Monday, October 31, 2011

Lindsay Lohan shows off new (whiter) smile

whosay.com/lindsaylohan

By Courtney Hazlett

The people spoke and Lindsay Lohan listened! Lohan took her yellowed teeth to celeb-friendly cosmetic dentist Dr. Bill Dorfman, who whitened her smile.

"Thanks Dr. Dorfman for the zoom," Lohan tweeted, and posted a picture of her new look to her WhoSay page. "My gums are so sore though!"

Most recently, Lohan's dental upkeep hasn't ranked among her biggest problems; Lohan's probation was revoked during an Oct. 20 court appearance, and she's due back to stand before Judge Stephanie Sautner on Tuesday.

Related content:

Source: http://scoop.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/31/8562201-lindsay-lohan-shows-off-new-whiter-smile

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New Amy Winehouse album to be released in December

LONDON (AP) ? A new album of recordings by the late soul singer Amy Winehouse will be released in December, Island Records said Monday.

It said "Lioness: Hidden Treasures" will contain 12 songs ? previously unreleased tracks, alternative versions of existing hits and brand new songs ? recorded by the beehive-wearing singer who died at her London home on July 23.

The label said Winehouse's longtime musical partners Mark Ronson and Salaam Remi had spent time since her death listening to recordings of the singer, who many said never sang or played a song the same way twice.

Island Records said the duo quickly realized that they had "a collection of songs that deserved to be heard, a collection of songs that were a fitting testament to Amy the artist and, as importantly, Amy their friend."

The album ? Winehouse's third after "Frank" and "Back to Black" ? will be released on Dec. 5. Ronson and Remi compiled the tracks in collaboration with Winehouse's family, management and the label.

Winehouse's final studio recording ? a cover of "Body & Soul" sung with Tony Bennett ? will be included in the album.

The singer's father, Mitch Winehouse, said he had never before heard another one of the tracks, "Halftime," and described the song as "just incredibly beautiful."

"If the family had felt that this album wasn't up to the standard of 'Frank' and 'Back To Black' we would never have agreed to release it and we believe it will stand as a fitting tribute to Amy's musical legacy," he said in the Island Records statement.

A donation of 1 pound ($1.60) from the sale of each album in the U.K. will go to a foundation to assist disadvantaged children and young adults set up in the artist's name following her death.

Last week a British coroner ruled the Grammy-winning singer died from accidental alcohol poisoning when she resumed drinking after weeks of abstinence.

The 27-year-old Winehouse had fought a very public battle with drug and alcohol abuse for years, and there had been much speculation that she died from a drug overdose.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2011-10-31-EU-Britain-Amy-Winehouse/id-31af67678b8140389edc1ffbd8953d2c

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Sunday, October 30, 2011

Hometown boy Freese is World Series MVP

By DAVE SKRETTA

updated 12:15 a.m. ET Oct. 29, 2011

ST. LOUIS - David Freese, the hometown boy made good, is the MVP of the World Series.

Down to their final strike in Game 6, the Cardinals' reluctant hero delivered a tying two-run triple in the ninth inning Thursday night. Freese then did one better: a leadoff homer in the 11th that gave St. Louis a dramatic win over the Rangers and forced the first Game 7 since 2002.

Freese, also the NL championship series MVP, capped his memorable October by hitting a two-run double in the first inning Friday night to tie the Texas Rangers at 2-all. He also drew a pair of walks that helped lead to runs, and the Cardinals held on for a 6-2 win and their 11th championship.

"This means everything," Freese said.

When the final out was made, Freese threw his arms in the air and dashed for the mound, where he joined a happy scrum as confetti floated down from the upper reaches of Busch Stadium.

"This is why you keep battling," Freese said. "Sometimes things don't work out, you get injured, you do stupid stuff, but you try to stay on path. You surround yourself with guys like we have on this team. I'm so glad to be part of this."

Freese batted .348 in the World Series, with seven RBIs, three doubles and one big homer. He's the fourth Cardinals player to win the MVP award, joining Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Gibson in 1964 and '67, catcher Darrell Porter in 1982 and David Eckstein in their 2006 victory over Detroit.

"You learn from all these veterans about how to go about this game," Freese said, "and I wouldn't be here without them."

Freese could just as well be the MVP of the entire postseason.

The kid who grew up in a St. Louis suburb hit a three-run homer in Game 6 of the NLCS against Milwaukee, the first act in his coming out party. His performance in Act 2 against the Rangers made him the sixth player to be MVP of a championship series and the World Series.

Often lost in a high-scoring lineup that includes Albert Pujols, Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman, Freese left his impression on baseball's grandest stage out of necessity.

Holliday struggled most of the series before spraining his right wrist during Game 6, taking him off the roster Friday. Pujols was intentionally walked whenever he was a threat.

That left the offense to Freese, who had given up on baseball after high school, spurning a scholarship offer from Missouri to simply be a college student. He even rebuffed the Tigers' coaches when they called midway through his first semester to find out whether he'd changed his mind.

It wasn't until about a year out of high school that the itch to play finally returned.

Freese gave in and enrolled at St. Louis Community College-Meremec, and his play there caught the attention of the coaching staff at South Alabama. Freese blossomed into the Padres' ninth-round draft pick in 2006, and a trade to the Cardinals eventually brought him home.

"If you wrote a story like that ? a guy gets traded, comes back to his hometown, he's a hero ? if you sent that in the script, it would get thrown back in your face," Commissioner Bud Selig said.

This wasn't a perfect fairy tale, though. That would be too easy.

Freese needed season-ending surgery to repair a torn tendon in his right ankle last year, and he broke his left hand when he was hit by a pitch earlier this season. He was hit by another pitch in August and sustained a concussion.

Each time, he came back better than before.

He was at his best against Texas.

In the World Series opener, with the game tied in the sixth inning, Freese delivered a timely double. He alertly moved to third base on a wild pitch, allowing him to score easily for the eventual winning run on Allen Craig's single to right field.

Freese scored the Cardinals' only run in a 2-1 loss in Game 2, and then drove in a pair of runs in a 16-7 victory in Game 3 ? a performance that will be forever overshadowed by Pujols' three homers.

Nobody could overshadow Freese in Game 6.

After committing a critical error when an easy popup bounced out of his glove, Freese more than made up for it with his bat. Down to his final strike, his two-run triple in the ninth forced extra innings. In the 11th, he joined Bill Mazeroski, Carlton Fisk, Kirby Puckett and Joe Carter as the only players to hit a game-winning homer in Game 6 or later of a Fall Classic.

That's pretty select company.

Much like the company he'll enjoy as MVP of the World Series.

"I've had plenty of days in my life where I'd thought, you know, I wouldn't even be close to being a big leaguer," Freese said. "I'm here because of everyone around me. They put so much trust in me to accomplish, not just baseball, but stuff in life. To do this, I'm just full of joy."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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Cards hold the winning hand

The St. Louis Cardinals won a remarkable World Series they weren't even supposed to reach, beating the Texas Rangers 6-2 in Game 7 on Friday night with another key hit by hometown star David Freese and six gutty innings from Chris Carpenter.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/45085349/ns/sports-baseball/

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Dr. Conrad Murray Defense Witness Finally Puts it Out There: Michael Jackson Killed Himself!


The late Michael Jackson likely helped himself to extra doses of potent drugs while Dr. Conrad Murray's back was turned and accidentally took his own life.

That's according to the defense's final witness, who finally came out and said, under oath, the theory that Murray's defense has been floating for months.

Murray's lawyers long have asserted that Jackson caused his own death, even as the likelihood of such an event has been discredited by the prosecution.

Dr. Conrad Murray Pic

Still, White told the jury, in Jackson's last minutes of consciousness, the insomniac took several pills of the sedative lorezepan, then injected the Propofol.

