Shouldn't Your Speaker System Transform? 500GB's For $35, Sony RX100

In my ripe old age of 27 I've become a strong advocate for a simple home theater, "downsizing" my projector, 7.1 speaker system, and A/V receiver to a wireless soundbar and quality plasma screen. This Panasonic 2.1 system is a great option for those who want to save a lot of money, a lot of space, and a lot of effort in building out their living room entertainment center. Lose the wires and add multiple speaker configuration options. It's a win-win. $168. [Amazon]

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Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/c8vIbe2TjmM/shouldnt-your-speaker-system-transform-500gbs-for-3-1444859881
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Powell, Motown Records' chief of charm, dies at 98

DETROIT (AP) — Maxine Powell, who was responsible for developing the charm, grace and style of Motown Records' artists during the Detroit label's 1960s heyday, died Monday at age 98.

Motown Historical Museum CEO Allen Rawls said Powell died of natural causes at a hospital in Southfield, Mich.

She didn't sing or write songs, but those associated with Motown say Powell was as essential to the label's operations as any performer or producer.

She directed the label's Artists Development Department, also known as "Motown's Finishing School." Through it, she emphasized to many artists — including Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, the Jackson Five and the Supremes — how they should carry themselves, treat people and dress.

Motown founder Berry Gordy said the training school was the only one of its kind offered at any record label.

"She brought something to Motown that no other record company had," Gordy said in a statement Monday. "She was a star in her own right — an original. She will always be remembered for her style and class, and she instilled that into the Motown artists by teaching them how to walk, talk and even think with class."

Powell's passing comes less than two months after she was honored at the museum by Robinson and others.

"She was such an important, integral part of what we were doing here at Motown," Robinson said at the Aug. 26 event held at the famed Hitsville, U.S.A, building.

"It didn't matter who you became during the course of your career — how many hits you had, how well your name was known around the world," he said. "Two days a week when you were back in Detroit you had to go to artists' development. It was mandatory."

Gordy paid tribute to Powell via videotape during the celebration, joking that he still remembered many of Powell's sayings, such as "Do not protrude the buttocks," and "Do not confuse me with your parents — they're stuck with you. I'm not."

Born in Texarkana, Texas, Powell was raised in Chicago, where she began her career as an actress. Powell later moved to Detroit. There, she opened the Maxine Powell Finishing School, where she trained African-American models. One of those models was Gordy's sister, Gwen, who was responsible for bringing Powell to Motown.

Once at Hitsville, she focused on polishing the young artists for their lives in the spotlight.

Some of the training included teaching Marvin Gaye to sing with his eyes open and having others balance books on their heads to improve posture. She also instructed artists on how to properly exit limousines.

Powell said in August that she would "teach until there's no breath left in my body."

"I love all the Motown artists," she said. "This has been a blessing. I thank God for allowing me to be here."

___

Associated Press writer Jeff Karoub contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/powell-motown-records-chief-charm-dies-98-194321345.html
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Banksy: I sold original artwork for $60 in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — Banksy, the British graffiti artist causing a sensation in New York City, says he sold a few of his artworks over the weekend for up to $60 apiece, far below the thousands they typically fetch.

Banksy wrote on his website that he had set up a stall in Central Park on Saturday with original signed works. But the secretive artist warned Sunday: "That stall will not be there again today."

The website features a photo and video of the pop-up stall with a sign that read: "Spray Art. $60." Eight people over the course of the day are seen buying the works and getting a hug, a peck on the cheek or a handshake after a purchase from an elderly man working the stall. It is not clear who the man is. Banksy refuses to give his real name.

The total take for the day was $420, according to the website.

It said one man from Chicago bought four works because he was decorating his new home and needed something for the walls.

One woman bought two small canvases for her children but only after negotiating a 50 percent discount, the website said.

Banksy's work has been turning up on the city's streets and all over social media in recent weeks.

___

Online:

http://www.banksy.co.uk

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/banksy-sold-original-artwork-60-nyc-121503621.html
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The New Bridget Jones Novel 'Mad About the Boy': What the Critics are Saying

After a fourteen year hiatus, London’s iconic everywoman has returned, driving readers and critics to the bookshelves. Helen Fielding's third Bridget Jones novel Mad About the Boy was published in the U.K. on Oct. 10 and goes on sale in the U.S. Oct. 15.

