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World Series Game 5: Cliff Lee, Utley keep Phillies alive vs.Yankees

2009-11-02T22:43:00.000-08:00

If only Chase Utley managed to hit that three-run homer Sunday night in the bottom of the fifth, the Phillies may be on their way to New York right now looking to wrap up a title. Instead, Utley's first inning blast of A.J. Burnett gave the Phillies a much needed lift in Game 5 of the 2009 World Series. The home run erased a 1-0 defecit and the Phils hung on for an 8-6 victory. By doing so, the Phillies are taking the series back to New York Wednesday for Game 6. Utley later tied Reggie Jackson's World Series record of five home runs set in 1977 when he drilled a seventh inning blast. The Phillies may have won the game, but Shane Victorino was drilled in the right hand by Burnett prior to Utley's homer in the first inning. Victorino's effectiveness is a cause for concern, especially his throwing arm. Due to the recent number of beanings of A-Fraud, Burnett may have been seeking some retribution again the Phillies. It was unlikely however, that he may have been trying to hit the hand of Victorino, who showed a last-second bunt attempt.

While Utley currently has the hot hand and Raul Ibanez added a home run, Ryan Howard continues to have a horrible series. Tonight, Howard tied Willie Wilson's record of 12 strikeouts in a World Series set in 1980 (ironically, it was against the Phillies).

To be honest, this game was well played by the Phillies, but it was kind of predictable at the same time. The team with their backs against the wall (our Phillies) shows resiliency and fights for their playoff lives to try and fight another day. Frankly, it's rather annoying that the team has finally started to heat up quicker than Greg Luzinski's ribs when they are down 3-1 in the series, but I guess it's better late than never. We've seen this before, it's called 1993-Part Two, when Curt Schilling's masterpiece in Game 5 of that year's World Series against the Blue Jays took the Phillies back to Toronto, where we all know what happened in Game 6.

Cliff Lee, while not as sharp as Schilling in this Game 5, played the part rather nicely. If the Phillies lose this series, chances are it won't be because of the left-hander (it is to be determined whether Lee will be needed again this fall), who has been nothing short of spectacular this postseason. The Phillies will pick up Lee's option for 2010, but it will be interesting to see if the Phillies attempt to sign Lee to a long-term deal this off-season. Rumors have it that Lee will want to test free agency after 2010. It has also been said by Cleveland insiders that the reason they traded Lee is because they believed the number of innings he has logged the last two seasons were ready to catch up with him.

Despite Lee's performance, the Yankees once again refused to go quietly, scoring two runs in the top of the eighth inning and another off of Ryan Madson in the ninth. Although Victorino is not 100%, one has to wonder why Ben Fransisco wasn't inserted for Ibanez, who in all likelihood would not bat again in the game. It is further magnified when Ibanez's error led to those two Yankee runs.

So here we are, down three games to two and headed back to New York for Game 6. Did the Yankees let up to go back home and celebrate in the Bronx? Will Andy Pettitte pitch on three days rest? Do the Yankees have any momentum as a result of their late inning offensive output? Will 2009 mirror 1993? Like Schilling, did Lee just put off the inevitable? We will know Wednesday. And if the eerie patterns of the fourth and fifth games of both series' continue, things suggest that this World Series could possibly come to a dramatic and sudden ending.

Let's just hope we're the ones celebrating at the end this time.

Army investigates SMS fraud, warns cellphone users

2009-10-20T01:58:00.000-07:00

SLAMABAD, Oct 19: The Pakistan Army is investigating mobile phone messages warning the recipients that their SIMs could be hacked by terrorists if they followed instructions given in some messages.
One such message says: “Attention: If you receive a call on your cellphone informing you that they are from quality control department of a GSM company and checking your line and they [terrorists] will also request you to press a specific key on your mobile phone, do not follow their instructions.
“Your mobile can be hacked by them and may be used for any terrorist activity… like triggering a remotecontrolled bomb blast…ISPRPak Army.” A senior military official told Dawn: “These are fake messages and we are investigating them.” An official of the Federal Investigation Agency’s cyber crime cell said his unit was also probing into the matter. He said strict action would be taken against the senders of these false messages and they would be booked under the Prevention of Electronic Crime Ordinance, 2008.

Zardari calls Ahmadinejad Iran blames US and Pakistan for attack

2009-10-20T01:56:00.000-07:00

TEHRAN, Oct 19: Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has pointed a finger of blame at the United States for Sunday’s suicide bombing at a meeting of the Revolutionary Guards and tribal chiefs in Sistan-Baluchestan.“This terrorist crime revealed the evil face of enemies of security and unity who are supported by intelligence organisations of some arrogant governments,” he said on Monday, according to the Isna news agency.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in a telephone conversation with President Asif Ali Zardari, charged that those behind the bombing were in Pakistan and needed to be “quickly confronted”.
“Iran and Pakistan have a brotherly relationship, but the presence of terrorist elements in Pakistan is not justifiable,” the Irna news agency quoted him as saying.
“The Pakistani government should help to quickly arrest these criminals so that they can be punished,” the Iranian president said, adding: “The criminal terrorists must be seriously confronted by setting up a bilateral timetable.” ‘Proof of involvement’ The head of the Revolutionary Guards corps, Gen Mohammad Ali Jafari, said that an Iranian delegation would head to Pakistan to deliver “proof” that Islamabad was supporting (Jundallah group’s chief Abdolmalek) Rigi who had claimed the responsibility of the attack.
“The delegation will ask for him to be handed over,” he said.
“The group of Rigi has direct contact with the American and British intelligence services and, unfortunately, the Pakistani intelligence service,” Gen Jafari said.
“He is supported by them and without doubt he is acting under their orders and plans.” (President Asif Ali Zardari called President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and condemned the attack, according to an APP report from Islamabad.
Mr Zardari said the incident was “gruesome and barbaric” and bore the “signatures of a cowardly enemy on the run”.
He said Pakistan would continue to support and cooperate with Iran in curbing militancy and fighting extremism and terrorism.
The president expressed sympathies with the government and people of Iran and prayed for those who lost their lives in the incident.) Gen Mohammad Pakpour, the head of the Revolutionary Guards’ ground forces, said Washington and London were backing those who launched the attack against Iran’s prestigious military force.
“The terrorists were trained in the neighbouring country by the Americans and British. The enemies of the Islamic Republic of Iran are unable to tolerate the unity in the country,” he said on state television.
A senior judiciary official in the province, Hojatoleslam Ebrahim Hamidi, said that “more than 30 Sunni tribal chiefs” were among the dead. Jundallah charged that the authorities were plotting “to sow divisions among Baloch tribes and clans”.
Bomber identified Sistan-Baluchestan’s deputy governor Jalal Sayyah said Iran had identified the bomber but no arrests had been made. “It is likely that those who supported the bombing have fled to the other side of the border,” the Fars news agency quoted him as saying.
Iran’s first deputy speaker Mohammad Hassan Abutorabi told parliament that “the horrible crime in Sistan-Baluchestan was carried out with the direct support of criminal America and its mercenaries”.
Some of the dead who hailed from provincial capital Zahedan were buried on Monday.
Isna quoted a lawmaker from Sistan-Baluchestan, Payman Forouzesh, as saying: “There is unanimity about the Revolutionary Guards and the security forces engaging in operations in any place they would deem necessary.” Apparently referring to agreement among lawmakers, he said: “There is even unanimity that these operations (could) take place in Pakistan territory.” Britain denied allegations that it aided rebels behind the attack. “We reject in the strongest terms any assertion that this attack has anything to do with Britain,” a Foreign Office spokeswoman said in London.
In a statement posted on the internet, Jundallah said the attack’s aim was to avenge “the wounds of the Baloch people which have been bleeding for years without end”.
It named the bomber as Abdul Wahid Muhammadi Sarawani and said Iranian intelligence officials were among the dead.
“During the past year alone, this regime killed hundreds of youths of this province by firing squad, execution or torture. The Baloch people... are determined to stand against injustice and to obtain their freedom till the last drop of their blood,” the group said.—Agencies

The power of super human memory

2009-10-19T23:20:00.000-07:00

What if after reading this article you remembered more than just the basic idea? What if after reading this article you remembered what it was titled, who wrote it, how many paragraphs there were, and every detail printed in black and white?

Most of us would find this a laughable and improbable feat, but there are such super humans in existence,with the ability to retain large amounts of information within a relatively short period of time. What makes these individuals stand out even more is their ability to recall just about any information they've come in contact with fifteen, twenty years down the line with accurate precision.

These select few individuals are diagnosed with a term known as super-autobiographical memory, the ability to hold large amounts of information and the ability to recollect this information after any length of time. This is both similar and different from eidetic memory, or photographic memory.

Similar to eidetic memory, these individuals are able to refer to graphic visual memory to recollect information. "However, [super auto-biographical memory] is far more powerful than eidetic memory, which seems hard to believe," says Dr. James McGaugh, the founding director of the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California. Super auto-biographical memory has gives its owner's the ability to remember explicit memories from early childhood with great detail.

These individuals are unfortunately considered to have a disorder rather than a gift of limitless knowledge. Their ability to hold infinite amounts of information can often be to their detriment in that it can lead to the formation of new more serious disorders such as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and paranoia. With the ability to remember also comes the inability to forget which can be potentially harmful when the brain tries to cope with traumatic experiences or an overload of information.

Bob Petrella, a tv producer in Los Angeles, California has recently been the subject of study at McGaugh's Center for Neurobiology. If given a date, say March 30, 1981, he will not only be able to tell someone that Former President Reagan was shot but more specifically, that Indiana beat North Carolina for the NCAA championship with the winning score.

Talk to The Times: Andrew Ross Sorkin

2009-10-19T23:18:00.000-07:00

Andrew Ross Sorkin, assistant editor of financial news, is answering questions from readers Nov. 9-13, 2009, in Talk to The Times. Questions may be e-mailed to askthetimes@nytimes.com.

Mr. Sorkin wrote his first article for The New York Times when he was 18 years old just prior to graduating from high school. Now, 14 years later, he is the paper's the chief mergers and acquisitions reporter and a financial columnist. He started DealBook, The Times's financial news site and daily e-mail newsletter, in 2001.
Mr. Sorkin just completed his first book, "Too Big to Fail: How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves," about the financial crisis, which is being published this week by Viking Press.
Fascinated by the financial world, Mr. Sorkin joined the paper's London bureau after graduating from Cornell University and immediately set about trying to break news of big mergers. Over the years, Mr. Sorkin has broken news of deals including Chase's acquisition of J.P. Morgan and Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Compaq. He also led The Times's coverage of Vodafone’s $183 billion hostile bid for Mannesmann, resulting in the world's largest takeover ever. For his coverage, he has won a Gerald Loeb Award, one of the highest honors in business journalism, and he has been honored by the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award three times.
During the past year, he has covered many aspects of the financial crisis, from Lehman Brothers to AIG to the faltering automakers. Mr. Sorkin can often be seen talking about the world of business on the PBS program "Charlie Rose" and CNBC.
Mr. Sorkin and his wife, Pilar, live in Manhattan.
Other Times staff members have answered questions in this column, including Executive Editor Bill Keller, Managing Editor Jill Abramson, Managing Editor John Geddes, Deputy Managing Editor Jonathan Landman, Assistant Managing Editor Glenn Kramon, Obituaries Editor Bill McDonald, National Editor Suzanne Daley, Living Editor Trish Hall, Entertainment Editor Lorne Manly and N.B.A. reporter Jonathan Abrams. Their responses and those of other Times editors, reporters, columnists and executives are on theTalk to The Times page.

Free Golf Carts!

2009-10-19T23:17:00.000-07:00

After money from the "stimulus" bill was spent on destroying perfectly good cars and building an Airport for Nobody, the WSJ reports that government has found an even more ridiculous way to spend your money: free golf carts.

"The purchase of some models could be absolutely free," Roger Gaddis of Ada Electric Cars in Oklahoma said earlier this year. "Is that about the coolest thing you've ever heard?"
The golf-cart boom follows an IRS ruling that many golf carts qualify for the electric-car credit.

Tony Colangelo, in South Carolina, calls himself "golf cart man" and is already advertising free carts.

Golf Cart Man is referring to his offer in which you can buy the cart for $8,000, get a $5,300 tax credit off your 2009 income tax, lease it back for $100 a month for 27 months, at which point Golf Cart Man will buy back the cart for $2,000. "This means you own a free Golf Cart or made $2,000 cash doing absolutely nothing!!!"

I thought this giveaway was outrageous enough that it would embarrass Congress into killing the tax credit. I thought the media would be all over Colangelo, after the WSJ story. I was wrong. When we called him, he said, “I’ve never had so many phone calls,” But most of the calls come from potential golf-cart “buyers.” Colangelo said he had received some e-mails from newspapers, but my researcher was the first reporter with whom he’d spoken.

He also said the golf-cart credit is a very good thing. Good for the politicians:

It’s all [about] going green. They want all those gas vehicles off the street. They’d rather have the electric than anything.

And good for the average person:

I never, in my entire life, got anything back from the government and I’ve always paid taxes. Why shouldn’t the people who worked hard for their money get something back?

Because government shouldn’t be in the business of taking money and giving it back! That just gives the venal cretins more power over our lives.

Pumpkin-Carving Designs & Halloween Costumes: Jon Gosselin Wife Kate Popular?

2009-10-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

Need your pumpkin-carving designs or Halloween Costume ideas? The wife of Jon Gosselin (Jon and Kate Plus 8 mom Kate Gosselin) is a hit this season for cheap costumes thanks to her public divorce and wandering ex Jon while Pumpkin Carving Designs.Com boasts they have "over two-hundred unique designs, including many new patterns for 2008, you have a great selection and their pumpkin carving patterns are top-rate." Follow both "Spooky" items below.One - For the pumpkin carving help - there is more including pictures for some assistance in the knife work for the Jack O'Lantern ideas. For kids and carving - Paper Pumpkins.com has Free Halloween Jack O'Lantern Pumpkin Pattern Stencils for Kids." See for the patterns.

Two - For costumes, the Ottawa Citizen has an item titled "Go cheap on your Halloween costume this year!"

It notes that Kate Gosselin, whose "ill-advised haircut and marital meltdown have secured her a place in pop-cult infamy" is a popular inexpensive look as is Michael Jacson. Misty Harris has more ways to save money.

Angels get a life, thanks to Jeff Mathis

2009-10-19T23:13:00.001-07:00

The 'no-hit' half of Angels' catching platoon delivers biggest hit of his life, an RBI double in 11th inning to give them a 5-4 victory over Yankees and new life in an AL Championship Series they traiHe's the defensive half of the Angels' catching platoon, the one who supposedly can't hit, the guy one Orange County newspaper blogger referred to earlier this season as a "busted prospect."

Monday afternoon, Jeff Mathis was a playoff hero, the guy who touched off a wild celebration in Angel Stadium after he pulverized an Alfredo Aceves slider for a two-out, run-scoring double to left-center field in the 11th inning.

Mathis' hit, which followed Howie Kendrick's two-out single to center field, gave the Angels a dramatic 5-4 walk-off victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

Kendrick scored all the way from first, popping up after his slide into the plate and landing in the waiting arms of on-deck hitter Erick Aybar as a crowd of 44,911 erupted.

Mathis spiked his helmet to the ground near second base and pointed to his mother and grandmother in the crowd before being engulfed by a mob of back-slapping teammates.

The victory breathed life and, possibly, momentum into an Angels team that suffered a devastating 13-inning Game 2 loss in Yankee Stadium on Saturday night but now trails the best-of-seven series, two games to one. Game 4 is tonight in Angel Stadium.

"Man, that was a crazy game, an emotional roller coaster, up, down, up, down," center fielder Torii Hunter said after the third postseason walk-off win in franchise history. "We were so happy one inning and so sad the next. I promise you, that's one of the best games I've ever been involved in. My heart is hurting right now."

The game was filled with so much tension, so many twists and turns, that a regulation nine innings couldn't contain it.

The Yankees took a 3-0 lead on solo home runs by Derek Jeter in the first inning, Alex Rodriguez in the fourth and Johnny Damon in the fifth, all off Angels starter Jered Weaver.

Kendrick, whose first-half struggles got him demoted to triple-A Salt Lake in June, hit a solo homer off Yankees starter Andy Pettitte in the fifth to make it 3-1.

Bobby Abreu ended an 0-for-11 ALCS skid with a single in the sixth, and Vladimir Guerrero silenced a legion of critics -- most of them Angels fans fed up with his feeble swings -- by hitting a two-out, two-run home run to left to make it 3-3.

For Guerrero, who went one for seven and stranded eight baserunners in Game 2, it ended a string of 86 playoff at-bats without a homer; his last was a game-tying grand slam in Game 3 of the 2004 division series against the Red Sox.

"Before the game, I told him, 'Everyone says you're done -- that's bull, the heck with them, go out there and prove you're still the man,' " Angels batting coach Mickey Hatcher said. "I said, 'I believe in you. Today is a new day.' Then I said, 'Please prove me right.' "

The Angels took a 4-3 lead in the seventh when Kendrick tripled to right-center off reliever Joba Chamberlain and scored on a sacrifice fly by pinch-hitter Maicer Izturis, whose 13th-inning error cost the Angels the game Saturday night.

Then things got really wacky.

Yankees designated hitter Hideki Matsui drew a walk from Angels reliever Kevin Jepsen to open the eighth and was replaced by speedster Brett Gardner, who took off on an 0-and-1 pitch to Jorge Posada.

But Angels Manager Mike Scioscia called for a pitchout, and Mathis, who entered as a -- what else? -- defensive replacement to start the eighth, gunned down Gardner at second.

The Angels went from elation to deflation two pitches later when Posada lined a homer to center for a 4-4 tie.

Abreu led off the bottom of the eighth with a double to center but over-ran second and was thrown out.

Angels closer Brian Fuentes got two outs to start the ninth and intentionally walked Rodriguez, who hit a game-tying, 11th-inning homer off Fuentes on Saturday night. Nice move by Scioscia. Pinch-hitter Jerry Hairston struck out to end the inning.

‘Who killed the USFL?’ ESPN takes a look

2009-10-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

ESPN’s next "30 for 30” film at 7 tonight looks at the three-year existence of the United States Football League in "Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?”

The short answer in Peabody Award-winning director Mike Tollin’s excellent film: a greedy Donald Trump. Other factors included overexpansion in its second season of 1984 — including the addition of the Tulsa-based Oklahoma Outlaws — and the death ofTampa Bay Bandits owner John Bassett, who had urged league owners to show fiscal restraint.

Trump, who bought the New Jersey Generals from Oklahoma City oilman J. Walter Duncan Jr., pushed owners to move play from the spring to the fall and go head-to-head with the NFL. The league never made it that far after its antitrust suit against the NFL produced only a $3 judgment.

After being handed the actual check, which with interest had grown to $3.76, Trump abruptly ended his interview with Tollin, a former USFL employee.

Duncan, who died in February at age 92, joked about the league’s beginnings and his signing of Heisman Trophy winning running back Herschel Walker, one of several stars who joined the league.

"A bunch of guys got together and had a few beers and decided to form this league,” he said. "I had one too many and decided to sign Herschel.”

Walker, and the film’s large sampling of players and coaches spoke fondly of their USFL memories.

Pulse Wrestling’s WWE RAW Report – 10.19.09

2009-10-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Pulse Wrestling’s LIVE RAW Coverage! I’m here this evening to bring you the latest up-to-date results from tonight’s show. We have John Cena taking on Triple H and The Miz will face a former WWF/E Intercontinental and Tag Team Champion tonight. Who am I talking about? Keep it to the Pulse for your RAW updates!

Justin Roberts gives the verbal fellatio on our guest host tonight, Snoop Dogg! He’s accompanied by the Bella Twins, now officially RAW Property and Eve Torres. The foursome parade around the ring a bit before Snoop asks us to make some noise. He buries the SmackDown roster and he reminds us about Cena v. Trips tonight. He also books Randy Orton v. Ted DiBiase and Chris Jericho takes on Shawn Michaels. He brings out DX to join in on the fun.

Snoop Dogg leaves the ring and Shawn speaks Snoop Dogg-ese. It’s full of izzle. Trips brings up Team SmackDown, which leaves a lot to be desired. They bring up Katie Vick and they finish Snoop Dogg’s complete burial of SmackDown. Shawn Michaels brings Trips up to speed with Drew Macintyre, but they still forget Eric Escobar. They bring up the Vickie Guerrero jokes and again…they bury Team SmackDown. Trips brings out Team RAW and it’s fun to see how everyone is happy to be with DX. Shawn runs down Team RAW. They hesitate to introduce Cody Rhodes, but Rhodes intends to not listen to DX on Sunday. He claims that he just might beat SmackDown all by himself and this brings the Big Show in. He doesn’t care if he insults DX, but he will respect him and he brings the law down…if anyone is a weak link, he’ll take them down. Mark Henry steps up an it seems that they will have a problem. Jack Swagger gets in and puts himself over until Kofi steals the mic. He brings sense to Team RAW, but Trips asks if Kofi is Jamican. HAHA! Shawn knew that this was going to happen so they arranged for a five on five tag team match where the loser of the fall is replaced by the one that pins them.

Big Show, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & Cody Rhodes v. MVP, Primo, Evan Bourne, Chavo Guerrero, & Chris Masters

NEXT!

Commercials.

We’re JIP and Chavo gets an one count on Kofi Kingston. Kofi back drops out of the offense and he leaps on Chavo. Kofi takes Chavo out and both Big Show and Mark Henry tagged in at the same time. That doesn’t count so Cody tags in and he gets it on with MVP. He ignores the team and that costs him. In comes Bourne and he eats a crossbody. Rhodes rolls through for two. He has Bourne in a headlock and mocks Team RAW. Primo tags in and he takes it to Cody Rhodes. He holds his own, but eats a Russian Leg Sweep. CrossRhodes connects, but Swagger tags himself in and he saves the match.

Winners: Big Show, Mark Henry, Jack Swagger, Kofi Kingston, & Cody Rhodes
Grade: F

Team RAW breaks down in the ring and they take everyone out. Big Show is the last man standing.