"You think it was a self-injection of propofol between 11:30 and 12?'' defense attorney J. Michael Flanagan asked. "In my opinion, yes," White responded.

White, like the prosecution's star witness, Dr. Steven Shafer, is an anesthesiologist and Propofol expert. The prosecution will cross-examine him next week.

After that, it's up to the jury to determine if there is reasonable doubt to acquit Murray of involuntary manslaughter, or if the prosecution made its case.

It goes without saying that Jackson's family feels they have.

Family members have attended trial every day, wasting little time praising the D.A. - or in this case, denying Michael was responsible for his own death.

His sister La Toya Jackson Tweeted, after a particularly tense Friday in courty: "MICHAEL DID NOT KILL HIMSELF!!! HE WOULD NEVER DO THAT!!!!"

The implication isn't that he tried to, but point taken.

There's also the question of whether that would absolve Murray of guilt even if it did occur. The state contends it would not, and that he's guilty anyway.

Prosecution witnesses say Murray not only gave too much Propofol, he also failed to properly monitor MJ, botched CPR and waited too long to call 911.

That, along with inconsistencies in Murray's own timeline of events, plus startling images like the Michael Jackson autopsy photo, could be his undoing.

He faces up to four years in prison if convicted.

Dr. Conrad Murray:

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/dr-conrad-murray-defense-witness-finally-puts-it-out-there-micha/

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Saturday, October 29, 2011

New pathway critical to heart arrhythmia

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

University of Maryland School of Medicine researchers have uncovered a previously unknown molecular pathway that is critical to understanding cardiac arrhythmia and other heart muscle problems. Understanding the basic science of heart and muscle function could open the door to new treatments. The study, published recently in the journal Cell, examined the electrical impulses that coordinate contraction in heart and skeletal muscles, controlling heart rate, for example. Unraveling how the body regulates these impulses is key to understanding serious health conditions such as paralysis, muscle relaxation and heart arrhythmia.

Researchers in the Cell study examined ion channels ? membrane proteins that allow the electrical charges to flow into and out of the cell. The number and location of channels on the cell's surface are critical to the heart's rhythm. The University of Maryland School of Medicine scientists found a new, previously unknown intracellular trafficking pathway that controls the number and location of the ion channels on the cell surface, affecting the passage of electrical charges and controlling the beat of the heart and other muscle activity.

Ion channels are proteins that form pores at the cell's surface. The pores open with careful regulation, allowing the passage of ions like potassium, sodium or chloride. These ions carry distinct electrical charges, and their regulated passage into and out of the cell stimulate and coordinate contractions such as the heart's rhythm.

"This study illuminates a new pathway for therapeutic intervention," says Paul Welling, M.D., professor of physiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Drugs that interfere with or augment this signal may be used to control the number and location of ion channels in such a way to fight arrhythmia and other muscle disorders, potentially saving lives."

"Dr. Welling's research is an example of the world class basic science discoveries taking place at the School of Medicine, discoveries that we hope one day will lead to relief and new treatments for patients and their families," says E. Albert Reece, M.D., Ph.D., M.B.A. vice president for medical affairs for the University of Maryland, and John Z. and Akiko K. Bowers Distinguished Professor and dean of the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Until recently, scientists have focused on the regulatory mechanisms that control the way that these ion channels open and close and how that action affects muscle contraction and heart rate. Years of research have shown that it is not simply the action of these ion channels that affects heart arrhythmia Scientists have found that the location and number of channels on the cell's surface are just as important to the heart's rhythm. The study in Cell describes a new intracellular trafficking pathway that controls the number and location of these ion channels on the cell surface.

"Previously, we were unsure how the ion channels get out to the surface of the cell," says Dr. Welling. "We found a new mechanism that operates like a molecular zip code, ensuring that the appropriate numbers of ion channels are sent to the correct cellular location, the cell surface. It also functions as a type of proofreading mechanism, making sure that only correctly made ion channels make it to the cell surface."

Dr. Welling and his colleagues examined the molecular pathology of the genetic condition Andersen-Tawil Syndrome, characterized by uncoordinated muscle contractions, paralysis and disruptions in the normal heart rhythm. The syndrome is caused by mutations in the gene known as KCNJ2, which encodes a potassium channel in the heart and skeletal muscle known as Kir2.1.

The scientists examined how mutations in the potassium channel affects its passage through a key intracellular sorting station called the Golgi apparatus. The Golgi apparatus modifies, sorts and packages molecules for the cell's use. Dr. Welling's lab found that the Golgi apparatus selects the Kir2.1 channel to travel to the surface of the cell in an unusual, signal-dependent manner. The signal determines where the Golgi apparatus sends the potassium channel and how many it sends and verifies that the channels are of quality. In patients with Andersen-Tawil Syndrome, the signal is faulty and fails to properly regulate the ion channels and their path to the cell surface.

"Elucidating the mechanisms behind this rare disease provides insight into more prevalent forms of arrhythmia such as heart failure," says Dr. Welling. "There is great interest in understanding the mechanisms by which cardiac ion channels are regulated. This new pathway may be an excellent target for therapeutic intervention for both Andersen-Tawil syndrome and the far more common condition, like arrhythmias associated with heart failure."

The study has implications beyond the science of the heart, he added. The class of ion channels the researchers examined includes about 12 other ion channels that control various body processes from cognition to the salt balance in the kidneys. The next step for his lab, Dr. Welling says, is to study this pathway in relation to the kidneys. It is possible the same pathway affects the entire class of channels and helps regulate all the body processes associated with them.

###

University of Maryland Medical Center: http://www.umm.edu

Thanks to University of Maryland Medical Center for this article.

This press release was posted to serve as a topic for discussion. Please comment below. We try our best to only post press releases that are associated with peer reviewed scientific literature. Critical discussions of the research are appreciated. If you need help finding a link to the original article, please contact us on twitter or via e-mail.

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Source: http://www.labspaces.net/114657/New_pathway_critical_to_heart_arrhythmia

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Friday, October 28, 2011

How Do 'In Time' Stars Make The Most Of Their Time?

We ask Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and more how they avoid wasting time at the DMV, on a plane and more.
By Kara Warner


Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried in "In Time"
Photo: 20th Century Fox

Hey, Justin Timberlake fans: You can now celebrate your favorite triple threat's return to the big screen via the new sci-fi thriller "In Time." The film is set in the not-so-distant future in a society that lives and dies according to how much time you have and can acquire. In this world, time is literally money, and when your time runs out, you die.

In the spirit of making the most of time, although in not quite as serious a manner as is portrayed in the film, when MTV News caught up with the cast of "In Time," we asked a series of rapid-fire questions pegged to getting the most out of everyday scenarios: "How do you make the most of your time, when ... "

1. On a plane?
"Oh, I like to read or do crossword puzzles," said Vincent Kartheiser, whom "Mad Men" fans will recognize as bad guy Pete Campbell.

"I sleep, normally," Amanda Seyfried said, "but [I like to listen to] audio books or knit."

2. On hold with customer service?
"When the [customer service rep] comes back, I like to completely change voices," Timberlake revealed, changing his voice into a deep, serious baritone. " 'Hey, I'd like to speak to your supervisor,' and then [changing his voice into a high-pitched, younger voice], 'Hey, man, listen, I had a problem,' " he play-acted for us.

"I put [the phone] on speaker and get some work done," Matt Bomer said.

3. God forbid, when the Internet goes down?
"You should read a book," Bomer advised of this worst-case scenario. "Maybe the newspaper, get caught up on current events."

Seyfried told us she's trying to cut down her internet use. "It gets to be time consuming, so when it goes down, you just have to read the newspaper," she said.