Fielding first introduced Jones in a series of columns published by the Independent in 1995. The popular stories of the single, 30-something Londoner were novelized the next year.

The first book, Bridget Jones' Diary, is an icon of '90s culture and its sequel, Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason, was published in 1999. The book finds the title character jealous and insecure about her relationship with Darcy and jetting off to Southeast Asia.

Between the novels, more than 15 million copies have been sold and both were adapted into films starring Colin Firth (Mark Darcy), Renee Zellweger (Bridget Jones) and Hugh Grant (Daniel Cleaver). The films grossed an impressive $543 million worldwide.

But readers familiar with Fielding’s work may find themselves at odds with Mad About the Boy, critics say. While the protagonist and even the setting remain largely intact, the novel takes place in the present where technology, dating, and child rearing pose new challenges far removed from the world of Fielding’s first two novels.

The reviews for the highly anticipated new novel have been been mixed. Find a round up of what he critics have been saying about Mad About the Boy below:

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The Independent’s Boyd Tonkin offers an in-depth interpretation of Fielding’s novel, pointing to the influence of modernity where, “On one side stands the dark-hued comedy of loneliness and grief,” and, “on the other, upbeat fantasias of merry widowhood afloat on the social-media cloud.” Tonkin applies this concept to the work as a whole, which intermittently “drops, or soars, to another level.” And while not all critics would agree, Tonkin considers Bridget Jones’ “grief” and “despair” as transient, lending to a greater purpose whereupon a “new chapter in the fairy tale can begin.”

Los Angeles Times’ Anne Freidman asks: “Who is Bridget Jones if she’s not fretting about a meaningless interaction with a man?” She feels the Jones of Mad About the Boy lacks sufficient maturity, especially in light of grim the novel's circumstances. “The introduction of genuine life sorrow doesn't just mar the lightness of the original,” Friedman argues, “but it also makes it harder for many women to relate — widowhood being far less common among 50-year-olds than divorce.”

Justine Jordan of the Guardian echoes Friedman’s sentiments, asserting that a central problem of the novel has to do with Bridget’s “tragic backstory.” Between the fatherless children and social troubles, Mad About the Boy is weighed down with “so much darkness” that “Fielding seems unwilling to write any more in.” There’s a “new sentimentality, even slushiness, to [Fielding’s] old subjects,” Jordan writes, adding that, “the familiar jaunty tone is reserved for playground politics and the chaos and cuteness of bringing up children.”

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"While parenthood and profound loss may have forced Bridget to grow up in some ways, she hasn’t grown up much,” says the Washington Post’s Jen Chaney. “And that’s one of the novel’s key problems. Readers may expect a middle-aged woman who has dealt with such loss to have lowered her narcissism levels a tad. Not Bridget Jones.” But Chaney speculates that the novel’s real problem “is less about Bridget’s stunted development and more about the lack of originality in the novel’s approach.”

The Telegraph’s Sarah Crompton is also critical of the novel’s literary qualities. She writes that, “the tone is all wrong,” and likens reading the first two thirds of Mad About the Boy to “listening to someone who once had perfect pitch, but now can’t sing a note.” Although Crompton criticizes the novel’s tone, she believes that a “clue to the problem lies in the title.” The 51-year-old Bridget “is not struggling with her happy-ever-after” or “battling with the transformation of passion into marriage,” which could have “made a brilliant novel.” Still, Crompton doesn’t conclude that Fielding has lost her touch; “she is still superb at the construction of the comic set piece.”

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thr/film/~3/dhDdV8mTBYc/story01.htm
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Steubenville rape case grand jury issues charges

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) ? An Ohio grand jury investigating whether other laws were broken in the case of a 16-year-old girl raped last year by two high school football players has issued an indictment naming a school information technology employee.

The indictment announced by Attorney General Mike DeWine on Monday charges William Rhinaman of Mingo Junction with tampering with evidence, obstructing justice, obstructing official business and perjury.

DeWine says the charges are related to Rhinaman's job as a Steubenville city schools employee. He would not release specifics on the allegations.

A phone listing for the 53-year-old Rhinaman was not taking calls Monday. Messages were left for the Steubenville schools superintendent.

