“We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” the lead single from
6-time Grammy winner Taylor Swift’s forthcoming album, Red, this week
spends its second consecutive week at #1 on Billboard’s Hot 100
all-format singles chart, which factors in both sales and radio airplay.
In its first two weeks of availability, "Never Ever" has sold in
excess of 930,000 downloads in the U.S., and made more than 67 million
all-format audience impressions at radio. Last week’s sales of 623,000
downloads was the biggest opening-week for a song by a woman in
SoundScan history, and the second-biggest debut ever. Worldwide, the
single has already reached the #1 position atop the iTunes charts in 32
countries.
MTV is kicking off the week lead-up to the biggest night in
music - the “2012 MTV Video Music Awards” – on Thursday, August 30, 2012
with previously announced VMA performer and six-time Grammy winner
Taylor Swift taking to the airwaves LIVE at 7:49 p.m. ET on MTV and CMT
to premiere the highly anticipated music video for “We Are Never Ever
Getting Back Together” on “MTV First: Taylor Swift.” Then one week
later, Taylor will perform live on the “2012 MTV Video Music Awards” on
Thursday, September 6 at 8:00 p.m. ET/PT from STAPLES Center in Los
Angeles, CA.
On “MTV First: Taylor Swift,” Taylor will personally introduce her
new music video for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” which
with sales of more than 623,000 song downloads in its first week
shattered the previously held singles sales record by a female artist
and became the second-largest download ever, overall. The song is
currently in the #1 position atop Billboard’s all-genre Hot 100 Songs
chart and has reached #1 at iTunes in 32 countries. “We Are Never Ever
Getting Back Together” is the lead single from Taylor’s forthcoming
album, Red, scheduled for release on October 22 on Big Machine Records.
During “MTV First: Taylor Swift,” Taylor Swift will exclusively sit
down with MTV News’ Sway Calloway to introduce her never-before-seen
music video at 7:49 p.m. ET/PT on MTV, CMT and TeenNick. Immediately
following, Taylor will stay on for an additional 15-minute interview on
MTV.com where she will talk about her album, upcoming VMA and VH1
Storytellers performances and much more. At 8:00 p.m. ET, the “We Are
Never Ever Getting Back Together” music video will digitally debut on
MTV.com, VH1.com and CMT.com. Earlier that same night, CMT will go “Red”
at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT for a half-hour special with the superstar, as Swift
joins CMT hosts Katie Cook, Evan Farmer and fans in-studio to discuss
her newest hit single. The special leads up to the live video world
premiere of “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together.” CMT will air the
video every hour during music hours throughout Labor Day weekend.
The following morning, VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live will highlight
the premiere. The video will debut on VH1’s Top 20 Countdown on
Saturday, September 1. As previously announced, VH1 will debut VH1
Storytellers: Taylor Swift on November 11. Taylor’s VH1 Storytellers
acoustic concert this fall is part of a contest for a winning college or
high school. The contest launched last week, and there have been over
730,000 fan votes so far. Contest details can be found at www.taylorswiftoncampus.com.
Taylor worked with director Declan Whitebloom on the video for “We
Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” – he also directed her clips for
“Mean” and “Ours.” The video was shot in one continuous take, with one
camera…..no edits! Taylor wore five different outfits in the course of
the 3:11 video, which is the world’s first-ever true 4K music video and
was shot on the Sony F65 Cinealta Camera. Sony continues to deliver
innovative new technologies for production, delivery and viewing of
video content. Now, as the 4K revolution begins, Sony is driving the
move to higher-resolution with digital imaging, storage, editing,
digital cinema and home products optimized for 4K video.
Lighty, 44, a longtime manager of 50 Cent, Diddy, Ja Rule and Mariah Carey, was arguing with his estranged wife
Chris Lighty, shown here with Sean "Diddy" Combs, was found dead outside his Bronx apartment Thursday.
Hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty killed himself Thursday after a heated
argument with his estranged wife in the Bronx, police sources told the
Daily News.
Lighty — a longtime manager who worked with the likes of 50 Cent, Busta
Rhymes, Diddy, Ja Rule and Mariah Carey — walked away from the argument
after declaring “I’m tired of this,” before shooting himself in the
head behind his South Riverdale home about 11:30 a.m., the sources said.
Cops found Lighty, 44, the founder and chief of Violator Management,
lying faceup on the basement patio in a pool of blood with a 9-mm.
pistol at his side, the sources said.
The shocking suicide followed a wild spat between Lighty and his 36-year-old wife, Veronica, who filed for divorce last year.
Moving trucks were at the home, as the veteran music manager prepared to move out of the three-story townhouse, sources said.
Law enforcement sources said Lighty’s wife of seven years told police
he was facing financial woes that include a $5 million debt to the IRS.
However, The Associated Press reported that Lighty paid off most of what
he owed by selling a Manhattan apartment for $5.6 million in October.
Lighty still owed more than $330,000 in state and federal taxes, the AP
reported. And in April, he was sued by City National Bank for not
paying them after he had overdrawn his account by $53,584.
His 17-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son were in the W. 232nd St.
home and left when the argument erupted. They were in a park nearby when
Lighty, H who has three other children, stepped outside and pulled the
trigger, sources said.
“It’s just devastating,” said Dan Charnas, author of “The Big Payback:
The History of the Business of Hip-Hop” who featured Lighty in the final
chapters of his book. “He was the personification of hip hop’s growth
into the world.”
Charnas recalled how the kid from the Bronx River Houses evolved into a successful businessman.
“He wasn’t on the straight and narrow,” the writer said, but “learned
to restrain whatever demons he had. Maybe in the end his circumstances
weakened his restraints.” Lighty — who was reportedly worth an estimated
$30 million — helped launch the careers of several artists, including
brokering a multimillion-dollar deal for 50 Cent.
Lighty pushed the Queens rapper to sign a deal with Glaceau Energy
Brands when they unveiled their new product, Vitamin Water, in 2004.
The “In Da Club” rapper joined the campaign team, appearing in several ads for about three years.
When Coca-Cola bought Glaceau for $4.1 billion, 50 Cent cashed out his
10% stake in the company — which reportedly earned the rapper between
$60 million and $100 million.
Craig Warga/New York Daily News
Hip-hop mogul Chris Lighty was found dead outside his Bronx apartment Thursday.
Rumors swirled recently that the pair had a falling out, but Lighty took to his blog to clear the air.
In his final blog post on his website, ChrisLighty.com, he wrote that
he was “BUSY TRYING TO STAY AHEAD OF THE RAT RACE WE CALL HIP HOP.”
Lighty said allegations that he and his brother were attacked by a member of 50 Cent’s crew were simply ridiculous.
The June 23 post, titled “chaos and mayhem . . . hip hop,” continued
with an eerie message, apparently aimed at twisted stories involving his
clients.
“YOU HAVE SEEN THE SENSELESS LOSSES THAT WE HAVE HAD IN HIP HOP ... THE CHAOS AND MAYHEM WILL DESTROY HIP HOP.”
Lighty, who was born Darrel Lighty, was raised with five siblings by a
single mother in the projects. He had his big break in the late 1980s,
when Russell Simmons offered him a gig to work for his management
company.
His career quickly catapulted after Lighty founded Violator
Management, which merged last year with Primary Wave Talent Management
to create Primary Violator.
In 2008, he was named one of Crain’s 40 under 40.
“When you’re growing up in the Reagan era, you really learn the value
of a food stamp — and you never want to go back there,” he told Crain’s.
“On the entrepreneurial side, this is one of the biggest losses in hip
hop,” said Datwon Thomas, executive editor of Vibe magazine.
Lighty had one arrest on his record, a pinch for weapons possession, a law enforcement source said.
As news of his sudden death spread Thursday, some of the industry’s
brightest stars took to Twitter to share their condolences.
“In shock,” tweeted Sean (Diddy) Combs. “R.I.P. Chris Lighty.”
“Rest peacefully Chris Lighty, my prayers go out to family and loved
ones! Dear God please have mercy,” tweeted songstress Rihanna.
“R.I.P. CHRIS LIGHTY THE MAN THAT SAVED MY LIFE,” Bronx rapper Fat Joe
posted on Twitter. “I Would Be Nothing Without YOU!!! My Kids
Appreciate YOU God Bless Chris Lighty.”