4. When waiting at the DMV?
"Power through," Bomer advised of the always long lines at the Department of Motor Vehicles. "Whatever you can get done. Maybe Sudoku?"

"I like to look for the one person who's like, 'I hate this place! I'm never coming back!' " Kartheiser said.

"Google whatever the state legal limit is for blood alcohol concentration, because that's usually why I'm there," Timberlake added with a laugh.

Check out everything we've got on "In Time."

For breaking news, celebrity columns, humor and more — updated around the clock — visit MTVMoviesBlog.com.

Related Artists

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1673365/in-time-justin-timberlake-amanda-seyfried.jhtml

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China to Launch Spacecraft On First Docking Test Flight in November (SPACE.com)

China will launch an unmanned spacecraft in November to make the country's first in-space docking, state media reported Wednesday (Oct. 26).

The Shenzhou 8 mission is set to launch early next month Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China. The spacecraft is due to dock with the robotic Tiangong-1 module, which was launched separately in September. That craft is a prototype space lab, part of China's long-term goal of building its own manned space station in orbit.

The Tiangong 1-Shenzhou 8 maneuver will be China's first spacecraft docking. It's a necessary step toward assembling a larger space station.

In preparation for the launch, Shenzhou 8 and its carrier rocket, an upgraded Chinese Long March-2F, were transferred to the launch pad this morning, state news agency Xinhua reported. The vehicle took two hours to travel almost a mile (1,500 meters) along a 66-foot wide (20 meter) railway from its assembly and testing center.

Final testing of the spacecraft is set to take place over the coming days, Lu Jinrong, the launch center's chief engineer, told Xinhua. The main assembly and testing of the spacecraft and rocket system is complete, he said.

Lu said the Tiangong 1 ("Heavenly Palace") module is performing well in space, and is ready for the docking test. If the upcoming mission is successful, it will be followed by two more docking missions with the Shenzhou 9 and Shenzhou 10 spacecraft, yet to launch.

Ultimately, China hopes to build a 60-ton space station by 2020. The nation is only the third, behind Russia and the United States, to independently launch people to space.

You can follow SPACE.com Senior Writer Clara Moskowitz on Twitter @ClaraMoskowitz.?Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcomand on Facebook.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/space/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/space/20111027/sc_space/chinatolaunchspacecraftonfirstdockingtestflightinnovember

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Thursday, October 27, 2011

GoPro launches the HD Hero2 camera (Digital Trends)

go-pro-hero2

Announced earlier today, GoPro released details on the launch of the?HD Hero2 digital video camera. This camera is the?successor?to the HD Hero, a 5-megapixel camera that shot 1080p HD video. The HD Hero2 has been bumped up to 11-megapixels and can also shoot at eight or five megapixels to save on memory space.?GoPro claims that the camera has an image processor that?s twice as fast at the original HD Hero. They also claim that the lens produces images that are twice at sharp. The?HD Hero2 can shoot in multiple fields-of-view (FOV) including 170 degrees for widescreen, 127 degrees for a normal shot and 90 degrees for a narrow shot. It also has the same FOV?capabilities for shooting video.

go-pro-hero2-burst-modeThe company also claims that the?HD Hero2 has professional level low light performance for those shooting at dusk. While the original?HD Hero could only shoot three 5-megapixel shots per second, the?HD Hero2 is capable of shooting ten 11-megapixel shots per second. In addition, there?s a new time-lapse setting that can record a 11-megapixel photo every 0.5 seconds. Other new additions to the new model include a mini-HDMI port for viewing photos or videos on a high definition television, a language based interface instead of the numeric interface, multiple LED lights on all sides of the camera and a?3.5mm stereo microphone input for plugging in an?external microphone.

Similar to the previous model, the?HD Hero2 is currently available in three different packages dependent on the usage. The packages include the Outdoor edition with a head / helmet straps for activities like mountain biking, the Motosports edition with suction cups / buckles and the Surf edition with surfboard mount. All packages are priced at $299.99 and comes with a 30-day return policy if the camera doesn?t perform well enough for the activity.

This article was originally posted on Digital Trends

More from Digital Trends

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/personaltech/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/digitaltrends/20111024/tc_digitaltrends/goprolaunchesthehdhero2camera

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Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Hispanic voters: Stick with Obama or go with GOP? (AP)

LAS VEGAS ? A year before the 2012 presidential election, Hispanic voters are facing a choice.

They can continue to support President Barack Obama despite being hurt disproportionately by the economic downturn or turn to Republicans at a time when many GOP presidential hopefuls have taken a hard line on immigration.

Obama kicks off a three-day trip to Western states trip with a stop Monday in Las Vegas, where he wants to rally support for his jobs agenda in Congress. Nevada has the nation's highest unemployment rate, 13.4 percent.

The trip comes as Republican candidates have taken a more strident tone on immigration.

Businessman Herman Cain recently suggested electrifying a fence along the U.S. border with Mexico to kill illegal immigrants; he later called the remark a joke and apologized. Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann has raised the issue of "anchor babies," or U.S.-born children of illegal immigrants; it's a term that some people find offensive.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry has been criticized by opponents for signing a law allowing some illegal immigrants to get in-state college tuition. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said most of the jobs created under Perry's watch went to illegal immigrants. Perry lashed into Romney during last week's GOP debate in Las Vegas for hiring a lawn care company that employed illegal immigrants.

Obama won 67 percent of Hispanic voters in 2008 but many of those voters have become disillusioned during the past three years. Unemployment among Hispanics tops 11 percent and many Latinos are losing their homes. Others criticize the number of deportations under Obama's presidency and the lack of progress on a comprehensive immigration plan.

"I am willing to support him, but I would like him to keep his word on all the promises he made," said Marcos Mata, 17, a Las Vegas high school senior who will vote for the first time next year. "Not just on immigration. But I don't know if I see any improvement. The jobs act, it's a good idea but he should have been doing that a long time ago."

Recent Gallup polling showed Obama with a 49 percent job approval rating among Hispanics, compared with about 60 percent in the beginning of 2011. Hispanic voters could prove pivotal next year, especially in fast-growing and contested states such as Florida, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado.

Obama has said his jobs agenda would help Hispanics in the construction industry and provide tax breaks for small businesses. On immigration, he has targeted violent criminals for deportation and urged Congress to create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants.

Obama also has sought support for legislation that would provide a route to legal status for college students and members of the military brought to the country as children.

Republicans sense an opening and have courted Hispanic voters through Spanish-language radio and television ads, criticizing Obama's handling of the economy.

Crossroads GPS, a Republican political organization tied to strategist Karl Rove, ran a Spanish-language ad in five states last summer called "Despertarse," or "Wake up," depicting a young mother pacing her home early in the morning, worried about the economy and her children.

President George W. Bush was supported by 44 percent of Hispanic voters in 2004 but that level slipped for the 2008 GOP nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Party officials promote the success of prominent Hispanic Republicans, including Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, New Mexico Gov. Susana Martinez, and Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, but some worry that a harsh tone on immigration could undermine their efforts.

"The fundamental question will be whether the economic concerns of the Latino community are so severe that they are less critical of anti-immigrant positioning by the Republican party," said Adam Mendelsohn, a Republican strategist and former adviser to ex-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California.

Mendelsohn warned that Romney could damage his general election prospects if he makes immigration a focal point during the primary. "If the conventional wisdom is that Romney won the nomination because he beat up Perry on immigration, that's a narrative that will alienate Latinos."

Voters like Jose Hernandez, a Republican, are watching closely. Hernandez said his Las Vegas real estate business has faltered with the housing market. Most of his neighbors and clients are more concerned about the economy than immigration but he has found the tone of the GOP debate offensive, including comments about illegal immigrants stealing jobs.

"That's just ignorance," Hernandez said. "The Republicans need to talk about making it easier for people to come here."

