What this film has done to Holmes is a crime! (Or is it?)

Jeremy Brett (with Gayle Hunnicutt as Irene Adler) is considered by Sherlockians one of the two best screen incarnations of Holmes. His British series was seen on PBS.






Haunted lately by an eerie, ripping noise?
That's the sound of Sherlock Holmes purists rending their garments at the prospect of Guy Ritchie's $80 million extravaganza, Sherlock Holmes, which stars Robert Downey Jr. as the inimitable master detective, Jude Law as a surprisingly edgy Dr. John Watson - and Rachel McAdams as a seductive Irene Adler.

Trailers for the film, which opens on Christmas, couple gorgeous views of Edwardian London with jolting shots of a bare-chested, bloodied Holmes in a makeshift boxing ring.

Holmes brawling bare-knuckled a la Fight Club? Shocking!

Holmes going all Jackie Chan on the villains? Gasp!

Holmes flirting? Oh, my!

What is this Ritchie guy doing?

"Get a grip!" growls noted Sherlockian Les Klinger, who's fed up with fans pointing out the obvious - the film takes liberties with Doyle's stories.

"There have been over 200 films about Holmes," says Klinger, editor of The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes, a multivolume collection of Doyle's work released in 2005.

The Guinness Book of World Records lists Holmes as the most-portrayed character on screen. More than 70 actors have stepped into his shoes, including Eille Norwood, Christopher Plummer, Peter Cushing, Matt Frewer, Peter Cook, Douglas Wilmer, Ronald Howard, Vasili Livanov, and Roger Moore.

"Everyone has taken liberties with Holmes. There's never been a Hound of the Baskervilles version that is true to the original," Klinger says, referring to Doyle's most famous tale, which has engendered 20 films.

And that's just one of 60 Holmes-spun tales that Doyle published between 1887 and 1927.

Everyone has always taken liberties. One of the very first Holmes dramatizations, the stage play Sherlock Holmes, written by and starring American actor William Gillette, ended with impending marriage for Holmes. (Doyle's hero remained a bachelor.) Gillette, who played the role from 1899 to 1930, when he was well into his 70s, famously wired Doyle for permission to marry off Holmes.

Doyle's reply is classic: "You may marry him, or murder or do what you like with him."

Does that mean that anything goes?

Certainly not, says Klinger, who served as an unofficial adviser for Ritchie's film and helped prep Downey Jr. for the role.

Klinger has certain basic hopes and expectations for the film: "That it would be respectful of the original stories and that it not be a jokey satire or distortion."

Sadly, Holmes' celluloid debut was hardly respectful. Produced by American Mutoscope & Biograph in 1900 (some scholars date it to 1903), Sherlock Holmes Baffled was a one-reel spoof that ran between 30 seconds and a minute.

"They use trick photography to make this burglar appear and disappear and Holmes is trying to get ahold of him and can't," says Holmes expert David Morrill. "And that is how we've seen him from then on."

Source:philly.com/

Christina Ricci stars in film for Donna Karan

Don't you just love Christina Ricci? Her impeccable style has now lead her to land a guest role in a short film for Donna Karan. Titled Four Play, it sees Christina play out four different scenarios - the dreamer, the paramour, the expressionist and the voyeur. It is directed by Sting's son, Jake Sumner - also sister of singer/Burberry model Coco Sumner. My that is one talented family! It is also produced by Kelly Cutrone's People Revolution. The video will be available on Youtube and Facebook, and features a soundtrack provided by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.


Source:catwalkqueen.tv/

Irish stars Golden Globes nominees

Gleeson - Has already won an Emmy for his performance in Into the Storm





The nominations for the Golden Globe Awards have been announced in the US, with Irish stars among the nominees.

Emmy winner Brendan Gleeson is nominated for Best Actor in a Miniseries or TV Movie for his portrayal of Winston Churchill in 'Into the Storm'.

U2 are nominated in the Best Song category for 'Winter' from the new Jim Sheridan film 'Brothers'.

AdvertisementThe George Clooney-starring 'Up in the Air' leads the film categories with six nominations, while the new series 'Glee' leads the TV categories with four.


The nominees for Best Motion Picture - Drama are: 'Avatar', 'The Hurt Locker', 'Inglourious Basterds', 'Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire' and 'Up in the Air'.


Jeff Bridges ('Crazy Heart'), George Clooney ('Up in the Air'), Colin Firth ('A Single Man'), Morgan Freeman ('Invictus') and Tobey Maguire ('Brothers') are nominated for Best Actor in a Motion Picture - Drama.