Nick Cannon posted: “I’m devastated right now. I can’t believe my big
brother Chris Lighty is gone . . . He was a pioneer, a mentor, and a
great friend.”
Outside Lighty’s home, some stars showed up to help finish removing boxes Lighty was packing to take away from the house.
Deejay Funkmaster Flex and rapper Busta Rhymes were seen outside helping load two UHaul trucks parked on the street.
“I am utterly, utterly devastated,” said hip-hop activist Harry Allen.
“It feels unfair to us. He was our wealth. Chris was like the fruition
of all that could be. He was loved.”
Mitt Romney, in his speech accepting the Republican nomination for
president, blames the plodding economic recovery on Obama's government
background and says 'today the time has come to turn the page.
TAMPA, Fla. — Presenting
himself as a turnaround artist for economically troubled times, Mitt
Romney accepted his party's presidential nomination Thursday night with a
forceful promise to lead America to renewed prosperity after years of
dashed expectations.
The Republican challenger, standing before a
packed arena in the swing state of Florida, repeatedly invoked President
Obama's 2008 slogan of hope and change, saying that his November
opponent had instead delivered disappointment and division.
"How
many days have you woken up feeling that something really special was
happening in America? Many of you felt that way on election day four
years ago," Romney said in remarks that were directed beyond the hall to
millions watching on television. "But tonight I'd ask a simple
question: If you felt that excitement when you voted for Barack Obama,
shouldn't you feel that way now that he's President Obama?
"You know there's something
wrong with the kind of job he's done as president," Romney said, "when
the best feeling you had was the day you voted for him."
In a rare
unscripted moment before Romney spoke, a rambling Clint Eastwood, 82,
opened the prime-time hour with an extemporaneous appearance in which he
spoke to an empty chair he presented as Obama. After 15 of the oddest
minutes of the convention, the actor yielded the stage to Marco Rubio,
who introduced Romney.
Romney's focus, like that of the nation's
voters, was almost exclusively on the stubbornly sluggish economic
recovery. He blamed it on Obama's background in government, contrasting
that with his own deep business experience.
"He took office
without the basic qualification that most Americans have and one that
was essential to his task," the 65-year-old nominee said. "Jobs to him
are about government."
He condemned Obama as a failed president, linking him to the last one-term Democrat, Jimmy Carter.
"This
president can ask us to be patient. This president can tell us it was
someone else's fault. This president can tell us that the next four
years he'll get it right. But this president cannot tell us that you are
better off today than when he took office," he said, borrowing Ronald
Reagan's famous line against Carter in the 1980 campaign. "Americans
have supported this president in good faith. But today the time has come
to turn the page."
He mocked what he described as the incumbent's lofty aims to "slow the rise of the oceans and to heal the planet."
Then, after a dramatic pause, he pointedly stated: "My promise is to help you and your family."
During
a 38-minute speech that was more prosaic than poetic and included
considerable autobiographical detail, Romney sought to push back against
millions of dollars in ads run against him by Obama and Democrats that
cast him as a ruthless, corner-cutting corporate chieftain.
He
also tried to play against the notion that, as a child of privilege, he
could not relate to struggling Americans. He said that as a young man he
was determined to strike out on his own, rather than remaining in the
state where his father was an automobile executive and popular governor:
"I wanted to go someplace new and prove myself."
Obama, who
inherited the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, got no
reprieve inside the convention hall. To the contrary, one speaker after
another said the president had to stop blaming his predecessor,
President George W. Bush, for the country's disappointing job growth.
"You
were dealt a tough hand, but your policies have not worked," said
former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, not just vouching for his party
standard-bearer but also defending his older brother. "A real leader
would accept responsibility for his actions, and you haven't done it."
Romney's
speech — the prime-time finale to a storm-shortened Republican National
Convention — amounted to the biggest sales pitch of his life, serving
several purposes.
Citing his work in the private sector, where he
earned a fortune buying and selling companies, he pledged to pull the
country from its economic doldrums and create millions of jobs by
expanding domestic energy development, increasing overseas trade and
slashing the size and spending of the federal government.
Romney
praised the killing of Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden but accused Obama
of conducting a weak and vacillating foreign policy. Referring to
Obama's comment, captured on an open microphone, that he would have more
flexibility to deal with Russia and its leader, Vladimir Putin, in a
second term, Romney drew a roar when he vowed, "Under my administration,
our friends will see more loyalty and Mr. Putin will see a little less
flexibility and more backbone."
He also threw applause lines at
the partisan convention audience by invoking familiar Republican
orthodoxy on cutting taxes, reducing regulations, opposing abortion and
same-sex marriage.
The first Mormon presidential nominee from a
major party, Romney opened up about his faith, describing his joy in
helping fellow congregants. He leavened it at one point with humor,
saying that he had refused to risk losing his fellow worshipers' savings
during his uncertain early days in business. "I didn't want to go to
hell too," he said. (But, he added, Episcopalians who had invested made
out well.)
Tonight is the blue moon — which isn’t blue, of course, unless you happen to be near a volcano.
It
was actually a mistake by an amateur astronomer in Sky & Telescope
magazine in 1946 that led to our current definition of “blue moon” as
the unusual second full moon in a month.
The term “blue moon” goes
back hundreds of years, but it had a different meaning then of
“impossible” or “absurd.” The term later morphed into a reference for
something uncommon or that rarely occurred.
There are normally
three full moons in each of the four seasons, for a total of 12 per
year. In the early 1930s, the Maine Farmers’ Almanac (unrelated to the
Old Farmer’s) named the third full moon in a season that had an extra
fourth full moon a blue moon. It’s unclear where the “blue” part came
from, but it’s possible it refers to that earlier meaning — an event
that rarely happens.
Then, in the March 1946 issue of Sky &
Telescope magazine, American amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett wrote
an article titled “Once in a Blue Moon.” He either misread the Maine
almanac’s definition or interpreted the meaning of “blue moon”
differently, calling it the second full moon in a month. Sky and
Telescope later adopted Pruett’s definition.
The blue moon
snowballed into popular culture when Deborah Byrd, host of National
Public Radio’s Star Date program, used Pruett’s definition during a
broadcast on Jan. 31, 1980. Word got around and now you know the rest of
the story.
Fascinating, isn’t it, that the current blue moon
definition is based on one person’s (mis)interpretation of an earlier
definition? Makes you wonder what other accepted “facts” are based on
odd turns of events and errors in interpretation.
I personally
like the modern definition. It still catches the gist of the old almanac
sense in a way that’s easy to remember. The next blue moon for North
America will be in July 2015. Even better, there will be two blue moons
in 2018 — one in January and one in March, with no full moon at all in
February. The last time that happened was in 1999.
Now, if you’re near a volcano …
Volcanic
ash and forest fires can turn the moon blue. The secret? It’s the ash.
If all the ash particles are about 1 micron in size (the period at the
end of this sentence is 600 microns across), they efficiently scatter
away all the warm colors in moonlight, leaving a pale blue orb.
I’ve
never seen the phenomenon, but much of the planet saw blue moons for
months after the eruption of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa in 1883.
Ditto for Mount St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991. If you
live in western U.S. where forest fires have been rife this summer,
perhaps you’ve seen one too many blue moons.
Most of us will never
get to see a real blue moon, but the calendar version will shine in
Pisces tonight. We normally get one full moon a month, but every 2½
years there’s room for another to squeeze in.
That’s because the
time between full moons is 29.5 days, while most months are 30 or 31
days. Because the first full moon of August was on the 1st, there’s
enough time left in the month to make room for a second one on the 31st.
If the moon were always full at the beginning of each 30 or 31-day
month, we’d get 11 blue moons a year. Now, wouldn’t that be nice. That
doesn’t happen because the moon’s not in sync with the calendar — it
marches to its own 29.5-day rhythm.
Full moons have acquired a
variety of names handed down from past generations. We get our moon
names from the various American Indian tribes as well as the early
colonists. Two common monikers for the August full moon are the sturgeon
and red moons. The first refers to August being a great time to catch
sturgeon and the second to the color of the moon when it rises during
the hazy summer months. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the first
full moon of August was the sturgeon and the second, the red moon. It’s
a fun coincidence that this month’s red moon is also blue.
I’m looking forward to a fine moonlit walk tonight, and I wish you the same.
