Christina Aguilera showed off her slim figure this week at an NYC Gala in honor of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People.
The singer has frequently been criticized over her weight but there was nothing for people to criticize last night. Aguilera, who made the list for the first time this year, wore a Victoria Beckham dress that accentuated her new slim figure.
Of course, Aguilera’s weight wasn’t the only topic of conversation last night. The singer was honored last night for being one of Time Magazine’s most influential people.
Celine Dion wrote a short essay about the “Genie In A Bottle Singer” for the magazine.
“The first time I heard Christina Aguilera sing, I was totally blown away. I love the way she sings. Her tone is beautiful, and her voice has got so much power, yet so much sensitivity — and technically, I think, she’s flawless … Without a doubt, she’s one of the most talented artists the world has ever seen and heard, and I think she’s going to continue to amaze us for many, many years to come.”
Here’s a video of the singer from the red carpet last night.
In addition to being an honoree at the Gala last night, Aguilera was also a performer. The singer walked up on stage to perform a few songs in front of the start studded audience last night.
Here are some photos of Christina Aguilera and her slim new body at the NYC Gala last night.
The Xbox 720 reveal event date has been confirmed for May 21, 2013.
The rumors have been flying about Microsoft’s next Xbox. As of May 21, 2013, we will finally all know for sure what rumors are true and which ones are not. After the February PlayStation 4 reveal event, gamers have been gathering hints about the Xbox 720 (if indeed that is what it will be called) like squirrels gathering nuts for winter. Even rumors have become valuable commodities for those just wishing Microsoft would lift the veil of silence after Sony already revealed their hand.
Microsoft had been going as far as to refuse to comment when its own creative director, now departed, blabbed on Twitter about the Xbox 720 being always online. You can be sure that gamers everywhere will be waiting on the edge of their seats as Microsoft finally shows us “the future” at a press event in Redmond, Washington.
“On Tuesday May 21st, we’ll mark the beginning of a new generation of games, TV and entertainment. On that day, we’ll be holding a special press event on the Xbox campus and we invite you to join us via the live global stream that will be available on Xbox.com, Xbox Live and broadcast on Spike TV if you are in the US or Canada. On that day, we’ll share our vision for Xbox, and give you a real taste of the future. Then, 19 days later at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles, we’ll continue the conversation and showcase our full lineup of blockbuster games. We are thrilled to pull back the curtain and reveal what we’ve been working on.”
This is it, ladies and gentlemen and gamers of all ages. Microsoft has officially announced their Xbox 720 reveal event. Major Nelson has posted a countdown to the event on his blog for those who wish to keep tabs on the upcoming event.
Are you excited about Microsoft finally confirming the reveal date for the Xbox 720?
A missing student’s body could have been found on Tuesday, but the Rhode Island state medical examiner’s office won’t know until they identify the remains. A Providence, RI police Lieutenant Joseph Donnelly said Tuesday night that the “it’s very, very possible” that the young man in his 20s found floating in the Providence River could be Sunil Tripathi.
The body was discovered by a Brown University rowing coach. It was described as having been in the water for an undetermined period of time that was “more than a couple of days.”
Sunil Tripathi, 22, was last seen alive in the Brown University campus area on March 16. Since then, his family, Providence police, and even the FBI have been engaged in a heart-breaking search for the missing student.
The philosophy major was on leave from his classes from the Ivy League school. When he disappeared, he left behind his wallet, ID, and cell phone, according to his missing persons Facebook page.
The story took a sad turn for the Tripathi family during the early morning hours of the Friday manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers. Social media posters claimed that a police scanner had named Sunil Tripathi as one of the two bombers they were seeking.
Both Twitter and Reddit were among the sites used by posters spreading the cruel accusation.
The suspected Boston bombers were ultimately identified as Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
The medical examiner’s autopsy today must also answer the sad question of whether the deceased died in an accident, by suicide, or foul play — a challenging question if the young man in question has been in the water for over a month.
It’s important to remember that the authorities have not released a statement about the identity of the remains. At the time of writing, the family of Sunil Tripathi hadn’t been contacted about the recovery of the missing student’s body.
Steven Martin recently discussed being a father during his appearance in The Late Show.
The actor’s chat with David Letterman centered around the Parenthood star’s new bundle of joy. When Martin revealed that everything was going great thanks to the help of a “wonderful wife and mother,” the audience had a good laugh.
“I’m paying her a compliment — everything is funny when I try to be serious!” Steve Martin said.
When the conversation turned to the baby’s name, the comedian joked that he wanted to name the child Conquistador. Steve Martin said he didn’t want to give his daughter a weird name like other Hollywood celebrities.
