Saturday, March 29, 2008
"Paris Hilton to guest star on My Name Is Earl"
from tvguide.com - by Mickey O'Connor
My Name Is Earl's first post-strike episode, titled "I Won't Die with a Little Help from My Friends," (airs April 3rd, 2008) will feature a very special guest star: Paris Hilton. As Ausiello hinted at last week, she'll play herself in a dream sequence with Earl (Jason Lee).
Greg Garcia, Earl's creator, was characteristically cheeky about the casting: "When we wrote the role of Paris Hilton in the script, we weren't exactly sure who to go with for the role. But after an exhausting search we finally settled on a relatively unknown actress by the name of Paris Hilton. I can't wait to see what she does with the role and I can't wait for America to discover her.
"How about you, America? Are you dying to see how well she plays the role of "Paris Hilton"? Or do you already know enough about the character?
Friday, March 28, 2008
"Man Faces Charges for Having Sex With Picnic Table"
from foxnews.com
Ohio police have arrested a man who was caught on tape allegedly having sex with a picnic table.
Art Price Jr., 40, of Bellevue, Ohio, was arrested after a neighbor videotaped him engaged sexually with the metal table, according to a report on FOX19.com.
Price was seen on four separate occasions, always between 10:30 a.m. and noon, having sex with the picnic table, Bellevue Police Capt. Matt Johnson told the TV station.
"The first video we had, he was completely nude," Johnson said, noting the table in question had a hole in the middle intended to hold an umbrella.
Price, a married father of three school-age kids, faces felony counts of public indecency because his house is near an elementary school, according to the report.
"Woman forced to remove nipple ring at airport"
A woman who was forced to remove her nipple rings with pliers before boarding a flight in Texas, has demanded an apology and said she wants the US government to investigate the incident.
Mandi Hamlin, a 37-year-old graphic artist from Dallas, said: 'It was just total humiliation in front of people I had no earthly idea who they were.'
Gloria Allred, Ms Hamlin's attorney, said the woman was given a pair of pliers in order to remove the rings in her nipples. She added that the rings had been in her nipples for many years.
Ms Hamlin said she wanted a public apology and for the US Transportation Security Administration to investigate the incident, which happened in February as she was boarding a flight from Lubbock in Texas, to Dallas.
TSA spokesman Dwayne Baird said he was unaware of the nipple ring incident.
He said: 'I'd be really curious to know what this woman had in her nipples,' adding that he had 'never heard of any of our people having anyone remove something that sounds as small as a nipple ring.'
Ms Allred said the TSA's measure was 'cruel and unnecessary.'
She said: 'The last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon.'
"Adult Film Star to Hold 'Porn Camp' for Wannabes"
Adult film-star wannabes will have their chance to learn the business this weekend at "Porn Camp" in Tampa, Fla.
Led by actress Courtney Cummz, the seminar will cover everything from lighting and sound to legal advice. But the highlight of the three-day event is hands on — participants will shoot their own adult-film scene.
"They will tell you, show you and then help while you make your own film ... that you will own the rights to," the seminar's Web site said.
But the privilege doesn't come cheap, the St. Petersburg Times reports. The seminar costs $4,000 per person. About two dozen participants are expected for the event.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
"S.C. legislation would ban stripper lap dances, curb club hours"
"Lindsay Lohan to star in Charles Manson Movie"
Lindsay Lohan is following up her crazy year by joining a cult—in a new movie role, that is.
E! News has learned exclusively that Lindsay Lohan has signed on to star as Nancy Pitman, once a loyal member of Charles Manson's not-so-merry band, in the movie Manson Girls.
The film's producer, Brad Wyman of Junction Films, confirmed the casting coup.
"Yes, I am doing it with Lindsay," he tells E! News.
A source familiar with the deal says that despite the fact that Lohan has had some recent brushes with the law and just completed rehab, "the production company is insuring her for the film."
As E! News first reported, before shooting Manson Girls Lohan will shoot the offbeat comedy Ye Olde Times with Jack Black and David Arquette this spring. That film is due out in 2009.
Pitman grew up in wealthy household in Malibu, and at 16 she was introduced to Manson by a friend, according to published reports. She fell under his spell, moving in with him and becoming one of his most ardent followers. She was home with Manson on the night he dispatched members of his "Family" to the former home of ex-business associate Terry Mechler, where they ended up brutally killing actress Sharon Tate and four others.
Pitman, aka Brenda McCann, later became involved with the Aryan Brotherhood and served 18 months in prison after being convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder. She later married one of her coconspirators, divorced and moved to Oregon with her two children.
Attempts to reach Pitman were not immediately successful.
Lohan next appears opposite Jared Leto in what should be another heart-tugging true-life tale: Chapter 27, a film examining the life of John Lennon killer Mark David Chapman and opening in limited release this weekend.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
"Polaroid abandons instant film "
In its time, Polaroid was a wonder of instant film.
In seconds, the camera dispensed a picture that gradually came to life minutes after.
Polaroid eliminated the hassle and wait for prints to come back from a drugstore.
According to The New York Times, however, Polaroid announced in February it would abandon its instant photography.
Polaroid Corporation shut down two Massachusetts film-manufacturing facilities and laid off over 150 workers, according to the Times article.
Almost two years ago, the production of instant cameras ceased due to a decline in sales.
