Spore 'Anti-Christian'?

How did this cute game tee everybody off?

Spore, the newest game from the guy who created The Sims lets you build a creature from scratch and help it grow from grunting animal to a civilized space farer. So how has this cute and bloodless game caused as much controversy as Grand Theft Auto? Spore's been call anti-religious, over-protected and just plain rude.

We outline the biggest controversies around the game and then, in the game's defense, offer 10 solid reasons why Spore is the one game you'll want to try this year.

Spore's Declared Anti-Christian

An anonymous religious blogger created a site called AntiSpore and claimed that "Electronic Arts ... biggest attack on Christian values to date will not be tolerated." Even though the site turned out to be a hoax, Spore's creator, Will Wright says that players with either evolution or creationist views would find that Spore could accommodate both since the game's starts with a single creature and doesn't go into details on how that creature got there. Wright also says that a group of militant atheists were even more vocal in the fact that evolution wasn't stressed enough in the final game.

When Three Installs Ain't Enough

Early adopters of Spore began complaining after discovering that they could only install the game three times. While most players would only install the game once, a bunch of gamers screamed that the Digital Rights Management (DRM) scheme used to prevent piracy should be scrapped and players should be allowed to install it as many times as they wanted. Several creative gamers even created creatures that formed the phrase "EA Sux" in protest. After someone cracked another of the game's security features, the game turned into BitTorrent's most downloaded (and pirated) game of all time. Eventually, EA relented and said that it would soon allow up to five installations of the game.

The Tools of Creation Stir Up Controversy

Giving any creative tool to gamers who still laugh at the sight of private parts is like giving a blowtorch to a newborn baby. Spore's Creature Creator became that blowtorch as players made creatures that looked a lot like "private parts." Conservative media, still gleefully reeling after the Janet Jackson affair, quickly jumped on the bandwagon to decry the content. Thankfully, Spore players can easily opt to not download such creatures to protect younger players.

The Sims Guy Created Spore

Will Wright, best known as the creative genius behind The Sims and SimCity, made Spore. Does that mean that Spore is like The Sims or SimCity? No. But Wright has a way of making seemingly mundane tasks into highly addictive (and best selling) experiences. Creating a single celled creature and evolving it into a traveling space troop seems like a tough sell. Then again who would have thought that a game about controlling a Sim as it eats, sleeps and poops would become the biggest selling game of all time? See, genius.

Creations that Grandma Will Love

Before Spore arrived, EA released Spore Creature Creator. The simple tool allowed users to build their own creature with a limited number of parts (legs, arms, snouts and the like). Its fun for everyone and so easy, even your grandma will start sending you digital postcards to show off her new and slightly more loved offspring.

Battles Without the Bloody Bits

Offering up five distinct games in one, Spore's combat system is a bloodless affair as your creature makes more creatures, which beat up or eat up others and eventually evolves into the next game. Sure, a pacifist family member can go vegetarian and make alliances with other tribes and evolve that way, but where's the fun in that? Still, Spore's combat is so light and bloodless, that an episode of Tom & Jerry might be considered ultraviolence in comparison.

Rewards Upon Rewards

Beating a level is always satisfying in Spore, but the greatest reward is that a creature's creator is able to watch as its offspring grow up. If that isn't your thing, hundreds of included achievement rewards offer badges for simply beating a level to the seemingly impossible task of playing one game from beginning to end in a single session. Sure, it's still a game but watching your creatures go from teasers to freezers just makes you love them that much more.

Space: Spore's Finale Rocks

No level is more satisfying than the Space stage. In it, your creature's civilization heads to the stars, using SETI to detect radio signs of intelligent life. On planets with intelligent life, you can buy items at lower prices and selling them for higher prices on other worlds. On worlds without life, you can add atmosphere and colonies to branch out your civilization's reach as you abduct creatures and plants to place on other worlds you might own. Of course, other creatures try to shoot you down but the thrill of making jumps around the galaxy never gets old.

Welcome to Planet Facebook

One of the most alluring parts of Spore is that planets are populated with creatures from other players through the Spore network. That means that your favorite creature might exist elsewhere in the Spore universe. Checking out a creature's stats is done by accessing the in-game Sporepedia where you can see a picture of that creature, who created it and what skills it has. Of course, you can use the Sporepedia to look back into each evolution of your creature. "Awww, remember when our Tigren got horns?"

Basic Mousing Around

You'll need a keyboard to name and describe your creature but the rest of the game can be played entirely from a mouse. That means that just about anyone can play. Click on your creature, click on an edible plant to eat, click on a creature you want to battle or clicking on a planet you want to purchase is all done with your mouse (or other pointing device). With all that simplicity, it does make us wonder why Spore didn't make it to Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360...

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

America's Worst Breakfast Foods

Posted Wed, Sep 17, 2008, 11:50 am PDT

By David Zinczenko

It’s hard to overestimate the importance of eating breakfast. Studies show that people who take time for a morning meal consume fewer calories over the course of the day, have stronger cognitive skills, and are 30 percent less likely to be overweight or obese. Beyond that, people who skip breakfast are more likely to drink alcohol and smoke, and they’re less likely to exercise.

