HP close to naming Hurd's successor - Bloomberg - Board Games

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard(HPQ.N) is nearing a decision on a new chief executive to succeed Mark Hurd and is likely to pick an internal candidate, Bloomberg reported on Thursday, citing a person familiar with the matter.
The board of HP, the world's largest computer maker, met this week to consider possible successors to Hurd, who departed in August, and a decision could be announced in the coming week, according to the report.
The short list includes Vyomesh Joshi, who runs HP's printer business; Todd Bradley, head of the personal-computer division; Dave Donatelli, who runs the storage and server unit; Tom Hogan, executive vice president of enterprise sales and marketing; and Ann Livermore, executive vice president of the enterprise business, Bloomberg said.
HP spokeswoman Mylene Mangalindan declined comment on the matter.
While the company hasn't ruled out hiring from outside, HP may not be inclined to recruit from a rival, the report said.
(Reporting by Soyoung Kim in New York and Bill Rigby in Seattle; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Watch Board Games Online

Singapore Stocks-Flat at midday on Wall St;seen near fair value - Casino

* Index flat; near-term support seen at 3,043 pts
* Genting Singapore and Genting HK fall on profit-taking
By Eveline Danubrata
SINGAPORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Singapore shares were flat
at midday after Wall Street slipped overnight, prompting local
investors to take a break from a four-week rally, and are seen
range-bound in the afternoon, traders said.
By the lunch break, the Straits Times Index (STI) .FTSTI
inched 0.01 percent or 0.25 points higher to 3,113.71.
"I think we are taking the cue from Wall Street. We are
also already quite close to 3,200 and a lot of us see it as a
fundamental fair value for the STI," said Carey Wong, an
analyst at OCBC Investment Research.
"We do see more profit-taking pressures, especially if
Europe opens on the soft side," Wong said, adding that if the
STI falls below the 3,100 level, support may come in at 3,043.
Shares of casino operators Genting Singapore (GENS.SI) and
Genting Hong Kong (GENH.SI) were down on profit-taking and
after a brokerage said the current valuation for Genting Hong
Kong looks expensive.
At midday, shares of Genting Singapore were down 3 percent
at S$1.96. Nearly 76 million shares had changed hands.
Genting Hong Kong shares lost 5.3 percent to trade at
S$0.45 on a volume of 66 million shares.
Watch Casino Online

Will your new film be a hit? Ask the web - Movies

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tracking web searches for new songs, video games and movies can predict which ones will be big hits, but often not much better than traditional methods, researchers at Yahoo Inc reported on Monday.
And they confirmed earlier findings that showed searches associated with diseases, such as Google's Google Flu Trends, were not any more effective than traditional methods for predicting the spread of infections.
Tracking web searches worked the best in predicting how a new video game would sell, Yahoo's Sharad Goel and Jake Hofman said.
"Here we show that what consumers are searching for online can also predict their collective future behavior days or even weeks in advance," they wrote in a report published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Specifically we use search query volume to forecast the opening weekend box-office revenue for feature films, first-month sales of video games, and the rank of songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, finding in all cases that search counts are highly predictive of future outcomes," they added.
"We considered four different classes of web activity. At least three of them we do a pretty good job of predicting outcomes," Goel said in a telephone interview.
Counting the number of searches related to new songs was the least effective, they found.
But Goel said using Billboard Top 100 listings to predict whether a song would stay at the top of the charts worked as well as or better than counting web searches.

� Continued...
Watch Movies Online

Egypt's Mubarak to Berlin, Rome to discuss Mideast - Arts

Mubarak will meet Chancellor Angela Merkel during a visit to Berlin that will last only a few hours, then head to Rome to have talks with Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and open a newly renovated Egyptian arts academy on Thursday.
Mubarak, 82, was also in Germany in March for gallbladder surgery in Heidelberg Hospital. In 2004, he had surgery for a slipped disc at a Munich hospital.
Both events sparked rumours about the state of his health, unnerving Egypt's financial markets because he has no designated successor. Mubarak has not appointed a vice president, the post he held before taking office in 1981.
"The discussions in Berlin and Rome will centre around the peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israelis" as well as regional issues and bilateral relations, MENA said.
The peace talks are stuck over the issue of Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank, with the Palestinians threatening to quit the negotiations unless Israel extends a partial construction moratorium in the enclaves.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit, intelligence chief Omar Suleiman and presidential chief of staff Zakaria Azmi will accompany Mubarak, it added.
He will return to Egypt later on Thursday.
The relations between First Quantum and the Democratic Republic of Congo have gone from bad to worse in recent months, after the country expropriated the miner’s $765 million Kolwezi copper tailings project in September. � Blog�
When some of the most influential figures in emerging markets finance spoke to a group of Reuters editors, they were asked about top picks for growth beyond the so-called BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China.� Blog�
The giggles started when the seventh journalist in a row said that his question was for Egypt’s water and irrigation minister, Mohamed Nasreddin Allam.� Blog�
It has debt levels to die for and huge amounts of oil, but economically it’s lagging and political concerns remain. Speakers at a Libyan trade and investment forum this week saw the North African country as a mixed bag.� Blog�
If Guinea can pull off free and fair elections this weekend, it will lay the foundations for what could be one of Africa’s most unexpected and significant good news stories.� Blog�
Africa is providing a lot of fine material for the London theatre these days.� Blog�
Watch Arts Online

UPDATE 2-Online gaming company GVC positive on H2 trading - Casino

* Q3 average net gaming revenue up 17 pct
* H1 pretax profit 1.5 mln euros vs 8.2 mln euros last yr
* Shares rise 6 pct
(Recasts; adds analyst comments, details)
By Aditi Samajpati
BANGALORE, Sept 28 (Reuters) - European online-gaming firm
GVC Holdings (GVC.L) said trading improved at the end of the
summer holidays in the third quarter and it expected the trend
to continue through the next two months.
Total average net gaming revenue for July 1 to Sept. 26 was
up 17 percent at 151.1 million euros, said the company, which
operates three business segments -- casino, poker and sports
betting.
"We are expecting a much stronger fourth quarter in
particular, as generally gaming companies do better in the
winters because people stay in as opposed to go out and do
other things," analyst Robert Sanders at Arbuthnot Securities
said.
GVC shares, which have lost more than half of their value
over the past one year, rose 6 percent to 103.5 pence at 1152
GMT on Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange.
The firm said it expected Betboo, its South American online
sports and gaming business that it bought last year, to be
profitable within 18 months.
GVC's January-June pretax profit fell to 1.5 million euros
($2.0 million) from 8.2 million euros a year ago, with Betboo
posting a pretax loss of 1.5 million euros.
Net gaming revenue rose 8 percent to 28.1 million euros.
The Isle of Man-based company, which competes with Sportech
(ROD.L) and Sportingbet (SBT.L), declared an interim dividend
of 10 euro cents a share.
Watch Casino Online

Christina Hendricks joins Superman cartoon - Arts

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - James Denton, Christina Hendricks and Anthony LaPaglia are lending their pipes to "All-Star Superman," the animated adaptation of one of the most acclaimed comics of the past decade.
The story begins with the Man of Steel (Denton) oversaturated by radiation during a rescue mission near the sun, accelerating the degeneration of his cells. Knowing that he has a limited time before he dies, Superman sets out on a journey that sees him revealing his secret to Lois Lane (Hendricks), giving Lex Luthor (LaPaglia) an epiphany on humanity and ensuring the safety of Earth for when he is gone.
Also in the cast are Ed Asner as Perry White and Frances Conroy as Ma Kent along with Linda Cardellini, Arnold Vosloo and Matthew Gray Gubler.
The Warner Bros. film is due to be released in the spring.
Watch Arts Online

French comedy Little White Lies a little too long - Comedy

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - That time-honored configuration known as the vacation house, a trusty venue for dramatic revelations, hidden secrets and all around less-than-exemplary behavior, finds itself fully booked in "Little White Lies" ("Les petits mouchoirs").
Thanks to a sparkling ensemble headed by Francois Cluzet and Marion Cotillard, the familiar backdrop still provides ample opportunity for audience pleasing in Guillaume Canet's nicely observed dramatic comedy.
The problem is, the film, which has its world premiere at Toronto, ultimately loses much of its effervescence as it goes on -- and on -- eventually passing the two-and-a-half-hour mark. With its popular cast, that won't be a cause for concern when the picture opens in France next month, but the 154-minute length will likely be an issue for North American consumption. A tighter edit could help matters.
There are deliberate echoes of "The Big Chill," and by extension, "The Return of the Secaucus Seven" in Canet's screenplay, which has a group of mainly thirtysomethings again gathering at a lovely summer beach house, even though one of their group (Jean Dujardin) remains back in intensive care after a very serious motorcycle accident.
Not that they're going to be enjoying themselves, anyway. Their somewhat older host, Max (Cluzet) is more uptight than even usual after his good friend and chiropractor, Vincent (Benoit Magimel) informs him that he's fallen deeply in love with the successful businessman, even though both are happily married with children.
But the others have their own problems, including the pining Antoine (Laurent Lafitte) who drives the group crazy trying to decipher an ex-girlfriend's cryptic text messages; and Marie (Cotillard) an ethnologist by occupation and a commitment-phobe by reputation. Their ailing friend's absence will eventually weigh heavily on their collective conscience, but first they're going to have to confront their own respective drama.
Watch Comedy Online

Kenya to send full team to troubled Commonwealth Games - Board Games

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenya will send a 240-strong team to the New Delhi Commonwealth Games from Saturday after receiving security assurances from India, officials said on Thursday.
Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka and Sports Minister Paul Otuoma told the Kenyan delegation that the two governments were working closely together.