Democrats say the immigration rhetoric in the GOP debates could have a similar impact that tough anti-immigration laws had in California during the 1990s under Republican Gov. Pete Wilson. Democratic presidential nominees have not lost California since 1988.

Obama's campaign is aggressively courting Latino voters.

In Fort Collins, Colo., on Saturday, about a dozen volunteers walked door to door to register voters and hand out pamphlets. "If we turn out 15,000 to 20,000 votes, that's going to make a big difference," said Joe Perez, 67, of Greeley, Colo.

Turnout will be key. Many Hispanic Democrats say the Republican debate on immigration has turned off Latino voters but worry that a weak economy could make it more difficult to encourage Hispanics to support Obama.

"Building the excitement and the enthusiasm to go to the polls, that's something we're going to have to figure out how to do," said Maria Elena Durazo, secretary-treasurer of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. "They just feel down. The economy is terrible so our challenge is still going to be getting them to the polls. I think we can do it."

___

Thomas reported from Fort Collins, Colo.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111024/ap_on_el_pr/us_obama_hispanics

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Paranormal Activity 3 Scares Up Huge Box Office Haul


Movie goers were anything but scared to line up for Paranormal Activity 3 this weekend.

The third film in this horror franchise scared up $54 million on Friday and Saturday, making it the biggest opener in Hollywood since Rise of the Planet of the Apes and easily the most impressive in the Paranormal Activity series, topping the sequel's $40.7 million start.

Hugh Jackman's Real Steel fell to second place, meanwhile, but surpassed $150 million around the globe. Let's take a look at the top 10 box office results from the weekend:

  1. Paranormal Activity 3: $54 million
  2. Real Steel: $11.3 million
  3. Footloose: $10.9 million
  4. The Three Musketeers: $8.8 million
  5. The Ides of March: $4.9 million
  6. Dolphin Tale: $4.2 million
  7. Moneyball: $4.1 million
  8. Johnny English Reborn: $3.8 million
  9. The Thing: $3.1 million
  10. 50/50: $2.8 million

Source: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2011/10/paranormal-activity-3-scares-up-huge-box-office-haul/

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Monday, October 24, 2011

Obama's foreign successes may help little in 2012

Capt. Corey Steiner is welcomed home by his daughter, Lilliana Steiner, during a homecoming ceremony, Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 at Ft. Carson, Colo. (AP Photo/The Colorado Springs Gazette, Jerilee Bennett)

Capt. Corey Steiner is welcomed home by his daughter, Lilliana Steiner, during a homecoming ceremony, Friday, Oct. 21, 2011 at Ft. Carson, Colo. (AP Photo/The Colorado Springs Gazette, Jerilee Bennett)

(AP) ? By declaring the Iraq war over, President Barack Obama scored what his allies see as a fourth big foreign policy success in six months, starting with Osama bin Laden's killing. But these events might play a discouragingly small role in his re-election bid, even if they burnish his eventual place in history.

American voters tend to focus heavily on domestic issues, especially in times of high unemployment. That will limit Obama's campaign options.

His supporters are seeking ways to make the most of his foreign policy accomplishments. One approach is to contrast them with Congress' partisan-driven gridlock on taxes, the deficit and other domestic issues.

"Look at the progress the president can make when he doesn't have Republicans obstructing him," said Karen Finney, a former Democratic spokeswoman who often defends the party on TV and radio.

Former Democratic strategist Rebecca Kirszner Katz distributed a similar remark on Twitter this week: "Terrorists and dictators, lacking the filibuster, have no effective defense against Barack Obama." It referred to the stalling tactic that Senate Republicans frequently use to kill Democratic bills even though they hold only 47 of the chamber's 100 seats.

These Democrats hope Americans will see a bold and capable president who keeps his promises when Republicans don't create roadblocks. They note that he green-lighted a daring nighttime raid to kill bin Laden in Pakistan on May 1; approved policies that led to last month's drone-missile killing of American-born terror advocate Anwar al-Awlaki in Yemen; backed allied actions that led to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's ouster and death; and ended U.S. involvement in Iraq on schedule.

"It is very important for any incumbent to be able to talk about promises made and promises kept," Finney said. The list of achievements, contrasted with President George W. Bush's erroneous claims about Iraq's weaponry in the first place, should help Democrats shake their image of being the weaker party on national security, she said.

"That baggage is finally lifted," Finney said.

Translating that claim into votes for Obama 13 months from now may be difficult, however. The latest Associated Press-GfK poll confirmed that Americans still place far greater emphasis on domestic issues, especially the economy, than on foreign matters, including the war on terrorism.

The poll found Obama's overall approval rating at an all-time low, 46 percent, for the second straight month, even though 64 percent of adults approved of his handling of terrorism. Only 40 percent approved of his handling of the economy.

Ninety-three percent of those questioned said the economy was an extremely or very important issue. By comparison, 73 percent put the same emphasis on terrorism.

Democratic officials believe Obama's foreign policy record will look even better when the Republican presidential candidates hold a debate on that topic Nov. 15. Leading contenders Mitt Romney and Rick Perry are current or former governors, and Herman Cain has never held public office. So none has extensive foreign policy experience.

Voters routinely accept that, however. In recent presidential elections they have chosen governors from Georgia, California, Arkansas and Texas, plus a first-term senator, Obama.

On Friday, Romney and Perry criticized Obama's handling of Iraq. Some Democrats found Romney's remarks exceptionally harsh.

"President Obama's astonishing failure to secure an orderly transition in Iraq has unnecessarily put at risk the victories that were won through the blood and sacrifice of thousands of American men and women," Romney said. "The unavoidable question is whether this decision is the result of a naked political calculation or simply sheer ineptitude in negotiations with the Iraqi government."

Obama's defenders fired back. "Is there anything more hollow than Mitt Romney decrying 'political considerations' in decision-making?" said former White House spokesman Bill Burton.

Perry said in a statement: "I'm deeply concerned that President Obama is putting political expediency ahead of sound military and security judgment by announcing an end to troop level negotiations and a withdrawal from Iraq by year's end." He said Obama "was slow to engage the Iraqis and there's little evidence today's decision is based on advice from military commanders."

House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, was more generous. "American forces not only freed Iraq from a vicious tyrant, but ? under the strategy developed and implemented by our generals, and the leadership of both President Bush and President Obama ? ended a violent terrorist insurgency," he said.

Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt said Obama "kept his pledge to the nation to end the war in Iraq in a responsible way, he has promoted our security in Afghanistan, and eliminated key al-Qaida leaders." He said Romney "didn't lay out a plan to end the war in Iraq."

Long-time Republican strategist Rich Galen said the economy clearly will dominate the 2012 election, and it might undo Obama. As for Obama's foreign record, however, Galen said, "they're doing exactly the right thing" by highlighting every success they can.

Galen said Obama clearly deserves credit for the gutsy raid on bin Laden's hideaway.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/89ae8247abe8493fae24405546e9a1aa/Article_2011-10-22-US-Obama-Politics-Promises/id-e60017d2f3cc45f492e9104b6e5f0455

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Mike Ragogna: Cameron Crowe Directs Pearl Jam Video, Plus Chatting With The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and Primus' Les Claypool

PEARL JAM MUSIC VIDEO DIRECTED BY CAMERON CROWE WORLD PREMIERES ON IMDb

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"Not For You," the never-before-seen, full-length Pearl Jam Music video directed By Cameron Crowe and featuring live, archival footage is exclusively presented here on IMDB: www.imdb.com/pj20

Pearl Jam, Columbia Records/SONY Music Entertainment and IMDb (www.imdb.com)--the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content--today announced that "Not For You," a full-length, never-before-seen music video directed by Cameron Crowe, featuring live, archival performances and behind-the-scenes footage of the band, is world premiering today exclusively on IMDb.com and IMDb's mobile apps. "We tried to present an emotional scrapbook of what it felt like to be a band member on this twenty-year journey," said Director Cameron Crowe. "The richness of the footage made our path very clear--just tell the story of the band and let the music guide us. It was a joy to make this."