Josh Matthews is with Ted DiBiase and he explains that he did what Randy would had done in the same situation. Randy appearantly didn’t return his calls and Randy comes in. He claims that DiBiase betrayed him. Orton says that they won’t have a match tonight and that DiBiase will respect Orton or he will regret it for the rest of his life.

That match is NEXT!

Commercials.

We’re back and DiBiase is in the ring.

Ted DiBiase v. Randy Orton

Orton and DiBiase are face to face. They back off and the bell sounds. Orton walks closer and he kicks DiBiase in the gut. That is followed by the uppercut and DiBiase still won’t fight back. He kicks him down. Orton talks smack to DiBiase and he busts out the Galvin stomp. He asks if Ted wants to hit him and he stomps him some more. DiBiase gets back up and he stares Orton down. Orton piefaces him and DiBiase keeps looking at him. Orton shoves DiBiase to the ropes and he comes back with a shove of his own that knocks Orton down. Orton cowers in the corner and the fans seem to get behind DiBiase. Orton gets back up and they stare each other down. Orton holds DiBiase up and he RKO’s him for the win.

Winner: Randy Orton
Grade: N/R (Hard to rate a match like this)

The commentators talk about the passing of Captain Lou Albano and they show a video of him.

Commercials.

We get a preview of “Gangsta Luv” by Snoop Dogg. PG This is not. Meanwhile, in Snoop Dogg’s office, he’s enjoying the fun of the divas and Hornswoggle comes in for our weekly comedy segment. Chavo is close behind and he wants to be on Team RAW. Jillian Hall comes in and she wants a Diva’s Title rematch tonight. She sings and Chavo wants to die. In comes Santino as Charlie Brown. Snoop Dogg kicks everyone out of the office. He asks for the bag and he proceeds to smoke a bowl while we get a clip of Michael Cole hugging Hornswoggle. We come back to a smoke-filled room and it is candles…

We get a clip of Michael Cole hugging Jerry Lawler. He probably felt sorry for his loss in the Mayoral Election.

Cena is thinking. Cena v. Trips NEXT!

Commercials.

Did You Know: Teenagers *did something* while viewing 100 million WWE Divas photos last month.

John Cena v. Triple H

The bell sounds and they jockey for position. Cena with a snapmare takeover and again and again…Attitude Adjustment early on, but Trips gets out of it. Opposite corners they stand and they jockey for position with a Greco-Roman knuckle lock. Cena turns it into a headlock, but Triple H gets to a vertical base. Cena off the ropes, he hits a shoulderblock. Trips gets a hiptoss countered to an hiptoss of his own and Cena gets the first cover of the match. Trips with the Greco-Roman knuckle lock, but Cena tries to overpower him. Trips knees himself out of it. Cena gets out of the corner and he sends Trips to the opposite corner. Trips rebounds and he explodes with a clothesline and that gets two. Trips tees off on Cena and we go pillar to post HARD. Cena is down in the corner and Trips goes to work. He sends Cena HARD into the corner again and scores a two count. He sends Cena hard in the corner again and he looks for the Pedigree. That gets countered into a hard Irish Whip with Trips falling over the top. Commercial break upcoming.

Commercials.

Tomorrow on ECW: Zack Ryder v. William Regal

We’re back as we approach eight minutes into the match. Trips hits Cena with a backbreaker and scores a two count. He drops the knee on Cena’s back and he continues with the pressure. Cena comes back with a right hand and they slug it out in the ring. Cena gets the upperhand, but Trips sends Cena to the ropes. Cena comes back with a shoulderblock. Another shoulderblock attempt ends badly for Cena. Cena tries the Attitude Adjustment, but Trips counters with a chopblock. Trips misses a clothesline, and finds himself in the STF. Trips gets to the ropes and he goes back to work on Cena. Cena sends Trips to the corner…FISHERMAN SUPLEX! Cena goes for the bulldog, but Trips counters and Cena is about to get Pedigreed. COUNTERED TO THE STF! Trips inches closer to the ropes, but Cena moves Trips to the center and that allows Trips to get the ropes. Cena back up…PEDIGREE! Trips gets a cover…TWO COUNT ONLY! Time for another commercial around 12:30 in.

Commercials.

We’re back and we are about 16:00 in. Cena gets back in the ring, but is met by Triple H. During the break, Cena got slammed into the steel steps. Cena tries again for the Attitude Adjustment, but Trips counters to a Sharpshooter! Randy Orton watches on the monitor as Cena gets to the ropes. Trips tees off on Cena, but he runs into a boot. Cena hits the shoulderblocks, followed by the Protobomb! Cena drops the Five Knuckle Shuffle and he has Trips up in the Attitude Adjustment, but Trips gets out of it AGAIN! High knee connects as does the faceplant. Cena off the ropes…SPINEBUSTER! Trips is feeling it and he attempts the Pedigree and he connects! He covers…TWO COUNT! Trips is beside himself! Cena kicked out of TWO PEDIGREES! He tries for a third, but Cena hits the Attitude Adjustment…TRIPS KICKS OUT! TRIPS KICKS OUT! Twenty minutes in now and Cena goes to the top rope. TOP ROPE FAMEASSER MISSES! Trips goes for the Pedigree, countered to the Attitude Adjustment, COUNTERED AGAIN TO THE PEDIGREE! That ends this epic match.

Winner: Triple H
Grade: A (Even marred by commercials, this was the match that AJ Styles and Sting should have put on at Bound for Glory.)

Triple H goes over to Cena and they shake hands in a show of respect. Cena looks dejected. Cena looks around the arena as Orton stares at the monitor. He gives a half-hearted salute and he leaves the ring.

Commercials.

Slam of the Week: The Miz and John Morrison disses Marty Jannetty and Shawn Michaels.

The Miz v. Some Jobber

Before the match, Snoop Dogg makes the jobber leave the ring and we get our rightful opponent…MARTY Jannetty!

The Miz v. Marty Jannetty

Lockup to start and Miz shoves Jannetty in the corner. Jannetty pie faces the Miz and he rolls him up for two. Miz misses a wild punch and Jannetty makes it known to the Miz that he’s awesome. That ends with Jannetty taking a 360 clothesline. Headlock applied and Jannetty comes back. Side slam connects and Jannetty takes Miz off his game. Back body drop connects and Jannetty goes up top. Fist Drop connects and Miz kicks out at two. They counter each other, but the Miz hangs him out on the top. Skull Crushing Finale connects and the Miz wins.

Winner: The Miz
Grade: C

We preview SmackDown v. RAW 2010.

Chavo Guerrero and Jillian Hall is discussing strategy. Diva’s Championship is on the line NEXT!

Commercials.

Did You Know: We ran out of good ideas, so we want to remind you that we are the longest weekly show in history.

WWE Diva’s Championship: Jillian Hall (w/Chavo Guerrero) v. Melina

The bell rings and Chavo causes a distraction, which allows Jillian to hit a weird Samoan Drop for two. She is on the offensive in the early going. Handspring elbow is blocked and Chavo gets involved again. Hornswoggle stops Chavo and this allows Melina to hit her split-legged drop for the three.

Winner: Melina
Grade: F

Chavo has Hornswoggle at the clutches, but Snoop Dogg comes out to save Hornswoggle. Chavo gets clotheslined over Hornswoggle and the shirt comes off. They circle the ring and Chavo gets speared. Thanks for coming, Chavo.

The divas come out and they dance with Snoop Dogg and Hornswoggle. Even Michael Cole tries to be cool. They pimp White Collar for Friday night on USA.

Commercials.

We run down the epic encounter between John cena and Randy Orton. After that, we run down the rest of the card to Bragging Rights.

Chris Jericho walks.

Commercials.

Kyle Busch and Joey Logano from NASCAR are your co-guest hosts next week. That should put the David Arquette rumor to rest for a week.

Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels

Chris Jericho grabs a microphone before the match. He says that he can knock Shawn out right now, but he brings out two members of Team SmackDown, Cryme Tyme. Shawn backs out of the ring and Kane leads out the rest of Team SmackDown. Shawn Michaels is still out of the ring and the entire SmackDown team is inside the ring. Jericho is interrupted by Triple H and the rest of Team RAW. They get inside the ring and Trips has the microphone. He thanks Jericho for doing the impossible – uniting the egos on Team RAW and he says that he will throw them all out.

EXCUSE ME!

Vickie Guerrero is on the stage…SLIMMER! She can see where this is going and as an official team consultant, she won’t allow it. If DX wants a fight, they will wait until Sunday. She orders Team SmackDown to leave the ring. Trips drives the point home, but Trips reminds Jericho that they don’t work for Vickie Guerrero. All Hell breaks loose!

Match Result: No Match

Show Over.

The WWE RAW Report Card

Chris Jericho v. Shawn Michaels never happened: N/R
Melina d. Jillian Hall: F
The Miz d. Marty Jannetty: C
Triple H d. John Cena: A
Randy Orton d. Ted DiBiase: N/R
Team Big Show d. Team MVP: F

The Final Grade for WWE RAW 10.19.09: A

Why an A for RAW? You have five matches. Two that had F grades, but the post match sheganigans made up for them. Triple H beats John Cena in a PPV-quality match. Orton and DiBiase was a good angle that helps DiBiase more than anything else. This show was a GREAT show tonight so I was willing to overlook the lackluster matches. I was entertained greatly.

As always, have a great week!

HOUSE "Brave Heart" Season 6 Episode 5

2009-10-19T23:09:00.000-07:00

Watch a sneak peek of HOUSE "Brave Heart" Season 6 Episode 5 which airs Monday, October 19 (8:00-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Episode Synopsis: HOUSE "Brave Heart" Season 6 Episode 5 - The team takes on the case of a reckless police detective who has a family history of sudden heart failure that killed his father, grandfather and great-grandfather all at age 40. Though House is not keen on diagnosing the patient without any detectable symptoms, the team, urged by Cameron, attempts to identify his condition so the detective can live without fear of dying young. Meanwhile, Chase is haunted by his actions in the Dibala case, and House confronts some ghosts of his own in the “Brave Heart” episode of HOUSE airing Monday, Oct. 19 (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX.

Cast: Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House; Lisa Edelstein as Dr. Lisa Cuddy; Omar Epps as Dr. Eric Foreman; Robert Sean Leonard as Dr. James Wilson; Jennifer Morrison as Dr. Allison Cameron; Jesse Spencer as Dr. Robert Chase

Guest Cast: Jon Seda as Donny; Alexandra Barreto as Cheryl; Samuel Carman as Michael; Jack Impellizzeri as Brian; Richard King as Boutain; Briana Venskus as Nona; Marcos Toji as Dex; Samantha Colburn as Marta; Sanjay Madhav as Singh; Taira Soo as Anne Ayala

The Fourth Kind Abducts Fans on Facebook and Twitter

2009-10-19T23:07:00.000-07:00

The upcoming alien abduction movie, The Fourth Kind, isn't your typical Hollywood extraterrestrial sci-fi alien movie. In fact, The Fourth Kind is a lot more frightening since it's supposedly based on actual events and reported cases of alien abduction of The Fourth Kind. Interestingly, if you follow the extrerrestrial trail of The Fourth Kind marketing campaign, which now includes Facebook and Twitter, the scariest part is that The Fourth Kind isn't based on one isolated incident surrounding strange disappearances in Nome, Alaska dating back to the 1960s.
The November 6 release of The Fourth Kind, starring Milla Jovovich, Elias Koteas, and Will Patton, reignited our fascination with alien abductions and cinematic abductees have flocked to the Fourth Kind Facebook and The Fourth Kind Twitter pages to share their experiences. As you will soon find out, however, there's more to The Fourth Kind than meets the eye.
The real question for non-abductees heading into The Fourth Kind is, do you believe? Decide for yourself and head to The Fourth Kind Facebook page and The Fourth Kind Twitter for multiple eye witness accounts of UFO sightings, alien abductions, and all things extraterrestrial leading up to The Fourth Kind.
About THE FOURTH KIND:
In 1972, a scale of measurement was established for alien encounters. When a UFO is sighted, it is called an encounter of the first kind. When evidence is collected, it is known as an encounter of the second kind. When contact is made with extraterrestrials, it is the third kind. The next level, abduction, is the fourth kind. This encounter has been the most difficult to document...until now.
Structured unlike any film before it, The Fourth Kind is a provocative thriller set in modern-day Nome, Alaska, where-mysteriously since the 1960s-a disproportionate number of the population has been reported missing every year. Despite multiple FBI investigations of the region, the truth has never been discovered.
Here in this remote region, psychologist Dr. Abigail Tyler (Milla Jovovich) began videotaping sessions with traumatized patients and unwittingly discovered some of the most disturbing evidence of alien abduction ever documented.
Using never-before-seen archival footage that is integrated into the film, The Fourth Kind exposes the terrified revelations of multiple witnesses. Their accounts of being visited by alien figures all share disturbingly identical details, the validity of which is investigated throughout the film.

Broncos vs Chargers Monday night football October 19

2009-10-19T23:05:00.000-07:00

Broncos vs Chargers: Monday night football October 19. Chargers were leading Broncos 20- 17 in a crucial match today. Both the team are trying to win the game as both desperately need a win.With the Chargers coming off their bye, two storylines for Monday’s AFC West showdown against Denver have been prevalent this week. The 5-0 Broncos are looking to take a commanding early lead of the division race, while the three-time defending AFC West champs will try to bounce back from a tough loss in Pittsburgh and keep pace.

“We know it’s a very critical game for us,” running back LaDainian Tomlinson said. “It’s a division game and falling three games behind a division opponent is never good, so we need this game more than they do.”

As the Chargers wrapped up their preparations for Denver on Saturday, the consensus was that their two weeks of practice were very good and Tomlinson likes the mental state of his team as they prepare for their first game in 15 days.

“It’s a quiet confidence,” Tomlinson said. “It’s not being talked about a lot, but you look in every man’s eye in that locker room and you can just tell there something a little bit extra.”

While the Chargers have moved away from their Week 4 loss in Pittsburgh, the extra time off has allowed conversation about the game to linger in the media. Regardless of how their last game played out, the Chargers still feel good about themselves as a team and are anxious for an opportunity to show that their performance against the Steelers doesn’t define them.

“We have no reason not to be confident,” quarterback Philip Rivers said. “We didn’t play well in our last outing, but sitting at 2-2 with 12 to play, we know how big this one is. We’ve had a good off week and a good week of preparation. We’re ready.”

Said linebacker Stephen Cooper, “It’s football season, you’re going to win some and lose some. There will be ups and downs. This week we have a chance to get things going back in the right direction. We’re excited about that opportunity and we hope to make the most of it.” (Courtesy: Chargers.com)

Kick returner Eddie Royal boosts Broncos

2009-10-19T23:04:00.000-07:00

Eddie Royal became the 11th player in NFL history to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same game as the Denver Broncos defeated the San Diego Chargers, 34-23, to improve to 6-0.

Royal returned a kickoff 93 yards to put Denver ahead 7-3 in the first quarter and added a 71-yard punt return in the second to give Denver a 17-10 lead.

Darren Sproles had a 77-yard punt return for a score for the Chargers.

In developments

Fisher digging in: Whatever Jeff Fisher plans to do to fix Tennessee's losing ways will be done behind closed doors.

At 0-6, the reeling Titans, coming off a 59-0 rout at New England that is the NFL's most lopsided loss since 1976, are as far away from their 10-0 start a season ago as possible.

Fans want Fisher fired, though owner Bud Adams isn't ready yet for a midseason change.

So Fisher is closing practices this week as the Titans try repairing all that's gone wrong. It's a flexible bye week schedule that could feature two sessions a day or walk-throughs before and after practice. The coach is looking at everything, will split work between veteran Kerry Collins and backup quarterback Vince Young, and some roster changes may result.

And the future for the NFL's longest-tenured coach with his current team? Fisher insisted Monday he isn't worried, not with everything he has to fix.

"I'm not in any kind of survival mode or worried about my job or worried about job security. I have a good coaching staff. I've got tremendous confidence in my coaching staff and tremendous confidence in my players we're going to get this turned around," Fisher said.

Odds and ends: The NFL suspended Carolina Panthers defensive back Dante Wesley one game without pay for launching himself into Tampa Bay punt returner Clifton Smith. Wesley left his feet and hit Smith in the neck and head with his forearm and shoulder as Smith waited to field a punt Sunday. Smith suffered a concussion and both benches emptied onto the field. Wesley was immediately ejected. ... New York Jets nose tackle Kris Jenkins, a four-time Pro Bowler, was placed on season-ending injured reserve Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee. ... Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom, who entered the weekend tied for the league lead with eight sacks, had surgery for a torn right Achilles' tendon on Monday and is out for the season.

Atlanta Falcons cornerback Brian Williams will need reconstructive knee surgery after being injured in Sunday's victory over the Chicago Bears and is out for the season. ... Baltimore Ravens defensive back Samari Rolle almost certainly won't play this season because of a neck injury. The 33-year-old Rolle was placed on the physically unable to perform list in August with hopes he might return, but surgery didn't correct the problem. ... Lofa Tatupu may not be out for the season after all. Seahawks coach Jim Mora said further tests on the three-time Pro Bowl linebacker's chest muscle indicated a partial tear rather than a complete one. He could return after a period of rehabilitation.

'House': Brave heart, weak stomach

2009-10-19T23:02:00.000-07:00

I admit, at the end of the last season of "House" I was beginning to lose faith. I thought maybe the show had wandered off course too far. But I still carried a spark of hope (and a crush on Hugh Laurie) and tonight it was fanned into a fire.

Our POTW is a cop who puts his life in danger each day in the line of the duty -- not because he thinks it's a higher calling as much as he is certain he will die shortly after his 40th birthday just like his father and grandfather. So, he takes insane risks, like trying to jump across rooftops after ninja-like criminals. The hereditary issue is enough to catch Cameron's eye and she brings the case to the team. Despite House's objection that there is no case, Foreman takes it on anyway.

And so begins one of the more gruesome episodes we've seen in quite some time, as bodies are exhumed, random putrefied liquids and all, in an attempt to find what genetic clues are to be had to unlock the mystery of impending death in an asymptomatic patient. Which is the only moment the show falters.

In the course of this search, it is revealed that the POTW has a son he never knew about. Which gives them a chance to get more viable genetic material as well as introduce a kid to his dad before he kicks the bucket. Which might be nice, if that dad wasn't such a jerk about it. Even still, all the tests show naught and finally House and Chase trick the POTW into discharge with a week of placebos in his pocket.

And then four hours later he drops dead. House struggles with the fact that he missed that there was something to miss and Chase struggles with that fact that he killed a patient a couple weeks back and he can't deal with it as well as he thought he could. So instead he throws himself into mundane tasks, like driving two hours to tell the mother of the POTW's son that he passed away. House, on the other hand, throws himself into the autopsy. It's been a couple of years since an episode of House made me jump. But I am pretty sure that before conducting an autopsy, the patient should be dead. Not screaming.

The team gets to work on a differential diagnosis for resurrection. The patient is less thrilled to be back form the dead and more concerned with his toothache. Which leads us to gross out number two, as he pulls his own tooth out with a pair of forceps. The kicker is, the tooth was perfectly healthy. They flounder around a bit more, but eventually house gets his epiphany, explaining that a hereditary intracranial berry aneurysm pressing on nerves in his brain was causing the random pain. And in the end, it would cause his heart to stop beating. Some brain surgery later and he's right as rain and somewhat more willing to be less of a jerk to his kid.

There was not a single moment of Foreteen, blessedly. Instead, we got lots of House and Wilson. Tired of House on the couch, Wilson fixed up the study as a bedroom for him. But he leaves all the pictures of Amber, and House starts to think he's hallucinating again as each night he lies awake listening to whispering that doesn't seem to have a source. Except, it does have a source. It's Wilson, whispering aloud to Amber and telling her about his days and how much he misses her. But it is interesting to watch House's anxiety when he thinks he may be having a psychotic break, sans Vicodin.

We also get a good deal of Chase and Cameron. Specifically, about his anxiety and guilt over having essentially committed murder and how he's pulling away from her despite all her attempts to get him to talk about what is bothering him. Even more surprising, House - once an outspoken critic of psychology - urges him to get help and talk to someone.

As recent episodes reminded us, before becoming a doctor, Chase went to seminary. Thus, when he does finally decide to talk to someone, it's a priest. But not because he wants to talk. Rather, he wants absolution. Unfortunately for him, he gets Fr. Michael O'Pragmatism who tells him that he can only gain absolution by taking responsibility for his actions and turning himself into the police. Instead, he gets drunk.

The end scenes are some of the best, though. House is happy. Still sarcastic, but with a sense of playfulness instead of denigration. And the final scene, of him laying in bed and whispering to his dad, feel like the start of a new arc for the character while not seeming out of character as he finishes the moment by yelling through the wall to Wilson that it's a stupid idea. Wilson's response to Amber; "See? He really is getting better", is the perfect summation. And the show is getting better too.

A fugacious force

2009-10-19T22:59:00.000-07:00

On merit, there is no case for a permanent RashtrThis had happened earlier as well. Now again newsreports suggest that the Finance Ministry has stalled the defence ministry’s proposal to grant a permanent sanction for Rashtriya Rifles[RR], Indian Army’s counterinsurgency force deployed in Jammu & Kashmir.

Since 1990, when the force was raised to deal with the rising violence in Kashmir, the RR has been given six extensions, the last being in March this year for a mere six months. …The Finance Ministry has objected to a permanent mandate saying that no “strong justification has arisen in terms of the security situation” that justifies a permanent stature for the 63 battalion-strong RR.[Indian Express]

The only reason put forth for granting a permanent mandate for RR is its need “to plan ahead and go in for long-term capital acquisitions to modernise troops with new weapons and technologies”. The defence ministry has also pointed out the “difficulties in training, maintaining and modernising a force without a permanent mandate”.

Even if one were to discount the argument of army’s vested interests — more senior ranks, power and influence in conflict environments — in making the RR a permanent force, there are a few other doubts that would need to be dispelled by the army. For counterinsurgency duties, like Assam Rifles for the North-East, RR is deployed only in Jammu & Kashmir. There are some regular army units also deployed in the two theatres for supporting these two forces.