But just because breakfast is the most important meal of the day doesn’t grant you permission to go into a feeding frenzy. But that’s exactly what many of the country’s most popular breakfast joints are setting you up for, by peddling fatty scrambles, misguided muffins, and pancakes that look like manhole covers.

These foods are loaded with unhealthy fats, added sugars, and refined carbohydrates, which catapult your blood sugar, sap your energy levels, and tell your body to store fat.

To help you avoid the morning mishaps, we searched out the good, the bad, and the greasy, and uncovered some of the worst breakfast foods in America. We’ve presented a sampling of the worst offenders below. It’s like a lineup down at the local police station, except in this case, they’re all guilty as charged.

Worst Side Dish
Burger King Hash Browns (large)
620 calories
40 g fat (11 g saturated; 13 g trans)
1,200 mg sodium
60 g carbs

Yes, you’re ingesting more than a meal’s worth of calories from a side dish, but the real cause for concern here is that these little potato cakes pack seven times more trans fats than you’re supposed to eat all day! Until BK learns to cut out the partially hydrogenated oils, avoid encounters with potatoes of any kind at that fatty food joint.

Eat This Instead!
Burger King Egg & Cheese Croissan’wich
300 calories
17 g fat (6 g saturated; 2 g trans)
740 mg sodium
26 g carbs

Worst Breakfast Sandwich
Hardee’s Monster Biscuit
710 calories
51 g fat (17 g saturated)
2,250 mg sodium
37 g carbohydrates

When they say “Monster,” they mean it. This 700-calorie behemoth should be enough to scare anyone: It contains nearly a full day’s worth of sodium and saturated fat. Instead try the Sunrise Croissant with Bacon. It’s not exactly diet-friendly, but if you’re stuck at Hardee’s, it’s a way to escape without too much damage.

Eat This Instead!
Hardee’s Sunrise Croissant with Bacon
450 calories
29 g fat (12 g saturated)
900 mg sodium
28 g carbs

Worst Kids Meal
Denny’s Big Dipper French Toastix with margarine and syrup
770 calories
71 g fat (13 g saturated)
107 g carbs

As important as it is for mom and dad to eat a good breakfast each morning, it’s even more critical that their kids do. After all, breakfast affects their energy levels, metabolism, and performance in school. Better think twice before feeding them these dubious little sticks. For more healthy kids’ choices, check out Eat This, Not That! for Kids.

Eat This Instead!
Kid’s D-Zone Smiley Alien Hotcakes
340 calories
12 g fat (5 g saturated)
49 g carbs

Worst Pastry
Cinnabon Classic Cinnamon Roll
813 calories
32 g fat (5 g trans fat)
117 g carbs

You wouldn’t start your day with three brownies, would you? As far as your body knows, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing if you wake up with this cinnamon-swirled disaster area. In fact, because Cinnabon offers no healthy alternatives, you’ll have to invite friends (or enemies?) to share the risky roll, or steer clear of Cinnabon altogether.

Worst Smoothie
Smoothie King Grape Expectations II (40 oz.)
1,102 calories
256 g sugars
740 mg sodium

Why Smoothie King would even offer a 40 oz. serving size is beyond us. With more than half the calories you need in a day and the sugar equivalent of 12 Haagen Dasz ice cream bars, this “drink” should be renamed "diabetes in a glass." Just goes to show you the importance of drinking responsibly.

Drink This Instead!
Smoothie King Low Carb Strawberry Smoothie (20 oz.)
268 calories
3 g sugars
176 mg sodium

Worst Combo Meal
McDonald’s Deluxe Breakfast
1,360 calories
64 g fat (22 g saturated)
2,325 mg sodium
160 g carbs
49 g sugars

With four vehicles for refined carbohydrates (biscuit, hash browns, hotcakes, syrup), this “deluxe” disaster will send your blood sugar soaring. Why blow nearly an entire day’s calories under the arches, when a perfectly satisfying Egg McMuffin will save you more than 1,000 calories?

Eat This Instead!
McDonald’s Egg McMuffin with coffee
310 calories
12 g fat (5 g saturated)
820 mg sodium
30 g carbs
3 g sugars

Worst Omelet
IHOP Big Steak Omelet
1,490 calories
(No additional nutrition information available)

IHOP doesn’t provide nutritional information aside from calorie counts, but with a boatload of steak, a bucket of cheese, and handfuls of hash browns, this omelet’s fat and sodium numbers are surely just as appalling.

Eat This Instead!
IHOP For Me Garden Scramble
440 calories

The Worst Breakfast in America
Bob Evans Stacked and Stuffed Caramel Banana Pecan Hotcakes
1,543 calories
77 g fat (26 g saturated; 9 g trans)
2,259 mg sodium
198 g carbs
109 g sugars

It’s not a good sign when it takes you nearly five seconds to spit out the name of your breakfast. This bad boy packs in more than 75 percent of your calories for the day, along with more sugar and fat than nine glazed Dunkin’ Donuts, and nearly as much sodium as five Bloody Marys.