The nominees for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama are: Emily Blunt ('The Young Victoria'), Sandra Bullock ('The Blind Side'), Helen Mirren ('The Last Station'), Carey Mulligan ('An Education') and Gabourey Sidibe ('Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire').

Wicklow resident Daniel Day-Lewis is nominated in the Best Actor - Comedy or Musical category for his performance in 'Nine'.



'(500) Days of Summer', 'The Hangover', 'It's Complicated', 'Julie & Julia' and 'Nine' are nominated for Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical.


The nominees for Best Supporting Actress are: Penélope Cruz ('Nine'), Vera Farmiga ('Up in the Air'), Anna Kendrick ('Up in the Air'), Mo'Nique ('Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire') and Julianne Moore ('A Single Man').


The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are: Matt Damon ('Invictus'), Woody Harrelson ('The Messenger'), Christopher Plummer ('The Last Station'), Stanley Tucci ('The Lovely Bones') and Christoph Waltz ('Inglorious Basterds').


Nominated for Best Director are: Kathryn Bigelow ('The Hurt Locker'), James Cameron ('Avatar'), Clint Eastwood ('Invictus'), Jason Reitman ('Up in the Air') and Quentin Tarantino ('Inglourious Basterds').


The nominees for Best Television Series - Drama are: 'Big Love', 'Dexter', 'House', 'Mad Men' and 'True Blood'.


The nominees for Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical are: '30 Rock', 'Entourage', 'Glee', 'Modern Family' and 'The Office'.

The winners will be announced on Sunday, 17 January.

Source:rte.ie/

Red Carpet Is Elementary For Sherlock Stars

12:00pm UK, Tuesday December 15, 2009

Steve Hargrave, showbiz correspondent

The man with the hat is back - but this time he's definitely not wearing a deerstalker.
The new Sherlock Holmes movie had its world premiere just miles from Baker Street in London's Leicester Square.

Stars Robert Downey Jr and Jude Law joined director Guy Ritchie at the launch of the film, which they said returns to the gritty origins of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's books.

"It was a really big deal," said Downey Jr, whose wife Susan produced the new adaptation.

"I didn't take it lightly and it's really trippy to be here a year later having worked on it all this while."

Holmes of course is fiction's most-portrayed character, with more than 70 actors taking on the role at various times.

So did the star pay any attention to previous efforts?

"I didn't not look at it," he smiled, before pointing at his wife. "I just started doing my own work, I guess she got me some stuff."

"You looked at some stuff," added Susan, "but it was more for the storytelling than it was for the performance stuff, because ours was definitely going back to the story that Conan Doyle wrote."

Law plays Watson, and agreed with the theory that rather than this being a 21st century take on the world of Holmes, it's actually grounded in the past.




Law hogs the limelight in front of the cast and crew at the premiere



See a gallery of images from the film on Sky Movies

"It was actually true to the source material," he said.

"I didn't know the book, but a lot of the ideas that sound like we're reinventing are actually rediscovering.

"Watson was certainly younger and certainly less portly and more involved in the adventures, and it was exciting for me to hopefully educate audiences into a newer way of looking at it."

The film marks a change of pace for Ritchie, who found himself fronting a big studio-based potential franchise, rather than one of his own scripts.

He saw the project as a chance to make his own mark.

"I was familiar with all the stories as a boy," he told Sky News.

"So when they came to me I was very enthusiastic because I've never seen another film of Holmes and I've never watched the TV series, so I had my idea of how he should be represented."

So will there be a sequel? The story is certainly left open-ended, and there are already rumours that Brad Pitt may come on board as Holmes' adversary Moriaty.

Downey Jr for one was keeping an open mind.

"The nice thing is nowadays they (can) kind of tell how movies are about to be received," he laughed.

"It seems we may be able to do this again, but I don't want to be presumptuous."

Source:news.sky.com/

Orlando Magic News & Notes: Magic All Stars

The Orlando Magic will take on the Utah Jazz tonight at 10:30. Read my preview here.

John Denton says that the Magic are motivated by a lack of respect.

In some ways, the Magic have garnered a measure of respect this season by earning their way onto the national television stage 24 times – the most in the history of the franchise. Two of those games come the next two nights – Thursday against Utah on TNT and Friday in Phoenix on ESPN.

“We’re getting some recognition now, but we have to keep playing because now that people are kind of recognizing us as an elite team we have to know that everybody is going to give us their best shot,’’ Magic forward Rashard Lewis said. “Teams and fans across the NBA are starting to notice that we are an elite team and we have to be ready to take those punches that they are going to give us.’’