“Conquistador is a statement,” he said.
To prove to David Letterman’s audience that he was taking his role as a new father very seriously, he placed a baby monitor on the late night host’s desk.
“The baby’s back at the hotel, and I’m a responsible dad,” he joked.
When he isn’t spending time with his lovely wife and his new daughter, Martin spends a lot of his free time these days creating music. The Father of the Bride star recently joined forces with former New Bohemians singer Edie Brickell to record an album.
Although the musicians have known one another for quite some time, they just recently decided to collaborate on a few songs.
“We’ve known each other for over 20 or more years, but we really just met … at a party a couple of years ago and we thought maybe we could write some songs together. And then we did this horrible thing that you never do in Hollywood — we followed up on it.”
The end result of Steven Martin and Edie Brickell collaboration was Love Has Come For You, a collection of 13 original songs the pair cooked up together. The album is available now.
A Mexican cartel queen could be headed to prison, not a palace, after pleading guilty in Miami to drug charges.
Sandra Avila Beltran, a former go-between for Mexico’s Sinaloa cartel and Colombia’s Norte Valle cartel, pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact in a drug trafficking operation. The Mexican cartel queen was working in an organization that included Juan Diego Espinosa Ramirez, her boyfriend at the time.
Known as the “Queen of the Pacific,” Beltran admitted to helping Espinosa while he was on the run from the law between 2002 and 2004.
“Between approximately 2002 and 2004, Avila-Beltran provided financial assistance for travel, lodging and other expenses to [Espinosa] with the intention of preventing or hindering his arrest for drug-trafficking crimes,” court documents said.
Avila was a fixture in the male-dominated world of drug trafficking. The Mexican cartel queen reportedly gained a dominant role in the Sinaloa cartel with influence over ocean supply routes.
Her story has been popular in Mexican media, leading to a fascination with Avila and her romantic relationship with the Colombian drug leader.
Avila also appeared to live the pampered life of a celebrity, akin to singers and movie stars. She had a famous taste for high fashion and gourmet food and was obsessed with beauty. There was even a rumor that a doctor visited her in a Mexican prison to administer her Botox injections.
She could have faced a life sentence if convicted of the offenses but now is expected to receive a lesser sentence that includes six years she already served in a Mexican prison before being extradited in August.
“Both sides felt the charge of accessory after the fact would be reflective of a fair and just result,” Avila’s attorney, Howard Schumacher, told The Miami Herald.
The Mexican cartel queen faces up to 15 years in prison at her July 25 sentencing.
As part of the Glenn Beck conspiracy, some people are claiming Abdul Rahman Ali AlHarbi is Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr, the Glenn Beck conspiracy claims Alharbi was supposedly in violation of section 212 3B of the Immigration and Nationality Act, citing “security and related grounds” and “terrorist activities.” Alharbi was tackled while fleeing the Boston Marathon bombing and then hospitalized for hand burns and shrapnel in the leg.
The Glenn Beck conspiracy is being denied by Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, who says Alharbi was only temporarily put on a terror watch list by mistake. Glenn Beck claims this amounts to perjury and has released documents that purport to show Alharbi was essentially treated like a Saudi foreign diplomat even though he was originally indicated as being “armed and dangerous.” Alharbi’s student visa reportedly will not expire until 2016 although that is the official reason for Alharbi’s pending deportation to Saudia Arabia.
Followers of the Glenn Beck conspiracy are claiming that Abdul Rahman Ali AlHarbi is Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden. As far as this writer can confirm, Glenn Beck has never made this allegation although Glenn Beck fans are speculating he is waiting until later in the week to drop this bombshell. One site explains what we know about Hamza bin Laden:
“Hamza is the son of Khairiah Sabar of Saudi Arabia, one of Bin Laden’s three wives who were living in the Abbottabad compound. Interrogation of the surviving wives of Osama Bin Laden by Pakistani intelligence after the raid on the Abbottabad revealed Hamza was the only person missing. He was not among those killed or injured. The raid conducted by the SEAL team was thorough: infrared technology, as well as ground troops, remained confident nobody inside the compound had escaped. There were no hidden exit tunnels from the compound. … Letters from the compound also confirmed that Osama was grooming Hamza to be his heir apparent following the death of Hamza’s older brother Saad in a 2009 US drone strike.”
