Thundercats Movie Still Alive? Script Details Emerge

by Paul Young 

What appears to be a copy of the Thundercats movie script has hit the internet; Screen Rant confirms that two drafts have been turned in by writer Paul Sopocy.

Open your desk drawer and file this under “S” for “Skeptical” but it appears that a copy of the Thundercats movie screenplay has hit the web - and thanks to a tip from Grizzlor at Thundercats Lair, we managed to read through a copy. So now we have to answer the looming question: Is this really a true copy of the screenplay for the Thundercats movie? If so, is it the first draft or the rewrite draft?

All of your favorite characters are in the film, along with a few new additional ones: Lion-O, Cheetara, Tygra, Panthro, Wiley Kit, Wiley Kat, Jaga, Mumm-Ra, Slithe, Monkian, Jackal Man, and even Lion-O’s father, Claudus.

For the moment let’s assume that this is a legitimate screenplay for Thundercats. I won’t SPOIL all the fun for you, but here are some interesting notes:

• There is no mention of Snarf at all – this is good news, because he would quickly become the Jar-Jar of the franchise.
• Panthro has purple skin – there was some concern of stereotyping him in the 80s as being big, bald and black.
• Claudus and Grune both appear in the movie (don’t remember them? Just click their names).
• The Berbils robot bears are referenced but not featured.
• Monkian and Cheetara have one the funniest interactions in the film.
• Lion-O is given a love interest, Kaeli , who I’ve never heard of.
• The film appears to be a hard PG-13 and is left open for a sequel.

For more information on the script, head over to Thundercats Lair and grab a copy for some light reading.

All and all, I’m hoping this is a copy of the rewritten script because it’s pretty damned good. Unfortunately, because Sopocy is most likely under a non-disclosure clause, we won’t be able to confirm if this version is his or not - though time should soon tell if it is real or fake.

Katia becomes hurricane; another storm brewing in Gulf

 cnn.com

Katia became the second hurricane of the Atlantic season Wednesday night and is forecast to become a Category 3 storm in the Atlantic Ocean by the weekend, though it's still too early to know whether it will hit land.

This image, taken at 9:15 p.m. Wednesday, shows storms in the Gulf of Mexico that forecasters say could become a tropical depression.

Elsewhere, forecasters on Wednesday saw the potential for a new tropical storm that could hit the U.S. Gulf Coast over the weekend.

A cluster of storms over the southeastern Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday could become a tropical depression by  Thursday, with the help of upper-level winds that are forecast to aid development, the National Hurricane Center said in its 8 p.m. Wednesday tropical weather outlook.
“Most computer models are developing this into at least a tropical storm, if not a hurricane within the next two days,” CNN Meteorologist Jacqui Jeras said Wednesday evening.
“There is a ton of potential for flooding,” Jeras said. “One computer model solution here (puts) as much as 6 to 12 inches of rain on the Gulf Coast by Saturday morning.”
Other models have the system going into Texas, parts of which are dealing with drought and wildfires.
The system has a 60 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, the hurricane center’s 8 p.m. outlook said.
As for Katia, it strengthened from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane Wednesday night, with maximum sustained winds at 75 mph shortly before 11 p.m., the hurricane center said. The wind-speed threshold for hurricanes is 74 mph.
Shortly before 11 p.m., Katia was about 1,165 miles east of the Caribbean Sea’s Leeward Islands, moving west-northwest near 20 mph.
The storm could be a major hurricane with winds above 110 mph by Saturday night, possibly still hundreds of miles east of Puerto Rico, according to the hurricane center. It still is too early to predict whether Katia will pose any threat to land.
[Initial post, 8:06 a.m. ET] Tropical Storm Katia was gradually gaining strength over the Atlantic Ocean early Wednesday and could reach hurricane strength by the afternoon, the National Hurricane Center's 5 a.m. advisory said.
At 5 a.m., Katia was almost a 1,000 miles west of the Cape Verde Islands, moving west-northwest at 21 mph.
The storm's maximum sustained winds were 65 mph. Katia will become a Category 1 hurricane when the winds hit 74 mph.
The storm was forecast to become a major hurricane with winds above 110 mph by early Sunday.
It is still too early to predict whether Katia will pose any threat to land.
Katia is the storm name that replaced Katrina in the revolving list of names, according to the center. The list of Atlantic hurricane names is repeated every six years, and this year the list that was used in 2005 is being reused.
A storm name is retired if it is used for a hurricane that caused major damage, as Katrina did to the U.S. Gulf Coast in 2005.
"The only time that there is a change is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for obvious reasons of sensitivity," the hurricane center said