The Magic have proven themselves to be elite in almost every way of late. At 17-4, they have equaled the franchise’s best 21-game start ever and with a win Thursday against Utah they can go where no Magic team ever has (as in 18-4). The eight straight road wins are the most ever in any one season and they are on pace to shatter the team mark of 27 road victories set each of the past two seasons.

Source:howardthedunk.com/

Understudies to the Stars

C.J. Wilson jumped at the prospect of playing on Broadway opposite Hugh Jackman. Too bad he spent the entire time backstage.

When "A Steady Rain" ended its run over the weekend, Mr. Wilson, the understudy for Daniel Craig (film's latest James Bond), had spent every performance waiting in the wings. His theater training did come in handy: When he would occasionally run into Mr. Craig in a stairwell, he'd try to act natural. "I didn't want him to think I was going to push him down the stairs," he says.

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C.J. Wilson understudied for Daniel Craig in 'A Steady Rain.' He never got to appear.
While some new shows limped along at the box office this season, a handful of star-driven productions prospered. Jude Law helped "Hamlet" gross just over $1 million in its final week on Broadway. "A Streetcar Named Desire" starring Cate Blanchett at BAM in Brooklyn, N.Y., sold out almost entirely within two weeks. Soon after "A Steady Rain" began performances, producers of the two-person drama, which co-starred Mr. Jackman (from the "X-Men" movies), announced that it had broken the record for weekly box-office grosses for a Broadway play.

As audiences seek out Broadway shows just to see their favorite celebrities, journeymen actors working as understudies are finding it a mixed blessing. The actors are paid a salary for standing by, and they say the roles look good on their résumés, but they know they're not likely to perform much. Celebrities know the stakes: People will demand their money back if they don't drag themselves onstage.

Robert Cole, a producer of "A Steady Rain," says he and the other producers might have canceled the performance altogether rather than put in Mr. Wilson or Mr. Jackman's understudy, Danny Mastrogiorgio. The team put off that decision, he says, preferring to make the call closer to the performance if the situation ever arose, which it did not.

Understudies can't be caught unprepared. The replacements for "A Steady Rain," both Juilliard graduates, worked on their characters' Chicago accents with a voice coach and listened to a CD of non-actors from Chicago reading the script. They were backstage during each performance, often rehearsing blocking and running lines (or, as Mr. Wilson put it, "talking to a shower stall in our dressing room"). Even a few days before the play closed, Mr. Mastrogiorgio says he and his fellow understudy were feeling anxious: "Both of us got a wave of, 'Oh my God, imagine if both of us had to go on in the last week.'"

Debbie O'Fee, from New York's Queens borough, who rooted for Constantine Maroulis during his run on "American Idol," says she was "really annoyed" when she opened the Playbill at a Saturday matinee of Broadway's "Rock of Ages" earlier this year only to find that she'd be watching Mr. Maroulis's understudy. She enjoyed the understudy's performance, but she wanted the former "Idol" contestant. "You want to get your money's worth," she says.

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Joan Marcus

Daniel Craig in 'A Steady Rain.'
A "Rock of Ages" spokesperson says Mr. Maroulis missed fewer than 10 out of nearly 400 performances, adding that the show offers refunds and exchanges for people who don't want to see an understudy.

If a star who's billed above the title cannot perform, Broadway theaters typically allow audience members who don't want to see the performance to refund their tickets or reschedule for another night.

The new musical "Fela!" does not tell theatergoers ahead of time which actor will be performing in the lead role of Afrobeat legend Fela Kuti—a demanding part played by Sahr Ngaujah or Kevin Mambo. (It's not advertised, but if one actor plays the matinee, there's a better chance the other will perform that evening, and if one plays a Friday night, the other is more likely to play that Saturday night, according to a spokesman for the show.)

On Sunday, a performance of "Fela!" was canceled when three dancers were injured. The replacements tried to rehearse while patrons started showing up outside the theater. The show was called off less than an hour before curtain. "We just didn't feel we were going to give the audience what they deserved to see," says lead producer Steve Hendel.

When Jeremy Piven (HBO's "Entourage") dropped out of the David Mamet play "Speed-the-Plow" on Broadway last year, citing illness, the door opened for Jordan Lage. The actor, who now understudies James Spader and Richard Thomas in Mr. Mamet's new Broadway play "Race," filled in for eight shows before the role was turned over to Norbert Leo Butz and later William H. Macy.

