Canadian Antiquities Bust: Quebec Dealer Arrested

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More details are emerging about the antiquities bust in Canada in which 20 000 artefacts destined for the North American market were seized from suspected smugglers four years ago in Montreal. In 2007, Canada Border Services Agency officials detained two imports of cultural property sent by mail from Bulgaria, and referred them for assessment to the Canadian heritage department, which called in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate.

The collection of objects, including at least 18,000 coins from the Roman Empire and other ancient civilizations, was described as spanning "more than 2,600 years" of the history of the Balkan nation. The objects encompass aspects of Greek, Roman, Macedonian, Byzantine, Bulgarian and Ottoman cultural heritage, officials said.

Two and a half thousand years of history stolen by the no-questions-asked antiquities trade. The objects seized were diverse, from bronze eagles, rings and belt buckles to spearheads and bone sewing needles — but none of them apparently accompanied by any kind of documentation concerning where they had been dug up how and with what. Dealers and collectors are not interested in context of deposition, such information has no commercial value in today's market. In fact, it's considered better not to ask, bad form to enquire too closely.

Believed to have been excavated illegally and shipped to Canada as part of an international smuggling operation, some of the artifacts were intercepted by customs officials with the Canada Border Services Agency in 2007. A subsequent police investigation led to the search of a home in Quebec and the recovery of many more historical objects, according to RCMP Asst. Commissioner Mike Cabana. But he told Postmedia News that police also learned during their probe that other ancient artifacts illegally imported from Bulgaria had already been sold in Canada. And while a Quebec court ruled earlier this year that the 21,000 seized objects should be returned to Bulgaria, a "person of interest" initially arrested in Quebec in connection with the illegal shipment was eventually released without charges.

Randy Boswell, 'Cultural artifacts seized in Canada returned to grateful owners', Montreal Gazette June 10th 2011.

Photo: Some of the seized objects (Alison Crawford/CBC)


Photo: Department of Canadian Heritage

Since Montreal is in Quebec (province), I presume this means that the arrested dealer lived in the city of that name. Was it anyone we know? Most Canadian dugup antiquity dealers seem to be based in Ottawa.
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SMU

Having already broken down SMU’s offense heading into 2011-2012, we will now turn our attention to the defensive side of the ball.
SMU’s defense was very up and down last season. They play in a very offense-heavy conference, so it is hard to have great numbers but the goal is to limit points as much as possible. As a unit the gave up too many points for the amount of yardage and average per play numbers that they had. They do lose a few of players from the 2010 team as they head into 2011, so it will be a fairly new rotation, and one that will need to build on last year and improve.
Defensive End- At one end will be Junior Margus Hunt. This 6’8” Estonian is particularly known for his ability to block kicks. However, his pass rushing abilities are improving, and this junior season the coaching staff is hoping that he finally breaks out. On the other end, will be returning senior and All-Conference First Teamer Taylor Thompson. He has always demanded a lot of attention and came up with plays right when the defense needed it in 2010.
Nose Tackle- In his first season last year playing at Nose Tackle, Marquis Frazier played very well and improvement was seen as the season went on. Returning for his senior season, look for Frazier to be a part of a great front 7 and one that will need to play a key role in stopping the run against power teams such as TCU who SMU will play on September 30th in Fort Worth.
Inside Linebacker- The one starter will without a doubt be junior, Taylor Reed. Reed who had a team high 145 tackles last season was the heart and soul of the SMU defense. In order to fill Pete Flep’s shoes, I believe the job will go to either Victor Jones or Cameron Rogers. Either of these Juniors could win the job, but personally I believe that Rogers will end up getting the nod.

Outside Linebacker- On one side will be Ja’Gared Davis returning for his junior season after a break out season last year. He was named first team all conference after a season where he had 9 sacks and 16 tackles for loss while scoring two touchdowns. On the other side the Mustangs need to replace the great play of Youri Yenga. Personally, I believe that redshirt freshman John Bordano is the guy to fill that void. Bordano was highly touted coming out of high school where he was a top 40 inside linebacker prospect and amassed 197 tackles his senior year.
Cornerbacks- Richard Crawford returns at one corner for SMU. Last year, Crawford led the team with 4 interceptions and 12 pass break ups. Crawford was also the most effective punt returner on the team and will continue that role in 2011-2012. At the other corner the team loses Sterling Moore. I think the job will end up being either Keith Robinson’s or Chris Parks’ with sophomore Chris Parks finally winning the job
Safeties- Returning for his season will be Chris Banjo at Free Safety. Banjo started all 14 games last season for SMU and his season was good enough to be awarded second team All C-USA honors. Next to him at strong safety will be Ryan Smith. Smith, in his first season as a starter had some ups and down but began to play better and better as the year went to.
Best Strength- Last season SMU was one of the best in the Conference only giving up 3.7 yards per rush. Their 3-4 is led by a great corps of linebackers and an always improving defensive line. To be successful again this year a great defense against the run will be key to slow down several high powered offenses in Conference USA.
Biggest Weakness- Starting and ending the game well. The Mustangs gave up 57% of their points in the first and fourth quarters. Over the season they were outscored by a combined 46 points in these two quarters. In order to win both the close games and the big ones the defense is going to need to be better out of the gates and slam the door late.

Monica Bellucci

Monica and Vincent married in 1999. The Italian actress insists their marriage is as strong as ever, explaining she and Vincent are as in love as they’ve ever been.
“I ask myself everyday, 'How long will it be as magic ?'”, she told French magazine L'Express Styles. “I don't think that you can figure out what the rules are which make a relationship lasting. It's a kind of accident, a conjunction of several causalities which meet and repeat. Or not."

The Black Swan actor has spoken about his jealous nature, and once revealed that he could become dangerous if saw a guy hanging around his wife. However, Monica insists Vincent is fine with her filming steamy scenes with her co-stars.
“But we know the rules of the acting game: if you had to banish the alchemy which happens between two actors, it would be fair to say that it's better to change your job,” she added. “While shooting with [Robert] De Niro [on film The Ages of Love] the only jealousy Vincent could have felt was to not have worked alongside De Niro himself!”
The 46-year-old actress gave birth to the couple’s second child last year.