With a semblance of normalcy returning to Jammu & Kashmir and the downward graph of militancy likely to continue in the future, there remains no rationale for permanent existence of RR; unless the army envisages a role for these RR units in counterinsurgency operations and internal security duties in other parts of the country, such as against the Maoists. But the suggestion of employing armed forces against the Maoists — and RR is a gendarmerie force of the army — has already been turned down by the Prime Minister.

Moreover, RR operates under the protection of Armed Forces Special Powers Act[AFSPA] whereas other paramilitary forces of the Home Ministry operate under the Disturbed Areas Act. One of the major demands of all political parties in J&K has been the removal of the AFSPA, which is perceived to be a more stringent and harsher act than the Disturbed Areas Act. Continued deployment of RR in the state would make fulfilment of such a condition nearly impossible and put the central government under additional pressure from the Kashmiri political parties, separatists, international media and myriad human rights group.

Most importantly, the army itself has never been keen on participating in internal security duties. In not-so-direct terms, many an army chief has said — echoed by certain retired senior officers in the media — that internal security responsibilities dilute the primary mandate of the army which is to focus on external security.

In such a case, the way ahead for the army — once the government comes up with a plan to demilitarise the population centres in Jammu & Kashmir — would be to disband the RR units in a phased manner. This would provide army with sufficient combat-hardened manpower and substantially reduce the much-hyped shortage of officers in its regular units besides allowing the army to focus on its primary role. And provide the government with a lot more political space to take bold decisions in J&K.iya Rifles.

monday night football october 19

2009-10-19T22:57:00.000-07:00

Today monday night football october 19 is the hottest topic in blogosphere. This is interesting topic because every one talking about this and you can find them in forum, google news, yahoo buzz. read more. Here some short excerpt and summary you might be interest to read. Monday Night Football Epic Crap – Thank god I am too young to remember much of the 1970s, but whoever thought that a disco song to fire up an NFL team was a good idea was very, very mistaken.

I found this info on the San Diego Chargers 1979 fight song from Discomusic.com.

Written and produced in 1979 by Jerry Marcellino and David Sieff and performed by Captain Q.B. & The Big Boys (who?), “San Diego Super Chargers” hit the airwaves the same year the team went on to win the first of three consecutive AFC West titles behind the potent “Air Coryell” offense led by quarterback Dan Fouts, wide receivers Charlie Joiner and John Jefferson and tight end Kellen Winslow.

Broncos vs. Chargers Monday Night Football – Just when I thought the week 6 games were crazy enough the Broncos vs. Chargers Monday Night Football game added a new wrinkle. After yesterday’s Patriots 59 – 0 shutout of the Titans; a last second field goal miss by the Ravens to preserve the Vikings undefeated season; and a Bills/Jets game that neither team seem to want to win I thought we’d see a “normal” inter-divisional game. Wrong.

As the Broncos vs. Chargers game heads into halftime the Chargers lead 20 – 17. Now the interesting part on how they got to that score. How about five leads changes, a kickoff return and two punt returns in the first half alone? After the Chargers took a 3 – 0 lead Eddie Royal of the Broncos took the ensuing kickoff 93 yards to paydirt to give his team a 7 – 3 lead after the point after.

Business calendar: Joliet chamber

2009-10-19T22:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesdays

Joliet chamber: Business Builders, 8 a.m. Tuesdays, Vito & Nick's II, 2231 W. Jefferson St., Joliet. Contact Mike Paone at 815-727-5371 for more information.

Fridays

Joliet chamber: Business Builders, 8 a.m. Fridays, Vito & Nick's II, 2231 W. Jefferson St., Joliet. Contact Mike Paone at 815-727-5371 for more information.

Saturday

Chicagoland Lionel Railroad Club: Open house, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., 1311 S. Schoolhouse Road. Halloween contest with prizes for attendees who wear costumes. Open houses will be held on the third Saturday of every month (except December) through May. Admission costs $2 per person, $5 per family. Memberships are available. Call 708-532-0435 or go towww.clrctrains.com .

Monday deadline

Joliet chamber: Joliet Area Young Professionals Annual Dinner, 5:30 p.m., Provena Saint Joseph Medical Center Conference Center, 333. N. Madison St., Joliet. Cost: $25 JAYP members, $30 guests. RSVP by Oct. 19, 815-727-5371.

Tuesday

Plainfield chamber: Ribbon cutting, 11:30 a.m., Kesap Klean Professional Cleaning Services, 24013 Norfolk Lane, Plainfield.Shorewood chamber: Breakfast Club, 7:30-9 a.m., Maggie's Place, 339 Vertin Blvd.
Romeoville chamber: Business After 5 Networking Event, 5-7 p.m., Creme de la Creme Early Learning Center, 724 N. Center Boulevard, Romeoville. Catered by Tastefully Simple/Mary Gilliam. RSVP, 815-886-2076.

Wednesday

Lockport chamber: Ribbon-cutting ceremony for First Community Bank of Homer Glen & Lockport, 10:30 a.m., 1035 E. 9th St. (behind McDonald's).Will Buy Locally Alliance: Member social/general membership meeting, 5-8 p.m., West Side Tap, 1356 Houbolt Road, Joliet.

Thursday deadline

Joliet chamber: Networking luncheon, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., Oct. 26, Al's Steak House, 1990 W. Jefferson St., Joliet. Each attendee will be allowed to pitch their business. Bring at least 100 business cards. RSVP by Oct. 22, 815-727-5371.Shorewood chamber: Ribbon Cutting, noon, Papa John's Pizza, 852 Sharp Drive, Shorewood. Free pizza will be served.

Thursday

Lockport chamber: Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m., model homes of Beechen & Dill, 16756 W. Merc Lane. Appetizers and beverages.New Lenox chamber: Multi Chamber Business After Hours, 5-7 p.m., Creative Toy Mart, 11326 W. Lincoln Highway, Mokena.
Young Professionals Group of the Southwest Suburbs and the Crest Hill chamber: After-Hours Business Networking Social, 5-7 p.m. Chaoz Sports Lounge, 20631 Renwick Road, Crest Hill (just east of Weber Road). Free. Everyone is welcome. Questions: ypgsouthwest@gmail.com.

Oct. 23 deadline

New Lenox chamber: Worker's compensation discussion, 6-9 p.m., Oct. 28, Bonfire, 15905 S. Bell Road, Homer Glen. Cocktails/dinner. Speakers: Dr. Jack Gelman, Hand and Upper Extremity Tendinitis; Keri Harris, Avoiding Workplace Injuries Through the Use of Ergonomic Assessments. RSVP by Oct. 23 to Judy Beller, 708-421-3400 or jpbconsult@comcast.net.Will County Center for Economic Development: Will County Recovery, An Economic Development Update, 7:30-9:15 a.m., Oct. 28, Bo Jackson Elite Sports Facility, 17130 S. Prime Blvd., Lockport. RSVP by Oct. 23,www.willcountyced.com . Call Corey Carbery, 815-774-6072 or corey.carbery@willcountyced.com.

Oct. 26 deadline

Grundy County chamber: Forecasting & Green Development, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., Oct. 30, First Christian Church, 455 W. Southmor Road, Morris. Cost: $10 per person, $15 per person after Oct. 26; includes refreshments. RSVP, 815-941-0852, info@cfgrundycounty.com.Oct. 28
Will Buy Locally Alliance: General membership meeting, 9-9:30 a.m., Babe's Hot Dogs, 2600 W. Jefferson St., Joliet. (Repeat of the membership meeting from Oct. 21.)

Oct. 29

Joliet chamber: Business Doing Business After Hours, 4-7 p.m., Holiday Inn Joliet Hotel and Conference Center, 411 S. Larkin Ave. Business Expo combined with Business After Hours. 815-727-5371 or www.jolietchamber.com .

Oct. 31

New Lenox chamber: Chamber Halloween Parade and Costume Contest, 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., Village Commons.

Nov. 3

Joliet chamber: Ribbon Cutting, 5 p.m., Advanced Foot and Ankle Center of Joliet, 350 Houbolt Road, Suite 104, Joliet.

Nov. 4

Lockport chamber: Meet the New Members Breakfast, 7:30-9 a.m., at NuVibe Juice & Java, located at 16105 S. Farrell Road. Speaker: Mayor Dev Trivedi.

Text messages show details of McNair's final night with Kazemi

2009-10-19T22:51:00.000-07:00

Nashville police have released new details about the investigation into Steve McNair's murder that show Sahel Kazemi had asked McNair for money and sent text messages about needing to be with him in the few days prior to their deaths on July 4.

The details were released in the middle of a two-part series aired on CBS' Early Showcriticizing the police investigation into the murder-suicide, although police officials have been working on a summary report of the investigation for several weeks.Police ruled the shooting deaths a murder-suicide several days after the bodies were found at a downtown condo off Second Avenue in downtown Nashville. McNair was shot four times, and Kazemi died from a single gunshot to the head. Neither had any defensive wounds, and police believe McNair was asleep.

Investigators concluded that Kazemi, 20, was drowning in debt and despondent over realizations that McNair was dating other women and wasn't going to leave his wife for her.

Metro police spokesman Don Aaron declined to comment on anything contained in the 14-page report. The CBS report stated that Kazemi had more than $2,500 in the bank, contradicting the police explanation that Kazemi was distraught over money and the unraveling relationship. But text messages between the two suggest that $2,000 of that money came from McNair on the evening before his murder.

According to the summary report, Kazemi's former roommate and ex-boyfriend told investigators that Kazemi was fielding calls from bill collectors and struggling to pay the nearly $800 car note and the full $1,000 rent after the roommate moved out.

When Kazemi went with McNair to Las Vegas, friend Emily Andrews told police, she first learned that Kazemi was having financial difficulties.

"Andrews said she and another friend paid Kazemi's expenses because Kazemi had only $32," the report said.

Early in the morning on July 3, she texted McNair saying she might have a breakdown because she's so stressed. He responded, telling her everything was going to be okay.

"Baby I need to pay the cellphone bills n the hospital.can you transfer 2000 to my acc (sic)", the text message said.

Then, nine minutes later, she said she may need to go to the hospital because she can hardly breathe.

A few hours later, she told McNair she wanted to pay some bills before she went to work because they were stressing her out. He assured her he had a guy transferring the money.

Chris Wall, who provided security for McNair's family, told investigators that McNair had gotten increasingly annoyed with his relationship with Kazemi. She often called him when he was with his wife and children, according to Wall, and he was getting tired of it. He had slowed down the relationship and was seeing her less often, Wall said.

A Nashville woman named Leah Ignagni also told police she had been dating McNair and, in the weeks before his death, she had left the Lea Avenue condo and was followed home by a woman in a black Escalade.

Ignagni, who is listed on her LinkedIn profile as the senior editor of a start-up magazine called 61Five, also told police she saw the same Escalade parked outside her apartment building and circling the block on a couple other occasions.

On the night after Kazemi was arrested on a DUI charge and McNair bailed her out of jail, he went to Ignagni's apartment and spent the night.

Below is the content of text message records police subpoenaed from McNair's cellphone carrier. The following texts were received by McNair's phone on July 3. Interviews with friends of McNair's confirmed that he was actually out at several Nashville bars in the evening hours during this conversation.

Kazemi, 4:04 p.m.: Baby I have to be w u 2nite. I dnt care where

Kazemi, 4:16 p.m.Tell me u gonna be w me

Kazemi, 8:34 p.m.: baby where u gonna be at when I get off

McNair, 8:50 p.m.: I'm at home baby what time u get off

Kazemi, 8:51 p.m.: round 11

Kazemi, 9:10 p.m.: where u gonna be at baby

McNair, 9:15 p.m.: at home til the kids fall asleep

Kazemi, 9:18 p.m.: k ill call when I get off

Kazemi, 10:23 p.m.: do u wanna get out n drink

McNair, 10:35 p.m.: Probably not baby having trouble with the kids getting to sleep

Kazemi, 10:45 p.m.: k im going to the condo in a min

McNair, 10:59 p.m.: ok

Kazemi, 11:28 p.m.: they asleep babe

McNair, 11:34 p.m.: they are on the way

McNair, 12:38 a.m.: On my way

Kazemi, 12:38 a.m.: k

Kazemi, 12:48 a.m.: u want me to open the gate

McNair, 12:52 a.m. (sent twice): No open the front door

Kazemi, 1:14 a.m.: its open

Kazemi, 2:23 a.m.: im going to the store*

Investigators say the last text message appears out of sequence, and it was received by McNair's phone at 2:23 a.m. but on Kazemi's phone, there was no time stamp on the message.

Football: Ponies top Bears to secure conference championship

2009-10-19T08:39:00.000-07:00

WHITE BEAR LAKE - The heavy lifting came on Friday when Stillwater ended Cretin-Derham Hall's 30-game conference winning streak, but it wasn't until the Ponies knocked off rival White Bear Lake 17-3 on Wednesday they could call themselves Suburban East Conference champions.

The third-ranked Ponies (7-0 SEC, 7-0) wrapped up their first league title since 2005 and can secure just their fifth unbeaten regular season since 1985 with a victory over Hastings on Tuesday.

Stillwater, which also locked up the No. 1 seed and a coveted first-round bye in the Section 2AAAAA tournament, enjoyed a rather subdued celebration for a team that has climbed to the top of the standings after enduring a 5-5 season that included several lop-sided losses a year ago.

STADIUM ROCKS FOR U.S. Ancient RFK is a home stadium

2009-10-19T08:36:00.000-07:00

WASHINGTON, DC---The stadium is one of the oldest still in use by a professional sports franchise and its age and years of neglect are starting to show, but RFK Stadium is still one of the best places in the United States to watch a soccer game.

Opened in 1960 to house the Washington Senators baseball team and the Washington Redskins of the National Football League, RFK has seen its share of soccer history.

Four different North American Soccer League teams called the stadium home, the Washington Whips, two versions of the Diplomats and Team America. A later version of the Diplomats in the American Soccer League also played there. It has been the home of D.C. United since 1996, and has been used for the 1994 World Cup, the 1996 Olympics and the 2003 Women’s World Cup.

“It’s an old stadium, it has a lot of history,” said U.S. National Team Coach Bob Bradley. “We always enjoy coming here.”

It’s no wonder the U.S. team likes playing there. All-time the Americans have compiled an 12-3-5 record in the Nation’s Capital. It’s the nearest thing the U.S. has to a national soccer stadium. Sometimes the crowds can be a bit partisan toward the other side, but as the U.S. team has improved, so too has the home side feel of the place.

Sam’s Army and the other U.S. supporter’s clubs have blended in well with the home town Barra Brava, United’s supporters club, to make the U.S. team feel at home.

During Wednesday’s game against Costa Rica, many of the crowd of 26,243 stood and chanted a tribute to Charlie Davies while holding up placards with his jersey #9 on them.

“The crowd tonight was fantastic,” said Landon Donovan.

That energy was transmitted when the U.S. scored its first goal, with the roar and stomping causing the nearly 50 year old building to shake. The game tying goal brought about the same effect.
“There was just a real energy about the crowd,” Donovan said.

The U.S. tem repaid the loyalty of the crowd, which sat through cold weather and a steady rain with an fantastic come from behind to tie Costa Rica 2-2.
“The way the crowd was tonight, they were awesome,” said U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard. “We were probably going to give a lap of honor and celebrate with our fans anyway, that (the result) just made it more special.”

Unfortunately, it seems like RFK’s days are numbered. The Washington Nationals baseball team made some minor improvements to the place while they used it as a temporary home, but otherwise it has become outdated and severely lacking in the modern amenities teams look for in their stadium. DC United has been seeking for several years to have a soccer stadium built somewhere in the DC area. Several efforts have already failed. Most recently however, the mayor of Baltimore has asked the Maryland Stadium Authority to consider building a facility for United near that city’s baseball and football stadiums.
Its not likely it would ever rock like old RFK.

NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Hello Drew Brees

2009-10-19T08:34:00.000-07:00

Several Teams Had Extremely Impressive Week's and it Shows in the New NFL Power Rankings

The week 7 NFL power rankings shook things up a bit. The week 7 NFL power rankings also show that the power has shifted a bit in the NFL, and that there is a new teamrunning the show this week. There are still teams that have gone undefeated, but there are also a few teams that have yet to win a game through the first six weeks of the NFLseason. Both of those facts result in a number of shifts in the week 7 NFL power rankings, including there being a new #1 in the NFL as well as a new #32 as the Tennessee Titans showed they might not deserve to be considered anNFL team.

The biggest surprise of the week wasn't that the New England Patriots beat the Tennessee Titans, but that they embarrassed them by a score of 59-0. Tom Brady proved he is still a great quarterback, but the Titans also proved they have a lot of work to do on that franchise. As we predicted before, the New York Jets came back to Earth, but they did it in a very ugly fashion against (gasp) Buffalo. The other shocker was that Cincinnati played host to the Houston Texans, but were beaten 28-17 in an ugly game. They will be punished severely in the rankings for the output that they had on this night.

The game of the season (so far) was between the undefeated New York Giants and the undefeated New OrleansSaints, but Drew Brees made it his show as he shredded the Giants defense. The Saints defense was equally as impressive, shutting down the running game of the Giants, and keeping Eli Manning boxed in for most of the night. The Minnesota Vikings were also impressive again, and with the heroics of Brett Favre, became the only team in the NFL with a 6-0 record so far. Their all-around game showed that they can rely on more than just the arm of Brett Favre for the rest of the season. It looks like they can compete with the best of the defenses around the league, and that has to make the Vikings fans quite happy.

Jim Nantz Lorrie Nantz Divorce and Girlfriend!

2009-10-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

Jim Nantz said he has a girlfriend in his divorce from Lorrie Nantz. Jim Nantz’s girlfriend is 29. Jim says in his divorce with Lorrie that his marriage was already dead.
How much does Jim Nantz make per year? That’s coming out too in the divorce, along with how much Lorrie would spend on jewelry. Nantz makes more than $7 million per year. He also has a deal with Titleist, the value not revealed. The couple have a 15 year old child, a six bedroom house in Westport, and a ski resort condo, reveals the divorce.

Jim Nantz complains that he wife allegedly spent $1 million in nine years on clothing and jewelry. And she spent allegedly all that in just Westport alone! The interesting exchange isreportedly about Lorrie ’s recent alleged purchase of a $12,000 on one necklace. Now she can’t remember details about it - “I think it has some sort of stone”. And she bought the necklace just 30 days ago.

Lorrie wants alimony and over $1.5 million in child support … annually.

Detroit Marathon Deaths

2009-10-19T08:24:00.000-07:00

Names have been released for the Detroit Marathon deaths. The Detroit Marathon deaths were of Daniel Langdon, Rick Brown, and John Fenlon.
Langdon collapsed after 9 am after the 11 mile marker. He was 36. Brown, 65, collapsed 15 minutes later near Langdon. One minute later, Fenlon collapsed. Fenlon, 26, had just finished the half marathon.
The last time someone died in the Detroit Marathon was 1994. 19,000 people ran the race last weekend.. Free Press’ Paul Anger said:

On a day when so many people bring such energy and challenged themselves to do their utmost, this news is very difficult to hear. Our deepest sympathies are with the families.”Some reports said the 65 year old male fell and suffered head injury while the other’s cause of death was not released.
Race officials say the following about their marathon:

We pride ourselves on giving you an extraordinary experience. From first-timers to old-timers, runners are our top priority. Our staff is dedicated to providing you with supportive volunteers, the chance to make great friends, a historic racecourse, and the opportunity to accomplish a lifetime achievement.
Along with a fast, spectator-friendly course, we offer the following international divisions:
* Marathon run (26.2 miles)
* Marathon for wheelers and hand cyclists (26.2 miles)
* Half-marathon run (13.1 miles)
* Half-marathon competitive and non-competitive walks (13.1 miles)
* Five-person team relays - distances vary from 3 to 7 miles (26.2 miles)

Dante Wesley hit video and Uconn football player stabbed

2009-10-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Dante Wesley hit video and Uconn football player stabbed. Dante Wesley is in danger of not only losing his place in his team but may also be prosecuted for wittingly hitting Clifton Smith.

Clifton Smith who collapsed on the ground and remained semiconscious for several minutes before regaining his breath.

Twenty four year old Clifton Smith is an American football running back for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League.

Artie Lange calls in sick week two: the saga continues

2009-10-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

Artie Lange calls in sick week two: the saga continuesHoward Stern Show fans who tuned in to hear the return of Artie Lange on Monday morning were treated to the news that the controversy-embroiled comedian would be missing work once again. Howard Stern started out Monday morning's show with the announcement that Artie Lange had sent yet another cryptic text message announcing that he was not coming in to the Sirius XM studios.

"I love Artie, but boy he's got a lot of issues. I don't know what's going on--and I kind of don't want to know what's going on.

Howard Stern didn't read Artie Lange's text message to the Howard Stern Show audience stating that he wasn't sure if the message was intended to be shared with listeners, but Stern teased his audience by passing the text message to co-host Robin Quivers who responded "Oh dear. I thought what he's taking is supposed to prevent that."

Prevent what? A drug relapse? Violent, disabling depression?

Howard Stern Show listeners called in to ask Howard Stern to read Artie Lange's brief text message, but Stern responded that Artie Lange will come in to the studio "eventually" and that that's "Artie's story to tell."
Eventually, Howard Stern will have to let the the Baby Gorilla out of the bag.

Interview with a real vampire

2009-10-19T07:59:00.000-07:00

We got the bloody truth from a modern-day Dracula.

Seregon O’Dassey, a New York vampire-model-actress puts other multihyphenates to shame. This month, between attending bloodsucker bashes and filming horror flicks, she’s educating the public in the seriesVampires Revealed on Comcast On Demand's Paranormal TV Channel.

So. You actually drink blood.
Well, not on a regular basis. It really kinda depends on what I’m feeling at the moment. I would say maybe two, three times a month. It’s never public; it’s not like people think. I don’t have a craving and grab a random person. If my boyfriend cuts himself in the kitchen, or if I really want something, I’ll ask my boyfriend. Or I have a little blade so I can make little nicks in myself. Nothing bad, it’s completely safe, not even a permanent scar.