(For a SLIDESHOW: Countdown to Delhi Games, click here)

(For more on Delhi Games, click here)


"Kenyans should not join a team of pessimists but go and bring glory to our country. As a strong member of the Commonwealth, Kenya should show solidarity with India by honouring the Games," Musyoka told the delegation while handing over the east African nation's flag to team captain, world steeplechase champion Ezekiel Kemboi, and chef de mission Jonathan Koskei.
Several leading Kenyan athletes including the defending 800 champion Janeth Jepkosgei, world 800 record holder David Rudisha, 2007 world marathon champion Luke Kibet and African 5,000 champion Edwin Soi have all pulled out citing illness or fatigue.
India are fighting against time to save the Games scheduled to open on Oct. 3 after escalating concerns about athletes' accommodation and security.
Watch Board Games Online

Christina Hendricks joins Superman cartoon - Arts

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - James Denton, Christina Hendricks and Anthony LaPaglia are lending their pipes to "All-Star Superman," the animated adaptation of one of the most acclaimed comics of the past decade.
The story begins with the Man of Steel (Denton) oversaturated by radiation during a rescue mission near the sun, accelerating the degeneration of his cells. Knowing that he has a limited time before he dies, Superman sets out on a journey that sees him revealing his secret to Lois Lane (Hendricks), giving Lex Luthor (LaPaglia) an epiphany on humanity and ensuring the safety of Earth for when he is gone.
Also in the cast are Ed Asner as Perry White and Frances Conroy as Ma Kent along with Linda Cardellini, Arnold Vosloo and Matthew Gray Gubler.
The Warner Bros. film is due to be released in the spring.
Watch Arts Online

Easy A an intelligent high school comedy - Comedy

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - If, as the old comic apocryphally said on his deathbed, dying is easy but comedy hard, then how is it every so often a film comes along that makes comedy look so easy? Such is the case with "Easy A," a high school romp that turns a stale genre upside down with sly wit and sharp satire.
Certainly much of the credit goes to Bert V. Royal, a playwright and sometime TV writer who has crafted a smart screenplay that introduces a classical theme into contemporary youth culture. And director Will Gluck keeps the screen busy and vibrant without the current fad of attention-deficit, run-and-gun editing.
Most of all, a young actress was needed to carry the movie. Emma Stone, who has been waiting in the wings for such a starring opportunity, seizes the moment with such self-assurance and old-fashioned brio that she elevates the game of every actor who comes within her orbit. Consequently, the film is loaded with sparkling supporting performances that make the comedy oh-so-much richer.
"Easy A" has the potential to be that rare avis that connects with audiences below and above the 25-year age demarcation. But to reach that wider demographic, Screen Gems will need to market its September 17 release as a "Juno"-like offering centering on a teenage girl with whip-smart dialogue and observant humor.
The story takes place in Southern California's Ojai Valley, the film's first stroke of brilliance as this lovely oasis of natural beauty with a spirited arts colony has scarcely appeared in movies since it was used to represent Shangri-La in Frank Capra's 1939 "The Lost Horizon." The conflicting interplay of liberal sensibilities and small-town small-mindedness underscores the themes in Royal's playful script.
You might not quite buy the notion that such a pretty and intelligent student as Stone's Olive Penderghast ever flew under everyone's radar at Ojai High School. But nevermind -- once a vicious rumor races through the campus, Olive certainly takes center stage. Trouble is, she is the source of the rumor.
To cover up for a dull weekend of doing absolutely nothing, Olive tells best gal pal Rhiannon (Aly Michalka) a lurid tale about having a hot romance with a college dude; she more than hints that she lost her virginity. Gossip-hungry Rhiannon is as pleased as she is shocked, but the tale is overheard by Marianne (Amanda Bynes), leader of the school's Jesus-freak celibates, who is merely shocked.
The scandalized teen can't wait to tweet, so the social network of Ojai High is soon abuzz over Olive's promiscuity. Discovering to her surprise that her new notoriety is more appealing than alarming, Olive decides not to deny the rumor, which leads to surprising consequences.
Another school pal, Brandon (Dan Byrd), bullied because he is gay, persuades Olive to use her bad-girl reputation to help him fake his heterosexuality. Soon other losers in the popularity games of youth come to her with propositions.
It just so happens that while this is going on, Olive's English class, taught by the charismatic Mr. Griffith (Thomas Haden Church), is studying Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter." Realizing her newfound identity with its heroine, Hester Prynne -- a public pariah because of an act of adultery -- Olive starts to wear homemade trashy clothes festooned with a bright letter "A."
Her liberal-minded and most trusting parents (Stanley Tucci, Patricia Clarkson), latter-day hippies one can only wish to have for parents, notice this change in their daughter and do question her about her choice of attire. But they never question her judgment or behavior.
So the film makes all sorts of comic attacks on hypocrisy, social networking, peer pressure, false values and double standards. Meanwhile, parents will no doubt thrill to any teen movie that treats the loss of virginity in a negative light.
If there's any drawback it's that the comedy peaks too early in Olive and Brandon's hilarious make-out behind closed doors at a raucous party. The film never finds anything nearly that funny in the subsequent "sales" of fraudulent sexual favors by Olive to other males eager to establish their reputations as studs. And the film struggles to find anything humorous in the sad demise of Mr. Griffith's marriage to a guidance counselor (Lisa Kudrow), which indirectly involves Olive.
The entire movie is framed as a live webcast by Olive to the entire community to confess her false career as a school slut. This allows Stone's character to offer wisecracks and wisdom while commenting on this career and everyone else's character-defining response to utter nonsense. The entire screenplay is shot through with zippy one-liners and puns that might possibly make the film funnier on second viewing.
Watch Comedy Online

UBS starts U.S. entertainment sector with neutral bias - Entertainment News

* Sees cable network assets as organic growth opportunity
* Starts Time Warner, Discovery Comm, Viacom with "buy"
* Starts Scripps Networks, Walt Disney with "neutral"
Sept 21 (Reuters) - UBS began coverage of the U.S.
entertainment sector with a neutral bias and said it considers
cable network assets as one of the few organic growth
opportunities in media.
The brokerage started coverage of Time Warner Inc (TWX.N),
Discovery Communications Inc (DISCA.O) and Viacom Inc (VIAb.N)
with "buy" ratings.
"Investment in programming has been a driver of growth in
audience share over the past few years, with cable ad growth
significantly outperforming the TV networks," analyst John
Janedis said in a note to clients.
The analyst, who started Scripps Networks Interactive Inc
(SNI.N) and Walt Disney Co (DIS.N) with "neutral" ratings,
said technology is making the film business model more
challenging.
"Properly responding to these changes will be a key factor
in maintaining the health of the business model," Janedis
said.
Last week, Credit Suisse said streaming video offerings
from Netflix (NFLX.O), Apple Inc (AAPL.O) and Google TV will
catch on with consumers eager to cut the cable cord and
downgraded the U.S. entertainment sector to "underweight."
(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne
Pallivathuckal)
Watch Entertainment News Online

My Generation insufferable - Documentary

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Picture this: A documentary crew films an Austin-based high school senior year of nine classmates who are all so two-dimensional that the filmmakers can refer to them as "rock star" or "wallflower."
Now imagine it's 10 years after graduation, and the film crew is back, tracking down the naive nine around the country and back to Austin, where apparently most still live. Not one of them is happy: They're losers in love, adulterers, drunks, commitment-phobe slackers, have daddy issues or are raising 10-year old boys from that prom-night stand.
Who wants to spend time with these people? ABC thinks millions will, and that's the basis for "My Generation," a show with a concept so top-heavy that before Thursday's first episode is out, it's already tumbling into its own conceit.
There's no unifying center for these nine, because as in the real world, most left home. That means creator Noah Hawley ("The Unusuals") has to contrive reasons for the wanderers to return. That's not just unrealistic; it's a nightmare reminiscent of George Bailey's failure to escape Bedford Falls. On top of that, there's the documentary crew, which scares every one of the winsome, pleasant and bland characters into hiding the minute something gets juicy.
That said, there are flashes of sardonic brilliance; the "beauty queen" and "rich kid" (Jaime King and Julian Morris) have inevitably married and become wine-sniffing yuppies. They set out a plate of cold cuts for their interviewer, and when Beauty chirps, "I'm so excited to see how that salami will go with the wine," it's a surreal and hilarious moment. If only the rest of the series was so spot-on aware of its ridiculousness. Kudos also to the bad blind date who announces, "I like to read but never books."
Watch Documentary Online

World of Khubilai Khan revealed in new exhibit - Arts

NEW YORK (Reuters Life!) - A new exhibit featuring massive statues, dragon-shaped roof ridge ornaments and art from the Yuan dynasty gives visitors a glimpse of ancient China that the first Westerners would have seen 700 years ago.
"The World of Khubilai Khan: Chinese Art in the Yuan Dynasty," at the Metropolitan Museum of Art features 200 works of art. Many are being shown outside of China for the first time.
It focuses on the era spanning the birth in 1215 of Khubilai Khan, Gengis Khan's grandson and the Mongol founder of the Yuan dynasty, to its fall in 1368.
"As you enter the galleries, you'll discover the extraordinary world of Khubilai Khan, in a sense, as Marco Polo did," said Thomas Campbell, the director of the museum.
Khubilai Khan was the emperor who welcomed Marco Polo to China in 1275.
The show, which opens on Tuesday and runs through January 2, is the museum's largest exhibit about Asian art since "China: Dawn of a Golden Age" in 2004.
Two 10-foot (3-meter) tall, 8,000-pound (3,636 kg) statues of Yuan dynasty officials welcome visitors to the exhibit, which includes paintings, sculptures, gold and silver, tapestries, ceramics and religious and secular pieces meant to give visitors a flavor of everyday life.
All of the pieces illustrate a taste in ancient China for fine art, such ceramic containers for transporting wine and elaborate jewelry.
The eclectic styles reflect the unification of China under the Yuan dynasty, which Khubilai Khan founded in 1271, and the influx of artisans from across the Mongol empire. The Yuan dynasty included what is now modern day Mongolia, Tibet and North China.
"This is the culmination of many years of work, and is certainly among the most complex exhibitions ever presented by the museum," Campbell said of the show, which took seven years to organize.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art collaborated with other museums including the Beijing Art Museum of Stone Carvings and the Palace Museum in Beijing, to assemble the exhibit. Many items are from relatively recent archaeological finds in China.
One of the most striking elements of the show is the depiction of the Yuan dynasty as a religious melting pot tolerant of Daoists, Nestorian Christians from Syria, and Indian traders, who were able to build Hindu temples.
The show includes the model of a stage, showing the enthusiasm people had for the performing arts, and the influence of ancient plays on modern Chinese opera.
Watch Arts Online

