Cheryl Cole's final show on X Factor USA

Last sighting ... Cheryl Cole was seen on the X Factor USA during the Chicago auditions

CHERYL Cole has made her last appearance as a judge on X Factor USA before taking her final bow.

The Geordie, who was sacked from the show in May after judging at just one week of auditions, was seen at the try-outs in Chicago in the latest episode. 

 

Cheryl, 28, appeared in the programme's debut last week – and received better reviews than her replacement Nicole Scherzinger, 33, from US critics.

She was seen briefly on the panel before suddenly being replaced by Pussycat Doll Nicole, who was originally meant to co-host the show with Steve Jones.

In the most recent episode, which aired in America last night and goes out on ITV2 tonight, Cheryl was seen as a judge again and was introduced by Welshman Steve, who said: "Returning to the judging panel for one last city, the UK's biggest popstar, Cheryl Cole."

Critics described the change between Cheryl and Nicole as a "downgrade" last week.

 

Back on the panel ... Cheryl with LA Reid, Paula Abdul and Simon Cowell

Boss Simon Cowell, 51, had said the Girls Aloud star had seemed "bewildered" on the American show. Meanwhile, Cheryl's former fellow judge Dannii Minogue said they were "eaten up and spat out" by the X Factor.

Dannii, 39, was forced to quit the show earlier this year after bosses clashed filming times with Australia's Got Talent, which she also judges on.

Talking to Heart FM about Cheryl, she said: "It's been a big year that she's been through with the American X Factor. She's been incredible to work with.

"She was always there as a support for me when I had tough days because it is a tough show. It does eat all of us up and spit us out at the end."

And the Aussie star – who said she would have had to clone herself to do both shows – said she was considering joining the panel of Britain's Got Talent.

She added: "I don't have any TV booked in for the next year. I haven't even made any decisions about it but there's always stuff in the pipeline.

"We'll see what happens but I do love the show. It's so funny, you've always got a dog trying to sing in tune and I'm trying to imagine the Queen watching that!"

‘Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close’ Trailer Debuts

Tom Hanks in “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close”

 The latest in a string of films with strong pre-pubescent leads (along with “Real Steel” and “Super 8″) “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” features Tom Hanks, Sandra Bullock and Thomas Horn as a family that loses a member in 9/11. The trailer predominately features a song from U2 and quick cut shots of Central Park and the World Trade Center towers.

Directed by Stephen Daldry (“Billy Elliot” and “The Hours”), the movie is an adaptation of a book by Jonathan Safran Foer. Does all this add up to a good film?

Vick Says He’ll Start; Reid Isn’t as CertainVick Says He’ll Start; Reid Isn’t as Certain

Eagles quarterback Michael Vick practiced Wednesday and said there was a “100 percent” chance he would start when Philadelphia (1-2) hosts San Francisco (2-1) this weekend.


Vick was initially told he had a broken right hand after getting hurt in a 29-16 loss to the Giants. But tests on Monday revealed he had only a contusion.

“Even if it was broke, I think I would have probably padded it up and went back out there,” Vick, who throws left-handed, said after a morning walkthrough. “You got to take precaution, but this is what I love to do.”

Coach Andy Reid said he wanted to make sure Vick could take snaps without problems before naming him the starter.

HALL OF FAME NOMINEES The retired coaches Bill Cowher, Bill Parcells and Marty Schottenheimer are among the modern-era candidates for the 2012 class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Cowher is eligible for the first time, as are the players Keyshawn Johnson, Tiki Barber, Drew Bledsoe, Stephen Davis, Rod Smith, Will Shields, Troy Vincent and Mike Vanderjagt.

BOOK: PAYTON ABUSED DRUGS According to a new book, the Chicago Bears star Walter Payton abused painkillers in retirement and became suicidal. In “Sweetness: The Enigmatic Life of Walter Payton,” the author Jeff Pearlman writes that Payton, a Hall of Fame running back, used a cocktail of Tylenol and Vicodin in retirement, kept tanks of nitrous oxide in his garage and even obtained Ritalin from a friend whose son was prescribed the pills. Payton’s longtime agent, Bud Holmes, is quoted as saying, “Walter was pounding his body with medication.” Payton spent all 13 seasons with the Bears and retired as the N.F.L.’s all-time leading rusher after the 1987 season. He died from a rare liver disease and bile duct cancer in 1999.

COLTS LOSE TWO DEFENDERS Already playing without Peyton Manning, the Colts have lost linebacker Gary Brackett, their defensive signal-caller, and starting safety Melvin Bullitt for the rest of the season. Both were placed on injured reserve with shoulder injuries Wednesday. It is another big blow to the reeling Colts, who are 0-3 for the first time since 1998. Indianapolis visits Tampa Bay on Monday night facing the prospect of its first four-game losing streak in 10 years.

AROUND THE LEAGUE Safety Bob Sanders, who has missed more games than he has played since coming into the N.F.L. in 2004, was put on season-ending injured reserve by the Chargers because of a knee injury. ... The Titans placed receiver Kenny Britt on injured reserve because of torn knee ligaments and signed Donnie Avery. ... Saints Coach Sean Payton said receiver Marques Colston had been cleared to practice and would play Sunday at Jacksonville.

The promise of the paw paw

 

NPR has put some attention on the paw paw, a fruit native to Kentucky and Indiana, among other Midwest and Southern states.

The item touches on the efforts to commercialize the paw paw.

Turns out that Kentucky State University has a program aimed a helping people grow them in their back yards, or on farms. KSU bills it as the only full time paw paw research program in the world. Look here. And you can follow the program’s work on Facebook, here.

The Rays Made The Playoffs Spending $155 Million Less Than The Yankees

The Yankees spent nearly $200 million on player salaries this season. The result is their 16th playoff appearance in 17 years. At the other end of the spectrum, the Tampa Bay Rays clinched their third playoff berth in four years last night with a payroll of $41.9 million. And the Rays actually slashed their payroll entering the season, as it was down more than 40 percent from a year ago. The Rays aren't the only low payroll team still alive. Both the Rays (29th) and Arizona Diamondbacks (25th) are in the bottom ten of payroll. And three teams (Rays, D-Backs, Brewers) are in the bottom half of player spending. Here is a list of how much each of the playoff teams spent on player salaries this season...

Red Sox win dubious distinction for biggest collapse

(Reuters) - Untimely injuries, ineffective pitching and the failure of big-name players to perform when it mattered most are to blame for the epic collapse that kept the Boston Red Sox out of the postseason. The Red Sox and Atlanta Braves were each within striking distance of the postseason during the ninth inning on the final night of Major League Baseball's 162-game regular season schedule on Wednesday, but failed to close the deal en route to the worst collapses in the annals of September swoons. Boston earned the dubious distinction of most awful final-month crash, a black mark of misery compounded by their status as preseason favorites after an off-season spending spree gave them a $161 million payroll that was third highest in the major leagues. Losers of 20 of their last 27 games, the Red Sox came apart from a combination of injuries, a depleted starting rotation and shoddy execution as the mounting pressure of failure wore on the boys from Beantown, who fell in their final game to the last-placed Baltimore Orioles. "We'll go down in history as one of the worst collapses in history, so it definitely doesn't feel good to be part of that," said left fielder Carl Crawford, who failed to snag Baltimore's game-ending hit after a desperate, sliding stab at Robert Andino's sinking liner. The Braves, who held an 8-1/2 game lead in the first week of September, crashed first to the Philadelphia Phillies in 13 innings and would have gone down as the biggest flameout ever, but Boston outdid them with a ninth-inning reversal that made them the first team to squander a nine-game September lead. Crawford's near miss in the outfield symbolized the futility of the 2011 Red Sox season. The fleet-footed outfielder was signed to a seven-year, $142 million free agent deal, and along with a trade for slugging first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, Boston looked set to batter their opposition. Crawford, however, failed to deliver up to expectations, his stats line of a .255 batting average, 11 home runs and 56 runs batted in made him a Boston bust. Adding to the sting of their dismal finish was being overtaken by the financially-challenged Tampa Bay Rays, who lost Crawford among a host of other players from their 2010 roster due to the economics of a small market club whose $41 million 2011 payroll was second lowest in the major leagues. Injuries chipped away at Boston's vaunted roster, with third baseman Kevin Youkilis sorely missed down the stretch, but it was the decimation of their pitching staff that hurt most. The Red Sox lost Daisuke Matsuzaka in early June to elbow surgery, and even more damaging finished the year without Clay Buchholz, whose season ended in late June due to a back injury. Buchholz, 17-7 in 2010, was 6-3 before he was sidelined. Boston soldiered on but once September hit, even top of the rotation stalwarts Josh Beckett and Jon Lester faltered. The other pieces of the rotation failed miserably. Last year's free-agent acquisition John Lackey posted a mind-numbing earned run average of 6.41, while aged knuckleballer Tim Wakefield pitched to a 5.12 ERA. Young starters called up from the minors failed to stop the slide. "We're going to have to live with that one," Red Sox manager Terry Francona lamented after the last loss. "We needed to take care of business today and we didn't."