"Who better to tackle a documentary on Pearl Jam, one of the most influential and important bands in the last two decades, than Cameron Crowe, whose experience straddles those decades and bridges journalism and moviemaking," said Keith Simanton, IMDb's Managing Editor. "Fans will be excited to see this full-length cut of 'Not For You,' which is not in the theatrical version of Pearl Jam Twenty, from a raw time when the band was still finding its place in the rock world. It's like Cameron Crowe has unearthed a time capsule for us and found a pulsar inside."

FYI, "Not For You" was released on March 21, 1995 as the second single from Pearl Jam's third studio album, Vitalogy (1994).

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photo credit: Danny Clinchsm

Special Thanks to Emily Glassman & Bradley Robinson


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An Interrogation of The Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne

Mike Ragogna: Wayne, how are you? How have you been since my last interrogation?

Wayne Coyne: I was laughing the whole time, it's supposed to sound like this great thing, but the longer it goes, I can't help but laugh from behind a curtain. Thank you for having me back, I'm good and I'm sitting in the studio as we speak, getting ready to do this song like you're talking about.

MR: First, can we talk about the six-hour song?

WC: We've done the six-hour song, it was something that came out about three weeks ago. Many people are having a good time with it. When we announced we were doing this six-hour song--the reason it was six hours was because it accompanies this strange little toy we put out. I know it sounds absurd to talk about a song being six-hours long, but you can play with this toy, as we proclaim, for hours and hours at a time. So, part of our reasoning was we would make a song that allowed you to play with this little toy that had a strobe light and these spinning discs for hours. I don't know why we arrived at six hours, we thought it would be a lot of fun...your friends could come over to your house and you could have some sort of experience, all of this in good fun. You would listen to our song and it would be wonderful, right?

MR: Why, of course. And let me plug the name of the song--"Found A Star On The Ground."

WC: That's the six-hour song. Now what we're getting ready to do--because we're moving along at a pretty good velocity of releases and when we record them--we're getting ready to record a song that goes for 24 hours.

MR: The hell you say. Just how exactly are you going to do that?

WC: Well, we don't really know exactly, but having done the six-hour song gives you a little bit of a change of perspective on what you can do and how you can do it. Frankly, because it's such a monolithic thing, you don't really worry about every little nuance being perfect. When we were doing the six-hour song, it's done with a group, but much of it is me and Steven (Drozd) in his bedroom playing and overdubbing and doing it that way. This will be a bigger ensemble and the whole group will be here playing for virtually hours at a time. We will still be doing a lot overdubs and stuff like that, but we have a song that we feel could be a very sad, long, strange journey of a song. The song is about death, it's going to be released in an actually human skull at midnight on Halloween. It's got a lot of power in it in the fact that it's 24 hours long. I'm not sure we're suggesting that everybody stop what their doing and listen to it for that long--I'm sure some people will, some people like this idea of there being an excursion of sound and you get immersed in this thing. There are many groups and many artists that have done things--music, songs, compositions--that are long. I think everybody becomes curious about what's possible when you don't think that this is just going to go for a couple of minutes. What we mean is that it's not meant to be something that you listen to intensely, like your favorite song that plays on your way to work. This is meant to happen while you're having other states of mind. That kind of frees you up as a musician, an artist, and a composer. It frees you up to think that this could be something that frees you up to think that this could be something that goes on for 35, 45, or even 60 minutes and still be about music, but not be about this intense, every second counts, sort of composition.

MR: Now, the proceeds for the six-hour track were to be donated to your local Oklahoma foundations. What was the suggested donation?

WC: Well, here's what happened. We were making the song, which took us about three weeks to make. I have a pretty active Twitter audience out there, so we would have been working on the very beginning of it, so people would be listening and making suggestions, and someone said, "You should have a contest where you could put somebody's name in the six-hour song, and the winner of the contest will have their name announced." It made me think that maybe we could raise some money, just another way of having there be things connected to this song. We have a couple of these charities that we're always trying to make people aware of in Oklahoma City. I would say these are all self-interest things for me. In my neighborhood in Oklahoma City, it's one of the worst neighborhoods for stray and homeless animals. So, when I talk to people about this, I say, "Any money you give to this goes directly to that and it will help." There are many animals that are euthanized every day. There's also an Academy of Contemporary Music, and the C.E.O is our manager. He organizes and is responsible for the way that school provides computers and instruments and a place for young people to explore what they want to do for music. So, both of these are dear things that we believe in and love and want to make work. We announced that for a hundred dollar donation, and we would split the money between those two charities. We would put your name into the song; it's a six-hour song, so there's plenty of space. We didn't know how many we would get, we thought if we had ten, that would be fine; we didn't know that we would do a thousand names, so we're lucky that it stopped at about 230, which is still a lot of names. And some of them are in Japanese--it's a difficult task to get all the names organized and said correctly. I believe it all worked out and I get notes from people saying, "Yeah! I heard my name!"

MR: We were talking about the Central Oklahoma Humane Society and The Academy Of Contemporary Music at Central Oklahoma, right?

WC: Exactly. You can no longer donate to get your name in the song. You can always donate to these things, but I always say everybody should have their local things that they support. So, we had it for a certain amount of time and it's wonderful. It raised over ten thousand dollars for each of those, and it's a great thing to connect with our fans. I know it's our fans because you wouldn't really know about it if you weren't a Flaming Lips fan. Some of the names are of people that are yet to be born--there are kids' names mentioned in the songs that will be born in a couple of months from now. Some of them are in memory of friends and relatives that are no longer with us...many great things involved with it. I know it sounds ridiculous to think that we're taking a piece of music and inserting these names over top of it, but again, I think anything is possible. It's not just about raising the money, it's also about doing and trying new things.

MR: We could go over all the experimental music The Flaming Lips created, but this interview has to end today at some point. Wayne, you're out of your mind in such an incredible way, it's really amazing.

WC: Thank you for saying that. If all artists and musicians were as lucky as me, they would do the same things. There are a lot of opportunities and there are a lot of people helping me, but we also don't always fear that it has to be the greatest thing ever or succeed the greatest way ever. There is a lot of music that can really be wonderful but doesn't have to be in the Top Ten of the Billboard charts. So, that's the way we live our lives, it's just an interesting way to do your art. For me, I'm interested in everything. I'm lucky that it's about music, and the way we do music in the way we do lets you explore everything. That's like the things we have like the Gummy Skull, and this song on Halloween where it's an actual human skull To me, it's all fascinating and it's all interesting. It's leading me down paths of discovery I would never think of if I were just pursuing it as sound and music. We want music to not really be about music; we want music to be the sound of an extraordinary adventure.

MR: What a great line. I have to write that down.

WC: (laughs)

MR: Sean Lennon also contributed to the six-hour recording, right?