Eat This Instead!
3 Scrambled Egg Beaters with 2 slices of bacon and fresh fruit
314 calories
19.5 g fat (5 g saturated)
700 mg sodium
21 g carbs
18 g sugars

To steer clear of the quickest way to pack on pounds — by sipping them through a straw — check out the 20 Unhealthiest Drinks in America.

And see how all of these restaurants (and 34 others of your favorites!) stack up nutritionally by checking out our definitive Restaurant Report Card.

Have your own big offenders — and secrets for protecting your waistline? Share them with the rest of us here.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

McDonald's Lego BatMan The Video Game Codes

McDonald's Lego BatMan The Video Game Codes

Enter theses codes in the "batcave" in the game

Toy#:Toy:Code:Description:

1: The BatBoat:

2: Joker Helicopter:

3: BatMan Batarang: JKR331:

4: Mr. Freeze Ice Blast: NJL412:

5: BatMobile: ZAQ637:

6: The Penguin Submarine:

7: Robin Grappling Hook:

8: Joker Surprise:

(any toy that dosent have a code will be coming soon, any user post on missing codes or discriptions would be great)

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Dwayne Johnson Takes Trip to Tomorrowland

Dwayne Johnson Takes Trip to Tomorrowland

Source: Variety

September 17, 2008

Variety says that Disney is developing a space movie based on its Tomorrowland theme park that will star Dwayne Johnson, much like how it turned the "Pirates of the Caribean" ride into a blockbuster film trilogy.

The studio has set screenwriters Jon Lucas and Scott Moore to draft an epic-sized action adventure set in space. The film is being designed as a vehicle for Johnson, who starred for the studio in family hit The Game Plan and most recently completed Race to Witch Mountain.

The trade adds that Disney denies the film has been titled Tomorrowland or is dedicated to the park's section, a futuristic area of the Magic Kingdom. The studio called the nascent project an original script.

The film would be produced by Mayhem Pictures partners Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray, who produced The Game Plan.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Westlake Native Hits Big Time

From the West Life 9.17.2008

By: Kevin Kelley

(Hand re-Typed By Mike Kopcak)

Westlake native Matt Friedman had been hired by Rocking M Radio in Great Bend, Kan., as the sports director for KZRS 107.9-FM and ESPN Radio affiliate KNNS 1510-AM.

Friedman will host his own daily sports talk show and do play-by-play for football, basketball and baseball games of nearby Great Bend High School. He will also be responsible for a daily DJ shift from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Friedman an alumnus of Westlake high School, graduated in June from Ohio State University with a degree in journalism. While at Ohio State, Friedman announced Buckeye football, basketball and baseball on the student-run online campus radio station. He was also the lead host and producer of "The C-Town Throwdown," a sports talk show covering Cleveland professional sports. Friedman also inderned at radio station WTAM 1100 and SportsTime Ohio.

Friedman got his start in broadcasting as a junior at Westlake Hight School, when he joined the school's television station, WHBS-TV. Under executive producer and faculty advisor Tony Hoty, Friedman called football and basketball during his junoir and senoir years. He pursued broadcasting for two years at Elon University in North Carolina before moveing on to Ohio State.

_______

"Score More Points Matt, Score More Points!"

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Never Buy These Used

From AOl.com

SLR camera lenses should never be bought used without a return guarantee or warranty. Lenses are the most expensive part of a camera, because that's where the quality of your images is determined. One tiny mark or scratch on the glass will show up in all your photos. A simple misalignment will cause your photos to be chronically out of focus. If you're serious about photography, buy high-quality, new lenses.

Both car seats and bicycle helmets are made to withstand one accident. If you buy them used and don't know their history, you are putting your life and your child's life in danger. Safety is not an area to take a bargain shortcut. Be sure to purchase these items new. Unlike bicycle helmets, other sports helmets (football, skateboard, etc.) are designed for continual pounding and don't need to be replaced as often.

Speakers and microphones are sensitive pieces of audio equipment. Most retailers won't even let you return them once they leave the store. Blasting speakers into oblivion and mishandling sensitive vocal microphones will render the devices practically useless. If you don't want to get stuck with buzzing speakers or crackling microphones, purchase them new.

Much like car seats, car tires should be considered "one and done" when it comes to accidents. After the overall trauma caused by a motor accident, tires become unstable and unreliable. Don't buy used tires, since you won't know whether or not they were taken off a totaled car.

You should never buy used software, whether it's a game or graphics program. Most software comes with a serial number which is used to activate the software on your computer. Once this serial number is registered with the company (typically over the Internet once installed), the serial number is no longer usable by anyone else.

Think about all that's happened on your bed and all that's happened on everyone else's beds. Used mattresses can be filled with bacteria, mites, mold, and bodily fluids. Not to mention a mattress should be replaced every 10 years, and you don't know how old a used one is. The place where you spend a third of your life should be clean, comfortable, and new.

When plasma TVs first came out, they had serious issues with burn in (when on-screen images physically burned into the screen, leaving permanent "ghosting"). Not only do you not want to purchase an early generation plasma TV, but you want whatever TV you have to come with an extended warranty. If your screen dies or you have an annoying dead pixel, you'll be thankful for the free replacement.