Alex Jones of InfoWars has already added to the Glenn Beck conspiracy theory by alleging that “Abdul Rahman Ali Al-Harbi is [claimed to be] free and clear of terrorist ties, when in fact over 10 names from his clan are already linked to Al-Qaeda.” They printed out a list of Al-Harbi clan members who are known to be active fighters in al Qaeda, although potentially distant family ties do not constitute proof of terrorism.
Separate from the Glenn Beck conspiracy theory, what do you think about the idea that Abdul Rahman Ali AlHarbi is Osama bin Laden’s son Hamza bin Laden?
Cleveland Browns LB Quentin Groves was reportedly busted in a prostitution sting this weekend.
According to ClevScne.com, Groves was arrested after he tried to solicit services from a prostitute. The prostitute, however, was actually an undercover police officer.
The LB was busted during a three-day prostitution sting earlier this month in Ohio. Officers said that Grove responded to an ad and requested “full service” from an undercover officer. He was arrested shortly after arriving at a hotel.
The police report reads: “(Groves) agreed to one hour of time for 100.00 and was told that anal would be an additional 20.00.”
Police officers reportedly seized $195.70 and a box of condoms from Groves as evidence.
In addition to the Browns LB, authorities arrested more than a dozen other men during the prostitution sting.
Groves, who recently signed a two-year, $2.8 million deal with the Browns, has not commented on the arrest. Browns spokesman Neal Gulkis said that the team was aware of the situation but did not have any further comment.
Groves is due in court to address the situation on May 10.
After Earth may be just a science fiction story about the changes that will take place on our home planet over the next 1,000 years, but the movie is starting a real discussion on the future of Earth.
In a Google+ Hangout earlier this week followed up Earth Day, the stars of After Earth joined SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, futurist Ray Kurzweil, Alexandra Cousteau, and a group of students to talk about the future of our planet.
After Earth stars Will Smith and his son Jaden and is set 1,000 years after cataclysmic events forced humans to escape from the planet.
That’s been a topic close to the heart of one of the Google + Hangout participants. Kurzweil has been keen to predict the future of our planet including the rise of nanotechnology that will allow us to treat diseases from within our bodies thanks to tiny robots.
“It looks like great entertainment, but it raises some profound issues (about the future of the planet),” Kurzweil said about After Earth.
Will Smith said he was pleased to see After Earth starting a real discussion about Earth and its future.
“With this film it was such a perfect collision of art entertainment, education and a posing of fantastic questions,” Smith said during hangout. “As an artist, this film does exactly what I always dreamed to be able to do with entertain and to also be able to pose interesting questions.”
Elon Musk, who founded the private spaceflight company SpaceX leads the Tesla electric car company, said the film addresses the kind of issues that humans will face sooner than later.
“I think we want to be a space-faring civilization,” Musk said during the event. “Either we’re a space-faring civilization or we’re going to be bound to the Earth until some kind of extinction event (occurs).”
That idea has been a popular theme in science fiction, with movies like the Planet of the Apes series exploring Earth and the decisions humans have made in its care.
A woman says she eats 2,500 calories a night due to a rare sleep disorder.
Lesley Cusack said she is forced to keep herself on a very strict diet since she simply cannot control the amount of food she consumes while she sleeps. The Warrington, Chesire resident explained that she doesn’t know what she’s eaten until she wakes up in the morning.
Bacon and butter pudding are just a few of the items she has admitted to eating because of the sleep disorder. Cusack said she is known to consume approximately 2,500 in a single night.
“I can only tell by the remains in the morning. Sometimes I’ve found soup in pans, but also in bowls — it all can get rather messy,” the woman explained.
The 55-year-old mother of three said she discovers what she’s eaten the night before by investigating what’s left in her kitchen the following morning. In order to keep her weight under control, she only eats fruits and vegetables during the day. She also recently joined a gym.
Cusack believes she suffers from nocturnal sleep-related eating disorder (NSRED). However, her doctors have been unable to provide a proper explanation for her behavior.
In addition to causing the woman to gain weight, Cusack revealed that she has hurt herself while attempting to prepare and eat the food she searches out during the night. She said she has broken a few teeth during these nocturnal trips to the kitchen.
Dr Paul Reading told the Telegraph that benign sleep walking usually begins during childhood. However, one percent of adults will continue to exhibit symptoms as they get older. He explained that drug treatments are sometimes required to solve the problem.
“A proportion of adult sleep-walkers will eat and even cook during apparent sleep, often consuming foods they would not normally enjoy. Weight gain and guilt are common consequences,” he added.
Cusack is currently visiting a specialist to help solve her problem. She hopes that treatment will help stop her from consuming around 2,500 calories a night while she sleeps.