CashCrate

by CashCrate

There are so many ways of earning money online, in reality a lot of these require you to actually put in a lot of time and dedication before you see any cash. Also, you probably will fail without knowledge of the internet that doesn’t mean you should give up on making money online. What you should be looking for are paid surveys and payment for offer completion. CashCrate is one of the better sites for getting some fast cash without having to do anything time consuming. While most of the really easy and quick offers are on the low end, around $0.50, there are offers which have payouts of $15.00. Even if you are just doing the lowest-paid surveys, you can still rack up a nice amount of extra cash. Keep in mind that these are all really quick to complete. CashCrate is pretty simple to use plus it is free to Join. Keep in mind that this can be your second income. Even though it seems like you are getting paid for nothing, the companies whose offers you complete and CashCrate each make money from your participation. That is why CashCrate can make you a lot of money with your dedication and the best thing is that you can do this from your home in which you can actually make free cash online.

Wyclef Jean shot in the hand in Haiti

By Dan Goldberg/The Star-Ledger 

Wyclef Jean, the popular hip-hop singer, was shot in the hand on Saturday night in Haiti, according to a statement from Cindy Tanenbaum, his publicist.

The shooting happened in the Delmas section of the capital, Port-au-Prince.

Tanenbaum described the wound as "minor."

"He was immediately taken to the hospital, treated for a minor graze to his hand and released," she said. "He is fine."

Jean told the Associated Press that he was grazed by a bullet in the hand when he stepped out of his car in Haiti to make a phone call.

He told the AP in a telephone interview Sunday that he has no idea who fired or whether the rounds were targeting him.

He says a doctor treated him at a hospital and he is taking antibiotics.

In August, when Jean was considering a run for the President of Haiti, he was forced into hiding after receiving death threats. But the musician, who went to high school in Newark and whose family lives in Saddle River, has since been back in the spotlight campaigning for his friend Michel Martelly, also known as "Sweet Mickey."

"Wyclef’s commitment to his native country and to his people is unparalleled," Tanenbaum’s said. "He is therefore undeterred by this incident."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

TCL introduces 3D TV without the glasses!

TCL introduces 3D TV without the glasses!



Avatar, as reported earlier opened up Pandora’s box when it comes to 3D experiences both in the cinema as well as on your home television. James Cameron truly brought the game up to another level and every television manufacturer is incorporating software as well as hardware to convert 2D movies into 3D movies in their upcoming television sets. In all of these cases you need to wear those heavily stylish (NOT) glasses in order to get the experience intended.


Well, not so much anymore. TCL, a company who’s research has brought them to discover a simple way to make your TV work as an entire 3D solution enabling you to not having to wear those glasses at all. Their solution is a thin overlay on the screen which does one part of the conversion while software handles the second part of the conversion. The end result is a wide angle 3D experience without having to wear those pesky 3D glasses.

The technology is not yet on the market but it’s certainly in development and they expect it to be available in 12-18 months from now. This means that Sony, Panasonic and all the rest might be investing their money on a losing game. At least if you’re asking the developer and scientist behind the technology. I hope they truly start incorporating this layer seamlessly on all TV sets as it will certainly make the home movie theater so much better. And, this without you having to sit around at home wearing a pair of funny glasses in order to be able to fully enjoy the experience.

Besides, I am sure the experience will be much deeper when not wearing those glasses as a large part of your visual field is no longer obscured by the framing of the glasses themselves. I would put a couple of bucks down for this concept to be the winner in the now ongoing race to find the best 3D experience both in the theater as well as home.

Microsoft Security Essentials vs. McAfee Internet Security-What to Use?