At the understudy's last "Speed-the-Plow" performance, he says cast member Raúl Esparza quieted the applause at the curtain call and told the crowd how grateful he was that Mr. Lage had come through. "It was obviously a very proud moment for me," says Mr. Lage.

Source:online.wsj.com/

Young stars making it big - who are your favourites?

IT'S no mean feat cracking the international market, but this year a line-up of young Aussie talents have managed to get a toe in offshore with big things predicted for their futures.

Acting brothers Chris and Liam Hemsworth won rave reviews for their performances in Star Trek and The Last Song, in which Liam stars with Miley Cyrus. But doing even bigger business around the world is Avatar, Sam Worthington's star vehicle which opens here next week.

The first week of Confidential's Readers' Choice Awards draws to a close tomorrow. To enter, go to dailytelegraph.com.au/readerschoice and enter your top 5 picks for Export of the Year.

The nominees are:

Liam Hemsworth, who stars with Miley Cyrus in The Last Song

Chris Hemsworth gets breakthrough role in Star Trek

Sam Worthington stars in Avatar, Terminator 4 and Clash Of The Titans

Isabel Lucas gets breakthrough role in Transformers 2 and Daybreakers

The Veronicas make top 10 on US and UK charts

Orianthi is named as Michael Jackson's lead guitarist on doomed This Is It tour

Daniel Merriweather cracks UK music market with best-selling album

Mia Wasikowska gets breakthrough role in Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland

Guy Sebastian moved to New York and worked with Jordin Sparks and John Mayer

Catherine McNeil makes the prestigious Pirelli calendar and various magazine covers

Source:heraldsun.com.au/

IPL:League of the stars

This was a crossover waiting to happen. And we can safely say ‘It happens only in India.’ After all, films and cricket are the two biggest passions Shilpa Shetty

of our countrymen, and women (this should keep the feminists happy), and so when they decide to join hands, would we complain?

Where else would you hear about actors buying cricket teams, or any team for that matter? Imagine if Julia Roberts were to invest in AC Milan (like Preity Zinta is all set to form a basketball team) and call it the Pretty Boys team ... football wouldn’t be quite the same ballgame, would it?

But it’s happened – most of the buzz surrounding the IPL matches has been around which star has how much stake in what team, who’s going to buy a team, who’s going to perform for one, ad infinitum. Actually, it all started during the first IPL season. That’s when every time you said Kolkata, apart from Sourav Dada’s grim face, SRK’s grumpy one also came to one’s mind. This time, however, the fine actor that he is, SRK managed to smile and give quotes like, “The team should not feel that they have to perform for the sake of the owners.” But then, he left South Africa bang in the middle of the tournament.

All said and done, the stars really jazzed up the event – all of the 59 matches played out in 44 days – and made it the buzziest show of the year, on and off screen. The IPL was nothing short of a big budget film. The location was scouted for, the cast and crew selected carefully, the star players went (auctioned off!) for a princely sum, and finally, the three-hour game, replete with dance sequences and item numbers, was watched by almost 82 million people worldwide. This became such a sure shot success formula that every actor worth his histrionics wanted a share in the IPL pie pronto. Soon, every star was making a beeline to meet Lalit Modi.

Salman Khan is rumoured to have met with IPL boss Lalit Modi with plans to owning a team in the 2010 season. Aamir too has supposedly expressed similar wishes. When asked, Salman had said, “Let’s see. I don’t plan anything. Bid toh zaroor karenge. Agar bid mein mil gaya, toh le lenge.” Lalit Modi too was happy to share, “Yes, Salman came to see me with the possibility of buying an IPL team. I think he is a serious buyer.” Ajay Devgn too will probably jump onto the bandwagon, because his reply to a question about whether he will or won’t, was, “Right now, I don’t want to say anything because it’s too early. But yes, we are in talks. When it materialises, we will talk about it.” Sanjay Dutt thought he would go and meet Modi chupke chupke about this, but was surprised to see a posse of lensmen and journos waiting to click the two.

And those who were not talking of buying a team, made sure they were seen in the stadium while the matches were on. They waved, cheered, promoted their upcoming films – the IPL became a bahana for promotion of all sorts for the stars, last season being one for Deepika Padukone. The others weren’t quite sure about whether the IPL was the Ascots of India, where being seen would become a talking point of having arrived. This time, though, the whole galaxy of stars had smartened up. Akshay Kumar even did some stunts to prove that he’s a worthy ambassador of the Delhi Daredevils. Katrina Kaif, Mugdha Godse, Zayed Khan, Bipasha Basu, Raveena Tandon, Arjun Rampal, well, the whole of Bollywood was in South Africa. Bollywood was buzzing with the big bucks, but on the cricket pitch this time.