New Delhi: Friday's doodle on the
Google home page honours Maria Montessori on her 142nd birth
anniversary. Montessori was an Italian physician and educationalist best
known for developing the Montessori educational system.
Montessori education is practised in thousands of schools around
the world. The Google doodle marking her birthday depicts the Google
logo in the form of educational tools common in Montessori schools. The
Montessori system of education tries to uncover a child's creative
potential and gives emphasis on independence.
Born on August 31, 1870, Maria Montessori was the first Italian
woman to get a degree in medicine. She graduated from the University of
Rome in 1896.
Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
In 1907 she opened her first preschool for children and her success
led to the opening of other Montessori schools. She travelled to
different countries, including India, to disseminate her educational
system. Maria Montessori was in India from 1939 to 1946.
On May 6, 1952, Montessori died of a cerebral haemorrhage in the Netherlands. She was 81.
Remember all the unresolved plot questions and character issues that Axel Foley fans were left with at the end of the last Beverly Hills Cop movie 18 years ago?
Neither do we, but Eddie Murphy
believes audiences are hungry for more of his signature character. Much
more, as it’s been announced that he is developing a TV series that
would pick up the maverick detective’s story. And the networks may
agree, since several of them are entertaining Murphy’s pitch this week.
According to Vulture, the Beverly Hills Cop
TV series would actually focus primarily on Axel’s grown son. Murphy
would appear as Axel in just the pilot and possibly in occasional guest
spots.
Sound like a winner? Hard to say; the history of primetime TV is full
of hit-or-miss efforts to replicate big-screen success on the small
screen.
What makes a successful movie-to-TV adaptation?
Some of the best film-to-TV series are the ones that are least faithful to their source.
NBC’s current drama Parenthood dropped everything from the 1989 Ron Howard comedy feature except the title and the premise of a multi-generational family dealing with everyday obstacles. Buffy the Vampire Slayer was a much darker and richer version of the 1992 horror spoof. And M*A*S*H, having turned Robert Altman’s
scabrous satire into a workplace comedy that happened to take place in a
war zone, lasted 11 seasons and was remains one of the most beloved
shows of all time.
So it may actually be a good sign that Murphy plans to take Axel
Foley’s story in a new direction. Also a good sign: he’s working with Shawn Ryan, creator of acclaimed, hard-boiled police drama The Shield. Whatever Murphy and Ryan’s cops end up doing, it won’t be by the book.
Click on the gallery at the top of this article and see if you think Beverly Hills Cop will join the list of best film-to-TV transfers, or the worst.
By the way, Beverly Hills Cop isn’t the only long-dormant movie franchise whose TV version made headlines this week. According to the Hollywood Reporter, A&E is developing a Psycho prequel, starring Vera Farmiga as Freudian nightmare mom Norma Bates. (Cue strings: Skree! Skree! Skree! Skree! Skree! Skree!)
Update: Dedication 4 arrives on September 3rd at 12pm via BreadOverBed.
That's the big question of the day. Lil Wayne was expected to drop his latest mixtape Dedication 4 on August 30 (which he previously delayed
in an an effort to support 2 Chainz's anticipated debut) but things
have been quiet from the YMCMB camp today, with no word from Weezy on
when the project will arrive exactly.
Fans were up and waiting at 12am on Thursday to see if the Miami
resident would unleash his new tape at midnight, but no such luck. They
turned to DJ Drama, who hosts D4 for answers, but he only had a tidbit to offer via a retweet. "RT @dshears: @DJDRAMA sooooo... Is it worth stayin up tonight?
That signaled to fans that it would be at least a few hours until Dedication 4
would be released, and while many speculated on Twitter that it would
arrive by 3p.m., there's only been radio silence. Even the tape's
landing page at DatPiff still reads, "Dedication 4 is currently unavailable."
Fans have been taking some of their anger out on DJ Drama via Twitter in the meantime.
His girlfriend Holly Madison has just announced she is pregnant with her first baby. But it has now emerged that the baby's father Pasquale Rotella is facing up to 13 years in prison on charges of bribery and embezzlement. Rotella, a party promoter and CEO of Insomniac Events, was indicted back in April for allegedly
'channelling $2.5 million from an event venue to city officials in the
form of personal payments,' according to multiple sources.
Parents-to-be: Holly is expecting her baby with
her events promoter boyfriend Pasquale Rotella who is facing prison on
bribery and embezzlement chargesAt the time of the indictment, Spin reported
that Rotella, 38, is one of six individuals charged in a corruption
case concerning Los Angeles' historic stadium, the Coliseum.
According
to court documents submitted by L.A. District Attorney Steve Cooley,
more than $2.5 million of Coliseum money was 'rerouted to the personal
accounts of Coliseum Events Manager Todd DeStefano and General Manager
Patrick Lynch via back-room deals.' Rotella
and his alleged co-conspirators have been charged on 29 counts of
bribery, embezzlement, conspiracy and conflict of interest. He
was released on $1.2 million bail, but faces 13 years and eight months
in jail if found guilty, and is due back in court on September 25.
In this day and age, physical photo albums are all but extinct. Most of
us never print photos, and many of our memories lie in the digital-only
depths of Facebook, Flickr and Instagram. But who says they have to stay
there forever? A new Web service from HP's Snapfish called SocialPics prints your Facebook Timeline as a physical photo album.
Of course, you might not want an album covering your entire Facebook
history, and SocialPics knows that. The service lets you choose a
specific time span for your album, so you can create an album full of
photos for a specific event, a specific year in your life, and so on.
After you set your time span for the album, the Web service slowly loads
the relevant photos and status updates and presents them in what would
be the album's layout.
At this point, you can delete things, move things around, reframe your
images inside their allotted spaces, swap elements you don't like, and
choose different styles and color schemes. The album not only includes
photos, but also important status updates and comments you made during
your chosen time period. It also includes a random collection of your
friends' profile pictures in the mix; if there's someone you don't want
on there, you can delete that photo/person and have it replaced with
another.
Compiling the digital layout is free: You can see what SocialPics comes up with by clicking the "Start your book" button on the SocialPics home page
and logging into your Facebook account. When you're done editing,
you'll have a 20-page, 8-inch-by-8-inch album, which you can print and
keep forevermore.
Before shipping charges are applied, a soft-cover version of your
customized album will cost you $19.99, while a hard-cover version will
cost $28.99. That's undoubtedly more expensive than uploading an album
to Facebook, but it could make a great gift for loved ones or simply
serve as an original way to enjoy your own photos.
The only real downside is the minimum length of the album. With 20 pages
to fill, I ended up with lots of empty spaces when I tried to use a
specific time span. To fill up the space, I ended up with a jumble of
five years in one album. That said, I'm a very light Facebook user.
With hundreds of users logging in every day, one’s Facebook profile has become equivalent to their identity.
Every now and then, Facebook tweaks its design for a refreshing
change. The latest modification, however, has been a lot more than just a
tweak.
This time round, Facebook has completely transformed
its display with the new concept of an online ‘Timeline’ with pictures,
videos and posts updated chronologically. The striking feature about
the new look is the amount of visual display open to public scrutiny.
The most eye-catching feature, however, is the first item you see on a
friend’s profile, the enlarged and all-important — cover photo.
Since
cover photos, unlike profile pictures, need not necessarily include
one’s face, Facebook users have the freedom to get as creative as they
like, while choosing them. Chaarvi Badani, who spends a considerable amount of time on the social networking site, is all for cover photos.
“Mark
(Zuckerberg) has done brilliantly by introducing the cover photo
concept,” says the chatty eighteen-year-old. “I think cover photos are a
great way to express my current mindset,” she explains.
“Like,
I put up a ‘Metallica’ picture if I want to go for a music concert or a
caricature of Gene Kelly singing in the rain if the weather is
favourable.” However, Chaarvi admits that she never puts a cover photo
of herself, because that’s what the profile picture is there for.
“I
only put a cover photo that portrays my mood,” she says. Her final
verdict? “Cover photos, for the win!” she exclaims. Seventeen-year-old
Sharvari, likes her cover photos to represent the kind of relationship
she shares with her friends. “I do put pictures of myself, but only
in a group of friends,” she says, explaining that she doesn’t like the
publicity cover photos receive.