Post 1- Microsoft Security Essentials vs. McAfee Internet Security-What to Use?

by ILoveGeeks on Fri 17 Sep 2010, 2:38 pm

.I currently use the FREE Microsoft Security Essentials (MSE)anti virus suite and am contemplating buying McAfee Internet Security. I have the oportunity to pay a very good price for McAfee for a 3 PC license ($35.00) The MSE anti virus has protected me very well so far but I would think that McAfee rates better than MSE. My question is should I stay with MSE or pay for the McAfee?

Thank you!.

Post 2- Re: Microsoft Security Essentials vs. McAfee Internet Security-What to Use?


by Nazzgull on Fri 17 Sep 2010, 2:52 pm

.Hi, McAfee is better antivirus software for Local Area Network between 5 or more computers, and it's pretty awesome for Servers. But, if you are just normal user of one computer, you should stay with MSE because it's pretty good, also you can use Avira Antivirus or NOD32.

If you decide to buy McAfee, your computer will be a little bit slower..

Post 3- Re: Microsoft Security Essentials vs. McAfee Internet Security-What to Use?


by Doctor Inferno on Fri 17 Sep 2010, 8:15 pm

MSE in my opinion is a good and reliable antivirus software for it's price of $0.

Or if you want, download the trail of McAFee and see which you prefer. But most of the time, MSE would be good enough

“Battle: Los Angeles” – movie review

by Brian Tucker

The big opening for “Battle: L.A.” last weekend points to moviegoer’s love for spectacle, catastrophe and humanity caught up in it. One need look no further for it than television news and the devastation in Japan. Those events made it difficult to view “Battle: L.A.” as it begins in Tokyo where destruction is underway by what is believed to be meteors. Soon, the same thing happens on the east coast and not since “Red Dawn” has so much American topography been battle scarred in a localized area. In this case, it’s Santa Monica, California.

“Battle: L.A.” is Hollywood high concept all the way – aliens invade earth and we fight back against the impossible. It’s big, fun and loud. And in the age of terrorism, a bit too close to home. In title, concept and look, it feels like a movie based on a video game only there’s not one as source material. The plot is bare-bones – a platoon of marines fight to survive as a mechanized alien race tears across California taking resources and killing everything in its path. As always, they’re better equipped and the humans are outgunned.

This movie falls under an un-named genre I call the “everything goes wrong movie.” If you’ve seen “Sunshine” you know. Things keep getting worse over two hours for the movie’s characters. The trick to recycling the disaster/sci-fi genre is to make it fresh. The filmmakers aim to but essentially there’s little save for that it focuses strictly on the marines and less on aliens destroying other countries around the world (think “Signs”). The POV in the movie is the soldier’s – on the street, in a firefight, and in danger. The camera never lets us forget, handheld and shaky.

“Battle: L.A.” is all-action , taking a “Black Hawk Down” street fighting approach to remaking “Independence Day” and “War of the Worlds.” It moves fast – we meet a 20 year marine (Aaron Eckhart) set to retire as aliens advance on Los Angeles. In quick succession we’re then introduced to a platoon of marines, so fast the filmmakers decided to put their name and ranks on the screen. The group is varied, to some degree heavy on the clichés, but the movie does its best to bury them until needed for a gag or emotional plug. The marines are humanized more than other movies but remain a list of types – about to be married, suffering from PTSD, too young, from New Jersey, etc. But once deployed in Santa Monica and fight street to street many are lost in a blaze of gunfire and smoke. It’s so uneven it’s hard to relate to them. This problem is solved when the marines happen upon civilians but these characters – played by well-known actors (Michael Pena, Bridget Moynihan) amount to little more than cameos in truncated scenes.

The issue of expediency really harms the movie, leaving characters lost in the haze of battle and the audience little to connect with. “Battle: L.A.” is a popcorn movie, that’s not the problem, the problem is that it’s all gunfire and rushed triage for the characters. Its also a by-product of video games and shows like “24,” playing out like the middle portion of a bigger movie, the first part cut down and the end designed as a tease for the next episode. This movie doesn’t really have an ending, just a rally point.