Sacramento Kings face key city council votes Tuesday

Sacramento Kings fans may get a hint as to whether their favorite NBA team will be sticking around long-term Tuesday when the Sacramento City Council votes on two measures related to a proposal to build a $387-million sports and entertainment complex, including a new basketball arena, to keep the Kings in town.

The council is scheduled to consider a $555,000 plan to analyze the project and to help negotiate deals with the team and league. NBC Sports reported that Tuesday's meeting would mark the first time the council had been asked to approve any actual financing for the project and could provide an early indicator of its ultimate fate.

The report said approval of the request is likely, with the council then looking to gauge public reaction.
The council also will consider authorizing city officials to negotiate with the ICON-David Taylor Group, which is partially owned by Anschutz Entertainment Group, to develop the new complex for the city -- if financing for the project actually happens.

The Sacramento Bee was the first to confirm AEG's involvement in the project last week.
The Kings appeared headed to Anaheim after the 2011 season, but the team's ownership group decided to give Sacramento one more season to complete an arena deal.

'Terra Nova' recap: Meet Jim Shannon

 

There are a lot of things you can call the two-hour premiere of “Terra Nova,” but one of them isn’t “dull.” It has its problems, sure, but it moves like a rocket, and there’s always something happening or someone about to be munched upon by a dinosaur. There’s lots of fun stuff going on, and the dinosaur effects are good, so it’s easy to give a pass to some of the clumsier elements, even if they rankle just a bit. But before we dive too far into what the series is, let’s take a look at its characters, as established in the pilot.

The Shannon family: As shown in the too-long first section (the one set in the future), the Shannons are a happy nuclear family having to constantly find ways to hide the fact that they’ve had a third child — youngest daughter Zoe. In the future — a dystopia that’s suffered from environmental collapse — having anything more than two kids is strictly forbidden. This means that when Zoe’s discovered, Papa Shannon, Jim, reacts the way any protective dad would — he slugs the police officer standing nearest him in the face. Jim, an officer himself, is tossed in jail for what he’s done, but he somehow manages to escape jail to join his family on the time-travel ride back to Terra Nova. (One of the things I’m most curious about is just what happens if a family has more than two kids. The officers discover Zoe, but they don’t really do anything about it, and it sounds like the punishment for this crime is merely a hefty fine. There’s an interesting series here about the people who can afford to pay the kid fine and those who can’t, but I digress.)

Back in Terra Nova, the family’s many underlying conflicts come to the surface. Josh is still angry at his dad for wandering back into the Shannons’ lives right as they got a new start in the Mesozoic, and he’s not shy about expressing this. Zoe’s grown up without her father. Jim’s arrival has seriously screwed things up for everybody else, but now that he’s back in time, he can’t be sent back to the future (ha ha), which means he’s got to be put to work chopping prehistoric vines. Mother Elizabeth, also an awesome doctor, mostly seems to ride all of this out, smiling beatifically. Teenage daughter Maddy spends all of her time, uh, reciting random facts and figures so we know she’s smart.

If there’s a Shannon who’s getting on my nerves, it’s Josh, who seems to exist solely to get in trouble and follow the pretty girl Skye out of the protected compound and into territory where he could easily become dinosaur chow. He’s just there to give the story somewhere to go and to put Jim in situations where he has to save his son. And, granted, the scene where Josh, Skye, and others are trapped in a vehicle with “slashers” (this show’s version of velociraptors, I guess) closing in around them from every angle is probably the most exciting in the pilot. But I still have no real love for a character who’s just around to nearly get eaten and realize just how much his dad loves him. So let’s hope this doesn’t repeat itself week after week.

Nathaniel Taylor: Sure, Stephen Lang is just playing the same character he played in "Avatar" in this role, but, man, is he good at that role! Taylor’s a bit of a mystery man, running Terra Nova like something of a folksy dictator. My favorite indication about him is that when he first came to Terra Nova, he had to spend a significant amount of time in the prehistoric era all by himself, wandering the jungle and dodging dinosaur attacks. This immediately gives us a sense of how hard-core this guy is. I’m also intrigued by the relationship between him and Skye, who seems ferociously independent but also seems to turn to Taylor to validate her at the end of the episode. Of all of the characters, I’m most interested in just what’s up with this guy.

Mira: One of the nice things about this pilot is that it goes out of its way to get the mysterious Sixers introduced to us right away. A bunch of mutinous settlers in the past, the Sixers are so named because they all came through on the Sixth Pilgrimage to Terra Nova. There’s a bunch of hoo-hah about how they know something that the other residents of Terra Nova don’t, and I’m sure we’re going to learn about all of the big secrets they’re keeping. But for the most part, I was cool with how the episode introduced them as a tense other element of the past, something that no one in the future knows about because Taylor’s convinced someone from the future sent them to undermine his authority. The show doesn’t go out of its way to make the Sixers super mysterious, like “Lost’s” Others, and that means that we get a good, long look at the woman purported to be their leader (or at least the woman who’s their public face), Mira. She’s still fairly mysterious, but it’s nice to have our Ben Linus figure out there for all to see straight off.

Of course, there’s plenty of other stuff going on here, but it sure seems like the show is going to hinge on whether the Shannons ultimately side with Taylor or with Mira. For now, Taylor looks like their guy, but who’s to say they won’t learn something awful about him and start to consider the other point of view? And what’s up with all of those weird symbols etched into the rock by the waterfall? What’s best about “Terra Nova” is that it asks these questions, sure, but it’s also content to just hang out and let us watch this family acclimate to its strange new surroundings. As long as the focus stays on the characters then we might have the makings of another good science-fiction show. And, hey, even if it doesn’t, there will be dinosaurs. Not like “CSI: NY” can say that.

US Home Sales Rise

US existing home sales notched their third monthly rise in June and prices hit their highest level since October, fueling hopes that the housing sector is finally on the mend and will help propel a broader economic recovery.

Other data on Thursday showed a jump in new claims for jobless aid last week, but a decline in claims by those already receiving benefits. The Labor Department said the numbers were distorted by a seasonally unusual pattern of layoffs in the auto sector that should fade in the next week or so.

Some analysts, however, read the jobs report as evidence that employment conditions are stabilizing and said this chimed with other signs that the economy has stopped shrinking.

U.S. stocks surged more than 2 percent on the home sales data. The Dow Jones industrial average punched through the 9,000 mark for the first time since January as investors took heart that a turn in the housing market -- seen as a linchpin of the economy -- would end a severe U.S. recession and help deliver growth over the rest of the year.

The National Association of Realtors (NAR) said sales of existing homes in June rose 3.6 percent to an annual rate of 4.89 million units, compared with a downwardly revised 4.72 million pace in May. The June reading topped forecasts for a 4.84 million unit annual pace.

"This is a very good report, as it suggests that the recent momentum in U.S. housing activity may be gathering some traction as U.S. homebuyers take advantage of the very favorable mortgage rates and home prices," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities in Toronto.

The NAR said it was the first time the industry had experienced three straight months of gains in existing home sales since early 2004.

"Overall, the news is positive. We have increasing home sales for the third straight month, declining inventory and although prices fell, they declined at a less steep pace," Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, told a press conference.

"The housing market is healing after four years of recession," he said.

INVENTORIES DOWN
The inventory of existing homes for sale declined 0.7 percent to 3.82 million in June. The median national home price came in at $181,800, down 15.4 percent from the same period a year ago. But the median price was up 4.0 percent compared with the month before and at the highest level since October.
"The months supply of home for resale is coming down and home prices are falling at a slower pace overall, providing more evidence that the housing market is stabilizing," said Torsten Slok, a senior economist at Deutsche Bank in New York.

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NAR's Yun said that the inventory of previously owned homes for sale represented 9.4 months' supply at the current pace of sales, down from 9.8 months' in May.

This was still above the historic average of six months' supply, which Yun said was consistent with a national price appreciation of around 4.0 percent.

Seven to eight months' supply would be consistent with no change in median prices, so the fundamentals still point to lower house prices over the rest of the year, he said.

Freddie Mac, the second biggest U.S. home financing provider, separately said that average 30-year fixed U.S. mortgage rates rose by 0.06 of a percentage point in the past week to 5.20 percent, increasing for the first time in three weeks, but remained sharply lower than a year ago.

