WebProNews

Author: Lacy Langley

  • Eminem Gives Super Awkward Interview on ESPN

    Eminem has admitted before that live television interviews are not his strength.The 40-year-old rapper started his ESPN halftime show interview staring blankly off-camera while Brent Musburger introduced the segment and Kirk Herbstreit laughed uneasily at his side.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YPPxvO8qRGo

    “Sorry, live TV freaks me out a little bit,” the Michigan native confessed after about 30 seconds of stoned-faced staring.

    The three men went on to discuss the Detroit Lions — Eminem says he’s a “die-hard fan” — and his upcoming album, “The Marshall Mathers LP 2.” Then, Herbstreit asked what excited him most about his new project, Eminem hit back, “Nothing.”

    “No, it’ll be out November 5th. I’ll probably be most excited to just be done with it,” the rapper said.

    “You’re a legend,” Eminem later told Musburger, a veteran sportscaster.

    “You my friend, are the legend,” Musburger replied, who then went on the give Em a rundown of the music icon’s achievements.

    “I’m really uncomfortable right now,” Eminem said. And the interview ended there. Awkward!

    Image via friedmylittlebrain.com

  • Carrie Underwood: Football Song Revamped

    Carrie Underwood is officially a part of your Sunday Night Football viewing experience.

    Donning a sleeveless sequined blue top and denim shorts with a pair of boots, she wanted to make the song “edgier”. She filmed the sequence in June at a huge studio inPlaya Vista, California. This is the first year that Carrie has taken the duty of singing the theme song.

    “We all definitely wanted to make an intentional shift in the sound and the look and the feel of it,” Underwood said. “Because Faith put such a stamp on it. She made it her own. We wanted people to know it was someone else; it was me — my music, my sound, my voice, my look.”
    The country singer bellowed out the new NBC Sunday Night Football Theme Song at the top of the broadcast, in which the song aired for the first time last night. She seemed very excited, as she cryptically tweeted.

    For the past six years, Faith Hill’s “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night” has been the long-running theme song featured at the top of the Sunday Night Football game, and back in 2006, Pink revamped it. Each version of the song has been complemented by a mini-story or theme, one somehow involving NFL stars, and Underwood’s is no different.

    “The general story is Carrie is performing in a concert stadium, and in the crowd are these living cubes,” said Fred Gaudelli, the show’s producer. “Inside these cubes are NFL stars. They’re submerged in water, but then they rise out of the cubes and become themselves. It’s kind of a real world combined with a surreal world.”

    “You knew you were getting a star,” Gaudelli said of Underwood, “but her ability to nail things the first time is unlike anybody I’ve ever seen, other than maybe (play-by-play announcer)Al Michaels.”

    Michaels credits the upbeat introduction for attracting viewers who might not ordinarily tune in for a football game.
    “And maybe we can keep them around for 15 minutes or so afterward,” he said, adding: “You hope the game is half as good as the open.”

    Take a listen to Carrie Underwood’s theme song and tell us what you think!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBRRO_OK-MM

    Image via countrymusictattletale.com

  • MERS Virus Treatment Effective In Testing

    MERS Virus Treatment Effective In Testing

    As Mersa Virus infections continue to pile up at an alarming rate, especially in Saudi Arabia, new research is gaining ground the idea that a combination of existing drugs may help some patients infected with the new MERS coronavirus. Currently, there is no vaccine to help prevent the coronavirus and no drug specifically to treat and lessen damage caused by it in severe cases.

    The new research into the drug combo shows it helps reduce the severity of disease in macaque monkeys deliberately infected with MERS. Macaques given ribavirin and interferon alpha 2b after having been infected with the MERS coronavirus were less sick than infected animals that weren’t given the therapy. While the regimen was previously tested in kidney cells from monkeys, these findings are the first showing what happens when the drugs are used in living animals.Also, follow-up autopsies of the treated and untreated animals showed lower levels of virus in tissues and less lung damage in the treated animals.

    “Everything fit together towards suggesting that treatment definitely helps lead to a better outcome than the absence of treatment,” said Darryl Falzarano, a Canadian scientist who is the lead author of the study, published Sunday in the journal Nature Medicine.Falzarano is currently a visiting fellow at U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton, Mont, where the study is being conducted.

    When the MERS virus became well-known about a year ago, scientists decided they didn’t have time to go through the process of developing a new drug from scratch. Apparently, Persuading a pharmaceutical company the sales potential warrants production, pushing the new compound through clinical trials and securing regulatory approval adds tens of millions of dollars in costs and additional years to the process. So, scientists decided to start testing drugs we already have, alone and in combination. Interferon alpha 2b is a synthetic version of a protein made by the human immune system. Ribavirin is an antiviral drug used for infections like hepatitis C. It was also widely used during the 2003 SARS outbreak; MERS is from the same family of viruses as SARS.

