"He's a really funny guy ... that's kind of one of the interesting dichotomies of working on [Mad Men], because the camera's rolling and here's this very severe, kind of stern man who's cracking fart jokes as soon as they call 'cut.'"

- N.D.G. native Jessica Paré on working with Mad Men lead, Jon Hamm. The Montreal actress has been playing the role of Hamm's secretary, Megan Calvet, who first appeared on the show in Season 4, which was just released on DVD earlier this week.

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*Note that image resolution dropped here. The original digital image has cleaner edges.

You know, I had a whole post written (twice) about my struggles to locate the U-18 national team roster on the USA Hockey website.  There were apologies for my obtuseness.  There were retractions of those apologies.  And in the end, I erased the post and just went to the friggin’ IIHF website and found it  in two seconds.  USA women’s hockey, I know you have a very small budget, and probably only one person doing web updates.  I sympathize.  But for lord’s sake the team leaves tomorrow for a world championships that start on Saturday.  Even if it was posted before somewhere else and I simply couldn’t figure out where, it should be on the front page now, ey? Anyhow, here it is, courtesy of the IIHF.  Picard and Skarupa both played on the Senior National Team at the Four Nations Cup, and Picard got a decent amount of ice time.  Mississauga continues to be unbeaten in the PWHL, so it’s good we have one of their players (although of course Team Canada has several more).  NAHA White did tie them early in the season, and we have three from that squad.  Two of course from Shattuck St. Mary’s, and I don’t know what is going on with Warroad High School but clearly have to check them out…. 11 BOULIER Amanda D R  30 MAR 1993 Westminster School 8 BRANDT Hannah F R  27 NOV 1993 Hill Murray School 6 BURKE Courtney D L  2 SEP 1994 Shattuck St. Mary 5 CARPENTER Alex F L  13 APR 1994 Governor Academy 25 DANIELS Sydney F L  19 APR 1995 Westminster School 9 DARKANGELO Shiann F L 28 NOV 1993 Little Caesars 17 FIELD Emily F L  6 APR 1993 Lawrence Academy 1 LUNDBERG Shenae GK L 14 MAR 1993 Deerfield Academy 3 MARVIN Layla F R 8 MAR 1993 Warroad High School 10 McMILLEN Milica D L 13 JUL 1993 Breck School 30 MILLER Megan GK L  2 MAY 1994 North American Hockey Academy 23 NESS Abby F R  8 APR 1993 Roseau High School 14 PELKEY Amanda F R  29 MAY 1993 North American Hockey Academy 2 PFALZER Emily D R 14 JUN 1993 Mississauga Chiefs 12 PICARD Michelle D L  27 MAY 1993 Noble and Greenough School 19 SAVAGE Paige F L 25 JUL 1994 North American Hockey Academy 16 SKARUPA Haley F R 3 JAN 1994 Washington Pride 4 STECKLEIN Lee D L 23 APR 1994 Roseville High School 21 SYLVESTER Karley F L 30 JAN 1993 Warroad High School 24 TRIVIGNO Dana F R  7 JAN 1994 Shattuck St. Mary

Extensive analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans genome reveals regions highly occupied by multiple transcription factors.

Authors: Mark B. Gerstein, Zhi John Lu, Eric L. Van Nostrand, Chao Cheng, Bradley I. Arshinoff, Tao Liu, Kevin Y. Yip, Rebecca Robilotto, Andreas Rechtsteiner, Kohta Ikegami, Pedro Alves, Aurelien Chateigner, Marc Perry, Mitzi Morris, Raymond K. Auerbach, Xin Feng, Jing Leng, Anne Vielle, Wei Niu, Kahn Rhrissorrakrai, Ashish Agarwal, Roger P. Alexander, Galt Barber, Cathleen M. Brdlik, Jennifer Brennan, Jeremy Jean Brouillet, Adrian Carr, Ming-Sin Cheung, Hiram Clawson, Sergio Contrino, Luke O. Dannenberg, Abby F. Dernburg, Arshad Desai, Lindsay Dick, Andréa C. Dosé, Jiang Du, Thea Egelhofer, Sevinc Ercan, Ghia Euskirchen, Brent Ewing, Elise A. Feingold, Reto Gassmann, Peter J. Good, Phil Green, Francois Gullier, Michelle Gutwein, Mark S. Guyer, Lukas Habegger, Ting Han, Jorja G. Henikoff, Stefan R. Henz, Angie Hinrichs, Heather Holster, Tony Hyman, A. Leo Iniguez, Judith Janette, Morten Jensen, Masaomi Kato, W. James Kent, Ellen Kephart, Vishal Khivansara, Ekta Khurana, John K. Kim, Paulina Kolasinska-Zwierz, Eric C. Lai, Isabel Latorre, Amber Leahey, Suzanna Lewis, Paul Lloyd, Lucas Lochovsky, Rebecca F. Lowdon, Yaniv Lubling, Rachel Lyne, Michael MacCoss, Sebastian D. Mackowiak, Marco Mangone, Sheldon McKay, Desirea Mecenas, Gennifer Merrihew, David M. Miller III, Andrew Muroyama, John I. Murray, Siew-Loon Ooi, Hoang Pham, Taryn Phippen, Elicia A. Preston, Nikolaus Rajewsky, Gunnar Rätsch, Heidi Rosenbaum, Joel Rozowsky, Kim Rutherford, Peter Ruzanov, Mihail Sarov, Rajkumar Sasidharan, Andrea Sboner, Paul Scheid, Eran Segal, Hyunjin Shin, Chong Shou, Frank J. Slack, Cindie Slightam, Richard Smith, William C. Spencer, E. O. Stinson, Scott Taing, Teruaki Takasaki, Dionne Vafeados, Ksenia Voronina, Guilin Wang, Nicole L. Washington, Christina M. Whittle, Beijing Wu, Koon-Kiu Yan, Georg Zeller, Zheng Zha, Mei Zhong, Xingliang Zhou, modENCODE Consortium, Julie Ahringer, Susan Strome, Kristin C. Gunsalus, Gos Micklem, X. Shirley Liu, Valerie Reinke, Stuart K. Kim, LaDeana W. Hillier, Steven Henikoff, Fabio Piano, Michael Snyder, Lincoln Stein, Jason D. Lieb, Robert H. Waterston

Thirteen-year-old Sterling musician Abby Miller remembers clearly the moment when she found out that she had helped the Arms Wide Open Childhood Cancer Foundation win a $250,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project .

This might sound a bit strange, but I think breakfast on day 2 might have been my favorite meal of the entire trip.  Think I'm weird?  Here's the rundown of what I had: oatmeal brulee, a fruit and yogurt spoonful, a mini skillet of scrambled eggs with sausage and peppers, banana beignets, and a custom mix from the juice bar.  Yummmm.  Plus, breakfast was outside in the Mediterranean Courtyard, which was beautiful!

We then headed into the Venetian Ballroom for a morning of sessions from fabulous speakers.  Paul Leone of The Breakers spoke first, then Rebecca spoke on the "state of the wedding industry."  I think I took the most notes during her presentation!  After that we read from the hilarious and heartfelt Mindy Weiss, who spoke about "the good, the bad, and the ugly" in her career and the wedding industry.

After that it was time for a snack in the adjoining ballroom.  Let me tell you, these people don't let you go hungry!  This time around, we had petit macarons and yogurt parfaits.  Delicious!

Snacktime was followed by a panel of design experts: Tara Guerard, Todd Fiscus, and David Beahm.  The things they are doing with events and flowers and lighting are truly spectacular!  Lastly that morning we listened to a dynamite presentation from business expert and road warrior Cindy Novotny. 

Pictured below :: Cortnie Purdy of Canvas and Canopy Events, Harmony Walton of The Bridal Bar, Lara, and Lindsay Pitt of TOAST Events; Chris Confero and Lara

We were then ushered into the spectacular Circle Room for lunch.  The room itself is breathtaking, and with the addition of gorgeous decor and a fabulous string quartet, the experience as a whole was magnificent.  Plus, I just about fainted from cuteness overload -- yummy boxes?!  The work of Smock and DK Designs.  Oh yes, then I almost fainted again when I got to help THE Sylvia Weinstock decorate a cake.  For reals.

After lunch we headed back to the ballroom for a few more sessions.  First up was the hilarious and brutally honest Marcy Blum, who spoke largely off the cuff.  Next was a panel lead by Martha Stewart Weddings editor in chief Darcy Miller, who was speaking with Amy Atlas, Abby Larson, and photographer Donna Newman.  The Knot founder Carley Roney moderated the next panel of Randy Fenoli and stationery designer Ceci Johnson of CECI New York.  Finally, we ended the afternoon with a talk by Bryan Rafanelli of Rafanelli Events, and I am not exaggerating when I say he blew everyone away.  He was definitely my favorite speaker of the conference.  P.S. You may have heard of him -- he designed a little thing called Chelsea Clinton's wedding!

Oh yes, then there were some more snacks -- orange-themed this time.  I thought of my dear Katharine when I spotted circus peanuts in the mix!

We ended the night with dine-arounds at a few of The Breakers' fabulous restaurants.  I was thrilled to dine with Marilyn Oliveira of Inside Weddings and Siri Eklund, as well as fellow attendees Susan Murray, Julie Sabatino, Josh Madans, and Christine Gallagher.  After that, it was -- you guessed it -- time for more food at the dessert reception on the Ocean Lawn.  Annie Lee of Daughter of Design and I couldn't get enough of the custom donut station -- delicious!  I also enjoyed speaking with Tim O'Neill of the Piano Brothers -- we love playing his CDs in the SW office!

Pictured above :: Marcy Blum, Mel Barlow, Jeff from The Breakers, Lara, me, and Harmony Walton

Back with more from the third and final day soon!

All photos in the post are from Mel Barlow, DVB Photographers, Lara's camera, or one of our iPhones!

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Two local girls have teamed up to help fund cancer research. Taylor Love is a 5-year-old from Ashburn, Va., who is battling neuroblastoma, a rare form of cancerous tumor that occurs in infants and children. Taylor’s friend Abby Miller, a 13-year-old musician from Sterling, Va., has been helping Love in her fight against neuroblastoma by performing [...]

STORM WINS: Sorry for disappearing. We added more coverage to the paper edition, so there was less time to write here, given the tight deadline. Anyway, hope the 13,898 in attendance enjoyed the game because it might be the last at KeyArena. Time expired on the Dream, sealing a 87-84 win in Game 2. Surprised Cash couldn't connect on the two free throws at the end, which makes me wonder what kind of door the Storm has on the Dream. The gifted team that uses a 10-player rotation was right there on Thursday. Seattle will need a concrete layer to keep Atlanta from breaking through to make this a series. For now, the Storm improves to 21-0 at KeyArena and is one win from winning its first championship since 2004. Jackson led with 26 points and seven rebounds while Cash added 19 and three assists. An unsung hero was Wright, who helped Cash defend McCoughtry. Wright finished with 17 points and five steals, cutting the turnovers back to three. Izzy and Angel had 21 points apiece for the Dream, which was limited to 23 FT attempts compared to the Storm's 37. "We never die," Meadors said. "We never stop. We always play all the way to the end of the game, no matter the score and we play as hard as we can." Izzy fouled out of the game with 22.9 seconds remaining with her team down four points -- a lot of time for the Dream to create. "I don't know if we did quite as well on Izzy tonight as I thought we could have," Agler said. "There were a couple of cases I thought she freed up and we didn't stay in place with her. She hit some difficult shots." Atlanta took a red-eye home and will practice after they land to prepare for Thursday's Game 3 at Philips Arena. Seattle isn't holding a traditional practice on Wednesday, traveling instead. NO BREAKS: Man, McCoughtry was an excitement sucker with a sick three-pointer at the buzzer ending the opening half. Seattle had built a eight point lead in the second quarter, but the Dream nearly gobbled that up in the final two minutes of the half. McCoughtry made two buckets, Miller had a steal, and Castro Marques added a score to close the half down just 49-47. Seattle has three players in double digits while McCoughtry leads her team with 14 on 5 of 15 shooting. Seattle is getting outrebounded 20-12, but shooting 51.6 percent from the field. Cash has been money, getting 10 of her 12 points in the second quarter. IZZY BACK: Castro Marques started the second quarter. The Dream is still shooting poorly, however, going 8 of 30 from the field to trail 31-28 with 6:17 remaining. LOOKING GOOD: Their won't be many massive runs in this game, so gotta give props to the Storm buckling down even deeper to build a 28-24 lead after a wicked turnaround jumper from Cash in McCoughtry's face with 7:23 remaining. The crowd started whipping the towels, which looks good on television. ESPN even has the game up on its main page. Too bad its commercials promo-ing the game didn't include the date and time of the matchup. WHERE'S THE D?: The Storm is missing a prime opportunity to put the Dream away. Its shooters are off, going 6-for-24 from the field in the opening quarter. But the Storm fouling has given Atlanta nine FTs and the Storm spotted the Dream another eight off turnovers. No wonder the underdogs are up 21-19 after first-quarter play. Jackson leads the Storm with nine points. Four players for the Dream have four. IZZY HURT?: Castro Marques is still on the bench with an ice pack on her nose. She played five minutes of the first quarter. PENALTY: It's a game of FTs again as officials try to get some control. The Dream is definitely rebounding better, winning that stat 13-5 against Seattle. The Storm has five turnovers and just three made baskets to lead to the 18-13 deficit. too bad, because McCoughtry is 1 of 9 from the field, but she's finding Erika de Souza in the paint for layins. GOTTA WEAR SHADES: Some fans literally can't see as the sun comes down and a door is open, letting in the late evening rays. A few rows in Section 127 are wearing shades and using their homemade signs as sun blockers. SPOTTED: I'm sure this section will be updated throughout the game, but to get it started, former Storm Gs Semeka Randall and Jamie Redd are seated courtside. Randall missed practice with her Ohio Bobcats this morning in order to make the trip. "They were pissed, but I'll make it up to them," she said. TIME!: With McCoughtry and Castro Marques easily cutting their way into the paint for buckets, Agler had to call time to talk to his team about defense. Little isn't having the start she had on Sunday, missing two open shots under the hoop and then hesitating on a drive, tossing the ball off to Jackson, who couldn't control the frenzied pass. Seattle is down 7-2 with 7:56 remaining in the opening quarter. GOLDEN APPLE: Washington Governor Chris Gregoire bet Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue that the Storm will beat the Dream in the finals. If the Storm brings home the championship, Perdue has promised to send Gregoire a box of Georgia peaches. In return, Gregoire has put up a box of Washington apples. "I'm convinced that Governor Perdue hasn't seen the Seattle Storm in action - otherwise he wouldn't jump at this bet," said Gregoire in a statement released today. The atmosphere is a little calmer inside KeyArena on Tuesday. Fans are casually walking in to take their seats compared to Sunday's frantic feel where many said they didn't know how to react to the Storm being back in the WNBA Finals after a five-year absence. A wish from the stands is for top-seeded Seattle to crush visiting Atlanta in Game 2 of the best-of-five series. Neither team had a sparkling debut in the Finals, either missing defensive assignments or turning the ball over to finish in a one-point outcome. Watching the Storm complete shoot-around Tuesday morning, it seems the team has its swagger back. The rosters are the same average age, but the Storm has far more postseason experience and championships from leagues across the globe, so playing a little sketchy in the opener of a Finals is rare. Now that they know how the Dream is going to play them, they know how combat the flurry. Seattle hasn't lost a game this season at KeyArena and its last loss overall was on the road against Washington on Aug. 15. If Atlanta doesn't find a way to pull an upset Tuesday, it's doubtful any home-court advantage at Philips on Thursday will stop Seattle from winning the title on the road. Did we mention the Storm was 11-6 away from KeyArena, with two being on last-second plays and two being when coach Brian Agler was fiddling with his lineup to give starters rest. There won't be any tinkering for Game 2. Atlanta coach Marynell Meadors is going with the same starting lineup along with Agler. But Seattle is without reserve F Abby Bishop, who suffered a concussion after being hit by a male practice player on Monday. She will not dress for the game and Agler is uncertain whether she'll travel with the team to Atlanta on Wednesday. "Abby is not a player who's in our tight rotation, but it could potentially effect us," her said. In Game 1, officiating forced both coaches to mix up their rotations. Meadors plays her entire roster, so it didn't have the same affect as it did on Agler, who shrunk his deepth-chart to seven players for majority of the postseason. Reserve Jana Vesela was worked for stints while C Ashley Robinson made an appearance in Game 1 of the Finals to compete against Atlanta's big post rotation. "I've always liked Ashley's athleticism," said Agler of Robinson, who played three minutes. "I'm sure we can potentially go there again. She's a smart player, she understands what's going on and she could give us some quality minutes." There is a new batch of officials for Thursday, we'll see if that improves the play. But the first group might have turned off fans. The lower-bowl has some open patches and three-fourths of the upper deck is blocked off by the traditional black curtains. On Sunday, there were about 15,000 fans. In 2004, KeyArena sold out the facility's 17,072-seat capacity. Let's get you prepared with the starting lineups: DREAM F Angel McCoughtry F Iziane Castro-Marques C Sancho Lyttle G Coco Miller G Armintie Price STORM F Swin Cash F Lauren Jackson C Camille Little G Sue Bird G Tanisha Wright Tonight's officials are Eric Brewton, Cameron Inouye, and Scott Twardoski.