JOBS CLAIMS
On the jobs front, the U.S. Labor Department said that seasonally adjusted initial claims for jobless aid rose 30,000 to 554,000 in the week ended July 18, which was roughly in line with analysts' forecasts.

A department official noted that the data in July was distorted by an unusual pattern of seasonal layoffs, which he expected would fade in the next week or so. Analysts, nonetheless, saw the numbers as positive.

"After 22 consecutive weeks where new applications for unemployment benefits held above 600,000, we have now seen three straight weeks below that threshold, wrote Bernard Baumohl, chief global economist at The Economic Outlook Group in Princeton, New Jersey.

"Evidence continues to mount the economy has finally turned the corner and that the weekly claims data is just one more pointing to a recovery under way," he said.

Continued claims of people still on jobless aid after an initial week of benefits fell by 88,000 to 6.225 million in the week ended July 11, the latest for which data is available. Analysts expected continued claims of 6.32 million.

The Labor official said there were more layoffs than anticipated based on past experience in adjusted claims in the automotive sector and elsewhere in manufacturing, following two weeks when there had been fewer layoffs.

"Right now it is difficult to say until we are out of this four-week period in July where things really are, but my gut feeling is things are improving but not at a rapid pace," said Rudy Narvas, a senior analyst at 4cast Ltd in New York.

As Rates Edge Higher, Home Buyers Fret

Higher housing prices, increased lot levies, and a peaking market means that Ontario buyers are becoming less likely to purchase a home this year.

According to an annual home buyers poll done for the Royal Bank of Canada and released Wednesday Ontario home buyers are much more cautious in their outlook this year than last. Potential buyers who say it makes more sense to buy a home this year than next dropped to 56 per cent. That’s down from 68 per cent a year earlier.

“Ontario’s housing market has experienced quite a bit of volatility over the past two years, so buyers are being a little more cautious,” said Patrick Tremblay, VP Mortgage specialists for the bank.

The drop in buying intentions does not bode well for developers as it shows a potential weakening of the market even as mortgage rates are headed on the way up.

Canadian new home prices also hit a new record high, up 0.2 per cent in January following a 0.1 per cent advance in December, according to figures released by Statistics Canada Wednesday.

The Toronto and Oshawa markets were largely the reason for the increase, according to StatsCan.
“In Toronto and Oshawa, builders reported increased prices as a result of good market conditions,” said Statistics Canada.

Higher cost for housing is also a concern for builders. Two studies to be released Thursday by builder lobby groups argue that provincial and municipal governments have fuelled much of the new home price increases because of regulatory costs and levies that are passed on to consumers. Development charges now add anywhere from $27,000 to $50,000 to the cost of a new home.

Development charges for a detached or semi-detached home in Oakville topped the list at $50,458, followed by Markham at $46,457.

The cheapest place surveyed in the GTA was Oshawa at $27,212.

In comparison, development charges in other North American jurisdictions are cheaper, argue builders. In the Greater Vancouver Area, charges are $7,475 and in Calgary it works out to $1,425.

In the United States, the national average for development charges is $8,328.

“Higher prices slow demand, reduce employment within the construction industry and suppliers,” argues the Residential Construction Council of Ontario and the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario in their reports.

The building industry has had a good run over the last decade. But according to the RBC survey, there might be room for concern as home buyers list rising prices, followed by mortgage rates as their top two issues.
Still, Ontarians feel they can weather a financial storm if need be.

According to the poll, 71 per cent said they could handle a downturn in prices. Another two thirds said they felt the value of their home increased in the last two years.

Despite the robust condo sales in the Toronto market, Ontarians by a wide margin (66 per cent) say they want to eventually buy a detached home, followed by condos at 13 per cent.

The annual online survey is considered accurate to within plus or minus 2.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

A Home For Bears

If bears can be said to have a "mission," surely it is to live as bears, in the wild, far from humans. Like all animals in zoos and circuses, these bears had no say in their sorry fates; now they are simply being warehoused, possibly in the hopes that they will die before the people in charge are forced to find them a decent home. Moving them might indeed be stressful to them, but as "ambassadors to the public for other animals" (to quote Jill Marvin's ludicrous description) they have been deprived of freedom for decades, and loss of freedom is itself stressful. Five years have gone by since the zoo was shut, which would seem ample time to transfer three old bears to an appropriate sanctuary in which to live out their days in a decent environment.

Marlins Ready For Home Away From Home

Series with Mariners will be played under National League rules

MIAMI -- Long before U2 booked its concert at Sun Life Stadium, Jack McKeon has advocated change in how the designated hitter is used in Interleague Play.

Due to a scheduling conflict, McKeon is getting his wish when the Marlins will be the "home" team for their weekend series with the Mariners at Safeco Field.

Prior to the start of the season, MLB announced the Interleague change because Sun Life Stadium was already obligated to host the U2 concert.

In the offseason, other options were weighed, but ultimately it was decided to play the series, which begins on Friday, in Seattle. The catch is, the Marlins will be the home team, bat last, and the pitcher will bat instead of using the designated hitter in an American League park.

For years, McKeon, the Marlins' interim manager, has suggested a mild tweaking of Interleague Play.
"People say, what rule would you change?" McKeon said. "I would change the rule where [National League clubs] would use the DH when they came here, so the people could see the clubs using the DH, which they never see in the National League. And in the American League, you'd let the pitchers hit. So the fans from different clubs can see both phases of the game."

For at least this series, the change McKeon has suggested for more than a decade will take place. It's only occurring because of the U2 conflict.

Switching a series due to a stadium conflict is nothing new.

In fact, it occurred in 2010 when the Blue Jays played "home games" against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia. The reason for the switch was the G20 Summit in Toronto.

That series was from June 25-27, 2010, and current Marlins catcher John Buck was then with the Blue Jays.

"It was weird wearing the away uniform and going out to [play] defense first," Buck said.
As an organization, the Marlins have played "home games" on the road.

In September 2004, the Marlins were the host team to the Montreal Expos at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago. At the time, Florida had completed a series with the Cubs, and the threat of Hurricane Ivan was approaching South Florida.

The Marlins were then in Wild Card contention, and with the fear of a series being rained out, it would have created scheduling nightmares for the league. So two of the games were played at the home of the White Sox.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that was the first time since 1946 that a National League team was the home squad in an American League stadium. In 1946, the Boston Braves played at Fenway Park because freshly painted seats at Braves Field had not dried.

"It's definitely different," Marlins veteran Wes Helms said. "It's going to be weird that, in the top of the first inning, [the Mariners are] going to hit, and wear the away jerseys.

"The positives of it, as we look at it, there will be 30,000 people and there won't be any delays. It's hot. There are definitely going to be a lot more positives than negatives."

A number of Marlins players are fans of U2. But as Helms said, they are costing him "family time."
"I am a U2 fan, but they kind of took three days away from the family," Helms said.

Reliever Burke Badenhop is a "big fan."

"When they were doing their tour, the Elevation one, I was a senior in high school," Badenhop said. "We went to get tickets, and we were literally like four people in at TicketMaster, and we didn't get them."

Rookies on rise can provide October boost

Despite the lockout limiting their acclimation to the pros, these dozen rookies have shown flashes of promise. And they have appealing October schedules to help them become potential weekly starts like Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. •Mark Ingram, New Orleans Saints: Look for the Saints to run more frequently if they jump to big leads against shaky offensive teams such as the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 4, the Indianapolis Colts in Week 7 and the St. Louis Rams in Week 8. Ingram will be more familiar, comfortable and effective as the season progresses. Carolina (Week 5) has allowed solid fantasy games to running backs during the first three contests, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Week 6) had difficulty with Jahvid Best and Adrian Peterson during the first two games.

•Daniel Thomas, Miami Dolphins: He has attained at least 117 total yards during his first two games. The San Diego Chargers are a tough matchup in Week 4, but they allowed Peterson to total 104 yards in the opener. Thomas had appealing games against the New York Jets in Week 6, the Denver Broncos in Week 7 and the New York Giants in Week8. The Broncos and Jets were both shaky against Darren McFadden in Weeks 1 and 3, respectively. The Giants allowed Tim Hightower and LeSean McCoy to each amass at least 97 total yards and a score.

•Delone Carter, Colts: A 0-3 start puts the Colts on a fast track to a rebuilding season, and Carter will be a part of the process. Indianapolis meets the vulnerable defenses of Tampa Bay, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals in its next three contests. The Chiefs have allowed gigantic games of at least 123 yards and two scores during Weeks2 and 3 to Best and Ryan Mathews, respectively. The Bengals yielded 101 yards and a score to Willis McGahee in Week 2.