A praying mantis can catch, kill, and eat an entire hummingbird. No, really. You’re about to see some amazing video evidence.
With the spring migration well underway, people across the country are starting to put up and fill their hummingbird feeders to greet their returning hummingbirds. If you’re wondering if it’s time, it’s probably past time if you live in the south or the west. In fact, those of us who live on the Gulf Coast do just as well to leave the feeders up all year-round.
If you live in the northeast half of the country, you can check out this handy-dandy spring 2013 ruby-throated hummingbird map to decide if you want to go ahead and set out the sweet stuff.
Most die-hard hummingbird hobbyists already know the basics. Don’t use artificial sweetener. Don’t leave old, fermenting sugar water out there to get your hummingbirds drunk and giddy. And, if you want to avoid the constant scuffles between those highly aggressive little mini-birds, then put up more than one feeder.
Bees and wasps, who love sugar water as much as hummingbirds do, are a well-known nuisance. Most of us deal with them by having one feeder, well away from the rest, that we allow the stinging insects to use. Apparently, they learn which feeders are theirs and which feeders result in being chased by angry humans and furious hummingbirds alike.
However, until I got this tweet today from the Audubon Society, I can’t say that I ever tossed and turned at night wondering if a praying mantis would try to catch one of my hummingbirds:
I would have said that the entire hummingbird family, gram for gram, was by far the most aggressive group of animals on the entire planet — and that does include grizzly bears and bad-tempered man-eating tigers.
I wouldn’t have thought that a praying mantis would prove much of a threat. However, after I poked around a little more, I found more evidence that the praying mantis is indeed lurking with evil intent. This one has a kill:
Yikes. Lesson learned. Do not, under any circumstance, humor a praying mantis by allowing it to remain on a hummingbird feeder.
[hummingbird photo courtesy Everafter Images via Creative Commons]
The latest Star Trek Into Darkness TV spot questions Spock’s motives.
Here is a recap of what we know so far about Star Trek Into Darkness. Captain Kirk’s (Chris Pine) superior still thinks he’s too cocky and will eventually lose all control and get everybody killed in the process. There may be a moment that reflects the scene between Spock (Zachary Quinto) and Captain Kirk from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, as the famous Spock line is used. There will be a point where the Enterprise is grounded as Captain Kirk must match wits with the villain John Harrison (Benedict Cumberbatch). Star Trek Into Darkness stars Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Zoe Saldana, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, and John Cho, and is directed by J. J. Abrams.
In this TV spot, John Harrison is playing mind games with Spock, questioning his motives.
The TV spot begins with John Harrison saying, “Mister Spock, the mind of the Enterprise…”
We see Spock giving his full attention to someone or something that has him on edge, and possibly a closeup of John Harrison’s face in black and white.
Harrison continues, “The fearless genius who ensures that a calm force of intelligence guides their every mission…”
We see Spock turning his head to look off to his left, and the crew going about their business as usual as he stares in pure focus at something in front of him.
Harrison speaks throughout, “But look deeper and you will see an outsider who does not belong.”
We see Spock in a space suit probably waiting for something.
“A man of two worlds. This tears him apart, this constant battle between what he thinks and what he feels. What does he do? Does he follow his head, embracing logic and the path of reason, or does he follow his heart, knowing the emotions he cannot control may destroy him?”
The rest of the TV spot is above.
What do you think of the latest TV spot from Star Trek Into Darkness?
Boston Marathon Bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev was receiving welfare benefits up to 2012, Massachusetts officials have confirmed. Members of his family also collected welfare.
The elder Tsarnaev brother, 26, was killed early Friday morning in the midst of a police shootout in Watertown, Mass.
After being initially non-committal, the Massachusetts Office of Health and Human Services officially acknowledged that Tsarnaev was on the taxpayer-supported dole but not when the bombings occurred:
“State officials confirmed last night that Tsarnaev … was receiving benefits along with his wife, Katherine Russell Tsarnaev, and their 3-year-old daughter. The state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services said those benefits ended in 2012 when the couple stopped meeting income eligibility limits. Russell Tsarnaev’s attorney has claimed Katherine — who had converted to Islam — was working up to 80 hours a week as a home health aide while Tsarnaev stayed at home.
“In addition, both of Tsarnaev’s parents received benefits, and accused brother bombers Dzhokhar and Tamerlan were recipients through their parents when they were younger, according to the state. The news raises questions over whether Tsarnaev financed his radicalization on taxpayer money.”
State officials have as yet been unwilling to confirm how much total money in welfare Tsarnaev collected or the specific public assistance programs for which he qualified. Nor have they revealed when he started collecting welfare. Presumably all this information will become public eventually through Freedom of Information.
