No Underwear News Blog @newzblogz.com

The last players of English citizenship have taken their leave from Wimbledon, departing Thursday. Other angles must be explored.

Appreciation is expressed to that vacuous but charming publication, The Sun. A daily with a circulation of more than 3 million, it is best known for the Page 3 girl, although on Thursday she was on Page 15, her normal place being taken by a fully clothed Gordon Brown, the new prime minister.

Who said these tabloids were nothing but sex and scandal?

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Wandering the art deco streets of Cordoba in southern Spain, I'm drawn to a commotion on a square. It's almost midnight — everyone's out, savoring a cool evening. Short men with raspy tobacco voices and big bellies — called "cuervos felicidad" (happiness curves) — jostle and bark as a dozen little schoolgirls rattle a makeshift stage, working on their sultry. Even with cell phones, iPods, and straight teeth, Andalucia's flamenco culture survives.

Cordoba, the number three city in Andalucia (after Granada and Sevilla) for sightseeing, is visited mostly for its Mezquita, a vast mosque with a cathedral built in its middle. A touristy zone of shops and tour group-friendly restaurants surrounds that Mezquita, one of the glories of Moorish Spain. Beyond that, there are almost no crowds. And late at night there are fewer tourists yet.

Avoiding tourist crowds is important these days, especially when traveling in peak season to popular destinations like Cordoba. If you eat late and don't mind the smoke, only happy locals surround you. I've noticed that in Spain, a restaurant recommended in all the guidebooks may feel like a tourist trap — filled with Americans — at eight or nine o'clock, but by 11 p.m., tourists head for their hotels and the locals retake their turf. I've also noticed that some restaurateurs are ple...

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Google's Street View features street-level pictures of cities pieced together to create a panoramic video map of urban America. All you have to do is use your cursor to take a virtual 360-degree stroll through New York and a handful of other major cities.

Not everyone thinks this is cool, however. Some bloggers call it an invasion of privacy because Google has people drive around a city, constantly taking photos that later are linked to addresses on an online map.

How dare they take pictures of my city and my house without my permission!

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

Hanesbrands, the underwear and apparel maker, is closing nine plants in four countries at a cost of 5,300 jobs. At the same time, the company says it'll be adding 3,000 jobs elsewhere. The company will close plants and operations in the US, Canada, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Production will move to lower-cost operations in Central America and Asia. In addition, about 350 management and administrative positions will be eliminated, most of them in the US.

Hanesbrands says it has added or will add 3,000 jobs at other manufacturing plants to absorb the production changes. The latest closings are part of a multi-year restructuring to make its business leaner and more profitable.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit

It's Happy Bunny, in true rabbit fashion, has multiplied quickly.

Thousands of products feature the rude cartoon. His quips have slipped onto socks ("I just realized I don't care"), wafted onto air fresheners ("Let's focus on me"), and slid onto key rings ("It's cute how stupid you are"). The bunny -- and his creator -- have hippity-hopped into licensing lore.

Jim Benton, a 46-year-old writer and artist, created the It's Happy Bunny franchise more than 10 years ago as one of many designs he hoped would get him a licensing contract. It took a few years for the bunny to catch on, but once it did, he started racking up sales in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Link to full article

Add to Del.icio.us | Digg This | Post to Reddit