•DeMarco Murray, Dallas Cowboys: Felix Jones has experienced early difficulties with injuries and consistency, leaving Murray with a chance to play a larger role in the offense. The Detroit Lions, upcoming foes, allowed Peterson to total 97 yards and a score, and meeting the New England Patriots presents a chance for Dallas to run well against the Patriots' once-formidable defense. The Rams in Week 7 and the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 8 could be the first opportunities for Murray to be a fantasy starter. The Rams have permitted at least 100-plus total yards to running backs in every game in 2011, while the Eagles have surrendered at least 139 total yards each time out.

•Stevan Ridley, Patriots: He showed strength and speed with his compact frame while averaging 6.3 yards a carry on seven attempts in a loss to the Buffalo Bills. He appears to be the best fit in the current group of backs for New England's passing-oriented offense. Both the Oakland Raiders in Week 4 and the Jets in Week 5 are susceptible to big games by running backs. The Raiders allowed Fred Jackson to total 140 yards and two scores in Week 2, and the Jets had difficulty on the road against McFadden by allowing him to run for 171 yards and two scores. New England will need an improved running game when facing Dallas in Week 6 and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 8.

•Roy Helu, Washington Redskins: Helu should be given more carries, as starter Hightower will likely be unable to carry the full rushing load for all 16 contests. Helu will have great chances to wreak havoc with the susceptible defenses of St. Louis in Week 4, Philadelphia in Week 6, Carolina in Week 7 and Buffalo in Week 8. The Panthers yielded 102 total yards and a score to Chris "Beanie" Wells in the opener, 115 total yards to James Starks in Week 2 and 167 total yards to Maurice Jones-Drew in Week 3. The Bills permitted McFadden to amass 143 total yards and two scores in Week 2.

Wide receivers

•A.J. Green, Bengals: He has a receiving game of 10 catches, 124 yards and a score to his name. Green will have a chance for more big games against the questionable pass defenses of Buffalo in Week 4, Jacksonville in Week 5, Indianapolis in Week 6 and the Seattle Seahawks in Week 8. For instance, during Week 3 the Bills allowed Wes Welker to catch 16 passes for 217 yards and two scores and the Colts permitted Mike Wallace to gain 144 yards and one score. The Jaguars also yielded a great fantasy day to a No. 1 wideout when Kenny Britt had 136 yards and two scores in the opener.

•Torrey Smith, Baltimore Ravens: If the blowout of the Rams was an example, Smith could be left to outrun single coverage for deep scores while opponents try to stop the Ravens' running game. He'll continue to have success extending the defenses vs. the Jets in Week 4, vs. the Houston Texans in Week 6, at Jacksonville in Week 7 and vs. the Arizona Cardinals in Week 8. During Week 1, the Jets allowed Miles Austin and Dez Bryant to gain at least 71 yards and a score and the Cardinals let Steve Smith record eight receptions for 178 yards and two scores based upon big plays. Drew Brees threw for 370 yards and three scores against the Texans.

•Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons: He'll aim for his second consecutive 100-yard receiving game against Seattle's shaky defense before meeting the Green Bay Packers in a possible shootout. The Packers are allowing an average of 384 passing yards. Jones will also see much single coverage against Carolina and Detroit, as they'll need to stop proven vets Michael Turner and Roddy White from having gigantic days. Before facing Jaguars rookie Blaine Gabbert at quarterback in Week 3, the Panthers yielded consecutive contests of 300-plus yards and two scores.

•Titus Young, Lions: He has totaled nine receptions for 140 yards during Weeks 2 and 3, and it will only be a matter of time before he puts up those numbers in a single contest. He'll have excellent chances with an October schedule at Dallas in Week 4, vs. the Chicago Bears in Week 5, vs. the San Francisco 49ers in Week 6, vs. Atlanta in Week 7 and at Denver in Week 8. Indicative of their struggles on pass defense, the Bears allowed three touchdown passes during Weeks 2 and 3 and the Broncos yielded back-to-back contests of at least 300 passing yards and two scores. The 49ers showed their vulnerability to big plays when they allowed scoring receptions of 53 and 25 yards and six other catches of 20-plus yards to the Cowboys in Week 2.

•Denarius Moore, Raiders: The Raiders have finally found their dynamic speed demon who can catch and has the size, athleticism and skills to be a reliable target in the end zone. He'll be a force against New England in Week 4, Houston in Week 5 and Kansas City in Week 7. The Patriots are allowing a receiving average of 388 yards and two scores, while the Chiefs permitted eight receiving touchdowns during the first two weeks.

•Randall Cobb, Packers: He's slowly getting involved as a secondary target for Aaron Rodgers. Once he becomes more familiar with the offense, look for Cobb to be an excellent playmaker. He's worth a look at Atlanta in Week 5, vs. St. Louis in Week 6 and at the Minnesota Vikings in Week 7. The Falcons revealed their vulnerability to a great game by a wideout when they allowed Jeremy Maclin to catch 13 passes for 171 yards and two scores in Week 2. The Rams permitted Ravens rookie Smith to connect for big scoring plays of 74, 41 and 18 yards.

“Pan Am” Pulls In 11 Million, But Is It Any Good?

“Pan Am” Reels In 11 Million On Premiere

“Pan Am,” ABC’s new drama centered on the lives of four stewardesses working on a 1960′s airline, drew a crowd of roughly 11 million viewers on the Sunday premiere. As is turns out, this is more than twice the amount of viewers who tuned in to see the premiere of “Playboy Club,” NBC’s also 60′s-set drama, and their answer to AMC’s “Mad Men.” Only an estimated 5 million viewers tuned in to see “Playboy Club,” most of which were handed in from its lead-in series “The Sing-Off.”

“Pan Am” Outperforms Lead-In

“Pan Am” actually drew 1.4 million more viewers than its own lead-in, “Desperate Housewives.” “Housewives” saw about 3 million fewer viewers than they had at the start of the season last fall. ABC has officially made the announcement that the upcoming season of DH is to be the last, but regardless, their viewship has declined.

Reviews For “Pan Am” Lean Toward The Negative

While there may have been a large turn-out for viewers, will they be returning next week? “Pan Am” stars Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robbie, and Karine Vanasse. Responses from critics ranged from introspective to disappointed. While it has been admitted that the show has potential, said Tim Goodman of The Hollywood Reporter: “Pan Am seems most intent on making the idea of the ’60s and stewardesses and ‘the jet age’ more glamorous than real.” The New York Times reported that Pan Am’s heroines give viewers a glimpse of the burgeoning of the women’s movement in action, but that the characters themselves are not fully formed.

In this article you learned about the premiere of “Pan Am,” ABC’s new drama starring Christina Ricci, Kelli Garner, Margot Robie, and Karine Vanasse. While the show managed to pull in 11 million viewers, the reception from critics has not been entirely positively. Could the writing grow to be better in time? Will viewers even stick around to find out? We’ll have to watch the numbers next Sunday.

Jacoby Ellsbury's Near-Catch Defines Month of Misery for Red Sox

 

When the book is written on the 2011 Red Sox, regardless of whether they finish their collapse or rally to win the World Series, there will be a chapter or two (or many, many more) devoted to what has occurred in September. And in those pages, there will be mention of several plays that seemed to define what this massive slump is all about.

There were the defensive misplays that preceded Derek Jeter's three-run homer in the second inning Saturday in New York.

Vladimir Guerrero's two-run single through a drawn-in infield to defeat the Sox in the series finale with Baltimore last week in Fenway Park. Robert Andino's three-run double the night before. Josh Reddick dropping a fly ball in that same game. Darnell McDonald dropping two a couple of days before that.

Going back further, we are reminded of the two throwing errors by Mike Aviles in a loss to Tampa Bay, Daniel Bard walking in the winning run in Toronto a few weeks ago and then giving up the go-ahead runs against the Jays in a rematch at Fenway Park.

They all had the punch-in-the-stomach feel for a team that has struggled to get anything going for 26 days. But none can hold a candle to what occurred in the sixth inning Monday at Baltimore.

With the Orioles ahead 3-2 but Josh Beckett one out from escaping a jam, Andino launched a shot to straightaway center field. Jacoby Ellsbury, who has hauled in almost everything that he's reached this year, did reach this one but collided with the wall just as it hit his glove. The ball, and a banged-up Ellsbury, felt to the warning track.

The result was a three-run, inside-the-park home run for Andino, the first of that kind ever hit in the 20-year history of Camden Yards.

It almost defies logic, as if a higher power is toying with the Red Sox. But with meaningful baseball still left on the schedule, they could only see if for what it was.

"As a pitcher, you can always appreciate that effort," Beckett said. "I knew [Andino] hit it pretty good. It was right down the middle so I figured if anybody could catch it it's probably [Ellsbury]."

In his MVP-worthy campaign, Ellsbury has tracked down so many balls like that. Sometimes, however, the wall wins.