Normal, everyday household light bulbs are cheap enough to not even consider buying used, but light bulbs for use with photography equipment are relatively expensive. Because the life of photo light bulbs is so short (due to the incredible drain put on them by photo lighting fixtures), you should stock up on several new bulbs and don't even consider buying them used.

You often can't buy a warranty with a used laptop, which could come in handy down the road. Laptop parts can wear out over time, and its battery's life may be drained. It's hard to tell if liquid has been spilled on the keyboard, or if the unit has been dropped several times. Given the low price of laptops these days, you're better off with a new one.

In case it wasn't completely obvious already, don't buy used swimsuits and lingerie. Not only is it unsanitary, but it's also pretty icky. Do you really want to wonder who was wearing these things before you?

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Beverly Hills Ninja 2 in the Works

Beverly Hills Ninja 2 in the Works

Source: Variety

September 17, 2008

Beverly Hills Ninja 2, a sequel to the 1997 action comedy starring Chris Farley, will film in South Korea starting next month, making it the first mainstream Hollywood movie to do so.

According to Variety, local company ATM Motionwide said production will begin Oct. 6 on Jeju island before shifting to two lots at the Busan Film Studio.

Sony Pictures Entertainment holds North American distribution rights.

Mitch Klebanoff, a writer and co-producer of the original film, has scripted and will direct the sequel. The story involves an orphaned boy who wants to be a ninja but becomes involved in a crime in Hollywood while looking for his real parents.

David Hasselhoff, Lucas Grabeel ("High School Musical") and Taiwanese model-turned-actress Lin Chiling (Red Cliff) are set to star in the sequel.

70% of the film will shoot in South Korea, with 30% in the U.S. The project is scheduled to wrap its Korean shoot on Nov. 20 and continue Stateside until the end of December. Sony is eyeing a May release date in U.S. and June in South Korea.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

What If You Only Had 92 Minutes to Live?

What If You Only Had 92 Minutes to Live?

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

September 16, 2008

Overture Films has acquired 92 Minutes, a philosophical comedy about a man who finds out he only has that amount of time to live, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Daniel Taplitz will write the screenplay for the development project, with Bob Cooper producing via his Landscape Entertainment. Daniel Walker also will produce.

The project is based on a 1997 Israeli comedy titled Mar Baum. It centers on a man who, upon learning he is about to die, must decide whether to spend his limited time rushing to get things done or slow down and enjoy his final moments.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Edward Norton on Hulk's Future

Edward Norton on Hulk's Future

Source: MTV

September 16, 2008

The Incredible Hulk star Edward Norton tells MTV he is uncertain about the green fella's future.

"The minds of Marvel are sometimes opaque," Norton said. "I won't say [they're] obtuse, but I don't have any idea what they want to do."

He added he was not sure if he would be asked back for Marvel Studios' planned team-up project, The Avengers, scheduled for a July 2011 release.

"They've got this notion of collecting the Marvel characters," Norton said. "Who knows where they'll go?"

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Diesel and Cohen Returning for XXX Sequel

Diesel and Cohen Returning for XXX Sequel

Source: Variety

September 15, 2008

Columbia Pictures is in discussions with producer Joe Roth for XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, which would bring back Vin Diesel as star and Rob Cohen as director, reports Variety.

The duo teamed on the 2002 original, which starred Diesel as Xander Cage, an extreme sports enthusiast who gets drafted by the government for a dangerous mission.

Roth controls the property because the original film was made by his Revolution Studios, which was also behind XXX: State of the Union, a sequel that starred Ice Cube and was directed by Lee Tamahori.

While there is no script, both Diesel and Cohen have agreed to return.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Warner Bros. Plans Dark Knight Rerelease

Warner Bros. Plans Dark Knight Rerelease

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

September 11, 2008

Warner Bros. Pictures plans to rerelease blockbuster The Dark Knight in January, the height of Academy Awards voting season, says The Hollywood Reporter.

"It's just a matter of bringing it back as a reminder for people," a source told the trade.

Warners domestic distribution president Dan Fellman acknowledged ongoing talks with IMAX executives about the prospect of restoring the film to some number of giant-screen venues in January. It's uncertain if The Dark Knight also will reappear in conventional theaters at that point.

To date, the film has earned about $513 million domestically and $440 million internationally, including more than $55 million in IMAX grosses. The DVD and Blu-ray Disc are expected to hit stores in December.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Large Hadron Collider activated successfully

From correspondents in Geneva September 11, 2008 08:51am

PHYSICISTS around the world, some in their pyjamas and others with champagne, last night celebrated the first tests of the Large Hadron Collider which they hope will unlock the secrets of the universe and its origins.

The Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, is the largest and most complex machine ever made and is expected to revamp modern physics by smashing together particles in a bid to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang.

Staff in the control room on the border of Switzerland and France clapped as two beams of particles were sent silently first one way and then the other around the LHC's 27km underground chamber.

"Things can go wrong at any time," said project leader Lyn Evans, who wore jeans and running shoes for the LHC's debut.

"But this morning we had a great start."

It will be weeks or months before two particles ever crash together in the giant tube, and even longer before scientists can interpret results, said Jos Engelen, chief scientific officer of CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

"Anything between a year and four years, depending on how difficult this new physics is to find," Mr Engelen said.