“There are privacy settings
to customise who can see what for almost all Facebook features, except
the cover photo!” she disapproves, highlighting her love-hate
relationship with the new feature. “However, I’ve seen some really
creative, attention-grabbing cover pictures, which make you want to see
more about the person’s profile,” she says, describing how some of her
friends edit their cover photos on Photoshop to give an echoing effect
to their profile pictures.
“The most interesting are the ones
which are coordinated with the person’s profile pictures,” she says,
adding that the two images form a short story about the person’s
profile. On the other hand, there are those that don’t pay any
particular attention to their cover photos. Varun Patravali confesses
that he usually doesn’t bother himself with cover photos, but a few
months ago, he was inspired to put one up.
“It was Ayrton
Senna’s 18th death anniversary in May,” he begins. “He’s probably the
one person who is a complete inspiration to me so I felt the need to put
a picture of him as my cover picture,” he recalls.
Varun is
quick to add that this was an exceptional case. “It was just this one
time,” he clarifies, “other times, it’s not so important to choose a
cover picture.” Being the first thing that appears when you access a
friend’s profile, the cover photo nearly becomes a representation of what to expect from one’s profile.
Moreover,
sitting so close to the person’s profile picture, the cover photo,
along with the profile picture exposes the online personality of the
user. This creates a sort of ‘virtual first impression,’ to which people
pay much attention.
New earthquake hits Orange County Wednesday afternoon
Earthquake swarms continued Wednesday in Imperial County as the city of Brawley declared an emergency to deal with the damage.
The swarm that began Sunday morning showed signs of slowing down
Wednesday, with fewer quakes reported by the U.S. Geological Survey than
on recent days. The magnitude of the quakes is also declining.
There was scattered damage around Brawley, but officials have not yet
compiled a full estimate of the costs. The Brawley City Council on
Tuesday declared a local emergency, according to the Imperial Valley Press. Earthquake swarm damages Imperial County buildings
More than 400 earthquakes greater than
magnitude 1.0 have been recorded in Imperial County since Saturday evening,
said U.S. Geological Survey geophysicist Elizabeth Cochran. The largest were a
5.3 and a 5.5 about midday Sunday.
Scientists say the reason is not fully
understood, but there is a clue: Earthquake faults work much differently
south of the Salton Sea than they do closer to Los Angeles.
Take, for instance, the San
Andreas fault as it runs through Los Angeles County. It’s a fault where,
generally speaking, two plates of the Earth’s crust are grinding past each
other. The Pacific plate is moving to the northwest, while the North
American plate is pushing to the southeast.
South of the Salton Sea, the
fault dynamic changes. The Pacific and North American plates start to pull away
from each other, Cochran told The Times from her Pasadena office. (That
movement is what created the Gulf of California, which separates Baja
California from the rest of Mexico.)
So Imperial County is caught
between these two types of faults in what is called the “Brawley Seismic Zone,”
which can lead to an earthquake swarm, Cochran said.
The last major swarm
was in 2005, Cochran said, when the largest magnitude was a 5.1. The largest
swarm before last weekend's occurred in 1981, when the biggest quake topped out at 5.8. Before that,
there were swarms in the 1960s and 1970s.
Brawley school officials told the Imperial Valley Press that Palmer
Auditorium, a performance facility it manages with a local arts group,
has been shut down after an inspection.
“We were told by engineers it needs to be shut down because there were huge structural
damages,” school Supt. Hasmik Danielian told the paper.
Crews would have a better idea of the total
damage caused by the quakes in the coming days, said Maria Peinado, a
spokeswoman for the Imperial County Public Health Department, but so far
the list of affected structures includes about 20 mobile homes shifted
from their foundations.
The earthquakes also caused "cosmetic" damage to at least three
buildings dating to the 1930s in downtown Brawley, said Capt. Jesse
Zendejas of the Brawley Fire Department.
A few displaced residents spent Sunday night at an American Red Cross
shelter at the Imperial Valley College gymnasium, Peinado said.
GARY, Ind. — The scene outside the childhood home of Michael Jackson
resembled a party as fans joined members of the pop star's family for a
vigil Wednesday, which would have been his 54th birthday.
Fans danced to Jackson's music prior to the arrival of his children
and mother at the house at 2300 Jackson St., where the King of Pop, his
siblings and their parents lived until 1969. In the days after Jackson's
death in 2009, the singer's admirers piled stuffed animals, flowers and
photos outside the tiny home in Gary.
Among those at the Wednesday night vigil was Andrei Tejada,
32, a Chicago veterinary technician student who said she was pleased
that Jackson's relatives were attending the event.
"They still remember where they started, and it shows they appreciate
where they started. It's a humbling experience to know they are here,"
said Tejada, who said she visits the Jackson childhood home once a
month.
Other events planned by the family in Gary include a dinner Friday and a concert Saturday.
Before the vigil, Jackson's children, 14-year-old Paris and
15-year-old Prince Michael, were given blue "Team Gary" T-shirts by Gary
Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson as they posed for pictures at a casino
overlooking Lake Michigan.
"We just want you to know how much he meant to us and the city of Gary," the mayor said.
Paris and Prince Michael didn't speak during the brief presentation.
Later, in the moments before the vigil was to start, the two, joined by
Jackson's other child, Prince Michael II, signed autographs outside the
Jackson home. A large crowd formed around them, with fans shoving books
and posters in the teens' faces.
Jackson's sister LaToya told the crowd the family's musical fame
started in the city, east of Chicago, and in "this little house." After
saying, "We all love you, Michael," LaToya folded her hands and looked
to the sky.
Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition leader the Rev. Jesse Jackson showed up at the tribute,
stopping in the crowd before the vigil to pose for a photo with a
Michael Jackson impersonator.
Jackson later said he thanked God for Michael Jackson and led the crowd in chanting, "Long live Michael!"
Michael Jackson spent the first 11 years of his life in Gary. The
family moved out of the city known for its steel mills after the Jackson
5 struck it big in 1969 with the release of their first album.
Aside from two concerts the Jackson 5 played at West Side High School
in 1971, the only time the singer returned to his hometown was in 2003,
when plans for a Michael Jackson Performing Arts Center in the city's
downtown were announced. It was never built.
"Gary, you are family, you always will be, I love you," Jackson said at the time.
Last week, a Los Angeles judge appointed the pop star's nephew, TJ
Jackson, to share guardianship responsibilities for the late singer's
three children with family matriarch Katherine Jackson. TJ Jackson was
appointed a temporary guardian last month when Katherine Jackson was
incommunicado during a stay at an Arizona spa with relatives.
Other family members have said Katherine Jackson was being improperly
influenced regarding custody arrangements for the children, but her
attorney disputed those claims.
U.S. House candidate Mia Love's prepared remarks yesterday at the
Republican National Convention were only 298 words (though there was an
intro video beforehand), but they were enough to set the media abuzz and
label her a rising superstar.
Townhall spoke with Love less than 24 hours after her primetime debut,
but the candidate seemed relatively unaffected by the media demand that
followed her speech.
"I wasn't focused on what the response was going to be from the media,"
Love said, when asked if she had anticipated the aftermath of her
remarks. "I wanted to get a message out. That message comes from Utah,
comes from the 4th district, talks about the America we know, in the
past, where we are, where we're going in the future, and if we don't
change anything, we're going to end up with an America that we don't
recognize."
The responses, Love said, were voluminous, especially from Utah. She called yesterday "a good rallying day."
But the biggest measure may be in fundraising. Love couldn't speak to
the precise figure, but she knew the campaign had raised over $100,000
dollars, though it's unclear if that entire amount was post-speech. Her
site had a money bomb where the figures keep getting crossed out as a
higher goal takes their place. This afternoon, the goal was up to
$100,000. By early evening, the goal increased to $150,000. The litany
of crossed-out figures from the site tell the tale: "This "Love Bomb" is
about bringing supporters together to make a big difference in this
race by raising $50,000$65,000$75,000$100,000$125,000$150,000 for Mia."
"We've received a flood of support since her speech," the website says,
while also noting that Love's Democrat opponent Rep. Jim Matheson had
previously been outspending her 10 to 1.
In modern-day politics, however, Love has to contend with not only a
strong opponent and the RNC media blitz, but with classless attacks such
as the Wikipedia entry which labeled her a name too impolite to repeat.