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Source:timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

Kaizer Chiefs 3-1 Platinum Stars: Amakhosi Continue Winning Streak

Stars’ goal was scored by Hendrico Botes and Chiefs’ were scored by Siphiwe Tshabalala, Jose Torrealba and Kaizer Motaung Jnr.

Stars were down to 10-men in the 80th minute when they had Luis Renteria sent off. After holding out and not conceding a goal in the opening quarter, Stars grew in confidence and with their first real foray forward managed to take the lead.

The cross from Joseph Malongoane was perfect and Henrico Botes got above Thabang Rooi and headed the ball past Itumeleng Khune to put Stars a goal up.

Conceding the goal spurred Chiefs into action and they began to show more of the killer instinct they displayed in their previous two league games. As soon as they picked up their tempo, Chiefs found themselves back level with Stars.

Siphiwe Tshabalala crafted an opening for himself with as he stormed in from the left and as soon as he had a sight of goal he blasted the ball flat along the ground with his left foot past Tapuwa Kapini.

The second half was an exciting affair and once again Chiefs demonstrated their ability to finish strongly. For the second game in succession it was a hard working Jose Torrealba who came off the bench to help propel Chiefs to victory.

As Chiefs pressed for the winner, with chance after chance passing by, it seemed as though they would be kept out by some stubborn Stars defending. Their lucky break came when Josta Dladla was brought held back by Almiro Lobo inside the Stars 18-yard area.

Initially referee Jacob Frolick had allowed play to go on but was flagged down by assistant referee Shaheem Salot, who pointed out the foul on Dladla. Jose Torrealba stepped up to take the spot kick, which Kapini saved diving to his left to block the ball.

Not to be outdone, Torrealba was quick to the rebound and tapped it home in the 81st minute. Stars played the final minutes a man short as Luis Renteria was dismissed for protesting the awarding of the penalty.

Three minutes later and it was curtains for Stars. Again Kapini could only parry a shot hit from distance by Jimmy Tau and it fell to the feet of Kaizer Motaung Junior, who had the simple task of touching it home to make the score 3-1 and give Chiefs the points.
Source:goal.com/

San Jose Sharks' Douglas Murray aims to skate against Dallas Stars

An injury may have kept Douglas Murray from playing in the second half of that 5-4 overtime loss to Los Angeles, but the hulking Sharks defenseman hopes to be back in the lineup tonight against the Dallas Stars.

Murray suffered what he described only as a "tweak" when he and teammate Dany Heatley collided awkwardly in the final minute of the first period Wednesday night. Murray came back to play a few shifts, then decided he wasn't helping the cause.

"Not a lot of pain, just had a little problem skating," was how Murray described the situation. "It was more of a decision not to make it worse and not to play bad out there. It was limiting the way I was playing."

Murray had hoped the problem would disappear after he got back into the flow of the game.

"A lot of times you just play and as you get warm, it gets better," Murray said. "It didn't, so I wasn't really doing my job out there."

While most of his teammates were practicing Thursday, Murray and fellow defenseman Dan Boyle were battling it out at the ping-pong table. Murray looked anything but hobbled.

Todd McLellan acknowledged he feared things would be worse.

"He's better than we thought he would be coming in this morning and we'll see how he is for tomorrow," the Sharks coach said. "I'm not ruling him out by any means."

The collision occurred in the Sharks' defensive zone when Heatley pursued a Kings player crashing the net. The 6-foot-3, 240-pound Murray


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was trying to get up from the ice when his head ran into the Heatley's midsection. The Sharks forward seemed shaken up on the play, but completed the game.

"I was kind of in a vulnerable position," Murray said, "but that's what happens in a fast-paced game."

If Murray ends up being unable to play tonight, McLellan said newly acquired defenseman Jay Leach would see action in his first game as a Shark.


Only 14 players took part in Thursday's practice, but it wasn't exactly an optional skate.

"It was an assigned day off for some players and a mandatory skate for others," McLellan explained. "It wasn't their choice."

The coaching staff made the decision, he said, after looking at the team collectively and individually.

He and his staff must "make sure we're managing minutes, fatigue, injuries," McLellan added, "especially with a compacted season and at least thinking that we'll have a number of players in an Olympic event for a long period."

Players on the ice Thursday included Manny Malhotra, Jed Ortmeyer, Scott Nichol, Frazer McLaren, Torrey Mitchell, Jamie McGinn, Devin Setoguchi, Kent Huskins and Derek Joslin. Injured Jody Shelley and Brad Staubitz also participated.