Storm PF Lauren Jackson escaped possible suspension in the WNBA Finals on Monday. A technical foul called in the fourth quarter of Game 1 was rescinded after review of the play against Atlanta F Sancho Lyttle. The call made by Michael Price with 1:45 remaining in the matchup would have given the fiery red-head three technical fouls during the postseason. A fourth would mean a one-game suspension. Storm coach Brian Agler discussed the call with the league, which tried to just rescind the call without an announcement. Fan interest apparently made them go public with the change. But the made FT for the original call stands. "The way they discussed it with me was that after the play was over, there was contact," Agler said. "That was their evaluation. That being said, there should have been about 20 technicals then. "I talk to Lauren all the time about that (technicals). She's a very intense player. She competes hard and she understands, the team understands. We'll go from there." Jackson, who has calmed her potty mouth slightly in her 10 years, said being near the limit wasn't going to stop her style of play. Pictured right by the Associated Press, Jackson expects Game 2 to be even more physical, calling for more passion when officials miss calls. "I don't know what constitutes a technical foul in this league, I think they're quite random," said Jackson, who had a game-high 26 points in Sunday's 79-77 win. "There's nothing I can do about it." Dream coach Marynell Meadors also had discussions with the league after Game 1. She was most displeased with how the final offensive play for Seattle was called, where Jackson used her 6-foot-5 frame to ensnarl Lyttle and G Armintie Price while Storm star Sue Bird cleared space for the eventual game-winning jumper. "In my opinion it was a rolling screen and a wrap and I won't say any more beyond that," Meadors said. "It worked, but maybe we tried. Throughout the game, we did a pretty fair job with it (covering Jackson). But the thing that hurt us the most was they just kicked the ball out and hit threes." And as for the fouls? "It seemed like early in the game, everything was a foul, and then they let everything go," Meadors said. "Players are trying to adjust and that's really hard on both teams." BISHOP HEALING: Jackson rushed to the hospital with Australian countrywoman Abby Bishop, who suffered a concussion toward the end of practice on Monday. Bishop was playing a normal game against the male squad and was hit in the head. She was listed as day-to-day. McCourty suffered a head injury, needing three stitches after contact against Storm F Jana Vesela. Both were able to return to the game and practice on Monday, however. "It's alright, but it could be better," said McCoughtry of the injury. She finished with 19 points and four rebounds in the loss. "For some reason I slept for a long, long time. They told me not to, but I couldn't help it. I was knocked out cold." WENT THERE: Dream G Kelly Miller played her most significant minutes since Aug. 10 with she suffered a high right ankle sprain. She appeared in six minutes, scoring two points and getting two assists. "It felt good just to be back out there into a game situation and stuff," said Miller, whose twin Coco played in her place during the injury-plagued month. "Our mood is pretty good. We didn't play as well as we're capable of playing. There were a lot of things we could improve on, but we're looking forward to the challenge. We'll be ready." Meadors hopes to play Miller more, which would mean more of that infamous ponytail the twins wear. I asked Kelly when was the last time they let it fly free and she was either surprisingly stumped or appalled. "We like to be casual," she said. "It was probably a month ago, I don't know." BAD MEDIA: Bird thinks she'll never top Cappie Pondexter and Diana Taurasi for postseason awards because of the numbers they post and the type of electric players they are. But ESPN columnist Mechelle Voepel and myself were disappointed in our peers for not finding a way to put the PG on first-team All-WNBA. "I think a lot of times people look at numbers," Agler said. "But she makes people around her play at their maximum. So, am I disappointed? Yeah, I'm very disappointed. I'm disappointed for her because in the three years that I've been here, she's been exceptional. She even got quite a few votes for MVP this year and probably should have got it two years ago if everybody would have sat back and looked at what really happened to our team and what she did to really get us to where we were." ADJUSTMENTS: Meadors wants the Dream to play better defense, especially inside the paint. The team sagged too much, allowing the Storm open three-pointers. Seattle was 6-for-16 from three-point range, Jackson nailing four in the game. "I think she (Jackson) was comfortable," McCoughtry said. "In this situation, a key player can't feel comfortable. We helped off Jackson too much, you can't help off Jackson. I feel we need to face-guard her. I feel if it's tough for me to score and do the things I want to do, then it should be for her, too."

Hi Guys.....I have four gorgeous weddings coming up in the next couple of months and I'm excited to see the "Reception Styles" of each of these weddings...the brides are all super cute and they all have lots of DIY projects.......so much FUN!!......the following are some of my favorite "Reception Styles"......let me know which one describes you....have fun!!

STYLE #1....image courtesy of Jagger Photography!


STYLE #2....image courtesy of Jodi Miller Photography!


STYLE #3....image courtesy of Feather Love Photography!


Style #4....image courtesy of Erin Hearts Court!


STYLE #5.....image courtesy of Jose Villa!


STYLE #6......image courtesy of Jose Villa!


STYLE #7.....image courtesy of Jose Villa!


STYLE #8.....image courtesy of Abby Jiu Photography and floral and decor designed by my girl Holly of Holly Heider Chapple Flowers, Ltd. 

STYLE #9..........image courtesy of Sarah Yates.....and florals and decor designed by Meg of La Partie Events....I "HEART" Meg!!!

Could you decide.....it's really hard to pick just one...they are all so BEAUTIFUL!!!

Don't forget to enter the Williams-Sonoma $200 Giveaway....all the info is found here!

Sonny Boy Terry from Houston took his band to Memphis earlier this year to represent the SE Texas region in the 2010 International Blues Challenge. He didn’t win, but after receiving an average score of over 8, which was pretty high according to Terry, he hasn’t been resting on his laurels. In January he undertook a buddy trip, a ‘pilgrimage’ to Mississippi to visit the Delta Blues Museum then on to pay homage at the grave of his name-sake Sonny Boy Williamson, stopping by the ‘Crossroads’ in Clarksdale of course, and on to the Hill Country Harmonica Festival in Waterford Mississippi. He is now in the last stages of putting together his own Texas Harmonica Festival taking place on July 31, 2010 at Dan Electros Guitar Bar in Houston. In June I spoke with him in his home in Houston, and found him to be extremely welcoming and talkative. This is how it went...

AO: So, my first question is, the name Sonny Boy Terry...
SBT: Okay, right. How to explain this. My real name is Terry Lynn Jerome.

I came to Texas in 1981, but I wanted to play Blues in Houston, so I broke into the scene. I got here in ’81 but I really started breaking into the scene around like ’83. Took me a while to really figure out what was going on and I was going out to see a lot of bands and hanging around and trying to play, you know? But it was a little slow at first, until I hooked up with Uncle John Turner, who was John Winter’s drummer.

AO: Wow.
SBT: Once upon a time, very famous drummer, Uncle John Turner. You Google him and he’s quoted very frequently in the new Johnny Winter biography. Quite a guy. I was all of about what, 23 and he was a 40-year-old, a very seasoned Blues and rock musician and he really mentored me and tutored me a lot. We were roommates. I slept on his floor. We were starving, and all that stuff. Basically, the ramen noodle circuit, you know. I slept on a kindergarten mat in his apartment in Montrose. So I broke in, playing around with bands with him and playing with TC and the Cannonballs. We did shows opening for acts like Los Lobos, The Nighthawks, John Hammond Jr. NRBQ, Robert Cray. That’s how I really broke into the scene. I was always just Terry Jerome. I played with TC and the Cannonballs for about a year and a half and I quit playing with them. I got a job playing with Jerry Lightfoot. Jerry Lightfoot was the white guy who knew all the black guys and was, well, integrated. He had Teddy ‘Cry Cry’ Reynolds in his band at the time. He had Andy ‘Two Hard’ Williams. Everybody had a stage name.

AO: Yeah, (laughs).
SBT: And you know, folks like that were in the band at the time with Jerry and Emmanuel AJ Murphy, who was once with Archie Bell and the Drells and a lot of people. Jerry hosted a Sunday night Blues jam at Fitzgerald’s downstairs.

(At Left) Terry playing with Albert Collins at Rockefellers in Houston.

AO: What year was this around?
SBT: This is around ’84, ‘85. Bud Jackson was the DJ with... I don’t think it was KPFT. Maybe it was KUHT. It was University of Houston Radio.

AO: Okay, yeah, 88.9 or something.
SBT: Yeah, whatever it is. Now it’s all classical but back then they had a Blues program and Bud Jackson was the Blues DJ. And he emceed our shows and, of course, promoted us on his radio program. I mean he had a great Friday night Blues program. Well, Jerry and I were all joking around backstage about stage names and stuff because there some guys around town that their stage name was changing or getting added on or always evolving, you know. And they started calling me like, Little One Hand Sonny Boy Terry. And we were just having fun with it but then Bud Jackson announced me as Sonny Boy Terry which is really a hybrid because there were two Sonny Boy Williams so its okay. There’s--

AO: Um-hmm. I’ve been researching it a little bit.
SBT: Okay, you know there’s John Lee Williamson.

AO: I’m like, oh, there’s two of them.
SBT: There’s two Sonny Boy Williams, John Lee Will, and then he died and another guy come along, Aleck Rice Miller and he stole his name. You know him as Sonny Boy Williamson. Then, there’s Sonny Terry which was Saunders Terrell who played with Brownie McGee, and he was a legendary blind harmonica player. So my name, because my real name is Terry Jerome, it’s a hybrid of all three of those guys plus my real name. And I did not name myself that. It just happened.

AO: Well, that’s the best way to get it, right?
SBT: Yeah, that’s how you always get your nicknames. Somebody else names you that. The next day Marty Racine from The Houston Chronicle published it in the Chronicle and it was almost like then it just sort of etched it in stone. That’s what they called me and they had fun with it and it sort of stuck. I was pretty young, so anyway, I kind of made it my name for myself.

AO: Well, where are you from originally?
SBT: I come from a little farm town in Northwest Ohio near Fort Wayne, Indiana called Van Wert, and there was really no Blues there. I was the only guy that liked the stuff at the time, you know?

AO: So you liked the Blues there before you came to Houston.
SBT: Oh yeah, way before. I came to Houston to play Blues. I wanted to go to the big city and play Blues. There were jobs down here in ’81 and it was right when Reaganomics was kicking in really good. Up there it was the rust belt and jobs were drying up. Like any bluesman, I followed the jobs where I could find opportunity. Of course, after several years in Houston, again the economy went belly up to for awhile. I had no choice but to try and get gigs.

AO: Yeah? Was there work down here?
SBT: There was work down here, lots of it. Yeah, and when I got here, I had never heard of the Fabulous Thunderbirds, or Stevie Ray Vaughan, only Chicago guys because I bought “Living Blues” magazines and bought the records and stuff. But I didn’t know too many of the white Southern guys, you know. So when I got here first I think I saw Stevie Ray Vaughn about a month later. And you have to realize, before when you talk about Stevie Ray Vaughan, you’re talking about...I mean now he’s commonplace, to the point of there’s a lot of people that copy him now, take him for granted, but if you saw him in ’81 before he’d made it big, and this is before David Bowie had him play on his ‘Let’s Dance’ album, right before he made it big. He was the most exotic cat I’d ever seen. He had a kimono on, and he’d sweat profusely under the stage lights wearing that hat, you know, and the duct tape cowboy boots and beat up strat, and the whole deal. But then I went to see the Fabulous Thunderbirds. Of course, Jimmy Vaughan was in that band at the time, Stevie’s brother, and I just couldn’t believe how great Kim Wilson was on the harmonica. What a great band it was. I’d never seen a band with a harp player that good before. So when I saw that I just, you know, you kind of feel like, like God dropped you there for a reason to learn, you know, or to grow. Because there was so much roots music going on in Texas. And you saw Rockin Doopsie, Clifton Chenier, you saw the Wild Magnolias. You saw the Neville Brothers. You saw Jason and the Scorchers. You saw The Blasters. You saw James Harmon with Hollywood Fats, Marcia Ball, Paul Butterfield, James Cotton.

AO: All coming through Houston.
SBT: All touring, coming through Houston. Then you had this incredible local scene, with all kinds of great players, you know. And everybody was accessible. Just an endless array of people, you know? And we just got all that experience and you saw it firsthand and you’re like part of it.
(Pictured at left) - Harry Shepard, Sonny Boy Terry, Grady Gaines, Joe Guitar Hughes, Phil Marquez, Rex Wherry, Adam Burchfield, Allison Fisher, Benny Brasket, Jimmy Rose, Terry Dry, Bill Allison, Snit Fitzpatrick. 2001 Billy Blues album art photo shoot for Breakfast Dance. This photo is prominantly featured in Alan Govenar's new book 'TEXAS BLUES: THE RISE OF A CONTEMPORARY SOUND'

Continue Reading This Interview Here... http://www.ameriblues.com/2010/07/sonny-boy-terry-interview-by-abby-owen.html

From Hanelle Culpepper comes Within, a ghostly indie that follows a little girl who has visions of evil spirits. "Rachel Weiss is a sweet girl with a troubled soul caused by a unique gift - she can see evil spirits within others. After witnessing the brutal killing of her mother, Rachel and her father look for a fresh start by moving to a small town. Rachel quickly warms to her new school teacher Abby Miller, and becomes 'best friends' with classmate Michelle Lowe. When Michelle's penchant for schoolyard pranks turns from good-natured fun to something potentially deadly, Rachel suspects that her friend may be less than friendly. Rachel's visions could be the key to stopping a series of violent attacks against the town's children and unlocking the puzzle behind a grim murder decade-old disappearance." Check out the trailer inside.

Photo credits: Abby Greenawalt

Oh, it's true. The Salahis. In D.C. On the 4th of July.

The party crashers were on hand at the W Hotel Sunday night where HBO "Entourage" actor Adrian Grenier's band, The Honey Brothers, performed on the rooftop.

Some media types showed up. They included Mix 107.3's DJ Tommy McFly, TWT contributor Emily Miller, soon to be New York Post's Tara Palmeri, New Channel 8's "Let's Talk Live" host Natasha Barret, the Washington Examiner's Nikki Schwab, BrightestYoungThings.com's Emily Jerez and Svetlana Letegic, WTOP's Bob Madigan and Urban Daddy's D.C. Editor Jeff DuFour.

One party spy remarked, "The view was incredible. The crowd was random, a mix of D.C. media types and tourists. Adrian Grenier was hot but didn't party with the guests after. The Salahis were there!!! Tareq in a green polo, chatting up the press. Michaele looked like she put on a few pounds. Otherwise it was the perfect location to see the fireworks."

A second spy told me that The Honey Brothers watched the fireworks from the roof, then headed down to J&G; Steakhouse with a party of 10. "The lobby was pretty packed for a while with women trying to stake him out," the source said.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

I like baseball better, but I've become a soccer fan--partly because I'm a sucker for high-stakes competition even it's curling, but mainly because it's a great sport full of outstanding athletes. Yes, the game would benefit from more scoring. I once went to an MLS game that ended 0-0, and it's hard not to walk away and wonder what was the point, even after admiring the running, kicking, heading, and diving saves.

One of the great things about American soccer is its organic, almost Burkean growth. Read this story from the NYT mag a couple of weeks ago. Europe has a command-and-control model for developing its top soccer players--a system that has clubs trying to identify world-class talent among elementary-school kids. Over here, our clubs are much more recreational (and democratic) in nature and less focused on the technocratic cultivation of elite performers. They certainly have their success stories in Europe and I've seen some ugliness from the sidelines of American soccer fields (e.g., parents acting as if a game of eight-year-old players is game seven of the Stanley Cup Finals)--but on the whole, the American dedication to widespread athletic participation is a big plus. Did you know that kids who play sports earn more money as grown ups? Well, it's true--and it's a secret source of our success as a competitive, market-driven society.

Another thing about soccer: I like women's soccer better than men's. A lot of this has to do with my daughter, who plays for a travel team. We've started going to WPS games (i.e., Women's Professional Soccer). They're a lot more fun than MLS games. Because fewer people attend, you sit closer to the action--close enough to hear the players call out to each other. (Interestingly, they yell "man on!" rather than "woman on!" or "girl on!" when a defender approaches a teammate from behind; my daughter is taught to do the same.) What's more, they're great with the kids. The current star of the U.S. women's national team is Abby Wambach. She plays for the Washington Freedom, so she plays close to where we live. When the games end, she and her teammates go to the sidelines and sign autographs until every kid who wants one has gotten one. It doesn't matter if it's raining or if there are hundreds of them. They stay until the very end.

---

Thousands of jazz hounds swarmed Old Sacramento on Saturday for the Sacramento Jazz Festival & Jubilee.

An estimated 60,000 are expected to turn out for more than 450 live performances by 70 bands in Old Sacramento and downtown during the event spanning Memorial Day weekend.

The weather Saturday was perfect: an airy 80 degrees. Festivalgoers sunned and jitterbugged on the cobblestoned streets, with nary a sweat drop to be found.