When asked in general if she gets frustrated about having to deal with
the "war on women" narrative and the race-baiting narratives, Love said
she thinks people are concerned about the debt, jobs, the future, and
"those things are not prejudice."
"So we want to make sure that we're focusing on the issues," she says.
"We'll always turn it back and talk about those things. I think that
divisiveness is not a good thing."
Guardsmen distribute life vests near Braithwaite, La., as they prepare
to help flood victims from Plaquemines Parish, a rural area outside New
Orleans that was flooded during Hurricane Isaac on Wednesday, Aug. 29,
2012.
BELLE
CHASSE, La. (AP) — Ever since the Mississippi River laid down this spit
of silt and swamp grass, wind and water have conspired to drag it into
the sea. And for almost as long, the oystermen, river pilots and others
who call it home have refused to let go.
But
in Isaac, the residents of Plaquemines Parish are battling an adversary
some fear they may have underestimated, even as it weakens to a
tropical storm.
"We've never seen it this bad — the way this wind is shifting," said Alvin Sylve,
a 52-year-old disabled truck driver, preparing to evacuate from a
street of double- and single-wide trailers in Jesuit Bend, an area of
Plaquemines outside the federal levee system.
"This
double-wide is shaking, even though it's anchored down. You see another
piece came off the roof," he said inside a friend's trailer. "It's
falling apart!"
As
water spilled over the top of a critical levee Wednesday, this thinly
populated parish south of New Orleans was already inundated by Isaac's
punishing downpour, stranding some residents in their homes and forcing
more to flee.
"We didn't think it was going to be like that," electrician Joshua Brockhaus
said after rescuing flood-stranded neighbors in his boat. "The storm
stayed over the top of us. For Katrina, we got 8 inches of water. Now we
have 13 feet."
Officials
braced for the worse and said they would cut a hole in a levee in the
parish to relieve pressure on the structure, though they did not say
when. They also had to wait for the winds to calm before they could
begin search-and-rescue efforts.
"We're
going to get out there to them. We're going to do everything we can to
get them out of there. But we're not going to put further people in
harm's way," said Col. Mike Edmonson, superintendent of the Louisiana State Police.
The Louisiana National Guard
brought in 14 high-water vehicles and 10 boats, and as many as 70
people were rescued from homes with water up to their roofs in some
places. Officials believed no one else was stranded.
Parish President Billy Nungesser
said a portion of the roof of his home on the parish's west bank had
blown off. He described wind-driven rain coming into his home as "like
standing in a light socket with a fire hose turned on."
Officials
worried about the storm surge also ordered a mandatory evacuation for
the west bank of the Mississippi River below Belle Chasse, the community
that is home to the largest share of the parish's nearly 24,000
residents. The order affected about 3,000 people, including a nursing
home with 112 residents. Officials said the evacuation was ordered out
of concern that more storm surge from Isaac would be pushed into the
area and more levees might be overtopped.
Plaquemines,
a mostly rural fishing and farming community threaded by the
Mississippi and known for its rough and tumble residents, is proud of
its ability to withstand and recover after hurricanes. But it has always
been a tenuous struggle on this perilously exposed ribbon of earth, a
place nearly entirely below sea level. It's as much water as it is land.
The
water that washes through it and around it supplies Plaquemines with
much of its livelihood, with the protection of the mostly local levees
to keep the tides at bay. It makes for surreal sights and sounds. When
the river is high, drivers on the highways can be startled by huge ships
that appear to be floating above them across the levee. Clusters of
homes, some on stilts, old plantation homes, marinas and oilfield
businesses dot the roads as the sliver strip of mostly marshy land
between the Gulf and the river narrows.
But
Plaquemines' location is also its weakness, jutting out into the Gulf
of Mexico in a way that has invited punishment by the ravages of Katrina
and the Gulf oil spill. Now, it is Isaac's turn.
When this highly-anticipated episode started, I will not pretty little lie to you, I was not happy. We see the
ambulance that has been teased since last week, Hanna sobbing, Emily
befuddled and it's clear -- this mid-Season 3 finale will start at the
end. "It's weak. Been done, Marlene," adds my sister, who I watched the episode with separately from my mom.
But we cried "LAME" too quickly because let me tell you, I was white
knuckled and shouting at my TV throughout the latter half of this truly
frightening mid-season finale.
After the theme song, the show picks up two days earlier at the PHH
(Parentless Hastings House), where Spencer, Aria and Hanna are watching
the news. Garrett's case is about to start and Mariska pops up on the
screen. "I'll bet that's all we will see of Vicki Hastings -- that guest
appearance on the news," my mom says, a champion of Mariska. "Are they
not even showing her???" my sister asks at the same point. (Note to
Marlene: More Mariska.)
The three fourths of the little liars are waiting for Emily, who they
lied to (fittingly), telling her they want to apologize. Instead,
however, they want to get her the hell away from Paige. Spencer says
that by drugging herself, Paige pulled a classic Sharon Stone move from
"Basic Instinct" -- a reference neither Hanna nor Aria nor the majority
of the viewers, who were born after 1990, understand. (Sidebar: There
are ponies on Spencer's dress and Aria's wearing pleather from a very
blue future. "Spencer's dress. We get it. You're WASP-y," my sister
says, before catching Aria's ensemble. "Straight outta the 'Zenon'
wardrobe closet," she adds of Aria, the Supernova Girl.)
Outfits aside, Emily arrives at Spencer's and quickly realizes she is
not getting an apology from her three best friends. Aria says she's
sorry for lying to her to lure her there, but not for saying what she
thinks about Paige. Em thinks they're out of their "friggin' minds,"
because apparently she's been spending a lot of time in Jersey (a theme
of this episode). To convince her about Paige, Hanna, Aria and Spencer
show her the earring, but Emily thinks A planted it there and storms
out. That went well.
Apparently, the conversation pissed Emily off so much that she didn't
go to Rosewood High. "YOU ALL DITCH SCHOOL EVERY DAY," my sister
scream-types of this normal occurrence Hanna observes. It's hard to see
how Hanna realized anything in the midst of pulling down her way-too-short
autumnal striped dress. "Hanna's dress looks like a shirt," my mom
says. "Oh look, she put on a jacket, but she needs leggings."
Hanna tells Aria in the Courtyard Class -- the only one anybody at
Rosewood High attends -- that Em is M.I.A., but Aria really doesn't GAF
(that's "give a f---" for all you viewers born before 1990, i.e. you,
Mom) about Emily apparently. Aria tells Hanna about Maggie and the
blackmail and the fauxbortion and Ezra's son. Hanna thinks she needs to
come clean to Ezra, a suggestion Aria isn't too fond of.
"I like that they can finally say 'abortion' now that we know that
Maggie didn't have one," my sister says. "Before it was, 'Took care of
it.'" After commending her political observation, she adds, "I'm SUPER
political. My comments right now actually all pertain to the RNC.
They're applicable to both." (She was DVR-ing both, I'd imagine.)
In the empty halls of Rosewood High, Spencer and Paige are at their
lockers, which have been just a few lockers apart from each other this
whole time apparently. Spencer confronts Paige, who just wants them to
leave a very distraught Emily alone. She's also wearing a hairstyle
similar to Emily's -- I guess they braided each other's hair. Spence
tells Paige, "If you think I'm going to let you hurt her, you're
underestimating me." But the accused retorts: "If you don't back down,
you're the one that's gonna get hurt, Spencer." It's more of an attempt
by the writers to lead us astray (I assume) that Paige is A, or at least
part of the A team. But I'm not buying it.
The confrontation led Paige to visit Emily at home. Em says she's
frustrated with her friends and without them to turn to anymore, she
tells Paige that someone else helping Mona, a "new A." "Emily may be
angry, but she's not stupid," my sister says. "She wouldn't tell Paige
all of that."
Well, she did and Paige puts two and two together and realizes that
Spencer, Aria and Hanna think she's A and just like that, Paige gets a
text:
"10 PM Saturday. Rosewood Cemetery [Paige's finger cover's a few words] hurt. -A"
She lies to Em and says she has some family stuff to tend to and my
mom and I think this means that she's already been receiving texts from A
-- otherwise, wouldn't she be incredibly frightened to receive an
anonymous threatening text?