Twins

The Minnesota Twins currently possess the worst record in Major League Baseball, which is not something that anybody expected going into the 2011 season. There is a pretty good reason for at least some of the team's difficulties, however. . .as loathe as people usually are to use injuries as an excuse for an underperforming team, in this case the Twins can make a pretty good case.
Here is the lineup that the Twins put on the field on Opening Day at the Rogers Centre in Toronto:
Denard Span, center field
Tsuyoshi Nishioka, second base
Joe Mauer, catcher
Justin Morneau, first base
Delmon Young, left field
Michael Cuddyer, right field
Jason Kubel, designated hitter
Danny Valencia, third base
Alexi Casilla, shortstop
Now. . .let's take a moment to compare this to the lineup that the Twins will put on out at Target Field this afternoon. . .Saturday, June 11. . .against the Texas Rangers.
Ben Revere, center field
Alexi Casilla, shortstop
Michael Cuddyer, first base
Delmon Young, left field
Rene Tosoni, designated hitter
Danny Valencia, third base
Brian Dinkelman, right field
Rene Rivera, catcher
Matt Tolbert, second base

That's nearly two-thirds of the Minnesota starting lineup that is out with injury concerns, and one guy that was in the Opening Day lineup that's at a different defensive position. This doesn't includeJim Thome, who is out with back and quadriceps problems. And it doesn't even begin to touch on the pitching staff, where Francisco Liriano, Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins, and Joe Nathan(among others) have all spent time on the disabled list. Not to mention that Justin Morneau hasn't been truly healthy all year, and will be seeing a wrist specialist early next week.
We aren't even two and a half months into the 2011 season, and the Minnesota Twins have already used nineteen different pitchers. In the absence of Mauer, the team's two catchers are hitting a combined .189 (31-for-164), and the Twins were even giving time at catcher to something named Steve Holm (not to be confused with Steve Holt!) for a spell. For crying out loud, today's lineup features Rene Tosoni, he of the thirty career home runs. . .in five minor league seasons. . .batting in the fifth spot and serving as the designated hitter.
Sure, the Twins are still 11 games out in the American League Central, but at this point the division certainly doesn't appear to have a dominant team. The Cleveland Indians, who not long ago had the best record in baseball, have dropped seven out of their last eight to come back to the pack, and none of the other three teams in the division have been terribly impressive.
Also, it sounds as though the Twins are finally getting healthy. . .Mauer is catching regularly at Fort Myers and could be back in the lineup in a week or so, Nishioka is playing regularly in his rehab assignment, and Thome and Kubel could be back shortly as well.
Can the Twins make up eleven games on the Indians? I don't know. . .we haven't seen much of the Twins this year, as the roster for much of the season has more closely resembled the Rochester Red Wings than the Minnesota Twins. However, if everybody gets healthy, you never know. I'm not going to say it's likely, but I'm also not going to count out a Ron Gardenhire-coached team when the chips are down, either. If the Twins can keep getting healthy, and possibly stayhealthy for a while, it's a distinct possibility.

Lebron James Girlfriend

LeBron James' girlfriend is a woman named Savannah Brinson. The NBA star and his high school sweetheart have been together for years and have two children together. They seem like a happy couple, but recent cheating allegations have painted a different picture of the two.

A rumor buzzed around the internet about Brinson cheating on her man with another NBA player, Rashad Lewis. Most people say it's not true, including Lewis, who called into a radio station to proclaim his innocence.

“I have no idea,” Lewis told the radio host on 97.9 The Box when asked how the rumors surfaced. “That’s what I’m trying to figure out…now I come home and I hear the same rumors…those rumors are 100 percent false, they’re not true, I don’t know how they came up.”
Some say the rumors are why James hasn't been playing too well in the NBA finals recently..

Bonnaroo

Bonnaroo

At the end of 2011, Arcade Fire will have accomplished the never-before-accomplished feat (we're pretty sure) of headlining, in the matter of one year and two months, America's Big Four music festivals: Lollapalooza last summer, Coachella this past spring, nowBonnaroo on Friday night and Austin City Limits this coming October, with each festival entertaining at least 70,000 people. With three down, America's -- and Canada's and possibly the world's -- new favorite band prove they are worthy of holding such a crown.

"Everyone having a good time so far?" the band's frontman Win Butler asked the 2011 Bonnaroo crowd from the main stage Friday (June 10) night. "Any festival where you can see My Morning Jacket and then Lil Wayne is good with me," he said pointing out the fest's oddly diverse lineup this year, before the band started 'No Cars Go,' a song from their second album, 'Neon Bible.'

Arcade Fire played new songs like 'Rococo' and the encore 'Sprawl II' off their latest award-wining album 'The Suburbs.' "This is a summertime song," Butler announced before the zigzag guitar chords of another newbie, 'City With No Children.' "This is a song about places very dear to our heart and s--- is very f---ed up there, but they are carrying on," he said, hyping up the old classic tune 'Haiti,' off their debut album 'Funeral.' He also plugged Partners in Health, a non-profit that provides medical aid to the earthquake-devastated country of the song's namesake.

Throughout the entire evening, the Montreal-based eight-piece performed rock songs suitable for a 100-piece symphony. Members played without a pause; even when frontwoman Regine Chassagne put down her accordion duties, she was still howling backup vocals or jumping from a handheld shaker to a piano. Drummer Will Butler ran around with his tom-tom, jumping from the stage into the audience at one point, like a rock 'n' roll Evel Knieval. While everyone sweats at Bonnaroo -- day temperatures flirted with heat indexes in the 100s on Friday -- Arcade Fire seemed to sweet the hardest sweat, because they played the hardest.

"My brother and I grew up in Houston," Butler told the Bonnaroo crowd. "And it's nice to feel humidity. Drink plenty of water. Trust me, it's nice. It's pretty cold where we live." Before a powerful medley of songs that included 'Neighborhood #3 (Power Out)' and 'Rebellion (Lies)' Butler called out the audience: 'Alright, you f---ing hippies! Let's do it!" and went punk rock on the new track 'Month of May.'

"We wrote this song for a room of 20 people," Butler said before one of the encore tracks and fan favorite 'Wake Up.' "So playing it for a giant field has taken some getting use to." While their set didn't top their Coachella performance from a few months back, Arcade Fire still delivered a set that the crowd afterward called nothing short of epic.

Montreal

Sebastian Vettel's grip on the Formula One season is beginning to resemble a stranglehold after he took pole position for the sixth time in seven attempts.
Even Vettel's crash into a wall during Friday's qualifying for the Canadian Grand Prix did not sufficiently damage his car or his confidence to prevent him coming out on top again, ahead of the Ferrari pair of Fernando Alonso and Felipe Massa.
"Thank you, thank you. Thanks for fixing the car on Friday after I stuffed it into the wall," he screamed at this Red Bull pit crew. "We made up some ground from last year. Now I feel comfortable here."
It was in Montreal last year that Red Bull lost out on pole for the first time in the season. This is not considered to be one of their best circuits, which must be deflating for everyone else.
It was a disappointing afternoon for the McLaren pair of Lewis Hamiltonand Jenson Button, traditionally so strong on this challenging circuit. Hamilton was fifth, with Button two places behind in seventh. The Mercedes of Nico Rosberg divided the British pair.
This, though, was hardly a disaster for McLaren, because their cars were set up for a wet race, with rain as well as strong winds forecast for race day.
Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner said : "We've gone for a set-up which covers both eventualities. We didn't expect to get pole here, so it's a surprise to get it at one of our weakest circuits. A fantastic performance from Seb."
The only disappointment for Red Bull was that Mark Webber had more issues with Kers and missed the morning practice session. He will start from fourth on the grid.
This old-fashioned track, with long straights, challenging chicanes and slow corners, plus lots of tyre wear due to heavy breaking, usually suits McLaren, who finished one-two last year, with Hamilton edging out Button.
"This is a circuit where McLaren have always gone well," Button said. "Monaco really showed that we have a strength on mechanical circuits. We should be good here. Lewis is always very, very fast here. His team-mates have never out-qualified him here. It was great last year. I really enjoyed the race, fighting with Fernando Alonso [of Ferrari] and ending up second just behind Lewis. There will be a lot of stops, four or five stops."