Pyjama-clad scientists calling themselves "Nerds in Nightshirts" partied at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois as they waited late into the night for the first signals from the 10 billion Swiss franc ($11 billion) machine.

The first blip came soon after the LHC was activated at 9.30am CERN time (5.30pm AEST), when it was 1.30am in Batavia, home of the Tevatron – which lays claim to being the most powerful particle collider until the LHC starts smashing protons.

Physicists brushed off suggestions that the LHC, dubbed a "doomsday device" by some, could create tiny black holes that could suck in the planet.

"The worries that scientists had were nothing to do with being swallowed up by black holes and everything to do with technical hitches or electronic failure," said Jim al-Khalili, a physicist at Britain's University of Surrey.

"Now, after a collective sigh of relief, the real fun starts," Mr al-Khalili said.

"No matter what we find, we will be unlocking the secrets of the universe."

The LHC will send beams of subatomic particles called protons whizzing around the tube at just under the speed of light.

The hope is that they will smash into one another and explode in a burst of new and previously unseen types of particles – recreating on a tiny scale the heat and energy of the Big Bang that gave birth to the universe 13.7 billion years ago.

At full speed the LHC will engineer 600 million collisions every second. Data will be transmitted via a network called The Grid to scientists at 170 institutions in 33 countries.

"It is sort of a virtual United Nations," said Michael Tuts, a physics professor at Columbia University in New York and program manager for 400 US physicists working on one LHC project.

The experiments could confirm the existence of the Higgs Boson, a theoretical particle named after Peter Higgs, who first proposed it in 1964.

Also referred to as the "God particle", the Higgs Boson could help explain how matter has mass.

"I think it's pretty likely" that it will be found, Mr Higgs told reporters at the University of Edinburgh, where he is a retired professor of physics.

Scientists halted the particle beam's counter-clockwise spin temporarily last night after problems with the machine's magnets caused its temperature to warm slightly.

CERN officials said such minor glitches were to be expected given the intricacy of the machine, which is cooled to minus 271.3 degrees Celsius.

Links

Large Hadron Collider website – http://www.lhc.ac.uk/
Large Hadron Collider webcams – http://www.lhc.ac.uk/web-cams.html
Large Hadron Collider on Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Large_Hadron_Collider

__________________________
.My (Movie Miguel) Dipiction of what could happen with this technology in the wrong hangs: (part 2 will play automatically after part 1) *The names have been changed to protect the innocent*

.

_________________________________

September 10, 2008 6:20 PM PDT

Why the Large Hadron Collider must be stopped

Posted by Chris Matyszczyk

I am not an intelligent designer. Nor am I a resident of France or Switzerland.

But this Large Hadron Collider experiment, in which particles are breaking the speed limit somewhere beneath the French/Swiss border and then crashing into each other like teenage drunks in fairground bumper cars scares the semi-comatose bejaysus out of me.

These scientists claim to know what they are doing. But scientists always claim to know what they are doing. Then they discover, while doing the thing that they claim to know they are doing, that they are doing something entirely different.

Is any government monitoring these people? What if the Alps are suddenly sent into orbit by two particularly control-free particles and land square on top of, I don't know, Cleveland?

This is a clear admission of their intent. And it's in French too.

(Credit: CC Robert Scoble)

Alright, sometimes experiments do have excellent unintended consequences. But not often enough. Yugoslavia was an experiment. Look what happened to that.

The subatomic particles in their long tubes will be going at just this side of the speed of light and no one, but no one, knows what will happen when they enjoy their protonic fender-bender. It's all very well for Stephen Hawking to bet $100 that the supposed "God Particle' will not be found by this experiment. It's all very well for scientists to mock Professor Otto Rossler, who says that black holes will be created that will suck the earth away.

But let me tell you this. I have proof these scientists may be several wires short of a working plug. Before they began their descent into scientific instability, these people actually made a rap video.

In this rap they declare that this madness of theirs will "rock you in the head." They rumble on about anti-matter being "matter's evil twin." And in some twisted way, they seem to want to recreate the Big Bang that made everything other than the Partridge Family and the Palin Family.

These people are clearly on an insane quest for anti-matter, the so-called evil twin. They are like the antagonists in ConAir or A Beautiful Mind, the sort of folks who want to blow up the whole world and deny Russell Crowe an award.

Is no one prepared to put a leash on this crazyfest? The first collision is due in around thirty days. Please, look at that video. Don't they look like mad people to you? They're not a day over 25 and if you're telling me they're compos mentis, I'm telling you that Amy Winehouse is taking tea with Richard Dawkins next week.

Will someone not put a stop to this? I don't care if I'm made up of tiny little bits of string. I just want to be in one piece to watch the next Superbowl, the next series of Entourage and, although this is very ambitious, the Olympics live on the West Coast.

Techies, please help me here. Well, the sane ones amongst you, anyway.

______________________________________
Googles LHC logo (from Google.com on 9.10.08)




_________________________________________

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Kevin Smith wants Seth Rogen in tights

08:29 AM PT, Sep 8 2008

Kevin Smith already made Superman gay -- now he wants to see Seth Rogen in spandex.

