitt.

I think maybe she (Jennifer Aniston) is saving water based on letting the water randomly run WHILE you are brushing for two minutes. Also, I think brushing with one had and washing with another should totally be a n opening montage to a movie about a wacky career girl, or something.

The first thing I thought when I saw the Aniston story is that her mouth must be rank if she's brushing and bathing all within 3 minutes. Assuming that she actually takes a 3 minute shower (yeah, right).

This made me all teary this morning:

[link]

Also, Canada's Amazon is delivering my book, so, um, if you're in Canadaland and want to write an Amazon review on Amazon.ca, you could. If you wanted to.

Aww. Sweet, Allyson.

I bet Jennifer Anniston neither washes her hair nor shaves her legs when she takes a shower, so that would "save" a lot of shower time.