Modern Family wins best comedy series Emmy - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The rookie comedy "Modern Family" won the Emmy for the best TV comedy series on Sunday, ending the three-year reign of "30 Rock."
The show, which revolves around an extended family in Los Angeles, earlier won awards for best supporting actor and writing.
Watch Comedy Online

NZ tell Comm Games organisers 'clock is ticking' - Board Games

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - The New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) still planned to send a team to the Delhi Commonwealth Games but warned organisers on Friday "the clock was ticking" for them to get their house in order.
The NZOC board had been discussing whether to send the team after its president Mike Stanley and secretary general Barry Maister returned from a whistle-stop visit to Delhi to inspect facilities following scathing criticism of athletes' accommodation by team chef de mission Dave Currie.
The NZOC had already delayed the arrival of athletes into the village until September 28 in the hope issues ranging from leaky plumbing to Internet access would be rectifed. The first athletes and team officials were supposed to arrive on Saturday.
"The situation we found was inexcusable and unacceptable," Stanley told a televised news conference on Friday. "There is no doubt about that.
"By delaying the athletes' arrival what we have done is give the organisers time to get their house in order. We fully expect that will be the case.
"Planning for the team to go to Delhi will continue and we will monitor the situation ahead of the athletes' arrival next week.
"It is now up to the Games organisers to provide satisfaction to the implementation of the Games plans and we will continue our assessment (of that)."
Stanley said that some areas of the village were of high quality but some of the residential towers had caused problems.

� Continued...
The relations between First Quantum and the Democratic Republic of Congo have gone from bad to worse in recent months, after the country expropriated the miner’s $765 million Kolwezi copper tailings project in September. � Blog�
When some of the most influential figures in emerging markets finance spoke to a group of Reuters editors, they were asked about top picks for growth beyond the so-called BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China.� Blog�
The giggles started when the seventh journalist in a row said that his question was for Egypt’s water and irrigation minister, Mohamed Nasreddin Allam.� Blog�
It has debt levels to die for and huge amounts of oil, but economically it’s lagging and political concerns remain. Speakers at a Libyan trade and investment forum this week saw the North African country as a mixed bag.� Blog�
If Guinea can pull off free and fair elections this weekend, it will lay the foundations for what could be one of Africa’s most unexpected and significant good news stories.� Blog�
Africa is providing a lot of fine material for the London theatre these days.� Blog�
Watch Board Games Online

My Generation creator gives TV survival tips - Tv Series

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - ABC's upcoming documentary-style drama "My Generation" will face heavy competition when it premieres next Thursday at 8 p.m., going head-to-head with CBS' "The Big Bang Theory," NBC's "Community," the CW's "The Vampire Diaries" and Fox's "Bones."
Creator Noah Hawley shared with The Hollywood Reporter five survival tips for a fierce fall TV season ahead of the series premiere.
1. ADDING A MYSTERY ELEMENT
"My Generation" centers on a group of high school classmates who were the subjects of a documentary in 2000. When the filmmaker returns in 2010, their lives aren't exactly what they had envisioned.
"Inherent in this 10-year gap is a mystery," Hawley said, noting that there has been a "sea change" of events in that time frame. "The overachiever in high school who 10 years later is a surf bum. What happened?"
That also means turning the cameras on the filmmaker. "Who is this person and why did she follow these people? Why has she come back 10 years later?," Hawley said. "You have to humanize that person -- especially the more dramatic these people's lives become. You don't want to feel like this person is invading their privacy, like it's the paparazzi or something."
2. TAKING THE TIME FOR CHARACTER EXPLORATION
"Because we have this filmmaker who can go out and solve these mysteries, we can avoid character exposition where you have these scenes where people have to tell you what happened to them," Hawley said. "I can show you. I never have to tell you."
It's a device mockumentaries like "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" have successfully employed, allowing the audience to get invested without being force-fed plot points.
"There's something really satisfying as a writer (when) you can avoid what network TV does: the information dump," Hawley explained. "A character who says, 'I'm not going to talk about my dad.' He doesn't have to."
3. FEATURING POPULAR BANDS AND GUEST STARS AS APPROPRIATE
Some TV shows rack up a long list of guest stars, but there won't be any stunt casting here. Instead, the right people will be spotlighted in the appropriate capacity.
"Because of the documentary format, I shy away from actors who are too recognizable. I will say that we do have Jaime King, who plays a girl who went to Hollywood to try to be an actor and was there for five years," Hawley said. "Who knows who she dated or what project she was in that we'll play around with."
He did tease that King's character, who appeared on Season 2 of "The Bachelor," "maybe had a famous boyfriend" and that real bands will appear on the show.
Watch Tv Series Online

Why Everything Wireless Is 2.4 GHz - Radio Stations

By John Herman
You live your life at 2.4 GHz. Your router, your cordless phone, your Bluetooth earpiece, your baby monitor and your garage opener all love and live on this radio frequency, and no others. Why? The answer is in your kitchen.
Before we charge too far ahead here, let’s run over the basics. Your house or apartment, or the coffee shop you’re sitting in now, is saturated with radio waves. Inconceivable numbers of them, in fact, vibrating forth from radio stations, TV stations, cellular towers, and the universe itself, into the space you inhabit. You’re being bombarded, constantly, with electromagnetic waves of all kind of frequencies, many of which have been encoded with specific information, whether it be a voice, a tone, or digital data. Hell, maybe even these very words.
On top of that, you’re surrounded by waves of your own creation. Inside your home are a dozen tiny little radio stations: your router, your cordless phone, your garage door opener. Anything you own that’s wireless, more or less. Friggin’ radio waves: they’re everywhere.

Really, it’s odd that your cordless phone even has that 2.4-GHz sticker. To your average, not-so-technically-inclined shopper, it’s a number that means A) nothing, or B) something, but the wrong thing. (“2.4 GHz? That’s faster than my computer!”)
What that number actually signifies is broadcast frequency, or the frequency of the waves that the phone’s base station sends to its handset. That’s it. In fact, the hertz itself just just a unit for frequency in any context: it’s the number of times that something happens over the course of a second. In wireless communications, it refers to wave oscillation. In computers, it refers to processor clock rates. For TVs, the rate at which the screen refreshes; for me, clapping in front of my computer right now, it’s the rate at which I’m doing so. One hertz, slow clap.
The question, then, is why so many of your gadgets operate at 2.4 GHz, instead of the ~2,399,999,999 whole number frequencies below it, or any number above it. It seems almost controlled, or guided. It seems, maybe, a bit arbitrary. It seems, well, regulated.
A glance at FCC regulations confirms any suspicions. A band of frequencies clustered around 2.4 GHz has been designated, along with a handful of others, as the Industrial, Scientific, and Medical radio bands. “A lot of the unlicensed stuff — for example, Wi-Fi — is on the 2.4-GHz or the 900-Mhz frequencies, the ISM bands. You don’t need a license to operate on them.” That’s Ira Kelpz, Deputy Chief, Office of Engineering and Technology at the Federal Communications Commission, explaining precisely why these ISM bands are attractive to gadget makers: They’re free to use. If routers and cordless phones and whatever else are relegated to a small band 2.4 GHz, then their radio waves won’t interfere with, say, cellphones operating at 1.9 GHz, or AM radio, which broadcasts between 535 kHz and 1.7 MHz. The ISM is, in effect, a ghetto for unlicensed wireless transmission, recommended first by a quiet little agency in a Swiss office of the UN, called the ITU, then formalized, modified and codified for practical use by the governments of the world, including, of course, our own FCC.
The current ISM standards were established in 1985, and just in time. Our phones were one the cusp of losing their cords, and in the near future, broadband internet connections would come into existence and become magically wireless. All these gadgets needed frequencies that didn’t require licenses, but which were nestled between the ones that did. Frequencies that weren’t so high that they sacrificed broadcast penetration (through walls, for example), but weren’t so low that they required foot-long antennae. In short, they needed the ISM bands. So they took them.

Watch Radio Stations Online

Y tu mama tambien duo join Will Ferrell comedy - Comedy

TORONTO (Hollywood Reporter) - Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, who worked together in "Y tu mama tambien," are joining Will Ferrell in "Casa de mi padre," a Spanish-language comedy that will be told in an overly dramatic telenovela style.
The story is being kept under wraps, but it will feature English subtitles. Garcia Bernal plays a family friend; Luna is Ferrell's brother.
Also joining the cast are Genesis Rodriguez as Ferrell's love interest, Pedro Armendariz Jr., Hector Jimenez and Adrian Martinez. "Funny or Die" veteran Matt Piedmont is directing.
Ferrell is serving as a producer. NALA Films, an arm of the investment firm run by Televisa scion Emilio Diez Barroso, is fully financing the picture.
Watch Comedy Online