But “Battle: L.A.” is what it is – entertainment while chewing popcorn. Thankfully it didn’t take the path of irony like 1997’s “Volcano” or corny characters and gung ho stupidity in 1996’s “Independence Day.” Then again, those films had characters to actually get to know better. For all its high concept the “Battle: L.A.” tries to have heart and seems conceived as a franchise – one film after another as the fight moves on to a new city (“Battle: NYC”). That would have been interesting to see shaped over several films but “Battle: L.A.” supplants too much action with little back story, leaving audiences to ponder what was the point? The filmmakers leave the allegories to us. In the end, it leaves you needing more, not wanting more.

Japan’s earthquake shifted balance of the planet

By Liz Goodwin

Last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan has actually moved the island closer to the United States and shifted the planet's axis.


The quake caused a rift 15 miles below the sea floor that stretched 186 miles long and 93 miles wide, according to the AP. The areas closest to the epicenter of the quake jumped a full 13 feet closer to the United States, geophysicist Ross Stein at the United States Geological Survey told The New York Times.

The 9.0 magnitude quake (the fourth-largest recorded since 1900) was caused when the Pacific tectonic plate dove under the North American plate, which shifted Eastern Japan towards North America by about 13 feet (see NASA's before and after photos at right). The quake also shifted the earth's axis by 6.5 inches, shortened the day by 1.6 microseconds, and sank Japan downward by about two feet. As Japan's eastern coastline sunk, the tsunami's waves rolled in.

Why did the quake shorten the day? The earth's mass shifted towards the center, spurring the planet to spin a bit faster. Last year's massive 8.8 magnitude earthquake in Chile also shortened the day, but by an even smaller fraction of a second. The 2004 Sumatra quake knocked a whopping 6.8 micro-seconds off the day.

After the country's 1995 earthquake, Japan placed high-tech sensors around the country to observe even the slightest movements, which is why scientists are able to calculate the quake's impact down to the inch. "This is overwhelmingly the best-recorded great earthquake ever," Lucy Jones, chief scientist for the Multi-Hazards project at the U.S. Geological Survey, told The Los Angeles Times.

The tsunami's waves necessitated life-saving evacuations as far away as Chile. Fisherman off the coast of Mexico reported a banner fishing day Friday, and speculated that the tsunami knocked sealife in their direction.

(An energy map provided by NOAA shows the intensity of the tsunami caused by Japan's earthquake: Reuters/NOAA. Below, Satellite image of Japan's coast moving: NASA.)

CORRECTION: This article originally attributed Lucy Jones' interview to the The Boston Herald.



..

Gaddafi says protesters are on hallucinogenic drugs

CAIRO

Thu Feb 24, 2011 11:05am EST

CAIRO (Reuters) - Muammar Gaddafi blamed a revolt against his rule on al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden on Thursday, and said the protesters were fueled by milk and Nescafe spiked with hallucinogenic drugs, in a rambling appeal for calm.

Gaddafi, who just two days ago vowed in a televised address to crush the revolt and fight to the last, showed none of the fist-thumping rage of that speech.

This time, he spoke to state television by telephone without appearing in person, and his tone seemed more conciliatory, with much of his country out of government control.

"Their ages are 17. They give them pills at night, they put hallucinatory pills in their drinks, their milk, their coffee, their Nescafe," said Gaddafi.

"They are criminals ... is it logical that you let this phenomenon continue in any city? ... We do not see what is happening in Egypt and Tunisia happening in Libya, ever!"

"Those (in Egypt and Tunisia) are people needing their governments and they have demands; our power is in the hands of the people," he said, a typical reference to his idiosyncratic rule, which he says is based on giving power direct to the people.

Gaddafi, battling to preserve his 41-year rule and his "Third Universal Theory," outlined in his "Green Book," offered condolences to those killed in the bloodshed and called for calm among people he said were fighting among themselves. Saying bin Laden was "the real criminal," Gaddafi urged Libyans not be swayed by the al Qaeda leader.

Libyan authorities tend to group anyone who challenges the ruling system under the umbrella of al Qaeda, and anyone accused of association with the group is likely to face extrajudicial punishment.

"Bin Laden ... this is the enemy who is manipulating people," Gaddafi said, adding: "Do not be swayed by bin Laden."

"From a national, moral, ethical standpoint ... they should stop. I have no authority stemming from laws or decisions or anything else, I just have moral authority. I only have moral authority," he said.

