The latest installment of the popular Twilight saga is set to hit theaters November 20th, and fans of all ages are almost foaming at the mouth for a sneak peek inside the lives of the actors portraying the now-familiar characters of Bella, Edward and Jacob, along with many others.
For months now, it’s been reported that “Bella” actress Kristen Stewart and “Edward” actor Robert Pattinson were romantically linked both on and off the screen. But with “New Moon” just around the corner, those rumors are quickly coming to light, as Kristen speaks out vehemently about the relationship with her co-star.
When Kristen spoke recently to Entertainment Weekly about her “New Moon” relationship, she came across with all attitude, as she was quoted as saying, “I probably would’ve answered [questions about our relationship] if people hadn’t made such a big deal about it. But I’m not going to give the fiending an answer.”
The trailers for the Twilight movie are some of the most-watched right now, as fans are anxiously anticipating author Stephanie Meyer’s big-screen version of some of the most memorable characters in recent pop culture history.
DWTS Recap
As the latest season of Dancing with the Stars rolls on, the popular celebrity show has entered into its double-elimination phase, where two couples per show are going home now, as opposed to just one unlucky star and their partner. Eventually, one dancing duo will win the show, but until then you’d better vote hard to keep your favorites on the stage.
After seven weeks of competitive dancing, Tuesday night saw the unsurprising elimination of two of the weakest links left, football star Michael Irvin and his partner Anna Demidova, and celebrity chef Mark Dacascos plus professional partner Lacey Schwimmer. Irvin and his partner had the lowest combined score after their performance Monday night, based on numbers from both the judges and the votes from viewers alike.
Dacascos danced the samba most of the week with a different partner, Lacey having been under the weather and out most of the week. While she reunited with him for the final samba they would dance, Mark admits to being under stress trying to rehearse a routine with a partner that was new for him. Irvin danced a “gracious” and “brilliant” foxtrot, according to the judges, but it wasn’t enough to save him in the end.
Mark and Michael join the growing list of celebrities who have been booted from this season’s show, including UFC fighter Chuck Liddell and actress Melissa Joan Hart.
An Explicit End to a Long Year: Carrie Prejean Update
From winning Miss California and coming in second at the Miss America pageant to being stripped of her title and walking away without any money or dignity, it has been a long year for Carrie Prejean.
The beauty queen’s problems started during the interview portion of the Miss America pageant. Prejean admitted that she believed marriage should be between a man and a woman, leading to speculation that her answer cost her the crown. Prejean, however, rallied around her new cause, becoming a speaker on the topic.
Though this turn may have been good for her personally, the Miss California directors were not thrilled about her lack of focus on her title duties. Couple this with reports of racy photos from modeling shots, and Prejean eventually lost her crown.
Lawsuits inevitably followed but there was one more negative turn for Prejean yet to endure: a sex tape. Though not released publicly, the tape is said to be a solo act and especially explicit. Its discovery took the gusto out of Prejean’s lawsuit, and she settled without receiving any compensation. Though some have still stood by Prejean, there is no doubt that this roller coaster of a year has not been her best.
Two drugs commonly diagnosed to treat urinary tract infections in pregnant women have been found to increase the chance of multiple birth defects in their developing fetuses.
In a study recently completed by the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, part of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), sulfonamides (sulfa drugs) and nitrofurantoins are shown to increase the risk of several serious birth defects.
Anencephaly, a fatal condition in which the brain and skull are malformed, was determined to be three times more likely in the child of a woman taking sulfa drugs during gestation); other defects, including hypoplastic left heart syndrome, coarctation of the aorta, diaphragmatic hernia (causing breathing distress), and traverse limb deficiency (shortened limbs) were also identified.
Women who take nitrofurantoins during pregnancy increase the risk of serious birth defects affecting the eyes and heart, as well as cleft palate. The CDC study shows the likelihood of these conditions to be doubled or tripled by gestational use of nitrofurantoins.
Because studies of drug effects in pregnant women are limited by ethical and medical concerns, this CDC study which links two antibiotics to birth defects is an eye-opening, unprecedented warning to the medical community.