Sharks captain Rob Blake turned 40 on Thursday and took his place in the team history book:

Only one previous Shark — Claude Lemieux who came out of retirement last season at age 43 and played in 18 games for San Jose — has been on the roster at age 40 or older.


Today's game has an unusual 7 p.m. start because the Sharks play Saturday night in Phoenix and the Stars face the Kings in Los Angeles. The extra 30 minutes at the end of the game means both teams can fly out of San Jose without violating the city's 11:30 p.m. curfew.

Source:mercurynews.com/

Resolve may grow from Dallas Stars' meltdown

ANAHEIM, Calif. – In a strange way, the Stars' meltdown against the Anaheim Ducks on Tuesday could be a good thing.

In squandering a three-goal lead, giving up the tying goal with 1:02 left in regulation and losing in overtime, 4-3, to a Pacific Division rival, Dallas left its problems with inconsistency for all to see.

"You can't hide after something like that," forward Toby Petersen said. "I mean, that's a microcosm of our entire season right there."

Reacting to a loss to Edmonton on Saturday in a manner in which they have reacted to losses all season, the Stars came out and played aggressive, puck-control hockey and jumped all over a desperate Ducks team. With two goals from Brad Richards and one from Mike Modano in the first 27 minutes of the game, the Stars were on top of their game.

But, just as the Stars have done so far this year, they got a little too happy with their good play. They missed on a couple of key offensive opportunities and then put up two sloppy power-play efforts near the end of the second period when they had a chance to stomp on the Ducks.

The second power play resulted in Joffrey Lupul busting out of the penalty box and scoring with 1:36 left in the period to make it a 3-1 game and give Anaheim a little boost in momentum.

"Those two power plays, they were just so careless," coach Marc Crawford said. "Those are lessons for some of the key players on this team."

What happened next was a blur. Anaheim out-shot Dallas, 21-4, in the third period and overtime, and made the Stars look as bad as they have all season.

Marty Turco was outstanding in goal against the barrage, but then he let in a soft goal that tied the score. It was as if nobody could be credited for good play and no individual could be singled out for blame, either.

"That's as it should be," Crawford said. "We did this as a team, and we have to come out of this as a team."

The Stars ran a standard practice in Anaheim on Wednesday and will practice in San Jose today in preparation for Friday night's game against the Sharks. But will they be any different in the wake of a harsh lesson?

"We all need to look in the mirror and think about what happened," winger James Neal said. "We need to look at the start of the game and see just how good we were and how good we can be, because we have the potential to play like that every game."

But thinking will only go so far. As the team's slogan for the season says, "Actions speak louder."

"I think it can be a good thing to think about it for a couple of days," captain Brenden Morrow said. "It's not going to sit well, and it shouldn't sit well, and we need to think about it. But on Friday, we need to come out and do something about it."

Briefly:D Karlis Skrastins, who has been out with an injured finger, practiced Wednesday and should be ready for Friday's game against the Sharks. ... D Ivan Vishnevskiy was returned to the Texas Stars after one game. ... Dallas is 3-9 in games that have gone past regulation and leads the NHL in overtime/shootout losses.

Source:dallasnews.com/

New Star Found in Big Dipper

One of the stars that makes the bend in the ladle's handle, Alcor, has a smaller red dwarf companion, new observations have revealed.

Alcor is a relatively young star twice the mass of the Sun. Stars this massive are relatively rare (less than a few percent of all stars), short-lived, and bright.

Alcor and its cousins in the Big Dipper formed from the same cloud of matter about 500 million years ago, something unusual for a constellation since most of these patterns in the sky are composed of unrelated stars.

Alcor looks to be in the same position in the Big Dipper with another star, Mizar from the perspective of a viewer on Earth. In fact, both stars were used as a common test of eyesight: Ancient Arab, Roman and English warriors were asked to distinguish "the rider from the horse" (as the two stars are unofficially known). Mizar is the brighter of the two stars and can be seen with the naked eye, while Alcor, a little fainter, takes relatively dark skies to see.

One of Galileo's colleagues observed that Mizar itself is actually a double, the first binary star system resolved by a telescope. Many years later, the two components Mizar A and B were themselves determined each to be tightly orbiting binaries, altogether forming a quadruple system.
Now, Alcor, which is relatively near the four stars of the Mizar system, also has a companion.