Heather Bonino, 27, swing-danced with her daughter Abby, 2. She has attended the jazz festival for the past fifteen years, with her husband and his parents.

"I love to hear the music flow through the town." Bonino said, putting pastel-hued Abby in her stroller.

Today's big event is actress Molly Ringwald, singing in her eponymous quintet. The first set will be today at 4 p.m. and the other at 8:30 p.m., both at the Hyatt Ballroom.

The festival attracts mostly older citizens, who enjoy the music as a museum relic.

Swinging her hips to a Glenn Miller tune, Dottie Vago, 82, said she had danced to the same song in the 1940s.

"I even won a jitterbug contest," she said.

To entice a younger crowd, the festival has become more interdisciplinary lately, offering blues, ragtime, swing, and more, in addition the old-school Dixieland.

Courtovich took this pic of Gaucho decorations.

Jim Courtovich, managing partner of Kearsarge Global Advisers, hosted his annual Gaucho party Saturday night. And he delivered with a great menu (pineapple martinis and chocolate chip ice cream sandwiches were crowd pleaser), late night party (Bob Schieffer's midnight appearance) and a stellar guest list...

Savannah Guthrie, Betsy Fischer, Jonathan Martin, Jessica Yellin, Matt Cooper, Tammy Haddad, Jeff Zeleny, Julie Mason, John Harwood, Karen Finney, Anne Kornblut, Kasie Hunt, Erin McPike, Sasha Issenberg, Kiki Ryan, Christine Delargy, Rick Klein, Mark Murray, Abby Livingston, Michael Falcone, Ashley Parker, Libby Leist, Amie Parnes, Jay Newton Small, Lizzie O'Leary, Athena Jones, Sunlen Miller and Phil Elliott were just some of the media-types in attendance.

Politico's Mike Allen and NYT's Mark Leibovich also just missed each other at the party.

Also: Austan Goolsbee, Stephanie Cutter, Juleanna Glover, Christina Sevilla, Michael Feldman, Jill Zuckman and Sasha Johnson.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The WNBA is set to tip-off its 14th season Saturday with Los Angeles and defending champion Phoenix headlining the day's action with a game on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. Both teams have new looks with legendary center Lisa Leslie gone from the LA lineup and emerging legend Cappie Pondexter out of Phoenix, traded to New York in March 2010. The dramatic player shifts this season made perusing final rosters submitted Friday entertaining. Of course, the much ballyhooed Marion Jones made the cut in Tulsa. At 34, she's the oldest rookie in the league. You can checkout her debut on WNBA's Live Access. And as much as people have opinions about Jones' spot among the WNBA's coveted 132 players this season, former Oregon star Taylor Lilley, a three-point specialist, and, Ashley Robinson, a defensive specialist, also made the cut. So, coaches really sought what would help overall. "There are WNBA players in this league that have to play a role and that's my role, to keep the team together and not care what other people think about my game," said Robinson, a six-year veteran. "I think this (Seattle) is a championship-caliber team and I want to be a part of it." Facing a second season with the 11-player limit, final decisions were tough and the names littering the waiver wire are wild. Like Ashley Walker, Shannon Bobbitt and the Paris twins. But it's not the full story. Taking an assist from Terry Miller, former Rivals.com writer (1999-2002), here's an analytical look at how teams chose to begin the season -- strictly by the numbers. I hope you enjoy his work: How many free-agent rookies made opening day rosters? Five: Lilley (Phoenix), Abby Bishop (Seattle), Jana Vesela (Seattle), Natasha Lacy (Tulsa) and Marion Jones (Tulsa). How many 2010 draft picks made opening day rosters? Sixteen out of 36 total. Nine of 12 first rounders: No. 7 Danielle McCray, No. 9 Chanel Mokango and No. 12 Bianca Thomas were cut. Four of 12 second rounders: No. 13 Kalana Greene (New York), No. 15 Allison Hightower (Connecticut), No. 16 Ashley Houts (Washington), and No. 19 Amanda Thompson made final rosters. Three of 12 third rounders: No. 26 Gabriela Marginean (Minnesota), No. 28 Abi Olajuwon (Chicago) and No. 33 Brittainey Raven (Atlanta) made final rosters. How many total newcomers does that make? Twenty-one. How many of former Sacramento Monarchs are still around? Six: Kara Lawson (Connecticut), Hamchetou Maiga-Ba (Minnesota), Ticha Penicheiro (Los Angeles), Nicole Powell (New York), DeMya Walker (Connecticut), and Scholanda Robinson (Tulsa). How many players/coaches have TRUE Washington connections? NOTE: That nixes Lin Dunn (Indiana), Gary Kloppenburg (Indiana), Anne Donovan (New York), Sandy Brondello (San Antonio) and players who just "passed through". High school and/or college experience only, please. Four: Cathrine Kraayeveld (Lake Washington High/Chicago), Leilani Mitchell (Kennewick High/New York), Briann January (Lewis & Clark High/Indiana), Mike Thibault (asst men's coach at St. Martin's/Lacey, WA/Connecticut). Where are the 132 players from? Twenty-two are from foreign countries (Australia 7, Brazil 2, France 2, St. Vincent 2, Mali 1, Canada 1, Romania 1, Czech Republic 1, Latvia 1, Liberia 1, Spain 1, Russia 1, Portugal 1) while 120 have college affiliations. (Six players have crossover status) How does NCAA connection breakdown by conference? 27 SEC 21 Big East 19 ACC 13 Big 12 12 Pac-10 9 Big 10 6 Mountain West 5 Colonial Athletic 2 Conference USA 2 Sun Belt 1 Atlantic 10 1 Big South 1 WAC One player is from a D-II school: Taj McWilliams-Franklin (New York), St. Edward's (Texas) OK, but who has real bragging rights for comprising the league's top talent? 11 from Connecticut 10 from Tennessee 6 apiece from Rutgers, Duke, and LSU 4 apiece from Stanford and Georgia 3 apiece from Maryland, USC and North Carolina NOTE: These 10 schools have produced 56 players, or 47 percent, of the college players in the WNBA. Fifteen other schools have two players apiece. Whew! Well, that's the numerical breakdown. We'll see how it shapes up on the court.

I feel cool just looking at this bag. It has a vagabond look but incredibly chic at the same time. It's very Sienna Miller, no offense intended in comparing her to a hobo but she cleans up well. That...

The Review at a Glance: (max score: 5 ) Film: Extras: Audio/Video total rating:

( Max score: 100 )

90

Studio and Year: 20th Century Fox - 2005 MPAA Rating: Unrated Feature running time: 100 minutes Genre: Action Disc Format: BD-50 Encoding: AVC (MPEG-4) Video Aspect: 2.35:1 Resolution: 1080p/24
Audio Format(s): English DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio, Spanish/French Dolby Digital 5.1 Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish Starring: Jennifer Garner, Terence Stamp, Goran Visnjic, Will Yun Lee, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa Directed by: Rob Bowman Music by: Christophe Beck Written by: Zak Penn, Stuart Zicherman, Raven Metzner Region Code: A Blu-ray Disc release Date: May 4, 2010

"Looks can kill…."

Film Synopsis:

Restored to life after sustaining mortal wounds in Daredevil, Elektra now lives only for death as the world's most lethal assassin. But her latest assignment will shape her final destiny in the climactic battle between good and evil!

My Take:

Elektra (Garner) is murdered by a ruthless killer but brought back to life by Stick (Stamp), a blind martial arts master. Stick trains Elektra in the martial art of Kimagure, whose practitioners can control the flow of life and death and live to destroy the evil organization known only as The Hand. After several years of intense training, she leaves her order and becomes a hired assassin. Upon receiving a contract for $2 million to kill Mark Miller (Visnjic) and his daughter Abby (Prout) Elektra finds herself in a quandary regarding carrying out her deadly mission. For reasons she can’t explain she opts out, kills the assassins sent in her place and helps Mark and Abby escape. This places her on a collision course with The Hand and the most deadly foes she has ever faced. The outcome will result in a climactic battle between good and evil over possession of The Treasure.

Prior to receiving this for review I had only seen bits and pieces of Elektra on cable. I know that there are many who don’t care for Daredevil but I am not among them as I happen to like it. I was hoping that this film which many don’t like as well would fall into the same category but unfortunately it doesn’t. Its underdeveloped script which includes a paper thin plot and shallow characters left me disinterested in the story. The only thing left in a film like this is the action. There aren’t any engaging martial arts duels and the less than intricate slow mo kicks leave little room for amazement. The sword play is respectable and Garner who is very physically fit comes across well. The special effects are reflective of a big budget production and help to enhance the action.

There just wasn’t enough substance on Elektra’s background for me although I understand that it was a creative decision not to go that route. I disagree with that. There was potential in the super powered bad guys but the majority of them didn’t have enough screen time to have any real impact. I also thought that most of them displayed abilities or powers that exceeded Elektra’s, which called her defeat of them into question. The final sequence that begins when Elektra returns to the house where her mother died was the cherry on top of a sundae that was already melting. It just got more ridiculous as it went along and the melodramatic ending was mawkish and unnecessary.

This Director’s Cut adds 3 minutes to the original’s runtime but this being my first full viewing I could elaborate regarding what it adds if anything to the story. It probably wouldn’t be accurate to say that I completely disliked Elektra. This is largely due to the presence of Jennifer Garner and it’s not just because she is drop dead sexy (although it doesn’t hurt). She has proven herself capable of carrying an action oriented role like this and she had no trouble here. I am admittedly a fan which in the end made Elektra a bit more enjoyable than it probably would have been otherwise.

Parental Guide:

This unrated version contains intense sequences of action and violence, and brief suggestive content.

AUDIO/VIDEO - By The Numbers: REFERENCE = 92-100 / EXCELLENT = 83-91 / GOOD = 74-82 / AVERAGE = 65-73 / BELOW AVERAGE = under 65 **My audio/video ratings are based upon a comparative made against other high definition media/blu-ray disc.** (Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)

Audio: 92

• Dynamics:
• Low frequency extension:
• Surround Sound presentation:
• Clarity/Detail:
• Dialogue Reproduction:

Video: 88

(Each rating is worth 4 points with a max of 5 per category)

• Resolution/Clarity:
• Black level/Shadow detail:
• Color reproduction:
• Fleshtones:
• Compression:

Elektra comes to Blu-ray Disc from Fox featuring 1080p AVC encoded video that has an average bitrate of 34 Mbps and lossless DTS-HD 5.1 Master Audio sound that has an average bitrate of 3.9 Mbps.

This is a superb looking high quality Blu-ray offering from Fox. The video has tack like sharpness with a slightly edgy but otherwise pristine quality that is visually engaging. In all but a few instances detail perception is nearly flawless with lucid visual acuity and fine rendering. Colors are deeply saturated with wide variable textures and eye catching quality that is accentuated by the video’s bold use of contrast. Whites are occasionally on the hot side which mildly affects detail perception in brightly lit backgrounds. Flesh tones are on the warm side but otherwise look natural. Shadow detail is good enough that I could make out plenty of discernible texture in the low lighting and dark backgrounds. The CGI based and green screen photography softened some shots but its effects are minimal and appear innate. Grain is well preserved, never obtrusive, and gives the video a noticeably textured and enriching filmic quality.

Like the video quality The 5.1 channel DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack doesn’t disappoint. This is an active and reference quality presentation that utilizes the entire system to create a theater like experience. The front and rear channels are smoothly integrated as sound effects traverse the room during the fight sequences. Dynamics are energy filled and impact felt with discerning articulation and resolute clarity. This sound design can be aggressive in its use of the subwoofer to accentuate its already strong dynamics. The result is that all points of contact seem to resonate with palpable low frequency effects that fill the room with deep, hard hitting bass extension. Dialogue has definitive presence with clear, refined vocal character and excellent room penetration. This is a terrific audio/video presentation that offers demonstration worthy material for those who like to show of their home theater systems.

Bonus Features:

• Commentary by director Rob Bowman and film editor Kevin Stitt
• Relentless: The making of Elektra – Part 1: Production – 77 minutes
• Relentless: The making of Elektra – Part 2: Post-production – 53 minutes
• Elektra: Incarnation Mythology – 53 minute Documentary
• Elektra: in Greek Mythology – 15 minute featurette
• 3 Deleted/6 alternate scenes with optional director commentary
• Showdown at the well: Multi-angle dailies
• Theatrical/Teaser trailers

Final Thoughts:

Elektra is a film based on the popular Marvel Comics character that first appeared in 2003’s Daredevil. While I found Daredevil to be an enjoyable popcorn flick I had trouble getting get past Elektra’s anemic plot and shallow characters. On the bright side the action sequences aren’t bad and Jennifer Garner in the title role helps ease the pain. Fans of the film are in for a treat with its debut on Blu-ray as Fox has done an excellent job with its technical presentation. Its reference quality audio and great looking video might prove enticing to enthusiasts who crave quality source material to show off the potential of their home theater systems. The fan friendly (and comprehensive) bonus supplement package from the 2005 Unrated Director’s Cut DVD is included which makes this a highly recommended upgrade. Otherwise it probably only qualifies as a rental for those who are curious or want to check out its audio/video chops.

Ralph Potts AVS Forum Blu-ray Reviews

Reference Review System: JVC DLA-RS20 1080p High Definition Front Projector (Calibrated by Jeff Meier) Stewart Filmscreen - Studiotek 130 G3 100” 16x9 Screen Anthem AVM50v THX Ultra 2 Preamp/Video Processor Sherbourn Technologies - 7/200 Seven Channel Amplifier Oppo BDP-83 Universal disc/Blu-ray Player (HDMI Audio/Video) Toshiba HD-XA2 HD DVD Player (HDMI Audio/Video) Sony Playstation 3 Blu-ray disc Player (HDMI Audio/Video) Oppo 970HD universal disc DVD Player (480i HDMI) Philips TSU9400 Pro Series Touch Panel Remote Control Canton "Ergo" Series speakers Axiom Audio QS8 Quadpolar speakers SV Sound PB-13 Ultra (Rosenut finish) APC AV S15BLK Power Conditioner/Surge Protector Furman SPR-20i Stable Power Regulator Wireworld, VizionWare, Audioquest, Best Deal Cables - Audio/Video/Speaker Cabling Cool Components - CP-CP102 cooling package

Tanisha Miller commented on Abby Munoz's photo 'Leapster L-Max Retail $59.99'

Alexander Siddig, who played Dr. Julian Bashir on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, will be a series regular in the upcoming fourth season of Primeval. Siddig is one of three actors joining Primeval's cast. The others are Ciarán McMenamin and Ruth Kearney.

Primeval's fourth season begins production later this year, and will debut both in the U.K. and the U.S. early next year. Here's a portion of ITV's press release announcing the cast additions:

Ciarán McMenamin (Silent Witness, Jericho), Alexander Siddig (Clash of the Titans, 24, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Ruth Kearney (Gracie) join the team at the ARC after the government loses faith in Lester’s (Ben Miller) ability to run such a dangerous and expensive operation on his own. The anomaly operation is now a public/private partnership, part-owned by the government, and partly by charismatic scientist Philip Burton (Alexander Siddig).
With Connor, Abby and Danny trapped in the past at the end of series three, the ARC has found new recruits to take their place: Matt (Ciarán McMenamin), new field leader, is more than just an ex-soldier; he’s an zoologist, with an uncanny ability to understand animals. A private man, Matt carefully guards the secrets of his past - and the real reason he has joined the ARC team. Unconventional Jess (Ruth Kearney) now runs operations from the ARC Control Centre – highly efficient and organised, her work ethic is second to none, though she is human enough to nurse an unrequited crush on Captain Becker (Ben Mansfield).

You can find the entire press release here:
http://www.itv.com/presscentre/pressreleases/programmepressreleases/primevalisback/default.html

Click here to comment on this news.

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Front from left, Jaime Spicko, Kara Millerschin, Abbie Reimel. Back row from left, Taylor Wyles, Grace Jones, Katy Geber, Emily Lawrence, Kaylee Grzywacz and Abby Patrick.

Ever since he was a kid, Joe Queenan has loved movies featuring Vikings or Greeks. But which is the best? Hold on to your heads as he wades into a very bloody battle

In the vastly underrated 2005 Anglo-Icelandic-Canadian film Beowulf & Grendel, the actress Sarah Polley refuses to go along with the gag, stubbornly clinging to her flat, emotionless, early 21st-century Canadian accent. Everyone knows that Norse sagas only work if everybody in the cast keeps a straight face and sticks to the Hrothgar of Elfungstan intonations, if all hands on deck refrain from smirking and winking at the audience when Ulrich of Vlinkstenndntmarksendondt declares: "Great are the tales of the Spear-Danes. Some tales sail; others sink below the waves."

Gerard Butler (Beowulf) certainly understands that, adroitly fudging a fifth-century Geat accent by using his authentic, all-purpose Scottish burr: the perfect one-size-fits-all accent for any movie set in any era preceding the discovery of penicillin. The same can be said of Stellan Skarsgård (Hrothgar himself), who, as a bona fide native of the Land of the Midnight Sun, has no trouble delivering a highly credible crypto-medieval Scandinavian accent. And even Ingvar Sigurdsson (a very fine Grendel) is no slouch in the guttural cadence department, though mostly he mutters incoherent profanities in what appears to be Pig Proto-Danish while he plays bowls with his victims' skulls. Everybody else knows that Viking movies fall apart if the principal players betray any sense that they are miscast (as Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier were in The Long Ships, and as Antonio Banderas most assuredly was in The 13th Warrior) or if they refuse to enthusiastically bellow the word "Odin!!!" in their hour of need, the way Kirk Douglas did to such great effect in The Vikings.