In the words of another news outlet, “He grew to hate Americans, but that didn’t stop him from living off them.”
Beyond the Tsarnaev case, federal officials reportedly don’t enforce a key provision of current immigration law that can bar entry into this country for those who are likely to be dependent on government assistance (i.e., becoming a “public charge”) rather than become self-supporting. “… in FY 2011, just .068 percent of 10.37 million immigration applicants processed by the State Department were found to be ineligible on the basis of becoming a public charge.”
The Boston suspects’ parents live in Dagestan, a predominantly Muslim province in Russia’s Caucasus, where Islamic militants have waged an insurgency against Russian security forces. Tamerlan Tsarnaev reportedly visited Dagestan last year, but, due to a spelling error, the FBI missed this report originally.
The younger Boston suspect suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his throat and tongue. Dzhokhar has been limited to answering questions with nods and written responses.
Still, the picture that has emerged is that these two Tsarnaev brothers are part of a new Muslim jihadist threat that operates independently of major terrorist groups like al Qaeda. They were “self-radicalized” through Muslim websites focused on the jihadist interpretation of Islam. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev has specifically cited the US war in Iraq as being a primary motivation for the Boston bombing.
New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly believes the Boston Marathon bombing suspect’s motives are particular to a new type of American Muslim jihad attacks rising in the United States:
“I see this as an ongoing pattern. We’ve seen these radicalized young men do, or try to do, similar things. We’ve had 16 plots here against the city, many of them involving young, disaffected men who are committed to killing Americans. What we do see is a shift from the sort of organized, top-down direction than we saw early on after 9/11 from al-Qaida to a more free-form, do-what-you-can approach. [That’s] where individuals will get, in essence, radicalized on the Internet. They usually have someone who is a sanctioner that leads them along or mentors them.’’
What do you think about this new threat posed by American Muslim jihadists?
President Obama’s tattoo plan is designed to backfire.
In an attempt to deter his daughters Malia and Sasha from getting tattoos, the president said that he would get the same body ink that they do to make if a “family tattoo.”
The president, who appeared on Today this morning, said:
“What we’ve said to the girls is, ‘If you guys ever decided you’re going to get a tattoo, then mommy and me will get the exact same tattoo in the same place. And we’ll go on YouTube and show it off as a family tattoo … And our thinking is that might dissuade them from thinking that somehow that’s a good way to rebel.”
But is this really a deterrent? Malia and Sasha now have the power to give their father a tramp stamp. Or, they could decide to employ the greatest defense against mimicking foes and get a tattoo that says “Barack Obama Smells.”
The possibilities really are endless. A teenage girl tattoo is going to look infinitely better on Malia and Sasha then it is going to look on President Obama. And besides, this really is a hollow threat.
What do you think of President Obama’s tattoo plan? Here’s the video of the President discussing his parenting skills on Today.
What do you think of President Obama’s tattoo plan? Do you think it will deter his girl’s from getting tattoos? Do you think Malia and Sasha will get some ink to embarrass their father?
If you were Malia or Sasha, what tattoo would you make your father get?
Eminem is rumored to be releasing an album this summer. However, nobody seems to really know when the new tunes will be available for purchase.
A number of reports have suggested that the rapper’s latest collection of songs will be released at some point after Memorial Day. While some websites claim the date is set for May 28, others believe it will likely drop this July. Nothing official has been confirmed as of this writing.
All of the speculation kicked off earlier this month when Aftermath Entertainment teased on Facebook that something big was coming. This was followed by a post which declared that a new Eminem album was on the way. However, these posts didn’t include a specific release date.
The only thing for certain at the moment is that the new album will likely drop at some point this year. Shady Records president Paul Rosenberg said fans should expect the new songs to be released during 2013. Beyond that, nothing specific has been confirmed.
Rosenberg explained:
“We fully expect to be releasing a new Eminem album in 2013. He’s been working on it for some time. It’s safe to say that it will be post-Memorial Day at some point, but we’re not exactly sure when. We’ve got some dates locked in for him to perform live in Europe in August, so we’re trying to see what else lines up.”
Those tour dates the Shady Records president referred to include the Reading and Leeds festivals. If Eminem plans to tour the US at some point this year, then he’s yet to reveal any possible dates or venues.
Detroit radio station Channel 955 posted on its Facebook page that Eminem fans should expect the new album to drop on July 2. Although whoever released the information seemed pretty sure of the fact, nothing has been confirmed by Eminem or his record company. Since summer is rapidly approaching, something official will surely be announced in the coming weeks.