For Button, tracks like this present a different challenge from some of the newer circuits. "On some tracks you can hammer it down to the corner, brake where you think it's right, even if it's a little bit late, lock up and you can run wide and get away with it. But here there are quite a few places where you don't have the run-off, you don't have the escape if you've made a mistake. But that's great. Monaco is great for that, within reason, and here's the same.
"It brings some of the excitement back, because you have to work up to the limit. It's a different way of driving. And Suzuka is a little like that too.
"The old style circuits will bite you if you are too confident. You could say the same for Spa and probably Silverstone. Even though they've got more run-off they're still the same. Even Hungary. We all find the limit in the end, it's just how we go about it."
For Hamilton, who also won his first grand prix here in 2007, it is tracks like this that allow the outstanding drivers to separate themselves from the good.
"You can excel more than others at tracks where you are prepared to take more risks," he said. "It's whether, in your own mind and heart, you are prepared to take more risks than the driver next to you.
"On another circuit, with more space, everyone can take the same risk, or go to the 100 per cent line. But on circuits like this, their limit is lower than others.
"It's the chicanes here, mostly, bumping over the kerb and having the confidence to get back on the power knowing you're not going to spin into a wall. Every time you get back on the power you think shoot, I could be in the wall. I think I touched the wall last year. It's very easy to do when the track is as slippery as this, but when you can pull it off it's time in the bag. If you can get on that power a little earlier it makes all the difference."
For a moment, Hamilton seemed anxious to say how well McLaren were doing this season. "It's easy to say that these are hard days for us. But you have to pull away from it and put things in perspective. We're second in the championship and we're the second quickest team. It's worse for people further behind. So we're not in a bad position."
But two minutes later Hamilton's competitive instincts emerged. "I love winning, I need to win. It's not the records necessarily. They come automatically when you win. It's winning. I want to win more. I don't win enough.
"That's what I wake up for, it's the only reason I train and eat healthily. It's the only reason why I keep my mind set on the game. It's to win. I don't want to finish anywhere else. I feel I'm one of the top drivers here.
"I've been at the top for the past five years. But I want the world championship. I want to be considered a world champion."
After winning two of his three races here, Hamilton is one of the favourites to win on Sunday. And he must do so to maintain his slim chances of a second title.

Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Gagarin

India should build a monument to the first man who journeyed into outer space -- Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin -- and it should be in Mumbai as he had visited the city, said veteran Russian cosmonaut, Viktor Savinykh, here today. "It is important to have a monument in the name of Gagarin in India and in Mumbai, in order to further boost the Indo-Soviet relationship," said Savinykh (71), addressing a crowd of space enthusiasts here. "In Russia, we have many places named after Indian personalities, including Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, but in India there is no monument or even a road named after a Russian personality, and we would like it to happen," he said. Savinykh also spoke about his own space journeys of decades ago. A "world government" was needed to be established to solve the common problems of the planet through collaboration, he said. The planet was facing common problems such as climate change, ozone layer depletion, he said. Space scientists carry out a lot of experiments related to environment, human health, and biology, and these need support at a global level, he said. Savinykh added that several of the inter-planetary missions require collaboration of all the governments of the world. "No single country can do this alone," he said. Remembering the first Indian cosmonaut, Rakesh Sharma, Savinykh said this gave Indian space programme a boost, and today India has achieved such a tremendous growth in the space science that it can help other countries in their missions.

Earth Day

In April, people across the USA and the world celebrated the beauty of nature, our rivers and mountains, and wildlife. The original Earth Day was inspired by founder Gaylord Nelson, former U.S. Senator from Wisconsin, after witnessing the devastation of the 1969 massive oil spill in Santa Barbara, California. In that era of protests against war and social Injustice, millions rallied across the US to the first Earth Day to demand change. Rivers burning, mountains clear-cut and vanishing species enraged our citizens and they gathered en masse across the nation and demanded change. This public demonstration of love for nature led to the creation of theEnvironmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water, and Endangered Species Acts.

Forty years later the rivers are cleaner, millions of acres have been established as national parks and wilderness areas and over all the air quality has improved. But what about the other 71%? Over half our oxygen comes from the ocean. Fish feed millions and the beauty and complexity of marine life leave us in awe. Yet today, a year after the ravages in the Gulf from the BP Oil spill, 90% of large pelagic shark species are going extinct from overfishing and for their fins. Whales and seals have been hunted to a genetic bottle neck and are hunted still. The wolves of the sea, the bluefin tuna, are being fished to the vanishing point. While a thousand other insults are being inflicted on Mother Ocean, where is our outrage?
New oil wells are being considered along our coast while nuclear power plants hum along our shorelines vulnerable to Tsunami and earthquakes. Recent die-offs of sardines in southern California; emaciated andsickly sea lions along the coast, vanishing salmon and stranded leopard sharks in the San Francisco Bay are bellwethers reminding us that the ocean is sick.

The ocean needs our help.
After a week of celebrating the Earth, it's time to celebrate our ocean with World Oceans Day. This day had been unofficially celebrated every June 8 since its original proposal in 1992 by Canada at the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It was officially recognized by the United Nations in 2008. Since then, WOD has been coordinated internationally by The Ocean Project and the World Ocean Network with greater success and global participation each year. World Oceans Day is an opportunity every year to honor the world's ocean, to celebrate the all marine life.
It's time to motivate change and let our leaders know that marine life and ecosystem are worth protecting, and they need our protection now. This summer, celebrate World Oceans Day and tell our representatives we need a sea change. With our partners from The Ocean Project, Sea Stewards will be coordinating a World Ocean Day Celebration at Crissy Field in San Francisco on June 11. We will be celebrating all marine life, especially sharks, and motivate people to protect the ocean and ocean life we love.

Ethan Allen

Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. and its subsidiaries (collectively, "Ethan Allen" or the "Company") (NYSE:ETH)
In anticipation of questions about business trends at upcoming meetings next week with financial analysts, Ethan Allen's Chairman and CEO, Farooq Kathwari commented, "While there are economic headwinds, we have continued to maintain our progress in written business (booked orders) during the months of April and May. We are benefitting from many marketing and operations initiatives taken during the last several years especially during the last three years with the advent of the 'Great Recession'. We also continue to benefit from the leverage of our vertically integrated structure."
About Ethan Allen
Ethan Allen Interiors Inc. is a leading interior design company and manufacturer and retailer of quality home furnishings. The Company offers free interior design service to its clients and sells a full range of furniture products and decorative accessories through ethanallen.com and a network of approximately 280 Design Centers in the United States and abroad. Ethan Allen owns and operates seven manufacturing facilities in North America, including five manufacturing plants and one sawmill in the United States and one manufacturing plant in Mexico. Approximately seventy percent of its products are made in its United States plants. For more information on Ethan Allen's products and services, visitethanallen.com.