Back at school, Hanna tells Aria and Spencer that Paige went home
from school (in failed Spanish). Aria and Spencer want to tell the
police, or at least Em's parents, but Hanna's not on board at first.
Eventually, she gives in and just then, they get a text at the same
time:
"Stand down, bitches. Play my way and Emily stays safe. -A"
MonA, dressed like a not-so-sexy nurse with ruffled socks and
mary-jane flats, escapes from Radley ... way too easily. I had very
similar socks in nursery school. "I had them with beads," my sister
confirms. "I think we would buy them at the flea market."
After school, Aria, Spencer and Hanna are at the Marin household
analyzing the text and suddenly, Spencer gets an email on her iPad --
it's from A.
"Let's settle this. 10 pm Alison's grave. Bring Maya's bag. -A"
There are also photos of Spencer, Aria and Hanna from the night Ali's
grave was dug up and another photo of a body bag with the text: "Tell
Emily and I'll leaving you holding the bag."
They think there's something in Maya's bag that proves Paige killed
Maya. Soon, Caleb arrives and they tell him about the email. Always the
hero, he says he's not letting them go alone.
The next day, over at The Brew, Hanna calls Emily from her
co-worker's phone to get Em to answer. Emily tells them that she's going
with Nate and his parents to the Lighthouse Rock Inn to get away from
everything. Emily's mom doesn't seem to keen on the idea, offering to
join, but Em's pretty insistent on being with "Maya's family" with
everything going on. My sister is worried about Emily too. "Why would it
ever seem safe for her to go with Nate after all of his freakouts? 'I
know you see me, gurl!'"
Spencer gets up from the table at The Brew and wanders over to a sign
for a Halloween party (Do I see another October episode in our
futures?) and suddenly, in the reflection of the window the sign is
hanging in, she sees Toby.
They run into each others' arms in slow motion and Spencer apologizes
for keeping secrets. He tells her she never has to say she's sorry.
"That is soooooo 'Love Story,'" my mom says. "'Love means never having
to say you're sorry.'" Another reference I'm sure most of the "Pretty
Little Liars" audience grasped.
Anyway, Spencer and Toby are pretty nauseating because it's Spencer
and Toby a.k.a. Spoby a.k.a. the worst and also, the camera is spinning
in a 360 degree angle around them. "Oy. I'm getting nauseous," my mom
agrees.
Over at Ezra's, Aria is internally debating whether or not to tell
him about Alex Mack when there's a knock at the door. Aria gets it and
guess who it is: Alex Mack (not wearing a hat and without Ray). She's
shocked to see Aria, but figures there's a reason Aria lied so she plays
along and pretends to be meeting her for the first time. "Maggie/Alex
Mack is depressing," my mom says. "Her outfit is sooo Chicos." (Note:
This may be in the running for my favorite mom comment ever.) "Is that a
necklace or is it a fancy cord for her work ID? Either way, its ugly,"
she adds.
There's someone at the door again and it's Mrs. Rosenthal, Ezra's
neighbor. While he smells the bunt cake she made for him, Alex and Aria
talk. "I hate when people stick their noses in food to smell it," my mom
says as Alex begs Aria not to tell about the non-abortion. "There's
more to this story than you know," Alex tells her. Since they know each
others' secrets -- or at least, part of them -- Aria agrees to stay
tight lipped.
At Hanna's, Caleb is also wearing a grey hoodie like Ezra --
apparently there's a day devoted to them in Rosewood -- and trying to
hide a gun, but Hanna sees. She begs him not to take it and he agrees, hiding it in her drawer.
In some shady gas station-looking bathroom that Britney Spears
probably wouldn't have gone into barefoot at her lowest point, MonA has
changed into her hoodie and she gets a phone call. "I'm here," she says,
and after making an angry face, she adds, "I understand."
"Mona looks like she has put a few pounds at the Looney Bin," my mom says. Hoodies are not very flattering.
Over in Spencer's bedroom, she and Toby are about to have sex and my mom and I are about to vomit. No. More. Spoby.
There's a montage of Nate putting a blanket on Emily, Hanna grabbing
Maya's bag from her closet, Caleb taking the gun out of the drawer and
finally, Aria looking at Alex like she should turn into a puddle of
silver goo and slide on out of there.
Then, this conversation transpires:
Mom: "I don't want to want watch Toby & Spencer."
Jaimie: "Me neither. Hopefully he dies.
Grooooosssssss
Ewwwwwwwwww"
Mom: "HAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAH"
Jaimie: "I want this to stop
RIGHT NOW
TOO MUCH
TOO LONG
TOO GROSS"
Mom: "AGREED"
Jaimie: "NO"
Mom: "At least there are no disgusting sounds accompanying them"
Jaimie: "DON'T COME BACK TO IT
WHY IS THIS SO LONG"
At the same moment, my sister more calmly says, "Ew. Spoby. I don't want it. Immathrowup."
Finally, Spencer and Toby, post-coitus, with too much skin still
exposed and head downstairs while my sister begs Spencer to put on some
bottoms. Toby tells Spencer he didn't take the job in Bucks County to
get away from her and adds that he's exactly where he needs to be. They
exchange their first "I love you's," I gag and Toby eyes the door like
he'd rather be anywhere but there.
"Toby looks like a Sim," my sister says.
In A's new lair, some scary rock music is playing, as MonA spins
around the room looking at the various shrines to the little liars and
Ali. Then she says, "Change of plans," to another A we still can't see
behind the hood.
Hanna, Caleb, Spencer and Aria are staring at Ali's grave, which no
one has filled apparently. Over at the inn, Emily's landline rings and a
disguised voice a la the "Scream" franchise tells Emily, "You have one
minute. GET OUT!" Unfortunately, that request is not followed by, "Do
you like scary movies?"
Nate's nowhere to be found so Emily snoops in his bag and sees the
unaddressed note for Maya's parents she had given him to deliver at the
beginning of the season. But before she can think too much, Nate's back
and she notices there's paint on his shoe. While I assumed, this meant
he wasn't a student, but a road worker who paints the stripes on
streets, it triggers a different thought for Emily. She looks at
pictures of Maya on her phone and sees his shoe in one photo of her at
Tru North. "Why wouldn't she try to run instead of looking in his
backpack?" my mom asks. "And why wouldn't he get new shoes?" I wonder.
Back at the cemetery, Hanna, Spencer and Aria realize Paige and/or
MonA isn't coming so they split up to check out the two Lighthouse Rock
Inns: the girls go to the one they find in Bayhead and Caleb heads to
another one Belmar, which are both towns at the Jersey Shore.
"Bayhead is nice," my mom adds.
"Well, then it doesn't look like Emily's in Bayhead," I reply.
"Note to Marlene King," my mom says. "Belmar and Bayhead are at the beach; not in the woods."
Ya heard, Marlene?
Quick-thinking Emily decides to go for a walk to make a phone call
(a.k.a. escape from Nate). But suddenly, Nate appears uninvited.
"You scared me half to death," Emily says breathily.
"Not really. But I will," Nate creepily replies with a smile.
Back in the room, Nate shows Emily a video diary from Maya, telling
her about her Tru North stalker, all while Nate pounds a knife into the
table behind Em. "Nate's cray cray," my mom accurately assesses. "And he
wears too much mascara." The real sign of crazy.
Nate admits he loved Maya and because Em took her from him, Nate's
going to do the same to her. He opens up a closet where Paige is tied up
with tape over her mouth. He touches Emily creepily, recalls their kiss
and then, when he turns his back, Em grabs her phone. She pleads to
Nate, who says his real name is Lyndon James, but no luck.
When Nate goes to the window after he hears something outside, Emily
escapes, leaving her beloved Paige behind. "Nice," says my mom, who has
apparently transferred her hatred for absent Ella and Bryon in this
episode to poor Paige.
Emily heads to the lighthouse in hopes of cell service, a wise place
to go since there's nowhere to go from there but dozens of feet down.
When she finally gets a signal, she calls 911, but Nate quickly appears
and tries to hurt her with the knife. "Emily should have listened to her
mother," my mom predictably says.