WC: Well, in the beginning, when I thought of the names being announced...this is a strange coincidence, but I'm fifty years old and when I'm reminded of this music when I was young, one of the songs that me and my brothers would play all the time would be "Strawberry Fields Forever," which was the pinnacle of John Lennon's psychedelic creations. Well, at the very end of the song of "Strawberry Fields Forever," he does this strange announcement. We all know now since the song is called "Strawberry Fields Forever" and he's saying cranberry sauce. We were young and it was a part of this mythology that Paul McCartney had mysteriously died. If you want to think or hear John saying this, it sounds like he's saying, "I buried Paul." This is a very strange connection to make to John Lennon's actually son. We spoke about it briefly and Sean is a very wonderful, open-minded, creative person, who, when I told him, said, "That's just great." He's crazy like that. When I told him that was my reference, and I told him to act like he's this voice from beyond reading a list of people being abducted by a UFO or something like that, he giggled the whole way through it. We did it over the phone, I called him at his studio that he was working in, and we did it mostly in two sections. He would slash them in 45 minutes at one o'clock in the morning one night. I would send him the list and he would go through some of the more difficult ones. Luckily, he's familiar with a lot of Japanese names--his mother is Yoko Ono. The ones that would be difficult for me, he got right through them. It wasn't a lot of Japanese names, but it was about twenty or so. He was wonderful. We know each other and we're friends and we've played shows earlier in the year, and you're always looking for opportunities for something with people that are crazy like you. I figured he would go for it and it sounds wonderful. At the end, there's this 7 or 8-minute section that ends the whole six-hour thing, and it's Sean Lennon saying, "We will always love, we will always love you." It's haunting but it's powerful.

MR: Beautiful. While we're talking about The Flaming Lips, are you on tour?

WC: We're kind of always playing. We never think of it of necessarily being on tour because it sends the impression that you're out there traveling the world for two years; it's not like that. We're always playing shows, we're always recording, we're always doing things. Playing shows is a part of our normal week, and recording is a part of our normal week, not recording and doing other things is a part of our week. So, I will say, "Yes," but I don't want people to get the wrong impression. We don't play 250 shows a year, we probably play 70 shows and a lot of those shows are strange unique places we've never been before. We've been around for almost 30 years, and we want to play places we've never seen, people we never met there. There are a lot of our own reasons to go to these places.

MR: As far as this 24 hour recording, when is it starting?

WC: We're starting to record it even as we speak, but it's going to be released at midnight on Halloween. It should be fascinating.

MR: As you're recording, you're not going to let sequenced parts ramble on for an hour, right? I mean, there will actually be a person in the studio always making music?

WC: To me, it's all possible. If for some reason...there are millions of little devices that can play without the aid of any humans there. To me, it doesn't matter, there are bits of things that we do in live performance that are machines making a great noise and we stand in front of it, adding to it. We're not really thinking that it's going to be repetitive material like that--it's not meant to be hypnotic, it's meant to be a moving composition. I would never rule out in any way if something happens and goes on for 20 minutes and happens to be generated by a computer and we all think it's great, I say let it happen. To me, it's all about listening. As much as it's about creating and playing music, it's about listening. It would be like a chef in the kitchen endlessly making food; in the end, he would want everybody tasting it and worth making it. I'm always listening, and I don't always know if it was a machine doing it or a musician.

MR: Trash all boarder lines.

WC: Of course, not out of disrespect--this is what you do when you're creative, you accept anything and not worry about it. I would say that it's art and music; we're not trying to create laws, we're not trying to get medicine for children. This is the realm where anything is possible. A lot of the world is restricted. I think that's why people find so much freedom and joy in music, because it's not restrictive. I would never want to tell anybody that you can't make music in that way. You can't do that, I say do anything you want if you can get away with it. (laughs)

MR: (laughs) Thank you for allowing me to be devil's advocate with that question.

WC: I love when people do that better...it reminds me of these things to say.

MR: Like, I don't know, what advice do you have for new artists?

WC: The music business is changing a lot, so depending on musicians you admire and which ones you feel like you want to be like, I would say for the world of music and people who are allowed to make it and live in that world, I think it's working for the better. It's becoming a place that's not about fame, it's becoming a place that's not about money. It's about a place where people who really love music and if you're like me--obsessed with music and ideas and creating--if you're lucky, you can get to do that for a living. A lot of people are driven by other things. My advice is if you don't live, breath, and love music, do something else. I don't think it would satisfy you if you wanted to get into fame and all of these other things that were connected to it before. That's just me. To me, the idea of being creative and doing that for your life, as opposed to doing some traditional job...to me, that's the miracle of my life.

MR: I guess people should ready now for Halloween and this 24-hour event.

WC: Exactly, and you'll find some space in your life somewhere along the way to listen to it--if not all of it, some if it--and get this other experience. That's really what it is, it's not just about music; it's about this experience, and this sound that accompanies it.

MR: Wayne, all the best, it's always a lot of fun talking with you. I guess we will be talking again in the next week or so.

WC: Excellent! Well, thank you sir, I will see you then.

Transcribed by Theo Shier


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A Conversation with Primus' Les Claypool

Mike Ragogna: Hey, Les.

Les Claypool: Hey.

MR: So. Green Naugahyde. Explain yourself.

LC: I've been trying to explain myself for twenty years, I'm tired of it.

MR: (laughs)

LC: I can't explain myself anymore. (laughs) You want me to explain the notion of Green Naugahyde?

MR: Please, sir.

LC: Well, the title comes from a line in one of the songs called, "Lee Van Cleef," which was me reflecting on elements of my youth. The line is, "A yellow Studebaker with a 302 and I see the green naugahyde." That was my father's pickup truck when I was a kid.

MR: There was a car show here yesterday and I fell in love with a '57 Chevy. Just thought I'd say that.

LC: An early '60s Studebaker pickup is very different from a '57 Chevy, but it was still a pretty interesting hunk of machinery. Unfortunately, it's probably being smashed up into a cube somewhere, because I inadvertently ran into the side of a liquor store one evening with it. I think that sent it down its path of being on the planet no more as being a Studebaker champ. It wasn't my fault though because the old Studebaker, now and again, the driver's side door would fly open because the latch didn't work properly. So, as I was making a right turn, the door flew open, and by the time I got back up into the truck, I was up on the sidewalk. It either hit a telephone pole or hit a building, and I tried to go between the two of them and I ended up hitting the building.

MR: Good choice, I guess.

LC: (laughs) I don't know.

MR: With Primus, you can't really predict what's in the creative mind of Les Claypool. I want to get some stories behind the songs. For instance, "Last Salmon Man."

LC: Well, most of my friends are contractors and trades people, or fisherman. So--I've written about this times before--this is the fisherman's chronicles, chapter five or six. I'm watching the fishing industry, especially the salmon fishing industry of Northern California, fading away. I see these poor bastards losing this legacy that their grandfathers built for them as we send all of our water down to make more golf courses in Palm Springs. It's a little frustrating, so I wrote about this legacy of the "Last Salmon Man."

MR: What are some other topics that were important to you on Green Naugahyde?

LC: There are quite a few tracks on the record that have some various perspectives of what's going on with our planet, socially and politically. I've always been a fan of people like Frank Capra, and the Coen brothers, and Elia Kazan that use these different characters in their films, these dark disturbing characters to convey various viewpoints. That's sort of what I've done throughout the years with my music. Something like "Jilly's On Smack," which has become a very powerful song for us on this record. People have been really drawn to it, and it tends to be a song, live, that stands out. It's somewhat based on an individual that we knew and lost to the world of substance abuse. I wrote the song from the perspective of the family, "Jilly's on smack and she won't be coming back for the holidays." This family, that's used to someone being there on special occasions, and now she's not there because she's somewhere else, doing something else that's taken her priorities away from her.

MR: Addiction is a topic which is difficult to address from a parental perspective, because it's very hard when it's your child going through that. On the other hand, do you sweep it under the blanket?

LC: Addiction has been a huge source of fodder for many of my writings over the years because it's been a huge part of a certain portion of my family. I lost my uncle when he was fifty because he did speed for thirty years. My cousin, who I spent every day with till I was about 13, he has been in and out of prison for the past 30 years because of speed. All of these things have been very prevalent in my family, and subsequently prevalent in the music. Like my family, I hadn't seen my 96-year old grandfather in several years and went and saw him last week, and he's hilarious. He's funnier than hell, sharp as a tack, and I see the elements of how my family has always dealt with these things--these downfalls and tragedies--through humor. Both of my grandfathers are hilarious, and it's sort of been the self-defense mechanism of my world since I was a little kid.