Yet, for whatever the reason, Polley, playing the pouty, morbid, incommunicative, all-seeing witch Selma – Nostradame, if you will – refuses to deliver her lines in a plausible fifth-century Danish accent, much less a Geatish one, preferring to behave as if she had only taken the job to bankroll her career as a political activist back in Canada. Because of this petulance, a film that could have been a classic ends up as nothing more than a flawed masterpiece that went directly to DVD. Thanks a lot, Sarah. And you're still wondering why nothing happened to your career after Go?

The subject of rousing Norse sagas comes up once again because of the forthcoming release of Valhalla Rising, an extremely violent 10th-century epic about Vikings who set out to find the lost kingdom of Valhalla, but lose their way and wind up in all sorts of trouble not far from the place where Polley was last seen protesting against the Canadian government's Middle East policy. What's more, Valhalla Rising will debut at almost the same moment as Clash of the Titans, a stirring, hi-tech, gods-versus-mortals film that belongs to that vaunted genre that Norse sagas most directly compete with: Greeks in Skirts Flicks. This much anticipated mano-a-mano faceoff between Socratic Slicers and Danegelt Dicers will revive the age-old debate over which genre is best: Greeks or Vikings? My advice: get the women and children off the playing field, now! Once those battle axes and maces and broadswords and jagged spears get unsheathed, there won't be a tendon left unmangled, an eyeball left ungouged, not from the shores of Ilium to the very fjords of Olde Geatland. Verily, by the loins of Wotan, by the cojones of Zeus, these boys play for keeps!

Ever since I was a kid absentmindedly contemplating the murder of a thousand strangers, I have loved movies about Vikings and Greeks. Whether it was The 300 Spartans or Hercules Unchained or The Long Ships or The Vikings, I was always more than ready to fork over my hard-earned paper-delivery earnings to see these hulking marauders have a go at the Persians, the Saracens, the Moors, and yes, even the Cossacks, the one ethnic group I never really warmed to. For the longest time I dreamed that someone might eventually make a movie where the 300 Spartans met Erik the Red in mortal combat – McEnroe versus Laver style – just to see who would come out on top, but it never happened because the warring parties were separated by more than a thousand years of history and Hollywood never makes historically unreliable or chronologically suspect motion pictures.

To be honest, I always preferred films about the Vikings to those about the Greeks, mostly because of their superior production values: the Greek movies had better monsters, more famous heroes and meatier plots, but the Viking movies had bigger stars, bigger budgets, and better ships. Even as a kid, I could see that big-budget action movies made in Hollywood beat small-budget movies made in Italy and Yugoslavia hands down. But mostly I loved movies about Vikings because all Viking movies were equally good. Stripped to their essentials, all Viking movies were about men named Hothgar who associated with men named Rolfe who killed everything that got in their way without feeling the least bit guilty about it. By contrast, in Greek movies, the will of the gods and the hand of fate and the mood swings of the furies and the Rage of Achilles always slowed down the action. The Greeks were always going on and on about Cassandra's prophesies, or man's powerlessness before the caprices of the gods, or whose idea it was to turn over the virgin high priestess from Apollo's temple to Agamemnon, whereas the Vikings would simply whip out their swords, start hacking and get on with the job. To this day, this sharp contrast in cultural mindsets endures: where would you rather go to have a good time this weekend: Copenhagen or Athens? Think about it.

Lately, though, Greek movies seem to be having it all over their Viking counterparts. This is true even though both genres draw on the same performers: Gerard Butler stars in both 300 and Beowulf & Grendel; Anthony Hopkins surfaces in both Alexander and Beowulf. But to my mind the actors tend to be better in the Greek films, perhaps because they have snazzier costumes and better material to work with. Thus, much as I enjoyed Angelina Jolie sashaying about in the altogether in her solid-gold high heels in Beowulf, delivering her lines in her husky KGB trainee accent as her serpentine tail coiled behind her, she was far more effective as Alexander the Great's deranged, herpetologically obsessed mother in Alexander, even though she used the same strangely anachronistic East-of-the-Urals accent. And even though I thoroughly enjoyed Pathfinder, the 2007 film that deals with a bunch of mounted Vikings who materialise out of nowhere in 10th-century Canada and get their heads handed to them by a fearless warrior who is actually the lone survivor of an earlier Viking expedition, it was simply no match for 300, Zack Snyder's campy retelling of the battle of Thermopylae, as seen through the eyes of Frank Miller, rather than from the more buttoned-down perspective of Herodotus. Similarly, much as I enjoyed Beowulf & Grendel, despite Polley's seditious, disruptive acting style, it wasn't even vaguely in the same class as Troy, a searing epic that succeeds on its own merits despite getting everything about The Iliad wrong. (Hector does not kill Menelaus, Agamemnon does not die at Troy, and Paris is not nearly as much of a creampuff as Orlando Bloom makes him out to be in Troy. Bloom's performance is more of an insult to the people of Greece than refusing to give back the Elgin Marbles. Ask them.)

It is hardly surprising that movies about Vikings and movies about Greeks should command and enthral virtually identical fan-bases because the films have so much in common. In both genres, thousands of people get hacked to pieces, often without provocation. In both genres, dislodged eyeballs roll around on the ground like discarded marbles, and arrows protruding from the eye socket are a dime a dozen. In both genres, women are marginalised, occasionally chiding their husbands for making them widows long before their time, but mostly staying behind in Sparta or Athens or Geatland to upbraid the high priests and keep an eye on the kids, many of whom will themselves grow up to be bloodthirsty killers just like dad. In both genres, men fear angering the gods and then go out and anger them anyway.

In both genres, the men show far more leg than the women. The Spartans who trundle off to stem the Persian tide in 300 look like they got their duds at a Calvin Klein underwear sale. When they do finally convene at Thermopylae and confront Xerxes's Persians, torsos glistening and six-packs rippling, they look like 300 enraged West Hollywood personal trainers out on strike.

The similarities do not end there. All Viking and Greek movies include at least one character who is missing an eye. This character serves the same basic function as the quiet, black guy in the monster movie: he will probably not be around at the end of the film. Viking and Greek movies both rely on soundtracks that integrate the sinister chorus from Carl Orff's Carmina Burana with thematically appropriate selections from The Best of Enya, though increasingly a bit of world music is thrown in during the more percussive sections to give the films a more multicultural, "tribal" feel. Viking and Greek movies are always about the myth that lurks beneath the legend that lies beyond our ken. Whether it is Achilles or Hector or Beowulf or Alexander, both genres focus on young men who are willing to live very short, shockingly violent lives if it will ensure their immortality. All you have to do is mention wives and children or mothers or work around these party animals and they're right back out there in the killing fields, getting their limbs torn limb from limb, poised to meet their maker, perhaps even looking forward to it. Family guys they are not.

Both genres take huge liberties with the facts. For example, the Vikings who arrived in Newfoundland in the 10th century may have had fancy headdresses, but they almost certainly did not have horses. History assures us that Hector, Prince of Troy, had better legs than Eric Bana. If the historians of yore are to be trusted, Alexander the Great probably did not sound like Seamus McGettigan, the long-lost pennywhistler of the Chieftains, and there is no evidence in any of the Old Norse or Icelandic sagas to support the notion that Grendel's mother was in any way hot.

Here the similarities between the genres end. The Vikings were not very numerous and not very sophisticated, so the Greek movies always have better battle scenes and far more dazzling technology. They also have better villains: let's face it, a million Persians in Scream III masks are a whole lot scarier than one man-eating troll. So are Zeus, or Ares, or Hades or the Titans themselves. Greek films feature chariots, siege weapons, out-of-control elephants, war rhinos. Viking movies do occasionally have ill-tempered sea serpents and fire-breathing dragons but they are not nearly as terrifying as the computer-generated dragons in Clash of the Titans.

There is one other major difference between the genres. Toward the end of Alexander, Anthony Hopkins, a gabby Macedonian general rapidly approaching death, apprises his listeners: "Alexander once said to me, 'We are most alone when we are with the myths.'" No one within earshot has any idea what this means. Earlier in the film, Val Kilmer, playing the one-eyed Philip of Macedon, tells the surprisingly peppy Colin Farrell (Alexander the Great), "A king must know how to hurt those he loves." Farrell merely looks confused.

But lack of clarity is not the point here. The point is that no one ever says stuff like this in Viking movies. No one ever says: "Women are far more dangerous than men." No one ever says: "Conquer your fear and I promise you will conquer death." No one ever says: "Men hate the gods. The only reason we worship any of them is because we fear worse." It's all too cerebral, too introspective, too preeningly sagacious, too wise. Far more typical dialogue in your basic Viking movie is a snippy remark like: "Troll, leave here, or stay and meet your doom."

What accounts for this yawning stylistic gap between the two genres? Well, the Greeks were philosophers and poets and dreamers and seekers of truth who spent much of their time on this planet trying to unearth the meaning of life, whereas the Vikings were illiterate morons. Feisty morons, daring morons, seafaring morons who paved the way for Columbus's bold voyages of discovery, but morons all the same.

All that said, if I had to make a choice between the two ethnic groups – from the cinematic point of view – I would probably opt for the Vikings. There's something about their straightforward approach to life that appeals to me. They're less fussy than the Greeks. They're less pretentious. They seem more like lads. The Greeks are just too mopey and philosophical and self-absorbed. The only real problem with Viking movies is that everybody looks like Stellan Skarsgård, even when he's not in the movie. Everybody except Sarah Polley. Well, Sarah Polley and Angelina Jolie.

Clash of the Titans is released on 2 April; Valhalla Rising is released on 30 April

Gabby Giffords, Arizona Democrat, is one yes who appears to be remaining "yes."

A recent poll found 52 percent of the voters in her district oppose the bill; 35 percent support it. Even more voters hate reconciliation.

Statewide, health care is polling at 38 percent support to 59 percent opposition.

Some folks are seeking the opportunity to remedy this incongruency between the voters and their representative: Jesse Kelly, Jonathan Paton, Andy Goss and Brian Miller.

McCain carried this district by 6 percent; Bush by 7 percent in 2004.

UPDATE: An entire five days ago:

U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords sent a letter Tuesday to President Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterating her opposition to the Senate health care reform bill.

Giffords, who voted for the House reform bill, said the Senate plan would inflict a massive new spending requirement on the state at a time when state revenues are plummeting and the budget is in dire shape.

“I urge you to give Arizonans your word to ensure that any final health insurance reform legislation treats all states equally and does not result in unfunded mandates on states like Arizona,” she wrote.

Wednesday morning on Twitter, meanwhile, said wrote, “Tucson and Sierra Vista are very different, yet papers in both towns are supportive of health insurance reform. Tells us something.”

With Giffords considered a swing vote on the issue, calls have been steady into her office from all over the country. And on Tuesday night,  about 120 opponents to the health care plan stood in a cold, steady rain in front of the congressional office, holding signs that read, “Honk if You’re Paying Attention” or “Gabby, show some spine.”

---

Long Story Short:  The Blazers dispose of the Kings, once again containing Sacramento's key scorers while riding 28 points from Brandon Roy and 21 points courtesy of Kings' turnovers to the perfunctory victory.

The Game

This was another of those outings you want against a struggling opponent, where the only real story is that there wasn't a story.  Any hopes the Kings might have had of exacting revenge for Tuesday's loss were thrown away in the first quarter right along with the ball.  Sacramento couldn't get out of its own way, allowing the Blazers extra opportunities off of miscues, offensive rebounds, and at the foul line.  Though the Blazers did allow the Kings to shoot over 50% overall they did a masterful job of limiting the touches of Carl Landry and Tyreke Evans.  Landry ended up with 18 on the night but most of that came after the game was already decided.  Evans had but 10 points on 4-12 shooting.  Those four makes were impressive, as he owned Portland on the drive.  But Nicolas Batum and friends once again made sure he spent most of his time on the perimeter.  He had 4 assists, none horribly memorable.  He also had 5 turnovers.  The cost was guys like Francisco Garcia and Beno Udrih getting points, but they couldn't generate enough to keep up with the Blazers.

One of the big reasons Portland's lead proved insurmountable was Brandon Roy.  He scored 28 on the evening, exactly as much as Evans and Landry combined.  He had another ultra-efficient outing, shooting 10-13, 2-2 from distance, 6-6 from the line.  Unlike the Golden State game he didn't have to dominate the ball to get those numbers, leaving plenty of shots (and wide open space) for Aldridge, Miller, Fernandez, and Bayless.  All of those players, plus Batum, reached double figures tonight.  This game continued the theme of the season:  If you don't guard the Blazers they are going to beat you.  They have too much skill and Portland's players are unselfish enough to find whatever holes you leave.  It's when you bust the Blazers in the chops and make them push through you that the success rate lowers.  Sacramento couldn't come close to doing that tonight.

Portland once again made a killing at the free throw line, hitting 29-32 from the stripe to Sacramento's 12-19.  That's a +17 margin in a 16-point victory.  As pointed out above, turnovers were another huge issue with Sacramento committing 20 to Portland's 9.  The Kings had more points in the paint (+12) but once again the Blazers kept the fast break margin small, losing that battle by 3 points.  This has been typical of Portland lately and it's making their games easier.

Individual Notes

Roy's night was explained above.  That's two superb outings for him in a row, though not against the defensive titans of the league, obviously.

LaMarcus Aldridge notched 18 on 8-17 shooting.  Switching up the story arc, he started out slow and produced more as the game went along, perhaps because Roy's attention-drawing offense made life easier for him.  He certainly wasn't facing hot double teams tonight.

Andre Miller had another fierce driving night, going 4-10 from the floor but 7-7 from the foul line for 15 points in 28 minutes.  He was partially responsible for Evans' tough night as well, not so much defensively but in making Tyreke pay attention to him.  One thing we haven't mentioned enough about Miller this season is that he's a stressful cover.  He bullies you, drives past you, and makes passes around you.  The only thing you're not afraid of is him shooting over you but he masks that pretty well because he knows what he's doing and knows how to get into your head.  Evans looked like he was playing defense by the numbers tonight but Miller is capable of switching the numbers.  That makes you concentrate more, leaving less time to worry about waltzing down the lane for amazing layups.

Nicolas Batum showed early that he was focused for this game.  He came out in the first quarter playing surgical defense, helping the Blazers to build a lead they'd never relinquish.  He played 23 minutes, went 4-6 from the field, and scored 11 with 3 rebounds and 2 assists.

Marcus Camby was launching shots like an antique trebuchet again tonight but at least he only took a couple jumpers, ending up 1-3 for 2 points.  He had 7 rebounds and a block in 24 minutes.  If you're noticing a theme of reduced minutes tonight you'd be correct.

Rudy Fernandez tied for the most minutes off the bench with 27.  His three-point shot was on tonight, quickly putting the kibosh on any Sacramento designs to gain ground while the second unit was in (this despite that unit struggling early on defense again).  Rudy had 10 points and 2 steals.

Jerryd Bayless matched Fernandez with 10 points but needed only 15 minutes to manage them.  His claim to fame was going 6-7 from the foul line.  Nobody benefits more from bad defense than Jerryd.  He knows just what to do:  take it hard and dare them to do something about it.  It may seem obvious but this is an underrated quality...one frequently absent in other Portland players.

Juwan Howard had 8 points in 27 minutes spelling Camby.  He had 4 personal fouls including a flagrant grabby-arm thing that typifies his "I'm tired" aura as of late.  The rest next week will probably do him good.

Martell Webster has to be discouraged seeing only 14 minutes in a blowout.  He managed 3 rebounds and 3 assists plus 1-3 shooting and 2 points in that span.

Dante Cunningham was a whirlwind in 9 minutes, perhaps explaining Webster's lack of time.  He was bumping, leaping, and even threw down a monster dunk, going 2-3 for 4 points.  Have I mentioned that I like this kid?

Travis Diener and Jeff Pendergraph got 2 minutes apiece.  JP had 2 rebounds and a foul.  Diener had an assist.

This was mission accomplished for this road trip.  The next two teams Portland faces at home don't play defense either, so one might hope for a nice four-game streak heading into the ever-so-tough end of the month.  Toronto is next.  If we keep up this workmanlike progress there should be no worries.

Boxscore

You might find dejection or just acceptance at  SactownRoyalty.  Be sure to compliment them on that Evans kid.  Also ask them what their plans are for Beno Udrih.

You can find your Jersey Contest scores for the evening  over here and enter Sunday's game right there.  Norsktroll is currently leading.  That will never do.  A chocolate-bacon Voodoo Doughnut to whoever knocks him off of the perch.