    While ribavirin was a natural place to start for MERS, it’s not clear the drug was actually useful in treating SARS. The explosive start and short duration of the outbreak meant there was no time to conduct clinical trials looking at whether the patients who got the drug were more likely to survive. As both drugs have long been in use, there are no regulatory hurdles doctors would need to clear to try the combination in MERS patients. Still, that doesn’t mean they will rush to use the regimen.

    Unfortunately the macaque model, while very beneficial has some caveats that shouldn’t be overlooked, one of those being that, so far the only known animal model for laboratory work with the MERS virus is the macaque. They can be infected with the coronavirus, but the ensuing disease does not fully reflect what goes on in when humans contract the virus. The monkeys develop mild to moderate infections when exposed to MERS, but they do not get as extremely ill as many human cases do.

    “At the moment, this is as good as it gets,” Dr. Heinz Feldmann, chief of virology at the Rocky Mountain Labs and senior author of the paper, said of the animal model. “Our job is to provide options, and this is certainly one. Whether they consider this a good one or not, it’s up to the physicians.”

    “There are doctors who don’t have much problem using ribavirin and interferon (alpha 2b), and there are physicians that have all kinds of problems to use ribavirin and interferon,” said Feldmann, suggesting side-effects of the drugs may scare off some practitioners.

    The therapy has been tried in some cases in Saudi Arabia, the country’s deputy minister of health said via email. “We have used this combination regimen on a group of patients but it’s not routinely used in all patients,” Dr. Ziad Memish said. Because the treatment wasn’t started in the cases of the very ill until later in the course of the infections, Memish said that the outcome hasn’t been very positive.

    Another scientist working to identify drugs and develop a vaccine to use against MERS, Matt Friedman, praised the work outlined in the study, but said more research is needed to see whether this drug combination should be used, especially in severely ill patients. “I think as an initial study, it’s well done and it gives us a lot of information to start identifying what other experiments should be followed up with in future,” he said, adding,“The leap between that data and treating a person infected with MERS who has other co-morbidities — I think it needs to be studied further.”

    On Saturday the World Health Organization put the global count of MERS infections at 114 with 54 deaths. But since then Saudi authorities have announced eight additional cases, three of them fatal. That will push the global total to 122 cases and 57 deaths.

    Image via Wikipedia

  • Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis Engaged?

    Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis Engaged?

    Reports show that Ashton and Mila may finally be engaged. Mila sparked the rumor mill by appearing in Los Angeles yesterday donning a simple gold band on her special finger. There is no conformation, but sources close to the couple say that Ashton has been thinking about it for a long time now.

    “He knows what they have is amazing and special,” a source in Ashton’s inner circle said. “He’s been thinking about proposing for a long time.”

    Another source noted that the engagement wouldn’t be much of a change for the couple after dating for so long, he says,
    “They are clearly very much in love, in tune with each other and so comfortable,” the source noted. “In some ways, it’s like they’re married already.”

    Kunis, who turned 30 on August 14th, and Kutcher, 35, first started dating in April 2012, and have been tight-lipped on their relationship ever since. Most recently, the pair spent some time with Kutcher’s parents in London in May. The next month, they were caught kissing during a vacation with Princess Beatrice and her boyfriend Dave Clark in Saint Tropez, France.

    However, if the knot is going to be tied, Ashton still has some loose ends to clean up. He is still trudging through his divorce from Demi Moore, and the two are reportedly fighting over the small fortune Ashton has made through technology investments, which include Spotify and Foursquare.

    Ashton Kutcher has changed a lot since divorcing Demi, friends say. When he first became single he was content playing the field, but as his friendship with his former co-star of That ’70s Show grew, Ashton seemed ready to settle down again.

    I won’t believe it ’til the social media-obsessed Kutcher tweets it…

    Image via wikimedia

  • Russian Warships Head to Syria’s Coast

    The St. Petersburg central naval command has announced the large landing warship “Nikolai Filchenkov” will set sail for the Syrian coast to join two Russian destroyers which have already left, as Moscow boosts it’s presence in the region ahead of expectations that the US will not wait for the world to support them. The US is unlikely to wait for any support from world leaders or the United Nations but use the expected approval of its Congress to launch a two-month “limited” campaign as early as the end of the month.

    The US also has warships in the area and, as president Barack Obama has previously revealed, any military engagement would likely come from air strikes – most likely fired from (warships) on suspected chemical weapons plants and the mechanisms of delivery including the Syrian airforce.

    The Russian warships will join a Russian anti-submarine ship, a frigate and three other landing ships in the eastern Mediterranean coast. The Russians say the latest warship deployed would be collecting “special cargo” but would not elaborate.

    “The ship will make call in Novorossiisk, where it will take on board special cargo and set off for the designated area of its combat duty in the eastern Mediterranean,”

    a Russian official said.

    The deployment comes amid high tensions at the G20 summit of world leaders, which took place in the Russian city St. Petersburg, the Summit was intended to debate the economy and poverty in developing nations but instead the agenda has been hijacked by the Syrian crisis.There is a clear split in opinion at the conference as to the evidence that the Bashar al-Assad regime used chemical weapons on its citizens which killed more than 1400 people including 400 children last month.

