Mary Travers and Henry Gibson have passed away

Two items of sad news breaking this morning.The first is that veteran actor Henry Gibson has died at age 73. He was one of the original cast members of Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In, where he made regular appearances as the flower-bearing poet who would stroll onstage and deliver a funny poem. He also appeared during each episode's "party scene" as a priest-type character...

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Of one accord no longer? Dissent amock in Robertson cult

Odd things are afoot regarding local cult leader Johnny Robertson and the "Church of Christ in Name Only".Numerous e-mails came in Tuesday evening about that day's edition of The Local Buzz on WGSR. The entire last half-hour of the show consisted of honked-off viewers calling out general manager Charles Roark on his blatant pro-Robertson bias. And one Internet forum devoted to Henry County, Virginia issues - which Johnny Robertson had publicly...

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Why are local law enforcment agencies deploying high-tech sonic weapons against citizens?

Call it what you may, a law of either history or human nature. Anything can be used as a weapon... and that a thing intended as a weapon will be used as a weapon.Concordantly, there is no reason to produce a weapon unless there is a determined possibility of using that weapon.The San Diego Sheriff's Department is now in possession of a Long Range Acoustical Device or LRAD:...

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Summer 2011 will bring us the BATTLESHIP movie

Yeah, a big-budget blockbuster movie based on the classic Milton Bradley navy game. Read all about it here.And the only reason why I'm posting about this at all is because I'm both incredibly busy with projects for clients on this end, and it's a horridly slow news day.(Can't help but wonder if Hollywood will next threaten us with Connect Four: The Movi...

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English schoolkids vote Marcus the lamb to the slaughterhouse

(Not Marcus after slaughter and sectioning, but an incredible simulation)Elementary students in Kent, Great Britain have elected to send a lamb they reared as a school project off to be slaughtered and rendered into succulent ribs and chops.The decision to dispatch the lamb, which the students had named Marcus, has met with outcry from "grown-ups"...Marcus the six-month-old...

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Today's chapter of "When DVRs Go Nuts"

So last night I set my DVR to record Quarantine: the horror movie that came out last year.This morning, I discovered that my DVR had recorded something, but it wasn't Quarantine at all.Instead, it chose to record... Yentl.YENTL?!?!?Oy vey...

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House of Reps restricts Presidential insults

Every time I read a story like this (getting to be all too often these days) the first thing that comes into mind is that line by Tommy Lee Jones in No Country for Old Men: "Who ARE these people?!?"Now it's Louise Slaughter, Chairwoman of the House Rules Committee of the United States House of Representatives. Politico is reporting that Slaughter has implemented some new guidelines for decorum among members of the House, particularly in regard to...

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Taking showers could harm your health

No, not in the Psycho/Bates Motel sorta way (thankfully).However, according to new research dirty shower heads can be an active breeding ground for Mycobacterium avium: a bacteria responsible for lung disease more common than tuberculosis in developed countries (which are more likely to have modern plumbing comforts like hot showers). Head researcher Professor Norman Bates...

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Teaser poster for TOY STORY 3

Yup, that's a teaser poster for Toy Story 3, sho' 'nuff.The adventures of Woody and Buzz and their compatriots continues on June 18th, 20...

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The photographs of stormchaser Jim Reed

Jim Reed may have the most exciting job on the planet. He gets to capture images of intense meteorological events, like this photograph made less than 500 feet from a tornado...Click here for more of Reed's pictures of wild weather taken across the United Stat...

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Patrick Swayze has passed away

The very sad news breaking this hour that Patrick Swayze has died at age 57 following a long and hard struggle with pancreatic cancer.Swayze was no doubt one of the more versatile actors of the past few decades. He shined in every told that he took (yeah even as a drag queen in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar: a film that I will admit to having watched once...

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Fifth INDIANA JONES movie... is REALLY happening?!

So sayeth Harrison Ford, adding that he's already getting in shape and that work on a new Indy movie has progressed further than most of us have suspected..."The story for the new 'Indiana Jones' is in the process of taking form," Ford told France's Le Figaro. "Steven Spielberg, George Lucas and myself are agreed on what the fifth adventure will concern, and George is actively...

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The 20 most bizarre Craigslist ads

Pope hats? Needs woman to sit in bathtub of spaghetti? Autographed copies of Plato's Republic? They're on Craigslist bay-bee! (click here for the song by "Weird Al" Yankovic)No really, they are. Here are the twenty bizarriest Craigslist advertisements ever (or at least so far), including one for a duck mask ("Hey I got it on my big head, so it works that way") and another...

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Crystal Lee Sutton - inspiration for NORMA RAE - has passed away

It's a sad irony that late on Friday night this past weekend I wound up watching Norma Rae, the 1979 movie about a woman in a southern factory town who defies her employers by becoming a union organizer. It was on one of the channels coming in from my digital satellite service. I'd seen it plenty enough before, but this was the first time that I felt led to research the...

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Unbelievably screwy e-mails I've received today

Here are three e-mails from two different senders that landed in my inbox within a few hours of each other earlier this morning.Here's the first one. Obviously it's a Nigerian scam e-mail, like the one about "RANKLE Jones The Golfer 'Film Production'" (that I'm still laughing about)...DATE: 13 Sept 2009.Dear customer,You have a Package that is registered with us for shipping. However, thecontent is a Bank Draft worth is $886,000 USD (Eight Hundred...

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Algae-powered car attempting to cross America on 25 gallons of fuel

The Algaeus (pictured at right) is said to be the world's first fuel-powered vehicle running on algae. The other notable components of the Algaeus are a nickel metal hydride battery and an electrical plug. There are no other modifications made to its gasoline engine. It's currently attempting to cross the United States from coast to coast... on just 25 gallons of fuel!Read...

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Scientists levitate mouse with magnets

Sounds like a Marvel Comic character in the making, doesn't it?Scientists working for NASA have created a device which uses magnetic fields to levitate small animals (in this case, a three-week old mouse) in an effort to simulate and study various amounts of gravity.Click here for more about Magneto-Mou...

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