MR: Les, I want to move on to the song "Eternal Consumption Engine," I love that because I think collectively, we are.

LC: We definitely are. That riff was a riff that Ler has been kicking around for about at least 15 years, and I finally said, "Let's put that thing on a record man, I love that riff." The wheels started clicking, I was looking through my notes, and I found "Eternal Consumption Engine"--which is obviously a play on "internal combustion engine." Just the notion of how we are a nation of consumers these days, and far less a nation of producers. Because of that, our economy is obviously suffering, people are unemployed, and China's economy is obviously booming and bolstering from our addiction to going to Wal-Mart and Costco.

MR: Yes, the culturally accepted addiction.

LC: I'm totally addicted to shopping...that's what my mom used to do when we were kids. She would go buy things, keep them for a day or two, and then return them. The process of purchasing satisfied a need. I'm the same way, but I'm a Craigslist guy; I'm a Craigslist junky. I remember Tom Waits once called me a Pawn Shop Weasel. Now, I'm a Craigslist Weasel because it's easier than going to the pawn shop. I will obsess over the strangest things until I find them. (laughs)

MR: Is that something that can be turned around? (laughs)

LC: I think it's fine, there are far worst things I could be addicted to, I suppose. (laughs) When I go, my family is going to have a hell of yard sale.

MR: Do you remember when after 9/11 we were told if we wanted to support America, go shop.

LC: Yeah, I would take that a step further and (say) if you really want to be patriotic go buy something that's still made in the United States, by American workers.

MR: Nicely put. So, we know that this economy is shot and Obama is getting hammered as far public opinion polls. Where do you see this going? Is there any shot at this economy recovering, in your opinion?

LC: Well, I would like to hope so, but there is a lot of political manipulation going on right now. We have a couple of football teams here, some people are rooting for the Raiders, some people are rooting for the 49ers, and they are going to do whatever they can to keep the opposing team from winning, gaining any yardage, so they can't ultimately win the game. Unfortunately, the fans in the stands are waiting for a touchdown or two because it's beginning to be a pretty dull game.

MR: Does it take an inspiring leader to turn people around?

LC: I think that's a huge part of it. The notion of having someone that you can believe in and learn from and trust is an amazing thing, but that's subjective. One person that a certain group of individuals may think is the greatest thing since cream cheese, another group of individuals is going to think is a moron. That's just life, but I think we need to become a nation of manufacturers. That's what built this country after WWII. I remember my grandfather working as a firefighter down in Richmond. It was a huge port for shipyards and building, there was always this sense of pride and everything that we did as a family as workers. I just don't see that anymore.

MR: We may not know how to work anymore, but we sure know how to buy.

LC: I also think those opportunities don't exist anymore. I travel the states all the time. Some towns that were thriving 30 or 40 years ago are now ghost towns because a certain candy bar isn't made there anymore or piece of machinery isn't made there anymore, when that town was built on that industry. It's frightening.

MR: In the end, is this something where you just have to go with the changing tides?

LC: The thing is I'm a bass player, so I don't have all of these answers. (laughs) But I think a lot of it is common sense. The tide turned a long time ago to send a lot of these companies overseas. Until we can bring a lot of that back, I think it will be a tough road.

MR: Okay, that in no way brings us to the song "Moron TV." Or maybe it does in a bigger picture. Anyway, what went into that topic?

LC: Well, I was a kid of the '70s that had divorced parents, and I went to visit my father and knew none of the kids in the neighborhood. I would hang out and sit around watching old creature features and whatnot on television. I would spend a lot of time in front of the television. I'm sure some of it was beneficial to my intellect and a lot of it was not. (laughs) There were only four or five channels back then, and a couple of cable channels. Now, there are hundreds of channels, there is so much dogs**t on these channels. The flip side of that is that there are a lot of golden nuggets, there are a lot of outlets for things where you can actually learn something and expand your horizons. It amazes me how we glorify some of this moronic behavior, but it's nothing new. I'm sure it's been going on for hundreds of years, but it's more abundant now.

MR: We're in the age of reality TV, and when you think it's dying down, here comes another "make your fellow human look like an idiot" television show.

LC: Well, the unfortunate thing is you get a group of individuals and you put them in front of a camera and folks look at it and see the craziness of it. That's where they gain the entertainment aspect. Unfortunately, there is a slew of individuals--and I'm constantly trying to educate my kids on this--that look at these same people and feel that they are being glorified. They don't see the irony in it, they see it in glorification. That, to me, I find a little unsettling.

MR: I mean take something like American Idol where somebody looks at it and wants to be that character instead of actually training to be great.

LC: But American Idol is American Idol, it's pop culture being amplified. That doesn't bother me nearly as much as a group of people living in a house somewhere and they are acting imbecilic. There's an element of watching it and understanding that the behavior is so over the top and moronic that it's humorous and compelling. Then there is my daughter watching it and actually thinking it's cool. There are a lot of people on this planet that will take fame in any context or take fame in any form no matter how compromising that may be because it's fame. The glory of fame--whether it's a positive thing or a negative thing--people are still drawn towards it.

MR: Speaking of one of the smartest shows ever, there's South Park. It's still going strong.

LC: Well, Matt and Trey they are a couple of sharp fellas. (laugh) They just had their 15th anniversary party the other night, so we were just down there. Those guys never cease to amaze me. They are good friends, fairly normal guys, and they keep hitting home run after home run. This whole Book Of Mormon thing won nine Tony's.

MR: Les, are you inspired by something and that's the moment you write it or do you work on things for a long time?

LC: It's a little bit of both. I have notebooks scattered all over the place with various writings and ramblings, in different stages of completion. Whether it's a short story or a notion for a film or a song or just a line. Some of it comes to fruition and completion and a lot of it doesn't and probably never will. What was the question again? (laughs)

MR: (laughs) What is your creative process?

LC: The creative process, it's always different. As long as it's casual, I don't like forcing things. If I have to sit down and force myself to write something, I just don't do it. If it doesn't come naturally, I feel like it's in my own head but it's not going to be nearly as good. The stuff that sticks with me over the years was the stuff that just flowed, but that could also be a long-term process. "Jilly's On Smack" was a line in a notebook that expanded to what it is now. It may be a picture, it may be one little line, it may be three lines, you never know.

MR: Are there any songs on the album that took a long time to complete?

LC: Not really. I was very insistent that everybody bring in material on this record because Primus records in the past have been things I've brought in or things we've jammed on in a rehearsal space. I didn't want it to be all that. After doing the Oysterhead record, I liked starting on somebody else's thought, so having Ler bring in the riff for "Jilly's On Smack" and then building off of it is amazing, or "Eternal Consumption Engine" and building off of that and trying to support his vision, that's a whole new portion of your brain that you're using for this creative element. That, to me, was exciting.

MR: Les, what was the approach recording-wise?

LC: My studio is full of vintage gear. I have an old API 2488 console from the early '70s, I have a two-inch, 16-track that we would track to. Once it was all tracked, it did go into Pro Tools and we did our mixing off of Pro Tools and back into the vintage equipment. It was a combination of vintage and modern technology.

MR: You guys got back together again after 10 years to record Green Naugahyde. I guess after the collaborations, etc., you brought some of your new knowledge and new looks at music into this project.

LC: Well, I think the last ten years have had a lot of growth. Hopefully, we've all grown over these last ten years. For me, particularly, it was a period of experimentation--growth in many different ways as far as playing with different musicians. The more you play with other people, you gain different perspectives. It's like having a conversation; the more conversations you have with different people with different perspectives than yourself, then the better conversationalist you will become. And I've had a lot of conversations over the past ten years I was able to bring to the Primus fold. I would have brought it to any fold I would had gone to, even if we had done an Oysterhead record. As you move through life, hopefully, you're gathering not only moss but some barnacles and experiences that you can bring with you into any creative situation.