--Dave (blazersub@yahoo.com)

 

Last year, during the first edition of the Festival, Jury Chairman Claude Chabrol said: “The mission of Beaune International Thriller Film Festival is to underline the thriller genre, which is after all one of the most fertile and noble in cinema history, and precisely to try and find new tendencies, or suggest new directions.”

Keeping this ambition alive, the second edition of the Festival will take place from Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th April 2010.

The Prize list of the 1st edition confirmed the diversity of the selection as well as the ongoing success of thrillers, a genre that still shines at the height of world cinema, all categories considered.
Thus last year Grand Prize, Bertrand Tavernier’s “In the Electric Mist”, drew 860,000 viewers, and Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Bronson”, the New Blood Prize, has conquered the audience with 110,000 tickets sold. As for the “OSS 117 Rio ne répond plus” phenomenon by Michel Hazanavicius, it has appeal to 2,520,000 viewers.

TRIBUTE TO A CITY
Every year, the Beaune International Thriller Film Festival pays tribute to a city for its influence and mythological dimension within the thriller genre.
After “Paris Noir” last year, the Festival is now to honour New York City with:

NEW YORK NOIR
“NAKED CITY”

“Here is the city and here are the lights”. A camera is hovering above New York, while a voice-over comments: “It is the story of several people, and it is the story of the city itself. With its apartment houses, its skyscrapers, the hot summer pavements, the children at play, the buildings in their naked stone, the people without makeup… The city has a pulse, and it never stops beating…”
In just a few words, everything is said in this prologue to Jules Dassin’s The Naked City (1948). Leaving behind tourism and postcards, this New York is the city of film noir, with its crime-ridden alleys (Underworld USA), muggy strip-clubs (Fear City), fashionable clubs (The Wrong Man), boxing halls (Body and Soul), shabby backyards (Killer’s Kiss), dubiouslooking police stations (Detective Story), elevated railway (French Connection), fire escapes (The Window), the violence in Queens (Kiss of Death) or Harlem (A Rage in Harlem), gangs in Little Italy (Mean Streets), or Brooklyn and its famous bridge, from which Dassin contemplates the “naked city”, warning us that “there are eight million stories in the unveiled city, and we have only told you one.”
As early as in 1912 (Griffith and his Musketeers of Pig Alley), New York proved to be obsessed by darkness. And, either showing itself at dawn in the desert streets of Madigan, or hiding in the manholes fumes on the asphalt of Taxi Driver, it hasn’t stopped to share this obsession with us.

François Guérif (Publisher, creator and director of the Rivages Noir collection, and member of the Festival’s Red Circle*)
Films mentioned
- The Musketeers of Pig Alley, D.W. Griffith, 1912.
- Kiss of Death, Henry Hathaway, 1947.
- Body and Soul, Robert Rossen, 1947.
- The Window, Ted Tetzlaff, 1949.
- Detective Story, William Wyler, 1951.
- Killer’s Kiss, Stanley Kubrick, 1955.
- The Wrong Man, Alfred Hitchcock, 1956.
- Underworld USA, Samuel Fuller, 1961.
- Madigan, Don Siegel, 1968.
- French Connection, William Friedkin, 1971.
- Mean Streets, Martin Scorsese, 1973.
- Taxi Driver, Martin Scorsese, 1976.
- Fear City, Abel Ferrara, 1984.
- A Rage in Harlem, Bill Duke, 1991.
As part of the “New York Noir” tribute, a selection of emblematic films will be screened to festival-goers.

* THE RED CIRCLE
Introduced during the 1st edition of the Beaune International Thriller Film Festival, the “Red Circle” (Le Cercle Rouge) gathers fifteen personalities from literature and cinema, eminent connoisseurs of the dark lights of thriller.
These godfathers will follow every edition of the Festival and keep a benevolent eye on its cinematic intoxications. Their mission is also to give an award every year to the best French and foreign pieces of noir fiction, with two literary prizes: Le Grand Prix du roman noir français, and Le Grand Prix du roman noir étranger.
François Guérif (Publisher, creator and director of the Rivages Noir collection, journalist, translator and writer of biographies and books on film noir)
Claude Chabrol (screenwriter and director)
Marie-Caroline Aubert (publisher and writer)
Tonino Benacquista (writer and screenwriter)
Laurent Chalumeau (writer, screenwriter and lyricist)
Benoît Cohen (screenwriter and director)
Alain Corneau (screenwriter and director)
Antoine de Caunes (screenwriter, director and actor)
Jean Hernandez (film distributor)
Pierre Jolivet (screenwriter and director)
Joëlle Losfeld (publisher)
Olivier Marchal (screenwriter, director and actor)
Claude Mesplède (detective novel critic and historian)
Claude Miller (screenwriter and director)
Frédéric Schoendoerffer (screenwriter and director)

FIRST EDITION JURY AND PRIZE LIST
2009
Feature Films Jury: Claude Chabrol (Chairman), François Berléand, Amira Casar, Benoît Cohen, Anne Consigny, François Guérif, Noémie Lvovsky and Elsa Zylberstein.

PRIZES
Grand Prize – IN THE ELECTRIC MIST by Bertrand TAVERNIER
Jury Prize – JUST WALKING (Sólo Quiero Caminar) by Agustin DIAZ YANES
Critics’ Prize - SUSPECT X by Hiroshi NISHITANI
Special Police Prize - TERRIBLY HAPPY by Henrick RUBEN GENS
New Blood Jury: Etienne Chatiliez (Chairman), Sami Bouajila, Rachida Brakni, Samuel Le Bihan and
Nicolas Saada.
PRIZE
New Blood Prize: BRONSON by Nicolas WINDING REFN
Short Films Jury: Jean-Paul Rouve (Chairman), Fred Cavayé, Marius Colucci, Arié Elmaleh, Julie
Ferrier and Thomas Verovski.
PRIZE
Best Short Film Prize: BAPTEME DU FEU by Nicolas MESDOM

FESTIVAL GENERAL ORGANIZATION
LE PUBLIC SYSTEME CINEMA
40, rue Anatole France – 92594 Levallois Perret Cedex / France

FESTIVAL FOUNDER & PRESIDENT
Lionel CHOUCHAN

FESTIVAL DIRECTOR
Bruno BARDE

PRESS RELATIONS
Alexis DELAGE-TORIEL / Céline PETIT
Agnès LEROY / Annelise LANDUREAU / Clément RÉBILLAT
Tel: +33 (0)1 41 34 21 09 – Fax: +33 (0)1 41 34 20 77
E-mail: presse@lepublicsystemecinema.fr
www.lepublicsystemecinema.fr

REGIONAL PRESS RELATIONS
BEAUNE TOWNHALL
Elisabeth GODOT
Tel : +33 (0)3 80 24 57 75
elisabeth.godot@mairie-beaune.fr

BEAUNE PALAIS DES CONGRES (convention hall)
Beaune Congrès and the city of Beaune
Jean-François CHAMPION, President of Palais des Congrès
Alain SUGUENOT, MP and Mayor of Beaune

PUBLIC INFORMATION
Beaune Event-Planning Agency – Marie JACQUIN
Tel: +33 (0)3 80 24 58 50
marie.jacquin@mairie-beaune.fr
Intermunicipal Tourist Centre « Beaune, Côte & Sud »
Tel: +33 (0)3 80 26 2130
http://www.beaune-tourisme.fr

FESTIVAL OFFICIAL WEBSITE
http://www.beaunefestivalpolicier.com

• Helena Bonham Carter says that despite all evidence to the contrary, Johnny Depp isn't great at everything: "He can't dance at all. In Alice he dances and it is hidden really well that he is terrible." [ShowbizSpy]

• Precious was the big winner at last night's Independent Spirit Awards, taking home five trophies, including Best Feature. [Reuters]
• Gabby Sidibe says she saved up her money in order to go see Welcome to the Dollhouse in the theater: "Perhaps that was when my independent spirit was born." [Reuters]
• Roger Ebert was given a standing ovation at the ceremony. [PopEater]
• According to Entertainment Weekly, Sarah Palin's Alaska-based reality show is "a travelogue-type documentary from uber-producer Mark Burnett (Survivor) in which the former vice presidential candidate gives viewers an intimate look at her home state of Alaska." Her family is not expected to appear on the show. [EW]
• Producer Mark Burnett explains: "What it's not is a reality show following her around, getting up in the morning, or [about] her family and all the salacious stuff," but rather "It's being in and experiencing the great charm and beauty of Alaska with Sarah Palin." [People]
• Meanwhile, Kathy Griffin was escorted on stage at her recent Anchorage, Alaska comedy show by Levi Johnston and called Palin's upcoming reality show "a gift from God." [Yahoo]
• Jenna Elfman gave birth to her second child on Tuesday, a son named Easton Quinn Monroe. [JustJared]
• Billy Corgan says he will have a "real problem" with Courtney Love releasing any of the songs he co-wrote with her, as Love does not have his permission to do so. "I have no interest in supporting her in any way, shape or form. You can't throw enough things down the abyss with a person like that." [PageSix]
• Tanya Douglas, the ex-girlfriend of Bachelor star Jake Pavelka, says that she has evidence that Pavelka is cheating on his bachelor co-star Vienna with her: "I have evidence of all our interactions, I have e-mails texts and even pictures." [RadarOnline]
• "I think if anyone documents their 20s, it's not going to be ideal all the time. And I refused to conform. I wasn't going to become agoraphobic. I was going to live my life. Of course I've made mistakes but I don't really regret – I can't really regret – anything, because that's just part of growing up."-Sienna Miller [ShowbizSpy]
• If you want a bottle of Jennifer Aniston's perfume, you're going to have to wait a while; the production of the perfume has been delayed until Aniston comes up with a name. Any suggestions? [DigitalSpy]
• Avatar producer Jon Landau doesn't have high hopes for the film's Oscar chances: "I hope our tech people win," he said. "But I don't think we'll get Best Picture." [TheWrap]
• Good news for fans of Thursday night comedies: The Office, Community, and 30 Rock have all been renewed. [EW]
• Brothers And Sisters has been renewed as well, and if you're interested in knowing which characters will be returning to LOST this season, this link might interest you as well. [Showbiz411]
• "I'm ambitious. I want to do great work and work with great directors and do great movies and produce great films. I have criteria for myself that are probably too hard to ever meet, but I'm going to try.
  I think people who say they're not ambitious and have gotten to a place of success are lying."- Kirsten Dunst [TheSun]
• Just in case you wanted to know: Mickey Rourke says he slept with 14 women in one night. [TheSun]
• Though Twilight fans are flipping out over Robert Pattinson's exclusion from the Oscar ceremony, the producer of the show says it was nothing personal: "I think the Pattinson community (fans) is going insane. All I want to say is, 'He's not available!' It's not like we snubbed him. It's not like we said no to him. We asked him to be in the show. We tried really really hard to get him there. We were working on getting (film studio) Summit to fly him in for the day, but eventually it became too much." [DailyExpress]
• Nicole Kidman has stepped out of the leading role of Monte Carlo, a film she is producing, and Selena Gomez has stepped in to take her place. [NYDN
• Keira Knightley is set to face her stalker in court. [DailyExpress]
• Amanda Seyfried has the word "minge," tattooed on her foot after falling in love with the word during the filming of Mamma Mia: "Colin Firth used to say that word on the set and Rachel had to explain to me what it meant. So it's on my foot. It's to make me laugh, and every time I look at it, I do." [ShowbizSpy]
• I think that our highest hopes for The Hurt Locker, even if we had those - which I don't think we did, because we didn't even have our self-respect by the end of it - was just to get the dang thing out into the theatres. That's your highest goal when you're making an independent film. So yeah, if we expected anything, it was, ‘Maybe some people will see this', or ‘Maybe I won't hate it'. But to come this far, having started from such a deep hole, it makes all this awards stuff ... it validates it, makes it very sweet."-Jeremy Renner [TimesOnline]
• Anne Hathaway says her performance as The White Queen in Alice in Wonderland was partially inspired by Nigella Lawson: "I'm misquoting her but Nigella's always talking about ‘a cacophony of flavors that enters your mouth' and I wanted to give the White Queen that kind of sensuality in the kitchen – of course she's talking about buttered fingers and things like that and makes herself retch so it's not quite the same effect!" [ShowbizSpy]
• "I like working with actors who have no real vanity. They're not worried about their careers, they're just kind of, 'Boom! You want to make my forehead big? OK!' I don't think Johnny has ever watched a film we've made together. I know Helena didn't watch Sweeney Todd. She'll watch Alice because we're taking our six-year-old son Billy Ray to the premiere tonight. It's good to scare kids a bit if they can handle it. Though it might be strange for him to see his mother with such a large forehead. I've tried to warn him."-Tim Burton [Guardian]

Abby: We have to count illegal aliens in the Census. That's fine. But including their numbers in congressional apportionment (and therefore the Electoral College) makes no sense. It creates "rotten boroughs" -- political jurisdictions full of people who can't vote for their own representatives. A number of years ago, I wrote on this problem for NR.

---

• Daniel Radcliffe talks tolerance and the Trevor Project - Popeater
• Shawn Johnson meets Minnie Mouse - JustJaredJr
• Courtney Love has eccentric style at Roberto Cavalli’s show - DListed
• Jessica Simpson shares love advice - HuffingtonPost
• Carmen Electra knows music saves lives - HollywoodTuna
• Carly Simon: “You’re So Vain” is not about David Geffen - Towleroad
• Two Brady Bunch stars don’t want to meet up again - Radar
• Check out old-school Kraftwerk - CoedMagazine
• Snooki and Vinny’s party brings the house down - Celebuzz
• Marisa Miller shows off her cute behind - Celebslam
• Ashley Greene is pretty in purple - Bauergriffin
• Mariah Carey gets a touch-up during her show - ASL
• Michael Buble helps close the Olympic games - GabbyBabble

VANCOUVER, British Columbia — While the Vancouver Olympics aren't finished, the medal races are – and in spectacular fashion for North Americans.

The United States is guaranteed 37 medals and Canada will finish with at least 13 gold medals. Both are the best of these games and part of the greatest hauls ever at a Winter Olympics.

The Americans will leave with the most medals by any country at any Winter Games. They also will win the medal count for only the second time, the other being at Lake Placid in 1932.

Steven Holcomb and the "Night Train" delivered the 36th medal, and ninth gold, for the United States by winning the four-man bobsled event Saturday. The 37th will come from the men's hockey team. Whether it is gold or silver will be determined Sunday.

Canada invested $117 million and five years into an "Own the Podium" program that was supposed to win the medals race. At least it bought the top step.

The Canadians have matched the record of 13 golds set by the Soviets in 1976 and Norway in 2002. It's also the most gold Canada has won at any Olympics, winter or summer, and its the most for any Winter Olympics host country; both those marks had been 10.

And how's this for timing: Lucky No. 13 came in the nation's second-favorite sport, curling, with beloved skip Kevin Martin shoving aside the Norway guys wearing those tacky trousers. The record-setting 14th could come Sunday in the nation's far and away favorite sport, hockey, with Sidney Crosby and friends facing the Americans.

Canadians also will finish third on the overall medals list. They've claimed 26, counting the one in hockey. Germany is second with 29.

All told, it's a staggering list of achievements for the hosts and their nearest neighbor.

Bottom line: The rest of the world is probably glad the next two Winter Games will be held in other continents.

Among the other highlights Saturday:

_The U.S men's team pursuit squad in speedskating took silver, finishing just behind – guess who? – Canada.

_A few minutes later, Canada got another gold when Jasey-Jay Anderson won the men's parallel giant slalom.

_Norway's Marit Bjoergen was a photo finish from getting her fourth gold medal of these games. She wound up settling for silver and becoming the first person in Vancouver with five medals; nobody else even has four.

There are only two events on Sunday, the hockey game and a 50-kilometer men's cross-country race.

___

BOBSLED

The Americans hadn't won gold in four-man bobsledding since 1948.

And they did it by knocking off a German crew led by Andre Lange, who had won all four Olympics races he's ever entered. His crew wound up with silver, one-hundredth of a second faster than the Canadians.

"No more 62 years," Holcomb said. "We'll start the clock over. Now it's going to be four years."

A slew of U.S. teammates rushed to Holcomb's sled to celebrate. Among the first to offer congratulations was Geoff Bodine, the 1986 Daytona 500 champion who was behind the group that paid for and built the team's sleds.

___

SPEEDSKATING

Chad Hedrick and a pair of 19-year-old teammates couldn't keep up with the Canadians.

Hedrick took silver in the final race of his career. He goes out with five medals in five events, joining Eric Heiden as the only American men to win that many at the oval.

Germany repeated as the gold winners in women's team pursuit, edging Japan by two-hundredths of a second in the final after escaping the semifinals with Anni Friesinger-Postma's belly slide across the line to beat the Americans.

Poland claimed the bronze, overcoming the United States when Catherine Raney-Norman couldn't keep up with teammates Jennifer Rodriguez and Jilleanne Rookard. They crossed ahead of the Poles, but the time only counts when all three skaters finish.

___

SLALOM

Bode Miller wasn't able to add anything beyond the gold, silver and bronze he'd already won. He bailed out just a few gates into the slalom, a casualty of "grabby" snow that bedeviled a slew of skiers.