You don’t worry about health issues?
That’s why I only do it with myself, or my boyfriend. I always compare it to a sexual experience, for more than one reason; one of them’s safety. You have to know the person, trust the person.

What’s the Manhattan vampire scene like?
I can only really compare it against Philadelphia. Manhattan, it’s not really a tight-knit community. I would say it’s more segregated, in that you have more than one court, you have a myriad of houses or orders. And New Jersey is rather small, tight-knit.

The hierarchy of it is complicated, with houses and orders and courts.
I usually compare it to the government. You have people you report to. You go to your sire, if you have one. Then who’s in charge of your house or order. Or if you belong to a court, you go up to your chain of command until you get to your regent. It’s like the President with your legislative branches, and each state has a government, each city has a mayor.

Wow. Do vampires have their own governmental drama, intern scandals and stuff?
Oh, absolutely. Wow. Wow, the stories I could tell you. Yes. [Laughs] Very, very much so. It’s the reason I’m not in a court anymore is that someone hurt me, and there was absolutely nothing done about it.

What kind of hurt?
I can’t go into too much detail, but let’s just say that I was not allowed to model for almost a month. I couldn’t even leave the house, there were marks all over me.

Wow. You going to lead a splinter group? A revolution?
[Laughs] People keep asking me that. I could, I just don’t want to. I act as my career, and I haven’t the time, or the energy to do that kind of thing.

Is there a such thing as a hipster vampire?
You mean, like, trendy?

Yeah, with skinny jeans.
I guess you could call them that. I call them cyber goths, the younger generation or the next generation. They tend to be more punk, with those wire coils in their hair. And the older generation, or my generation—did I just call myself old?—we tend to be more elegant.

Kids today!
The younger generation isn’t as elegant or regal. They don’t wear the corsets as much, they wear those little ballerina skirts and those combat boots. I guess you could call them hipsters. They have their own new take on the old way of doing things.

So what aboutTwilight? Do “real” vampires hate it?
It’s a different thing. It just seemed very young for me, almostSweet Valley High–ish. Which is okay, just not my cup of tea. But I’m aTrue Blood fan. What people need to remember is that they’re things to make money, to entertain people. It’s not meant to be a representative of this community. People can get the wrong idea; you should learn more about something before you become a part of it. Read a lot about psychology and energy and anything that has to do with the vampire culture, and filter it within yourself.

What does blood taste like?
It’s thick; it’s very rich. I wanna say dirty. But it’s not sweet, it’s not bitter. It’s almost like if you were to touch metal and then lick your finger. What a lot of people don’t know is that you shouldn’t ever have too much of it because it’s a natural laxative and it can make you sick. You’re taking in energy, and you don’t want to be greedy. It will overwhelm you. It teaches you control, in a way.

McDonalds Monopoly Online

2009-10-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

McDonalds Monopoly Online was introduced by McDonald’s in 2004 as an online compliment to the traditional McDonald’s game. Here the McDonald’s given the participants an opportunity to play online in addition to the traditional game of McDonald’s through sticker. There are different codes on the list in each piece of this game and these pieces are entered online. There may be 10 maximum entries in a full day i.e. in 24 hours. Every code that is entered by the participant gives the participant 1 roll on the virtual board of the Monopoly game, similar to the game board. As in the case of real board’s game, it also enables the participant to repeat its move by rolling the doubles, i.e. the two dice which share same number. In this case landing on the Income Tax, Electric Company, Just Visiting/Jail, Water Works, Go to the Jail as well as the Luxury Taxes do not conclude any prize. In case the player landed on the property un-owned by him, the participant will be able to collect the property. After all the properties of a set of color are being collected, the participant wins the prize and the prize value is similar to the prize value in case of “sticker game”. Apart from collection of property sets, the users or participants may win through landing on the various certain spaces called “instant win” which include, Chance, Go, Free Parking and Community Chest. These categories enable the user to win various worthy and interesting items against each category or landing on these various categories. The value of prizes has been increasing with subsequent years making more attractive in recent years.

Living to 100 Life Expectancy Calculator!

2009-10-19T07:53:00.000-07:00

The Living to 100 Life ExpectancyCalculator (livingto100.com) is a new online death calculator. Living to 100 Life tells your life expectancy following 40 questions you complete.

Living to 100 takes about 10 minutes to do. It derives data from your health and family history. The test is from a new england study and comes as Japan has the word’s longest life expectancyof 83 for kids born after 2007. The U.S. is 80 years old for births after 2007.
The study found that reaching age 100 will become more normal for people born this decade. Countries that will show longer life expectancies include France, Germany, Italy, UK, US, Canada, and Japan. It also found a gene called FOXO3A is common in people living over 100.

Chicago Marathon: On your mark, get set, go

2009-10-11T07:53:00.000-07:00

Cool temperatures spark speculation about possibility of world record

The weather question for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon today is whether it will be too cold or just right for setting a world record.

With a forecast for temperatures in the 30s at the start, the marathon certainly will be different from the heat-plagued races of the last two years.Different enough to have Larry Moon thinking globally. Moon, who has raced in all the Chicago Marathons, including the four in which world records were set, said he has a feeling.
''There are fast people coming in this year, and with the temperatures we have forecast, there is a good chance we will see a world record this year,'' he said.
Executive race director Carey Pinkowski wouldn't go that far.
''I am not predicting anything,'' he said. ''We have some very talented young men and women who come here with the goal of running very fast.''
At the news conference Friday for the elite runners, U.S. women's record holder Deena Kastor said: ''It's a matter of layering. Hopefully, we don't have to wear the puffy coat I had to wear all week.''
''I don't want to say anything [about a world record], but it depends on the weather,'' Vincent Kipruto of Kenya said.
''Cold is better than warm,'' Irina Mikitenko of Germany said. ''But too cold is not good, either.''
The most unique perspective on the cold came from two-time defending men's wheelchair champion Kurt Fearnley of Australia, who said the cold makes it harder to turn the wheels.
''You just end up whacking your arms against the side of the chair,'' he said.

Marathon winner runs to repeat

2009-10-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

Kevin Borrelli’s training routine going into Sunday’s 14th annual Steamtown Marathon is essentially the same as last year’s.Why mess with success?

Still, Borrelli feels different as race day approaches.

“The preparation is the same,” Borrelli said. “I was successful last year so I’m following the same routine.

“But the pressure there is more. I’ve gone from a guy running a marathon to a guy with a target on his back running a marathon.”

In just his second career marathon, Borrelli made it through the 26.2-mile course from Forest City to Scranton in a winning time of 2:22:41, 26 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Keith Pierce of Krum, Texas.

Borrelli, 27, has an accomplished running career dating back to a District 2 championship in high school as a junior at Mid Valley and including helping Duquesne University win its first Atlantic-10 Conference championship in any sport. He was 14th out of 23,244 finishers in the Broad Street Run, a 10-mile race through Philadelphia in May. Last month, the Marywood University cross country coach finished 27th in the United States 20K Championships.

Still, there is nothing quite like winning a marathon running through the streets where you live, work and train.

“It is something I relive every time I’m running on the course,” said Borrelli, who put in 100-mile training weeks through June, July and August to prepare for defending his title. “It was a great feeling. It always will be.”

The memories are still vivid for Borrelli.

“It was such a great race,” he said. “I didn’t know I had it won until the last quarter-mile.

“I remember going up the hill at Cooper’s with my head down going as fast as I can. I didn’t dare look back.”

Borrelli could have had a target on his back that day. Nobody was catching him.

The Throop resident beat a field that included the Matt Byrne, the only two-time champion in the event’s history (2004 and 2006). Byrne, a Scranton native now living in Philadelphia, hit the 18-mile mark with Borrelli, a second ahead of Pierce.

As Borrelli gets ready to try to match Byrne’s feat of two titles, beginning at 8 a.m. Sunday at Forest City High School, it is not clear who the strongest threats will be.

Through Tuesday, two days before the entry deadline on the largest field in Steamtown Marathon history, three other runners had joined Borrelli in indicating that they projected runs of better than 2:30. Marathon officials use those projections to help arrange top runners at the starting line.

Jeffrey McCabe of Exeter, Joe McElhoney of Beacon, N.Y. and Mike Smith of Alexandria, Va. were the runners anticipating breaking the 2:30 barrier.

Borrelli is now in his second year as Marywood’s coach. He said the runners who he will coach at the DeSales Invitational in Allentown Saturday also will be providing support for him Sunday.

“They’re pumped he said,” he said. “They’re into it. They’ll be all throughout the course riding bikes from place to place trying to see as much as they can.”

WOMEN’S RACE

Heidi Wolfsberger of Moosic, the 2008 champion, is not entered, but a strong women’s field appears to be shaping up.

Yolanda Mercado, who qualified for the Beijing Olympics for Puerto Rico, is entered along with 2005 champion Megan Duerring and Tammy Slusser, last year’s runner-up.

Duerring will be looking to join Charlene Lyford and Patty Fulton as multiple winners.

Lyford was the women’s champion the first three years, including a record time of 2:44:01 in 1998. Fulton won in 2000 and 2001.

AGE GROUPS

There is prize money for the top men’s and women’s finishers overall and the top men’s and women’s Masters (over 40).

There are additional awards for age groups.

Tony Cerminaro of Jermyn, a former Boston Marathon age group champion, has won his age group every year of the Steamtown Marathon. Now competing in the 70-and-over division, Cerminaro finished in 3:22:10, almost 43 minutes better than the second-place finisher among the 14 over-70 male runners that finished.

“When it first started, I didn’t know if this was going to last,” Cerminaro said of the marathon, “but, it’s going strong now.”

The same could be said of Cerminaro. The 73-year-old spent the week leading up to his fourth marathon of the year by refereeing high school soccer games each night.

The age-group breakdowns are: 24-under, 25-29, 30-34, 35-39, 40-44, 45-49, 50-54, 55-59, 60-64, 65-69 and 70-over.

Pinkowski just keeps on running

2009-10-11T07:49:00.000-07:00

Twenty seconds are Carey Pinkowski's special time in each Chicago Marathon.
''For me, it is the eerie silence right before the start of the race, for the 20 seconds before the horn; then you have the thundering cheer of all the participants,'' Pinkowski said.A good number, 20. The Bank of America Chicago Marathon on Sunday will be Pinkowski's 20th as executive race director.
Whether the Chicago Marathon is a world-record-setting one or devastated by heat-related deaths, Pinkowski has become the race's face -- not bad for an Indiana high school state champion track and cross-country runner from Hammond.
Even though he was an elite runner -- a record-setting one for Villanova -- marathons were not Pinkowski's forte. His first taste of marathons was not in the early years of the Chicago Marathon, which began only in 1977, but while he lived in Philadelphia in the late 1970s and early '80s and would take a train to watch the New York City Marathon.
''I found it fascinating, never thinking I would run one,'' he said. ''When I started running road races [such as the Peachtree Road Race], I became an astute observer of road running.''
Astute enough that by the late 1980s, he was a consultant for the Chicago Marathon. Then he was named race director for the 1990 race.
''I knew there was a tremendous opportunity to put it on the tracks,'' Pinkowski said.
The year before he took over, there were 7,269 starters and 5,635 finishers. There are 45,000 registered this year.
''In spite of how large Chicago has become, it remains well organized, which ... is a tribute to Carey Pinkowski and the people he hires,'' said Larry Moon, who has run all the Chicago races.
Deftly handling the needs of both elite runners and tens of thousands of ordinary runners may be Pinkowski's greatest accomplishment.
''He knows how to communicate with world-class athletes and get on their wavelength and convince them to come to Chicago,'' Moon said.
Pinkowski had to deal with something completely different in 2007, when death-dealing heat forced the race to be halted about 3Â½ hours into it.
''It was a tough year personally, and for our event -- and also a good learning year,'' Pinkowski said. ''My old coach in college said, 'You judge a champion on how you deal with adversity.' We made some adjustments and learned a lot. It helped us a lot in Chicago and a lot in the [running community]. You can't expect everything to go perfect.''
The Chicago Marathon brushes perfection regularly, in part because Pinkowski has a knack for finding the right athletes at the right time in their careers with ''the speed and track savvy'' for the fast, flat course that makes Chicago's marathon special.
Four world records have been established at the Chicago Marathon, and three have come since Pinkowski took over: Khalid Khannouchi (2:05:42) in 1999, Catherine Ndereba (2:18:47) in 2001 and Paula Radcliffe (2:17:18) in 2002. Steve Jones set the first in 1984 (2:08:05).
''Those were benchmark performances that revolutionized how they run marathons,'' Pinkowski said. ''Prior to that, it was a race of patience and endurance.''

Charlyne Yi

2009-10-11T07:47:00.000-07:00

Charlyne Yi, Asian American performance artist, musician, writer, painter and actress, Charlyne Yi’s new movie “Paper Heart” will open in theaters on August 7.Moviegoers may remember Yi from her brief but memorable appearance in director Judd Apatow’s hit comedy “Knocked Up.”

In “Paper Heart,” Yi stars along with Michael Cera and Jake Johnson. It was directed by Nick Jasenovec and produced by Sandra Murillo.

Yi executive produced in addition to co-writing the screenplay and stars as a fictionalized version of herself.

The “hybrid-documentary” follows her as she embarks on a quest across America to find “love.”

According to the filmmakers, as Yi and her good friend (and director) Nick search for answers and advice about love, she talks with friends and strangers, scientists, bikers, romance novelists, and children. They each offer diverse views on modern romance, as well as various answers to the age-old question: does true love really exist?

But shortly after filming begins, Yi meets a boy after her own heart: Michael Cera. As their relationship develops on camera, her pursuit to discover the nature of love takes on a fresh new urgency. Yi risks losing the person she finds closest to her heart.

The movie combines elements of documentary and traditional storytelling, reality and fantasy into a whimsical story that won the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

'Whip It' movie review: Ellen Page spins in circles in Barrymore's directorial debut

2009-10-11T07:46:00.000-07:00

“Whip It” Movie Review -- Bliss Cavendar is going nowhere, slowly.

She has a job at a barbecue joint that requires her to wear an apron with a giant pig’s face on it. She has a mother who insists she compete in local beauty pageants. She has a boyfriend who … well actually, no. She doesn’t have a boyfriend.

So Bliss decides she has to do something, fast. After all, she’s 17. Life is passing her by. So she catches a bus out of her small Texas town to Austin where she tries out for — and amazingly earns — a spot on the Hurl Scouts roller-derby team.

Whip It (PG-13) Fox Searchlight (111 min.) Directed by Drew Barrymore. With Ellen Page, Juliette Lewis, Marcia Gay Harden, Daniel Stern. Now playing in New Jersey.
STEPHEN WHITTY’S RATING: TWO STARS

Rating note: The film contains strong language, violence, sexual situatiosn and substance abuse.

Yes, “Whip It” is actually a modern movie about roller derby.

Even more improbably, it stars Ellen Page, the petite, smart-mouthed star of “Juno,” which is a little like a movie about Michael Cera going for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Ol’ Juno MacGuff as a derby queen? Those jocks spit bigger than she is.

The gulf between the dream and the reality could be a large part of the humor in “Whip It.” Unfortunately, there isn’t much comedy in the movie at all.

Instead, it just recycles ideas from quirkier indie comedies (the beauty pageants, the schlocky minimum-wage jobs) and more mainstream young romances (the “sensitive” new boyfriend, the follow-your-dream bromides). It’s as if Napoleon Dynamite and Little Miss Sunshine strapped on skates and sailed right into some pat Hollywood comedy.

That’s too bad, because Barrymore — who’s starred in a few pat Hollywood comedies herself — is making her directing debut here (as well as taking on a small part as one of the derby queens). And you’d think, after 30 years of being in front of a camera, she’d have a few novel ideas about what to do behind it.

But “Whip It” just moves blandly along, right up to the inevitable “gag” reel under the final credits. The derby scenes are filmed in such tight closeups that we miss out on the plays the women are working so hard to execute; Bliss’ conflicts with her best friend, her new boyfriend and her parents are so obvious they could write themselves.

True, the derby dames’ stage names — “Bloody Holly,” “Eva Destruction,” “Smashley Simpson” — are more fun than a roomful of drag queens. The always courageously eccentric Juliette Lewis is terrific as the evil “Dinah Might,” and after her SNL hamming, Kristen Wiig gives a refreshingly restrained comic performance as “Malice in Wonderland.”

But Page never convinces as “Babe Ruthless,” her team’s new star. As her emo boyfriend, Oliver, Landon Pigg is, well, just as smoothly charming as his name. And if Barrymore really wanted to do a movie about empowerment — “girls getting to do what boys do,” as she told Time Out New York — why make the team’s bossy coach a man?

Points go to Lewis for bringing all of her fixed-stare intensity to a typical villainous part and elevating it. And credit is owed to some of the supporting performers, including Barrymore who, modestly, settles for playing one of the lesser athletes. But like the sport itself, this movie goes in circles. In the end, it hardly matters who wins.

Defense headlines Gators vs. Tigers slugfest

2009-10-11T07:43:00.000-07:00

LSU's defense a shell of former selfSometimes a coaching staff's week of preparation can almost be heard while watching a game. While Florida's coaches probably didn't exactly put it in these terms, they seemed like they looked at gamefilm of LSU and said, "this defensive line sucks; we can run on them all day long up the middle."

The LSU defensive front isn't in the same zip code as the ones that paved the way to national championships and to so much success in the past. And that's why Florida won 13-3 in a game that wasn't anywhere near as close as the final score.
Sorry to go Neanderthal, but Florida's offensive line tested LSU's manhood and exposed it (thankfully, not literally). Dive play up the middle. Dive play up the middle. Pitch up the middle. Dive play up the middle. And so on, and so on and so on. Florida didn't have to do anything fancy offensively because its defense dominated as much as its O line did.
The LSU offensive front is mediocre, and it showed. QB Jordan Jefferson completed 11-of-17 passes, but he averaged a mere 5.6 yards per completion and did nothing downfield ... he didn't have the time. Charles Scott tried to make things happen on his own running the ball, but against the swarming Florida D, he didn't have a chance. And the LSU coaches should've known this.
It seems like Les Miles and his staff are the last ones to know how their lines are struggling. LSU had to do something out of the norm and had to do something out of its comfort zone to beat a champion like Florida, and that includes going for it on 4th-and-goal from the one instead of kicking a field goal. LSU didn't play scared, but it didn't play fearless. And it also got beaten up. The spread might not be known for being a power offense, but with the Gators running it in Death Valley, it was a bulldozer.
— Pete Fiutak

Here come the critics

Brace yourself. The SEC bashing is going to be amped up throughout the month of October.
The Southeastern Conference is an awful lot like Notre Dame. Those who don't genuflect to it typically hate it. Across the country, people love to pick apart the league, which, like it or not, is the best in the country. Now, I know you guys in Big 12, Big Ten, and Pac-10 country were rolling your eyes and shaking your head throughout the Florida-LSU game.
"Where the heck are the offenses?," you texted repeatedly to equally perplexed friends. "These are two of the best teams in the country?," you shouted at the dog.
Outside of the South, college football fans won't be the least bit impressed by either the Gators or the Tigers following their showdown in Baton Rouge. That's a given. Defense ruled the day and big offensive plays came at a premium. Not unlike an NFL game between a couple of heavyweights, that's typically what you're going to get when a pair of SEC powerhouses meet.
In fact, bank on a similar blueprint if Florida and Alabama meet in Atlanta in December. Sure, they have playmakers in the conference, but the scales still tip in favor of the best defenses, which are chock full of speed and depth.So go ahead and take your best shot at the SEC in the coming weeks. The league has heard it all before, and has undoubtedly become tone deaf to the rhetoric. When you're on top of the mountain, it gets a little tougher to hear what everyone below you is saying.
— Richard Cirminiello

Tebow had too much to lose

1) If others are uncomfortable saying this, it's understandable, but here goes: It doesn't matter that Tim Tebow won this game; it matters that he survived it. It doesn't matter that Urban Meyer won this game; what matters is that he put Tebow on the field in a rather unfortunate display of machismo.
It doesn't matter that Florida was the better-coached team, the more prepared team, or the team that left Tiger Stadium still unbeaten and on top of the college football world. This was a sad night in Baton Rouge, a night when the hunger for glory outstripped a young man's well-being. Tebow wasn't cleared to play on Thursday; exactly what happened in the following 48 hours that made him fit to step on the field?
It all makes sense in the ways of the world, and according to the small-G "gods" of mammon and the acclaim of fellow men, but it doesn't make sense from a medical standpoint. God bless Tim Tebow; he's an amazing person and competitor, the likes of which I've never seen in 28 years of watching college football. But he wasn't served well tonight.
That overshadowed anything else that happened in this game.
2) Normally, a second piece of short-form analysis would appear here, but with the Tebow story in mind, this space will be left unattended in quiet protest. (No, this move won't be replicated in future weeks; it's a one-time deal — spare the hate mail.)
— Matt Zemek

Defense takes the cake

The whole lead up to Florida's win at LSU was all about Tim Tebow. Would he play? Wouldn't he play? Could he survive the game?
Once the 60 minutes were over, it was clear this had nothing to do with Tebow. Florida won this game because of its defense, which was able to control the shaky LSU offense by stopping the Tiger passing game and controlling the LSU running attack, which was supposed to be its staple. Tebow was tentative, and that was to be expected.
The Florida offense was hardly at full strength, and its inability to convert fourth downs deep in LSU territory was probably more a result of Tebow's rust than a fatal flaw. It's hard to imagine the Gators' having any real challenge left on the schedule, except a lack of focus.
As long as Florida can play this kind of D every week, nobody in the SEC can stop it — except Alabama — and the Tide won't show up opposite of the Gators until the SEC title game. Tebow will get better as the weeks go on, as he proved against the Tigers, he doesn't need to be all that sharp, thanks to the suffocating Florida defense.

Oct. 22, Blogger Frank Warren to Reveal “Postsecrets” at UAB

2009-10-11T07:40:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a secret. Frank Warren will share the ones he has collected from people around the world through his PostSecret Project during a lecture at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Thursday, Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in Volker Hall Lecture Room A, 1670 University Blvd.