TEXT-Nice Systems gets deal with Delhi police - Radio Stations

(The following was issued by Israel's Nice Systems Ltd
(NICE.O) (NICE.TA)):
Sept 13 - NICE Systems Ltd (NASDAQ: NICE), the worldwide
leader of intent-based solutions that extract insight to impact
business performance, reduce financial risk and ensure safety
and security, today announced that India's HCL Security, NICE's
strategic partner and the project's prime contractor, will be
implementing NICE's integrated security solution at India's
Delhi Police.
NICE will enable Delhi Police with an integrated command,
control, coordination and communication center (C4i) solution to
meet operational requirements for the upcoming October 2010
Commonwealth Games 2010 and beyond.
Delhi Police selected HCL-NICE consortium through
competitive bidding in anticipation of the 2010 Commonwealth
Games to manage and enhance the police response to security
events.
The Commonwealth Games is a multi-sport event with
participants representing the fifty-four independent states that
are members of the Commonwealth of Nations.
The Delhi Police will implement the NICE solutions to fuse
data from multiple systems and sensors, dispersed across 45
sites throughout the city, including sporting venues, metro
stations, markets and police stations.
The pre-integrated NICE solution is based on NICE Situator,
NICE's situation management solution. NICE Situator offers broad
interoperability with many third party solutions for video
analytics, video surveillance systems, Tetra (Terrestrial
Trunked Radio) IP network for public safety, and GIS, among
others.
This approach delivers a single, holistic operational view
and enhances real-time response by automating procedures, as
well as information sharing.
The NICE solution also enables comprehensive debriefing by
full reconstruction of an event and response to it, leveraging
NICE Inform incident information management solution and NICE
screen encoders for screen capture of the command and control
room's inputs during security events.
A senior officer at Delhi Police said, "We are proud that
Delhi is hosting this year's Commonwealth Games. At the same
time, this means that our police force has the great
responsibility for ensuring the safety and security of our
visiting athletes, international and local government officials,
and millions of sport fans.
"To achieve these goals in the most professional and
reliable way we selected HCL-NICE consortium, which was the only
vendor who could provide us with an open solution that enables
situation management that integrates with such a great number of
security systems, providing us with real-time capabilities for
handling security events throughout the entire city, should they
occur."
"We are pleased to have been selected for this project and
help the Delhi Police protect the participants and attendees of
the 2010 Commonwealth Games, as well as the Delhi residents
beyond the games," said Israel Livnat, President, NICE Security
Group.
"The city of Delhi will be responsible for the security of
attendees and participants from all over the world at the
force's command and control center and headquarters, making this
project all the more important for representing the Delhi Police
professionalism and leading edge capabilities.
Watch Radio Stations Online

Nevada eyes big political gamble - Casino

LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Like many Nevadans, hairdresser Helen Elgas is trying to decide between the devil she knows and the devil she doesn't, and the future of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, hangs in the balance.
Sitting in the shade of a strip mall on West Sahara Avenue, miles from the casino towers that symbolize Las Vegas, Elgas is not happy with Reid. But she isn't sure she can bring herself to vote for his challenger, former state assemblywoman Sharron Angle, either.
"I think Harry Reid should be taken out. I'm not sure Sharron Angle could do any better," said Elgas, 47, a registered Republican.
"He's not helping any more - he's one of the good old boys," said Elgas, who like many Americans is fed up with the political establishment as the economy falters.
"She's a dingbat," Elgas added.
A few years ago, Las Vegas laughed at the idea of a downturn in Sin City, and the Strip boomed as economic cracks appeared nationwide. But when Las Vegas fell, it fell hard.
High rollers disappeared, construction cranes ground to a halt, and the state of 2.64 million set new records -- for the highest unemployment and foreclosure rates in the nation.
Enter Sharron Angle, founder and former teacher of a one-room K-12 Christian school turned politician, who has dumbfounded much of the state with her hard-line positions on small government.
A favorite with conservative "Tea Party" activists, Angle was only 2 percentage points behind Reid in a Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Tuesday.
Forty-six percent of likely voters in Nevada said they would vote for Reid if the election were today, while 44 percent chose Angle. The margin of error for likely voters in the poll was 4.6 percentage points, making Reid's lead even more tenuous.
Reid, running for a fifth term, is a staple of politics in Nevada. But people have been moving into the state so quickly that many voters have no idea what he has done for Nevada.
The state's population has nearly tripled since he was first elected to the Senate in 1986. Meanwhile, the median home price in Las Vegas is less than half its 2006 peak, leaving builders unable to compete with the glut of foreclosures.
Fighting for his political life, Reid is using negative ads starring Angle herself. In one, Angle says she would not have voted to extend unemployment insurance and adds "we really have spoiled our citizenry."
In another, reporters say she proposed phasing out the Social Security retirement system, although she has also said she wants to pay the amounts already promised in benefits.
Watch Casino Online

Lady Gaga, Katy Perry lead MTV Europe nominations - Music

The U.S. pop princesses are both shortlisted in four categories -- best pop act, best song, best female act and best video. Completing the nominations for Lady Gaga is best live act and for Katy Perry "best world stage performance."
Elsewhere in the nominations list, rapper Eminem has four nominations including best song, best male act, best hip hop and best video for his Rihanna collaboration "Love the Way You Lie."
British stadium rockers Muse, along with Thirty Seconds to Mars, Linkin Park and Kings of Leon, find themselves up against "Prince of Darkness" Ozzy Osbourne in the best rock category.
Pop phenomenon Justin Bieber, Ke$ha, B.o.B, Plan B and Jason Derulo are nominated for best new act.
Perry and Linkin Park are confirmed to perform at the annual event, one of pop music's biggest nights outside the United States.
Following is a list of the main nominations for the MTV Europe Music Awards, to be held in Madrid on November 7.
- Best Rock: Kings of Leon; Linkin Park; Thirty Seconds to Mars; Muse; Ozzy Osbourne
- Best Pop: Lady Gaga; Usher; Katy Perry; Miley Cyrus; Rihanna

� Continued...
Watch Music Online

Carson Daly show revamps to focus on music - Music

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - With the debut of its 10th season on September 20, NBC's "Last Call With Carson Daly" is overhauling its format to become predominantly focused on music, offering live performances, behind-the-scenes artist segments and spotlights dedicated to emerging acts.
"Before we ditched the studio, we'd been locked into that kind of late-night feel: monologue, then a desk thing, then the lead guest," says Daly, who started out as a VJ on MTV's "TRL" and as a DJ at KROQ Los Angeles. "Music has always been kind of an afterthought in the world of late night, which was a dumb thing for me since it's the epicenter of who I am. This new format enables us to include music wherever we want."
Among the acts that will be featured on upcoming episodes are Alberta Cross, the Walkmen, Japandroids and Broken Bells. "Carson's like, 'If we can do an entire half hour on music, that's what we want to do,'" says Davis Powers, music booker for "Last Call." "Certainly we'll program it where if it's a big-name act, they can take the whole half hour. But our main goal is to program our half-hours as music-heavy as possible so you're getting variety and different types of content."
Aside from reality TV shows, music-centered programing is almost nonexistent on network TV. While IFC's "360 Sessions" and select episodes of Sundance Channel's "Iconoclasts" provide cable viewers an in-depth look at recording artists and their work, this sort of programing rarely appears on the broadcast networks.
The music-centric format was tested during the show's ninth season, under the auspices of new executive producer Stewart Bailey, who previously worked on Comedy Central's "The Daily Show With Jon Stewart." Guy Oseary also remains as "Last Call" co-executive producer.
"I have to give (Bailey) a lot of credit for this -- I feel much more comfortable and in my element, and not like I'm playing the part of a late-night host," Daly says. "I'm out in the real world and I get to organically talk about music."
Besides taking "Last Call" into its 10th season, Daly also serves as DJ for KAMP-FM Los Angeles. In addition, Daly will continue to host NBC's "New Year's Eve With Carson Daly."
A segment of the show, "Spotlight," focuses on emerging or underexposed artists; among those to be featured include Jay Electronica, Big Freedia and Tift Merritt.
"All the other traditional late-night shows are feeling the pressure of booking what is on the charts -- the top 10 acts -- and they all fight for it," Daly says. "We have a young staff that's passionate about music. To me, the power is in the diversity."
Powers says he's working with all the major Los Angeles music venues, including the Coliseum, to set up live shoots to incorporate into the "Last Call" slate. "Our approach to shooting artists in a live setting is ambitious," he says. "(We've already) featured Lily Allen at the Wiltern and the xx at the Palladium."
While the promotional power of a 1:35 a.m.-2:05 a.m. time slot is more limited than that of a show airing in prime time or during the traditional late-night slots, ratings for the show average 873,000 viewers per night, according to Nielsen Media Research, compared with 1.6 million on average for the season to date for "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," which precedes "Last Call" on NBC.
Watch Music Online

Facebook gets movie treatments as social media hits high - Movies

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Facebook hits the silver screen this fall with two movies coming out within weeks of each other at a time when social media is at an all-time high.
Independent documentary "Catfish" and glitzy Hollywood feature "The Social Network" couldn't be more different. But both could very well be two sides of the same coin.
"We've gotten to a point where it's time to reflect on it," said "Catfish" filmmaker Ariel Schulman.
"'The Social Network' shows us how we got here. 'Catfish' shows us where we're at."
Facebook is the most popular social networking site in the world with over 500 million active users. Sites like MySpace, microblogging site Twitter, and Tumblr are also thriving, creating an intricate online world where everything from dating websites to video game communities have users who put their personal lives out on public display.
As "Catfish" illustrates, not everyone on these sites is who they say they are.
"Catfish", which opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, follows Nev Schulman, a photographer who falls in love with a girl on Facebook. Over time, their romance blossoms and they begin to text and talk on the phone.
When Nev, his brother Ariel and their friend Henry discover some startling revelations, they set off on a road trip to meet the girl in person.

� Continued...
Watch Movies Online

Tech Industry Ramps Up FM Chip Opposition - Radio Stations

Putting FM receivers in cellphones and other mobile devices has suddenly become a hot potato on Capitol Hill.
A coalition of six technology industry associations dispatched letters to the chairmen and ranking members of the U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees urging them not to craft legislation that would mandate FM receivers in mobile devices.
The idea for the mandate originated as part of a compromise between the National Association of Broadcasters and the Recording Industry Association of America. Those groups are, respectively, the key opponents and proponents of instituting performance royalties on music airplay.
Persuading congress to mandate FM tuners in phones would give both radio stations and music artists access to larger audiences, and provide consumers with another mobile content option.
That said, the technology industry isn't happy about being put in the middle.
“Calls for an FM chip mandate are not about public safety, but are instead about propping up a business which consumers are abandoning as they avail themselves of new, more consumer-friendly options,” the associations wrote. “It is simply wrong for two entrenched industries to resolve their differences by agreeing to burden a third industry -- which has no relationship to or other interest in the performance royalty dispute -- with a costly, ill-considered and unnecessary new mandate.”
Watch Radio Stations Online

Montague, Ryan Launch Shop - Entertainment News

Former JWT North America leaders Rosemarie Ryan and Ty Montague have finally unveiled their new agency, which, by design, will collaborate with other shops to develop new brands, businesses and brand messaging.
 