Writer-director Smith gleefully cast Routh, the squeaky-clean star of "Superman Returns," as the closeted lover of a male porn star in the upcoming comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," which stars Rogen and Elizabeth Banks. (Have you seen the banned posted for the film? It's after the jump.) Now, during a run through the Toronto International Film Festival, the always quotable Smith told Sci-Fi Wire that he wants to build an entire superhero film around portly comedic star Rogen.

"First, I'm going to do a 180 turn and do a horror movie called 'Red State,' " Smith said in an interview Sept. 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival. "It's going to be a total horror-political-psychological movie without a funny line in it. Then I'm going to do the science-fiction superhero movie. It's going to be an original superhero that I've created. It's stewing right now. I want to do it, though, and, God willing, it will star Seth Rogen."

Rogen, the star of "Knocked Up" and scene-stealer from "The 40 Year-old Virgin," may not seem like the square-jawed superhero archetype, but start getting used to the idea.

The 26-year-old Vancouver native also has plans in place to write and star in a silver-screen adaptation of The Green Hornet, the 1930s radio-serial hero who was briefly (but memorably) revived in 1966-67 for a stylish television series that first brought Bruce Lee to the eyes of America. On that show, Van Williams played the dashing and wealthy Britt Reid, the publisher of The Daily Sentinel by day and two-fisted masked man by night. Lee played his valet, Kato, who joins him as he prowls the night in their sleek, weapons-laden car, the Black Beauty.

"The Green Hornet" is due from Sony in 2010 and Rogen is co-writing with Evan Goldberg ("Pineapple Express," "Superbad"). The producer is Neal Moritz ("Prom Night," The Fast & the Furious" films), who also has a "Luke Cage" project underway with director John Singleton and star Tyrese Gibson and a discussed "Flash Gordon" revisitation with "Sahara" director Breck Eisner.

There was a fairly instantaneous fan-backlash when the Rogen-as-Hornet idea was first floated. The star has said he has no plans to transform the venerable character into a bawdy "Superbad" hero. He also hasn't sounded especially passionate about the source material, at least not in one interview from June, which was also with Sci-Fi Wire:

For years we'd really been trying to write a movie that was kind of about a hero and his sidekick. When we heard the The Green Hornet movie was up for grabs, we thought that could be the perfect way to do this story, because he is the only hero whose sidekick is more known than he is. We thought it would be a good way to tell this relationship story and just do a big crazy action movie.

At Comic-Con International 2007, Rogen was on a panel for "Superbad" and got a "Hornet" question. Sheigh Crabtree, covering for the Los Angeles Times, jotted down this quote which, again, shows that Rogen isn't coming to the project with a real passion for the hero.

"It's something that Evan [Goldberg] and I are big fans of.... We wrote 'Pineapple Express' together ... and we thought, 'What if we make an even bigger action movie? And what if I wear a mask? Evan really wanted me to wear a mask because he is so sick of seeing my face."

-- Geoff Boucher

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Kevin Smith's Update on Red State

Kevin Smith's Update on Red State

Source:Edward Douglas

September 9, 2008

As the Toronto Film Festival wound down its first weekend, filmmaker Kevin Smith showed up with his new movie Zack and Miri Make a Porno, starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks as a couple of life-long friends who decide to make a porno movie in order to pay their rent.

ComingSoon.net had a chance to talk to Smith about the movie and before the interview wrapped, we asked Smith about the progress of Red State, his planned horror movie about a group of misfits who end up encountering fundamentalists in the heart of the country. We asked whether he might start shooting on that soon, to which he replied, "I hope so. We're still looking for some cash for it 'cause it's not a really commercial film at all. It's very bleak and very dark, and there's no one to root for in the movie, so it's a real film festival type of film, but it's not the kind of movie you can take into multiplexes and do a bunch of business with unless it becomes a water cooler type of movie where people start talking about it. So we've had trouble finding financing for it, but hopefully that'll come together soon. Script's all done. We want to make it for like $5 million in the Midwest and do it with a bunch of unknowns and see what happens. So I mean none of those things add up to people rushing to you with a check. No one's rushing to give us money for it."

Since Smith has never made a horror film, many horror fans who are also fans of Smith's will be expecting something like we haven't seen before and something truly shocking, since he's probably built up a lot of ideas of what he'd want to do in a horror movie. "It is definitely a 180 from everything else we've done including 'Zack and Miri' but at the same time, it's not like a splatter film, it's not like slasher balls-to-the-wall gore, it's more unsettling and disturbing type of horror," he explained when asked about the direction he plans on taking things in his first horror outing.

Look for our full interview with Smith over on ComingSoon.net before the release of Zack and Miri Make a Porno on October 31.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Rogen To Return As “Ranger Danger”?

Rogen To Return As “Ranger Danger”?