This press release should be read in conjunction with the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended June 30, 2010 and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. This press release and related discussions contain forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations concerning future events and results of the Company, and are subject to various assumptions, risks and uncertainties. Accordingly, actual future events or results could differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. The Company assumes no obligation to update or provide revision to any forward-looking statement at any time for any reason.


Ethan Allen Interiors Inc.
Investor / Media Contact:
David R. Callen, 203-743-8305
Vice President Finance & Treasurer

LeMans

Allan McNish's No. 3 Audi collided with a Ferrari in a spectacular crash at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on Saturday, bringing out the safety car so that the debris could be cleared.
The No. 2 Audi of pole-sitter Benoit Treluyer remained in the lead after three hours of the race, which is won by the car that completes the most laps in 24 hours.
McNish was in second place after about 50 minutes when he banged into the No. 58 Ferrari driven by Anthony Beltoise while trying to make a pass. The Audi veered into a pile of tires and broke into pieces.
McNish walked from his car and was taken to a medical center and then a hospital for further checks.

A total of 56 cars started the race's 79th edition.

Sesame Street

Talking to celebrities is a blast. Talking to celebrities andcelebrity puppets sounds even better. So when Tony nominee Sutton Foster and Sesame Street’s Elmo offered to reunite to discuss the former’s upcoming appearance on the children’s show next fall — and give PopWatch readers an exclusive peak at the full-length video — I jumped to say “yes.” Turns out the old friends — Sutton auditioned with Elmo for a regular spot onSesame Street in 2004 — were as cute and funny as I thought they’d be. And obviously enamored with each other: Foster’s boyfriend, fellow Tony nominee Bobby Cannavale, who accompanied her to Sesame Street when she filmed the clip, better watch out! Read our chat and then check out the video below.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: So, Sutton and Elmo, you’re back together.
ELMO: Miss Sutton. Oh, I’m so happy to hear you!
SUTTON FOSTER: I’ve missed you!
Elmo: Congratulations! Elmo wish he could be there [on Tony night].
SF: I wish you could be there, too. I wish you could be my date.
Elmo: No, you already have a date. Elmo met him.
Elmo, did you know Sutton’s date, Bobby, is nominated, too?
Elmo: Yes! So tell him congratulations, also.
SF: I sure will.
When did you guys first meet?
Elmo: A long time ago. We go way back.
SF: We go way, way back.
Elmo: Elmo’s been knowing Miss Sutton for a long, long time. She’s so special.
SF: Well, Elmo, you’re very special, too.
Elmo: No, you are. We have a wonderful love fest going. [Laughs] Elmo hopes your boyfriend is okay with that.
SF: Boy, my boyfriend’s okay with that. Because he loves you, too.
So tell me about the song-and-dance number you did together.
Elmo: See, it was so cool because Elmo loved watching Miss Sutton sing and dance all at the same time while teaching about levers!
SF: Do you remember the song that we sang?
Elmo: Yes! [Singing] “Elmo loves, loooves, loooooooooooves a lever! Elmo’s a lever lover through and through.” See, Elmo remembers.

Are you a good dancer?
Elmo: Elmo’s okay.
SF: You had some pretty good moves, I thought.
Elmo: Hmmm…thank you…hoo…hoo. [Collapses in giggles]
Elmo, have you ever seen Sutton in a Broadway show?
Elmo: No, not yet. Elmo has to.
SF: That would be awesome.
Elmo: Oh, Elmo wishes he could have seen Thoroughly Modern Millie. Elmo heard she was wonderful in that. Do you have a favorite, Miss Sutton?
SF: Gosh, it’s hard to pick because I like all of them so much. I always seem to like the one that I’m in. So I think the one I’m in right now, Anything Goes, is my favorite.
Elmo: Cool. Well, Elmo heard you were really fun and funny in Shrek, too. Elmo’s glad that you didn’t have to put any green makeup on.
Are you guys going to meet up again?
Elmo: Oh, Elmo hopes so. Elmo wants Miss Sutton to move in. There’s a couple apartments available at 123 Sesame Street…
SF: I would love to move in there.
Elmo: …and Elmo’s mommy and daddy told Elmo that the rent is not too bad. Especially for New York.
SF: I’m actually looking for a new place, so maybe I’ll check it out.
Elmo: Oh that would be cool!
SF: We could be neighbors.
Elmo: That would be wonderful. We could have play dates all the time.
Did you get up to any trouble when you were together?
Elmo: Oh, she’s really, really silly. She’s so ready. That’s what Elmo loves about her. She’s so ready to have a good time.
SF: Yeah, that’s what life is all about, right Elmo?
Elmo: Oh yeah, Baby!
Could you do me a favor? I’m going to show a video of your song-and-dance to our readers. Could introduce it?
SF: It’s about levers — about what a lever is and how it works. I came to Sesame Street to teach everyone about the different things in our lives that are levers and I sang a little song about it.
Elmo: Yeah, kind of a little song.
SF: Okay, it’s a big song.

Worlds Fair

Palm Christian Marketing will kick off its 2011 Knoxville Summer Fest on Tuesday, June 14 on the Performance Lawn at World’s Fair Park with a fun-filled day of music, stand-up comedy, festival games and more.
The event, presented in corporate partnership with Fox Toyota and Moore Freight Services, is held annually to help financially support one local non-profit Christian ministry per year.
The charitable aspect coupled with the carnival atmosphere is what gives Summer Fest its charm, according to Mason Forbis, a senior at UT.
“I went to Summer Fest 2010 with my family, and we all had an incredible time. It is great to have an event like this that is truly all for charity,” said Forbis.
PCMI recognizes that most non-profit organizations have an annual budget that depends entirely on its fundraising abilities. With anywhere from $20,000 to $30,000 in donations required in order to stay afloat, these groups need help from the greater Knoxville community.

The profits from this year’s festival will go to Lost Sheep Ministry, an organization dedicated to helping the large homeless community in Knoxville.
Pre-purchased tickets are $10 and $15 on the day of the event, which begins at noon. With things ranging from face painters, clowns, and stand-up comedy from Mike Williams and David Ferrell, it promises to be a fun-filled day for everyone, with philanthropy at the heart of it.
“The festival is a fun time for everyone around, but the fact that we’re doing all of this to help the less fortunate brings a sense of accomplishment along with it,” said Forbis.