Taiwan has reported the first H7N9 bird flu case outside of mainland China. A 53-year-old businessman is in serious condition in the hospital.
The man recently returned from the Chinese city of Suzhou, according to health officials. China already has 108 confirmed cases of the new bird flu strain since it appeared in March.
The Taiwanese man was taken to the hospital three days after he arrived in the country from Suzhou via Shanghai. The country’s Health Minister Chiu Wen-ta assured that the ill man was not in contact with any poultry and did not eat any undercooked birds while in China.
The first bird flu case outside China is likely worrying to experts, who are still trying to learn more about the deadly H7N9 strain. The World Health Organization (WHO) has already said that the new strain appears to spread more easily from birds to humans than it does from human to human contact.
WHO flu expert Dr. Keji Fukuda stated at a news conference in Beijing, where new cases were reported last week, “This is definitely one of the most lethal influenza viruses we have seen so far. When we look at influenza viruses this is an unusually dangerous virus.”
Fukuda added that the WHO team has just started its investigation into how the H7N9 virus made the jump from birds to humans. He added that, based on the evidence, “this virus is more easily transmissible from poultry to humans than H5N1.” H5N1 is the previous strain spread in 2003.
Since the H5N1 strain was discovered 10 years ago, it has killed 360 people worldwide. Most of those who died came into contact with infected birds.
WHO officials added that they are continuing to monitor the new virus strain closely to see if it could spark a global pandemic. However, there is little evidence so far that it could spread easily between humans. Of the now 103 confirmed bird flu cases, 22 people have died.
The Boston Marathon Bombings could have been a just a large-scale training exercise or drill, according to controversial Florida Atlantic University Professor James Tracy. The April 15 bombings at the marathon finish line killed three including an 8-year-old boy and injured about 200 persons.
Tracy, a media and journalism professor at FAU, wrote a long piece about the possibility — according to him — of a Boston Marathon Bombings conspiracy perpetrated by play actors setting off non-lethal smoke bombs on his personal blog called Memory Hole. The professor wrote, in part:
“The corporate media proceeded in lockstep with dutifully propagating the authorized narrative of a combat-like environment at the marathon finish line …As with previous terrorist bombings, one must ask whether the ordnance described by police is in fact capable of wreaking the havoc that it purportedly caused. …In short, the event closely resembles a mass-casualty drill, which for training purposes are designed to be as lifelike as possible. Since it is mediated, however, and primarily experienced from afar through the careful assemblage of words, images, and the official pronouncements and commentary of celebrity journalists, it has the semblance of being for all practical purposes ‘real.’
Added Tracy: “Reports arising in the Boston bombing’s aftermath suggest how local authorities in possible coordination with the Department of Homeland Security were in the process of carrying out such drills, complete with the announcement of bombs being detonated and bomb-sniffing dogs present at the start and finish lines.”
“… photographic evidence of the event suggests the possibility of play actors getting into position after the detonation of what may in fact have been a smoke bomb or similarly benign explosive.”
Tracy argues that the bombing scheme was concocted by the government and corporate media as a ploy to further clamp down on civil liberties.
Florida Atlantic University recently made news for an entirely different reason when a student was suspended after refusing a professor’s directive to stomp on a Jesus sign.
Do you think there is something in the water at Florida Atlantic University?
Penn Badgley is certainly in the middle of having a moment. Getting his start on teenage fodder like Gossip Girl and John Tucker Must Die, the actor is taking a risky step outside of his usual repertoire with Greetings From Tim Buckley. Seen as one of the buzzed about performances of the Tribeca Film Festival, Badgley is deserving of the attention just for putting himself in the vulnerable position of playing the legendary musician Jeff Buckley.
What’s intriguing about Badgley’s performance is that he does an enormous amount of legwork as a musician for the film. A particular scene in a record store sees Badgley riff just as Buckley would, which gives a familiar sense that a legend simply unaware by the talent he possesses is on the precipice of something grander. That quality and the natural naivete Badgley has in his grasp is what pushes the film along.
What Penn has to his advantage is the film’s narrative. A story that’s more about the connection between an estranged father and son, this is by no means a literal interpretation of a Jeff Buckley biopic. In many ways, the audience is invited to efface any knowledge they may know about Buckley. Pinpointing what he meant to people proves to be a hard thing to reckon with and isn’t the main story for Greetings. Instead Badgley is left to examine reminiscent traits of a young man who hasn’t yet hit his stride as a musician while simultaneously having to deal with being in his father’s shadow.