The venture, called Co:, opens with four partners: Montague, who's in charge of content; Ryan, heading up brand strategy; Neil Parker, leading business strategy; and Richard Schatzberger, head of technology experience.
 
In a statement announcing the launch, the new agency identified some 42 creative shops, studios, consultancies and media entities that it plans to engage on behalf of clients. These include Big Spaceship, Campfire, Collins, Cunning, Horizon Media, Naked Communications, Medialink, Creative Feed and Cool Hunting.
 
"We call it a brand innovation studio because we are taking our structural cues from the evolving entertainment industry -- an industry built around a talent model that is much more fluid [and where] the right talent is brought together at the right moment to get the right outcome," said Ryan, in a statement.
 
Montague added, "Today and in the future, success for clients is driven by two things: superior talent and the ability to effectively collaborate."
 
At WPP Group's JWT, Ryan was North American president and Montague was N.A. co-president and chief creative officer. They left the agency earlier this year, eager to strike out on their own after years of working within a major holding company.
 
Co:'s other partners have both client-side and agency experience. Parker has worked as a management consultant and within IBM's corporate strategy group; most recently he was global head of strategy at Omnicom Group's Wolff Olins, a brand consultancy. Schatzberger comes from Bartle Bogle Hegarty, where he was director of creative technology; earlier in his career, he worked in interaction design and product innovation at Motorola.
 
The new shop plans to add a fifth partner, with the title of chief commercial officer, to manage a co-ventures practice.
 
Ryan and Montague planned to open their agency with at least two clients. But the new shop's launch statement and Web site do not name any accounts.
 
Watch Entertainment News Online

Sky Deutschland shares up after cap hike details - Tv Series

FRANKFURT, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Shares in German pay-TV
channel Sky Deutschland (SKYDn.DE) rose up to 3.5 percent on
Monday, a day after the group set the subscription price of its
rights issue at 1.05 euros ($1.34) per share.
News Corp (NWSA.O), which holds a 45.42 percent stake in the
group, will partially backstop the capital increase so that its
shareholding does not exceed a level of 49.9 percent.
The subscription period starts on Tuesday and is due to run
until Sept. 27.
Sky Deutschland, formerly known as "Premiere", said it will
issue close to 270 million shares. At the given price, this
would equate to total additional capital of around 283 million
euros.
Shares in the group, currently valued around 1.0 euros
apiece, were outperforming the 0.4 percent stronger German
mid-cap index .MDAXI, trading 3.2 percent higher at 0843 GMT.

"Shares were already hit hard after the first announcement
of the upcoming capital increase. Additional impact should thus
be limited," traders from the Alpha brokerage wrote, adding that
shares may move closer to the subscription price.
Watch Tv Series Online

Top UK comedy award goes to English comic - Comedy

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain's top annual comedy prize, the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award, went to England's Russell Kane at an Edinburgh Fringe festival ceremony on the weekend for his show "Smokescreens and Castles."
The award for best comedy newcomer on the Fringe was won by 31-year-old London comedienne Roison Conaty, while the Spirit of the Fringe award went to 20-year-old American Bo Burnham, who has accumulated an audience of millions from his YouTube internet comedy broadcasts from his Boston bedroom.
Awards' producer Nica Burns said Kane, 30, from Westcliffe-on-Sea in Essex, "takes the audience by storm with his boundless energy and enthusiasm."
In his new show he "explores self, family, and the consequences of his Dad buying their council flat" in the apartment block nicknamed The Castle. The Sunday Times described the show as "bold, defiant...Shot through with vulnerability."
Conaty, from Camden in north London, told Reuters her experience on this year's Fringe had been "life changing in terms of doing a show every day ... I've learned so much."
She made her debut solo in the show "Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar."
The tall, mop-haired Burnham, who started his YouTube comedy exploits four years ago, was also short-listed for the best comedy award.
The awards were announced by star comedian Al Murray, who won the best comedy prize in 1999, and last year's winner Tim Key. Burns said the judging panel had seen 418 shows and attended nearly 1,200 performances over the past three weeks.
The Fringe, the world's largest annual showing of the arts, has fostered a galaxy of stars of theater, film and comedy since its inception alongside the city's International Festival in 1947.
Watch Comedy Online

Oprah Winfrey and McCartney top new Kennedy Center Honors - Arts

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Talk show queen Oprah Winfrey and former Beatle Paul McCartney top the list of show business luminaries to be saluted for their contributions to U.S. arts and culture at this year's Kennedy Center Honors.
Rounding out the roster of 2010's honorees announced by organizers on Tuesday are country music legend Merle Haggard, Broadway composer and lyricist Jerry Herman of "Hello Dolly!" fame, and dancer-choreographer-director Bill T. Jones.
Recipients of the 33rd annual awards will be feted at a December 5 gala event attended by U.S. entertainment and political glitterati at the opera house of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.
President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will welcome the honorees to a White House reception. The five recipients will be saluted with tributes and performances by peers at the Kennedy Center later in the evening.
The CBS television network will broadcast the Kennedy Center gala, which has become a highlight of Washington's cultural calendar, on December 28 as a two-hour special.
"The Kennedy Center celebrates five individuals who have spent their lives enriching, inspiring and elevating the cultural vibrancy of our nation and the world," Kennedy Center Chairman David Rubenstein said in a statement.
The naming of Winfrey, one of the most influential and highly paid women on television, comes as she prepares to end her popular weekday talk show in 2011 after 25 years on the air, to focus on the launch of her own cable channel, the Oprah Winfrey Network, or OWN, a Los Angeles-based venture she formed with Discovery Communications Inc.
Winfrey, 56, also plans to debut a new evening program called "Oprah's Next Chapter" she will host from different venues around the globe on OWN.
Her original program, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," is broadcast from Chicago and airs in more than 140 countries. It ranks as the top-rated U.S. daytime talk show.
Although Winfrey's influence and work extends to motion pictures, books, magazines and live theater, she is one of the few Kennedy Center honorees over the years who made their name primarily in television. Others have included Carol Burnett, Bill Cosby, Johnny Carson and Lucille Ball.
Winfrey's immediate reaction to being named a Kennedy Center honoree, according to The Washington Post, was: "Wow-zee!"
In a statement of his own, McCartney, 68, paid tribute to the slain U.S. president for whom the Kennedy Center and its annual honors are named.
"President Kennedy was such an icon for us in the Sixties, and his presidency was so inspiring for so many people that it is a great pleasure for this kid from Liverpool to receive this honor," the singer-songwriter, knighted as Sir Paul, said in a statement.
The Beatles' first U.S. visit, a few months after Kennedy's November 1963 assassination, is widely hailed as the start of the so-called "British invasion" that swept America's pop music scene, changing the face of rock 'n' roll and launching a 1960s cultural phenomenon.
Watch Arts Online

Recession creates new trend in fashion shopping - Fashion

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The U.S. recession has changed how people shop for fashion, with an eye for special pieces rather than trusty wardrobe basics, and top retail buyers say this trend is likely to last beyond an economic recovery.
As Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week begins in New York on Thursday, fashion directors from such high-end stores as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus say they will be on the lookout for eye-catching collections to wow customers.
After a dismal 2009, retail sales have improved every month for the past year, but consumer confidence has been slow to recover and is only half as strong as at the start of 2008. Consumer spending accounts for two-thirds of U.S. economic activity and is considered critical to the recovery.
"We have seen a change in the way that customers shop as a result of the economic climate that we have been in, and I see that trend continuing," said Colleen Sherin, fashion market director for Saks.
"Women are not necessarily looking for basics ... they're looking for wow pieces, something that inspires more of an emotional reaction," she said. "They are looking for value. They're looking for quality at a price."
Even classic, basic pieces such as a white shirt are being reinterpreted to appeal to customers, with perhaps a dramatic new collar or interesting cuff details, Sherin said.
More than 90 designers will show at New York Fashion Week's new headquarters on Manhattan's Upper West Side, up about 50 percent from the last two seasons in February and September. Countless more show in other venues around the city. The New York shows are followed by shows in London, Milan and Paris.
"SHE WANTS FASHION"
The semi-annual event generates more than $770 million a year in economic activity in New York, where fashion is the second-largest industry behind finance. New York is home to more than 800 fashion companies, employing 175,000 people, generating $10 billion in wages and $1.5 billion tax revenue.
Ken Downing, fashion director at Neiman Marcus, said while the outlook for the U.S. economy appeared to be improving, customers were still selective when buying fashion.
"She's being very thoughtful when she's purchasing," he said of shoppers. "Even at the most challenging moments in the economy, she was interested in trend.
"She's not interested in basics ... she wants fashion," he said. "The customer continues to respond to what is new and what she does not have in her wardrobe."
While designers are showing collections for next year's spring and summer that won't be available in stores for months, the industry wants to lure shoppers to spend now with a second annual "Fashion's Night Out" on Friday.
The retail initiative launched by U.S. Vogue editor Anna Wintour aims to get people shopping. Designers and department stores will to lure customers by holding in-store parties with celebrity guests and musical performances.
"The idea of 'Fashion's Night Out,' is really to create excitement in the shops," said designer Diane von Furstenberg, who is president of the Council of Fashion Designers of America. "We just want people to shop."
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a news conference opening Fashion Week on Wednesday that people always need clothes and that diversity in fashion means there was "an opportunity to be well-dressed no matter what your economic situation."
Watch Fashion Online