    There now appears to be little debate chemicals were used but a split on who actually used them. Both Russia and China, which held private talks at the summit, do not believe the evidence sustainable, while on the other hand, the US, UK, France and Australia believe it is and that retaliation is required.

    UN chief Ban ki-moon has been attending the summit urging support for a peace conference, while Russian President Vladimir Putin, overnight Summit host, held a dinner for the leaders during which they made their case for entry into the Syria crisis. President Obama said he had ”very high confidence” in the evidence showing that chemical weapons were used and urged strong condemnation. He was supported by Prime Minister David Cameron, and Australia’s Foreign Minister Bob Carr, who also said that they also had strong evidence of an atrocity by the regime. France’s Francois Hollande said he was prepared to enter the conflict.

    The leaders have precious little time to bridge very bitter gaps and quell the animosity between nations, notably the US, Russia, and the UK. The tensions in forums have made talks difficult. Mr Putin’s official spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday dismissed Britain as “just a small island no-one pays any attention to” and boasted how rich Russians were buying up most of Chelsea, an upmarket suburb in London, and the US has made clear it’s disdain for Putin. Who wouldn’t love to be a fly on that wall?

  • Sofia Vergara Remains Highest Paid for 2nd Year

    For the second year in a row Sofia Vergara, the voluptuous breakout star of ABC’s Modern Family, is the top-earning actress on television according to the rankings of the 14th annual Forbes Celebrity 100. As the reigning queen of celebrity endorsement deals (thanks largely to her bilingual portfolio), Vergara’s earnings over the past year reached $30 million—making her far and away the highest-paid actress on prime time.

    According to the Forbes website, the Forbes Celebrity 100 list looks at the earnings of American celebrities during a specific time period—this year June 2012 through June 2013—and counts cash only for projects completed and contracts made good on during that time. This breakaway list tallies the take-home of the talented women of prime time, and includes not just their work on TV projects, but also the oh-so-lucrative endorsement and licensing deals that have come as a result. All told, the 20 top-paid TV actresses earned a cumulative $183 million. Wow!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NAFu46REPg

    Vergara’s endorsement deals speak to the same set of consumers– Diet Pepsi, Covergirl, Rooms To Go and thyroid medicine Synthroid signed contracts this year in addition to Spanish-language commercials for laundry detergent, Comcast and State Farm insurance—deals that establish the star her one of the most in-demand spokespeople as marketers hope to capture her crossover appeal.

    Image via webpronews

  • Scarlett Johansson Engaged to Journalist

    Congratulations are in order for Scarlett Johansson! The “Under the Skin” and “Avengers” actress, 28, is engaged to boyfriend Romain Dauriac, a French journalist. Dating for around 10 months, the couple first stepped out together in November 2012. It’s been a “whirlwind romance,” one insider tells of the relationship.

    Rumors began swirling around the actress at the 2012 Venice International Film Festival when ScarJo stepped out in a beautiful low-cut black dress and a very noticeable accessory on her left hand.

    That wasn’t the first time she was spotted with a new rock, though. When she was spotted in February with sizeable bling on her left hand, her rep. said, “She is absolutely not engaged.”

    Johansson, who’s other exes include Sean Penn and ex-husband Ryan Reynolds (Reynolds remarried last year; he and his Green Lantern costar Blake Lively tied the knot in a secret ceremony in South Carolina on Sept. 9.) told Elle UK in January that she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to tie the knot again.

    “I never think about marriage,” she confessed. “Is that weird? The only time I ever think about it is when people ask me, ‘Would I get married again?’ It’s really not important to me. It has no relevance to me right now.”
    “I’m not having kids any time soon,” she continued. “I’m in a nice relationship, I’m working a lot and, like I said, [marriage is] not important to me…To me, being in a functioning relationship doesn’t mean you have to be married.”

    Image via wikipedia

  • Hynix Fire: Production Will Resume Shortly

    The fire that destroyed parts of the Hynix plant in Wuxi, China started at around 7:50 GMT during chip equipment installation and was extinguished in less than two hours, the company said. The incident caused one minor injury, it said, adding that it is still assessing exact damages.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2P_YLwK7ewU

    “Currently, there is no material damage to the fab equipment in the clean room, thus we expect to resume operations in a short time period so that overall production and supply volume would not be materially affected,” company representative Seongae Park said in a statement.
    “In addition, we expect that the majority of damage will be covered through insurance.”

    Park said photographs showing towering clouds of black, billowing smoke that circulated among blogs and news websites made the fire appear worse than it actually was.
    “While there are some pictures of the fab surrounded by large dark smoke being circulated, please be informed that the damage is not as severe as it seems,” Park said.
    “The smoke was created because the fire was concentrated in the air purification facilities that are linked to the rooftop of the fab.”