Tickets for the lecture, "The Most Trusted Speaker in America: Frank Warren's 'PostSecret,'" are free for UAB students, faculty and staff with a UAB ID and $10 each for the general public. Tickets can be purchased 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in the UAB Hill University Center Ticket Office, adjacent to the main lobby, at 1400 University Blvd. The UAB Lecture Series and the Films & Novelties Committee sponsor the event.

Warren is the founder and curator of the PostSecret Project, in which he invites people from every walk of life to send him creatively decorated postcards bearing secrets they have never told anyone. So far, Warren has collected more than 200,000 of the highly personal postcards mailed to him anonymously.

In 2006, his PostSecret blog, postsecret.blogspot.com, which receives more than 3 million visitors every month, was awarded six weblog awards, including "Best American Blog" and "Blog of the Year." Warren's first book, PostSecret: Extraordinary Confessions From Ordinary Lives (ReganBooks) became a New York Times bestseller. He followed it up with The Secret Lives of Men and Women: A PostSecret Book and A Lifetime of Secrets. His traveling exhibition of PostSecret cards was called by The Washington Post, "One of the five best art shows in 2005."

The All-American Rejects approached Warren about using actual PostSecret images in their "Dirty Little Secret" music video in 2005. They offered Warren $1,000, but instead he asked them to donate $2,000 to 1(800)SUICIDE, where he volunteered. The donation was made and the music video became one of the most requested on MTV. Warren has now released another PostSecret book focusing on religion and spirituality, PostSecret: Confessions on Life, Death, and God.

Warren continues to receive between 100 and 200 postcards every day. He updates his Web site on Sundays and is working to produce four more PostSecret books. He continues to call himself an "accidental artist" because he has no artist background or training.

"I have been asked many times why I started this," he said. "It still feels to me as though this project found me. All I try to do is make the right decisions every day to protect the integrity of the project - and learn to trust the journey."

Warren has appeared on the Today Show, 20/20, CNN, MSNBC, ABC's The View, CBC, NPR, and Fox News.USA Today called Warren, "an award-winning blogger, a first-time author, an artist with a traveling exhibit, a possible documentary subject, the inspiration for a music video and the all-around media 'it' boy of the moment."

Nicole Petallides

2009-10-11T07:38:00.000-07:00

Nicole Petallides:Nicole Petallides joined FOX Business Network in September 2007. She is the floor correspondent at the New York Stock Exchange.

Prior to joining FOX, she was an anchor at Bloomberg Television where she reported from the new york stock exchange for the nationally syndicated shows, Bloomberg Business Report and Bloomberg Market Update. While at Bloomberg, Petallides also covered weekend news and served as a business news anchor for CW11’s WPIX morning news program in New York.Before joining Bloomberg, Petallides served as an assistant producer for CNBC, where she produced daily floor reports from the NYSE. Prior to CNBC, she was a segment producer for Dow Jones Television’s The Wall Street journal Report with Consuelo Mack and international programs Asian Business News and EuropeanBusiness News. Petallides has also contributed to FOX affiliate WNYW’s morning show Good Day New York, NY1 News, CNN and News 12 Long Island.

A New York City native, she graduated from American University.

Video: CatGenie Grants the Litter-Free Wishes of L.A. Pet Lovers

2009-10-11T07:36:00.000-07:00

Hollywood pop-up helps Angelenos support local cat adoptions and the
environmentLOS ANGELES, Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The 2000 release of "Meet The Parents"

sparked discontent for cat owners across America - Robert DeNiro's feline
could flush, yet they had to deal with a litter box? Nine years later, cat
owners are discovering litter-free luxury isn't just for Hollywood, with
thousands flocking to CatGenie's store, ironically located along the Hollywood
Walk of Fame. The Hollywood and Highland location is open from September 5 -
October 7, showcasing the world's only automatic, litter-free cat box, the
CatGenie -- a home appliance that flushes waste away and, like a cat, washes
itself clean.


To view the Multimedia News Release, go to:
http://www.prnewswire.com/mnr/catgenie/40273/


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090928/NY82516 )


Visitors to Hollywood and Highland are invited to the CatGenie store for
special events featuring pet behaviorist and expert, Warren Eckstein who
partnered with CatGenie for two radiocasts of his syndicated radio show live
from the store. The second broadcast is on October 3rd from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00
p.m. CatGenie has also paired with local non profit rescue group, Precious
Paws to offer daily cat adoptions in-store. Proceeds from onsite and online
sales will benefit Precious Paws throughout the duration of the store.


"The CatGenie is a product you have to see to believe," says Steven Yampolsky,
North American President of PetNovations, Inc., the company behind CatGenie.
"It is not just another litter box. It is the only litter-free cat box. The
CatGenie ends the touching, changing, smelling and buying of cat litter."


Supporters of Precious Paws include Susan Olsen -- "Cindy" from The Brady
Bunch -- who was in attendance during the first radiocast to talk about feline
rescue and adoption. "Many would-be cat-friendly households cite the litter
box and clean-up as a major deterrent," says Olsen. "Precious Paws is thrilled
to pair with CatGenie to eliminate this messy hurdle and encourage the
adoption of cats in Los Angeles." Olsen will also be in attendance at the
October 3rd radiocast.


Indeed, beyond the issue of litter clean-up, the CatGenie also addresses the
environmental consequences of the litter box. Each year in the U.S., 60
million cats contribute 80 billion pounds of contaminated, permanent waste to
landfills(i) - a mass that will outweigh the Empire State Building more than
296 times over the course of the felines' lifetime(ii). The ecological issues
associated with cat litter production are also of concern, with the U.S.
Geological Society estimating that more than 2.1 million tons of clay is
strip-mined annually in order to meet consumer use. While biodegradable and
'natural' cat litters are widely available, CatGenie is the only product on
the market that meets the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standards for
proper disposal of cat waste.


The CatGenie store is located on level 1, suite 117 in the Hollywood and
Highland Center and is open until October 7th. For further information about
CatGenie and the quest for a litter-free world visit www.catgenie.com.


About PetNovations


PetNovations, Inc. makes high-tech pet products to enhance the relationship
between pets and pet owners. Its flagship product, the CatGenie, is the
world's only self-flushing, self-washing cat box. PetNovations is based near
historic Valley Forge in Norristown, Pennsylvania, and was founded by CEO Tal
Gordon. A former rocket scientist and longtime entrepreneur, Tal invented the
CatGenie to revolutionize the way pet lovers take care of their cats'
sanitation needs. More information is available at www.catgenie.com.


(i) U.S. Bureau of Waste Management
(ii) U.S. Bureau of Waste Management

Nathan From Gossip Talks Tumblr, Lil’ Wayne, and The Apocalypse

2009-10-11T07:34:00.000-07:00

Everything Gossip’s Nathan Howdeshell (a.k.a. Brace Paine) says is charming. It’s not necessarily the content of his words, but that it’s all tinged with an appealing drawl, the result of his Arkansas upbringing. So it’s sweet when he says that “fuck” is his favorite curse word, or when he tells me that if he could he would eat at McDonalds every day. And it’s even sweeter when he divulges his affinity for smoking pot after a long day because, well, yeah. Nathan and his band swing through New York tonight when they take the stage for the first time at Terminal 5 with openers MEN and Apache Beat. But first, he spoke with me about his online ventures, tonight’s show, and what he has planned for the end of the world.

You’re from Searcy, Arkansas, which was apparently the inspiration for Footloose. What was your music education like growing up?
Geez, whatever tapes you could buy from Wal-Mart.

I want to talk about your web activities. Besides being a musician, you’re also a visual artist, and you have a tumblr. How do you curate it?
Some of the images are things I make; some are things that are just hilarious that I pull of the internet. I love tumblr because it’s to me sort of like a visual diary. It’s really fun.

How often do you update?
I try to do it like every day or so. Computers are still a mystery to me, but I try to when I can. The tumblr thing is great to me; it’s kind of like an art diary. I do a lot of the design for us and all of our record covers and stuff like that. I’ve been into curating shows lately. I curated a show for Art Basel in Miami this year for Deitch Projects of new, young, Portland artists. That was really fun.

You were saying that computers are mystery to you. Is there any website you make it a point to visit?
Not really. I really enjoy the tumblr thing personally because it’s visual. I look at Pitchfork every once in a while.

And also you’ve been Twittering.
I try. But a part of me feels ridiculous when I Twitter. I don’t know, maybe it’s low self-esteem, but there’s part of me that’s like “would anyone really care what I’m doing right now?

People care more about what you’re doing than most of the people on there. Do you also feel pressure to come up with entertaining things to say?
No, no. I just feel that’s it’s such a funny thing. Twitter and Facebook and stuff are such a huge part of culture now.

Right, and it’s the way that you guys have promoted this new album too, that’s different from the last one. You did a Twitter interview.
Yeah, I’m at the label right now at the corporate office and I just got in trouble for not (in a mocking voice) posting stuff on the band website.

In addition to your band you also DJ. Who can you recommend in terms of musical artists?
We’re on tour with this band called MEN, which is a hysterical name. It’s JD [Samson] from Le Tigre’s new band. They’re really cool, I really like them. I like it better than the last two Le Tigre albums, actually. JD has an interesting voice, so it’s good to hear her sing.

And MEN is opening for you at Terminal 5?
Yes, I’m kind of nervous about that show because it’s a huge place. It’s weird because I love New York and I’ve played there a bunch, and I’ve never heard of this Terminal 5.

Well, it’s large. It has tiers. But it’s good for light shows. Do you do any visuals with your show?
We’ve been thinking about it a little bit, but to me it’s always been like Wow, these people take a lighting guy on tour and they pay all this money just for this guy to come on and turn the lights on while they play certain songs. For some bands it’s been good, but for us it’s just about the raw energy of the show. So I think for us lights could be a little distracting. I get dizzy when strobe lights come on.

Also, some advice: a dance routine couldn’t hurt.
You know what’s amazing, we just made up a dance routine for the song 8th Wonder, that repeats over and over. We were watching this Devo video and we were like, Oh fuck, they’re amazing. I mean, just because live they were just doing weird synchronized moves. So we made up a sort-of Devo dance move that we’re all gonna bust into.

Speaking of your songs, you have one on the album Music for Men called 2012, the year the world is supposed to end. Do you have plans for the year?
Actually, I do. I’m trying to curate an end-of-the-world festival, actually. You know, the Mayan prophecies say that on December 21st, 2012 there’s supposed to be this radical change in the world. I’m trying to put together a festival of bands that will play on that day. And I was thinking, if it’s supposed to be the end of the world we should be somewhere with our friends and somewhere really weird, like maybe in Montana. I don’t know where it’s gonna be but it’s something that’s been on my mind.

Okay, everyone head out to Montana. Or go to Lil’ Wayne’s party.
Oh my god I’m obsessed with that. How weird is it that Lil’ Wayne knows about 2012? Beth has a huge crush on him. She makes us listen to Lil’ Wayne all the time. And I didn’t get it at first—I mean I love mainstream hip hop but I couldn’t get into it. But he’s an interesting dude. And his story is very interesting.

And I hear he’s very polite.
Yeah, he seems sweet. He has fucking tattoos on his eyelids. That is badass.

'Vacation' sequel: Does the link to the original hurt or help this movie?

2009-10-11T07:32:00.000-07:00

ust how valuable is the Vacationbrand? Does Chevy Chase’s quartet of family comedies even qualify as a brand? New Line executives and director David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers) seem to think so and are gambling that moviegoers still have a soft spot for the Griswolds, last seen in 1997’s Vegas Vacation. The Hollywood Reporter wrote yesterday that the proposed film would focus on a grown-up Rusty and his own family, while Chase and Beverly D’Angelo might make token appearances as the grandparents.

As Vegas Vacation reinforced, the Griswold films are hardly sacred territory, so I’m not upset by New Line’s intentions. But why make a “Vacation” film at all? Does the name-recognition really help that much at the box office? According to the Hollywood Reporter, New Line hopes to craft a movie more like Little Miss Sunshine than RV, the Vacation-y 2006 road-romp starring Robin Williams. Great! Outstanding! But why bother calling it a Vacation movie at all? In fact, if New Line crams a Little Miss Sunshine movie into Vacation packaging, they threaten to alienate the few true Griswold fans who remain.

I’m not blind. I know that sequels and remakes are an essential pillar of the moviemaking industry, but in some cases, they seem to be bad business. Will Dobkins movie be penalized rather than rewarded at the box-office for being a Vacation film? I envision many people, even fans of the original and the underrated Christmas Vacation, sticking up their nose at this go-around, prejudging Dobkins’ personal LMS and condemning it to obscurity, fairly or unfairly.

This is a bad idea, right PopWatchers? Is the Vacation label a badge of courage or a scarlet letter at this point? Does a Vacation movie of any kind hold any promise for you? Can you imagine a new star capturing Chase’s goofy earnestness in the film?

Family Guy honored with a “Family Guy corn maze

2009-10-11T07:29:00.000-07:00

Danvers, Oct 11 (THAINDIAN NEWS) The popular animated series Family Guy may not have won the Emmy for the Outstanding Comedy Series, but it is in the news all right for another outstanding reason. A farmer who is a huge fan of the series has given it a different type of honor.
He has made a corn maze with the Family Guy as the inspiration. The maze features the popular characters of the series Stewie and Brian Griffin. Other fans in the Massachusetts area can navigate a corn maze dedicated to the show. The seven-acre creation, which was approved by the FOX network, is located on Connors Farm in Danvers.
The unique corn mazed field is located in Danvers, Massachusetts, Connors, who says he received permission from FOX to create the maze, hopes show creator Seth MacFarlane, who has family in the area, will visit.   

Chicago marathon and chicago marathon street closures

2009-10-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

Latest updates about Chicago marathon and chicago marathon street closures, chilly 2009 Chicago Marathon is underway.As many as 45,000 participants from all 50 states and around the world braved sub-freezing temperatures for the city’s 32nd marathon. The runners, handcyclers and wheelchair riders left at 7:30 a.m. for the 26.2-mile jaunt that will take them from Millennium Park north to Wrigley Field, as far west as Damen Avenue, then south near U.S. Cellular Field and up Michigan Avenue to the finish line.

While some elite runners are competing for a chunk of the $450,000 in total prize money, most, like 34-year-old Mark Harry of Aurora, are competing against themselves.

“It’s cold,” said Harry, “but cold is better. Once we get going it should be OK.”

Harry, a lifelong runner participating in his first marathon, battled the cold with layers of disposable clothes: an old sweatshirt and a garbage bag covering his torso and a tattered towel keeping his lower half warm.

“I’m throwing this all away as soon as the race starts,” he said.

He wasn’t alone. Moments before the race began, the starting area more closely resembled the end of a graduation ceremony as disposable clothing like the Harry’s was thrown to the sidelines to be collected and given to charity.

After the runners had left, said one volunteer, “it looked like a wasteland.”

On the men’s side, last year’s race was dominated by Kenyans, with five out of the top six finishers in 2008 hailing from the East African country. Evans Cheruiyot won in ‘08, finishing the race in just over two hours.

Russia’s Lidiya Grigoryeva, who won last year’s Chicago Marathon on women’s side, will look to repeat this year.

For one runner, the experience running last year’s Chicago marathon was enough to convince her to return.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling to run past all those spectators,” Melinda Schaller, 24, of Detroit said. “That’s what makes Chicago such an amazing race.”

Jeff Butcher, 44, made the trip from Los Angeles to run his 13th marathon. Like Harry, he donned garbage bags and disposable warmup pants to keep warm.

“You know, the Long Beach Marathon is today,” said Butcher. “We could be running in 65-degree weather. But we’re happy to be here — wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Cool temps a change of pace for Chicago Marathon

2009-10-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

The streets of Chicago will be a sea of people Sunday morning as tens of thousands of runners participate in the annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon.

It was just two years ago when marathon officials were forced to cancel the 26.2 mile race due to extreme heat. The outcome is expected to be much different Sunday according to race director Carey Pinkowski thanks in part to what he calls ideal running weather.

"One of the things I'm excited about is that for the last two years we haven't seen the traditional cascade of people throwing clothes off and we capture all of those garments and they go to a local charity so that's a great piece of our event," Pinkowski said.

Nearly 36,000 runners, from all 50 state and 100 countries are participating in the event, which begins at 7:30 in Grant Park.

No parking zones will be enforced beginning at 1 a.m. Sunday.