Full Tilt Poker

During the World Series of Poker, poker is everything and consumes all focus. Playing for bracelets and obscene amounts of prize money is commonplace. When a player emerges from the masses to hold up their bracelet high, it often is the biggest moment of his or her life. The same statement might not apply for David Diaz, who defeated a field of 1,340 players in the $1,500 Triple Chance Event 12 at the 2011 WSOP. His victory over this massive field was netted him $352,808, but this was not the biggest victory of his life.
"I had cancer when I was four-years old," he said after his win. "I had family that lived in New Jersey -- my Aunt Rosa and Ramon. They brought me down to Memphis because that was the only hospital [St. Jude's Children's Hospital in Memphis] for children that had been treated with that type of thing. They pretty much saved my life. … [It was a] great hospital. They saved my life, and saved a lot of kids lives."
Diaz, 26, was born in Honduras, but moved to the U.S. for treatment. He recovered fully and as he grew up, decided to play poker. Now a professional poker player for the last five years, Diaz has reached the pinnacle with his first bracelet win.
"It feels great," he said. "I can't even take it all in yet."
This was the Memphis resident's second career WSOP final table (he previously finished sixth in $1,500 six-handed eventin 2010), and he wouldn't let this second chance pass him by. Diaz eliminated Anders Meli and locked up the bracelet to the exhilaration of his friends watching tableside. This was the biggest cash of his career.
Through 12 events, Diaz is the 12th first-time WSOP bracelet winner. Fourth-place finisher Bill Chen was the only player at the final table who had previously won a bracelet. Chen was a two-time bracelet winner in 2006.
This event likely saw one of the biggest increases in terms of year-over-year participation, as there were 965 players a year ago compared to the 1,340 in this event. The key difference in 2011 was the price point, $1,500 in 2011 versus $3,000 in 2010. The "Triple Chance" format enables players to add on to their stack twice any point in the tournament during the first four levels.

Other notable finishers included Sam Trickett (16th), J.C. Tran (28th), Andy Black (30th), Cliff Josephy (37th) and Carlos Mortensen (40th).
Below are the complete results of Event 12 at the 2011 World Series of Poker:
Event 12: Triple Chance no-limit hold 'em
Buy-in: $1,500
Entries: 1,340
Prize pool: $1,809,000
Players in the money: 144
1. David Diaz ($352,808)
2. Anders Meli ($218,183)
3. Andrea Dato ($138,044)
4. Bill Chen ($100,200)
5. Corey Hastings ($73,915)
6. Richard Trigg ($55,355)
7. Justin Sternberg ($42,059)
8. Nicholas Rampone ($32,381)
9. Matthew Henson ($25,253)
10. Steve Watts ($19,953)
11. Daniel Smith ($19,953)
12. Denis Gnidash ($19,953)
13. Daniel Quesada ($15,973)
14. Anthony Fung ($15,973)
15. Amritaksha Basu ($15,973)
16. Sam Trickett ($12,952)
17. Bradley McFarland ($12,952)
18. Mats Gavatin ($12,952)
19. Jesse Cohen ($10,636)
20. Brandon Poe ($10,636)
21. Jesse Cohen ($10,636)
22. Bryan Pimlott ($10,636)
23. Martins Adeniya ($10,636)
24. Reed Hensel ($10,636)
25. Jordan Siegel ($10,636)
26. Getty Mattingsley ($10,636)
27. Cyriel Dohmen ($10,636)
28. J.C. Tran ($8,846)
29. Mikhail Lakhitov ($8,846)
30. Andy Black ($8,846)
31. Brian Benhamou ($8,846)
32. Salman Behbehani ($8,846)
33. Arthur Lim ($8,846)
34. Peter Hernandez ($8,846)
35. Marios Savvides ($8,846)
36. Ross Marrinson ($8,846)
37. Cliff Josephy ($7,453)
38. Dan Martin ($7,453)
39. Eric Ford ($7,453)
40. Carlos Mortensen ($7,453)
41. Ben Tollerene ($7,453)
42. Luke Schwartz ($7,453)
43. Eric Guth ($7,453)
44. Raphael Doromal ($7,453)
45. Gavin Polone ($7,453)
46. Tyler Kenney ($6,331)
47. Fabrice Halleux ($6,331)
48. Justin Chan ($6,331)
49. Vincent Vanderfluit ($6,331)
50. Robert Koss ($6,331)
51. Jason Helder ($6,331)
52. Ganesh Letchumanan ($6,331)
53. Joshua Bergman ($6,331)
54. John Myung ($6,331)
55. Kenneth Martin ($5,445)
56. Michail De Gilio ($5,445)
57. Donald Boivin ($5,445)
58. Matt Glantz ($5,445)
59. Antoine Amourette ($5,445)
60. William Givens ($5,445)
61. David Cairns ($5,445)
62. Jeremy Cate ($5,445)
63. Richard Anthony ($5,445)
64. Nick Davies ($4,739)
65. Ty Reiman ($4,739)
66. Matt Sterling ($4,739)
67. Shane Sigsbee ($4,739)
68. Jesse Yaginuma ($4,739)
69. Christopher Johnson ($4,739)
70. Brett Shaffer ($4,739)
71. Alan Brodsky ($4,739)
72. Scott Fawcett ($4,739)
73. Mikhail Yakovlev ($4,178)
74. Paul Dewald ($4,178)
75. Blake Cahail ($4,178)
76. Mark Buford ($4,178)
77. Torrey Reily ($4,178)
78. Anh Van Nguyen ($4,178)
79. Toni Ojala ($4,178)
80. Ted Forrest ($4,178)
81. Jonathan Karamalikis ($4,178)
82. Joel Bullock ($3,726)
83. Tad Jurgens ($3,726)
84. James Mackey ($3,726)
85. Jeff Blenkarn ($3,726)
86. Ryan Olson ($3,726)
87. Craig Gray ($3,726)
88. Regis Merault ($3,726)
89. Phillippe Plouffe ($3,726)
90. Ray Henson ($3,726)
91. Dolph Arnold ($3,382)
92. Chad Winters ($3,382)
93. Jose Severino ($3,382)
94. Matthias De Meulder ($3,382)
95. Kiril Rabstov ($3,382)
96. Gaetano Buda ($3,382)
97. Randall Cohen ($3,382)
98. Stephen Williams ($3,382)
99. David Gutfreund ($3,382)
100. Andy Philachack ($3,075)
101. Eric Ladny ($3,075)
102. Mihai Manole ($3,075)
103. Sam Abueid ($3,075)
104. Justin Pechie ($3,075)
105. Warren Watson ($3,075)
106. Jeffrey Ust ($3,075)
107. Michael Carlson ($3,075)
108. Nicholas Goedert ($3,075)
109. Isaac Haxton ($3,075)
110. Shawn Busse ($3,075)
111. Henrik Tollefsen ($3,075)
112. Cody Scherer ($3,075)
113. Benjamin Eilers ($3,075)
114. Nichoel Peppe ($3,075)
115. Matt Widdoes ($3,075)
116. Paul Deng ($3,075)
117. Anthony Moses ($3,075)
118. Kenn Pluard ($2,822)
119. Gabriel Alarie ($2,822)
120. Daniel Ivers ($2,822)
121. Simon Charette ($2,822)
122. Danny Wong ($2,822)
123. Brett Schwertley ($2,822)
124. Darryll Fish ($2,822)
125. Jesse Vilchez ($2,822)
126. Craig Vergotz ($2,822)
127. Silveira Recife ($2,822)
128. Kenneth Mattox ($2,822)
129. Stephen Reynolds ($2,822)
130. Dean Hamrick ($2,822)
131. Gal Yifrach ($2,822)
132. David Zeitlin ($2,822)
133. Binh Nguyen ($2,822)
134. Michael Mitchell ($2,822)
135. Douglas Foster ($2,822)
136. Erik Torgersen ($2,822)
137. Eugene Castro ($2,822)
138. Kristopher Bradshaw ($2,822)
139. Flamino Malaguti ($2,822)
140. Pascal LeFrancois ($2,822)
141. Ronnie Satterfield ($2,822)
142. David Sklansky ($2,822)
143. Nicholas Cherry ($2,822)
144. Paul Fehlig ($2,822)