Em wrestles the knife out of his hands after a lot of struggling and
stabs him, just as Caleb arrives to find her shaking. He places his gun
down and hugs Emily. As the camera zooms out, a shot goes off. "I just
peed in my pants," my mom says. I'm not sure if she's kidding. Over in
LA, my sister had this reaction:
"OH NO THE GUN
NOOOOOOOOOOOOO
CALEBBBBBBBBBBBBB
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"
Next, we're back where we started: ambulances, Hanna bawling and we
see Caleb has been shot and is being wheeled into an ambulance. But
then, there's another stretcher, with a body bag -- it's Nate's. As
Hanna cries, Emily looks stunned, unable to answer an officer's
questions while Paige tells the cop about the text she received from A.
Paige and Spencer exchange glances and I think Spencer's eyes are
saying, "Sorry."
The girls (Paige not included) head to the hospital, where Emily's
mom meets them. She says Caleb's in surgery and soon thereafter, the
girls' phones go off. Emily answers and the same disguised voice says,
"Emily. I owe you one."
Then, Mariska and Garrett walk in and he's in plain clothes.
Garrett's out of jail now that the police know Nate killed Maya and he
looks at the little liars creepily. I'm freaking out. "OH MY GOD. Two
parents; one room." "This is huge," my sister says. But because there
are too many moms around for "Pretty Little Liars" to handle, the scene
ends.
Now, outside Radley, MonA's back in her frilly socks, walking with a
hooded figure. She tells her still-hooded A, "If I knew Nate was going
to get Garrett out, I would have stayed in tonight. You have to get
Maya's phone back. It shouldn't be too difficult -- Paige doesn't even
know she has Maya's phone. Sucks we didn't get to make that phone call.
'Ring ring. What's Paige's doing with Maya's cell phone? O-M-G. She must
be the killer.' Oh well. Even the best laid plans go awry."
As MonA enters the building, the hooded figure turns around. It's a
werewolf. It's Marcia Brady after she got hit by the football. No! It's
Toby.
"SHIT," I caps lock scream.
"He is a shit," my mom says. "Poor Spencer -- she will be devastated she slept with an A."
"Hole," I add.
Back in the new A team lair, Toby calls in his disguised voice to
book two tickets to the Halloween party Spencer saw advertised earlier.
Turns out, we won't have to wait too long for more "Pretty Little Liars"
-- there's a Halloween special coming in October.
I have to say, more questions were answered than I thought would be
in this mid-season finale. But there are plenty more to answer. "So if
Toby is an A, where does Jenna fit into this equation?" my mom asks.
After a while, she decides to write the plot herself ...
"There is nothing redeeming about Toby. If I were writing this, I'd make Spencer pregnant," she says.
"WHAT," I ask. Again, sorry for the Kanye typing, but I was truly confused.
"Like a 'Rosemary's Baby' thing going," she says. "And Toby would do a
360 and be nice and rat out the A's and they could all live happily ever
after. But watch out for the second generation of A's. Get it? The
baby??? Haha. The end."
No. No, I don't. Marlene, ignore that one. Quotes of the Night*
(*which are few and far between because most of this episode was spent scaring us shitless instead of making us laugh.)
"Things just went from worse to worser." -Hanna
"That's not a word, but continue." -Spencer
"Yo hablo sicko ... She went home sick." -Hanna
"I get Mona being fashionably late, but Paige? Something's not right." -Hanna
Coverage: Listen on BBC Radio 5 live sports extra and online; live text commentary on the day's best match
Britain's Andy Murray produced a patchy performance but still
overcame Alex Bogomolov Jr to make the second round of the US Open with a
6-2 6-4 6-1 win.
Match Analysis
Jonathan OverendBBC tennis correspondent
"It may have been scrappy but, as Murray rightly
pointed out, it was a straight-sets win for the loss of only seven
games. Sometimes these tricky workouts against opponents with plenty of
pace and energy appear worse than they actually are. In hot, humid
conditions, Murray got the job done and will undoubtedly raise his game
as the tournament progresses. While his first serve lacked the accuracy
of Wimbledon, some searing winners - three in the final game alone -
gave an expectant taste of things to come this fortnight."
Murray's bid for a first Grand Slam title to go with his
gold medal at London 2012
got off to a slow start.
He traded breaks with the Russian in the opening set, which he took by winning four games in a row.
Murray also had to battle to take the second set, but showed far more of his trademark finesse to wrap up the match.
His victory came in two hours and 15 minutes and
contained some angry outbursts in the third set and an injury scare that
he later put down to cramp.
Murray will meet Croatia's Ivan Dodig in round two,
after the 27-year-old world number 118 demolished Japan's Hiroki Moriya
6-0 6-1 6-2.
The Scot, 25, will hope for a more consistent display
next time, but he was happy to progress in windy conditions at Arthur
Ashe Stadium.
Play media
"I guess it wasn't the prettiest of matches, but it
doesn't need to be at the beginning of the tournament," Murray told BBC
Sport.
"You want to play your best tennis at the end if you
can. I will need to improve, that's for sure. But aside from serving, I
played pretty well."
Murray was certainly rusty early in the match, when
neither player looked able to hold serve, and his form dipped in the
second set when he was unable to overcome Bogomolov's somewhat limited
game-plan.
Bogomolov made frequent use of his huge forehand but it
was Murray's mistakes that meant he trailed 4-2 and was on the brink of
going a double break down before again embarking on a four-game run.
Match stats
Murray
Bogomolov
7
Aces
1
132mph
Fastest serve
122mph
49%
First serves
72%
46
Winners
24
31
Unforced errors
35
9/19
Break points
4/12
18/25
Net pts
28/42
Murray's only stumble in a
one-sided third set came when Bogomolov broke back at 2-0. But the
British number one then produced his best tennis of the day to finish
the match with a flourish.
"The conditions were tricky. It was very windy," Murray
added. "It's slower out there. It's about getting used to playing on
that court when it's breezy and you have to do a lot of running and
defending.
"I struggled with that but did well when I needed to. I
played fairly well from the back of the court. I just would have liked
to have served a bit better because I wasn't getting many free points on
my serve and there were a lot more rallies.
"It was very, very hot and tough conditions today. You want to try to win the matches as quickly as possible."
India has been celebrating Teacher's Day on September 5, since 1962. The
day commemorates the birthday of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakhrishnan, a
philosopher and a teacher par excellence, and his contribution towards
the Indian education system.
When some of his students and
friends approached him and requested him to allow them to celebrate his
birthday, he said, "instead of celebrating my birthday separately, it
would be my proud privilege, if September 5 is observed as Teacher's
day". From then onwards, the September 5 has been observed as Teachers
Day, in India.
On this day, we remember the great educationist,
apart from honoring all the teachers that have made our life much more
knowledgeable and fulfilled.
Teacher's day in different countries
China Teachers'
Day was founded at National Central University in 1931. It was adopted
by the central government of Republic of China, in 1932. In 1939, the
day was set on August 27, Confucius's birthday. People's Republic of
China government abrogated it in 1951. It was reestablished in 1985, and
the day was changed to September 10. Now more and more people are
trying to revert the Teachers' Day back to Confucius's birthday.
India In India, Teachers' Day is celebrated on September 5, in honor of Dr Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, the second President of India.
Russia In
Russia, Teachers' Day was celebrated on the first Sunday of October,
between 1965 and 1994. Since 1994, the day is observed on October 5,
coinciding with World Teacher's Day, established by UNESCO in 1994. USA In
the United States, Teachers' Day is a non-official holiday on the
Tuesday of the first full week of May. The day is celebrated with pomp
and gaiety. A number of activities are organized in schools, to honor
teachers.
Thailand In Thailand, National Teacher's Day
is celebrated every year, on January 16. The day was adopted as
Teachers' Day in the island nation, by a resolution of the government on
November 21, 1956. The first Teachers' Day was held in 1957. The day is
declared as a holiday in schools. Iran In Iran,
Teacher's Day is celebrated on May 2. It commemorates the assassination
of Iranian professor Ayatollah Morteza Motahhari. The renowned writer, a
timeless teacher, was executed on May 2, 1980. On the day, students
offer flowers to teachers, to honor the sacred profession.
Turkey In
Turkey, Teacher's Day is celebrated on November 24. Kemal Atatürk
dedicated November 24 to honor teachers and their profession. In the
profession of teaching is regarded as something incomparable and sacred.
There is no holiday on this day.
Malaysia May 16 is
dedicated to teachers, in Malaysia. The day is celebrated as Teacher's
Day in the country, with great enthusiasm. The day is called 'Hari Guru'
in Malaysia and is a working day.