Gaddafi has long sought to present himself as figurehead of a revolution that is led by the people, rather than a traditional executive head of state.

"No sane person" would join the protests against his rule, Gaddafi said, calling on citizens to disarm those who were protesting.

"Remember in the Iraq war: the United States and Britain said they had reason to intervene. Qaeda and the international terrorists work together ... Saddam Hussein had a relationship to al Qaeda ... look what America did," he said.

Referring to violent clashes taking place in the town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) from the capital Tripoli, Gaddafi said: "What is happening in Zawiyah is a farce ... Sane men don't enter such a farce."

"You people of Zawiyah, stop your children, take their weapons, bring them away from Bin Laden, the pills will kill them," he said. "Leave the country calm."

(Reporting by Cairo bureau, Writing by Peter Millership and Edmund Blair)

Kayakers snap photo of England’s version of the ‘Loch Ness Monster’

By Brett Michael Dykes

Nothing puts a damper on a serene afternoon's kayaking like the sight of a primeval sea monster.


That was the rude lesson for Tom Pickles and Sarah Harrington, who'd taken their watercraft out on the foggy waters of Lake Windermere, only to encounter what appeared to be "an enormous snake" swimming by.

"It was petrifying and we paddled back to the shore straight away. At first I thought it was a dog and then saw it was much bigger and moving really quickly at about 10 mph," the 24-year-old Pickles told The Telegraph. "Each hump was moving in a rippling motion and it was swimming fast. Its skin was like a seal's but its shape was completely abnormal—it's not like any animal I've ever seen before."

But what did Pickles and Harrington expect? Didn't they know that Lake Windermere is reputedly the home of the British version of the Loch Ness monster? In the past five years, sojourners on the lake have reported eight sightings of a Nessie-like serpent.

But the kayaking couple rallied from their shock and snapped the clearest photo of the Windermere "monster" since the sightings began. A journalism professor and his wife inaugurated the recent spate of Nessie-esque encounters on the lake back in 2006 reporting they had seen a "giant eel" somewhere between 15-20 feet long.

Ever since then, researchers have set out upon the lake with sonar equipment, in pursuit of "Bow-Nessie," as the creature's British compatriots like to call it. But so far, their efforts haven't borne fruit.

Click to see the most famously fake Nessie photos

Of course, people in Scotland have reported sightings of the Loch Ness Monster since 1933, and even with dramatic advance sonar and video technology, Loch Ness research teams have likewise been unable to turn up any credible scientific evidence of its existence. Even its most noted hunter, Robert Rines, recently gave up his quest to find the beast after trying for nearly 40 years. "Unfortunately, I'm running out of age," the 85 year-old Rines said last year when he announced he was calling it quits.

Meanwhile, Dr. Ian Winfield, a lake ecologist at the University of Lancaster, told The Sun he thinks the mysterious appartition people are seeing in Lake Windermere is merely a really big catfish. But all of this speculation overlooks the central mystery in the latest sighting: Why on earth would a couple go kayaking on an English lake in the middle of February?

A New Solution That Stops Snoring and Lets You Sleep

howlifeworks.com

If you’re like most Americans you probably don’t get eight hours sleep each night.


But, if you also constantly feel exhausted, experience headaches for no obvious reason or have high blood pressure, you could have a more serious problem.

That’s because these can all be the result of snoring—which is, in turn, the most common symptom of a potentially serious health problem—obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).

While most people think of snoring as a minor annoyance, research shows it can be hazardous to your health. That’s because for over 18 million Americans it’s related to obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). People who suffer from OSA repeatedly and unknowingly stop breathing during the night due to a complete or partial obstruction of their airway. It occurs when the jaw, throat, and tongue muscles relax, blocking the airway used to breathe. The resulting lack of oxygen can last for a minute or longer, and occur hundreds of times each night.

Thankfully, most people wake when a complete or partial obstruction occurs, but it can leave you feeling completely exhausted. OSA has also been linked to a host of health problems including:

•Acid reflux

•Frequent nighttime urination

•Memory loss

•Stroke

•Depression

•Diabetes

•Heart attack

People over 35 are at higher risk.