Judy Moody And The Not Bummer Summer

Judy Moody is ready for the ultimate summer, but are moviegoers ready to support her?
“Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer” follows the adventures of Judy Moody who is prepared to have the summer of her young life, before her parents tell her that they’re going to California, and she must remain at home with her brother Stink, while their Aunt Opal watches over them.
After she realizes learns that her Aunt is cooler than she ever thought, the trio creates the “Judy Moody Mega-Rare Not Bummer Summer Dare,” where they do a dare and get 10 points every time they’re successful.
After falling behind in the competition, Moody sets out to try to find Bigfoot, so she can dominate the competition.
The movie is based on the “Judy Moody” series by Megan McDonald.
The film opened on Friday and brought in $2.3 million, according to early estimates by Box Office Mojo—good for seventh place in the box office.
Director J.J. Abrams’ “Super 8” took first place on Friday, bringing in $12.2 million, and “X-Men: First Class” ($7.6 million) fell to second after topping the charts the week before.

The comedy “The Hangover Part II” took third, “Kung Fu Panda 2” was fourth, and “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” was fifth.
Starring in “Judy Moody” is Jordana Beatty who plays Judy Moody and Heather Graham as Aunt Opal.
Critics on Rotton Tomatos weren’t weren’t thrilled with the movie, giving it a rating of 14 percent.  The audience, however, enjoyed the film a little more, with a 74 percent average rating on the website.

Mendeley Hack4Knowledge: towards an "ego wall"

I'm taking a virtual part in Mendeley's Hack4Knowledge event. I'm using this a chance to explore some ideas about building novel interfaces to bibliographic data in Mendeley. One idea is to display a user's entire library in one screen. I think the user interfaces employed by most bibliographic software are too conservative and there some cool things that could be done. For example, see A fluid treemap interface for personal digital libraries (doi:10.1145/1065385.1065512, PDF available from CiteSeer).

One idea I'm playing with is to display all a Mendeley user's papers as a quantum treemap, with thumbnails of the papers and "badges" indicating, for example, how many readers each paper has. The idea is that at a glance you can see all your publications, and which ones are being read the most. You can think of it as an "ego wall" — a quick way to see what others think about your work. Below is part of my library. You can see the full treemap here as an SVG file. Imagine this as an iPad interface to a user's Mendeley library.



Eventually I'll make this live. I'm doing this yet as the script to create the visualisation is slow due to the multiple requests I need to make to get the necessary information. I have to get the list of a user's papers from Mendeley, then I call the API for each paper to get basic bibliographic details. I have to screen scrape the corresponding paper's web page to get the thumbnail and the paper's UUID, which I can then use to get the readership stats via Mendeley's API via yet another API call. Sigh.

Anyway, this is enough hacking for one day. Hope to spend some more time on this project tomorrow.

The Nether Regions of the "Art Trade"

.

In the context of a discussion about the US reaction to information about ongoing (or not) looting of archaeological sites in Egypt, New York cultural property lawyer William G. Pearlstein writes on Peter Tompa's Cultural Property Observer blog about the import of illegally exported archaeological items:

[US] Customs does not seem to be constrained at all from seizing objects of even minimal value. Nevertheless, the archeological lobby persists in deriding the deterrent effect of US and criminal and customs laws on prospective US importers. [...] It's yet another demonstration of how completely out of touch they are with reality and how utterly ignorant they are of the workings of the market. They exist in a strange private nether world, devoid of sun, light and air, fencing against shadows on the wall. If anyone is blowing smoke it's Patty G[erstenblith] and her chorus at AIA. The only question is which end it's coming from.

The response to the amount of freshly "surfaced" material on the US market with no documentation of licit origins and legal import is itself derisive. We are well enough acquainted with the "workings of the market" to know that among this stuff is probably a considerable amount of freshly dugup and illegally exported material. Yes, US criminal and customs laws as currently applied are having next to no effect on the incentive the lack of transparency on this market provides for criminal activity of looters and smugglers.

As for who is 'out of touch', we might consider the comment of another "cultural property lawyer" who says that if the US introduces restrictions on artefacts illegally exported from Egypt:

"yet another collecting area will likely become off limits to all those but the wealthy who can afford to purchase the limited number of artifacts with detailed collecting histories".

Export licences, Mr Tompa, export licences. They have nothing to do with "collecting histories" - but should be at the beginning of every decent one.


[By the way - and still on the topic of "the workings of the market": If these collecting histories really do boost value, why are collectors and dealers so intent on discarding this information every time all but a few objects change hands? Or are there collecting histories that would not 'enhance value' too and are best kept quiet?]

Super 8 Rotten Tomatoes

In the age of technology, secrecy and anonymity are two commodities that are very hard to come by, especially in the entertainment industry. Movie spoilers and popular gossip websites have almost single-handedly eliminated surprises in Hollywood.
However, it seems that film director and producer J.J. Abrams has found the secret to keeping a secret. He has built up hype with his new film "Super 8," which opens in theaters tomorrow.
As commercials and trailers for "Super 8" become more substantial, details of the film have slowly begun to emerge. Set in 1979, "Super 8" tells the story of a group of young movie makers who witness a massive train crash, which in turn releases an unknown force onto their small Ohio town. With the disappearance of local animals and a growing military presence, residents are left to illustrate a much debated scenario of what life would be like during an alien invasion.
"I think it looks really interesting," senior Brittany Martinez said. "And J.J. Abrams has a way of creating movies that are not like anything else, even though his best movies are all similar in the super natural space sense."
Like Abrams' 2008 film "Cloverfield," very little is known about "Super 8" other than the cast credits and the small clips shown online and on television. Other than building a great mystery, this lockdown of plot details not only encourages people to see the film but also avoids media hearsay.

"It's going for the ‘Cloverfield' effect where you never see the monster in the trailers," senior Eric Le Tellier said. "It's successful in peaking my interest enough to make me want to know more about the movie."
From the few snippets and interviews given in relation to "Super 8," popular websites like Rotten Tomatoes have given the film mostly positive reviews. Although details of the storyline cannot provide much information about "Super 8," cast credits and special effects seem to have taken up the extra slack. Oscar-winning director Steven Spielberg, as producer, has solidified the film's position as a legitimate movie and not just another sci-fi flop about a small town invaded by aliens.
"It looks like a good movie that would be fun to see, especially in IMAX," senior Natalie Schiferl said. "I would definitely be interested in seeing it."
With limited screen captures and video clips to go on, audiences will have to take a chance on "Super 8" based on feelings of the sci-fi genre and success of those involved. With Spielberg and Abrams behind the camera, it seems that this film will be a more grounded version of "War of the Worlds" and much steadier to watch than "Cloverfield," which was shot with a shaky handheld camera. The only way to know if "Super 8" will live up to the reputation it has been given is to wait for its release.