September 9th @ 6:27 pm | | Scooped by George Efta, Robb J, Dino AInza

• The LA Times recently scored a cool quote from Kevin regarding casting Seth Rogen as his lead hero in what’s currently known as “View Askew 10″, though the more we think about it, may turn into the long-in-planning “Ranger Danger and the Danger Rangers”. Keep in mind, things change over the years, and Kevin may have retooled that film to a new theme/title or even come up with a totally different sci-fi superhero. We’ll see. However, current hints and quotes we’ve seen from Kevin are in line with “Ranger Danger” coming next after “Red State”. Here’s what JoBlo posted up today:

  
  “First, I’m going to do a 180 turn and do a horror movie called ‘Red State,’ ” Smith said in an interview Sept. 7 at the Toronto International Film Festival. “It’s going to be a total horror-political-psychological movie without a funny line in it. Then I’m going to do the science-fiction superhero movie. It’s going to be an original superhero that I’ve created. It’s stewing right now. I want to do it, though, and, God willing, it will star Seth Rogen.”

  See the full story over at the LA Times website. Kudos to Joblo as well for picking up on this scoop.

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Duke Nukem Movie?

By: John Gaudiosi

LOS ANGELES, CA—A pair of new console games isn’t the only thing cooking for the classic 3D shooter franchise, Duke Nukem. Hollywood producer Scott Faye, who’s readying Max Payne for its October 17th release, is working with 3D Realms’ Scott Miller on a Duke Nukem movie.

“I'm working diligently at making a Duke Nukem movie scenario that will live up to the character and its import in the videogame world,” said Faye. “As is the case with all of my game adaptations, I'd rather not make the movie than make a poor adaptation.”

Faye stuck with that strategy with Max Payne – a game he first saw at E3 in Atlanta and made a verbal commitment to Miller to one day bring it to the big screen. Over 10 years and a couple movie studios later, the movie is hitting theaters with Mark Wahlberg in the starring role.

“With the two new games coming out based on Duke Nukem, I'm working at establishing a Duke film scenario that will compel a studio to finance a feature version,” said Faye. “Certainly, there's a large audience that knows and loves this character.”

Faye said he’s still actively developing the story and he will not shop the film in Hollywood until all the people involved in the project feel solid about where we are creatively.

“More than ever before, I feel that the feature adaptation of Duke Nukem will come to together nicely,” said Faye, who runs Depth Entertainment.

Faye has a production arrangement with Miller’s Radar Group, which will be part of every aspect of the Duke Nukem process, according to Faye.

“We're expanding Duke's ‘storyverse’ in a very significant major way without abandoning or negating any element that's being used to introduce Duke to the next gen platforms,” added Faye.

Faye is also still developing American McGee’s Alice for the big screen. After originally targeting Sarah Michelle Gellar to star in the project for Universal Pictures, Faye said the story is being reworked and Gellar is no longer involved. Director Marcus Nispel (Friday the 13th) is also no longer attached. A new script is in development by original Alice scribes Jon and Erich Hoeberand and a new studio is expected to be announced in the future.

“I love the grown up Alice in a horror story version of Wonderland, and knew instinctively that the project would have a commercial appeal easily discerned by the film studios because the character and mythology are so deeply ingrained into the collective psyche,” said Faye.

As for Max Payne, Faye said 20th Century Fox is committed to the film, which will receive a large opening and a strong marketing push. Wahlberg and director John Moore (Behind Enemy Lines) have already expressed interest in a potential sequel.

“What more do you need to hear than Mark say he'd be interested in doing a sequel,” said Faye. “I would imagine if the film is successful that there'd be a sincere desire to do a sequel. There have been no conversations about what the scenario would be, or whether we'd look at the Max Payne 2 game. Hopefully, this film will find an audience.”

Faye said he’s learned a lot about adapting games over the decade of developing Max Payne and working closely with Miller’s 3D Realms.

“Why go out of your way to acquire an IP is you're not going to use as much of it as you can in the adaptation process? Asked Faye. “Of course, a game is a game and a film is a film, and decisions need to be made, as is the case in any adaptation. But it’s important to be true to the source material.”

Faye is working with Miller’s Radar Group on a number of new cross-media franchises that are being designed from the ground up as games and films.

“I've always viewed content in a way that suggested that creating a universe, or a storyverse, would be exceptionally helpful when it comes to cross-media development,” said Faye. “There are some archetypal properties that have blazed the trail — like Star Wars, which has had novels, comic books, games and films all taking place in the same universe with different characters and stories. That's our agenda — to create IPs that can thrive as games and in other media, but not necessarily have to mimic each other in terms of what story you're telling. Frankly, if I'm going to play a videogame based on a feature film, the last thing I want to do is play through the film narrative. If it's an interesting universe, it's an interesting universe. Be a little bit more creative about it.”

Before founding Depth Entertainment, Faye ran Dark Horse Entertainment. He learned a lot about building franchises from that experience, as well as when to pitch an IP for a cross-media jump.

“One of the elements of the blueprints we're filling in is exactly at what point in time is it best for one of our properties to matriculate to (Hollywood) studios,” said Faye. “We want to take our properties far enough along that they're established creatively. With each project, we're working with established writers and embracing a traditional linear development process simultaneous to the interactive process.”