Watching for movement

In March, a group of astronomers attached a coronograph and adaptive optics to the 200-inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Observatory in California and pointed it to Alcor. (Adaptive optics counteract interference from Earth's atmosphere by making swift, real-time changes in the shape of a telescope's mirror during observations.)

"Right away I spotted a faint point of light next to the star," said Neil Zimmerman, a graduate student who is working on his Ph.D. with the American Museum of Natural History in New York. "No one had reported this object before, and it was very close to Alcor, so we realized it was probably an unknown companion star."

A few months later, the team looked at the star again, hoping to prove that the two stars were companions by mapping the tiny movement of both in relation to very distant background stars as the Earth moves around the Sun, or parallactic motion. If the proposed companion were just a background star, it wouldn't move along with Alcor.

"We went back 103 days later and found the companion had the same motion as Alcor," said Ben R. Oppenheimer, Curator and Professor in the Department of Astrophysics at AMNH.
Alcor and its newly found, smaller companion, Alcor B, are both about 80 light-years away from Earth and orbit each other every 90 years or more.

Color and size

The team was also able to determine the color, brightness and even rough composition of Alcor B because the novel method of observation they use records images at many different colors simultaneously. The team determined that Alcor B is a common type of M-dwarf star or red dwarf that is about 250 times the mass of Jupiter, or roughly a quarter of the mass of our Sun. The companion is much smaller and cooler than Alcor A.

"Red dwarfs are not commonly reported around the brighter higher mass type of star that Alcor is, but we have a hunch that they are actually fairly common," Oppenheimer said. "This discovery shows that even the brightest and most familiar stars in the sky hold secrets we have yet to reveal."

The new observations are detailed in the Astrophysical Journal.

Oppenheimer and his team hope to use the same technique of looking for parallactic motion in the search for exoplanets.

"We hope to use the same technique to check that other objects we find like exoplanets are truly bound their host stars," Zimmerman said. "In fact, we anticipate other research groups hunting for exoplanets will also use this technique to speed up the discovery process."

Source:foxnews.com/

Black stars shine again

ACCRA – When Ghana broke through to the World Cup finals for the first time in 2006, they made an instant impression by emerging from a tough group to qualify for the second round. This time around they will be looking to do even better.




The Black Stars were once a dominant force on the continent, winning the Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) four times, though their last championship came in 1982. They have struggled to match those heights since ­ failing to even qualify for the Afcon four times – but a strong performance in their inaugural World Cup finals seems to have sparked them back into life.

The Ghanaians arrived in Germany unfancied and a 2-0 defeat at the boots of Italy in the first match did little to change perceptions. But the Black Stars recovered to defeat the Czech Republic 2-0 and then take out the United States 2-1, booking a slot in the second round at their first attempt. The dream ended with their 3-0 loss to Brazil.

Ghana followed up their World Cup exploits with a third-place finish on home turf in the 2008 Afcon, losing 1-0 to Cameroon in the semifinals and then defeating Ivory Coast 4-2 in the third-place playoff. Qualification for South Africa was an easy affair. Ghana won their first four matches ­ against Benin, Mali and Sudan twice ­ without conceding a goal, becoming the first African team to qualify. They have been grouped with Australia, Germany and Serbia for the World Cup finals that kick off on July 1.



“We want to become the first country to win the World Cup on African soil,” said Ghana’s powerful midfielder Michael Essien, who is also adamant South Africa will host the best-ever World Cup. Two of Ghana’s goal- scorers in the 2006 World Cup – Sulley Muntari and Stephen Appiah – are once again expected to be key to the 2010 squad. Ghana have already decided on their base camp for the World Cup. The Black Stars will be based in Mpumalanga.


COACH:

Serbian Milovan Rajevac was a little-known name when he took over from Frenchman Claude Le Roy last year. Rajevac, 55, spent much of his career in his homeland, with Red Star Belgrade being the highest-profile club he managed. Rajevac was guiding provincial club FK Borak through the UEFA cup qualifiers when he was handed the Ghana job.

THE STAR:

Michael Essien, 28, is known as “The Bison” for his ability to charge up and down the park with boundless energy. But Chelsea’s Essien is far more refined than his nickname suggests, capable of stunning goals and picking out passes as well as shoring up the defence. Essien is a perennial nominee for the Fifa World Player of the Year award . – Sapa-DPA

GHANA FACTFILE
NAME: Ghana

NICKNAME: The Black Stars FOUNDED: 1957

FIFA AFFILIATION: 1958

HIGHEST FIFA RANKING: 14 – February 2008 (first achieved)

LOWEST FIFA RANKING: 89 – June 2004

PREVIOUS WORLD CUP APPEARANCES: 1 (2006)

BEST WORLD CUP PERFORMANCE: Round of 16 (2006)

DATE QUALIFIED FOR THE 2010 WORLD CUP FINALS: September 6 2009.