OSA can be expensive to diagnosis and treat, and is not always covered by insurance. A sleep clinic will require an overnight visit (up to $5,000). Doctors then analyze the data and prescribe one of several treatments. These may require you to wear uncomfortable CPAP devices that force air through your nose and mouth while you sleep to keep your airways open, and may even include painful surgery.

Fortunately, there is now a far less costly, uncomfortable, and invasive treatment option available. A recent case study published by Eastern Virginia Medical School's Division of Sleep Medicine in the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine concludes that wearing a simple chinstrap while you sleep can be an effective treatment for OSA.

The chin strap, which is now available from a company called MySnoringSolution, works by supporting the lower jaw and tongue, preventing obstruction of the airway. It’s a made from a high-tech, lightweight, and super-comfortable material. Thousands of people have used the MySnoringSolution chinstrap to help relieve their snoring symptoms, and they report better sleeping, and better health overall because of it.

An effective snoring solution for just $119

The “My Snoring Solution” Chinstrap is available exclusively from the company’s website which is currently offering a limited time “2 for 1” offer. The product also comes with a 100 percent satisfaction guarantee.

If you want to stop snoring once and for all, without expensive CPAP devices or other intrusive devices, this may be the solution you’ve been waiting for. The free additional strap is great for travel or as a gift for a fellow sufferer.

Click here to learn more about this special $119 offer from MySnoringSolutions

Super Bowl 2011 - Area Under A Sheet Of Ice Putting A Damper On The Super Bowl?

Examiner.com

The area around the Super Bowl is still a sheet of ice today and it is expected to stay that way until late Saturday and Sunday when the weather warms up. The weather is putting a damper on this weeks Super Bowl activities as hundreds of thousands of people make their way into the Arlington Texas area for Sunday’s big game.

The most heavily traveled days of the Super Bowl are Thursday and Friday, and although the rough weather has stopped, a sheet of ice still remains all around the area of the Super Bowl. The streets are fine and flights are back on track, according to Fox News Live.

It is the golf and outdoor activities that will suffer in the Arlington area, according to Fox News. The cold snap is not due to end until Saturday, when the temperatures start rising. The temperature for Super Bowl Sunday is expected to be between 50-60 degrees, according to the Weather Channel live. This will seem warm after the ice and below freezing temps that the Dallas area has had in the last few days.

According to Fox News live, 150,000 people from around the country are due to come into the Dallas area for this years game. This is not counting the fans that live in the area. Just to give us an idea of who the fan base for the Super Bowl is, Fox News reports that only 1 percent of the Super Bowl tickets are sold in cities that the two Super Bowl teams are coming from, Pittsburgh or Green Bay.

The rest of the fans come from all around the nation!

Connecticut residents Paul and Phyllis D. are heading down to the Super Bowl on Friday. They are excited to go to their first Super Bowl. This is the first year they can afford the trip and the tickets, which can be pricey. They are “empty nesters” for the first time and celebrating with a trip from Hartford, Connecticut to the Super Bowl in Arlington Texas!

Reference: Fox News Live, The Weather Channel Live
Continue reading on Examiner.com: Super Bowl 2011 - Area under a sheet of ice putting a damper on Super Bowl? - Hartford Pop Culture
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Is 'Green Lantern' Doomed to Failure?

cinemaspy.com

If you're at Warner Bros or DC Entertainment, the last thing you want to hear is that agents are referring to your forthcoming comic book tentpole as "terrible."


In researching an article about Blake Lively's rising star in Hollywood, NY Magazine's Vulture uncovered some disturbing whispers around Hollywood about Green Lantern.

In discussing how Lively's remarkable performance in The Town helped her land the leading female role in Green Lantern, an unnamed Hollywood manager and an agent commented that Warner's forthcoming superhero movie was unlikely to hurt the actress' career, inferring that the film may not be very good.

Here are the relevant quotes in context:

…both are also quick to say that should the forthcoming Green Lantern flop (and it's been a troubled production), it won't hurt Lively much. Says the manager, "Whatever the mistakes were with Green Lantern, she needs to not react to them and do an indie movie just because a big superhero movie didn't work. It's always about the role and the director. The hotter the person, the easier it is, and she's very hot right now." The agent adds, "Even though Green Lantern is supposed to be terrible, it doesn’t mean it’s not going to do extremely well and enhance her foreign value. Clash of the Titans was horrendous, but it didn’t slow down Sam Worthington any."