Citigroup Hires Mr. Inside

2009-10-11T01:13:00.000-07:00

ALL of the nation’s major banks have a raft of Washington lobbyists, and with good reason. For people accustomed to dealing with numbers on Wall Street, the nation’s capital can seem impossibly complex.The nettle of rules and regulations, the web of agencies and regulators, and, of course, the harsh realities of politics combine to make Washington a confounding place. And with legislators looking to redraw the rules for financial institutions to prevent a repeat of the credit crisis, having an advocate in Washington is a must.
Few banks can use advice about navigating the federal government more than Citigroup, a company so hobbled by the crisis that it has essentially become a ward of the state, kept alive through multiple infusions of taxpayer funds.
Still, people inside and outside the bank say they were stunned when Richard D. Parsons, Citigroup’s chairman, enlisted the services last spring of Richard F. Hohlt, a longtime Washington insider with a history of aggressive advocacy for the banking industry.
Critics say that as a top lobbyist for the savings and loanindustry in the 1980s, Mr. Hohlt blocked regulation of these institutions and played a pivotal role helping to prolong dubious industry practices that cost taxpayers $150 billion to clean up.
After that crisis passed, he faded from the public eye but continued advising clients, cementing his contacts in the news media and even surfacing as one among a handful of Washington insiders involved in the public outing of Valerie Wilson as a C.I.A. agent.
Five former regulators who encountered Mr. Hohlt during the savings and loan fiasco expressed dismay and surprise that he had been hired by the chairman of a bank that has received tens of billions of dollars of taxpayer assistance, and voiced concerns about what exactly he had been hired to do.
“Mr. Hohlt has a track record as a behind-the-scenes, Republican influence peddler who caused severe damage to U.S. citizens by helping to delay and weaken the crackdown on the S.& L. control frauds,” says William K. Black, a former regulator and a top investigator for the definitive Congressional report on the S.& L. crisis.
“It is singularly obscene that any recipient of taxpayer assistance through the TARP program during the current financial crisis would hire one of the most infamous lobbyists in the world to represent them,” says Mr. Black, who now is a professor of law at theUniversity of Missouri at Kansas City.
IN the 1980s, Mr. Hohlt’s tactics as a lobbyist for the United States League of Savings Institutions — which he acknowledges included reneging on a promise to support legislation to recapitalize the industry — so enraged regulators that two government officials say they banned him from their offices.
Mr. Hohlt, 61, says he was simply the messenger for the S.& L.’s in their dealings with regulators. “Yeah, mistakes were made,” he said in an interview last week. Of his current client, Citigroup, he says it has retained him as an adviser to provide strategic counsel on Washington matters related to the bank, and not as a lobbyist (meaning that he doesn’t communicate with members of Congress, the White House or regulatory agencies regarding Citigroup).
“I would classify myself as the worker bee that knows what I think would be of interest to him,” he says of his work for Mr. Parsons. “I feed him through the e-mail system quite a bit and give him my advice and counsel.”
As for Mr. Black and his other critics, Mr. Hohlt says that his work with the league was “prehistoric” and that in the years since then he has built a reputation as an honest and experienced resource.
“I wish that everyone would comprehend that because of these past experiences, mistakes made, some problems that were created because of those mistakes, I can maybe offer more candid advice,” he said. “There has to be something said that a person who’s been in the operating room and watched 13 surgeries may be a good person to watch the 14th. That makes me valuable because I can say: ‘Don’t do it! Don’t let these guys come in and say they want to change the accounting.’ ”
Mr. Hohlt says that he has never been investigated by any government agency and that his record, lobbying activities and political dealings are transparent.
Mr. Parsons says he hired Mr. Hohlt simply as a political adviser who provides information and counsel, and doesn’t focus on particular legislation. “He is an old Washington hand,” Mr. Parsons said in a interview on Friday. “I hired him to keep me in touch with what’s going on in Washington and what the mood and tenor of the town is.”
Mr. Hohlt’s role is to solve problems and help Mr. Parsons communicate more effectively, but not to lobby on Citigroup’s behalf. “I don’t bring him to meetings,” he said. “He is a useful source of information.”
A spokesman said that Citigroup was paying Mr. Hohlt’s fees, and that because he hadn’t been retained as a lobbyist, his assignment did not need to be publicly disclosed.The savings and loan industry hasn’t been Mr. Hohlt’s only controversial client. He was the longtime lobbyist for Washington Mutual, arranging Capitol Hill meetings for the chief executive, Kerry K. Killinger, and advising the bank on regulatory matters that related to the Federal Home Loan Bank, according to Mr. Hohlt and a former associate. Washington Mutual collapsed in 2008, becoming the biggest bank failure in history. Mr. Hohlt said he wasn’t aware of the bank’s many problems.“I thought Kerry Killinger was a guy from Iowa who played in the band,” said Mr. Hohlt, who said he lost thousands of dollars on WaMu stock when the bank failed. “Maybe I should have done due diligence on things like that.”
Mr. Hohlt has also represented the mortgage finance giantFannie Mae, which was taken over by the government in September 2008 because of billions in mortgage losses. Once Fannie Mae went into federal receivership, it was banned from hiring lobbyists, including Mr. Hohlt.
Mr. Hohlt , an insider’s insider who creates and executes political strategies, said he had known Mr. Parsons since 1989. Back then, Mr. Parsons was running Dime Savings Bank, an institution that, like others in the field, had been hurt by mortgage losses.
Since then, Mr. Hohlt has lobbied for Time Warner, the media company that Mr. Parsons led from 2002 until 2008. He called Mr. Parsons “a personal 20-year friend that appreciates that I will be candid and maybe tell him things that others will not and give him safe advice.” He added that Mr. Parsons reached out to him because he “didn’t want to get in the cocoon.”
One of his first assignments: At Mr. Parsons’s request, Mr. Hohlt spent a Sunday in New York sitting in the back of the company’s auditorium watching its executives and directors practice for the annual shareholder meeting on April 21.
“I just sat and listened, and he asked, ‘What do you think?’ And I sent him a message saying what I thought,” Mr. Hohlt says.
But two people briefed on Mr. Hohlt’s engagement with Citigroup, who requested anonymity because speaking publicly about the situation would jeopardize their jobs, say Mr. Hohlt was also hired to advise Mr. Parsons on ways to blunt the demands of theFederal Deposit Insurance Corporation, one of the bank’s primary regulators. The F.D.I.C. agreed to insure some $300 billion of Citigroup’s troubled assets in a loss-sharing arrangement last year and has been at loggerheads with the bank’s management over stewardship of the sprawling enterprise.
Mr. Hohlt said that it was a “fabrication” that he was hired to jockey with the F.D.I.C. “I’ve never contacted anybody at the F.D.I.C.,” he said.
A spokesman for the F.D.I.C. declined to comment on Mr. Hohlt’s hiring because the agency does not discuss specific institutions. “Generally speaking, we expect banks to adhere to high ethical and reputational standards,” said Andrew Gray, an agency spokesman.
Citigroup does not show up in lobbying records as a client of Hohlt & Associates, Mr. Hohlt’s Washington-based firm. And Mr. Hohlt said that he was “not really” advising Mr. Parsons on regulatory matters.
“My contract prohibits me from any kind of lobbying, and I’m fired if I do,” he said of his assignment from Mr. Parsons.
A HOOSIER by birth and a former aide to Senator Richard G. Lugar, the Indiana Republican, Mr. Hohlt parlayed his connections and experience into a lucrative lobbying business. He is also a founding member of an informal Washington salon, known as the Off-the-Record Club, where prominent Republicans, including Vin Weber and Karl Rove, gather for dinner to trade strategy. Mr. Hohlt is also a well-known background source for Washington journalists.
He surfaced in 2007 during the perjury trial of I. Lewis Libby Jr., an aide to former Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr. Hohlt had a cameo role in the leak that identified Valerie Wilson as a Central Intelligence Agency operative. The journalist who broke the story,Robert Novak, testified during the trial that he had given the column to Mr. Hohlt, a longtime source, before it was published. Mr. Hohlt said he gave the column to Mr. Rove, who was the White House’s political director at the time.
For the 2008 election, Mr. Hohlt gave about $108,700 in campaign contributions, nearly all to Republicans. During the 2004 re-election campaign of President George W. Bush, Mr. Hohlt was among the “Super Rangers” who raised more than $200,000.
Mr. Hohlt began working for Mr. Parsons at a time when Citigroup was increasingly reliant on the public’s largess to remain viable.
The bank received two injections totaling $45 billion from the Troubled Asset Relief Program last year. It has also raised $45 billion in debt using the backing of the F.D.I.C. and, through its subsidiaries, had an additional $28 billion in commercial paper and interbank deposits backed by the F.D.I.C. While other banks have weaned themselves from the program, Citi has continued to issue debt under it.
But the government is also on the hook for future losses at Citi. Late last year, regulators struck a loss-sharing deal with the bank covering a pool of assets that totaled $267 billion in the most recent financial statement. Under the terms of the arrangement, Citi will swallow the first $29.5 billion in losses on this pool; 90 percent of any additional losses will be borne by the government and the other 10 percent by Citi.
During the last decade, Mr. Hohlt and his firm also have done work for JPMorgan Chaseand Sallie Mae, the student loan financing company. Mr. Hohlt was appointed to Sallie Mae’s board by George H. W. Bush in 1991.Beginning in 2007, Fannie Mae hired Mr. Hohlt’s firm, even though as a savings and loan lobbyist two decades earlier, he had opposed the agency. “We fought against Fannie Mae,” Mr. Hohlt recalled. “I made sure we got an amendment in a bill that prohibited them from having a PAC,” or political action committee.Hohlt & Associates has been paid more than $7 million in lobbying fees in the last decade, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. From 2000 to 2006, it made $400,000 to $700,000 in lobbying fees each year. In 2007 and 2008, the business took off, exceeding $1 million annually. In 2008, the year the credit crisis began in earnest, more than half of the firm’s increased business came from financial services firms. His clients also includeAltria, the cigarette maker formerly known as Philip Morris; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Chevron; and the Nuclear Energy Institute.
WHILE Mr. Hohlt’s lobbying business appears vigorous, it is not nearly as high-profile as it was in his heyday as point man for the savings and loan industry and its lobbying group, the United States League of Savings Institutions. He reported to the president of the organization at the time, William O’Connell, and worked with a fellow lobbyist, James Freeman, to make sure that the industry’s views were heard on Capitol Hill.
Mr. Hohlt cultivated a close friendship with M. Danny Wall, a top aide to Jake Garn, the Utah Republican who was chairman of the Senate Banking Committee.
For decades, savings and loan associations were sleepy institutions that operated under tight restrictions on the loans they made and the interest rates they paid to depositors. But in 1982, with interest rates rocketing, the industry persuaded Congress to relax these restrictions. The Garn-St. Germain legislation (also named for Fernand J. St. Germain, Democrat of Rhode Island) freed savings and loans to make more-risky loans and eliminated the caps on interest rates that they could pay on deposits.
Almost immediately, S.& L.’s were bought by high-rolling entrepreneurs who saw the opportunities in taking deposits that were insured by the government and lending them out to real estate developers.
Once this mania was under way, lobbyists for the industry worked hard to keep regulators at bay, former officials recall. “The U.S. League was very active in trying to water down the capital requirements for S.& L.’s,” recalled Kenneth McLean, former staff director to William Proxmire, the late Wisconsin Democrat who headed the Senate Banking Committee in 1987 and 1988.
Two former officials, a banking regulator and an under secretary of the Treasury, said they banned Mr. Hohlt from their offices. “He wasn’t my style,” said Richard T. Pratt, the Federal Home Loan Bank Board president in the early 1980s. “He was very aggressive I thought, kind of the caricature of a lobbyist.”
Mr. Hohlt said his actions should be considered in the context of the times. He said there were fears that “draconian” regulatory action could set off a run on banks and even a depression.
Mr. Hohlt noted the significant parallels between the savings and loan mess and today’s financial crisis, only this time he says he is wiser.
“The mistake I did was follow the policy of the trade association,” he said.
Former regulators said they don’t regard Mr. Hohlt’s tenure as so benign.
“The fact is, when it came to thrift matters in Congress, the U.S. League and many of its affiliates were the de facto government,” said Edwin J. Gray, former head of the Federal Home Loan Bank, testifying before Congress in 1989. “What the league wanted, it got. What it did not want from Congress, it had killed.”
In an interview last week, Mr. Gray laughed when he heard that Mr. Hohlt continued as a paid advocate for financial institutions. “He’s a creature of Washington special interests and has been since I have known him, so I’m not surprised,” he said. “Memories are short when money is involved.”

Whispering to Rottweilers, and to C.E.O.’s

2009-10-11T01:08:00.000-07:00

IT’S a miracle. That’s what the humans believe, more often than not, after watching this compact, 40-year-old C.E.O. do his work. He enters a room purposefully, his chest thrust forward and a smile on his face. “How can I help?” is his standard introduction, and the way he says it — calmly, assertively — indicates that your problems are about to be solved.
It’s unbelievable. That’s what the humans say when they see what Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer,” can do. And the dogs? To a pooch, they appear to be thinking: “Thank God, help has finally arrived.” To prompt a visit from Mr. Millan, these dogs have exhibited seemingly irrational fears (of motorbikes, toasters, linoleum floors) and strange obsessions (biting rocks, ankles, tractor tires).
Their owners, meanwhile, have told poignant, if at times ludicrous, stories. One couple sought out Mr. Millan after their two pit bulls, hell-bent on killing each other, forced them to live apart. Another hadn’t slept in the same bed for months because their Yorkies wouldn’t allow it.
If you have a television, you may know Mr. Millan from “Dog Whisperer With Cesar Millan,” whose sixth-season premiere was on Friday on the National Geographic Channel, a cable network piped into about 70 million homes. Nearly 11 million Americans tune in each week. You may have stumbled upon his new glossy magazine, Cesar’s Way, or his four books, the latest of which, “How to Raise the Perfect Dog,” went on sale last week. His first three books, all New York Times best sellers, have cumulatively sold two million copies in the United States and are available in 14 other countries.
Partly because he is based in Los Angeles, the epicenter of the entertainment industry, Mr. Millan has become something of a cultural icon, a Latino man who commands respect wherever he goes. He has helped scores of movie stars and moguls — among them alpha dogs like Oprah Winfrey, the actor Will Smith, the formerDisney chief Michael D. Eisner and the director Ridley Scott — become pack leaders in the one place they fail to rule: their homes.
No wonder Mr. Millan’s reputation as a fixer — he says he rehabilitates dogs, but trains people — has been immortalized in pop culture. “What is the ‘Dog Whisperer’?” has been a winning answer on “Jeopardy.” An episode of “South Park” featured the mom of Eric Cartman, the spoiled, foul-mouthed brat, hiring Mr. Millan to discipline him. A New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell quoted scientists and dance experts analyzing how Mr. Millan’s bearing instills confidence. The conclusion: his fluid movement communicates authenticity better than words could.
Not bad for a once-poor native of Culiacán, Mexico, who crossed the border illegally 19 years ago with nothing in his pockets. (He became a United States citizen this year.) When he talks about transformation, in other words, he’s living proof that it’s possible.
With his wife, Ilusion, he runs Cesar Millan Inc., the center of a constellation of businesses that coordinates all things Cesar beyond the show, including speaking engagements; executive leadership seminars; a line of organic dog food, fortified water, shampoos and toys that sells at Petco; and the charitable foundation financed by an undisclosed percentage of the company’s revenue.
His Web site, cesarmillaninc.com, grosses annual sales in the mid-seven figures, according to a company spokesman, chiefly from DVDs, books and merchandise like the Illusion Collar, designed by his wife to help control challenging dogs. Nearly 400,000 visitors are on the site monthly. Then there’s his Dog Psychology Center, a 43-acre mecca he calls a “Disneyland for dogs.” Under construction north of here, near where he and his family live, it will be the first of many such centers nationwide, he says.
According to MPH Entertainment, the production company that is Mr. Millan’s partner in all its many offshoots and co-owns the TV show with the producers who discovered him, he will be a $100 million business in a few years. And he says he’s just getting started.
“Anything that is realistic, if I create it in my mind, it can become a reality,” he says, evoking one of his favorite authors, the self-help superstar Wayne W. Dyer. “That is the power of intention.”
Like the dogs that he is world-famous for understanding — and, notably, unlike some of their owners — Mr. Millan doesn’t judge others. Instead, he lives in the now and maintains a sort of über-balanced mien. For without balance, or what he calls “our most important tool: calm, assertive energy,” no one can be a pack leader. And that, more than anything else, is what Cesar Millan dearly wants each of us to be — for our animals, sure, but also for ourselves and the well-being of the planet.
“World transformation begins with self-transformation,” he advises. To achieve that, he says, you need a co-pilot: “My suggestion is you have somebody next to you that is willing at any time to transform the moment. That is called dog.”
THERE are 65 million dogs in the United States, where pet care is close to a $40 billion industry. By one estimate, dog owners spend an average of $11,000 over each pet’s lifetime. And even during a recession, such spending shows no signs of flagging. Simply put, Americans are nuts about their pets.
Or maybe we’re just nuts. Which is pretty much the underlying message of “Dog Whisperer.”
Did you see the episode about Genoa, the golden retriever who was afraid of the garage? Mr. Millan quickly sussed out that the woman of the house had strong feelings about the garage, too — namely, she resented it because her husband spent more time puttering there than he did cuddling with her. Problem solved.

How about the one about Li’l Miss Kisses, the Maltese whose owner was obsessed with pink? The woman’s apartment, her outfit, everything was pink. Including the dog. Can you blame Kisses for urinating on the floor? Then there’s the episode in which Mr. Millan sat down with Kathy Griffin, the comedian, and Pom Pom, her Labrador mix.“What is she saying to you with her body language?” Ms. Griffin demanded. Mr. Millan didn’t hesitate: “That you are kind of crazy.” Ms. Griffin yelled, “Cut!”

That Mr. Millan keeps a straight face in these situations says less about his manners and more about where his focus lies: with the hounds. Over the years, he has learned that in a country where pet lovers treat their animals like coddled children (making them unhappy, he believes), he must delve into the human realm to put things right.
He’s the first to say, however, that communicating with humans didn’t come naturally.
He grew up on a farm in Mexico, where from an early age he was known as El Perrero, or “the dog man.” Dogs made sense to him. They telegraphed their anxieties in predictable ways. They loved to be led.
“They accept you as who you are — one leg, two legs, no eyes, no problem,” he says. “But they won’t be around unstable energy. That’s how much integrity they have.”
Not so with humans. “One of Cesar’s favorite sayings,” says Jim Milio, a partner in MPH, which produces the show out of a mini-mall in Burbank, Calif., “is that humans are the only animals who will follow unstable pack leaders.”
It would take years before Mr. Millan realized that to achieve his goal of being the world’s best dog trainer, he would need to understand not just pets, but also pet owners.
His wife, Ilusion, a Mexican-American whom he met at an ice rink and married when she was 18 and he was 24, recalls the moment he began to “get” his own species. After the birth of their first son (they have two), they’d hit a rough patch and separated. Cesar was too macho and too bossy, she felt, and ignored her feelings. At her insistence, they went to counseling, where the therapist told her to express her needs.
“I said: ‘You know, Cesar, I really want you to listen. I want you to be there in our household. I want to hear you say that you love me. I don’t want to be treated like I’m just a piece of property. I want to be acknowledged,’ ” Ilusion says, recalling how her husband looked at the counselor and exclaimed, “She’s just like dogs!”
Ilusion is wry about this “light-bulb moment,” which she says initially made her angry. But then she realized that for her husband, all knowledge walks on four legs. His mantra of “exercise, discipline and affection” — the essential trio that he says keeps dogs (and apparently wives and anyone else) happy and healthy — was born that day. Now, Mr. and Mrs. Millan are a team.
“We’re what I call Mr. Talent and Mrs. Brains,” says Ilusion. “You can’t have one without the other.”
Cesar agrees: “My wife rehabilitated me.”
BACK in 1991, Mr. Millan’s English was poor, which made him reluctant to charge much for his door-to-door training services. “My goods were good, but my delivery wasn’t,” he says, recalling that his initial rate per session was $10. “We couldn’t even afford Pampers.” But his reputation was spreading.
One of his first clients was Jada Pinkett, then 20 and starring in a television sitcom. As he helped Ms. Pinkett, just 5 feet tall, become pack leader to four huge Rottweilers, they became friends. When Mr. Millan told her he wanted to be on TV, she leveled with him: he wasn’t ready. Then, she hired him a tutor in English. He studied for a year.
For all Mr. Millan learned during that period, the actress says he taught her even more.“When Cesar came into my life, I was a young starlet,” she says. “I had all this energy and all this power at my fingertips, but I didn’t know necessarily what to do with it.” She credits him with helping her have good relationships with both canines and humans. (She married Will Smith in 1997.)“We want to have our own self-fulfillment, and we’re not paying attention to what the dog needs,” says the actress, now Jada Pinkett Smith. “Then we’re throwing the dog into complete imbalance and wondering, What is the problem? That was a crazy discovery: Oh, my goodness, I wonder if I’m doing that in other relationships.”
The Smiths started recommending Mr. Millan to friends. The director Michael Bay needed help controlling his 230-pound mastiff, Mason. Later, he sought out Mr. Millan for help with another mastiff, Bonecrusher (a nod to the Transformers villain of the same name). Bones, as he is called, liked to attack small dogs. Mr. Millan brought a tiny dog to Mr. Bay’s house, as well as his sidekick, Daddy, a gentle pit bull that “Dog Whisperer” fans will recognize from his frequent appearances on the show. For $60 a day, Mr. Millan and Daddy shaped Bones right up.
“It was the oddest experience in the world,” says Mr. Bay. “He doesn’t say hello. He doesn’t say, ‘Here, doggie.’ He doesn’t pet the dog. It’s like this animalistic thing between him and the dogs. They immediately respected him.”
In 2002, after a newspaper article about Mr. Millan drew dozens of producers to his door, he teamed up with two of them, Sheila Emery and Kay Sumner, whom he picked because the dogs in his pack liked them best. That pair teamed with MPH, which had made its name with other successful reality-based cable shows.
The National Geographic Channel, which had started in the United States only in 2001, was interested but didn’t want to bankroll the entire production. It ordered 26 half-hours with the caveat that MPH provide deficit financing to get the show on the air — what Mr. Milio said eventually amounted to “a low seven-figure investment.” The upside was that MPH and Emery/Sumner retained copyrights to the show.
The channel, a joint venture of the National Geographic Society and Fox Cable Networks, controls television distribution in the United States and Canada. MPH and Emery/Sumner control worldwide home video and foreign sales and share that revenue with the channel. Mr. Millan takes a big slice of that same pie.
“His profit definition is the same as our profit definition,” Mr. Milio says. “We’re not doing the studio thing where we’re taking off 25 percent overhead and then interest on the money and all that stuff. He’s got a really great deal.”
Mr. Millan calls the deal, which he agreed to on instinct, a blessing. “The goal that God and I have together is the whole world transformed through a dog. God was my lawyer,” he says. “And so he’s going to bring you great people, and those great people are going to give you your fair share without you asking.”
Mr. Milio also gives the National Geographic Channel credit for taking the initial plunge. “TV runs on fear,” he says. “No one gets fired for saying no and having it become a hit two years down the road someplace else. They get fired when they say yes and it tanks.”
The show premiered in 2004, and its audience grew slowly, by word of mouth. That first season, it wasn’t in prime time and the channel did little to market it. But Mr. Millan was magnetic. “I’ve been in the business 30-some years,” says Mr. Milio, “and I’ve met three people who had that kind of magic. One was Jacques Cousteau. One was Jim Henson. And the third is Cesar.”
In Season 2, the show expanded to an hour and moved into prime time. That’s when things started to take off.
NOT everyone agrees with Mr. Millan’s methods. “Positivist” trainers like Ian Dunbar reject the idea that a submissive dog is a happy dog. Mr. Dunbar advocates treating dogs as companions, not followers. While Mr. Millan uses his hand like a mother dog uses her mouth — to nudge dogs to behave — Mr. Dunbar shuns physical corrections and relies instead on treats and rewards.To each his own, says Mr. Millan, whose favored “tsst!” sound is a correction heard around the world. “It’s just that I think I know something you might not know,” he says. “An open-minded human can learn from anybody.”Soon, more humans will be able to learn from him. This summer, after a special 100th episode (and a third Emmy nomination for Mr. Millan), the National Geographic Channel struck a deal with Fox to syndicate “Dog Whisperer” next fall. That means 50 million or so of the nation’s 120 million households that might not know him will get their chance to meet El Perrero.
“Here in America, the dogs take over,” says Mr. Millan, and he doesn’t have to look far for evidence. Ms. Winfrey did an episode of her show with Mr. Millan in which she outed herself for loving her dog Sophie “like I gave birth myself.” She called her dogs “little people with fur,” until Mr. Millan told her this might be “good therapy for the mankind, but not for the dog kind.”
Mr. Millan says Mr. Eisner, whose home he visited for a private consultation, told him there was no way his German shepherd would get on a treadmill. “I said, ‘Well, sir, that’s your opinion.’ In less than three minutes, the dog was on the treadmill,” he recalls.
Mr. Eisner was unavailable to comment, but Mr. Millan said that once the dog was on the treadmill, all the business titan could say was “amazing.” Then he just walked away. “Because you know, he can’t be wrong,” says Mr. Millan.
On another occasion, Mr. Millan spent eight Sundays in a row eating breakfast with Mr. Scott, the movie director, and his two Jack Russell terriers, Scottie and Matilda. “When you can actually direct 2,000 people in a movie called ‘Gladiator,’ that makes you a very powerful man,” says Mr. Millan. “But two Jack Russells controlled this man.”
So how did the Dog Whisperer help? Mr. Millan attributes his success with the terriers to “patience, and sitting down and enjoying his cigar habit and waiting until he is in a zone,” he adds of Mr. Scott, who declined to comment. (A representative confirmed Mr. Millan’s account but says the director does not smoke cigars.)
“They get into zones, all these powerful people,” Mr. Millan said. “And they give you 10 minutes to listen to you.” Of course, by this point, he was charging handsomely for his time — $10,000 to $100,000 for a private consultation, which he usually donates to his foundation.
“What I learned about wealthy, wealthy, wealthy people is money talks. So you charge them a lot of money; you speak their language,” he says. “I don’t mind. I’m very happy with $100,000. Really. They really pay attention.”
ON a recent hot September day, Mr. Millan is standing outside his trailer in a San Fernando Valley suburb. On a break before shooting an episode about Spike, a year-old husky with a penchant for eating pool furniture, Mr. Millan speaks gratefully about the opportunities America has given him, and how he is determined to give back.
But when it’s suggested that Mr. Millan — trim in a white T-shirt, black track pants with red racing stripes and a big diamond in his left ear — now has more money and material things than he could ever have imagined growing up, he calmly, assertively objects.
“No, I want a plane,” he corrects. “Because people want to meet my 10 dogs, and I don’t want to put them in cargo. I just want them to ride comfortably, temperature adjusted, water when they need it. It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity, you know, from a dog perspective.”
Despite his success, he says he never forgets that being a true pack leader means taking care of others, not just yourself. “Sacrifice is a must in any relationship. Animals are not selfish,” he says. He and his wife finance numerous efforts to promote animal health. Their Shelter Stars program provides educational materials to people who adopt pets; they also sponsor a spay-and-neuter campaign and have teamed up with Yale to develop “Mutt-i-grees,” a curriculum based on Mr. Millan’s teachings. The goal is to foster empathy in young children. And, if he has his way, someday every state will have a taxpayer-supported dog rehabilitation center.
Mr. Milio recalls how, at the end of the show’s first season, he teased Mr. Millan at the wrap party about his growing stardom. “If you get famous, you can’t, you know, ask for a bigger trailer and become this difficult guy and throw stuff,” Mr. Milio said.
Mr. Millan nodded, looking, as usual, utterly unworried. “The dogs won’t let me be unstable,” he replied. “If I’m unstable, they won’t follow me. And then, I’m in big trouble.”