The Inquisitr’sNiki Cruz sat down with Penn Badgley to discuss the task of taking on a complex legend and the connection between father and son.
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THE INQUISITR: Do you have a favorite Jeff Buckley song?
PENN BADGLEY: His live cover of Strange Fruit initially turned me on to him and it will always be my favorite. It’s not written by him but I think he was a different kind of artist where he wasn’t a typical writer. He was first and foremost an interpreter.
THE INQUISITR: By any chance, did you read David Browne’s book Dream Brother? Both the film and the book are similar in their narratives.
BADGLEY: Is it a parallel story, from what I gather? I’ve only read A Pure Drop.
THE INQUISITR: This movie is a turning point in Jeff Buckley’s life where he decides he wants to become a musician. What was the turning point for you?
BADGLEY: My turning point when I decided to be an actor was through music. I always loved to sing, and I did musical theater when I was 9. I was living in the sticks in Washington State and it was like a social outlet. It was a happy accident.
THE INQUISITR: You’re also a songwriter, so did anything about this film influence how you write songs or play music?
BADGLEY: Yeah. I think I was playing my own music, and writing my own music more than I ever had while also taking the role on. It influenced me in a lot of ways. In things that are not only musical but as an actor, and creatively for life directions I may take in the future. It influenced me in a lot of ways that I think that I will only start to see as time goes on.
THE INQUISITR: You brought up your own music. Any chance we’ll see that?
BADGLEY: Honestly I don’t want to talk about it too much because this is me as an actor. Music has always been first and foremost my creative passion. As much as I would love to sit and talk about it seems almost, like I don’t have any material to show for it.
THE INQUISITR: Younger generations aren’t as familiar with Tim’s music as they might be with Jeff’s. Whatever your previous knowledge of Tim’s was did you want to abstain from listening because you wanted to portray that barrier of father and son?
BADGLEY: It’s funny, during the shoot I didn’t listen to Jeff or Tim. Before I listened to both. I listened to Jeff. What I learned about Tim’s life beforehand moved me more than what I found out about Jeff’s. I can’t really explain it but I just felt like I understood Jeff in a way. When I learned about Tim that gave me the kind of sympathy that Jeff needed to develop for his father, or that he is developing for his father. He certainly resists that sympathy that he might have, but he realizes that his father is human, that’s a part of the story that we’re telling so I did the same with Tim in a way. Then there was a huge part of it where I wasn’t thinking about either.
THE INQUISITR: Given that you’re playing a person that lived as opposed to an entirely fictional character, while meeting people that worked with Jeff, how did you serve some of that to use or not use?
BADGLEY: It was a fuzzy line to walk.
THE INQUISITR: You worked with Gary Lucas, who worked heavily with Jeff.
BADGLEY: Yeah and in the way that we prepared for that scene they were playing the beginnings of a song that Gary had written called “Rise Up To Be”. Gary and I just played together. We just would jam. That was crazy because we were basically doing exactly what they were doing. That was encouraging. People tell me stories. I found the stories [PAUSES] actually sometimes I would be like “Just stop.” Sometimes it just felt like I was stepping on [PAUSES] his territory in a way. It’s an interpretation much in the same way he would interpret music.
THE INQUISITR: There’s so many layers to who Jeff was as a person. There’s a lot of idiosyncrasies that he naturally possesses. How did you prepare?
BADGLEY: I had this mental list that I couldn’t articulate. He was feral, and feline, and feminine, and agile in a strange way, but wasn’t athletic, but then he was athletic. The stamina he had to sing for hours on end the way that he would. I tried to endow myself with them and evoke them. His speaking voice was an octave higher than mine. I could have chosen [SPEAKS HIGHER] “Hi, I’m Jeff.” You can hear tiny little hints of that in the movie, and I’m trying to do this cadence and it’s not f–king working. So I tried to say, “What if he had a deep voice? Would anyone notice the difference? What really matters here? Am I trying to mimic him?”
THE INQUISITR: Everyone has a different narrative of who Jeff was as a person. Did your opinion of Jeff change while you were making the film?
BADGLEY: Yeah, that’s interesting. I think I sometimes struggled with this notion of him being such a romantic and the reality. Where we are in his life telling this story is when he was very shy and introverted, and quiet, and morose. He could melt into a wall and people would never notice he was there, but then he would have this ability to knock a room with a single utterance. I always battled with, “What was he really?” What’s anyone really? Sometimes I feel like he was just this ratty kid. Other times I feel like he was a God, at times I feel like he was a lover, and then I feel like he had no f–king idea what he was doing. I think I struggled more with him after the film. For a year I didn’t see the movie and it was pretty intense.