Though this is hardly proof that Green Lantern won't be a good film, it's not exactly a ringing endorsement, either. Many online have expressed trepidation about Ryan Reynolds casting in the title role since the first trailer appeared, also articulating serious doubts about the believability of the CGI costume.

Whether these issues can be overcome remains to be seen, but Warner Bros and DC Entertainment have got to be a bit nervous to hear these sorts of misgivings, particularly with all the buzz surrounding Marvel's Avengers building this year.

Auburn Wins BCS National Championship, Beats Oregon 22-19

huffingtonpost.com

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Auburn running back Michael Dyer never heard any whistle, so he just kept running – past the tackler who thought he had him down and deep into Oregon territory.


Dyer broke stride, then took off on a once-in-a-lifetime run in the final minutes, setting up a short field goal on the last play that led No. 1 Auburn over the No. 2 Ducks 22-19 in the BCS championship game Monday night.

The freshman running back upstaged Auburn's Heisman-winning quarterback Cam Newton with a 37-yard run, in which he appeared down but wasn't – his knee never hit the ground – as he rolled over defender Eddie Pleasant to put the Tigers in scoring position.

Three plays later, Dyer ran 16 yards to push the ball to the 1 and set up Wes Byrum's 19-yard field goal with no time left. It was his sixth career game-winning field goal – the one that capped off a perfect, 14-0 season, brought the title back to Auburn for the first time since 1957 and left the Southeastern Conference on top for the fifth straight year.

"Fifty-three years, baby!" coach Gene Chizik said to the cheering crowd. "This is for you. War Eagle!"

Dyer was the star of a classic sequence that closed out a wild finish – five crazy minutes of football that made up for the first 55, which were more of a bruising battle than the offensive masterpiece everyone had predicted.

The craziness began when Casey Matthews, son of the 1980s NFL linebacker Clay, knocked the ball from Newton's hands while he was trying to ice a 19-11 lead.

Oregon's offense, shut down by Nick Fairley & Co. for most of the night, moved 45 yards over the next 2:17 and Darron Thomas threw a shovel pass to LaMichael James for a touchdown. Thomas hit Jeff Maehl for the tying 2-point conversion with 2:33 left and the game was down to the last possession.

And that possession will be remembered for one incredible play.

Story continues below

Eight Facts About Warming Up Your Car in Winter

By Jim Motavalli

Old habits die hard, and one of the oldest — still rigorously enforced by many drivers — is that "warming up" the car for a few minutes is necessary to avoid some kind of unspecified damage.

But idling is totally unnecessary, which is why many communities have enacted ordinances against the practice.

Don't take my word about idling being ineffective, but do listen to my mechanic, Rob Maier, who runs Maier's Garage in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

He says, "You don't really need to idle your car, because of the efficiency of modern fuel injection, which eliminated carburetors and chokes. The only reason to let the car idle at all is to get the oil circulating, but after 30 seconds that's a done deal. My truck has 150,000 miles on it, and I just throw it into gear and go."

Here are some quick facts and tips that should put the idling question to rest:

1. Driving warms the car faster than idling

If your concern is not the health of the car, but simply your own creature comforts, Bob Aldrich of the California Energy Commission points out that "idling is not actually an effective way to warm up a car — it warms up faster if you just drive it."

The coming electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, will incorporate a wonderful feature that allows the owner to use a cellphone to tell the car (which is plugged into the grid) to pre-warm or pre-cool the interior. No idling necessary.

2. Ten seconds is all you need

Environmental Defense Fund, which produced the Idling Gets You Nowhere campaign, advises motorists to turn off their ignition if they're sitting stopped for more than 10 seconds.

"After about 10 seconds, you waste more money running the engine than restarting it, said Andy Darrell, deputy director of the EDF Energy Program. "Switch the car off at the curb, and you'll be leaving money in your wallet and protecting the air in your community."

3. Idling hurts the car

According to the Hinkle Charitable Foundation's Anti-Idling Primer, idling forces an engine "to operate in a very inefficient and gasoline-rich mode that, over time, can degrade the engine's performance and reduce mileage."