IASB amends the accounting for rights issues IAS 32

2009-10-10T00:03:00.000-07:00

The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued today an amendment to IAS 32
Financial Instruments: Presentation.
The amendment addresses the accounting for rights issues (rights, options or warrants) that
are denominated in a currency other than the functional currency of the issuer. Previously
such rights issues were accounted for as derivative liabilities. However, the amendment
issued today requires that, provided certain conditions are met, such rights issues are
classified as equity regardless of the currency in which the exercise price is denominated.
The global financial crisis has led to an increase in the number of such rights issues as entities
seek to raise additional capital. The IASB has moved swiftly to address this issue.
Entities are required to apply the amendment for annual periods beginning on or after 1
February 2010, but earlier application is permitted. Classification of Rights Issues
(Amendment to IAS 32) is available for eIFRS subscribers from today. Printed copies (ISBN
978-1-907026-40-9) will be available shortly, at £10 plus shipping, from:
IASC Foundation Publications Department,
30 Cannon Street, London EC4M 6XH, United Kingdom.
Tel: +44 (0)20 7332 2730 Fax +44 (0)20 7332 2749
Email: publications@iasb.org Web: www.iasb.org

Taurasi shows she’s a champion — again

2009-10-09T23:45:00.000-07:00

It was only the end of the first quarter but the box score was bad news for the Phoenix Mercury.

They trailed the Indiana Fever, 23-16, in the fifth and decisive game of the WNBA finals.

And that wasn’t the worst of it.

Diana Taurasi was 0-for-3 from the field. She had two points. There was no guarantee the Mercury would rally for their second championship in three years, but one thing was for sure:

MVP Taurasi lifts Mercury to WNBA title

If Taurasi didn’t get it going, Phoenix didn’t have a chance.

But Taurasi isn’t the most celebrated player of her generation because she ducks the big moments. By halftime she had 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting in the second quarter, the Mercury had a nine-point lead, and soon the confetti would fall on their 94-86 victory Friday.

“She’s got the swagger, the confidence, the skills, the whole thing to be a champion,” owner Robert Sarver said. “That’s why she’s the best.”

At the rate she’s going, Taurasi will soon have more rings than fingers. In addition to her three national championships at Connecticut she has two gold medals with the U.S. Olympic women’s basketball team and now two WNBA championships.

“Winning never gets old,” said Taurasi, who was named the finals’ Most Valuable Player after being named MVP of the regular season.

This wasn’t the easiest of seasons for Taurasi. On July 2 she was charged with extreme DUI for driving with a blood alcohol limit of 0.17 percent, more than twice Arizona’s legal limit of 0.08. She pleaded not guilty, but she was suspended for two games, she has a court date scheduled on Oct. 30, and she still faces a possible 30-day jail sentence.

“It’s been a humbling summer,” Taurasi said. “The last month it’s been an incredible high from the MVP to the championship, but rewind 2 1/2 months ago and I was probably as low as I can get. I’m the type of person that wakes up every day happy but, boy, it was tough to wake up happy every day for a couple of weeks.

“But then I used it to make myself better in areas that you guys will never understand because it’s very private. But everything happens for a reason. If you use it the right way, it can be an advantage in life; and that’s what I tried to do.”

On the court, there was little room for improvement. Taurasi’s skill set was on full display in the second quarter when she scored seven points in the first 98 seconds, then gave the Mercury its first lead since 2-0 when she stole a Fever pass and hit a 3 at the other end for a 33-31 advantage. Phoenix never trailed again.

“She’s the MVP of the league for a reason,” teammate Penny Taylor said.

Taurasi wasn’t a solo act. Guard Cappie Pondexter was brilliant, scoring 24 points on 11-of-20 shooting even though she took an elbow to her right eye before halftime. On the way off the floor she told coach Corey Gaines, “I can’t see,” and Gaines thought he might have to play the second half without his Scottie Pippen to Taurasi’s Michael Jordan.

“I knew I was going to be able to play,” said Pondexter, who sported a shiner under her eye. “I wasn’t going to let my teammates down that easy.”

Pondexter could have been named the series MVP just as easily as Taurasi — “Cappie is my X factor,” Gaines said — but Taurasi’s presence simply transcends everyone else on the court. Even with Indiana focusing its defense on her, Taurasi scored a team-high 26 points to go along with six rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

“It was such a nice feeling when that buzzer went off,” she said. “We did something special, and we did it as a group.”

As she accepted the MVP trophy in the postgame presentation, Taurasi turned and looked down.

“Sarver’s little boy was biting my ankle,” she said.

What Sarver’s son was doing, who knows. But Taurasi didn’t care. She had her seventh championship trophy and the Mercury their second.

“I don’t walk into the locker room and proclaim myself to be the leader,” Taurasi said.

She doesn’t have to say it.

Everyone knows it.

NY Yankees outfielder Brett Gardner not expected to start Friday

2009-10-09T23:43:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK -- Brett Gardner, the speedy outfielder, is not expected to replace Melky Cabrera in center on Friday against Minnesota in Game Two of the American League Division Series. But Yankees manager Joe Girardi said Gardner will be in his mind when putting together the lineup.

Gardner provides excellent speed on the bases. He entered Wednesday's victory in the ninth inning as a defensive replacement. Cabrera shifted to right to replace Nick Swisher.

"Gardy is always in the mix," Girardi said. "We'll come up with a lineup tomorrow and it's a possibility. But as I said, Melky is probably going to be our center fielder."

Cabrera went 1-for-4 on Wednesday night. He came around to score on Derek Jeter's third-inning home run.

Hungary pageant for surgically enhanced beauties

2009-10-09T23:41:00.000-07:00

BUDAPEST, Hungary — It was a night for unnatural beauties. Contestants showed off breast implants, nose jobs and face lifts as Miss Plastic Hungary 2009 strove to promote the benefits of plastic surgery in a country where artificial enhancements are viewed mostly with a wary eye.

"I think this competition is long overdue," said photographer Marton Szipal, one of the pageant judges. "Hungarians used to laugh about plastic surgery but it's time for Hungarian women to care more about their appearance. They are the most beautiful in Europe."

Plastic surgeon Dr. Tamas Rozsos said the pageant also meant to show that cosmetic corrections did not necessarily have to be about oversized breasts, bulbous lips and skin stretched to near tearing point.

"This about restoring harmony ... eliminating asymmetries and giving women the opportunity to have normal features," Rozsos said. "Plastic surgery has a bad reputation in Hungary but its mostly due to the exaggerations."

Despite Hungary having been hit hard by the global economic crisis with the government forced to scale back spending on health services, Rozsos said that the number of surgeries had been rising year by year.

"People for whom this is important always find the money," Rozsos said.

To qualify for the pageant, the 18 Hungarian residents had to prove they'd gone fully under the knife — mere Botox or collagen injections did not count. Nearly all the contestants showed off augmented breasts, with reshaped noses also popular. One finalist had surgically adjusted toes.

Organizers claimed contestants were expected to show "a perfect harmony of body and soul," but the three-part pageant concentrated almost exclusively on the women's physical attributes and the usually conspicuous wishes for world peace went missing.

Miss Plastic candidates were at least 18 years old and included a former rhythmic gymnast, a firefighter married to a police officer, a mother of three and several strippers. There was a special category for women over 30.

Pageant queen Reka Urban, a 22-year-old hostess, won an apartment in Budapest, first runner-up Edina Kulcsar was given a new car and second runner-up Alexandra Horvath took home diamond jewelry worth 2 million forints ($10,800). The winners' plastic surgeons also received awards.

The trick to Halloween costumes

2009-10-09T23:40:00.000-07:00

Halloween is the time of year when people of all ages can become someone they're not - a ghost, a witch, a pirate or even a celebrity. It has become fashionable lately for adults to dress as their favorite stars. Last year, the most popular celebrity to copy was Sarah Palin. She was in the news almost every day. She has a look that can be exaggerated. Palin also attracts your eye, whether or not you agree with her politics. These traits make for a very popular Halloween character. The stars, in turn, benefit from a campy Halloween compliment.This year, I predict that the most popular Halloween celebrities will be multi-generational. The Kardashian family is the first group that comes to mind. You can easily keep up with Khloe by donning a wedding dress. Add a baby bump and be Kourtney. Put on a track suit, and you're Bruce Jenner. Big hair, big make-up and big curves will turn you into Kim - although I've seen Kim in real life and she is slender and petite. But you're copying the cartoonish characters you see on TV.

Another Halloween celebrity family will be "Jon & Kate Plus 8." The couple is constantly being interviewed, each telling his and her side of their sad story. Kate's unusual hairstyle and Jon's Ed Hardy T-shirts will make them easy to mimic. Unfortunately, once you put your family on a reality show, everyone knows your business.

The mother-daughter costumes can definitely include actress Tori Spelling and her estranged mom, Candy. They each wrote autobiographies publicizing their ongoing feud. You can dress like you're ready for an exhausting day of shopping in Beverly Hills.

The mother-daughter theme can be used to re-create the unknown stars of "Toddlers and Tiaras," a TV program that showcases little girls in false eyelashes and spray tans entering beauty pageants. Moms, and sometimes dads, are never far behind. If you and a friend dress like a toddler and parent, you will be acknowledging the campy quality of every child star since Bette Davis in "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?"

I think that the Octomom will have a loyal following this Halloween, as will Billy Ray and Miley Cyrus.

While most of the Halloween stars are women, both women and men can choose to dress the part. Every year, there are huge Halloween parades in major cities like New York, San Francisco and New Orleans.

Two years ago, I attended the annual Costume Carnaval in West Hollywood, Calif. Hundreds of people were dressed like Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, Posh Spice and Britney Spears. One guy in particular dressed like Britney in a streaky blond wig, heavy make-up, a tube top, short skirt and silver platform sandals. He pushed around an empty double stroller with a sign reading, "Y'all seen my kids?"

So whatever your Halloween plans, whether you're dressing up or watching the parade pass by, enjoy the holiday and all the fabulous costumes. As for me, I usually keep my witch's hat near my broomstick for safekeeping.

Marge Simpson Playboy pics are a big hit on internet

2009-10-09T23:37:00.000-07:00

October 10: Marge Simpson Playboy pics are big hit on internet. You would have seen beauties in flesh on Playboy cover. They are really in flesh as they have to remove almost everything from their bodies.But this time there is a fictional character on the cover page of the Playboy Magazine. Marge Simpson makes it to the cover page of the Playboy magazine.

Marge Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series

Marge Simpson is a happy homemaker and mother of three. Her prides and joys are Bart (her "special little guy"), Lisa and Maggie. She's also very proud of her husband, Homer, even though he frequently loses his keys and needs her to find them.

Marge also has strong relationships with her sisters, Patty and Selma, and with her father-in-law, Abe Simpson. But she also has secrets: She has been tempted to stray from her husband by a charming bowler and was nearly seduced into a life of crime by her one-time neighbor, Ruth Powers. Aside from her duties at home, Marge has flirted briefly with a number of careers ranging from police officer to anti-violence activist.

Marge is the well-meaning and extremely patient mother of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has three children: Bart, Lisa and Maggie.

Marge is the moralistic force in her family and often provides a grounding voice in the midst of her family's antics by trying to maintain order in the Simpson household. She is often portrayed as a stereotypical television mother and is often included on lists of top "TV moms". She has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons—including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, and comic books—and inspired an entire line of merchandise.Marge's distinctive blue beehive hairstyle was inspired by a combination of The Bride of Frankenstein and the style that Margaret Groening wore in the 1960s. Julie Kavner, who was a member of the original cast of The Tracey Ullman Show, was asked to voice Marge so that more voice actors would not be needed. Kavner has won several awards for voicing Marge, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance in 1992. She was also nominated for an Annie Award for Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature for her performance in The Simpsons Movie. In 2000, Marge, along with the rest of her family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Julie Kavner won an Emmy Award in 1992 for her voice-over work as Marge Simpson and her sisters, Patty and Selma Bouvier, on FOX's historic, multi-Emmy Award-winning series THE SIMPSONS.

For her performances on The Tracey Ullman Show (1987-90 on FOX), Kavner received four Emmy nominations, as well as four previous nominations for her supporting role as ‘Brenda Morgenstern’ in the situation comedy Rhoda, winning the coveted Emmy Award in 1987. In 1975 she also received a nomination for her starring role in the daytime special, The Girl Who Couldn’t Lose. Additional television credits include co-starring roles in the telefilms No Other Love with Richard Thomas, Katherine with Sissy Spacek and Revenge of the Stepford Wives with Sharon Gless.

Duggar grandchild is born: Josh and Anna Duggar welcome Baby No. 1

2009-10-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

Arkansas couple Jim Bob and MIchelle Duggar welcomed their first grandchild Thursday night. Mackynzie Renee Duggar was born at the home of her parents,Josh and Anna Duggar, with a mid-wife, doula and grandmother, Michelle, attending.

Josh, 20, the eldest of Jim Bob and Michelle's children, married Anna September 26, 2008 at Buford Grove Baptist Church in Hilliard, Fla. The two met at a home-schooling conference.

Michelle is expecting her nineteenth child in the spring.

Suggestion powers 'Paranormal Activity' phenom

2009-10-09T23:34:00.000-07:00

LOS ANGELES — The no-budget ghost story "Paranormal Activity" arrives 10 years after "The Blair Witch Project," and the two horror movies share more than a clever construct and shaky, handheld camerawork.

Like its predecessor, "Paranormal Activity" has been making waves through a viral marketing campaign that has been building positive buzz through early, sold-out college town screenings and Internet chatter. The film's title has become a nightly fixture among Twitter's trending topics, despite playing only midnight shows in 33 theaters when it opened last Friday.

This week it expands to 46 markets where it will play throughout the day and evening in more than 170 theaters. And, like "Blair Witch," "Paranormal Activity" is bound to divide audiences who have absorbed the hype.

Best advice: See it early in its run — and late at night in a packed theater. Half the fun of the movie comes from the communal experience of sharing in something that feels like it hasn't been market-tested within an inch of its life.

The irony is that Paramount Pictures did initially test the film with the idea of having writer-director Oren Peli re-shoot it with a bigger budget. But the movie, which video-game designer Peli shot two years ago for a reported $15,000, played so well in that one screening that the studio decided go a different route, trimming the length and punching up the ending.

"Paranormal Activity" opens with a title card, thanking the families of Micah Sloat and Katie Featherstone as well as the San Diego Police Department, an immediate signal that the "found footage" we're about to see won't have a happy outcome.

Micah (Micah Sloat) has bought a video camera to document the "weird (stuff)" that has been happening in the two-story San Diego home he shares with his girlfriend of three years, Katie (Katie Featherstone).

It turns out that freaky things have been happening to Katie since her family's house burned down when she was eight. Since then, Katie has suffered through nightmares and felt the presence of a "shadowy figure" at the foot of her bed. The young couple consult a psychic (Michael Bayouth), who senses the bad mojo and refers them to a demonologist.

His other piece of advice: DO NOT buy a Ouija board. You don't want to open the lines of communication with this thing. Micah, being an arrogant young dude and a bit of an idiot, dismisses the tip and refuses any outside help. "This is my girlfriend, my house and I'm gonna' solve the problem!"

Micah's solution is to set up his new camera on a tripod at the foot of the couple's bed and document what happens while they sleep. The movie's genius comes from its slow-building tension as it returns night after night to this fixed location, a time code running in the lower right corner of the screen. The bedroom door leading to the upstairs hallway is ajar ... and then it's not.

The entire film takes place at the couple's cookie-cutter dwelling, its layout and furnishings indistinguishable from just about any other readymade home constructed in the past 20 years. Its ordinariness makes the eerie, nocturnal activities all the more terrifying, as does the anonymity of the actors adequately playing the leads.

The thinness of the premise is laid bare toward the end, but not enough to erase the horror of those silent, nighttime images seen through Micah's bedroom camera. "Paranormal Activity" owns a raw, primal potency, proving again that, to the mind, suggestion has as much power as a sledgehammer to the skull.

"Paranormal Activity," a Paramount Pictures release, is rated R for language. Running time: 84 minutes. Three stars out of four.

On Tonight: Puppy Whisperer, No 'Betty'

2009-10-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

The sixth season starts for "Dog Whisperer" (National Geographic, 9 p.m.), with trainer Cesar Millan adopting four new pups from different breeds that he hopes to train for his pack.

Among them is a possible new right hand in the pit bull pup named Junior. His current right hand, Daddy, is reaching retirement age.

The unusual episode comes the same week of the release of his latest book, "How to Raise the Perfect Dog: Through Puppyhood and Beyond" (Harmony Books, $25.99).

Snoop Dogg, meanwhile, guest stars as a cousin of the "Brothers" (Fox, 8 p.m.). And, as always, "Dog Whisperer" is not to be confused with "Ghost Whisperer" (CBS, 8 p.m.).

In the third season premiere of "The Wizards of Waverly Place" (Disney, 8 p.m.), Harper, played by Jennifer Stone, is taken in by the family of Alex (Selena Gomez) for a little different dynamic in the family.

Tonight was originally supposed to be the season premiere of "Ugly Betty," but it's been bumped a week until next Friday. Instead, there are same-week reruns of "FlashForward" (ABC, 8 p.m.), "Modern Family" (ABC, 9 p.m.) and "The Middle" (ABC, 9:30 p.m.).

Richard Belzer, former Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, professor Cornel West; former Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist and comedian Sarah Silverman are scheduled guests on a new "Real Time with Bill Maher" (HBO, 10 p.m.).

Former International Monetary Fund chief economist Simon Johnson and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) report on the state of the economy a year after the economic meltdown brought promises of Wall Street reform from Washington.

It's game 2 of Twins at Yankees (TBS, 6 p.m.) and Red Sox at Angels (TBS, 9:30 p.m.).
It's Knicks at Celtics (CSN, 7:30 p.m.) in preseason basketball and Louisiana Tech at Nevada (ESPN, 9 p.m.) in college football.

And the WNBA Finals (ESPN2, 8 p.m.) will be determined in tonight's Game 5.

A month of Friday night thrillers on Turner Classic Movies continues with political thrillers: "The Manchurian Candidate" (8 p.m.), "The Parallax View" (10:15 p.m.) and "The Boys from Brazil" (midnight).

They are followed by "Evil Dead 2: Dead by Dawn" (2:15 a.m.) and "Horror House" (3:45 a.m.), a 1969 horror film with Frankie Avalon.

Daytime Talk
Regis and Kelly: Daniel Craig, Joss Stone, Anderson Cooper. The View: Khloe Kardashian. Bonnie Hunt: Kristen Bell, Danny Pudi, Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas. Ellen DeGeneres: Jason Bateman, Judy Shepard.

Late Talk
Jay Leno: Terry Bradshaw. David Letterman: Jon Hamm, Andy Kindler, Brett Dennen & Natalie Merchant. Conan O'Brien: Zack Hample, Lady Antebellum. Jimmy Kimmel: Michael Moore, Malin Ackerman, the Backstreet Boys. Jimmy Fallon: Martin Short, Jeff Lewis, Cory Chisel. Craig Ferguson: Gerard Butler, Phoenix. Carson Daly: Glenn Howerton. Mo'Nique: Hill Harper, Soledad O'Brian, Jermaine Dupri, Eve

Pepperidge Farm Rolls Out New Thin Rolls

2009-10-09T23:32:00.000-07:00

Available in three varieties

Pepperidge Farm has introduced new Deli Flats, which the company claims to be 100-calorie thin rolls that are an alternative to the ordinary and are suitable for all types of sandwiches. The three varieties, Soft 100% Whole Wheat, Soft Oatmeal and 7 Grain, contain fibre and have 100 calories per serving.

Natural food chef and author Bethenny Frankel said: “Deli Flats thin rolls offer a soft, wholesome and delicious taste in a figure-friendly portion. I love recommending them to friends and clients. At 100 calories and five grams of fibre per roll, Deli Flats are a good foundation for everyday healthy eating and an important part of making smarter sandwiches, better burgers and more. In my opinion, Deli Flats thin rolls are the greatest thing since sliced bread!”

Tim Hassett, senior vice president/general manager of Fresh & Frozen Bakery at Pepperidge Farm, said: “Deli Flats thin rolls are a great solution for people who love sandwiches and want to enjoy them in more healthy ways without compromising taste or quality.”

The Deli Flats thin rolls are sold in Soft 100% Whole Wheat, Soft Oatmeal and 7 Grain varieties with a suggested retail price of $3.19, and are available at major supermarkets and grocery stores in New England and the Mid Atlantic region.

Angels' Weaver, Izturis beat Bosox for 2-0 lead

2009-10-09T23:30:00.000-07:00

ANAHEIM, Calif. — Jered Weaver followed in John Lackey's day-old footsteps throughout the night, all the way to his final triumphant walk off the Angel Stadium mound. He even waved his cap at the standing, cheering crowd with nearly the same sweep of his arm.

With Weaver picking up right where Lackey left off for the Los Angeles Angels, not even Josh Beckett could keep the Boston Red Sox off the brink of playoff elimination.

Weaver yielded two hits while dominating Boston into the eighth inning, and Maicer Izturis drove home the tiebreaking run in Los Angeles' 4-1 victory over the Red Sox on Friday night, extending the Angels' first-round lead to 2-0.

Erick Aybar followed Izturis' RBI single with a two-run triple during the Angels' two-out rally in the seventh to break up a stellar pitching duel between Weaver and Beckett, Boston's ace and most reliable playoff pitcher.

"These two guys were matching each other pitch for pitch," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. "I thought we did a really good job of staying focused, settling down. ... The only way we're going to beat good pitching is to pitch with them, and we were able to do that the first couple of nights."

Weaver was comprehensively better than Beckett in just his second career postseason start. He allowed just four Boston baserunners and struck out seven while matching Lackey's 7 1-3 innings in Los Angeles' streak-snapping shutout victory in Game 1.