    Hynix said the fire raged for more than an hour. After an initial assessment, the world’s No. 2 maker of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips said it found no “material” damage to fabrication gear in its clean room at the plant, which produces around 12 to 15 percent of global computer memory chips.

    With global supplies of DRAM chips already tight, shares in rivals Micron Technology Inc (NSQ:MU – News) and SanDisk Corp (NSQ:SNDK – News) rallied after early reports of the fire. Micron shares were up 4 percent at $14.615 at midday, after surging almost 9 percent at one point. Sandisk was up 2.3 percent at $56.60, after climbing 6 percent at its peak.But the rivals’ shares pared gains after Hynix’s update.

    Hynix, which commanded 30 percent of the memory chip market in the second quarter, said the plant it has suspended produces around 40 percent to 50 percent of its total DRAM output.Any prolonged suspension could tighten the global supply of DRAM chips, widely used in computers and mobile devices. DRAM chip prices nearly doubled in the first six months of this year due to tight supply.

    Image via tweaktown.com

  • Janelle Monae Streams New Album

    Janelle Monae Streams New Album

    Janelle Monae has posted her full new album “The Electric Lady” ahead of it’s September 10th release date on VH1.com. Check out the video for “Q.U.E.E.N.” with Erykah Badu. Funk, soul, jazz and gospel contribute to the musical style, produced by Deep Cotton and Roman GianArthur and released through Bad Boy Records. Following up on 2010’s critical smash “ArchAndroid,” the singer’s second studio album will be the fourth and fifth installment of her seven-part Metropolis concept series and will carry through the themes of a cyborg utopia. Awesome.

    Luke O’Neill of MTV’s Buzzworthy blog says,

    “While we might normally say that it’s a bit ambitious for anyone to subtly compare themselves to Jimi Hendrix in their album title, in the case of Janelle Monáe’s The Electric Lady, we’re not even a little bit mad. Janelle’s second full length, which is streaming now on VH1, has all the vocal pyrotechnics of an epic guitar solo, but leaves room enough for danceable R&B grooves, hip-hop, funk, soul, reggae, and film score touches. The latter fits in particularly well, seeing as The Electric Lady is a continuation of the sci-fi cyborg thematic storyline she began on The ArchAndroid.”

    “The Electric Lady” is deliciously crammed with collaborators such as Prince, Erykah Badu, Solange, and Miguel. Here’s her video for “Dance Apocalyptic”

    Listen to the full album exclusively at vh1.com.

    Image via Twitter

  • Sahuaro Principal Arrested for Creaming 16-year-old

    Every dad in the world has run this scenario through their head at least once. Your daughter starts messing around with the bad boy in town, she starts to slip into the occasional misbehavior, starts sneaking out to meet him, since you banned her from seeing him. You catch them in the car out front with the scumbag’s hands on your little girl…and you go bananas.

    Well, this is how it played out for one dad in Arizona who happens to be the Principal of the local High School.

    Christopher Bonn, Principal of Sahuaro in Tucson, Arizona was arrested and charged with misdemeanor assault after hitting a 16-year-old boy, who Bonn knew to be a drug dealer and local nogoodnick. The incident involved Bonn, the boy and Bonn’s stepdaughter, as she snuck out of the Bonn home sometime late Sunday night. Bonn waited up until his stepdaughter returned home at 4 a.m. At that point, Bonn saw the two parked in front of the house.

    He approached the vehicle, preparing to get his daughter to come inside. That’s where the story begins to conflict.

    Bonn said when he approached the car, the boy reached for the center console for what Bonn thought might be a gun. The principal pre-emptively punched the boy in the face to prevent him from shooting.

    The young man said that Bonn swung the car door open, yelled at him and struck him in the face without being provoked.

    Either way, the pictures are gruesome, leading to an investigation and home assignment for Christopher Bonn pending the results.

    Image via kvoa.com

  • David Bowie: Are the Rumors of A Tour True?

    David Bowie: Are the Rumors of A Tour True?

    David Bowie has again reached a new generation, as his new album “The Next Day” , his first album in 1 years, reaching No. 1 across the world. British tabloid, The Mirror now reports that concert promoters are dying to get Bowie back on stage for the first time in eight years. Also, next year will mark the 50th anniversary of “Liza Jane,” Bowie’s first single, which he recorded under the name Davie Jones with the King Bees.

    However, Billboard magazine reports that speculation of Bowie’s return are inaccurate, and these assertions are confirmed by Arthur Fogel, CEO of global touring for Live Nation. He cites The Mirror’s complete lack of sources for their information.

    Bowie, 66, stopped touring after he had a heart attack onstage in Germany in 2004. His last public performance was with Alicia Keys in 2006. The Mirror said Live Nation has made a multimillion-dollar offer to Bowie if he plays Olympic Park in East London next year and that AEG is trying to cut a deal for him to perform in Hyde Park, the newspaper said.