While the CDC is quick to point out that, even with a two or three-fold increase, the risk of any of the birth defects pinpointed in the study is minimal, responsible physicians and expecting parents now have the ability to eliminate the use of these two potentially dangerous drugs.
Canadian cell phone consumers now have a hot new acrynim to learn, HSPA.
Following in Rogers footsteps, this week both Bell and Telus will launch thier own HSPA network.
HSPA which stands for High Speed Packet Access, allows mobile phones to download data at speeds up to 21 megabytes per second — speeds which are faster than many home connections.
Canada’s three large wireless ISPs are all now on board this new technology which promises to make smart phones more exciting and powerful.
“The future of wireless begins [Thursday],” said Joe Natale, senior vice-president at Telus. “If you look at the capabilities being offered to Canadians, it’s quite significant.”
Under ideal conditions, an mp3 file and can be downloaded almost instantly, a video can be played continuously without interruption and a heavy file, like a movie, is downloaded quickly.
The HSPA is not new, as Rogers (TSX: RCI.B), like other companies in the world, has had its network in service for some time.
Bell (TSX: BCE) and Telus (TSX: T) have however decided to launch their own HSPA network, enabling them to sell the popular iPhone device from Apple and other similar phones.
The new Bell network was put into operation Wednesday and that Telus will be Thursday.
Each of these companies now trying to convince the public that its HSPA service is the best.
Rogers says they offer the largest selection of phones compatible with HSPA on a network that has been proven.
“Rogers customers can select from an even greater [italics added] lineup of the latest wireless devices — the widest selection by far in Canada — with the introduction of new smart phones designed to keep Canadians connected on Canada’s most reliable network,” the company said in a released statement Wednesday.
Bell is promoting an option for video calls, which takes advantage of the high-speed connection, including an exclusive Facebook application that enables video calls between a user and a user cell phone.
Telus claims about it that its broad offer HSPA network for the first time Internet access to many residents of rural communities not served previously.
Personal computers and laptops can also connect to an HSPA network to enjoy high speed, but it is a more expensive option, especially for users who download lots of data and use lots of bandwidth.
The new Twilight: New Moon trailer shows why vampires probably shouldn’t throw birthday parties for their mortal girlfriends! The clip premiered on MTV and shows what lead up to the already infamous paper cut. The new clip opens with Edward and Bella celebrating her birthday with his family. The happy little clan is enjoying the evening as the gift giving begins. Rosalie even gives Bella gift, but her disdain couldn’t be more evident. Emmett’s gift prompts what will soon become one of those movie catch phrases, “Don’t hate the truck!” Finally Edward’s parents have a gift to “brighten her day” because she has been “looking kinda pale lately.” It all goes wrong when Bella, struggling to open the gift, cuts her finger. The trailer cuts to Jasper as the blood lust rises in his eyes. Edward tenses and prepares to protect his lady love from the newly turned vampire…and the trailer ends!
Luckily for us, a previous trailer had shown Jasper attacking Bella and Edward fighting off the young vampire. It is this incident that sets the stage for Edward to leave Bella because he fears he cannot protect her. The film is scheduled to be released November 20th, 2009. There are some who wonder if they will see the whole movie in trailer form before the movie even opens, but this clip just leads up to what we already know will happen. New Moon fans are feeling a little frenzied themselves as they feed on the 60 second clips until they can get the full meal on November 20th!
Kirstie Alley has signed a deal to appear in 10 episodes of a reality show based on her life. The shows will run for half hour, starting in 2010 on the A&E network. The show will go inside Alley’s home to show how she is raising two teenagers, trying to work in Hollywood, taking care of a handful of animals and struggling to lose weight. She starred in the semi-reality show “Fat Actress,” in 2005. The show did not last long. Her weight gains and losses have been in the public eye for years.
She was the spoke’s model for Jenny Craig, and managed to drop 83 pounds. She started gaining it back and was let go from her role as a spokes model. In her new reality show, she will once again try and lose weight while in the public eye. Alley who is now 58 years old hopes to lose the weight for good. Alley has always been very candid and frank about her weight issues, which encouraged A&E to seek out the star.
