| Buffet: Guide to watching all 32 bowls
It was the third such party I'd skipped out on; the second in which I pulled the rug out at the last minute. I'd also spent the last few evenings explaining why Ryan Leaf's little brother nearly knocking off a veteran Oklahoma squad was so shocking, screaming in excitement over a DeAngelo Williams touchdown scamper, and marveling over just how different the Nebraska offense was in 2005 than the version from a decade earlier. For the college football die-hard, though, the Peach Bowl, Brady Leaf's growth as a player, and the Bill Callahan era are all very important. Far more important than standing around a punch bowl, discussing the subprime mortgage market, and chatting about who was just kicked off "America's Next Top Model". I realized that evening -- when I consciously chose a non-BCS Bowl game over a significant other -- just how special the next 19 days are for the college football die-hard.
Penelope Keith and the handbag landmine
There were one or two things that I thought were terribly funny when I read the script, I must say. It was just bizarre, it was déjà vu. It was fun to do." There are no plans for the Manor to be reborn again. Keith is married to Rodney Timson, whom she met while appearing in a play in Chichester in 1976. He was a policeman, twice divorced, four years younger than her, assigned to the theatre. Tabloid attention ensued. These days he looks after his wife's business affairs - though she guffaws at the suggestion that he's her manager - and has a bit of a reputation for his, er, uncompromising language. Keith smiles. "I think he says an awful lot of what people would like to say. No, he doesn't swear all the time. He does occasionally at journalists, but he had a very bad time early on - I mean, chasing him while he was doing his job is not on, is it?" Timson and Keith's latest brush with Her Majesty's Press has been over their proposed café in Avoch in the Highlands.
Credit experts: More pain for homebuilders
Inc., of Horsham, closed at $21.64, up 25 percent for the week, and Orleans Homebuilders Inc., of Bensalem, rose 15 percent to $3.74. Like other builders, they're still far below last winter's highs. The National Association of Home Builders said its members were losing money and laying off workers. It wants new federal tax breaks for buyers and easier loan terms from the Federal Housing Administration, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with more interest-rate cuts from the Fed, said president Brian Catalde, a California builder. So far, lower mortgage rates haven't brought buyers back. "In contrast to previous market declines, in which rate cuts had proven to be effective, the current market malaise will most likely be resolved with basic supply-demand tools: cutting prices to restore equilibrium," analysts Sarah Rowin and Frank Lee of CreditSights Inc.
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