    Bowie has had a rough few years, with his heart attack in 2004 and the loss of good friend and touring bassist Trevor Bolder among other things, but The No. 1 U.K. bow of “The Next Day” and some buzz surrounding a new Bowie exhibition at London’s Victoria & Albert Museum are bringing him closer to a new generation. Like the album, the exhibition is a runaway hit. According to The Guardian newspaper, the Bowie retrospective smashed attendance records, shifting more than 42,000 advance tickets — more than double the advance sales of previous exhibitions.

    It will definitely be hard for Bowie to keep out of the spotlight with the immense publicity surrounding his new album. While the rumors seem to be refuted for now, all of us fans can still hope and dream of a tour happening someday.

    Image via photobucket

  • iPhone Fingerprint Scanner IS Coming

    iPhone Fingerprint Scanner IS Coming

    Apple is expected to release a new iPhone in this month, and new reports indicate that the next version — assumed to be called the iPhone 5S — will have a fingerprint reader.

    In photos leaked by Nowhereelse.fr the photo showcases the bare hardware component for the fingerprint reader. The picture shows the home button flex cable but its a much more complex version of the same hardware that is found inside the iPhone 5. As noted the new flex cable features a “mysterious square element” which likely points to the iPhone fingerprint option.

    The photos seem to show the scanner located near the home button. iPhone fingerprint reader rumors for the 5S heated up after references to a biometric fingerprint sensor showed up in the code for older iOS 7 beta versions. While we are running on rumors and speculation at this time the iPhone 5S will be officially revealed during Apple’s September 10 press conference.

    While Apple will almost definitely release the iPhone 5S with the highly touted iPhone fingerprint reader the company has to hope that people will care about the new technology. On the one hand the fingerprint reader can make for a more secure mobile device and will be a temptation for those that must have the newest toy on the block. On the other hand, only a handful of customers may care about the new feature and the general public may not find it to be reason enough to upgrade from their already capable iPhone 5 devices.

    The invitation for the big September 10th release date yesterday, and was welcomed by eager Apple fans everywhere.

    image via nowhereelse.fr

  • Hayao Miyazaki: Explore His Films with the Kids

    Hayao Miyazaki announced his retirement to the shagrin of a massive following, a couple days ago. It was announced along with the presentation of his last movie The Wind Rises.

    Hayao Miyazaki has a big place in my heart and in the hearts of many people around the world who yearn for something extraordinary. I have children, and we discovered this man’s work a few years ago, when we accidentally stumbled upon “My Neighbor Totoro”. Our whole family was immediatly enamored with Miyazaki’s style.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuLX50_5UAI

    He makes and oversees movies that the entire family can experience (I used experience intentionally, it’s not simply watching) and feel and love without all the monotonous, Disney-fied storyline and fairytale romance. His films are quiet, deep, and visually engrossing. The kind you’re kind of sad that it had to end. This one’s my personal favorite.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UibodUGoL4M

    My children love his films for the beauty and bravery of his soul, that he gladly and generously pours into every stunning film. We love them for the honesty of the characters and imaginative worlds we travel with him. We awaited the arrival of “The Secret World of Arriety” with the same vigor as the masses of teen girls awaiting the next installment of “Twilight”. Not all the films that are, in one way or another, born by Miyazaki’s hand, are ok for smaller children, we love that when there are princesses, they are brave and kind. When there are villians, they still have goodness in them. When there are wars, they are wars. That’s what life is. And life is beautiful.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vp2nb9Vq0yY

  • One-year-old Shot in the Head in Brooklyn

    The father of one-year-old Brooklyn baby Antiq Hennis was pushing the baby in a stroller across the street when gunfire rang out. Antiq was shot in the head and pronounced dead at the Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center on Sunday evening, shortly before 9 p.m.

    Watch news report here.

    “He was screaming ‘My baby got shot.’ He was going crazy,” witness Gina Gamboa said of the father’s reaction. “The baby was breathing, but his eyes were closed. It’s crazy. They just will start shooting.”

    CBS New York spoke to Cynthia Ballantyne, who heard gunshots but didn’t see the shooting.

    “It was a child. I couldn’t watch that. I just get real sad; depressed, and I just came back here. It’s awful to be killing kids like that — you understand? It’s not safe anywhere. I’m scared to walk the streets right now.”

    Police investigating the case said Monday morning that they believe the boys father was the target. They have some leads and believe his death, intended for his father, was gang related. Antiq’s father, Anthony Hennis, has a criminal record and is not cooperating with investigators to find his son’s killer, said Police Comissioner Raymond Kelley, but he didn’t elaborate.

    Anthony Hennis had just picked up Antiq from the home of Antiq’s mother, Cherise Miller, and was taking him to see his grandmother
    Hennis put Antiq in the stroller and was pushing him across the street in Brownsville when shots were fired. Hennis’ grandmother, Lenore Steele, said she heard shots before Hennis ran up to her.

    “And he fell on the ground and said, ‘Grandma, my baby got shot! My baby got shot, Grandma!’” said Steele, flanked by community group leaders and mayoral candidate Bill Thompson. “He was such a beautiful little baby, smiling and talking to everybody.”