Sesame Street is the American television series (shown in Canada too) which has been pioneer in education for teaching young children. Combining learning and entertainment. Today Sesame Street celebrates forty years.
Originally the project include Jim Henson. He created the famous puppet-characters of Bert and Ernie, Cooke Monster,, Big Bird, Kermit the Frog, Grover and of course Elmo.
The show is produced in the United States by the company Sesame Workshop, formerly known as the Children’s Television Workshop (CTW), founded by Joan Ganz Cooney and Ralph Rogers.
Doodle Sesame Street
Google has paid tribute to the show by creating their famous doodles, incorporating the key characters. The Sesame Street doodle is visible in South Africa, Palestine, Belgium, Croatia, Egypt, United Arab Emirates, Spain, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Oman, Philippines, Poland, Qatar.
Bell and Telus this week will launch new HSPA wireless networks. Both companies are proud to announce they will be launching four months earlier than expected.
Bell and Telus, increasingly inseparable, pass international standard HSPA +, fully compatible with GSM networks in over 200 countries. This is a first for them since they had until now favored the established systems from the CDMA standard, popular in North America, but virtually unknown elsewhere. This puts Bell and Telus in direct competition with Rogers and new players such as Videotron, which will launch its new network next spring. This migration also allows Bell and Telus to sell the hugely popular iPhone to their customers because this device is only available in HSPA.
Bell and Telus probably wanted to take advantage of the holiday season to offer the iPhone to their customers and retain them for the duration of the three-year contracts that accompany the purchase of this device. Bell and Telus also hope to take over all new consumers who are preparing to compete with established companies in the coming months. Bell will also benefit from the visibility it has as a sponsor of the Olympics in February to promote his new offer and take advantage of all the calls that will be between Vancouver and other countries.
All this is fine, but one thing eludes me entirely. Bell and Telus have chosen to offer tomorrow access to the network almost anywhere in Canada except Quebec and the Ottawa area to be served until the first quarter of 2010 by a slower HSPA network. The remote parts of northern Alberta or the coast of Newfoundland have access to the new ultra-fast network, but not us. I believe that it is precisely in Quebec, where competition is most intense with the arrival of Videotron in this market.
Since the appointment of George Cope at the helm, Bell seems like a player less lethargic and less defensive than with Michael Sabia. Bell became the owner of The Source stores and 750 stores will cease from January to sell subscriptions for Rogers and Videotron terminals in 150 branches in Quebec. They bought the half that did not belong to Virgin Mobile in Canada. Bell TV – formerly ExpressVu – I think also more dynamic in this market. In short, the old lion roars yet.
The old lion still must deal with a poor image. It’s clients made 1239 complaints last year to the Complaints Commissioner, substantially more than Rogers and Telus. Videotron, which makes life hard in Quebec has in turn generated only 72 complaints. Besides quality and network performance, it is here that early 2010 will be the tough battle to win the heart of Quebec.
Putting Quebec and Ottawa in the bottom of its priorities for the establishment of the new network does not appear to me a sign in the right direction.
The latest of the Twilight is set to release on November 20, 2009. New Moon is the second part to the continuing Twilight story line.
The movie continues on with the two lovers Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Bella a human teenager who falls in love with Edward a vampire. The struggles that have already captured the hearts of millions continues in this latest saga; Twilight: New Moon.
On November 13, 2009 Blockbuster video plans to give away tickets to visitors at its release party. The tickets are for the advance screening of the movie that will take place in San Jose, California on November 19, 2009. Many people will receive two tickets for the screening of the new film.
In this continuing tale of romance, Bella finds herself celebrating her 18th birthday with her beloved Edward and his family when trouble happens from a simple paper-cut. Bella’s dreams come crashing around her and she finds her life turned upside down with new twists to her fate and challenges that eventually lead her to many different changes to friends.
In 2008 the first movie Twilight gained huge popularity with over 300 million in box office sales, the saga is sure to receive more with the gaining popularity of this incredible story line. This movie series is not only popular with the teenagers but adults from all walks of life as well.