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Tommy Lee Jones seeks $10M in 'No Country' lawsuit

Tommy Lee Jones seeks $10M in 'No Country' lawsuit
Sunday September 7 6:17 AM ET

SAN ANTONIO (AP) Tommy Lee Jones is suing the makers of "No Country for Old Men" for more than $10 million that the Oscar-winning actor claims he is owed for starring in the 2007 hit crime thriller.

The lawsuit against Paramount Pictures claims that Jones was promised "significant box-office bonuses" and other compensation depending on the success of the film, which went on to make more than $160 million.

The movie, which is set in Texas and based on a critically acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel, garnered four Academy Awards, including "Best Picture."

A message left for Paramount Pictures on Saturday was not immediately returned. Jones declined to comment through his publicist, Jennifer Allen, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

"The paperwork stands for itself," Allen said.

The lawsuit was filed Thursday in Bexar County in San Antonio. N.M. Classics, Inc., a Paramount subsidiary, is also named in the lawsuit.

Jones, who played Sheriff Ed Tom Bell in the film, claims he was not paid promised bonuses and had expenses wrongly deducted. The suit says Jones was paid a reduced upfront fee in joining the film, and that his contract had known errors not corrected before the movie was made.

Jones, 61, is asking that an auditor be named to review financial records to determine how much he should be paid.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

'40-Year-Old Virgin' actor faces new charges

'40-Year-Old Virgin' actor faces new charges
Saturday September 6 4:49 PM ET

Prosecutors have brought additional charges against Hollywood actor accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend 20 times.

Shelley Malil, 43, who played a supporting role in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin," was charged Friday with residential burglary and assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly attacking a man who with Malil's ex-girlfriend, Kendra Beebe, on Aug. 10.

Prosecutors say that was the day Malil stabbed Beebe with two knives while chasing her in and around her San Marcos home as her two children slept.

A man with Beebe at the time grabbed one knife but Malil found another and continued the attack until a neighbor disarmed him, prosecutors said.

Malil previously pleaded not guilty to one count of attempted murder, with a special circumstance of premeditation and one count of personal use of a knife and inflicting great bodily injury. He faces life in prison if convicted.

During a Superior Court hearing Friday, a judge reduced his bail from $10 million to $3 million. Malil's attorney, Steve Meiser, argued that the higher figure was unreasonable and that his Indian-born client was not a flight risk.

Malil has been jailed since Aug. 11.

Beebe, 35, suffered deep wounds to her lungs and throat but prosecutors said she was expected to recover.

Malil played a co-worker, Haziz, to comedian Steve Carell's title character in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin." He has appeared on dozens of TV shows, including "NYPD Blue" and "Scrubs."

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Harold Ramis on Ghostbusters 3

Harold Ramis on Ghostbusters 3

Source: Chicago Tribune

September 7, 2008

Last week, it was announced that "The Office" co-executive producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were hired by Columbia Pictures to write a script for Ghostbusters 3, but the question remained whether Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson will be back.

Chicago Tribune's Pop Machine received an e-mail from Ramis explaining the situation:

"yes, columbia is developing a script for GB3 with my [Year One] writing partners, gene stupnitsky and lee eisenberg. judd apatow is co-producing [Year One] and has made several other films for sony, so of course the studio is hoping to tap into some of the same acting talent. aykroyd, ivan reitman and i are consulting at this point, and according to dan, bill murray is willing to be involved on some level. he did record his dialogue for the new ghostbusters video game, as did danny and i, and ernie hudson. the concept is that the old ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity.

Who do you think should be the new Ghostbusters?

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

Aaron Yoo Talks Friday the 13th

Aaron Yoo Talks Friday the 13th

Source: ShockTillYouDrop.com

September 7, 2008

ShockTillYouDrop.com caught up with Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist star Aaron Yoo at the Toronto Film Festival and asked about his next film, Platinum Dunes' Friday the 13th remake. Here's a clip:

"I think the biggest difference is that Jason is fast, and he's realistic," he began. "It's not the kind of horror movie where stalk slowly, run fast and somebody catches up, there's none of the teleportation thing (from past movies)...the basic storyline idea of Jason is the same, and he's got this 2 and a half foot machete."

You can read the full interview here!

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.

24 Stopping Production for 18 Days

24 Stopping Production for 18 Days

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

September 7, 2008

Fox's "24" is stopping production for 18 days to allow writers to work on upcoming scripts, says The Hollywood Reporter.

Filming on the real-time drama will be shut down Sept. 15, after the completion of episode 18. It will resume Oct. 9.

The idea for the unscheduled hiatus came from "24" executive producer/showrunner Howard Gordon who had been concerned about the quality of several scripts for upcoming episodes of the 20th Century Fox TV-produced series.

The work stoppage won't affect the launch of "24'"s seventh season slated for January.

Since April, "24" has been in continuous production on the new season and the two-hour prequel, scheduled to air Nov. 24, which has been completed.

MovieMiguel.com

Wireless messaging lets you receive special text messages about Movie Miguel directly on your cell phone! We will let you know about The Movie Miguel Show, Dj Movie Miguel, TV appearances, events, special announcements, and other information that you just can't live without. You can unsubscribe at any time. To sign up, just enter your cellphone number and hit submit! Standard text message rates apply.