THE INQUISITR: Did it make you reflect on your own personal relationship with your father?
BADGLEY: I would say doing the things that I had to do to sympathize with Tim, I also sympathized with my father. In some ways, I wasn’t aware at the time but I can see now that it did bring me closer to him. I actually have a great relationship with him now, and I wouldn’t say that we always have. When he came to the screening in Toronto, that was really moving. The relationship between any father and son is a potent one.
THE INQUISITR: The record store scene was your audition tape. How did you come up with that idea? Was it hard to shoot?
BADGLEY: It was scripted but it said, “He does this song, he does this song, he then does the entire album, it’s beautiful!” [LAUGHS] That was one thing that I shared with Jeff. It’s a very small thing. That was part of him that I understood in the creative retention of songs, and lyrics, and melodies. I knew most of all of that already, and if I hadn’t I would have been f**ked. Initially when I was about to do it I was like, “What? How am I going to do that?” So I just listened to the songs, and I was like, “I guess that’s all I can do. I can’t practice, really.” We did three takes, and each one was really different. I remember when it was over with, I was like, “Thank God! Thank God I pulled that off!” [LAUGHS].
GREETINGS FROM TIM BUCKLEY IS CURRENTLY PLAYING AT THE TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL.
A dorm room rifle factory bust at New York University (NYU) has resulted in the arrest of 20-year-old psychology student Bernard Goal. According to New York media, a maintenance worker spotted the weapons and called the cops, which resulted in Goal being arrested on Monday night at his dorm.
The young man hails from Sugar Land, Texas, and there have been breathless reports in the media of how his Facebook page is “packed” with scary photographs of Goal and friends waving weapons.
Well, yes and no.
A photo posted on several sites around the internet appears to date from late 2011 when he was working at a sports center. And his Facebook page is even more packed with his obvious worship of cars. To a southerner, it doesn’t look particularly out there. It just looks like a young man’s page.
In any event the so-called weapons are air rifles — pellet guns — that Goal allegedly built himself from parts he bought online. He sold the completed guns for as much as $500.
“These are just Airsofts. This is no big deal. I modify them and make them look real. I sell them online,” he reportedly told prosecutors, apparently unaware that he was admitting to a crime.
I’m sure your third grade teacher will speak up here to explain that you can put an eye out with a spitball. Yes, sure, it’s possible to hurt someone with an air gun at close range. But the so-called dorm room rifle factory is hardly the second coming of Al Qaeda.
He may not have known that owning or selling air rifles and replicas is illegal in New York City limits. This kind of entrepreneurship is probably just a kid being a 20-year-old in Sugar Land.
But he knows he has a problem now. His lawyer Ramsey Hinkle said that Bernard Goal has already pled guilty to five misdemeanor counts and is ready to get back to his studies.
The next time he starts an online business, it probably won’t be a dorm room fake rifle factory.
[air gun pellets courtesy Kallerna via Wikipedia Commons]
Scientists surveying an ancient lake have discovered a mysterious structure in its depths.
The investigators made the discovery while scanning the bottom of the Sea of Galilee in Israel using sonar equipment. Although the discovery was made almost a decade ago, scientists still aren’t quite sure what it is.
Tel Aviv University geophysicist Shmuel Marco explained that the bottom of a lake is generally very smooth. However, the floor of this ancient lake contains a large unidentified mound. Scientists believe the structure was created on dry land before it was submerged.
As for how it was discovered, Marco added that the team kind of “bumped into it.”
The cone-shaped structure is believed to weigh a whopping 60,000 tons. While scientists aren’t quite sure what it was used for prior to being submerged, one theory suggests that it could be some sort of memorial or marker.
Unfortunately for researchers, the location of the structure in the ancient lake has made it difficult to properly determine what it is.
“If the site was inland, it would be much easier to investigate. By now we would have excavated, but because it’s submerged we haven’t yet been able to. It is a much harder process, both physically and financially. It is very expensive to raise support for such an enterprise.”
University of Haifa archaeologist Dani Nadel believes the mysterious mound could be some sort of ceremonial structure or a ramp. However, Nadel doesn’t think anyone should draw a definitive conclusion until more research it conducted.
The archaeologist added:
“The truth is we don’t know how it was constructed, what its exact age is, how it was used, or how long ago it was used. We have several speculations, but we don’t know much except that it’s there and it’s huge.”
Although very little is currently known about the structure located at the bottom of the ancient lake, scientists believe it was made by human hands.
xo 