    Grief and outrage over Antiq’s shooting loomed over the annual West Indian Day Parade about a mile and a half away, where Mayor Michael Bloomberg called the killing “a tragedy for his family, for this community, for the entire city” and of course, political candidates talked about gun violence.

    Hennis and Miller couldn’t immediately be reached for comment Monday. Possible phone numbers for their homes were disconnected or rang unanswered, the offices of attorneys who may have represented Hennis were closed and activists who spoke at a news conference said Miller wouldn’t be making a statement Monday.

    Bishop Willie Billips, who drove the parents to the hospital to identify the body of their only child, said, “The family is suffering right now.”

    “To have to take a young couple to identify their baby’s body is horrible,” said Billips, of the Church of Faith, Hope and Charity.

    Killings are at a record low in the city of Brownsville, and are on track to be even lower. Only 7 people have been killed so far this year, only about half for the same time as last year, but Mayor Bloomberg says, “That’s cold comfort to any grieving parent or friends.”

    Brownsville is a struggling section of central Brooklyn, with a poverty rate about twice the citywide rate, according to a 2012 analysis of government data by New York University’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy and Antiq Hennis was the second child in a stroller shot this year.

    In March, a woman walking home from a post office in Brunswick, Ga., with her 13-month-old son was accosted by a gunman who demanded her purse and then shot her in the leg and fired a shot at the child in his stroller, killing him, authorities said. In another case of violence in New York, a 3-year-old boy was shot in the head and wounded Aug. 24 as he slept in his family’s Brooklyn apartment.

  • Gia Coppola’s Directorial Debut in Venice

    First-time director Gia Coppola says she is trying to find her own voice as a filmmaker, therefore, she didn’t seek much help from either grandfather Francis Ford Coppola or aunt Sofia Coppola.

    “It was important for me to find my own voice and try to do it on my own,” she said in an interview Sunday before the debut of her film “Palo Alto”, an adaptation of a book by James Franco of the same name, out of the main competition at the Venice Film Festival — where Sofia walked away with the Golden Lion in 2010 for “Somewhere.” “Palo Alto” is about the vulnerability of four teenagers it follows in Palo Alto, Ca.

    Franco plays a soccer coach in the adaptation of his own book, who makes advances on a student, April, played by Emma Roberts. Val Kilmer appears in a cameo as April’s stepfather, which Coppola, 26, helps explain “why she would get entangled with her soccer coach and I think if there was something missing with her life at home.”

    Franco walked the red carpet in shaded sunglasses and signed autographs for a force of screaming female fans. But he took on a more serious tone in an interview, saying he was similar to one of the characters, Teddy, a talented artist who gets mixed up with drugs and winds up in trouble.

    “I guess I was a little like that, I was into art, I got into a bit of trouble, and yeah, that’s me,” Franco said.

    Although Palo Alto made its debut at the Telluride Film Festival towards the end of August, the flick doesn’t have a proper release date to speak of at the moment. Fans of Franco’s stories may have to wait a while before they can experience the cinematic endeavor for themselves.

    Sofia and Gia Coppola aren’t the only people in her family looking to follow in The Godfather director’s footsteps. Writer-director Roman Coppola unleashed his directorial debut “CQ” back in 2001. Unfortunately, the film remains unseen to this day. He followed up this effort with the 2012 Charlie Sheen drama “A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III”. Roman has also directed music videos for the likes of Green Day and Moby.

  • Telluride Film Festival: Mountain Town Transforms

    The Telluride Film festival in Colorado has forced the small mountain town temporarily into a transforms it into a center for the appreciation of the motion picture arts. More than six hundred people—volunteers and paid staff—work before, during and after the festival to make Telluride the film capital of the world this first weekend of September and threaten to steal the thunder from bigger film festivals.

    Nine very different movie screening venues are created so that film lovers from Sweden to West Africa to Hollywood can come and watch movies for over three days in optimal conditions—that’s to say in spaces where the sound and picture are nothing less than fantastic.In its 40th year, the Telluride Film Festival has added an extra day and a new site, the 650-seat Werner Herzog, housed in an ice rink at the edge of town and named for the German director who has been a regular presence here for most of the festival’s history.

    There are many films that are being buzzed about at this years festival. “Gravity,” which stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as astronauts stranded, far above the world, brought a shot of pure entertainment to this high-altitude gathering of serious-minded cinephiles. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron from a script he wrote with his son Jonas, the film uses 3D to evoke the feeling of weightlessness experienced by the characters. It also brings some of the wonder and mystery back to cinematic space, inviting comparisons to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001” and Ridley Scott’s “Alien,”.

    Another movie about the fight for survival, J.C. Chandor’s “All Is Lost,” has drawn crowds to Telluride, as have the tributes to the film’s star—and only cast member—Robert Redford. Mr. Redford, playing an unnamed man on a foundering sailboat in the Indian Ocean, utters barely a word in “All Is Lost,” which anchors an allegory of human survival within an intensely practical story of desperate troubleshooting.