"Hit it about as hard as I could while running looking back at the wall over my shoulder like that," Ellsbury said. "Right as I caught it, hit the wall and it popped out."

Ellsbury had the wind knocked out of him and sat stunned for a moment, mustering just enough to flip the ball to right fielder J.D. Drew for a relay in. Ellsbury finished the game and felt OK, perhaps the only silver lining to another dark evening for the Red Sox.

As has been the case so often lately, this one hinged on one crucial play. For a full rundown, just buy the book.

10 things to talk about from Week 3 of the NFL season

1. Welcome to pro football rook.
When the Baltimore Ravens selected WR Torrey Smith in the second round of April’s NFL Draft, they were hoping to develop him into a game breaker. It took three weeks, as Smith went nuts to the tune of five catches for 152 yards. Smith’s first three catches as a pro went for touchdowns. Who needs Lee Evans?

2. Tom Brady isn’t perfect.
New England Patriots signal Caller Tom Brady started the season with an alarming 940 yards, seven touchdowns and only one interception. But upstart Buffalo got into Brady’s grill and forced the future hall of famer into four picks, one of which went back for a touchdown. The four interceptions equaled a career high and meant far more than his three touchdowns on the afternoon.

3. But Buffalo is…
Perfect. For the second week in a row, the resilient Bills erased a huge deficit -- 21-3 to Oakland last week and 21-0 to the Pats Sunday -- and snatched a late victory to move to 3-0. Not only is Chan Gailey’s team the only undefeated squad in the AFC, they put to bed the Patriots 15-game winning streak against the Bills, which dated back to 2003.

4. Weather slows down Cam Newton.
Arizona couldn’t do it. Either could defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay. It took monsoon conditions to stop rookie Cam Newton’s 400-yard passing streak at two. But you won’t hear Newton complaining about his 158-yard effort considering it was the first win of his NFL career. Not after he completed three passes on the go-ahead drive, which ended with a TD strike to former Chicago TE Greg Olsen.

5. Speaking of being undefeated.
Detroit showed then can set the pace and Sunday they proved they could come from behind, erasing a 20-0 deficit to steal an overtime win at the Metrodome, the first since 1997. Jimmy Carter was in his last year as President (1980) the last time the Lions started the NFL season 3-0. Matthew Stafford continued his stellar play with 378 yards, showing that if he is healthy, he can be an elite quarterback in this league.

6. Another collapse by the Vikings.
Minnesota might be the best team in football if games only lasted two quarters. The Vikings have outscored their opponents 54-7 but have turned around and been blasted by the opposition 67-6 in the second half to fall to 0-3. Maybe someone should text head coach Leslie Frazier and tell him a little less Donovan McNabb and a little more Adrian Peterson in the final 30 minutes.

7. No bang for the buck on Sunday.
Philadelphia signed corner Nnamdi Asomugha and defensive end Jason Babin to combined contracts of $88 million over the life of the deals. That should have been $8.80 after Sunday’s game with the Giants after Asomugha missed a key tackle on a touchdown and was out jumped by undrafted free agent Victor Cruz on another. Babin got an encroachment penalty on a field goal try that led to the Giants last TD.

8. No West Coast hot dog for Mark Sanchez.
Two years ago, New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez was seen eating a hot dog on the sidelines after his team routed Oakland 38-0. He paid for that moment Sunday, as the angry Raiders opened a cut on Sanchez’s face on one of the four sacks they registered during the game. RB Darren McFadden took care of the rest with 171 yards and two scores on that now questionable Jets run defense.

9. Where was the Bears defense.
Brian Urlacher and the rest of the Chicago defense is still looking for Green Bay TE Jermichael Finley. This freakish talent was on the receiving end of three Aaron Rodgers TD passes and finished with seven catches for 85 yards. The good news for the Bears is that QB Jay Cutler was only sacked three times and won’t sound like one of the Muppets during his weekly press conference.

10. Two teams going in different directions.
Atlanta was tabbed as one of the teams to beat in the NFC but in three weeks of play, the Falcons have struggled at times on offense and have been ripped at points on defense, looking like a team that could finish 8-8 at best. Meanwhile, Tampa Bay has shaken off a horrendous start against Detroit to score a pair of wins. Now all the Bucs, who had their 10^th consecutive regular season blackout, need to do is get people to fill their stadium.

The Pan Am of the future

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- ABC is basing a series on Pan American Airlines 40 years ago. And 40 years ago, a brilliant director based a film on the Pan Am of the future. 

The flight attendant of the future serves food with a straw -- as depicted by Stanley Kubrick, the great visionary moviemaker, in his feature film "2001: A Space Odyssey".

"In one of the opening scenes, there's a flight attendant walking up a set of stairs," says one fan. "I remember they had this little sticky, kind of velcro stuff on her shoes. So, she was doing this exaggerated walk."

The flight attendant of the past serves martinis -- as depicted by ABC in its television series "Pan Am". Things didn't pan out for Pan American. Or for Kubrick, who was insanely optimistic about the advance of technology. He imagined that we would all be passengers in space -- 10 years ago! That Pan Am would survive as an airline. That in-flight calls would be placed with a videophone the size of a refrigerator -- for a buck a minute. All of this doesn't mean we can't be space travelers.

That fan who spoke earlier? He is Scott Hubbard, Consulting Professor of Astronautics at Stanford University.

"We know that they're planning to have something like a pilot and a co-pilot, and maybe 5 passengers," he says. The "they" are private companies -- Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic and and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin.
"It's not a big enough vehicle right now to have much in the way of flight attendants."

Their tiny spacecraft haven't flown a passenger yet.

"But I think it's going to happen. I think there will be a business of people selling space tourism."
Scott Hubbard is a former Director of NASA;s Ames Research Center, where he was instrumental in developing the closest thing we have to a passenger plane at the edge of space: SOFIA, a 747 converted by NASA into a giant flying observatory for non-astronauts. And, in a sort of tribute to Kubrick's airline, it is named Clipper Lindbergh, after the first Pan Am airliners.

"No flight attendants," Hubbard laughs. "I think it's self service coffee."

(Copyright ©2011 KGO-TV/DT. All Rights Reserved.)

Baseball's Red Sox, Braves each lead divisions by only 1 game with 3 to play

WASHINGTON — Never in the long history of Major League Baseball has any team held a lead in September of eight games or more for a postseason berth and failed to clinch.
Got that? Never happened. Not even once.

And yet it could happen twice in 2011, because the Boston Red Sox and Atlanta Braves are teetering on the verge of collapsing in the season's final month the way no club has before.

Heading into Monday, each team's once-cushy lead in its respective league's wild-card standings was down to one game with three to play: Boston barely ahead of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL; Atlanta hanging on ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL.

"You don't want to be against the wall," Red Sox DH David Ortiz said, "because there's no way to escape."
According to STATS LLC, the 1995 California Angels blew the largest September lead to miss out on the playoffs — 7½ games. Five teams wasted seven-game September leads and didn't reach the postseason, STATS said -- as long ago as the 1934 New York Giants, and as recently as the 2009 Detroit Tigers, when the Minnesota Twins made a spectacular September run to force a thrilling Game 163 in the Metrodome, which the Twins won in extra innings.

Turn this year's calendar to the morning of Sept. 6, and the Braves enjoyed a margin of 8½ games in the NL.
Go back to Sept. 4, and the Red Sox began the day owning a nine-game lead for the AL wild card. A handful of days earlier, on Aug. 31, the Red Sox even led their division by 1½ games.

"Obviously, they're struggling a bit, and that happens. But from our perspective, it's more important what we do," Rays manager Joe Maddon said. "It's fortuitous that they've had a hard time, but I love the fact that we're taking care of business."

With all six division titles already locked up as of Friday — not since 1986, when there were only four divisions, had all been sealed so early, STATS found — the wild-card races give fans something to keep an eye on down the stretch.

Boston was in danger of dropping into a tie with Tampa Bay on Sunday, but Jacoby Ellsbury's three-run homer in the 14th inning helped the Red Sox pull out a 7-4 victory shortly before midnight against the AL East champion New York Yankees in the second game of a day-night doubleheader, salvaging a split.

"It was a BIG win," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said, "but we've got to go down tomorrow and play well."

Starting Monday, the Red Sox wrap up the regular season with three games at the last-place Baltimore Orioles, who took three of four at Fenway Park on Sept. 19-21, while the Rays host the Yankees.
"We've got to go win every game," Boston closer Jonathan Papelbon said. "That's the way it is."

Over in the NL, the Braves host the best-in-baseball Philadelphia Phillies, while the Cardinals get to close by taking on the worst-in-the-majors Houston Astros.