Smtown Paris

On June 9th, a new episode of SBS’s “Midnight TV Entertainment” revealed the power of the increasingly global Hallyu wave that has been sweeping Europe.
K-pop has been making a large presence in France this year: on April 20th, around fifty fans from France visited Korea for SHINee’s fan meeting, confirming the group’s global popularity. Furthermore,SMTOWN Live, the first international idol group collaboration concert took place in Paris today.

When the news was revealed earlier this year, European fans went wild, with tickets selling out in a mere 15 minutes. The reactions to the announcement  were explosive as interviewed fans commented, “I’m so happy! K-pop is finally here in France!“, “I am so going to get 2 tickets. I’ll die if I don’t get them”, and “It’s a dream come true. I can’t wait for it“.
“Midnight TV Entertainment” also revealed footage of a demonstration by approximately 300 fans that took place in front of the Louvre. These fans, who weren’t able to purchase tickets, performed dances from Super Junior’s “Sorry, Sorry” to TVXQ’s “Mirotic“, demonstrating the popularity of Korean idols in Europe. In response to the demand of fans in Europe and at this demonstration, a second tour date was announced soon thereafter.
The episode also reveals footage of TVXQ, SNSD, SHINee and f(x) leaving for Paris.

Jamaica vs Guatemala

Jamaica vs Guatemala

Jamaica in first game against Granada play very well easy ewin 4-0.Jamaica was able to score more goals. Offensively are verystrong. They have several players making a difference in this tournament.
Guatemala in the first game with a lot of luck drew 0-0 against Honduras. What is important to them are two important defensiveplayers suspended Cabrera i Medina. For this match they have problems in the last line.
Guatemala will play defending footbal and on counter-attack. Jamaica will have possession of the ball and with the problems inGuatemala's defense,  Jamaica have nice chance to score.

Nightingale Nursing Home Singapore

Nightingale Nursing Home Singapore

Peer monitoring, training to handle difficult situations with patients and the use of video cameras in patients' rooms.

These are some measures used by nursing homes here to prevent abuse of patients, several operators told MediaCorp yesterday in the wake of a patient abuse case at Nightingale Nursing Home at Braddell Road.

At seven ECON medicare centres and nursing homes islandwide, staff are taught to handle difficult situations with patients and can seek help from their superiors when needed.

Said a spokesperson from parent company China Healthcare: "We constantly remind staff to be sensitive to our residents' needs and treat them with dignity and respect."

Daily checks are conducted by each centre manager, staff nurses and wards-in-charge and senior management also pay regular visits. Customers may provide feedback via forms provided at the centres, she said.

At Serene and Irene nursing homes, cameras installed last year in all rooms, chiefly to ensure that nursing procedures are carried out properly, serve as "a deterrent" against staff misbehaving and as evidence if patients or a relative allege wrongdoings, said owner Irene Ong.

But some institutions, like The Salvation Army Peacehaven Nursing Home, limit close-circuit television monitoring to common spaces and corridors to give patients privacy. Peacehaven relies on peer monitoring to prevent mistreatment of patients.

Said Peacehaven executive director Low Mui Lang: "Basically, it's ... how you manage and treat your staff. The staff will report to us because if there's mistreatment, and they don't report to us, the whole team will be affected."

Peacehaven has about 160 staff. Each team comprises three to five staff, said Ms Low. The bulk of staff at nursing homes here are from countries such as the Philippines and Myanmar, as many Singaporeans shun the tasks involved, which include lifting, cleaning and bathing patients. Apart from nurses, nursing aides and healthcare attendants are employed at the homes.

Foreign nursing aides either would have nursing certificates or would be practicing nurses in their home countries, while healthcare attendants would either have caregiving experience or possess relevant certificates.

Some nursing homes such as Peacehaven are Institute of Technical Education-certified on-the-job training centres, allowing staff to attend relevant National ITE Certificate programmes.

Others send staff for courses or train them in-house.

In a nursing home context, where tasks such as bathing patients are "quite blue-collar", Ms Ong said she places more value on a potential attendant's temperament than qualifications, which can be taught. Those who are found to have mistreated patients are either reprimanded or dismissed, she added.

Even as they protect the dignity and welfare of patients, nursing homes said it was important to also protect staff from unnecessary abuse by patients and their families.

Peacehaven's Ms Low said such instances are "more frequent than staff abusing residents". The nursing home has put up notices that visitors are not allowed to abuse its staff.

At Serene and Irene nursing homes, while patients sometimes hurl abuse due to dementia, Ms Ong said she takes a firmer stand against those with normal mental faculties who bully staff - she has discharged two to three abusive patients in the past few months.

Astrological Sign

Astronomers have restored the original Babylonian zodiac by recalculating the dates that correspond with each sign to accommodate millennia of subtle shifts in the Earth's axis. Prepare to have your minds blown, all you people with easily blowable minds.
Here is the zodiac as the ancient Babylonians intended it—with the dates corresponding to the times of the year that the sun is actually in each constellation's "house"—according to the Minnesota Planetarium Society's Parke Kunkle:

Capricorn: Jan. 20-Feb. 16.
Aquarius: Feb. 16-March 11.
Pisces: March 11-April 18.
Aries: April 18-May 13.
Taurus: May 13-June 21.
Gemini: June 21-July 20.
Cancer: July 20-Aug. 10.
Leo: Aug. 10-Sept. 16.
Virgo: Sept. 16-Oct. 30.
Libra: Oct. 30-Nov. 23.
Scorpio: Nov. 23-29.
Ophiuchus:* Nov. 29-Dec. 17.
Sagittarius: Dec. 17-Jan. 20.
* Discarded by the Babylonians because they wanted 12 signs per year.
I was born a Virgo, and because that's the shittiest sign in the zodiac, I have long refused to believe in astrology and forbid my loved ones from believing in it, either. (My anal retentive need to destroy an entire worldview because I do not like my role in it is, I am told, part of my Virgo nature.) If I'm really a Leo, though, who knows.

Super 8 Review

Super 8 is a film about film: Not today's 3-D digital variety, but its ancestor, the 8mm film that led to a boom in home movies in the 1960s and 70s.  This Spielberg-produced, J.J. Abrams directed thriller is a period piece set firmly in a bygone age: news heard on the radio (not the internet) tells us that Three Mile Island is in the midst of its 1979 meltdown; kids use walkie talkies, not cellphones, to communicate; and the only Walkman in town is looked upon as a novelty.
The action centers around Joe Lamb (Joel Courtney) and his friends, a group of kids on bikes who seem ripped out of E.T. or The Goonies. Prepubescent Charles (Riley Griffiths), the filmmaker of the group, is hoping to enter his zombie movie into a Super 8 film festival in Cincinatti. His group of youthful actors and crew witness a high-speed crash while shooting a scene at a train station; like Antonioni's Blow Up, something suspicious is caught on camera. Soon after, the military arrive in town with an air of 'nothing-to-see-here' evasiveness.
What the military don't want the residents of Lillian, Ohio, to see, is–well, you'll have to find out for yourself. As action unspools on multiple levels, including old Super 8 footage, the real state of affairs becomes clear. There's a good reason why the sheriff is nowhere in sight.