Miller is one of only five men to get three Alpine medals at a games, a record performance for a U.S. skier. His five career Olympic medals are tied for second on the career list behind Norway's Kjetil Andre Aamodt, who has eight.

"I really couldn't be much happier," Miller said. "I came out, I was ready, I was prepared – that's all the stuff you can do."

Giuliano Razzoli won, giving Italy's first Alpine medal in the Winter Games in 16 years.

Ivica Kostelic of Croatia picked up his second silver in Vancouver, while Austria's usually powerful men's team finished an Olympic shutout.

___

SNOWBOARDING

Anderson, a seven-time World Cup champion, carved through the rain-sluiced, fogged-in course to take down Austria's Benjamin Karl, the top-ranked rider in the world.

It was his first Olympic medal in four tries, adding it to his four world championship golds and a career that has done more than anyone's to spread the word of snowboarding across his wintry country.

Bronze medalist Mathieu Bozzetto of France called the conditions "ugly," and American Tyler Jewell said if this had been a World Cup event, "they probably would have canceled it."

American Chris Klug – who won bronze in 2002, 18 months after a lifesaving liver transplant – knocked off the top seed but later skidded out. He finished seventh, Jewell 13th.

___

CURLING

Eight years ago in Salt Lake City, Martin's final stone went inch too far and the Canadians lost the gold medal to the Norwegians. This time, with a sellout crowd singing the national anthem, Martin's final stone didn't even matter.

Canada stormed through the tournament 11-0 to win gold for the second straight Olympics. (Martin, however, wasn't on the 2006 squad.)

Switzerland swept past Sweden for the men's bronze medal, getting two points on its final rock.

___

MEN'S HOCKEY

Finland became the first to win three medals since the NHL let its players compete at the 1998 Winter Games with a 5-3 win over Slovakia. Finland is the only team to be a repeat medalist, following up the silver it won four years ago.

Goalie Miikka Kiprusoff was solid in the net with 19 saves, regaining his confidence just one day after he was pulled when the U.S. scored four goals on seven shots in just 10 minutes.

"We believed that we could come back, and it was a huge comeback," Teemu Selanne said. "After 23 years playing for the national team, after five Olympics, this is a dream come true."

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CROSS COUNTRY

Canada turned in its four cross-country skiers for the 50-kilometer mass start classic race on Sunday, and it doesn't include legally blind Brian McKeever, who was hoping to become the first competitor in both the Winter Olympics and Paralympics.

The 30-year-old McKeever – who started going blind in college because of a degenerative disease, but still has peripheral vision – said he understands the decision.

"Olympic dream over," he wrote on his Twitter account. "I don't think I've ever been so sad."

In the women's 30k classical race, Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk beat Bjoergen in a photo finish. Kowalczyk, the World Cup leader, now has a medal of each color.

American Kikkan Randall finished 24th.

___

CHILEAN ATHLETES

Alpine skier Noelle Barahona of Chile is sticking around for the closing ceremony after learning her family was safe following the devastating earthquake in her country.

Barahone actually was planning on going home Saturday, but couldn't get a flight. The rest of the delegation still in Vancouver includes a team spokesman and a physical therapist; they both also heard that family and friends are OK.

Chile's two other Olympians already had left Vancouver, one to France and the other to Seattle.

___

LONDON 2012

The head of the next Olympics – the 2012 Summer Games in London – hopes to match the full venues and lively crowds he's seen in Vancouver.

"Not since Sydney (in 2000) have I seen a city embrace the games the way they've been embraced here," Sebastian Coe said. "My gut instinct is that is what these games will be remembered for."

Coe and about 50 staffers have been in Vancouver to see how things are being done.

___

More on Winter Olympics 2010

Bode out in slalom; US medal quest in home stretch VANCOUVER, British Columbia ? Having already matched the most medals won by any country at any Winter Olympics, Americans went into the last two days of the Vancouver Games seeing how many more they can add. The U.S. total is officially 34, although two more are locked .... Source  : ‘Grabby’ snow knocks Bode Miller out of slalom; US medal quest heading into home stretch.

Abby Miller, an educator at the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum, describes the national History Day competition as "near and dear" to her heart.

"I was a History Day kid myself," Miller said Friday morning as she prepared to judge documentaries Wichita-area middle and high school students have spent the past several months preparing.

Friday marked the competition's first day at Friends University. It has been held at Wichita State University for the past 20 years, but the tradition was discontinued this year due to a lack of funds.

This weekend's Get the Look: Decor is inspired by the Lynden, Washington Craftsman Bungalow that Trisha Brink and family call home. Inspired by her artistic family and her youth spent antiquing and junk store shopping, Trisha's home is filled with thoughtfully arranged vignettes and beautifully transformed vintage furniture and decor. The calm color palette and hints of the past give her home a soothing, organized feeling that perfectly showcases Trish's passion for decorating.

In between raising two children and her job as an interior designer, Trish also manages to run three Etsy shops — TrishaBrinkDesign, WesleyAsher, and OllieBollen, and is a shop owner of Grandiflora Home and Garden, along with her sister and mother. Trish uses her Etsy shops as a vehicle to raise money for her son's medical bills who has a rare autoimmune disease called Scleroderma, and also donates 10% of all sales to a local homeless shelter.

View more photos of Trisha's home on Flickr or take a further peek into her truly inspiring life on her blog, Trisha Brink Design. Check out the Etsy Finds below for creative decorating ideas that will add an organized sense of calm to your own busy home life.

 

wicker writing desk By beyondshabbychic3, $110.	whooping crane limited edition print By beethings, $25.
Vintage Pull Down School Map From DeluxaFurniture, $249.	Natural Carved Hearth Broom By BROOMCHICK, $54.
Hand-Tied Bride's Bouquet By jdleggans, $55.	Ocean Table Lamp By JBellDesign, $38.
Custom Family Name Sign By threelulustoo, $25.	Vintage mirror with dark wood frame From highstreetmarket, $48.
Vintage Retro Black Globe By bellalulu, $56.	Vintage Singer Dress Form From SeeChangeDesign, $188.
Antique Steamer Trunk From SarahAnntiques, $145.	Vintage Framed Silhouette Pictures From shabbyvintagehome, $28

 

Large antique wooden frame From bluebellbazaar, $69.	Moss covered 18 inch Initial letter B By SpottedLeopard, $56.
Fall Splendor Oil on Canvas From fionaandtwig, $14.	Glossy Stoneware Vase By HurricanePottery, $25.
Vintage Bleached Cow Skull From twoartdirectors, $65.	Bigger Than A Bread Basket From reclaimedhome, $120.
grey bird shadowbox By wickedpen, $25.	Vintage Dietz Little Wizard Oil Lamp From ZenHen, $50.
Winter Fresh Boxwood Wreath-18 inch By rmccune, $44.99.	Print on Paper, Ophelia By dolangeiman, $45.
Where Wild Birds Sing Book Print By inkmeup, $20.	Succulent Centerpiece By TheSucculentGarden, $28.
Sheet Music Tea Lights By CarolinaCottage, $20.	Birds nest ring bearer By Rainsend, $30.

vintage ceramic floral dish set From ModishVintage, $39.	buck with brass From FromGraytoGold, $14.
Pretty Travel Mug By PrettyNPreppy, $18.	2 Small Oven Proof Dishes From defdif, $6.75.
Berry Colander and Dish Set By baileybowls, $42.	Bakelite and Chrome 2 Slice Toaster From takapitcha, $44.
Vintage Gray Metal File Shelf From susantique, $38.	Eco-folder (Birchtree) Printed in Yellow By Urbanposture, $3.
1940's Hamilton Beach Mixer By 2BoredBunnies, $49.	Vintage Graniteware Comb Holder From NewDominionBlues, $26

Spring Green Wood Shelf By catnapcottage, $14.50.	Green glass canisters From erachel, $32.
Turkish Bath Towel...PESHTEMAL By TurkishBath, $26.	Glass apothecary jars with lids From sugarpush, $12.
Trio of Starfish Shadowbox By sandypaws, $29.	Duckie Bath Set (Cookie Dough) By creativexpressions76, $10.50.
Sea Star - 8x8 Print By dsbrennan, $30.	Sunset Beach Low Tide Painting By nancyhughesmiller, $575

Looking for more styles and interiors? Check out our video series, There's No Place Like Here, where creative types show us their unique spaces — infused with their aesthetic and filled with the treasures they collect. Get involved and show us your amazing space in this Flickr pool.

Check out other Get the Look: Home Decor Editions.

Looking for more Etsy Finds? Try these links: Guest Curators | Trends | Gift Ideas

Need a daily fix of Etsy Finds? Sign up for the Etsy Finds e-mail! Conveniently delivered to your inbox!

Here were my thoughts as I watched the compulsory dance:

Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte (Italy):  Happy birthday Anna!  She is 23.  She is wearing a lot of glitter in her hair for the occasion.  I find myself wishing that one of the higher-ranked teams were first so I truly know how well everyone else is doing.  Tracey Wilson (commentator) likes the tango because there is more room for interpretation.  Anna is very happy.  They look so young.  And they are done.  Fine job.  33.13.  We should see the top skaters getting up around 40 tonight, so not a fab score.

Allison Reed and Otar Japaridze (Georgia):  They are the first Georgian athletes competing.  Allison is a 15-year-old American who has never been to Georgia, but the president pushed her citizenship application through so she could compete here, says Tom Hammond.  Reed may visit the country of Georgia this summer.  Tracey is pimping the online partner searches again.  Has there been a New York Times article on that yet?  There soon will be.  Allison is siblings with Cathy and Chris Reed who are representing Japan here.  Anyway, they're finally going to skate.  This dance is less vibrant than Cappellini and Lanotte's, I think.  They are not as expressive, they are not doing as much with their legs, no extension.  Apparently this is only this couple's fourth competition. We get a lot of info during compulsories because NBC assumes you could not possibly want to actually watch the skating.  And no twizzles, so what will they point out?  Anyway...these two were kind of adorable at the end.  Good for them.  26.65.

And now, Bode Miller and the gang.  Delobel and Schoenfelder and the rest of the big names soon!!  Can't wait!

Isabelle Delobel and Olivier Schoenfelder (France): Cute start for these two.  Olivier is most apprehensive about this part of the competition.  You can already tell how much better they are than the beginning pairs, like comparing apples to kiwis or something.  Tracey is explaining that they are using "soft, rhythmic, knee action" which helps create speed.  and stuff. They have a lot of flow.  That's what Tracey says and I would agree.  They have taken a soft approach to the dance.  Wilson says it lacks the definition of later teams.  I agree and I have a feeling that all of their dances are going to be on the soft side - but is that even possible with the can-can (their original dance)? 37.99.  wow, that doesn't sound too good to me.  Perhaps they are a little rusty after their time away, or they are just not big on the Tango.

Emilly Samuelson and Evan Bates (USA):  I don't love their costume choices tonight.  I wonder if these outfits look different in person, as so many do?  Odd color pairing, lavender and red.  They finished in 11th at the worlds last year.  Tracey says Emily has the most beautiful feet in the business.  That is what she said.  Good toe point and good lines.  I don't think these two look nearly as good at Delobel and Schoenfelder, but they are adorable anyway.  31.37.  Wilson says the end of the dance pattern is weak, and they have immature expression.  I suppose I agree.  Samuelson looks like Catherine O'Hara in Beetlejuice with whatever she's done to paste her hair to her face like that.  31.37 - so that seems kind of low...with a lot of skaters left!

Up close on Meryl/Charlie and Tanith/Ben!  Squeal!  Charlie's wearing his glasses!  Squeal!  Tanith doesn't think they would be here without the belief that they can win.  I have to raise the volume six notches to have any prayer of hearing Meryl Davis - NBC, where is the audio person...they should know how quiet Meryl is by now.  Meryl says they are not in Tanith and Ben's shadow. Ben says he and Tanith have emotion and experience.  Charlie's all....we are the bomb, diggity.  Right now.  hee.  Tanith looks too pretty for me to pay attention.  How is anyone that pretty?  Oh, sorry, the up close ended like twenty seconds ago.

Nathalie Pechalat and Fabian Bourzat (France):  His hips do not move the way he wants them to, I think.  Great expression at the top.  They were fifth at worlds last season.  Tracey says their weakness is unfortunate mishaps.  No whammies!  They are doing well so far.  I like this very much.  Not as much as I liked Delobel and Schoenfelder's, though.  Tracey says there is nothing to draw you in.  I am drawn in by her headband.  OMG Meryl and Charlie next!!! Squeal!  36.13, pretty close to Delobel and Schoenfelder.  These two are in second place for now.

Meryl Davis and Charlie White (USA): I am a bit nervous.  I want these two to do well so they can rock the house the rest of the way.  Tracey says these two use the music like no one else.  I would agree with that this season.  Compulsories are their weakness and they've lost this portion before.  Augh.  Cute opening.  I love them from the start.  They are not soft like Delobel and Schoenfelder but I think the strength works for them here better in this dance.  WOW 41.47!  Now, that's what you call a SCORE. Good for them!  That's quite a lead on Delobel and Schoenfelder.

Domnina and Shabalin (Russia):  Reigning world champions and threats to win the gold medal.  But their programs are a mess!  This is their strength, though.  I like her look here and I like what they are doing.  I might prefer this dance to Davis and White's, which is actually admitting a lot because I don't usually like this team, at all.  But I would only give these two a slight edge; I really liked this dance.  (Don't worry, I'll be back to my old self when the first beats of the original dance start playing).  43.76.  Wow!  Two points is not as close as it seems when you are considering ice dancing.  This is a very good start for them...

Khokhlova and Novitski (Russia):  Psych!  I don't love this team and I don't think they're going to medal, so I'm going to use this time to look at the "Marlie" and "DomShabs" scores.  I do agree with the presentation edge that Domnina and Shabalin got (21.84 to 21.01 for Davis and White), although a 9 for interpretation is quite high for the Russians.  I wouldn't have thought that the grade of execution marks would have been this different (Davis and White got 20.46 overall in technicals to DomShabs's 21.92, that is a huge difference) - I think all that Domnina and Shabalin's strength was in presentation and expression rather than their execution of the steps, but I am no ice dance expert so it matters not what I think and I'm probably wrong.  Oh, well.  Domnina and Shabalin have done what they needed to do - get a large lead in compulsories and hope that no one can catch them despite their inferior original dance and free dance. The cynic in me is pretty sure that either D&S team is going to win this (just because I can't imagine the figure skating world being able to go on if non-Europeans won pairs, men's, AND ice dancing).  And Delobel and Schoenfelder are (I guess) not looking up to the task, tonight, so Domnina and Shabalin it is!  OH BTW, Khokhlova and Novitski scored 37.18, so I guess they were pretty good after all.  HA.

Belbin and Agosto (USA):  Here we go...I'm expecting big things here.  Dramz!  I knew they'd be good at this.  Very sharp on their movements, slightly different from all the styles we've seen before.  I don't want Ben to make that face.  Tracey says strong edges.  Yes, they are being very aggressive.  Tracey thinks this is not easy for them.  I would agree with that.  I still liked Domnina and Shabalin better on this dance.  40.18, ugh.  These are big gaps in the scores.  Not a great score considering the ground they have to make up, and they know it.

Faiella and Scali (Italy): Let's see if they can pull this off - it's their weakness.  They could not overcome Domnina and Shabalin's lead in the compulsories in Europeans.  I hope to God someone can do it here.  Speaking of not looking easy, this does not look easy and it really doesn't flow, for me. 39.88.  Very close for them - I wonder if they are surprised to be ahead of Delobel and Schoenfelder??  I am.  I am also surprised they are that close to the other top pairs.

Sinead Kerr and John Kerr (Great Britain): Maybe not medal contenders, but who doesn't love the Kerrs?  This compulsory does not have too much personality for me.  You just don't see a special quality to pick out like you could for Davis and White or Domnina and Shabalin or Belbin and Agosto.  Can't wait to see them in the original dance and free dance.  37.02 - not too shabby!

Virtue and Moir (Canada):  Listen to those cheers!  They already look the best out of all the pairs tonight and they haven't started skating.  Such passion right off the bat, and both partners are equally bringing it, which I have not seen much of tonight.  Loving this.  My new favorite dance of the night...Every move is just gorgeous and flowing and looks easy but also difficult if that makes sense. I will stop gushing.  42.74, second place.  I would have picked them for first tonight.  But the strengths of pairs two through four will hopefully come out even more in the original dance and free dance.

The competition continues on Sunday night with the Original Dance!

Frankly, this wasn’t a moment of immortality or elation, but a redemption story for an embattled U.S. skier Bode Miller. He arrives later, perhaps, than when he was supposed to breakthrough as the world's greatest skier, enduring much of the attention with his pure supremacy as advertised.

Instead, in what quickly became misery, Miller failed to secure a medal at the Turin Games, strung out on alcohol beverages.

Considering that he was fond of partying at nearly all the local bars in Turin, he never had a focal point of recovering to reach incremental aspiration in the crucial games.

It was, however, a huge disappointment refusing to take pride of the exalted honors as an Olympian.

It was, however, a disgrace becoming an official embarrassment to the talented U.S. ski team, with enough mastery to travel home elated of winning the ultimate prize.