"All the pressure's on St. Louis, because if they don't win, they can't go anywhere. Even if we do lose, they have to win," Atlanta rookie first baseman Freddie Freeman said after his team's 3-0 loss at the Washington Nationals on Sunday. "So that's how I look at it — and I think how everybody else looks at it, too."
Hmmmmm. Maybe.

The Cardinals decided before their 3-2 comeback victory at the Chicago Cubs on Sunday that they would all wear Hawaiian shirts on their team flight that night. Even manager Tony La Russa was going along with it.
While St. Louis has won 15 of its past 20 games, Atlanta has lost 10 of 15.

"Every missed opportunity in September — it's big," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said.

Similarly, the Red Sox have lost 15 of their past 21 games, and the Rays have closed the gap even though they're only 14-10 in September.

So what exactly has been going wrong for Boston and Atlanta?

"It's all of us," Boston's Ortiz said. "We're all to blame."

Well, that could be accurate, but to boil it down to the basics: The Red Sox aren't pitching well or playing solid defense lately, while the Braves are having a hard time hitting.

Boston made three errors Sunday, raising its total to 17 over the past 12 games, and the team's starters are 4-12 with a 7.16 ERA this month.

Atlanta, meanwhile, managed only four hits, all singles, on Sunday, and its last 15 batters made outs, seven via strikeout. The first four players in the batting order — Michael Bourn, Martin Prado, Chipper Jones and Dan Uggla — combined to go 0 for 16 with five strikeouts against four Nationals pitchers.

Ooooof.

Consider, too, what happened for the Braves when they did give themselves good chances to get on the scoreboard against the Nationals.

In the third inning, they loaded the bases with no outs but came away with nothing.

In the fifth, they had runners on second and third with one out but came away with nothing.

"Since it's crunch time," Uggla said, "there's a little bit of added pressure there."

AP Sports Writer Howie Rumberg in New York contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Diana Nyad encounters difficulties in Cuba to Florida swim

 

It was a difficult night for long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, who is trying for the third time, to fulfill her quest to become the first woman to swim from Cuba to Florida without a shark cage.
In the first 12 hours of the swim, Nyad suffered debilitating jellyfish stings and had some breathing issues, but Saturday morning she was continuing toward her goal, one stroke at a time.

Nyad, 62, started the swim at Friday at 6:05 p.m. EDT. One hour later, she encountered a Portuguese Man O War that stung her on both arms, the side of her body and her face, according to a report on her blog.
“She is trying to clear herself of tentacles and continue to swim,” her team tweeted just after it happened.
After treading water for an hour she was able to recover from the stings and continue, but there were more obstacles ahead.

A post on Nyad’s blog titled “A challenging night” said that in the early morning Nyad’s stroke pace dropped from 52 to 55 strokes per minute to 48.

At 5:50 a.m. she stopped swimming completely, complaining that she could not breathe properly and was having trouble getting oxygen to her muscles.

Her last attempt at this swim was foiled in part by an unexpected bout of asthma, but this time Nyad was prepared.

She received a prednisone shot along with oxygen and other medications and after treading water for an hour, continued the swim at 8 a.m.

Her team remains hopeful that Nyad will complete the swim this time. According to Nyad's blog, her chief handler, Bonnie Stoll, told Nyad, "You're doing better, I can see it." And Candace Hogan, who has been a part of most of Diana’s swims since 1978, said Diana can recover and complete this swim.

Recent tweets indicate that her stroke is getting stronger, and her rest times each our are growing shorter.
Before she got in the water, Nyad was convinced she would make it this time.

“This weekend is my magical moment,” she tweeted on Friday night. “I can’t imagine any other ending than making it to the other shore.”
This is Nyad's third attempt at this 103-mile swim. She tried for the first time in 1978, quitting after 42 hours in the face of huge waves.

Then, on Aug. 8 of this year, she tried again, abandoning that effort after 29 hours, battling ocean swells and suffering from shoulder pain and asthma. Media reports said she was vomiting when she was pulled out of the water.

“I am not sad,” she told CNN, which was accompanying her at the time. “It was absolutely the right call.”
Immediately after the swim, she said that she would not try again, but she later expressed second thoughts about that statement to L.A. Times columnist Bill Dwyre.

"What I said right afterward is not necessarily true," she told Dwyre in mid-August. "You've got me a week later. Right after, it would be like talking to a boxer on the canvas, still on his back and looking up at the bright lights.

"Now, I do not feel at peace the way this ended," she added.

At a news conference in Havana, Nyad told reporters that despite her age she is in the best shape of her life.

Antonio Gates (Foot) To Play Against Chiefs; Should Dominate

Nothing could keep Antonio Gates from playing against the Chiefs this week.
The Chargers Pro Bowl tight end (and very high fantasy football draft pick) was questionable this week with a foot injury.

But after last week, when he was held without a catch against Bill Belichick's Patriots, there as no way he wouldn't play this week. Being held without a catch is a rarity for Gates, so he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder and a little extra something to prove.

In a radio interview with a local San Diego radio station, The San Diego Tribune's Kevin Acee said he expects Gates to play.

Now how much he actually plays will remain a mystery. The Chiefs have proven to be one of the worst teams in the league this year, while the Chargers are a team that many pundits and prognosticators picked to go to the Super Bowl. These are two teams going in opposite directions.

So if the Chargers are up by, say, 24 in the third quarter, San Diego head coach Norv Turner will likely not risk further injury on his tight end and will probably sit him. The entire Chargers receiving corps is injure with Malcolm Floyd a game time decision and Vincent Jackson nursing an abdominal issue.

But the Chiefs, who's secondary is also hurting won't be able to cover Gates. If you're wondering about whether or not Gates should be in your lineup, well, he get him in there. Because even if he plays three quarters, he's going to get his fair share of points as Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers will look to get him the ball and back in the game to make up for last week's zero catches and only one target.

Think of Gates like the Incredible Hulk this week. Antonio Gates is angry. And opposing fantasy owners won't like him when he's angry (although his owners will love it when they see "Gates Smash!" the Chiefs.)

Google Doodle Celebrates Jim Henson's 75th Birthday

The puppetmaster passed away in 1990, but his iconic puppets will live on forever. And now they're immortalized in Google's Doodle.


The puppets Jim Henson dreamt up are truly timeless. Countless children have grown up with his cute puppet creations on Sesame Street and The Muppets. From the adorable Kermit the Frog and Rowlf the Dog, to the more gruff (but still equally loveable) ones like Oscar the Grouch and Cookie Monster, Henson had his hand in – and some quite literally, as a puppetmaster – creating years of entertaining and educational television for kids.

September 24th marks the date Jim Henson would have turned 75 years young. And his furry friends are prominently displayed on Google's homepage to help commemorate his legacy.

(PHOTOS: A Decade of Google Doodles)

Saturday's Doodle features six adorable Muppet-like monsters that take the form – and colors – of the Google logo. Click on them, or simply move your mouse near, and they'll respond as if you were the actual puppeteer. Keep clicking to see their different expressions – and here's a hint: try to get the far-right Muppet to chow down on his long-necked friend next-door. Fair warning: it's an addictive Doodle. Some fans have even created a sort of puppet karaoke.

And Saturday's Doodle is a major upgrade to Google's arsenal. The search engine is lauded for its innovative Doodles marking anniversaries and birthdays throughout history. It's an endeavor that kicked off in 1999 with Google's founders tweaking their logo in celebration. What was once just a photo overlay has turned into quite a production, featuring in recent months a playable guitar for Les Paul's birthday and a snazzy video tribute to Queen frontman Freddie Mercury. But today's, which uses emerging web technology HTML5 to control the puppets, is one of the most advanced to date.

But rest assured a computer mouse will never replace the actual hand of a puppetmaster. Thanks for the lovable legacy, Mr. Henson.

Nick Carbone is a reporter at TIME. Find him on Twitter at @nickcarbone. You can also continue the discussion on TIME's Facebook page and on Twitter at @TIME.

'All My Children' ends 41-year run

After 41 years, the ABC daytime drama "All My Children" aired its final episode Friday and ended things with a bang.

Longtime fans who tuned in one last time found the residents of Pine Valley, the fictional Pennsylvania town in which the soap is set, all dressed up and gathered for a party at the Chandler mansion. Erica Kane ( Susan Lucci) was seen telling Jackson Montgomery ( Walt Willey) that she wasn't ready to get married again (for the 13th time!), and Brooke English ( Julia Barr, who returned for the show's final week) accepted onetime husband Adam Chandler's ( David Canary) proposal.

In true soap fashion, there was a Friday cliffhanger. A drunken J.R. Chandler ( Jacob Young) was seen lurking outside the party with a gun, then the screen went black and a shot was fired.