Source:sowetan.co.za/

‘The Princess and the Frog’: Jump right in | 3 stars

The last time Disney tried its hand at hand-drawn animation was “Home on the Range” five years ago. Remember it? Anyone?

So it’s almost a dream come true to see the studio return to its roots with a memorable movie. “The Princess and the Frog” can’t match the brilliance of the “Little Mermaid”-“Aladdin”-“Beauty and the Beast”-“Lion King” renaissance, but it still shines.

Unless you’ve been living in a swamp you know that our heroine, Tiana, is Disney’s first African-American princess. She’s voiced by Anika Noni Rose (the sweet one in “Dreamgirls”), and she even has Oprah Winfrey for a mom (going by the name Eudora here).

And yet race isn’t the issue — did you really expect a Disney musical fairy tale to take on civil rights? No, the film treads safer, familiar ground, more of a Cinderella story about a poor girl with big ideas.

Like her father (a silky Terrence Howard), little Tiana has always wanted to own a restaurant in their hometown of New Orleans. But the closest they come is occasionally ladling out tasty gumbo for the neighborhood.

Flash-forward to Tiana all grown up in the 1920s Jazz Age and striving to carry out Daddy’s dream. She knows she can’t count on an evening star or gallant prince for start-up funds, so labor is her love.

“Do your best each and every day,” she sings at one point, “and good things are sure to come your way.” Preach, Disney!

Her work, work, work ethic is a far cry from that of her rich, very blond childhood friend, Charlotte (Broadway star Jennifer Cody). (They’re friends? In the segregated South? Hey, it’s a fairy tale.)

Charlotte wants to marry into even bigger money in the form of Prince Naveen, who is visiting town from far-off Maldonia. He’s on the guest list for her family’s Mardi Gras costume ball (in a gorgeously rendered New Orleans Garden District).

Naveen (Brazilian actor Bruno Campos of TV’s “Nip/Tuck”) may be handsome, but he’s broke — a slacker cut off by his royal parents and looking for some quick cash. He falls in with the oily Dr. Facilier (say it fass-ILL-ee-ay — that’s French in the Big Easy), a shadowy voodoo shaman who ends up turning Naveen into a frog.

Facilier is voiced by character actor Keith David and, like any proper Disney villain, steals every scene he’s in.

Needing to kiss a princess to become human again, Naveen spies Tiana at the ball, all dolled up in one of her friend’s gowns. But in a twist on the Brothers Grimm, Tiana smooches the frog prince (reluctantly, eww) and, presto, she’s a slimy frog, too. They may be the same species now, but can these opposites attract?

The frog pair must seek a cure from a voodoo priestess (Jenifer Lewis) while avoiding redneck hunters and predatory gators (one voiced by chef Emeril Lagasse). They pick up some sidekicks — a trumpet-playing cream puff of an alligator (Michael-Leon Wooley, mildly funny) and a lovelorn Cajun firefly (Jim Cummings, surprisingly charming through rotting teeth and stereotypical accent).

But this slow sojourn in the swamp bogs down the film.

What jumpstarts this “Frog” is what Disney does better than anyone: whimsical, over-the-top, eye-popping production numbers. Singer and composer Randy Newman’s upbeat jazz, zydeco and gospel tunes are varied but unremarkable. Still, you won’t forget Facilier singing “Friends on the Other Side” accompanied by Day-Glo dancing voodoo masks (the creatures might scare only the youngest of viewers), or the two frogs rafting through the bayou amid swirling fireflies and blooming lilies.

Source:kansascity.com/

X Factor stars unveiled for final

Michael Buble, Robbie Williams and George Michael will duet with the X Factor finalists over the weekend.

Stacey, Joe and Olly will compete to be this year's winner with a bit of help from the stars.

Stacey will sing with Michael Buble, Joe will partner George Michael, while Olly will duet with Robbie Williams who's been on the show before.

Almost 17 million people have been watching over the last few months and this weekend it's decision time.

Chart success

Whoever wins out of Stacey, Olly and Joe has a good chance of becoming a massive music star.

Previous winners have enjoyed huge success in the charts.

Last year's star Alexandra Burke has had two number one singles and a number one album.

And runners up JLS have also topped the charts with two singles and an album.

Source:bbc.co.uk/

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