Two Steubenville football players were convicted in March of raping the West Virginia girl after an alcohol-fueled party in August 2012.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/steubenville-rape-case-grand-jury-issues-charges-214936080.html

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Golden Greek's journey led him through Notre Dame, NFL and Hollywood|Red Zone Hall of Fame

Golden Greek's journey led him through Notre Dame, NFL and Hollywood
Red Zone Hall of Fame
BY ROGER CLEAVELAND Republican-American

SOUTHINGTON -- After having already established himself as the best athlete ever to come out of Southington High, one fateful fall day in 1941 Jack Zilly stepped into the national spotlight, albeit one created by the car headlights shined onto the Cheshire Academy football practice field.

An assistant coach from national collegiate power Notre Dame traveled to Connecticut to scout Zilly, and not having seen enough of the 6-foot-2, 200 pound end during practice, the coach requested that headlights be turned to the field so he could run him through some more individual drills.

"Then at the end of a couple of drills, the guy asked my dad if he wanted to go to Notre Dame," said Zilly's oldest son John. "He said, 'Hey, it won't cost you anything.' It was a handshake deal, no paperwork. The guy said, 'Hey, a promise is good enough.' That was how he got his scholarship to Notre Dame was on a handshake."

That was the start of an incredible life's journey that involved one of the greatest college football programs, the NFL, World War II service, Hollywood and an eventual business career in New England.

Zilly ultimately turned that handshake at Cheshire Academy into a brilliant All-America career that earned him two national championships with Notre Dame in 1943 and 1946. Beyond that there were three NFL championship game appearances with the Rams, including a victorious 1951 world championship game.

His national spotlight wasn't limited to the football field, either, as the stature and good looks that earned him the nickname the "Golden Greek" also landed him bit parts in a half dozen Hollywood movies including "Twelve O'Clock High" with Gregory Peck.

Zilly didn't just play an officer on the big screen, however. He became one in real life, interrupting his Notre Dame career to serve in the Navy in the South Pacific for 34 months during World War II. After being discharged as a lieutenant junior grade, he returned to Notre Dame to start at offensive and defensive end for the 1946 national championship team.

"As far as picking the outstanding player, you got the right guy in Jack Zilly," said Notre Dame teammate Terry Brennan, who later became the Irish head coach and hired Zilly as an assistant. "He was a very good athlete. The son-of-a-gun could pole vault. A guy his size had to be very coordinated to do that. He was quick. He was tough and strong and all those things, and he was a smart player. He was always where he was supposed to be."

Brennan said that as a senior at Notre Dame, Zilly mentored a young end named Leon Hart and helped shape him into the eventual Heisman Trophy winner he became. Zilly also made his own mark as a player, however, as he became an All-American at Notre his senior year.

While he was still in the Navy he became draft eligible and was selected by the NFL champion Cleveland Rams in the fourth round (32nd overall pick) of the 1945 NFL draft. The Rams moved to Los Angeles by the time he joined the team in 1947.

Zilly played five seasons with the Rams having his career essentially come to an end when he broke his leg during the summer of 1951. He was replaced as the Rams' starting right defensive end by another Connecticut native, Andy Robustelli, who used the break to launch his own NFL career that ultimately earned him 10 All-Pro honors. Zilly played one more year with the Eagles in 1952 but then moved on to coaching.

By the time his life resume was complete ? Zilly died in 2009 at age 88 ? it was as impressive and well-rounded as any that a Connecticut athlete ever produced. Arguably the best all-around athlete to ever come out of Southington, he was certainly the town's first superstar.

A member of the first class of inductees into the Southington Hall of Fame, Zilly was the town's first All-American, first professional athlete, first national champion, first world champion and the first to speak in a Hollywood movie.

Despite all his success, Zilly remained humble as he lived out the later stages of his life first as a real estate broker in Narragansett, R.I., and then in retirement.

"He was never one to throw his accomplishments out there," his son, Patrick, said. "He wasn't a person who bragged about his career. Most people didn't even know he played in the NFL. A lot of people in Rhode Island knew he played for Notre Dame because there is a big fanbase there, but he was very low key about it.

"But he was proud about what he accomplished, and he loved football. Believe me, he loved football. It was his life."

Source: http://www.rep-am.com/sports/redzone/754808.txt

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Djokovic edges past Verdasco at China Open

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Source: www.beijingnews.net --- Thursday, October 03, 2013
Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns to Fernando Verdasco of Spain during their second round men's single match on China Open tennis tournament in Beijing on October 3, ... ...

Source: http://www.beijingnews.net/index.php/sid/217504730/scat/55582c89cb296d4c

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