MR: You mentioned Oysterhead, which was with Stewart Copeland and Trey Anastasio. How does it work when you're working on other projects? Is it open-ended as far as the future?

LC: I would like to hope they are. I'm a very fortunate individual. There are a lot of creative opportunities out there and I like to take as much advantage of that as much as we can, because we're only on the planet for a certain amount of time. I would like to get as many punches in my sandwich card as I can. Fill my repertoire and having something that looks good on my tombstone when they put me in the dirt. Why wouldn't you want to go revisit some of these things that were pleasant and creatively satisfying?

MR: Plus you've had a nice cast of characters to play with like Adrian Belew, Tom Waits...

LC: ...yeah, playing with people of that caliber both musically and socially is spectacular. For me, that's what defines success more than anything for me, besides having a good family is working with and befriending, not only my heroes, but people I respect as creative people.

MR: Do you see yourself maybe creating another concept in the next couple of years?

LC: I would like to hope there is something on the horizon. Right now, I have a lot of pots on the stove. I use the stove metaphor a lot. The Primus pot is on the front burner. At some point in time, I will be pulling the Oysterhead pot forward, or I will go do another project with Eugeine Hutz. There are a lot of things, and I'm sure there are a lot of things around the corner that I'm not even anticipating.

MR: You mentioned family before, I just wanted to ask you how your nephew's doing?

LC: He's a tough little guy.

MR: Of course, you had that benefit for him a while back. Did that generate enough support?

LC: There's been extraordinary support for my brother and his family. So, it's greatly appreciated and heartwarming.

MR: Les, what advice do you have for new artists?

LC: You've just got to play. Play as often as you can with as many people as you can in front of as many people as you can. Playing in your bedroom and in the basement is limiting. You need to go out and play in front of other people with other people. Again, it's back to the conversation thing. You can either read a speech or you can have a conversation. To be a good conversationalist, you need to talk to a lot of people.

MR: What's touring looking like for Primus?

LC: We're just starting the States tour. We're about a week into it and I think we're going to South America later this year and then back to Australia and then in Europe next spring. And it's all via hot air balloon.

MR: (laughs) How are you pulling that off?

LC: It's old school.

MR: Your new album came in at #14 on the Billboard charts. After all these years, people still love Primus. Feels good?

LC: It feels absolutely horrible. (laughs) What am I supposed to say? It's good that's great, fantastic. I'm clicking my heels together.

MR: Yeah, lame question. Les, I appreciate your time and thank you for talking with us.

LC: Yeah, no worries.

Tracks:
1. Prelude to a Crawl
2. Hennepin Crawler
3. Last Salmon Man
4. Eternal Consumption Engine
5. Tragedy's A-Comin'
6. Eyes of the Squirrel
7. Jilly's on Smack
8. Lee Van Cleef
9. Moron TV
10. Green Ranger
11. HOINFODAMAN
12. Extinction Burst
13. Salmon Men

Transcribed by Theo Shier

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Follow Mike Ragogna on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ragz2008

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/cameron-crowe-directs-pea_b_1027722.html

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Sunday, October 23, 2011

British couple drowns in Spanish flash flood (AP)

MADRID ? An elderly British couple drowned after being swept away by a flash flood that coursed through a street market in southeastern Spain, officials said Saturday.

Twenty-five minutes of heavy rain inland of the town of Finestrat caused a torrent to rush downhill Friday through the area in which the market had been set up, regional interior ministry representative Jose Perez Grau said.

Vendors and visitors alike were caught by surprise because it had not been raining in the town itself, he said.

The married couple's ages were given as 70 and 72 but they were not identified. The Diario de Informacion newspaper said they had been staying at a seaside hotel with relatives in Benidorm, 7 miles (12 kilometers) east of Finestrat.

Citing witnesses, the paper said the couple had gotten tangled in a canvas awning that had come loose and were dragged downstream, ending up trapped under a vehicle submerged in three feet (one meter) of water.

Their bodies were only discovered once the water had receded, the paper reported. Five other people were injured.

Britain's Foreign Office said it was providing consular assistance to the couple's family.

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Raphael Satter in London contributed to this report.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20111022/ap_on_re_eu/eu_spain_flooding

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Saturday, October 22, 2011

GE profit up 18 percent, driven by foreign growth (Reuters)

(Reuters) ? General Electric Co reported an 18 percent profit rise that met Wall Street's expectations, helped by strong revenue growth in key foreign markets including Brazil, Russia and China.

The largest U.S. conglomerate said on Friday it expects earnings to rise at a double-digit percentage rate next year, following peer United Technologies Corp in trying to assuage investors' fears about Europe's brewing debt crisis.

"We continue to successfully navigate a volatile global economy," Chief Executive Jeff Immelt said in a statement.

Investors took heart in the company's 16 percent growth in industrial equipment orders -- an important indicator of future revenue, and in the 25 percent rise in international sales. GE has been counting on strong demand in rapidly developing economies to offset weak U.S. and European demand.

"The revenue number was strong and the organic growth rate in industrial was strong," said Jack De Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. "Those are telling and they give us a little bit of a look into next quarter and beyond."

But GE shares declined 1.4 percent to $16.40 in premarket trading as some raised concerns that its profit margins were weaker than expected in the quarter, with a low tax rate helping the company to meet expectations.

"Margins missed our forecast and were down year on year in the four big industrial businesses," said Jeffrey Sprague, managing partner at Vertical Research Partners. "There is little or no operating leverage in GE's portfolio due to low priced equipment in backlog and R&D headwinds."

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For a graphic on the manufacturing sector: http://r.reuters.com/bed54s

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The report comes amid a wave of generally strong earnings reports from big U.S. manufacturers. Also on Friday, Honeywell International Inc reported a 45 percent profit rise. Fellow blue chips Caterpillar Inc and 3M Co will report next week.

Still, investors remain concerned whether Europe's crisis could drag down global demand by shaking the financial system.

"Possible concerns going forward are going to be related to Europe and what impact that may have, not just there but on global growth in general," said Perry Adams, vice president and senior portfolio manager at Huntington Private Financial Group in Traverse City, Michigan. "There's elevated uncertainty."

BUYS BACK BUFFETT STAKE

The world's biggest maker of jet engines and electric turbines reported third-quarter earnings attributable to common shareholders of $2.34 billion, or 22 cents per share, compared with $1.98 billion, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.

The results included an 8-cent-per-share charge to buy back the preferred shares the company had sold to Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc during the financial crisis.

Buying back the Buffett stake, which carried a preferred dividend, will boost GE's annual earnings by 3 cents per share in the coming years.

Factoring out one-time items, profit came to 31 cents per share, meeting analysts' average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Revenue was little changed at $35.37 billion, above the $34.94 analysts had forecast.

GE's weak point on profit remained its big energy infrastructure division, where earnings slipped 9 percent despite a 30 percent rise in revenue, reflecting pricing pressure on wind turbines. The company has said that business will resume profit growth next year.

"That's bottoming out. It will start to turn up probably in the next quarter but definitely in 2012," said Harbor's De Gan. "It's a margin issue. Margins have contracted because wind is just so terrible."

Before today, GE shares had fallen about 9 percent so far this year, while the Dow Jones industrial average has declined less than 1 percent.

(Reporting by Scott Malone in Boston, additional reporting by Nick Zieminski, Edward Krudy and Ryan Vlastelica in New York, editing by Maureen Bavdek and Derek Caney)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/earnings/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20111021/bs_nm/us_ge

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