"It's always nice going up against a lineup like that," Weaver said. "You know that if you make any mistakes, they're going to hurt you. ... Hopefully these two (wins) will carry us into Boston with some positive momentum."

Game 3 is early Sunday at Fenway Park, with Boston's Clay Buchholz facing Angels newcomer Scott Kazmir, who pitched two strong playoff games against the Red Sox for Tampa Bay last fall.

The Red Sox eliminated the Angels in three of the past five postseasons, winning nine of 10 games, but Boston has mustered just one run and eight hits in this series. After twice outpitching Boston's best starters and coming through with timely late-inning hits, Los Angeles is one win away from its first AL championship series since 2005.

"We want it," Angels outfielder Torii Hunter said. "I mean, I can't say we want it more than those guys, but we definitely want it. I'm pretty sure they want it, too. It's just not working out for them. We've just got to keep putting the pressure on them and stay hungry. You've got to kick somebody when they're down, and that's what we're doing."

Aybar's hit chased Beckett, who yielded five hits and four runs in 6 2-3 innings during his first playoff loss in a Red Sox uniform. It was his first defeat in nine postseason starts since Game 3 of the 2003 World Series with Florida.

"A lot of guys in here have been here before," Beckett said of Boston's 0-2 deficit. "It's not the ideal start. ... I felt good for six innings, (but) just not making pitches when I needed to."

Although the Red Sox scored their only run of the series in the fourth on Victor Martinez's RBI single, Boston's sixth playoff run in seven seasons is in serious trouble against the Angels, who had lost 12 of their last 13 playoff games against the Red Sox before taking the first two at Angel Stadium.

"We've had a tough time these last two games swinging the bat, that's an understatement," Boston manager Terry Francona said.

Boston got the tying run to the plate in the ninth with Kevin Youkilis doubled off Kevin Jepsen and Jason Bay drew a two-out walk from Brian Fuentes. Although Red Sox fans might have conjured visions of Dave Henderson's memorable ninth-inning homer for the Red Sox in Anaheim at Game 5 of the 1986 AL championship series, Fuentes retired Mike Lowell on a fly to center for his first career postseason save.

Weaver just completed his best pro season, going 16-8 with a 3.75 ERA as the Angels' most dependable starter. Despite a late-season three-game losing streak, he has been largely outstanding since mid-August, pushing the Angels to their fifth AL West title in six years.

"When he's in a zone, man, he's pretty impressive," Hunter said of Weaver. "His off-speed is like a cartoon curveball, and tonight he hit like 91 (mph), and I hadn't seen that in a long time. He was very amped up, and it was a tremendous job by Weaver. Lackey and Weaver, man, those are bulldogs to me. I love 'em."

Both teams combined for just seven baserunners over the first 6 1/2 innings of Game 2, but free-swinging Vladimir Guerrero drew a walk from Beckett to open the Angels seventh. After pinch-runner Howie Kendrick swiped second — no surprise for one of the majors' most active teams on the basepaths — Izturis worked the count before driving Beckett's 94th pitch into center for the go-ahead run.

After Beckett hit Mike Napoli with a pitch, Aybar rapped a triple to center, scoring both runners.

Izturis, the second baseman who batted .300 in his breakout regular season, missed last fall's playoffs with a thumb injury, and he sat out Game 1 in favor of Kendrick. He spent the year playing stellar infield defense alongside Aybar, the young shortstop who posted career highs in most hitting categories this year.

"In the first at-bats, I was trying to pull the ball too much," Izturis said through an interpreter. "In that situation with the big hit, I just tried to hit the ball back up the middle, and I hit a curveball."

Jacoby Ellsbury led off the fourth with a triple over Hunter's outstretched glove in center and later scored on Martinez's single, ending Boston's string of 20 consecutive scoreless postseason innings. The Red Sox didn't score in the final eight innings of Tampa Bay's series-clinching Game 7 win in last year's AL championship series, and Lackey blanked them in Game 1.

Los Angeles evened it later in the fourth when Bobby Abreu led off with a single and eventually scored on Kendry Morales' sacrifice fly.

NOTES: Except for a lingering headache, Francona was mostly recovered from a brutal 24-hour bout of what he suspected was food poisoning. ... Ellsbury's triple snapped an 0-for-24 playof skid for Boston's leadoff hitter

STAWAR: I’m innocent, I was reframed!

2009-10-09T23:28:00.000-07:00

Since childhood I have had a terrible fear of going to the dentist. I’m one of those patients who demand general anesthesia to have my teeth cleaned. I usually feel so vulnerable that I’m actually fond of that heavy lead apron they put over you, when they take X-rays. It’s sort of like a suit of protective armor.

My helpful wife, Diane, says I should reframe this situation and imagine that getting your teeth cleaned is like having an itch scratched.

Nice try.

But in my mind there is nothing gratifying about getting poked in the gums with a sharp stainless steel instrument.

Instead, I usually imagine that I have been captured by the Chinese communists who are torturing me. They are trying to force me to reveal sensitive information, that could lead to the destruction of the free world. I am determined not to crack, regardless of what they do to me — even clean my teeth.

I don’t believe that going to the dentist is anything like scratching fluffy kittens behind the ears. For me it’s a scene right out of “The Manchurian Candidate” or maybe the “Boys from Brazil.”

Reframing is when you look at a situation from a different, and hopefully more helpful, perspective. Psychotherapists frequently use reframing to help people change their perceptions of unpleasant situations, so that they can better deal with them.

Many people use reframing spontaneously, to manage everyday trials and tribulations. For example, a lot of folks find vacuuming the house aversive. Comedienne Roseanne Barr has said, “When Sears makes a vacuum cleaner you can ride, then I might get interested.”

I once knew a rather compulsive fellow by the name of Mike, who managed to reframe vacuuming. He pretended that the vacuum cleaner was a mine sweeper and that he was clearing the house of deadly underwater mines. Each tiny piece of debris on the floor, represented a lethal mine, that had to be removed before it could sink a ship. Yes, Mike might have been a bit eccentric, but he did have spotless carpets and the safest shipping lanes in Glenwood.

Reframing involves attributing positive features to what, at first, is perceived as an entirely negative situation. This succeeds because there is usually a context, in which almost any behavior or circumstance can be constructive. Fired from your job can mean more time at home with the family, or new career opportunities (a door closes, but a window opens). Procrastination can be productively employed in delaying that second helping, allowing you to succeed on your diet. And according to comedian George Carlin, even explosive diarrhea can be a positive development, if you need to catch up on your reading, or when your cellmate decides to get romantic and make his move.

In the 1954 best-selling novel (and later movie), “No Time for Sergeants,” Will Stockdale, the shrewd country boy, reframes the hostile remarks made by his fellow army recruits, by simply saying good naturedly “Aw, those fellows didn’t mean nothing by that.” Stockdale’s interpretation deftly designifies, or removes the significance of those negative statements, according to writer Roy Blount Jr. In another example, an officer insults Stockdale’s home state of Georgia, but Will refuses to take offense, saying that he doesn’t actually live in the whole state of Georgia, only in one tiny little part.

While reframing can help us get by in difficult times and may even help us feel better, are we just kidding ourselves? Cultural skeptic Barbara Ehrenreich describes the downside of positive reframing in her book, “Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America.” She argues that uncritical encouragement of positive thinking has lead to the denial of real problems, such as poverty, disease, and unemployment. This, coupled with a tendency to blame the victim for simply not thinking positively enough, has brought us to an era of irrational optimism. Such thinking has culminated in our inability to recognize and deal with problems such as the current economic meltdown, according to Ehrenreich.

Effective reframing, however, isn’t just viewing the world through rose-colored glasses, but is rather an attempt to develop a more rational perspective. Even Sigmund Freud once said the best we can hope for, is to turn neurotic suffering into everyday misery.

A while back I read the Tribune article about a five-year old boy who was sent to school with a digital recorder, which allegedly captured a teacher calling him “pathetic.” I felt conflicted because I so admire public school teachers and feel like there is almost no way that we can support them enough. On the other hand how could anyone countenance calling a 5-year-old “pathetic.” It was said that this incident was “taken out of context.” I will not comment on this actual case, but I’ve been wondering, how could such a thing be reframed, to find a context, that justifies such a behavior? The result is:

The top 10 frames of reference in which

it just might possibly be justifiable to

call a 5-year old “pathetic”

10. You are being water boarded and that is the only way to make Alberto Gonzales stop.

9. The 5-year-old is Damien from the movie The Omen. (It might be justifiable, but it would be extremely foolhardy — ditto that kid from The Bad Seed)

8. The teacher is a substitute, by the name of Nurse Ratchet.

7. You have been put under the Imperious Curse by the Dark Lord Voldemort.

6. The kid’s parents are die hard country music fans, who actually gave him the name “Pathetic,” just to toughen him up, like the boy in Johnny Cash’s song “A Boy Named Sue.”

5. You meant to say, “Billy, you walk an awful lot. You sure are peripatetic.”

4. You’ve watched too much television, while taking Oxycontin, which resulted in your mistaking the 5-year-old for Brittney Spears, or perhaps David Letterman.

3. The 5-year-old is my cat Klaus, who tried to trip you in order to make you fall down a flight of stairs.

2. Diabolical aliens used a probe to insert the word “pathetic” into your brain, just as you were about to say, “You sure are athletic.”

1. You were having a bad day because you were really upset over healthcare reform and to top it off you had an appointment to get your teeth cleaned.

Next week: The top 10 ways to reframe being discovered sleeping in a garbage can.

DVD Review: Nick Swardson: Seriously, Who Farted?

2009-10-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

Nick Swardson is back in rare form with his new Comedy Central special,Seriously, Who Farted? It is just what you expect from Swardson: a medley of farcical musings about everything from Asian massage parlors to top hat-wearing monkeys on the Las Vegas strip.

Swardson’s latest show, filmed in the always festive and energetic Austin, Texas, is filled with hilarious accounts of his bizarre life on and off the sets of his movies and TV shows. He tells about his antics behind the scenes of his popular hit Grandma’s Boy and his role as a gay, roller-skating prostitute on the less than serious "reality" series, Reno 911.

Swardson’s humor is made even funnier by his ability to relate to the audience. He jokes about things every person experiences at the brink of adulthood, like drunken bar fights and the quality of fast food while intoxicated. His ability to elicit laughter from everyday experiences is unparalleled. Whether it’s cocky drunk chicks, t-shirt cannons at football games, or late night gaming frenzies, Swardson’s animated storytelling makes even the most ordinary experience hugely entertaining. Not only is he painfully witty, but his comical voices and impressions make it hard to stop laughing from beginning to end, adding to the hilarity of his crazy experiences.

Mostly resulting from the influence of alcohol, his stories mirror experiences of young people everywhere. If you’ve ever wanted to grow up to be a ninja, dreamed of high-fiving a monkey, or gotten so drunk you crapped your pants, you are going to absolutely love this side-splitting stand-up DVD.

Adding to the amusement is a collection of awesome special features. The special features include the opening act of Beardo and Dirt Nasty, a spoof trailer called “28 Drinks Later,” a featurette called “Nick Swardson: Timeless Comedian,” and another spoof for an album called “A Very Terry Christmas.” These extras are an awesome bonus to an already gut-bustingly funny DVD. For a good laugh from an extremely funny and experienced comedian and some seriously funny bonus features, Nick Swardson: Seriously, Who Farted? is a great way to kill a couple of hours.

Umpire Phil Cuzzi Showed Us Why Instant Replay on Fair/Foul Balls is Needed

2009-10-09T23:24:00.000-07:00

I sat at a local pub this Friday night taking in Game Two of the ALDS of the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees. I thought it would be an interesting game to be sure. If Minnesota would win this game, they would split the series with Games Three and Four at the Metrodome. With two wins at home, they could win the series without ever returning to New York. However, this did not happen.

In a game that proved to be a game of broken oppurtunities for the Twins, it appeared that even late inning blown calls were fitting to a game not going their way.

Starters Blackburn and Burnett pitched near perfection keeping their opponents hitless and guessing.

In the 4th inning, Twins center fielder Carlos Gomez overran second base on a single with two outs and got caught before teammate Delmon Young stepped on home plate.

Throw in countless questionable pitch calls and many knew this game was going to be a close one. After Minnesota scored in the eighth inning to lead the game 3-1 heading into the 9th.

Upon entering the bottom of then 9th, Mark Teixeira hit a lead off single followed by a clutch home run by Alex Rodriguez off of Twins closer Joe Nathan blowing a save oppurtunity.

Upon escaping the inning, the Twins would try and settle it in extras. After escaping a near miss the bottom of the 10th, the Twins would open the top of the 11th with AL Batting Champ, Joe Mauer. He opened up on a hit down the left-field line. Left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi called the hit foul despite being clearly fair by about a foot AND hitting New York left fielder Melky Cabrera's glove.This play infuriated me not only as a Twins fan, but as a fan of baseball all-around. Especially after the following hitters Jason Kubel and Michael Cuddyer followed up with singles to fill the bases. I did feel a bit of justice as a Twins fan after seeing Mauer single up the middle later in the at-bat, but afterwards, a big sign pointed to this replay and pointed to a bigger problem that just can't be overlooked...

That even an umpire not even 15-feet away staring right at the play can miss an obvious call.

With that said, here's what I wonder Bud Selig will try to 'ignore' in order to not instate replay on fair/foul balls...

This was a playoff game. High stakes are a part of it and makes the games worth more. This means essentially that the blown call(s) would be an even bigger cost to who truly is the better team.
This was an extra-inning game. The later the game, the more tedious the calling should be. This big of a blown call seems only bigger when the game pivots on every play.
This was a pivotal game. By a Twins victory, the advantage goes to Minnesota with the next two games being played in Minnesota. If Minnesota wins those two, the Twins could be preparing for the ALCS rather then staving off elimination.
This was the only game on. Kind of harsh when every baseball fanatic witnessed this.
This was a nationally televised game. So not only is every fan watching baseball watching this game, but everyone in the country.
Left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi was starring right at the play.
Cuzzi was 15-feet away.
He missed the fact that it hit Melky Cabrera's glove... in fair territory... and still bounced... infair territory.
And the big one... he had no obstruction.

Let's be serious. You can NOT miss this call in the 11th inning of a playoff game in a pivotal game that could ultimatly decide these team's fates.

At no other time has replay made more sense in a modern day scene. In the playoffs, no team should have to suffer a loss, especially when two hits follow a supposed double. At worst, the Twins would have been up one run heading into the bottom of the 11th. With that said, the game would have continued at a 4-4 tie.

Adobe Flash apps come to iPhone--sort of

2009-10-09T23:22:00.000-07:00

In a surprise announcement, Adobe Systems said Monday that Flash programmers now can bring their applications to Apple's iPhone, a domain of high interest that's been off limits for the programming technology.

Because of Apple restrictions, though, Flash isn't coming in the form in which most people experience it, a Web browser plug-in. Instead, programmers will be able to change Flash applications into native iPhone applications using Adobe's Flash Professional CS5 developer tool, currently in beta testing, then offer their programs as an Apple App Store download.

"This is a great first step in the right direction," said Heidi Voltmer, Adobe's product marketing manager for Flash.

The approach spotlights the tension between Apple, which controls the iPhone tightly in an effort to ensure a good user experience, and others, which want a place on the premier mobile device on the marketplace today.Adobe's back-door approach still is a significant move for the company, though, which wants toensure that Flash is a major foundation for Internet-based applications. Programmers familiar with Flash could find the Adobe method an easier way to bring their applications to the iPhone world if they're not experts in coding for the phone and its close cousin, the iPod Touch.

Apple didn't immediately comment for this story.

Some Flash Professional CS5 beta testers are taking advantage of the technique, including BlueskyNorth, Breakdesign, FlashGameLicense.com, Muchosmedia, PushButton Labs, and Bowler Hat Games.

"With the ability to create applications for iPhone in the Flash Professional CS5 beta, I don't need to learn a new programming language or the plethora of development tools that inevitably come with it," said Josh Tynjala, founder of Bowler Hat Games, in a statement. "Instead, I'm able to spend more time exploring ways to make my games like Chroma Circuit more fun on mobile devices like the iPhone and increase my business revenue."

Adobe's ultimate goal remains the same: to get Flash on the iPhone integrated with its Safari browser. "My view is there is only one Web," said Chief Technology Officer Kevin Lynch in an interview. Adobe demonstrated the Flash applications at its Max developer conference in Los Angeles Monday, where Lynch gave the keynote address.

Flash Player 10.1, due in beta form later this year and final form in the first half of 2010, is spreading to just about all the other smartphones out there: Google Android, BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, Palm WebOS, and Nokia Symbian.

Why not the iPhone, too? "The Apple iPhone SDK (software developer kit) license terms do not allow runtime interpreted code, so Adobe is not able to deliver Flash Player in Safari on the iPhone without support from Apple," Adobe said in a statement.

Voltmer didn't comment on the state of present discussions with Apple to build Flash Player directly into the iPhone. But she did say people visit Adobe's Web site looking for it.

It's not immediately clear how easily Flash applications translate to the iPhone, and most folks won't get a chance to try it until the beta is released publicly later this year. There are some limitations, Voltmer said.

For one thing, the Flash software must be written in ActionScript 3, not the earlier ActionScript 2. For another, they can't use video because of Apple restrictions, she said.

There also could be practical limits on memory, processing power, and graphics. Last year's PC running Flash Player has a lot more computing capability than a modern iPhone 3GS.

The iPhone and iPod Touch have some features that are well-suited to mobile gaming, though, and programmers will be able to use them. That includes the multitouch interface and accelerometer that detects device orientation, said Adrian Ludwig, a Flash team member at Adobe.

Kandi Burruss Fiance Funeral

2009-10-09T23:20:00.000-07:00

The Real Housewives of Atlant’s star Kandi Burruss whose fiancé A.J Jewell died last week, his funeral proceeded today. It should be mention here that AJ Jewell died after a fight with Fredrick James outside the parking lot of Atlanta club Body Tap. A.J Jewell was a part owner of the club and the Fredrick was an employee there. It is said that fight started over an issue of a woman. The suspected Fredrick James who fought with him and gave him cut on his body is under arrest and will be brought to court on 20th October. Fredrick has refused the charges made on him.
His funeral pictures are among the most searching pictures on the internet. It means people want to pay their gratitude to this guy and they feel sorry for what happened with him. But his funeral pictures are not easy to search as they are unavailable.
He was the fiancé of star Kandi Burruss, who is a star in play The Real Housewives of Atlanta. And it was the second funeral for Kandi which she attended during last two weeks. First funeral was of her uncle who passed away. She is in great grief these days. Her heart is full of grief with two deaths of her loved ones and surely AJ Jewell’s death has affected her a lot.
On Sunday, she made a press release and said I am devastating with the death of Jewell. She further said that she had many things to say and share with him and she thinks now that she ought to tell him all but what could be happen now, its too late.
The whole cast of Real Housewives of Atlanta attended the funeral with Kandi Burruss.

Ashford and Simpson to perform at Long Island University

2009-10-09T23:17:00.000-07:00

New Delhi, October 10: Ashford and Simpson husband wife duo are set to perform at the Long Island University Campus. This is going to be a big day for the university and for their fans. They have their fans in any corner of the nation.I don’t remember any other couple reaching to such height together in music industry. They are a successful husband and wife songwriting/production team and recording artists.

Ashford & Simpson met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined aspiring solo artist and former member of the Ikettes, Josie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Good"), Maxine Brown ("One Step At A Time"), as well as the Shirelles and Chuck Jackson.

Their own performing career was launched in 1973 with Keep It Comin' on Motown and Gimme Something Real on Warner Bros.

Their first success came in 1977 with the gold-selling Send It, which contained the Top Ten R&B hit "Don't Cost You Nothing."

Is It Still Good to Ya, a second gold album, contained the number two R&B hit "It Seems to Hang On" in 1978. Stay Free, their third straight gold album, contained "Found a Cure," another R&B smash that also made the Top 40 on the pop chart.

A Musical Affair, in 1980, featured the hit "Love Don't Make It Right," but was not as successful as previous efforts.

Meanwhile award-winning songwriters and performers Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson will bring their signature sound to the Kumble Theater for the Performing Arts at Long Island Universitys Brooklyn Campus on Friday, October 30.

The concert event, An Evening of Song with Ashford & Simpson, will raise funds for the Kumble Theater, a state-of-the-art, 320-seat venue that nurtures the creative work of students and other emerging artists and provides the community with free or low-cost access to world-class performances.Mr. Ashford and Ms. Simpson, who first became acquainted with the Brooklyn Campus through University trustee Steven J. Kumble, the Theater’s benefactor and namesake, received honorary degrees at its commencement ceremony in May 2009. Impressed with the University’s mission of access and excellence, and the Campus’ contributions to downtown Brooklyn’s vibrant artistic community, the duo decided to donate their time and talents to support the Kumble Theater.

“We are excited to welcome Mr. Ashford and Ms. Simpson back to the Brooklyn Campus. Their legendary success as performers, songwriters and producers is an inspiration to our students in the arts,” declared Gale Stevens Haynes, provost of the Brooklyn Campus.

Mr. Ashford and Ms. Simpson are among the most respected and prolific couples in contemporary music. They are perhaps best known for their #1 hit Solid, but they also have produced many Gold records and have penned hits for luminaries like Ray Charles, Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Diana Ross.

The Kumble Theater fosters the artistic exploration of both developing and established artists, and presents a wide array of cutting-edge and traditional programming. Recent offerings have ranged from performances by the Brooklyn Ballet, the Thelma Hill Performing Arts Center and artists presented by 651 ARTS to theatrical productions such as Dreamgirls.

Concert tickets are available at two price levels, $1,000 and $350. Prior to the concert, ticketholders at the $1,000 level will enjoy cocktails in the Louise B’69 and Leonard Riggio Cyber Caf’; a visit to the Mighty Wurlitzer (the original 1928 organ from the Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, which is now the Campus’ Schwartz Athletic Center); and dinner in Luntey Commons, the former lobby of the Brooklyn Paramount. Immediately following the performance, there will be a dessert reception in the Humanities Gallery during which all concertgoers will have the opportunity to meet the artists.