The cliffhanger may get resolved if "All My Children" manages to find new life on the Web. Production company Prospect Park this week announced that it has made deals with some cast members to continue the show online. Cameron Mathison and Lindsay Hartley have agreed to continue. Lucci's participation is still not certain.

Near the end of Friday's episode, longtime Pine Valley resident Tad Martin ( Michael E. Knight) summed things up during a toast: "Neighbors, family and friends, I've found all of them here. It's been my home. The best years of my life."

Etheridge fights for custody

The already ugly breakup of Melissa Etheridge and Tammy Lynn Michaels is getting uglier, according to usmagazine.com. The two split in April 2010, but they're fighting now over custody of their 4-year-old twins.
Michaels and Etheridge were married in 2003, but that seems to be in dispute, too. The rocker says the ceremony -- which took place in California, but not during the brief period in which same-sex marriage was legal -- was a nonbinding commitment. Michaels argues that it was a legal union, entitling her to half her ex's assets.

Wanda Sykes reveals cancer

Wanda Sykes revealed to Ellen DeGeneres on Thursday that she was diagnosed with breast cancer earlier this year and had a bilateral mastectomy in August, people.com reports.
While taping an episode of "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" that's scheduled to air Monday, Sykes, 47, said she learned she had cancer after having breast-reduction surgery in February. She is now cancer-free, she said.

Briefly

• "Answer This!," the independent film shot on the University of Michigan campus last summer, is set to have a charity premiere Oct. 13 at Royal Oak's Emagine Theater. VIP tickets are $75; general admission tickets are $10. The film was made by Ann Arbor natives Michael and Christopher Farah. For more: answerthismovie.com.
• WRIF's Rocktoberfest is taking place today at Heritage Park in Taylor. The second annual event includes food, vendors, games and live music from the Kielbasa Kings, Mustache Baby, Buster Strange, Bridge and Under the Covers. It runs 2-11 p.m. rain or shine. Admission is free but there's a fee for parking. For more: wrif.com.

COMPILED BY ANGELA LOPEZ, FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER

The Chris Christie Dream Won't Die

The Republican primary race was marked by fake candidates (Donald Trump), non-candidates (Mitch Daniels), and fringe candidates (Gary Johnson, Ron Paul) before Rick Perry got into the race. Conservatives were excited after his announcement in August; the conservative blog Hot Air declared he was the "real deal" who could forcefully attack President Obama. The American Spectator said he was "far better positioned than Romney to debate the President." They must not have ever seen Perry debate. After his Texas swag could not carry him through Thursday's event, some conservatives are back to pining for their fantasy candidates. Chief among them: New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

Perry's halting, stumbling performance, National Review editor Rich Lowry writes at Fox News, "will stoke more speculation about... Christie possibly entering the race." It sure did. 

 

The Washington Post's Jennifer Rubin writes, "I thought there was some possibility that if the stars aligned that [Christie] might get in....  In the wake of last night's debate, that possibility increased by a factor of 10. (Yeah, yeah, 10 times zero is zero, but it was never zero.)" The Weekly Standard's Bill Kristol, too, was inspired by the Orlando debate to think again about Christie. Kristole says he got an email from a "bright young conservative" saying, "I'm watching my first GOP debate...and WE SOUND LIKE CRAZY PEOPLE!!!!" Kristol says he's left asking "with a month left before filing deadlines: Is that all there is?"

 

Likewise, on Thursday night, Wall Street Journal editorial page editor Paul Gigot again urged Christie to step up. Gigot seems to be in a teeny bit of denial -- Christie has said a million times he's not running, most recently on Thursday -- arguing, "For a man who says he's not running for president, Chris Christie isn't keeping a low profile. [He'll] give presidential tea-leaf readers another chance to speculate about his intentions when he delivers a speech next Tuesday at the Reagan Presidential library in Simi Valley, Calif."

 

NBC News' Chuck Todd and Mark Murray note that "Gigot is about as close to being a potential pied piper for what's left of the GOP donor establishment community as there is right now." If so, that establishment thinks the nomination is Christie's if he wants it. Gigot concludes, "Christie may decide for personal and political reasons not to run. But one of those reasons should not be his electoral prospects. The GOP nomination is eminently winnable, and on current economic trends so is the presidency."

 

But those pulling for Christie to run might want to listen to former presidential candidate Lamar Alexander, the senator from Tennessee. Talking to ABC News' Jonathan Karl, Alexander explained Perry's problems: "There's a big difference between being governor and being president, even if you're from a big state... Going from governor to presidential primaries is like going from eighth grade basketball to the NBA finals and you have to be careful. People expect something of a president." That's something Christie, if no one else, is surely keeping in mind.

PASSINGS: Vesta Williams, Orlando Brown, Frank Driggs

Vesta Williams, seen at the 41st NAACP Image Awards in 2010, had hits with “Once Bitten Twice Shy,” “Don't Blow A Good Thing,” “Sweet, Sweet Love” and the torch song “Congratulations.” (Jason Merritt / Getty Images for NAACP)

• Also
• Photos: Notable deaths of 2011

September 24, 2011

Vesta Williams

Singer of R&B hits in 1980s

Vesta Williams, 53, an R&B singer who had hits in the 1980s with "Once Bitten Twice Shy" and "Congratulations," was found dead Thursday evening of a possible drug overdose in an El Segundo hotel room.

An autopsy will determine the cause of death, according to Los Angeles County coroner's officials, but they said a drug overdose is suspected.

Born Mary Vesta Williams in Coshocton, Ohio, on Dec. 1, 1957, she had hits with "Don't Blow A Good Thing," "Sweet, Sweet Love" and the torch song "Congratulations," in which she emotionally bids goodbye to her ex, about to marry someone else, on his wedding day.

Besides her solo work, she was a member of the singing group Wild Honey and was a backup singer for Chaka Khan, Gladys Knight, Anita Baker and others.

Williams also had small acting roles, including on the TV series "Sister, Sister" in the late 1990s.

Orlando Brown

NFL offensive tackle for 10 seasons

Orlando Brown, 40, a 6-foot, 7-inch, 360-pound offensive tackle who in 1999 was accidentally hit in the eye with a penalty flag and missed three NFL seasons because of the damage it caused, was found dead Friday at his Baltimore home. The cause of death wasn't known.

He played 10 NFL seasons — four with the Cleveland Browns (1993-95 and 1999) and six with the Baltimore Ravens (1996-98 and 2003-05).

In 1999, in a game between Cleveland and Jacksonville, the massive tackle was struck in the right eye by a weighted penalty flag thrown by official Jeff Triplette. Brown stormed on the field and pushed Triplette, drawing a suspension.

Brown was hospitalized for six days with bleeding behind the eye. He sued the NFL for $200 million, settling the lawsuit for $25 million.

He missed the next three seasons because of the injury, returning to football in 2003.

Brown was born in Washington and played in college at Central State in Ohio and South Carolina State.

Frank Driggs

New York music historian, producer

Frank Driggs, 81, a New York music historian and producer who amassed a world-class archive of more than 100,000 jazz-related images, was found dead in his Manhattan home Tuesday. Friend and co-worker Donna Ranieri said he died of natural causes.

Driggs became enamored with jazz and swing while listening to late-night radio broadcasts in the 1930s. He later joined Marshall Stearns, founder of the Rutgers University-based Institute of Jazz Studies, and began documenting jazz history.

Reared in Vermont, where his family ran a resort hotel, Driggs graduated from Princeton University in 1952. He became a record producer for RCA Victor and Columbia and began collecting photographs and other memorabilia.

He produced numerous recordings, including Columbia Records' "Robert Johnson: The Complete Recordings."

Driggs also co-published "Black Beauty, White Heat," a pictorial history of classic jazz culled from his vast collection.

Photos from the collection have been reproduced in a wide array of jazz reference books and other publications, and were used extensively in Ken Burns' PBS documentary "Jazz."

What Facebook announced at F8 today

Mark Zuckerberg introduces Timeline at F8 2011.

SAN FRANCISCO--Facebook is rolling out some of the biggest changes in its history, unveiling its new Timeline and all-new Open Graph features today, features that will radically change how users display their information, and the way they discover new content. 

At F8, Facebook's annual developers conference, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the two new features. Timeline, he explained, is "the story of your life," significantly altering the way people's information is shown on the world's leading social network, presenting "all your stories, all your apps, and a new way to express who you are," Zuckerberg said.

Timeline, which went into beta today, is designed to let people go back in their lives, Zuckerberg said. "It's how you can tell the whole story of your life on a single page."

This is an extremely significant change to the way Facebook looks. With Timeline, users will see several new sections, including visual tiles, ways to get all their apps, and a cover photo.