"The Polaroid image is one that is distinct from any other type of image," senior technical photography major Tim J. Davin said. "It just has a different quality to it and there is something fun about being able to physically hold the photograph as it develops, something digital can't do." News of the instant film abandonment led to the launch of SavePolaroid.com and several Facebook petition groups.
In efforts to boost sales, Polaroid plans to change its name by branding its name on Zink photo printers, flat-panel televisions, and digital photography gear.
"If it kept producing instant film, then it would make sense to keep the name," assistant professor of technology Mark L. Malloy said. "If they decide otherwise, they should cease using the name Polaroid, as it is synonymous with instant photographs via instant film."
Malloy said Polaroid is as much a descriptive term as it is a proper name.
"Look in the dictionary or thesaurus and you'll see it listed as both a noun and an adjective," Malloy said.
Davin works with digital and film-based media.
"One of my main interests involves the use of large format cameras and without the continuation of Polaroid, I will have to rely on making multiple exposures of one shot or running the risk of just shooting one shot for each setup and hoping that it comes out okay," Davin said.
"Without Polaroid, photographers are in a quandary," he said. "Trusting that the film will come out perfect isn't generally a safe practice without checking because of the unforgiving nature of film."
Davin said many clients look at a digital picture and a digital scan of film and tend to pick the film over the digital image.
"Digital technology still is not able to reproduce the intricate nuances of film."
Similarly, Malloy uses Polaroid in his work for relative predictability and the possibility for random imperfections, he said.
"In graduate school, I did my entire thesis project on Polaroid materials," Malloy said. "I used it for it's beautiful, tonal range and the way the image seemed to break up at the edges of film."
In the technological push of the 21st century, 'instant' photography stopped being instant enough for most people.
"Many households now have one or more digital cameras, which are 'instant' in the sense that they can shoot a picture, look at it, and plug it into a printer or computer to print it – essentially a Polaroid, " Davin said.
Polaroid is interested in licensing its technology to an outside firm that could continue to manufacture film for loyal Polaroid customers, according to The Boston Globe.
"In a very large part, society won't care nor will the march towards a digital future be slowed in the slightest by this unfortunate decision," Malloy said.
Monday, March 24, 2008
"George Michael to Tour North America"
Other stops include Atlanta, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Seattle, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, New York, Boston, Toronto and Montreal.
Michael, 44, sang in the '80s pop group Wham! before embarking on a successful solo career. His hits include "Faith," "Father Figure" and "One More Try."
He'll release his greatest-hits album "Twenty Five" in the U.S. on April 1.
Sunday, March 23, 2008
"21-Year-Old Message In a Bottle Drifts 1,735 Miles"
He walked over and saw an envelope tucked inside. After slicing the bottle open, Brandell found a message from an elementary school student in a suburb of Seattle. The fact that the letter traveled 1,735 miles without any help from the U.S. postal service is unusual, but that's only the beginning of the mystery.
About 21 years passed between the time Emily Hwaung put the message in a soda bottle and Merle Brandell picked it up on the beach.
"This letter is part of our science project to study oceans and learn about people in distant lands," she wrote. "Please send the date and location of the bottle with your address. I will send you my picture and tell you when and where the bottle was placed in the ocean. Your friend, Emily Hwaung."
Brandell, 34, a bear hunting guide and manager of a local water plant, said many of the 70-plus residents of Nelson Lagoon were intrigued by his find. Beachcombing is a popular activity in remote western Alaska. Among the recent discoveries was a sail boat that washed onto shore last October.
"It's kind of a sport. It keeps us occupied. It's one of the pleasures of living here," Brandell said of the village reachable only by plane or boat that is too small to have its own store.
He had no idea just how unusual his find was until he tried to track down the sender: a fourth grader from the North City School in the Shoreline School District.
No one answered the phone when Brandell called the school in December so he sent the school district a handwritten letter, which eventually ended up on the desk of district spokesman Craig Degginger.
After some searching, Degginger discovered Emily Hwaung is now a 30- year-old accountant named Emily Shih who now lives in Seattle. She was in the 4th grade during the 1986-87 school year at a school building that closed more than a year ago.
"I've been getting a kick out of it for a month now," Shih said during a recent interview.
She said she was flabbergasted by the news and immediately shared it with her Kirkland co-workers.
"I don't remember the project. It was so long ago. Elementary school is kind of foggy," Shih admitted.
The project may have been more memorable if each child had created her own message and personally dropped it in the water, but the letters from Carol Aguayo's fourth grade class were typed. The students only added their names and signed them, then a friend carried the bottles on his boat and dropped them in the ocean.
"It took away a little of the mystique," Shih said of the form letter.
She also was a little chagrined by the offer to mail a photo to whomever found the letter and by the environmental implications of dropping plastic bottles in the ocean, and noted that times have changed a lot in 21 years.
"I've had a good laugh about that with all my friends," Shih said.
As she was sharing her story with friends and co-workers, Shih realized how rare it was for a message in a bottle to arrive safely somewhere.
"Many of them had tried to do it themselves, but you never hear of one coming back. The odds are so low that you'll ever hear back from somebody," Shih said. "It was just kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing."
Brandell has a theory about how the bottle ended up on the shore of Nelson Lagoon and how the letter remained so readable after its 21 years in transit. Maybe the bottle didn't spend those years in the water. It might have blown his way quickly and then remained buried in the mud for years.
It was found among some Japanese floats that took a similar journey many years ago. They don't really wash ashore. They extrude out of the mud and into the hands of beachcombers, who sell them on eBay or craft jewelry out of them like Brandell's mother does.