I'm Still Here an entertaining hoax - Celebrities

VENICE (Hollywood Reporter) - Give up acting? Casey Affleck's energetic directorial debut, "I'm Still Here," basically scotches the idea that Joaquin Phoenix has retired as an actor to become a hip-hop artist, revealing it all to be an elaborate media hoax, albeit one that has seriously altered the actor's real-life image over the last year and a half.
This sporadically engrossing mockumentary, which gets better as it rolls along, must have been planned way back before Phoenix bombed on "Late Show with David Letterman." Or is part of it for real?
At the film's Venice press conference on Monday, which Phoenix failed to attend, Affleck continued to suggest that he had shot a straight documentary, against much evidence in the film itself.
The fact that an audience can watch the film to the end and not be completely sure where reality ends and playtime begins is a tribute to Affleck's skills at mimicking documentary tropes: the handheld camera, badly framed images, the mishmash of news reports and YouTube clips. It is also a backhand compliment to Phoenix's thespian abilities and courage. But it may leave viewers with too much head-scratching uncertainty when it opens in English-speaking territories next week. Audiences who drink their documentaries straight beware: this is one potent mixed cocktail.
Daring to look nasty, vindictive, self-centered and ridiculous, Phoenix surrenders all privacy to his brother-in-law Affleck's invasive cameras. They follow him into hotel rooms and into bed, voyeuristically watching while he uses recreational drugs, entertains two New York hookers and falls apart at the seams.
Deciding to turn rapper out of the blue, Phoenix begins pursuing Sean "Diddy" Combs cross-country in the hope of doing a record together. But when he finally gets into Combs' recording studio with a homemade CD of his songs, the rapper quickly realizes what the audience already knows: that Phoenix's artistic talents lie elsewhere. "Why do you want to do hip-hop?" Combs asks in wonderment.
Shattered by Combs' reaction, Phoenix goes on "Letterman" in a catatonic state. Belittled and mocked by his host, he inspires tenderness for the first time; but the show sends his popularity plummeting.
Like a wounded animal, he takes out his frustrations on his assistant Anton (played by actor Antony Langdon) and his manager Larry. Then he remembers the wisdom lecture imparted by his friend Edward James Olmos, who compares his career to a drop of water that runs from the top of the mountain to the valley, disappears into the ocean, then evaporates and returns to the top once again. Joaquin takes it as the truth about his life.
Though the first half of the film keeps the viewer guessing about what's actually going on, it is paradoxically when the tricks and mirrors are forgotten that the film becomes funny and enjoyable as an engrossing character study. It finally becomes possible to gaze beyond Phoenix's four-letter words and manic ranting and at the man himself.
Watch Celebrities Online

Sarah Ferguson to rebuild life in TV show - Documentary

The Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) -- a new cable channel due to launch in January -- said on Friday the documentary would be called "Finding Sarah" and would debut in the first three months of 2011.
"Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York, will share with our viewers her personal struggle to rebuild her life," Lisa Erspamer, chief creative officer of OWN said in a statement.
"With the help of experts Dr. Phil McGraw, Suze Orman, Martha Beck and others, the Duchess will open up about her recent public troubles and explore her lifelong battles with weight, relationships and finances. She will look to put the past behind her and move forward to a positive future," Erspamer said.
Ferguson, 50, is the ex-wife of Britain's Prince Andrew, the second son of Queen Elizabeth II. She was caught in an embarrassing British newspaper sting in May in which she was filmed appearing to ask for, and accept, $40,000 in cash in exchange for access to Prince Andrew, who is also a British trade envoy.
The couple divorced amicably in 1996 after 10 years of marriage, and have two grown children.
Ferguson swiftly apologized and appeared on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in June, saying that her own self-hatred, mounting debts and "gross stupidity" had led her to fall for the sting.
Ferguson said she was doing the TV documentary "because I need to heal my mind, body and spirit."
"After 22 years of raising my two amazing daughters, it's time for me to mother myself. My hope is that sharing my journey will help someone else."

� Continued...
Watch Documentary Online

Liam Neeson boards Battleship movie - Sci Fi

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Liam Neeson is suiting up to play Admiral Shane in Universal Pictures' upcoming sci-fi war film "Battleship."
Inspired by the Hasbro board game of the same name, the movie centers around a battle on land, sea and the sky between Earth's forces and attacking aliens.
Neeson joins a cast that includes Taylor Kitsch, who plays a naval officer and the admiral's future son-in-law; model Brooklyn Decker, as the admiral's daughter; Alexander Skarsgard as a commanding officer and the older brother to Kitsch's character; and pop-star Rihanna as a weapons analyst on the USS John Paul Jones.
Set for release on May 18, 2012, "Battleship" is being directed by Peter Berg.
Neeson will next be seen in "The Next Three Days" and "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader."
(Editing by Zorianna Kit and Steve Gorman)
Watch Sci Fi Online

HMV eyes stronger games market after World Cup hit - Fashion

LONDON (Reuters) - British music, books and games retailer HMV Group hopes rivals to the Ninetendo Wii will drive the games market in the key Christmas period after reporting a worse-than-expected plunge in first-quarter sales .
The departure of long-time Finance Director Neil Bright, who is highly regarded by analysts, and lingering concern over the strategy to become a broad-based entertainment group, offering live music and fashion alongside its other products, also hit its shares, which were down 11.3 percent at 59.17 pence at 0945 GMT.
Overall underlying sales at the group, excluding the new live music division, were down 10.6 percent, while sales in Britain and Ireland dropped 14.9 percent as the soccer World Cup took people's attention away from DVDs and books.
"Though they had warned that the AGM (annual general meeting) trading update today would be weak because of the impact of the World Cup, the news is still bad," said analyst Nick Bubb at Arden Partners.
Shares in the 89-year old group have far underperformed other retailers this year but had been gaining ground over the last three months, rising 14 percent against a 1 percent gain for the index.
Seymour Pierce's Kate Calvert cut her recommendation on the stock to "sell" from "buy," saying she was unconvinced by the new strategy and that the Live division would not be enough to offset the migration of HMV's core retail business to online.
Consumer confidence is still fragile in the United Kingdom. Department store group Debenhams said earlier this week it was cutting prices in a bid to attract wary shoppers and on Thursday, Argos owner Home Retail forecast a fall in first-half profit.
HMV hopes the benefits of its new strategy will be seen at the core Christmas trading period, when it makes all of its profit for the year.
Chief Executive Simon Fox told reporters new releases of motion sensor games consoles, like Playstation Move and Microsoft Connect, along with such games as Fifa 11 and Call of Duty Black Box, should help the market.
"The games market's been down about 15 percent over the period, but we expect it to get much closer to flat in the Christmas period as a result of these new products," he said.
FESTIVALS AND BOOKS
HMV added it was making progress in turning around its Waterstone's bookstores, with ebook sales up 70 and over 1 million books downloaded via the website.
"Since the World Cup, we've been in positive like-for-like territory," CEO Fox said.
However, he said the group had set its sights too high for its new High Voltage Festival, launched this summer and which suffered low attendance.
"Creating a brand new festival in a congested market is tough so our expansion plans for festivals are as much around existing brands and formats that are known to work," he said. HMV also announced the departure of Finance Director Bright, who is leaving after 14 years at the group for the role at leisure and travel group Holidaybreak.
Fox said he hoped to have a successor in place by the time Bright leaves at the end of 2010.
(Reporting by Victoria Bryan; Editing by Rhys Jones and Karen Foster)
Watch Fashion Online

Top UK comedy award goes to English comic - Comedy

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain's top annual comedy prize, the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award, went to England's Russell Kane at an Edinburgh Fringe festival ceremony on the weekend for his show "Smokescreens and Castles."
The award for best comedy newcomer on the Fringe was won by 31-year-old London comedienne Roison Conaty, while the Spirit of the Fringe award went to 20-year-old American Bo Burnham, who has accumulated an audience of millions from his YouTube internet comedy broadcasts from his Boston bedroom.
Awards' producer Nica Burns said Kane, 30, from Westcliffe-on-Sea in Essex, "takes the audience by storm with his boundless energy and enthusiasm."
In his new show he "explores self, family, and the consequences of his Dad buying their council flat" in the apartment block nicknamed The Castle. The Sunday Times described the show as "bold, defiant...Shot through with vulnerability."
Conaty, from Camden in north London, told Reuters her experience on this year's Fringe had been "life changing in terms of doing a show every day ... I've learned so much."
She made her debut solo in the show "Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar."
The tall, mop-haired Burnham, who started his YouTube comedy exploits four years ago, was also short-listed for the best comedy award.
The awards were announced by star comedian Al Murray, who won the best comedy prize in 1999, and last year's winner Tim Key. Burns said the judging panel had seen 418 shows and attended nearly 1,200 performances over the past three weeks.
The Fringe, the world's largest annual showing of the arts, has fostered a galaxy of stars of theater, film and comedy since its inception alongside the city's International Festival in 1947.
Watch Comedy Online

Netflix makes available free iPhone, iPod app - Entertainment News

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Web video subscription service Netflix Inc launched on Thursday a free iPhone and iPod application that allows subscribers to watch TV shows and movies on Apple Inc's handheld devices.
Netflix said the app is available on iTunes for subscribers to plans starting at $8.99.
Earlier this month, Netflix struck a $1 billion deal with pay TV channel Epix to become the exclusive web-only distributor of films from Paramount, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and Lions Gate Entertainment.
Watch Entertainment News Online

Engrossing Last Exorcism stumbles at end - Documentary

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Demonic possession goes the shaky, hand-held camera route in "The Last Exorcism," a backwoods psychological thriller delivered faux-documentary-style, with mixed results. Call it the Linda Blair Witch Project.
The setup -- in which a slick con artist of a preacher stages a routine exorcism on a seemingly possessed teen girl with camera in tow, only to get more than he bargained for -- proves unsettlingly engrossing for the most part, until its forced finale proves to be a major mood killer. Up to that point, the committed cast of non-name actors lends this low-budget Eli Roth production the necessary aura of naturalism required to keep the viewer involved.
Of course, the extent of that viewer involvement remains to be seen. Even though the marketplace hasn't exactly been crawling with genre fare, the PG-13 "Exorcism" doesn't really deliver the sort of intense late-summer kick that its young-male demographic tends to embrace. The Lionsgate release opens Friday.
Although the name Marjoe is unlikely to mean much to the film's target audience, it's evident that writers Andrew Gurland and Huck Botko have turned to the 1972 documentary about the evangelical showman as inspiration for its portrait of preacher Cotton Marcus (smoothly played by Patrick Fabian).
Having performed fake exorcisms since he was a child, the clean-cut family man, undergoing an apparent crisis of conscience, is planning to cop to the 25-year charade by letting a documentary crew in on all the tricks of his trade. But soon after they show up at the rural Louisiana home of a strict fundamentalist farmer (Louis Herthum), it becomes readily apparent that his tormented, wide-eyed teen daughter (an impressive Ashley Bell) is going to require much more than just sideshow sleight of hand.
Director Daniel Stamm ("A Necessary Death") maintains a nice, slowly tightening grip on the chilly atmospherics, even as the film continually trips over some truly clunky exposition, yielding more than one unintended snicker in the process. The sturdy performances go a long way to make up for those awkward moments, until it all goes to hell with a terse "shocker" ending that recalls another from a film that shall remain nameless so as not to rankle the spoiler-alert police.
Watch Documentary Online