Humor comes courtesy of Cary (Ryan Lee),  a braces-burdened kid with a prediliction for pyromania, and Donny (David Gallagher) the town stoner who perpetually misses the action, as well as plenty ofBack To The Future-esque nods from 2011 to the technology-deficient 70s.
What lets this otherwise successful venture into the past down is the finale. It's all too swiftly dispatched, and the last-minute ladle of schmaltz is unnecessary. Stick around for the credits, though, if only to see nascent director Charles channel some serious Hitchcock.

Shanthi Appuram Nithya

Shanthi Appuram Nithya

Emotional Atyachar 3

The show that brings out the rawest of emotions out in the open is back, as Emotional Atychaar – Season 3’s first episode promises to be packed with a drama at a definitive high. The show pioneered in reality television as it bought out a reflection of the today’s society and its many dimensions.

Joining in the alert Emotional Atyachaar Team (EAT) this season is the guest co-host, Ajay Devgn who comes in sharing his expertise and makes people beware of cheating! The first episode is the story of Aayush who has been dating Neha for the past year and half. Love seems to be in abundance for Aayush since he is by the side of Neha despite of his friends and well wishers alerting him of Neha’s suspicious behavior.

Aayush approaches the EAT(Emotional Atyachaar Team) and reveals that he has attempted to break up with Neha in the past but failed as her brother Ansh threatened to give up his life if he happens to hurt his sister. Now mustering the courage Aayush agrees to do the loyalty test on Neha.

For the first time on the show a loyalty test is conducted at initial stages without an undercover agent where it is soon revealed at a mock audition that Neha has been dating Aayush’s best friend Himanshu. Not only that, she also reveals another bigger secret of dating another guy Suraj who she claims to have been seeing for past 3 years. Suraj accompanies her to the auditions and gets rejected where in an undercover agent Nawab is introduced to her. Within no time she gets comfortable with him and gets closer to him. All this while Ajay Devgn is the one who’s constantly with the team keeping a track of the on goings of the case and keeps advising Pravesh as to what needs to be done next. He readies the team of what’s to come next in their way.

All this is revealed to Aayush where he comes in to witness the truth along with Himanshu.

What will happen when Aayush finds out that his own friend has been dating his girlfriend? How will Neha justify her doings when her truth of her triple dating is revealed? Will Aayush be able to withstand the truth coming his way?

Shaitan Review

Five friends live life on the edge. They unwittingly get involved in a crime. In trying to extricate themselves from the mess, they commit further crimes. Read the Shaitan review for more.
Business rating: 2/5 stars

Star cast: Rajeev Khandelwal, Kalki Koechlin, Gulshan Devaiya, Neil Bhoopalam, Shiv Pandit, Kirti Kulhari, Rajkumar Yadav, Pawan Malhotra.

What’s Good: The racy screenplay; the stylised making of the film; the acting; the background music.

What’s Bad: The story is routine; the film has sectional appeal only.

Verdict: Shaitan will work for the city youth.

Loo break: None really.

Watch or Not?: Watch it for the stylish making and the terrific background score.
Viacom 18 Motion Pictures and Getaway Films’ Shaitan(A) is the story of a group of friends who live life on the edge. Amrita Jayshankar a.k.a. Amy (Kalki Koechlin), Karan Chaudhary a.k.a. KC (Gulshan Devaiya), Zubin (Neil Bhoopalam), Dushyant Sahu a.k.a. Dash (Shiv Pandit) and Tanya Sharma (Kirti Kulhari) are friends who are young and ultra-cool. They seek fun and excitement all the time. And one day, a moment changes everything. Karan is on the wheel of a car in which the friends are having fun. He is driving recklessly and he accidentally kills two people under the car.

The five friends are, obviously, terrified. To cover up this one crime, they commit further crimes. A police officer (Rajkumar Yadav) gets wind of their involvement in the road accident and demands Rs. 25 lakh to close the file. The question now is: from where will they get the money to bribe the police inspector? Even as they go in hiding and go on committing crimes to get the money so that they can pay off the police officer to shut the police case, Inspector Arvind Mathur (Rajeev Khandelwal) is entrusted with the task of tracking the youngsters down. Mathur is himself in the process of divorcing his wife. In his investigation, he realises that in exposing the criminals, he would also have to lay bare the underbelly of the police system.
The story (Bijoy Nambiar and Megha Ramaswamy) does not boast of much novelty as thrillers with similar story-lines have been seen in the past. But what is new is the stylised presentation of the story. Bijoy Nambiar and Megha Ramaswamy have penned a screenplay which is fast-paced and which keeps the interest of the audience alive. There are twists and turns galore in the drama, adding to the intrigue value of the subject. A couple of things do get confusing in the second half but the grip of the film on the viewers doesn’t reduce. No doubt, the making of the film and the takings are of the kind that would appeal only to the youngsters in the cities but that could be a sizeable audience for a film of this kind made on a modest budget. The climax may not be as exhilarating but it is, nevertheless, interesting. Dialogues, written by Abhijit Deshpande, are effective.
Rajeev Khandelwal lives his role. He plays the character of Inspector Arvind Mathur with perfect understanding. Gulshan Devaiya is impressive in the role of Karan Chaudhary. Shiv Pandit is effective as Dushyant. Kalki Koechlin performs with admirable ease. Neil Bhoopalam is fine as Zubin. Kirti Kulhari, as Tanya Sharma, does a good job. Rajit Kapoor is natural to the core. Pawan Malhotra is superb. Rajkumar Yadav makes his presence felt with his supremely natural acting. Rajat Barmecha shines in a cameo appearance as Shomu. Rukshar lends good support. Nikhil Chinnappa leaves a mark. Abhijit Deshpande is good.
Bijoy Nambiar makes a dashing debut as director. Given the thriller genre of the film, he narrates the drama with style and pace to keep the audience engrossed. Music is good but ought to have been better. The ‘Pintya’ song (composed by Ranjit Barot) is mass-appealing. The ‘Hawa hawai’ and the ‘Khoya khoya chand’ song remixes (by Mickey McCleary) are excellent. Ranjit Barot’s background score is extraordinary. Kunal Sharma (sound) deserves the highest praise for a job wonderfully done. R. Madhi’s camerawork is splendid. Editing (Sreekar Prasad) is sharp.
On the whole, Shaitan is a well-made film with a rich background score, stylised cinematography and efficient performances as its high points. It may not have taken a good start but it has the merits to pick up in the good multiplexes of the cities on the strength of the youth audience. Considering its modest budget on the one hand and the dull start on the other, it would prove to be an average fare after collections pick up.

Meera Chopra

Priyanka’s cousin Meera is recently facing lot of problems as she is receiving lewd mails from unknown email-ids.  Though Meera knows the person but can’t divulge the details due to confidentiality.
Reportedly she tells they are from abroad and she really wants to expose them to the media. Her engagement was almost on the verge of breaking due to such lewd mails.

The police have however managed to track the ip addresses from where the lewd mails were sent. Priyanka’s cousin is currently planning to leave for Mumbai.