The arrival of a high-profile, reforms-oriented economist has created
a stir in India’s finance ministry, which presides over an economy that
has dramatically deteriorated over the past 12 months.
But Raghuram Rajan’s enthusiasm for reforms may not be enough to precipitate change in the government’s policies.
Dr. Rajan, the former International Monetary Fund chief economist who
took charge as chief economic adviser to India’s finance ministry on
Wednesday, didn’t have much to say on the first day of his job.
“I have no immediate comments to make on the Indian economy. As soon
as we know more of the ground realities, I will speak,” he told
reporters who had besieged his new office in New Delhi.
This reticence is not typical of Dr. Rajan, who is famous for warning of impending financial collapse at a 2005 gathering to honor former U.S. Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan.
Dr. Rajan has firm views on what ails India’s economy, which can be gleaned from a speech he made in April.
He is a strong believer in liberalization and privatization and says
that the economic reforms of 1991 that set India on a high-growth path
need to be carried forward.
“We need to become paranoid again [about growth], as we were in the
early 1990s,” he said in the speech. To start with, he wants the
government to raise fuel prices in quick steps and eventually deregulate
them.
India subsidizes the prices of certain fuels such as diesel, cooking
gas and kerosene to make them affordable to more people. These sops are
blamed for swelling India’s fiscal deficit and fuelling inflation by
keeping the consumption of fuel artificially high.
But Dr. Rajan is not alone in calling for the end to fuel subsidies.
Apart from private-sector economists, the Reserve Bank of India and the
Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council are strong advocates of
subsidy reform.
What makes this reform difficult is a) the move is politically
unpalatable and b) the ruling Congress party has to bring on board
coalition partners before it can take such a step, a tough task for a
politically contentious move.
“Deficit-cutting is a good thing, but the finance ministry has
political compulsions,” says Ashima Goyal, who advises the Indian
central bank on monetary policy.
Dr. Rajan’s predecessor, Kaushik Basu, had also arrived with strong
credentials as an economist. He was a professor of economics and the C.
Marks Professor of International Studies at Cornell University. Still,
there’s not much he managed to push through in terms of reforms in the
time he was India’s chief economic adviser.
His frustrations became apparent when, during a visit to the U.S. in
July, he said that major economic reforms in India would hit a roadblock
and are unlikely to happen before the next federal elections in 2014.
Dr. Rajan has other challenges besides the government’s ambivalence toward reforms.
The biggest one is his lack of experience in India, says Ajay Shah,
an economist at a Delhi-based think-tank who has known Mr. Rajan for
more than 10 years.
After studying at the Indian Institute of Technology in New Delhi,
Dr. Rajan has spent most of his career abroad. He was most recently
professor of economics at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of
Business.
Dr. Rajan, himself, is confident that he will be able to navigate
through India’s notorious bureaucracy. “I have been an international
bureaucrat, so bureaucracy in India is not foreign to me,” he said
Wednesday, referring to his tenure at the IMF.
Friends describe him as a “people person” who is comfortable working in big organizations.
“He is not your typical socially-autistic academic,” says Mr. Shah.
Academics see him as a middle-of-the-road economist despite his
background at the University of Chicago, which is known for strong
free-market proponents such as Milton Friedman and Friedrich Hayek.
“Among rightists, he has a more balanced view,” says Ms. Goyal.
He may not believe that the government should stimulate demand
through spending but he would favor action to augment supply, such as
improving infrastructure, she says.
TRIVANDRUM — Undeterred by the high price of
essential commodities, people in Kerala have geared up to celebrate the
harvest festival of Onam on Wednesday.
Markets on the Uthradam
day on Tuesday were abuzz with activities with people cutting across
caste and class lines scurrying to the shops to stock up everything
needed to create an air of prosperity that Onam commemorates.
Grocery, vegetable and fruit markets witnessed heavy flow of shoppers
on the eve of the Onam, when people usually buy the essential items for
the traditional Onam feast. The fair price outlets opened by the
government to check the price reported brisk sales.
Long queues were seen in front of the Kerala State Cooperative
Consumers’ Federation or Consumerfed outlets that are selling the
essential commodities with a rebate up to 52 per cent. The federation,
which opened 6,032 outlets across the state, reported record sales this
year.
The sales turnover of the Consumerfed Onam and Ramadan outlets, which
started from July 6, crossed Rs2 billion two days before Onam. The
outlets of other government market intervention agencies also recorded
brisk sales.
The government intervention in the market did not affect sales in the
open market, which wooed the customers by offering attractive discounts
and several other incentives. Most textile and electronic shops
surpassed their last year’s sales.
Suppliers of garments at Tiruppur in Tamil Nadu reported a 25 per
cent increase in the intake from wholesalers in Kerala during Onam. A
leading manufacturer said many units had to work overtime to meet Onam
demands.
Jewellery shops also did good business despite the high price as Onam is not considered complete by many without gold.
The salaried class could afford to do their Onam shopping as the
government and private companies disbursed bonus and festival allowance
well in advance.
The government also took care of the people below the poverty line by
distributing Onam kits, containing all the essential items required for
the Onam feast. This year the government also took Onam to the migrant
community by distributing the kits to them.
The main Onam festivities on Wednesday will start with people drawing
the Onam pookkalam (flower carpet) in front of their houses. This will
be followed by exchange of Onam gifts and the elaborate Onasadya.
Keralites working in other states in the country have been able to
join their families for the festival with the railways operating special
trains from major cities in the country. Many Keralites working in the
Gulf countries could not make it home for Onam due to huge rush for air
tickets.
However, various NRK organisations abroad and in other states in the
country have organised elaborate programmes to celebrate Onam in its
traditional splendour.
Governor H.R. Bharadwaj and Chief Minister Oommen Chandy have greeted Malayalees the world over during the festival.
‘Ek Tha Tiger’ is
making it huge. In less than a fortnight, it has earned 210 crores. It has
already surpassed Salman’s previous hits ‘Dabangg’ and ‘Bodyguard’. They had
earned 147 and 148 crores respectively. The movie is expected to bypass the 300
cr earning of the movie ‘3 Idiots’.
Trade analyst Taran
Adarsh had also tweeted the same, “#EkThaTiger 12-day total of *approx* Rs 175 cr nett is from
India alone. #EkThaTiger India + Overseas combined biz *after 2nd Weekend* is
Rs 210 cr +. ALL TIME BLOCKBUSTER…” It is also close to 3idiots, as Taran
further tweeted, India Rankings TOP 3:- No 1 - #3Idiots 202 cr nett), No 2 - #EkThaTiger (175
cr nett, still counting), No 3 - #Bodyguard (148 cr nett).”
Salman has emerged
as the man with the Midas touch. His movies have earned more than 750 crores in
the last 3 years. Though most of his movies are released during Eid, they cater
to people across all communities. The reasons for Salman’s success are many.
Most of the Indian movie goers watch movies for recreation and entertainment. Salman’s
action movies provide that to the hilt. Salman’s portal of larger than life
characters with amazing stunts has become the talk of the town, especially amongst
the youngsters. Add to that Salman’s extraordinary comic timing. All this combined;
it is a total paisa-wassol for his fans.
This is not the end
for the 46-year old actor. His ‘Dabangg 2’ is in the pipeline. It is also
thought to be a block buster in the making.
Even his rivals are
saying good words about him. Take for example Shahrukh Khan. When he was asked
about Salman and Katrina’s pairing in the film, he said, “It is very nice they
have done few movies together. I think chemistry is a too deeper word… media
has created it. Kajol and I always had this issue, ‘what is this chemistry?’ It
has taken me years to understand what this means.” He further said “I don’t
know about the chemistry but it looks like a wonderful pair. I wish them all
the luck.”
There have been
some funny tweets about ‘Ek Tha Tiger’. Model Poonam Pandey had tweeted, “Save
the Bengal tiger...or else very soon we will say #EkThaTiger”.
KRK (Kamaal R Khan) had said, “#EkThaTiger jaisi film ko kisi
critic ke review ki zaroorat nahi hoti. Woh release hoti hai toh sirf super hit
hi hoti hai.” That’s true. The tiger is really roaring loud.
Chris Lighty, shown here with Sean "Diddy" Combs, was found dead outside his Bronx apartment Thursday.