The Campaign for an Idle-Free New York City points out that idling causes carbon residues to build up inside the engine, which reduces its efficiency.

[ Related: Five secrets to make your car last longer and save you money. ]

4. Idling costs money

Over a year of five minutes of daily idling (which causes incomplete combustion of fuel), the "Anti-Idling Primer" estimates that the operator of a V8-engine car will waste 20 gallons of gasoline, which not only produces 440 pounds of carbon dioxide but costs at least $60.

5. Idling in the garage can kill you

Idling a car in a garage, even with the door open, is dangerous and exposes the driver to carbon monoxide and other noxious gases. If the garage is attached, those fumes can also enter the house.

[ Related: Six surprising sources of indoor air pollution. ]

6. Block heaters beat remote starters

Lori Strothard of the Waterloo Citizens Vehicle Idling Reduction Task Force in Canada says, "Remote starters can too easily cause people to warm up their cars for 5 to 15 minutes, which is generally unnecessary."

A block heater, which is designed to heat the engine and can cost under $30, on a timer set to start one to two hours before driving, does the trick in very cold climates.

7. Quick errands aren't quick enough

Natural Resources Canada points out that leaving your car idling while you're running into a store on an errand or going back into the house to pick up a forgotten item is another way to waste gas and pollute both your town and the planet.

"Leaving your engine running is hard on your pocketbook, produces greenhouse gas emissions, and is an invitation to car thieves," the agency (PDF) says.

8. Idling is bad for your health (and your neighbor's health)

According to Minneapolis' anti-idling ordinance, "Exhaust is hazardous to human health, especially children's; studies have linked air pollution to increased rates of cancer, heart and lung disease, asthma and allergies."

The Murder Investigation of Notorious B.I.G. Warming Up

Image via Wikipediaeurweb.com

The case of Christopher Wallace, better known to world as the Notorious B.I.G, has been cold for some time now, but according to a report from CNN, things have been heating up lately.


A task force made up of local and federal law-enforcement agencies is now actively pursuing leads, reports CNN.

The investigation into the Brooklyn rapper’s 1997 murder in Los Angeles was “reinvigorated” several months ago, according to one source, as a result of new information.

Theories abound regarding Wallace’s murder, the prevailing one being that it was payback for the murder of Tupac Shakur six months earlier.

Retired Los Angeles Police Detective Russell Poole, who worked on the Wallace case, says Shakur’s record label’s owner (Suge Knight) ordered the hit from prison, and that a rogue policeman helped carry it out.

Read the full story at CNN.

More Than 1,000 Dead Birds Fall From Sky In Arkansas

BEEBE, Ark. — Environmental service workers finished picking up the carcasses on Sunday of about 2,000 red-winged blackbirds that fell dead from the sky in a central Arkansas town.

Mike Robertson, the mayor in Beebe, told The Associated Press the last dead bird was removed about 11 a.m. Sunday in the town about 40 miles northeast of Little Rock. He said 12 to 15 workers, hired by the city to do the cleanup, wore environmental-protection suits for the task.

The birds had fallen Friday night over a 1-mile area of Beebe, and an aerial survey indicated that no other dead birds were found outside of that area. The workers from U.S. Environmental Services started the cleanup Saturday.

Robertson said the workers wore the suits as a matter of routine and not out of fear that the birds might be contaminated. He said speculation on the cause is not focusing on disease or poisoning.

Several hundred thousand red-winged blackbirds have used a wooded area in the town as a roost for the past several years, he said. Robertson and other officials went to the roost area over the weekend and found no dead birds on the ground.

"That pretty much rules out an illness" or poisoning, the mayor said.

Arkansas Game and Fish Commission ornithologist Karen Rowe said Saturday the birds showed physical trauma, and speculated that "the flock could have been hit by lightning or high-altitude hail."

The commission said that New Year's Eve revelers shooting off fireworks could have startled the birds from their roost and caused them to die from stress.

Robby King, a wildlife officer for the commission, collected about 65 dead birds, which will be sent for testing to the state Livestock and Poultry Commission lab and the National Wildlife Health Center lab in Madison, Wis.

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