To me, the ultimate prize isn’t silver or bronze, but gold, a noble prize all Olympians dream about.

It seems, finally, Miller has mellowed into a responsible and perceptive U.S. star. Reaching an understanding on what an appearance in the Winter Games is about, he isn’t enabling an infamous intoxication to affect his performance level, but implements insight of what it takes to be considered an elite athlete at the Winter Games.

Had he not realized the significance of avoiding bartenders and beer to disencumber disadvantages, Miller wouldn’t be facing good fortune, but probably would have self-destructed in mire seconds. Guess it’s fine to admit he’s back striving for redemption and answering to critics whom believed he was a bigger fool and partier mocked of frivolity.

Where he earned his biggest reward and exaltation, Miller is a different athlete with a much serious attitude. Suddenly, he’s more than an apathetic athlete out there to have a good time, while partying and suffering headaches the next morning caused severe hangovers. There was no resemblance of the famous failures that burned his reputation four years ago, erecting disastrous shame and was an insult to America pride.

The optimist once again believes in retaliation, excited of his positive repercussions when he ended a horrid drought finishing empty of a medal. So when he broke a personal streak that has hunted him the last four years, Miller took bronze in the Olympic downhill Monday, while Didier Defago of Switzerland won gold and stopped the bleeding of a two-decade drought.

That’s tremendous felicity for the Swiss, but the greater tale is Miller rebounding of all the lapses taunting a colorful career in downhill skiing.

From the overacting of spending long nights in the bars to additional preparation, he relinquished all weaknesses and devoted more ample time in reaching a quest. Sometimes it takes disappointing outings, returning to regular form, and skiing at a premium, in which a wake up call at Turin confirmed the values of competing in the world’s greatest games.

And that’s what it took for Miller to realize he was washing away a dream, as years are numbered.

As he continues aging, winning a gold medal (or any for that matter) is a priceless opportunity. The vibes of him competing at a high level, presumably, for the first time in an every-four-year event is uplifting and precious, after battling with adversity for foolish judgment while spending leisure time away from the snowy mountains.

But at Whistler Mountain, among the beautiful and refreshing sites of the British Columbia where the rain as fallen immensely, Miller was impressive and put a smile on faces.

Among those disgruntled supporters, he disappointed them, saddened them as most disbelieved and disapproved of his tawdry drinking habits. Four years ago, no one shook off obnoxious remarks when he said during an interview it’s not easy “to ski when you’re wasted.” That led to a sincere apology, after he spoke to United States Ski and Snowboard Association President and CEO Bill Marolt.

At that point, it provoked further controversy when team donors and corporate sponsors phoned the USSA with fuming calls regarding the everlasting chaos. Ridiculed for such an absurd explanation following his failures at Turin, he was blamed for the awful meltdown and lost all credibility.

As if the sarcastic comment wasn’t inane, he had mistaken it for a joke while most were filled with anger. Later on, the populace treated the insensitive responses with strong bitterness.

Of course, his derelict morals weren’t only a hassle to skiing in general, but the representation he brought when he arrived to Turin. Often, his outspokenness created trouble, or when calling drug rules too strict of “a joke”, a wicked attitude that never settled too well with citizens.

Under much tension to redeem himself of arrogance and rudeness, Miller skiing under the influence diminished long ago. All of which we live in a forgiven country, perhaps, unlike some countries in the world. In what might be the final quest of Miller’s skiing career, he could depart the Winter Games on top and erase all the nonsense.

Although much of Miller’s childish mind games are unimportant during the wonderful scenes of the Olympics, he represents America and might conquer hope for a country long awaiting greatness. The results are that he’s older and well-experienced, attentive of capturing gold, and unselfish of citizens eager to glance at pride.

How convenient when he used to be uncaring of winning and bringing joy to the states. That goes to show you, things change within four years.

It certainly has for Bode.

Let’s witness the similarities of the 2002 Winter Games at Salt Lake City, where he won two silver medals before turning allegedly into an alcoholic, succumbing an athletic sequence and had a zest relaxing in bars sipping on liquor to suffocate his performance level.

The news headlines centered around the disobedient Miller, a ruckus stealing front page news. Consider that he faltered to win a medal at the ’07 and ’09 World Championships, shambles that almost forced him to deliberate as to whether he’d retire or compete in what could be his final run in the Olympics.

And suddenly, he’s redeeming a shabby reputation, and perished all the criticism after having the best performance during his Olympian regime.  

If he was under the influence, he isn’t now.  

Seattle Post Intelligencer

Team scatters during the Olympic break San Jose Mercury News It's every man for himself and his family — with some limits (no downhill skiing, please) and exceptions (injured players whose names are on an NHL-approved ... Five Sharks Reasons To Look Forward to the OlympicsFear the Fin (blog) Nabby heads into Olympics on sour notemsnbc.com Miller the linchpin for inexperienced AmericansNHL.com Atlanta Journal Constitution all 293 news articles »

Nicorette : Driving [Video]

The Talent Q. Who is responsible for the creative behind the ad? A. TV – Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York Chairman, Chief Creative Officer: Mark Figliulo Copywriter: Jonathan Marshall Art Director: David Sakamoto Copywriter: Colin Nissan Art Director: Sean Farrell Executive Producer of Media Arts: Matt Bijarchi Senior Producer: David Fisher Production Company: Epoch Films Director: Phil Morrison Executive Producer: Jerry Solomon Producer: Marc Marrie Editorial: Cosmo Street, NY Editor: Tom Scherma Executive Prodcer: Maura Woodward-Moulton Producer: Amy Febinger Visual Effects: Digital Domain Executive Producer: Karen Anderson VFX Producer: Melanie La Rue Graphics: Brand New School Executive Producer: Danny Rosenbloom PRINT - Agency: TBWA/Chiat/Day, New York Chairman, Chief Creative Officer: Mark Figliulo Copywriter: Jonathan Marshall Copywriter: Colin Nissan Art Director: Sean Farrell Art Director: Roxy Feldman Executive Producer of Media Arts: Matt Bijarchi Print Services Manager: Katherine D’Addario Art producer: Teresa Rad Q. Who is the director? A. The TV Director: Phil Morrison Q. What has the director worked on before? What accolades do they have? A. Phil Morrison has worked on a variety of big name brands, such as Apple, Old Spice and AT&T.; His most recent film project was the Academy Award nominated Junebug. Q. Who are the talent featured in the ads? (Notable Actors or Voiceovers) A. TV ‘Driving’ On camera principles: Driver – Derek Waters Carpoolers – Derek Basco, Julie Mitchell, Ron Daniels Passenger in Other Car – Johnny Dowers Voice Over: John Rue TV ‘Driving’ On camera principles: Man – David Hoffman Woman – Abby Miller Mother – Pamela Kosh Voice Over: John Rue Q. What other agency partners are involved? (PR, Media, Digital etc) A. Mediacom (coordinated media buy), GolinHarris (PR) and Rapp (Digital)

The elements of Valentine's Day could easily have been mechanically determined. (Warner Brothers Pictures) by Linda Holmes When we talked about the Grammy Awards two Sundays ago, NPR Music editor Stephen Thompson referred to the Zac Brown Band's music as music that "could have been written by an iPhone app." Which brings me to why Valentine's Day, which I have not even seen, gives me the creeps. I believe they created it using an iPhone app. Let me explain. More, after the jump. The director: Garry Marshall, who did Beaches and Pretty Woman and The Princess Diaries. The writers: Katherine Fugate, who works on Army Wives, and Abby Kohn and Marc Silverstein, who wrote He's Just Not That Into You. The cast: Anne Hathaway and Julia Roberts, who both owe Garry Marshall movies for their big breaks. The Jessicas Alba and Biel. The Taylors Swift and Lautner. Grey's Anatomy doctors Eric Dane and Patrick Dempsey. He's Just Not That Into You alum Bradley Cooper. Pretty Woman alums Hector Elizondo and Larry Miller. Jennifer Garner, Jamie Foxx, Topher Grace, Ashton Kutcher, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine. Trailer set to "I Gotta Feeling," by the Black Eyed Peas. Nothing against formulaic movies, but wow, they didn't miss anything. The trailer contains flight-attendant humor, a woman eating chocolate and relying on her vibrating phone because she's so lonely, a guy being kicked in the crotch, awkward dinner-table sex talk with the elderly, and a guy pulling down a bouquet of flowers to reveal his face. If you had a RomanticCominator, and you could pull out your phone and spin the dial like you can to find a Thai restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, this is the movie you would get. I'm assuming that the parts with kissing in the rain were left on the cutting-room floor. Tell me: did I forget anything else?

What did Benítez say in Istanbul? How often does Fergie turn on the hairdryer? And what was Phil Brown thinking? OSM peeks into the dressing room for the most crucial 15 minutes of the match

The fan who has sat through 45 minutes of bad football – beloved team losing, or playing poorly, or crafting that agonising union of the two – can still draw comfort from the peep of the half-time whistle. Now the manager can get his hands on them, is the soothing thought as the players troop from the pitch and out of sight. He'll be waiting for them in the dressing room, sideline wisdom distilled and sleeves rolled up, china teacups pre-emptively smashed so that not a moment of the 15-minute break need be wasted. Now the manager can fix things.

We never see these essential summits, mysterious briefings that take place, by deep-rooted football tradition, in dressing rooms closed off to the media, to fans, to anybody outside a team's inner circle of players and coaches. And so the unseen diorama plays out in the imagination. The manager will be in there making tactical tweaks, that's for sure – clever noughts and crosses scribbled on a whiteboard that will mark a certain route to goals and victory. He's probably arranging a substitution, too, someone fast and reliable and good, inexplicably ignored from the starting XI.

Above all, there's the hope – the trust – that the manager is delivering a good half-time team talk. A great half-time team talk. A fight-on-the-beaches epic to arouse, a Gettysburg address to inspire, an oration so dizzying, so game-changing it might have transformed Churchill himself into a vibrant centre forward, made Abraham Lincoln a useful box-to-box man.

The details that filter out about these furtive lectures are tantalising. Brian Clough once stood up a junior centre forward and slugged him in the stomach for showboating. A George Graham team talk was interrupted by policemen seeking witnesses to a crime. Gérard Houllier gave a speech so exerting he was taken to hospital with a suspected heart attack; his Liverpool side played the second half while the Frenchman lay in the back of an ambulance and said goodbye to his wife. Rarely, however, do we hear about what is actually said during these magic orations. Why won't they let us watch?

"It's our office," says goalkeeper Scott Carson, currently at West Brom. "It's our house," says Sammy McIlroy, manager of Morecambe. "It's a personal meeting between the coach and his players," says Steve Claridge, an ex-pro who spent 26 years as a footballer and played for almost as many clubs. "I wouldn't sit in while your boss carpeted you for doing something wrong, nor while he gave you a promotion for doing something right. You'd expect privacy and it is exactly the same in a football dressing room."

No prying eyes, no notebook-wielding reporters, and no television cameras. "Not through want of trying," says BBC presenter Gabby Logan. "When I was with ITV we tried for years to make individual arrangements with clubs, to do deals with the Premier League. Can we get a camera in? Can we do minutes of what goes on? The answer was absolutely no way. They were completely immovable on the subject."

So the dressing room doors stay closed. The half-time team talk stays out of sight, and its ­legend grows.

Never was that legend as colourful as in May 2005, when two decisive games made it seem as if all a manager had to do to win football's highest prizes was conjure a decent dressing-room lecture. In the first week of that month, José Mourinho had to inspire his Chelsea side to a win against Bolton, following a lacklustre first half, and did so by demanding their clothes. Give me the shirt, Mourinho said to the team – give assistant coach Steve Clarke the shirt. His players, suitably affronted, went on to win 2-0, securing their first Premier League title in 50 years.

Three weeks later it was the Champions League final in Istanbul, won by Liverpool against Milan after one of the most famous rallying cries in sport. No outsiders were present, and none of the accounts in player autobiographies seem to fully correlate; but Rafa Benítez's speech at half time, which apparently inspired his team's return from 3-0 down to level the score and secure the trophy on penalties, has entered football lore. Some cast it as a half-English, half-Spanish entreaty to which Benítez still treasures the scrawled notes; others have drafted a supposed transcript of the speech, since emblazoned on T-shirts and ending with a line that would please Hollywood screenwriters: "Give yourself a chance to be heroes." A British short film called 15 Minutes That Shook the World imagined it as a gag-filled dialogue in which Benítez spoke over the pluckings of a flamenco guitar. Some players, including Jamie Carragher, recall the manager being so flustered he tried to send the team out with 12 players.

"I can't remember Rafa saying a lot," says Scott Carson, present that night as a Liverpool substitute. "It was quiet, nobody wanted to go out for the second half. Rafa told us to play for pride. I  one of the coaches, Alex Miller, told us to get our heads up." Not quite the Agincourt-equalling rouser of legend, but the Istanbul match has become such an exemplar of impossible football reversal that reference to it now crops up in other managers' half-time talks. When, last summer, Stuart Pearce's England under-21 side had taken a 3-0 lead against Sweden in the first half, Swedish manager Jörgen Lennartsson reminded his players what happened between Liverpool and Milan. "If they can do it, I said, Sweden can do it too, no problem." The score was 3-3 after 90 minutes, and the game went into extra time.

There can be few trickier feats for a football manager than to convince his team it is possible that a three-goal deficit can be overturned. Lennartsson breaks down the talk he gave to his side: "The first thing I addressed was confidence. My players were not 3-0 worse than England, and so I asked them – if England can score three goals in 45 minutes, do you think it is possible for you to do the same? Yes, they said, absolutely."

Next, he asked his players to break the second half down into 15-minute sections in their heads. "We would try to score a goal in each section. Simple! If 3-0 becomes 3-1 and then 3-2, the fans will get more energised, and England will get worried." Last, Lennartsson talked tactics. "The formation was shuffled around to be more offensive, we made some substitutions, we gambled on the balance of the team." And the gamble paid off, even though Sweden eventually lost on penalties. "All that work and we lost the game! But that is football. England were mentally strong to win the shoot-out. Stuart Pearce must have said the right things in his dressing room, too."

Saying the right things: that's the difficulty. "We live on a volcano," said Arsène Wenger in December, describing how a group of players are equally likely to respond negatively as positively to a telling-off. Alex Ferguson is famous for his half-time scolds – admonishment immortally named by Mark Hughes "the hairdryer treatment" – but one former player, Dwight Yorke, says the power of these rebukes was in their sparing use. ("You couldn't," he points out, "handle too many of them in your career anyway.")

Castigation can be risky. Hull City manager Phil Brown could repeat Rafa Benítez's feat in winning a Champions League final and still be remembered for an ill-judged decision to deliver his team talk on the pitch when the Tigers were losing 4-0 against Manchester City in December 2008. His players, visibly mortified, went on to lose 5-1 and won just one more game that season. Barnet manager Ian Hendon recalls a similarly ill-fated motivation effort when he was still a player. "We were 3-0 down at half time. The manager sat us down, screamed, 'You got us into this, now go and get us out of it,' and sent us back on to the pitch. We were inside for 20 seconds. We lost 3-0."

Wenger rarely shouts at his players in the dressing room; he is once said to have sat with a team in silence for 15 minutes to make clear his disappointment. "The problem with anger [is that] you can create some damage that you cannot repair," he says. "The Phil Brown incident with his Hull players – did that create their blip afterwards?"

Wenger's instincts about anger are sound, says Dr Jill Owen, a sports psychologist. "Logic suggests that if you get a bollocking you want to do better because you don't want another one. But often that isn't the case. A telling-off can lower a player's confidence, and it is hard to be motivated when confidence is low. There is evidence that suggests feeling appreciated – feeling that those around you have pride and faith in you – is the most important thing."

Professionals, current and former, agree that being screamed at does little good – especially if it happens too often. "If you go in expecting a bollocking every single time, you tend to slink into a corner and switch off," says Carson. "What is the point of all this huffing and puffing?" says Yorke, who recalls an instance when Roy Keane, his manager at Sunderland, kung-fu kicked a chalkboard in the middle of a half-time tantrum. (The kung-fu kick is no rarity: in 2001, Burnley boss Stan Ternent launched himself foot-first through a fire exit, convinced that the opposition were spying outside.)

For real fireworks, says Yorke, look to Ron Atkinson. "He had a punch-up with Dalian Atkinson at half time when I was at Aston Villa. That was the first time I'd ever seen a manager roll up his sleeves. It was pretty exciting at the time, but then you had to go out and play half a game. What good does it do?"

Yorke credits Man United's famous turnaround in the 1999 Champions League final, when they were 1-0 down to Bayern Munich at the interval and ultimately won 2-1, to Ferguson's quiet composure in the dressing room. "We had just won the league, just won the FA Cup, and he was very mellow. He told us, you're not at your best, but take into consideration the prize at hand." Ferguson repeated a story that Steve Archibald had told him a few days earlier, about the pain of losing in the 1986 final and walking past the trophy but not being able to touch it. The tale did more to inspire the players than a hairdryer, or a kung-fu kick.

"Sometimes to shout, to give the players criticism," says Lennartsson, "is an own goal."