    While it is considered somewhat silly to speak the word “oscar” in Telluride, the fact is that the last three Best Picture winners (“Argo,” “The Kings Speech” and “The Artist”) were screened to their first North American audiences here. Mr. Redford’s name is already at the top of any list of presumptive best actor nominees, and it is likely to be joined by Chiwetel Ejiofor, the star of Steve McQueen’s “12 Years A Slave,” which arrived in Telluride as a sneak preview.

  • Badger Cull Divides UK Communities

    Badger Cull Divides UK Communities

    In the UK, The Government’s decision to begin culling badgers across a swathe of Somerset and Gloucestershire in an attempt to stem the spread of bovine TB has left communities deeply divided.

    On one side are those, like Miss Brumby and her fellow members of the Somerset Badger Patrol, determined to do what they can to disrupt the cull.

    “We’re a very broad based campaign, made up of all sorts of people who think this cull is not only cruel, but unscientific and counterproductive and I’m sure most people would agree with us,” she said.

    On the other side, there are hundreds of farmers, labourers and rural residents, convinced the only way to tackle the Bovine Tuberculosis epidemic threatening to cripple Britain’s dairy and cattle herd is by killing the animal they believe is spreading it unhindered. Of course, those in favour of the cull are just as passionate in their belief as Miss Brumby and her friends.

    Marilyn Bramall, 62, serving behind the till at the Post Office and shop in the village of Stogumber – at the heart of the Somerset culling zone – has lost patience with those who oppose the action. She told The Telegraph,

    “How many people are being gassed in Syria? And we’re complaining about a few badgers getting killed? I know a lot of farmers, I’ve spoken to them, and they are desperate to do something to tackle the bovine TB which is spreading through their herds, forcing them to slaughter valuable cattle.”

    Tom Howe, a 19-year-old medical student whose father owns the shop, has listned as the cull became one of the heated topics of conversation in the village over the past few weeks.

    “I appreciate the protesters believe in what they are doing, trying to disrupt the cull, but if a disease like this was effecting their livelihood I’m sure they would be demanding something be done about it,” he said. “If there were other methods to use then fine, but at the moment culling is the most widely agreed way to reduce bovine TB.”

    Nowhere has the debate between those for and against the cull been more heated than in the nearby village of Withycombe, where one resident went as far as putting a poster on her garden gate slandering one of her neighbors for participating in the cull.Meg Sunningdale, 66, named the farmer and accused him of being one of the marksmen contracted to carry out the cull.

    She has since taken down the poster, after being warned by Somerset police it could constitute a case of harassment.

    “Perhaps it wasn’t very wise of me,” said Mrs Sunningdale. “But this is something I feel very strongly about and feelings are running very high. I have badgers who come into my garden at night and I do not want them shot.

    The problem for those opposed say there is no conclusive evidence that the badgers are even responsible for the spread of Bovine TB. One report stated that the cull would only be about 16% effective.

    Mrs. Sunningdale milked and looked after a herd of cows for several years in the 1970s, after studying agriculture at college. She blames the rapid spread of bovine TB across the West Country in the past 15 years on intensive farming methods, which she says have weakened the immune system of cattle.

    For their part, farmers blame the decision by the 1997 Labour government to scrap regular badger culls for the explosion in levels of the disease.

    Bill Carroway, a retired estate worker said, “Over in Ireland they’ve had a badger cull for 10 years and the bovine TB has gone down. We haven’t got a proper vaccine against TB and we won’t have one for 10 years. In the meantime something has to be done.”

    Image via Wikipedia

  • Lifelogging: Modern Journal or Invasion of Privacy?

    The future is here, and it’s name is Narcissism. Swedish company Memento has developed a life-logging camera that you wear on your person. The camera takes a picture every 30 seconds and saves it for later sorting. That means everyone you talk to or pass by will be captured on film. That means 100 pictures of your lunch date chewing his food. Or 5,000 pictures of your computer screen at work.

    When Martin Kaellstroem, the developer of the lifelogging camera, was a young adult, he lost both his parents to cancer. It became a spur for him to seize the day, as a person and an entrepreneur.

    “When you lose your parents, you realise that you don’t live forever. It has definitely affected me in my entrepreneurship. I can’t wait until later to fulfil my dreams, I have to live my dream now,” he said.”Traditionally, people only brought their camera to special events when everyone was dressed up, smiling into the camera,”

    “But you don’t know in advance which moments will be important in the future. Perhaps you meet your future wife or witness an accident or a crime, pictures you might want to return to.”

    The best part is, you can share your “memories” with friends and family. And alienate them.

    Lifelogging does raise some privacy questions, says Steven Savage, a researcher at the Swedish Defence Research Agency, noting that the private sphere is relative: what is not offensive to one person might be to another.

    “It depends where the photos end up,” Savage said.

    “Today, it is difficult to search pictures, but new technology is being developed all the time. Once those pictures become searchable, more questions will arise. You’ll lose control over the situation.”