Wyclef song accuses Haiti president of blocking him - Radio Stations

PORT-AU-PRINCE (Reuters) - Haitian hip-hop star and presidential hopeful Wyclef Jean turned to song on Thursday to accuse outgoing President Rene Preval of engineering his rejection as a candidate for Haiti's November election.
Local radio stations were broadcasting a song by Jean in Creole in which he called for the jailing of electoral officials who last week disqualified him and for the first time directly blamed Preval for being banned from the November 28 vote.
The 40-year-old Haitian-born, U.S.-based musical celebrity, who has an enthusiastic youth following in his poor homeland, is challenging the rejection of his candidacy and has denounced the electoral authorities as corrupt and politically motivated.
The dispute has raised fears of tensions that could disrupt the Caribbean nation's rebuilding after a massive January 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people.
In his Creole composition entitled "Prizon Pou K.E.P.a" (Jail for the Provisional Electoral Council), a somber-voiced Jean sings that Preval "expelled me from the race."
"I know all the cards are in your hands ... I voted for you to be president in 2006, why today did you reject my candidacy?" the song says, addressing Preval, who cannot seek re-election after serving two terms as president.
"It's not Wyclef that you have expelled, it is the youth you have denied ... it's the population you have denied, its the peasants you have denied," Jean sings. He also posted the song on his Twitter page twitter.com/wyclef.
Preval had been informed about the song but did not immediately react, aides said.

� Continued...
Watch Radio Stations Online

Casino cash may inject $1.5 bln into Singapore annually-DBS - Casino

SINGAPORE Aug 26 (Reuters) - Revenues from two new
casino-resorts could contribute as much as S$2 billion ($1.47
billion) annually to Singapore's economy, which is expected by
the government to grow by up to 15 percent this year, DBS Bank
said on Thursday.
The two resorts have already contributed S$470 million or
0.3 percentage points to gross domestic product (GDP), which
grew 17.9 percent in the first half of 2010 from a year
earlier, DBS economist Irvin Seah wrote in a report.
"If the GDP contributions by the integrated resorts
continue to rise at the same pace going forward, we can expect
full-year GDP contributions of about S$2 billion from these
projects," Seah said in the note.
That would translate into adding 0.7 percentage points to
GDP for the whole of 2010, he said.
Singapore is counting on the two resorts opened earlier
this year by Malaysia's Genting Bhd (GENT.KL) and Las Vegas
Sands (LVS.N) to help fuel tourism and economic growth. It
hopes to double visitor arrivals to 17 million by 2015.
In July alone, at least 1 million people visited Singapore,
the highest number the city-state ever saw in a month, after
seven consecutive months of record monthly visitor arrivals.
Watch Casino Online

Modern Family wins best comedy series Emmy - Comedy

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The rookie comedy "Modern Family" won the Emmy for the best TV comedy series on Sunday, ending the three-year reign of "30 Rock."
The show, which revolves around an extended family in Los Angeles, earlier won awards for best supporting actor and writing.
Watch Comedy Online

Lindsay Lohan's E-Trade lawsuit enters odd phase - Celebrities

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - In a great year for entertaining lawsuits, perhaps the most intriguing is still Lindsay Lohan's case against E-Trade for airing a commercial that featured a "milkaholic" baby named Lindsay.
In defending the merits of the suit, Lohan's lawyer Stephanie Ovadia asserted that the actress deserved single-name status like Oprah or Madonna. Does she? The fate of Lohan's lawsuit may depend on the answer.
Lohan's lawyer has filed new papers in New York Supreme Court in an effort to survive E-Trade's motion to dismiss.
E-Trade argues that there are some 250,000 women in United States named "Lindsay," including celebrities like Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn, tennis player Lindsay Davenport and actresses Lindsay Wagner and Lindsay Price. E-Trade also says that unlike Oprah, Madonna, Cher and Beyonce, Lohan doesn't have a federally registered trademark on her first name.
In an amusing 27-page court brief, Lohan's lawyer now attempts to justify why Lohan should get special treatment compared to the 250,000 other Lindsays.
"As they say, 'What's in the name?' It is in the totality of circumstances that a particular name or person acquires popularity or notoriety. It is in totality of circumstances that a name or person becomes a distinguished name. Some names such as Bill, Hillary, Bush, Tiger, Paris, Johnny, Allen, are very common names. There may be millions, if not billions, of people with these names in the world. Some words may not necessarily be just the names for human beings but may convey other meanings also. For example, 'Tiger' is an animal and is associated with a jungle or zoo in a particular context. However, when used in the context of (the) Golf game world, it conveys totally different message."
But that doesn't explain why Lindsay is to celebrity milkaholism as Tiger is to golf.
Alas, Lohan's brief tries to put it all together.
"The issue, in case at bar, is not how many people in the USA are with the name 'Lindsay' or 'Lindsey'. The issue is how many celebrities are with this name 'Lindsay' in the USA, and then in the context, manner, characterization, persona ... If Defendants take this name, 'Lindsay' in context of a celebrity name then by Defendants' own admission, there are only a few limited celebrities with this name around, and this number may not be more than four or five."
The brief then goes into a "process of elimination" among Lindsay Lohan, Lindsey Vonn, Lindsay Davenport and the two other Lindsay actresses: "The type of a particular role and persona, the role of an alcoholic bimbus woman, that Defendants were looking for in their said commercial, none of the other celebrity "Lindsay" as referred by Defendants ... fits into."
Essentially, she says that none of the other famous Lindsays are considered alcoholic bimbuses (bimbi?) like her client is. As proof, the brief cites tabloid headlines like RadarOnline's "Whoops! Kate Hudson Almost Does A 'Lindsay'"
Watch Celebrities Online

American football is generally compared with European football

American football is generally compared with European football. The difference between the two is greatly, but the same use of title can confuse others. The difference between American and European football is simple by definition. Football is used mostly with the hands to control the ball, and the European football is what most people call Soccer. In soccer, you kick the ball and they not allowed using their hands at all. By definition, football is when 11 players on a rectangular field 100 yards long. Teams try to steal/keep possession of the ball and move across the field to the other teams goal line by running a number of plays. European football or soccer is a game played with a round ball (not diamond shaped like American football).

Again, two teams of eleven players use themselves to control the ball to pass the oppositions goal line. Soccer is played dominantly with the feet, but can be controlled by other body parts like knees, chest, and head. They can use any part of their body by their arms and hands. If they do use the hands, a foul is called the other team gets control of the situation. They only who find themselves allowed to use their hands are the goalkeepers.

Many soccer games are played on football fields. They are set up exactly the same way except instead of having a huge goal post, they use two goal nets (much like hockey). The games are in quarters that are times. There are four quarters per game . 5 time. Usually there are only just a few minutes pauses between quarters and the half time is much longer. Soccer games really don't take as much time as soccer, as there are fewer rules to soccer.

Football is a complicated sport that has flags and penalties for, what seems everything. In soccer, penalties are called but mostly for being offsides or out of bounds. Sportsmanship is a problem in both sports. The two sports are very competitive and can be frustrating to the players. While you are not allowed to tackle a player purposely in soccer, some players do tend to collide and when they do, they hit hard.

Soccer and football are much alike in some aspects, but are completely different in others. Either way your perception, the two sports are just as aggressive and competitive and is normally extremely enjoyable to watch and play.

Free Movies Online NOW

Renting movies was once kind of a hassle. You must navigate to the store and try and get everyone to agree on which movie to rent before getting to actually watch the movie. Then, when you find yourself finished make sure you get the movies back on time to avoid those dreadful late fees. Now there are easier ways to get your movies, right from home.

Satellite TV is among the great methods for you to get movies at home. Almost every satellite TV package comes with a minumum of one movie channel. You usually have a choice between HBO, Cinemax, Starz, or Showtime. The other nice thing is that now you get many channel of movies with each package. The quantity of channels varies depending on which you choose. For example with Starz you get eight channels and Cinemax you get five.

You usually get to choose which one of these simple movie channels you desire to get at your house. Depending on how many movies you want to watch you might want to get more than one of these brilliant movies channels. Most satellite packages will help you to add more channels; of course you'll have to pay more.

Another advantages to satellite TV are that you could get parental controls as well. It is a great idea since not every movie is appropriate for every age. If a number of channels you do not need your children watching you can just block it. This is a simple way for parents to make certain their children are not getting access to and watching inappropriate shows.

If you cant find any movie you would want to watch on your movie channels there is still hope. Don't run to the movie rental store quite yet. As well as your movie channels you should have access to Cpv channels. These are more movie channels to purchase even more movies to watch. With these channels you need to pay to rent the movie, but it's just added to your bill.

Satellite TV makes it much easier that you should sit down and watch a movie. You don't need to demand movie rental store and hope they have the movie or movies you are interested in in stock, and you won't need to worry about late fees. That can be done everything from the comfort of your house. You could have to pay some extra for the movie channels or satellite TV, but it's not necessary to pay for gas and expensive late fees.

You get the movies you want when you need them. Even though you didn't watch lots of movies before, you might find yourself enjoying them more when you have movie channels. It is far more easy to watch a movie when all you should do is flip through the channels. Often there is something that you should watch that you'll enjoy for those who have satellite TV.