To be more precise, in Timeline, all a user's stories appear in the bottom left-hand side of the page, much like their existing Wall. On the right, there's a timeline that breaks down all posts from various points. And finally, there's a large "cover photo" at the top of the page. The idea is that this allows users to jump back to their earliest Facebook posts.

Zuckerberg said that Timeline is already enabled for mobile devices.

Zuckerberg shows off how Facebook's new Timeline looks on a mobile device.

Zuckerberg shows off how Facebook's new Timeline looks on a mobile device.

In Timeline, users will be able to see everything shared recently. Click on a year in the timeline, and it scrolls down to that year. Years will also get broken down by month. Users can roll their mouse over a point in time, and they instantly get the option to add photos, notes, and other items to that time period.
In addition, items in the Timeline will be posted on a map, so users can visually see what they've done. The map is built by Bing, a result of the partnership between Facebook and Microsoft.
While Timeline is only in beta now, developers will be able to access the new feature immediately.
Open Graph, Ticker
After he was finished unveiling Timeline, Zuckerberg then moved on to Ticker, part of the next version of the social network's Open Graph.

Mark Zuckerberg introduces the Facebook Ticker and its link to Spotify today at F8.

The idea, he said, is to enable a "completely new class of social apps."

Open Graph and Ticker will be rolled out slowly, giving developers a chance to create apps for Timeline. However, Zuckerberg said that elements of Open Graph that make discovering of media content like music, movies, TV, and news will be available immediately.

Last year, Zuckerberg said, Facebook rolled out Open Graph, a map of all a user's connections in the world, and made it so users can connect to anything they want in any way they want. But now with the next Open Graph, he said, users will also be able to connect to an order of magnitude more things than ever before using Ticker, a way to express "lightweight" actions, thoughts, and other things any time they want.

Facebook updates will now include verbs when people listen to songs, cook a meal, or watch a show.

When a user shares a post normally, it goes into their news feed. But when that user adds activity through Open Graph, it will go into Ticker, and into Timeline, but not into the news feed unless that's what's desired, Zuckerberg explained. It's a stream of everything a user is experiencing and expressing through Facebook, and the first time the service has enabled sharing so-called lightweight activities, such as listening to a song, watching a movie, reading a book, or even cooking a meal.

And Zuckerberg said that he expects that this will enable users and others to create "a completely new class of social apps than what was every possible before," including those about music, movies, TV, books, and any media as well as lifestyle apps that let users express all kinds of things about their life: their runs, their naps, their moods, and much more.

All told, the new feature will allow frictionless experiences, real-time serendipity, and finding patterns and activity.

Clearly, Facebook designed the new Open Graph with the intention of allowing users to easily access all kinds of media content from a wide range of publishers. That includes music, movies and TV, news, and games. On stage, Zuckerberg and guest speakers including Spotify founder Daniel Ek and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings talked about how music and video content can be easily discovered, and Zuckerberg talked about how dozens of partners will be making news stories available through Open Graph. As well, many games publishers will allow users to get easy and streamlined access to the leading type of Facebook content.

X Factor Judges: Hit Show or Bomb?

Simon Cowell’s new singing competition show The X-Factor premiered on Fox last night, featuring Simon alongside host Steve Jones and judges L.A. Reid, Nicole Sherzinger and Paula Abdul. The show scored decent but not amazing ratings last night…from Variety: “the Simon Cowell-fronted “X-Factor” opened with a two-hour episode that averaged a 4.2 rating/12 share in adults 18-49 and 12.1 million viewers overall – below the 5.1 demo score that NBC’s “The Voice” notched with its premiere in late April, and less than one-half the 9.8 that Fox’s “American Idol” opened with in mid-January.”

If the show feels a lot like American Idol, you might thank Simon Cowell and Paula Abdul, who acted as their usual selves. The first few episodes of The X-Factor feature auditions – good and bad – in an arena in front of thousands of people (unlike American Idol). Another difference is that on this show, musical groups are allowed – like boy band The Anser (aren’t we over misspelling things on purpose?) and girl group The Sonnets. But are they good enough to win the grand prize of $5 million?

Check out 13 year-old Rachel Crow, who turned a lot of heads last night:

Interestingly enough, Cheryl Cole, the judge who Simon fired after the first round of auditions, became a trending topic on Twitter. Apparently Simon said she seemed “bewildered,” and there was also some talk of her thick accent being hard for Americans to understand. But many fans love her and wanted her to stay. I admit she’s pretty likeable…but Nicole Sherzinger and Paula Abdul probably give the judge’s table enough sweetness.

The X-Factor returns tonight for two more hours. Will you be watching? What do you think of the X-Factor judges?

Field Guide: Daphne Guinness And Her Thoughts On Hitler

Rebecca Mead's profile of Daphne Guinness from this week's New Yorker aims to explain the nature of the heiress/fashion star's appeal. And just what it is that she does all day.

Guinness has been variously described in the press as an heiress, a muse, a socialite, a designer, and an artist, and though all these characterizations are partly accurate, non quite conveys her affect, which is that of a slightly deranged fairy invented by C.S. Lewis. Her aesthetic is often futuristic, but she also appears to have come from a bygone age when getting dressed was considered a demanding form of self-expression, rather than an opportunity to wallow in spandex-enabled comfort.

We already knew that Guinness hates being called "eccentric" — here are some other things you might learn about Guinness in the story:

• "Once, in Malibu, she lost a nineteen-thirties Cartier bracelet in the sand; after searching for it in vain, she remarked to a friend, insouciantly, that someone with a metal detector would have the find of his life."
• The change in Guinness' life wrought by her 2000 divorce from Greek shipping magnate Spyros Niarchos, whom she had married at 19, was significant. Says a friend (who should probably be familiarized with the New Yorker's own Stop That Metaphor department): "She had been in this jewelled Fabergé cage, which turned into a pressure cooker, and then she came out of it like Venus on the half shell."
• Guinness' family background is aristocracy times money to the nth degree. She is the daughter of Jonathan Guinness, who is a baron and an heir to the Guinness beer fortune, and his second wife. Jonathan Guinness' mother was Diana Mitford, the writer, translator, and notorious Nazi-sympathiser and lifelong Fascist. Daphne Guinness was close with Mitford's second husband, the politician (and founder of the British Union of Fascists) Sir Oswald Moseley. "I used to go and stay in Paris with him, and I would sleep in his dressing room, and he would treat one like a complete adult — there would be these fascinating conversations around the dinner table about books, politics, art, whatever. He was a very, very clever man." She was also close with her grandmother, but was apparently disgusted by her politics.
  

  She remains dismayed that Diana never publicly recanted her admiration for Hitler, whom Diana had got to know in the thirties after travelling to Germany to visit her sister Unity, who had become part of der Führer's inner circle. "My grandmother had grown up in the countryside, and she hadn't been to school, and then she goes to Germany, and Unity is there, and then she becomes very friendly with him," Guinness said. "I can't imagine he was charming — he's the most uncharming person I've ever seen, Hitler." She recalled discussing the matter with Diana. "I said, 'Granny, it just can't be right,' and she just said, 'He didn't photograph well.' She said he was very, very funny." When the war broke out, Diana spent three years in London's Holloway prison. "She told me she read a lot of Racine," Guinness said. Meanwhile, when Britain declared war on Germany, Unity Mitford shot herself in the head. "Why didn't Unity shoot Hitler instead of herself?" Guinness said. "Then we'd be descended from heroes instead of from villains."
  

• Although Jonathan Guinness cheated on Daphne's mother, and fathered three children by a "hippie masseuse" who went by the nickname Shoe, and although Daphne Guinness remarks that her mother "was obviously not entirely happy with the situation," she has herself been romantically involved with a married man, the philosopher and writer Bernard Henri-Lévy, since 2005. Lévy remains married to the actress Arielle Dombasle. Guinness called him "the love of my life" in Harper's Bazaar.
• Wondering what was in Daphne Guinness's green alligator Hermès bag on the mid-July day when she met writer Rebecca Mead in the Garment District? Her wallet, plus "a pair of noise-cancelling headphones and a copy of Marcus Aurelius' Meditations." That day, Guinness spent $6,000 at a fabric store.
• She wears a customized shade of red nail polish.
• She says things like, "I'll eat when I'm dead."
• "Guinness's clothing collection, which she keeps in her homes in London and New York, includes twenty-five hundred and fifty pairs of shoes, seventy hats, and two hundred handbags."
• Guinness considers what she had in common with Alexander McQueen and Isabella Blow was their "romanticism."
• She can sing. She had ambitions to train as an operatic soprano, but married life intervened. "Spyros didn't like classical music, poor him; people either like it or they don't, and you can't criticize someone for that. I would go off and do it somewhere where he couldn't hear me. And he used to think it depressed me, which it didn't."