Whatever the manner of dressing-room speech, the football manager is required to give a lot of them. After stewarding a team through five seasons, he can expect to have delivered 300 or so; 10 seasons in, he will have team-talked for around 100 hours. When Steve Coppell became the most recent to manage 1,000 matches last March, he might have treated himself to a day of silence; that was more than a week of accumulated yakking.

Uefa's tuition scheme for coaches – the "pro licence" course, obligatory for top-flight managers in the UK since 2003 – includes various modules on communication and psychology. One of the tutors, Professor Sue Bridgewater, admits she was surprised that ex-players had such trouble speaking publicly. "When we were designing the course we canvassed coaches and asked them, if they could have been trained in anything to prepare for managership, what would it have been? Often it was things like understanding balance sheets, but public speaking was a common response. They were used to talking to the media as players, but they were less comfortable standing up and giving presentations." So the Uefa course was built to include motivational speaking classes, lessons in "neurolinguistic programming", even secondments into fellow managers' dressing rooms, to see how others do it.

The burden, nevertheless, remains great – especially in a season's meaty middle, when there are often multiple games in a week and managers have to make as many speeches as stumping politicians. "I ain't Churchill," a miserable Coppell once said, heading a list of managers driven disconsolate by the need to inspire match after match. "Fifteen minutes is too long," says Sammy McIlroy. "You find yourself repeating things, saying things you only just said on Saturday again on Tuesday." Cracks have shown. Croatian coach Miroslav Blazevic once confessed to spending seven hours composing 10 minutes of team talk. Swansea's short-lived manager Kevin Cullis was so bad at the practice that two senior players forcefully devolved him of the responsibility. Ron Atkinson once summoned a speech with the wrong score in mind; he implored his team to score an equaliser even though they already had. The goalscorer eventually put up a hand to correct the boss's oversight.

"I used to write a lot of notes," says Ian Hendon. "I've realised now all the preparation means nothing because you just have no idea how the first half will go." But the cautious manager fears skipping even the basics in his team talk, exemplified by a nervy Paul Ince in 2008. Preparing to address his losing Blackburn Rovers side in the dressing room, TV cameras caught a glimpse of Ince's notepad. On it, he had scribbled a single word: "Shoot."

Steve Claridge thinks the importance of the team talk is overstated. "It's not about what the manager says but what the manager does. If there's a dramatic change in the game after the break it's often because he has corrected a tactical mistake from the first half." Anyway, says Roly Howard, a non-league coach who oversaw a record number of games during his career before retirement in 2005, if you're trying to gee up players at half time it's probably too late.

Howard recalls losing his temper in many of his 1,975 half time talks. He smashed so many teacups his players had to walk in on tip-toes; he destroyed a player's watch in a botched motivation attempt; he slammed a door so hard the team couldn't get out again. But, he says, it never did much good.

"This idea that they get bollocked at half time and suddenly pull their socks up is a fallacy. I've heard fans say, 'Oh, he's shouted at them, that's why the team's playing better.' But it isn't true, it's the tactical changes. You have so little influence on the players' mood at half time, they might as well have a tot of whisky." Liverpool's famous turnaround in Istanbul, insists Claridge, happened because Benítez changed the shape of his team by bringing on Dietmar Hamann. "Any team talk was of secondary importance."

Uefa disagrees. "We have lectures on choice of vocabulary, about body language, about the use of voice," says Dick Bate, a course tutor. "But the most important thing we teach coaches is clarity. I've known good coaches who draw up a chair and sit among the players at half time, others who put on an inspirational DVD. What's essential is that the players leave the dressing room knowing exactly what is wanted of them, whether that's communicated verbally or visually – even with just the occasional word." Shoot.

"It's nice to imagine there are Churchillian speeches going on, week in, week out," says Gabby Logan. "You imagine the unlikeliest characters standing in front of a dressing room and delivering powerful oratory. I really hope that happens. It probably doesn't."

If we are to rely on the bits of video footage that have filtered out from behind football's firewall – then no, it probably doesn't. In 1981 documentary City! A Club in Crisis, Granada treated Britain to the sight of Malcolm Allison, the cigar-twiddling boss of Manchester City, delivering his team talk dressed in nothing but powder-blue tracksuit trousers, and then dragging his hapless players in to an astroturfed gym for a work-out at half time.

Two decades and a clutch of documentaries since, the view of the dressing room has got little more flattering. Sky's There's Only One Barry Fry made much of the foot-stamping histrionics for which Peterborough boss Fry has become justly famous, while footage of Neil Warnock berating his Huddersfield Town side in 1995 has recorded a huge number of hits on YouTube (particularly good is the moment the apoplectic Yorkshireman screams at one defender "You're in fucking Latvia!" – whatever that means).

When Sunderland gave the BBC access to their dressing room for the 1998 documentary Premier Passions, viewers witnessed manager Peter Reid deliver the repeated message to his players, pummelled weekly, that the opposition "can't live with you, they just can't live with you". It was a painful fiction: evidence on the pitch was that teams very much could live with Sunderland, and the team were relegated that year, under the full glare of a film crew.

"I can't think of any manager who has let the cameras in and come out with any dignity," says Ian Hendon, who, when still a player, appeared in Channel 4's 1995 documentary Leyton Orient: Yours For a Fiver. The film made an unwilling star out of manager John Sitton, whose half-time performances lowered the reputation of managerial oration by several notches; as well as offers to fight his own players in increasingly imaginative terms – "You can pair up if you like… You can bring your dinner" – the cameras captured several threats of mid-game sackings ("Anyone on 35 grand, you've got to go") and a frightening array of obscenities.

"The programme portrayed him as an absolute madman when actually he was one of the best coaches I've worked with," says Hendon. "It pretty much ended his career in professional football." Sitton drifted out of management and became a cab driver. He is now a sort of industry totem, a warning of what can happen to the manager who lets outsiders in.

Other sports have opened their doors without body count. American football routinely admits a television audience for dressing-room talks in the NFL, with the speeches often followed by group prayer. Rugby, too, has experimented with half-time filming, permitting soundless broadcasts of coaches' briefings at the 2008 World Cup. Football – barring a short-lived effort by Setanta to feature fly-on-the-wall footage in the Blue Square league two years ago – resists. Of the 92 League clubs approached for this article, none would grant access to their dressing rooms at half time. If there was ever a hope of witnessing these invisible summits, it died in Leyton Orient's dressing room with John Sitton's plea for his players to bring their dinner, in the bowels of Roker Park as Peter Reid gave his team a final, plaintive, pre-relegation "they can't live with you".

"No cameras," says Dwight Yorke. "It's a tough business, a survival business. If players are not doing their job then there will be some harsh words said in there. There are unpleasant times in the dressing room, but that's all part of football. It's a fascinating place to be at half time, but the world outside shouldn't know what's going on."

So the team talk remains an enigma, and that rare thing: a commodity without a price in a sport that has been happy to cash up just about every­thing else. "Maybe it's better that it all stays a mystery," says Logan. "It's similar to the idea of not meeting your heroes. If we don't see what actually goes on we can't be disappointed."

Better that it remains secret, so that the next time a beloved team jog off the pitch at half time, crestfallen, a goal or more down, all manner of tactical crimes committed, the fan can fall back on the usual comforting image. The manager waiting in the dressing room, juggling his notes, clearing his throat. Now he can fix things. OSM

Pastor Dan Gillette, Secretary of Blue Ridge District Ministerium of the Grace Brethren Churches, has alerted us to the following:

Rev. Jesse Donald Abshire Sr., 87, of Boones Mill, Va., went to be with our Lord on Monday, February 1, 2010, after several years of illness.

He was born on October 4, 1922. He was preceded in death by his parents, John L. and Delia Abshire, also of Boones Mill. Surviving are his wife of 61 years, Colleen Trent Abshire; his son, J.D. Abshire and wife, Debbie; his daughter, Yvonne and husband, Donnie Hodges; grandchildren, Beth Anne Deems and husband, Michael, Naomi Arthur and husband, Alan, Jessica Gardner and husband, Cabell, and Whitney and Celeste Hodges; seven great-grandchildren, Tyler and Mikey Deems, Koen and Paxton Arthur, and Abby, Aydin, and Anna Lily Gardner.

Donald is also survived by his sisters, Claudine Mizak and Janet Guilliams; also his brother, John L. Abshire Jr. and wife, Janet, as well as many nieces and nephews.

Donald was a World War II Veteran and was a self-employed orchardist in Boones Mill. He was also the founding pastor of Grace Brethren Church of Boones Mill where he later retired in 1988; after which he attended Boones Mill Baptist Church.

Donald was a godly example to his family and all those who knew him. He was a faithful pastor, leading many souls to the Lord.

Funeral services will be conducted from Flora Funeral Chapel, 11 a.m. Thursday, with the Rev. James Steele, the Rev. Ralph Miller and Mr. John L. Abshire Jr. officiating. Interment will follow in Franklin Memorial Park.

Many thanks to friends, neighbors and Carilion Hospice Service of Franklin County for your continued love, kindness and support. Friends may call after 3 p.m. Wednesday with his family receiving friends from 6 to 8 p.m. at Flora Funeral Service, Rocky Mount.

I made the movie last offseason, to take a look at the young guys who would be called on to contribute for Tampa Bay. Here is that movie....and we will discuss it after the break...

oh, and click the little 360 arrow if you go to the site, and watch it in 720P.

First, lets look at the flashing names that go by...I chose these because these guys were NOT expected to produce that much, they would be bit players at best. Were they?

Adam Heyward- Special Teams player saw field time as linebacker too, but mostly only when there was a problem. Grade: C

Dre Moore- Only Morris knows what he saw of Mr. Moore, which was not too much. Grade: incomplete

Roy Miller- The Rookie ended up getting significant playing time, and impressed coaches with his emotion, especially after the Panthers drove the ball right down the Bucs in the 4th Qtr of their game at Raymond James. Miller was visibly upset in the locker room, something you can definitely build on. Grade: C+

Josh Freeman- The Rookie signal caller got his first start just about midway through the season and impressed a lot of people. Does the kid still have a lot to learn? What rookie QB doesnt. But a lot of people have raved about the kid at times this year, and the 2010 Bucs will be his team from the get-go. Grade: B-

These next two guys, we had no idea they would produce the kind of years they did. especially..

Sammie Stroughter- 7th round picks in the NFL are NOT supposed to make the team, much less jump into the #3 WR spot. He was second on the team in receiving yardage for WRs, and the Bucs have a lot to look forward to the youngster who returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Grade: B+

Quincy Black solidified his position as the SAM linebacker on the team. Grade: C+

Now, getting to the featured video clip guys, the first, Elbert Mack, disapointed many early in the year. He clearly was confused at times, and perhaps the 'looking back at the QB' system is more his type of role. Later in the year, after Raheem Morris changed the defense back to the familiar Tampa 2, Mack appeared at least a little more comfortable in it. It would seem nickel is the ceiling for him. Grade: D

Sabby Piscitelli went into the year needing to have a breakaway year to prove he was the right guy for the safety position. His continuous bad angles and poor tackling have the Bucs looking to shore up that position via the draft or free agency. Grade: D+

Geno Hayes used the entire year, but once the transition to the Tampa Two went into effect, he came on at the Will linebacker position. With extremely large shoes to fill, Hayes never let them get the best of him. The Bucs have high hopes for their linebackers, all three of which are Young Guns! Grade: B+

Aqib Talib really dominated most of the year, but remarkably so, better while in the Jim Bates system. Leading the team in interceptions, Talib was the Bucs shut down corner, taking the best receivers for the other team out of the game. Grade: A-

And so this year, with the focus on the  Bucs 10 draft picks and the 5 very high ones the building of this franchise will once again be on the extreme focus of the newest batch of Tampa Bay Buccaneer 'Young Guns'!

Our buddies at Fourth Place Medal (where we'll be contributing during the Vancouver Games) published the U.S. Olympic goalie mask for Ryan Miller(notes) of the Buffalo Sabres yesterday, and it's fantastic ... even if Uncle Sam suddenly looks like Raiden from "Mortal Kombat" after an HGH bender.

From the Times Herald, and the creator of the mask Ray Bishop:

The Buffalo Sabres star came to Bishop with a design idea for the Olympics that included a caricature of Uncle Sam rolling up his sleeves. Bishop made it come to life with splashes of the Olympic logo, patriotic sayings and vibrant colors.

"We talk quite a bit -- (Miller is) really good with ideas," said Bishop, who works out of his home in Grand Blanc. "Ryan will sketch stuff up even. He's not a bad artist himself."

Somehow, we don't see Tim Thomas(notes) as being the same kind of renaissance man. More like a "here's a cocktail napkin with what I was thinkin'" sort of guy.

On the right, via Fear The Fin, is the mask for Evgeni Nabokov(notes) of the San Jose Sharks, who will be backstopping Team Russia. The site offered an interesting breakdown of what the colors and symbols mean for a Russian, with a mild thumbs-up for the look:

I almost feel that Nabby took too conservative of an approach, because this imagery doesn't have a lot of his personality on it and is very predictable.

If you've seen any of the other Olympic lids, pass'em along on email and we'll link them up. For context, here was Martin Brodeur's(notes) mask in Torino 2006, which still doesn't do much for us, especially with the "R.I.P. Tupac" tattoo-like font on the chin.

Will the Americans or the Canadians have the better-looking masks in Vancouver? Better question: In there a reason why the single most patriotic goalie mask in the history of hockey isn't being worn by a U.S. goalie in chasing the gold? You betcha!

In what has become a surprisingly fascinating storyline heading into the Olympics, another goaltender’s mask has been revealed and then meticulously examined. Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov unveiled his Team Russia mask this week:

Fear The Fin breaks down the various aspects of the design:

The next thing we see is the bald two headed crowned eagle. There is no surprise here either, as this is the official Coat of Arms for Russia that dates as far back as 15th century. That symbol was not used during the era of Communism, but Yeltsin ressurected it back in 1993 under his new regime.

As a Russian, I’m glad that Nabokov chose these symbols for his goalie mask and he apparently is pleased with the work. We take great pride in accomplishments of our athletes, and the country is never as united as it is during the Olympics. However, I almost feel that Nabby took too conservative of an approach, because this imagery doesn’t have a lot of his personality on it and is very predictable. In fact, it will not surprise me if all three Russian goalies have the same imagery on their masks.

This mask was designed by the same artist who worked on Ryan Miller's Team USA mask.

PICTURE BOOK
GROUNDHOG WEATHER SCHOOL by Joan Holub, illustrated by Kristin Sorra (Putnam)

Links are provided for informational use. Don't forget to support your local bookseller.
More Esmé stuff at www.planetesme.com.

Let me just get a jump on what everyone else is going to be saying.

That was quick.

So UK barely had the No. 1 position, what, 36 hours before a South Carolina team that played like its life was on the line exposed the youthful Wildcats as, um...youthful. 

The good news:  DeMarcus Cousins was once again a behemoth and had a typically awesome game.  The bad:  Just about everything else.  I'm not going to compare stats, since these are just my observations.

1.  Where was Patrick Patterson?  I was surprised that he was such a non-factor offensively, especially since he spoke as if he wanted some payback for South Carolina's sweep last season.  I expected him to assert his will under the hoop as usual, but he didn't seem to play with the same intensity I have seen all season.  He came alive somewhat later in the second half, but it was too late for the Wildcats.

2.  Downey is a great player, but he wasn't so much the deciding factor as the role players like Raley-Ross and Muldrow, who took up the challenge and played above themselves.  I figured Downey was good for his average, though I held out hope that the Cats would be able to shut him down ala Rotnei Clarke. 

3.  UK did not win enough of the 50/50 balls.  I thought they fought hard for them, but for whatever reason USC came up with most of them.  Also felt the defensive rebounding left a lot to be desired. 

4.  The Wildcat players at the three position have to be able to score more points.  The Miller/Dodson/Liggins/Harris four-headed monster needs to be able to contribute four to five ppg apiece.

5.  Just too many wasted opportunities.  Missed layups.  Missed dunks.  Good defensive efforts that somehow result in the other team getting a score.  Things like that happen sometimes.

6.  I'm not about to make excuses, and I absolutely want to give South Carolina credit for the most important win in their history, but I think the team may have been overwhelmed a little with the events of the day, what with President Obama calling and everything.  Darn ol' President.

One of the usual criticisms of the UK fan is that we take every game too seriously, as if that's remotely possible.  The celebrated story is of the radio show caller who, in 1998, told Tubby Smith, "I haven't given up on this team yet," after the second loss of a 32-4 championship season.  I'm not quite that bad. 

Besides, if we have been listening, we have heard Coach Cal warn us that this was liable to happen if UK didn't take care of business, which frankly, they didn't.  My only concern is how this young team reacts after a loss.  I expect them to rebound quickly, but only the next few games will tell.

The lesson that we can take away from this is that it would be hard for even a veteran team to go undefeated in today's college basketball world, and this should in no way take away from the fact that a team with three freshman starters, with another freshman first off the bench, was undefeated longer than every other team in the nation.  That's not too shabby. 

There still is quite a lot of season left.  I like Kentucky's chances to become reacquainted with the paramount spot in the polls real soon.