UPDATE 2-NetEase bullish on H2 games; misses Q2 profit - Game Shows

* Q2 net profit $71.6 mln versus $76.6 mln estimate
* Confirms imminent release of key game expansion pack
* Gives positive outlook for online games in H2
* Shares rise in after-hours
(Adds quotes, details, adds dateline)
By Melanie Lee and Helen Kearney
SHANGHAI/NEW YORK, Aug 19 (Reuters) - China's No.3 online
game operator NetEase.com (NTES.O) flagged the release of
sequels to its hit games, helping boost its shares though the
company's quarterly profit missed analysts' forecasts.
NetEase said it expects to release at least four expansion
packs for its self-developed hit titles in the second half of
the year as well as the expansion pack to Activision Blizzard's
(ATVI.O) blockbuster game "World of Warcraft".
China is the world's largest Internet market with more than
420 million web surfers. However, its red-hot online games
segment has faced strong headwinds this year on a lack of new
titles and an increasingly competitive environment.
Earlier this month, China's Ministry of Culture said it had
approved NetEase's release of an expansion pack to the "World
of Warcraft" game in China, which analysts hope will energize
the company's earnings in the fourth quarter.
"I think the outlook is good, the World of Warcraft will
have a good quarter and then seems like some of their existing
games will continue to grow,"said Wallace Cheung, an analyst
with Credit Suisse.
"It looks like profitability will improve in the next two
quarters at least."
NetEase said it is looking to release the game as soon as
possible after completing some technical procedures.
For the second quarter, NetEase net profit rose 4.5 percent
to $71.6 million, or 55 cents per ADS, from $68.5 million, or
53 cents per ADS a year ago.
This missed analysts' estimates of $76.6 million or 58.9
cents per ADS on a fully reported basis, according to Thomson
Reuters I/B/E/S.
"In the third quarter and fourth quarter this year we will
be expecting a much more satisfactory or a more positive
results delivery in terms of the gaming revenues," Onward Choi,
NetEase's acting chief financial officer told investors in a
call.
NetEase shares rose 1.37 percent to $37.00 in after-hours
U.S. trade after closing 1.8 percent lower in regular trading.
The company said quarterly revenue came in at $198.6
million, beating the consensus forecast of $184.96 million,
according to 12 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Netease competes with Changyou.com (CYOU.O), Shanda Games
(GAME.O), Perfect World (PWRD.O) and Tencent Holdings (0700.HK)
in China's increasingly crowded and competitive gaming
landscape.
NetEase operates some of China's most popular online games,
including self-developed martial arts game Fantasy Westward
Journey.
Watch Game Shows Online

Top UK comedy award goes to English comic - Comedy

EDINBURGH (Reuters) - Britain's top annual comedy prize, the Foster's Edinburgh Comedy Award, went to England's Russell Kane at an Edinburgh Fringe festival ceremony on the weekend for his show "Smokescreens and Castles."
The award for best comedy newcomer on the Fringe was won by 31-year-old London comedienne Roison Conaty, while the Spirit of the Fringe award went to 20-year-old American Bo Burnham, who has accumulated an audience of millions from his YouTube internet comedy broadcasts from his Boston bedroom.
Awards' producer Nica Burns said Kane, 30, from Westcliffe-on-Sea in Essex, "takes the audience by storm with his boundless energy and enthusiasm."
In his new show he "explores self, family, and the consequences of his Dad buying their council flat" in the apartment block nicknamed The Castle. The Sunday Times described the show as "bold, defiant...Shot through with vulnerability."
Conaty, from Camden in north London, told Reuters her experience on this year's Fringe had been "life changing in terms of doing a show every day ... I've learned so much."
She made her debut solo in the show "Hero, Warrior, Fireman, Liar."
The tall, mop-haired Burnham, who started his YouTube comedy exploits four years ago, was also short-listed for the best comedy award.
The awards were announced by star comedian Al Murray, who won the best comedy prize in 1999, and last year's winner Tim Key. Burns said the judging panel had seen 418 shows and attended nearly 1,200 performances over the past three weeks.
The Fringe, the world's largest annual showing of the arts, has fostered a galaxy of stars of theater, film and comedy since its inception alongside the city's International Festival in 1947.
Watch Comedy Online

John Landis' son near deal for super-power script - Documentary

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Twentieth Century Fox is in negotiations to pick up "Chronicle," a super-power project from a pair of Hollywood progeny.
Josh Trank, son of Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Richard Trank, is attached to make his feature directing debut from a script by Max Landis, son of director John Landis.
According to the studio, the story focuses on three Portland teens who develop incredible powers after being exposed to a mysterious substance in the woods. They work together to hone their skills for fun, until personal and family problems begin to turn them against one another.
"Chronicle" is being eyed to be told in hand-held, documentary-style that has been gaining popularity with movies such as "Cloverfield" and "Paranormal Activity."
Trank could be well suited for the documentary task. While he directed a web series titled "Killpoint" in 2007 and was the editor on "Big Fan," Robert Siegel's indie starring Patton Oswalt, Trank may have that style of filmmaking in his genes; his father won an Oscar as a producer on the 1997 documentary "The Long Way Home."
Watch Documentary Online

Fist returns in fun kung fu movie - Tv Series

VENICE (Hollywood Reporter) - Although one expects more from producer Gordon Chan and the director Andrew Lau of the "Infernal Affairs" trilogy -- which Martin Scorsese remade into "The Departed" -- "Legend of the Fist" still is good fun, a popcorn movie of epic proportions for kung fu fans.
The film feels tailored to Western palates -- sure there's violence, but it's toned down by Hong Kong standards, and even the fighting is cut back. Chinese and Hong Kong audiences might be critical of this take on an iconic cultural hero, but star Donnie Yen is a household name in Asia. With an all-star cast and the director's following, the film is practically a guaranteed megahit at the local box office.
"Fist" is all about Yen, who has the requisite acting and kung fu chops to play a suave, sensitive and serious badass. The martial-arts superstar slips back into the legendary role of Chen Zhen, who has had countless incarnations, the most memorable by Bruce Lee in "Fist of Fury." Yen actually played Zhen in a popular 1995 TV series, and the years have left him no worse for wear.
The film opens in 1917 France, where Third World recruits -- including countless Chinese -- were brought to Europe by the French and British to help with the war effort. Most of them died on the front, a fate the noble Zhen promises to spare his friends. Just when you think you've seen every battle scene imaginable, Yen, who also served as action master on "Fist," delivers the film's best and most breathtaking fight sequence. Bayonets and bullets are nothing against Zhen's superhuman skills.
Eight years later, Zhen resurfaces, disguised (in, ahem, only a tiny mustache) as a piano player working in Casablanca, Shanghai's hottest nightclub. He befriends the owner (Anthony Wong, always a joy to watch) and falls for hostess-siren-singer Kiki (the impossibly beautiful Shu Qi) as he secretly leads the Resistance against the Japanese occupation of China, led in Shanghai by a ruthless Japanese general (Kohata Ryuichi).
Zhen also dons a black suit and mask and starts fighting the Japanese single-handedly as the Masked Avenger. He hovers over the city like Batman, which adds to the film's comic-strip feel, along with the stylized sets placed in a CGI Shanghai.Lau is a rare breed of director: He has leased almost all of his own films, and his trademark visual pizzazz is there, if not the gritty intensity of his other work.
Watch Tv Series Online

Former African child soldier helps Americans get fit - Arts

NEW YORK (Reuters) - For most of his life, Tchicaya Missamou's warrior training made him into a killing machine. Now, he is using his skills to help Americans get fit.
Missamou's memoir, "In the Shadow of Freedom," recounts his childhood in Congo Republic and his journey to America, his tour in Iraq with the U.S. Marine Corps and, finally, civilian life in California, where he opened the Warrior Fitness gym that teaches Congolese and U.S. fighting techniques.
"By the time you finish this book, you will understand that there is not an obstacle that you cannot overcome," Missamou, 32, told Reuters. "I want people to control their own destiny."
Growing up in Congo-Brazzaville as one of 16 siblings born to his father's seven wives, Missamou's childhood was shaped by the violence that sprung up in the 1990s following the oil-rich central African nation's first democratic elections.
Missamou describes how, at around 14, he and his teenage friends were handed guns and a few grenades and put in charge of a checkpoint with orders to block members of rival ethnic groups from entering the area.
"I saw awful things during this time," he wrote in the book, co-written with Travis Sentell that was published earlier this month by Atria Books. "These militias had learned what a mighty weapon Congolese youth could be in a struggle."
When the fighting ended, the boys returned to their former lives and Missamou entered Congo-Brazzaville's gendarmerie.
Violence broke out again in 1997, and this time Missamou became a war profiteer. He assembled a convoy of armed men and struck lucrative deals with Brazzaville whites, most of whom had fled, to rescue abandoned suitcases of cash and valuables.
"The Congo was falling apart, but I was rich," he wrote.
As Missamou's success grew, so did his notoriety. With the help of his father, a police captain, he fled Africa while still a teenager. He ended up in California and found work at a martial arts studio. There, Missamou met a U.S. marine recruit who encouraged him to enlist.
Soon, Missamou was deployed overseas, going to Afghanistan and Iraq to fight for his adopted homeland. Through an executive order that fast-tracked citizenship applications of U.S. soldiers, Missamou became a U.S. citizen in 2003.
TALKING CURE
Despite a disastrous return to Congo-Brazzaville in 2004, when he was arrested and almost beaten to death, Missamou said he still dreams of returning to his homeland.
But Missamou, who wears his crisp, white U.S. marine's uniform on his book tour, said he also wants to give back to his adopted country.
In 2007, he opened The Warrior Fitness Camp in Valencia, California, where he trains students in military techniques as well as the skills he learned as a child in the African bush.
He has plans to expand it into a chain and is even pitching a reality show in which he would travel around the country and teach fitness, spirituality and nutrition to Americans with "weight issues."
"My workout is a mind game because I believe the mind is the most powerful weapon that we have on our body," he said.
But while he said he wants to give back to his adopted country, he said he sees his memoir as a route to dealing with his past.
"What I learned in America is that it's by talking that we heal. It's by talking that we change people's lives," Missamou said.
"America is the greatest country on earth," he said. "If you don't know what you got, then read this book."
Watch Arts Online