    Jan Svaerdhagen, who is currently writing a book about lifelogging, agrees.

    “The first question one should raise is, ‘what function is filled by taking a photo every 30 seconds?’ Who buys the product and for what purpose? Are we entering the next stage of social media where we not only log, but also share our lives 24/7 in a kind of Big Brother Light version?” said Svaerdhagen.

    “I jog a lot, and sure it would be fun to have some photos from a run, but the question is, are we entering narcissism in its most extreme form?” he said.

    Kaellstroem said he and his team thought about privacy while designing the camera, bearing in mind that many might be uncomfortable with being confronted with a spying eye.

    “It has to be clear that it is a camera, but yet with a friendly design that makes people comfortable and not distracted,” he said.
    Good luck with that.

    Image via www.highsnobiety.com

  • Harry Potter: Actually, My Name is Daniel.

    Harry Potter: Actually, My Name is Daniel.

    A little bit of the Harry Potter magic was in the air as British Film Star Daniel Radciffe arrived at the 70th annual Venice Film Festival, along with his parents and a posse of bodyguards, to promote his new movie, “Kill Your Darlings”. Even with the swarm of fans and the chaos that ensued, Radcliffe claims he is not intimidated. Watch here.

    “Thankfully, it’s not always like this,” he told the press conference, as a crowd outside thumped on the walls and rattled the windows trying to get in.”I’ve been dealing with it in various ways since I was 11. I don’t take it seriously, actually I think it’s funny,” said a smiling Radcliffe, sporting a blue polo shirt, rainbow socks, and pink sneakers. Radcliffe, now 24, exuded boyish charm in a blue polo shirt, rainbow socks, and pink sneakers. He may be a big-time movie star, but that didn’t deter him from bucking tradition by requesting a Karaoke party instead of the usual stuffy soiree.

    “Kill Your Darlings” is a film by John Chokidars starring Radcliffe as the Beat generation’s Allan Ginsberg. He said he thought fans would enjoy the flick, which explores themes from drug use to homosexuality.

    “I’m incredibly grateful for the swirl of support behind me. My fans seem excited by the unconventional path I am taking,” he said.

    “I love poetry and it was fantastic to get the part and have the opportunity to dive into Ginsberg’s life. The diaries he made when he was young gave me an amazing insight into his character,” he said.

    Radcliffe is also starring in “A Young Doctor’s Notebook”, based on the memoirs of a Russian doctor working during the Russian Revolution A Young Doctor’s Notebook is a four-part comedy drama based on a collection of short stories by the celebrated Russian writer and playwright Mikhail Bulgakov. The drama recounts Bulgakov’s semi-autobiographical experiences as a young doctor working in the small village of Muryovo at the dawn of the Russian Revolution in 1917

    For fans of “A Young Doctor’s Notebook”, the actor promised “series two is funnier and even darker.”

    Image via IMDb

  • Clint Eastwoods Spotted with Cute Blonde

    There’s no wound that a few days can’t heal. Wait is that right? In a shocking report from Celeb Dirty Laundry, 83-year-old Clint was spotted with a cute blonde named Erica Tomlinson Fisher (and crazy old man hair) who was confirmed by E! to have spent the night with him before he dropped her off at LAX.

    Previous reports had painted Dina as the bad guy in the separation. Now it looks as if they have both moved on. Reportedly trouble has been brewing for about 18 months due to the flop reality show Dina insisted on filming called “Mrs. Eastwood and Company”, in a failed attempt to become the new Kris Jenner.

    Clint and Dina, 48, married in March 1996 and welcomed their daughter, Morgan, 9 months later. Clint was photographed without his wedding ring as he appeared alone on the red carpet at the TriBeca Film Festival in April as rumors swirled then.

    Image via wikipedia

  • Dina Eastwood: Has She Moved On Already?

    The rumor mill has already started chugging along this morning with news that Dina Eastwood has rekindled a romance with her High School boyfriend, University of Hawaii assistant basketball coach Scott Fisher. A source reported to the National Enquirer that “Dina is in love with Scott. It’s like High School all over again.”

    Dina confirmed her split with Clint in an interview with Us Weekly on Thursday, and added that she remained friendly with her former husband although they had been living separately for over a year. Rumors that their marriage is on the rocks started doing the rounds last year when Clint was seen without his wedding band at the TriBeCa Film Festival in New York City earlier this year.

    Rumor has it that trouble began after Dina insisted on filming “Mrs. Eastwood & Company”, a reality show for E! that flopped in it’s first season. The show featured the couple along with their daughter Morgan, and Francesca Fisher-Eastwood, Clint’s daughter from his relationship with actress Frances Fisher, and reportedly, Clint did not appreciate that his privacy was being invaded. Yeah, Clint doesn’t strike me as the reality show type. This prompted him to spend a lot of time away from home, during which time Dina reconnected with her former boyfriend, Fisher, a Celeb Dirty Laundry report said.