Thursday, April 11, 2013

Director Julie Taymor settles "Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark" suit

By Brent Lang

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Julie Taymor has reached a settlement in her ongoing lawsuit against the producers of the Broadway musical "Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark," the parties said Wednesday.

They did not release details of the settlement, but said that the agreement resolves all of the director's pending litigation.

"I'm pleased to have reached an agreement and hope for the continued success of Spider-Man, both on Broadway and beyond," Taymor said in a statement.

The lawsuit was technically settled for an undisclosed amount last August, but according to a report in the Hollywood Reporter, the parties had a hard time hammering out a final agreement. A trial had been scheduled for May.

Taymor, who is best known for her Broadway adaptation of "The Lion King" and iconoclastic Shakespearean film adaptations such as "The Tempest" (2011), was fired from the show over creative differences.

Getting "Spider-Man" to the stage was an ordeal, and the production inspired intense media coverage after it was beset by cost overruns and injuries to several cast members.

The budget eventually ballooned to a reported $75 million, making it one of the most expensive productions in Broadway history, although box office returns have been strong. Last week, "Spider-Man" grossed more than $1.4 million, a figure eclipsed only by mega-hits like "The Book of Mormon" and "The Lion King."

She had been seeking $1 million in back pay and royalties, arguing that her contributions to the show were not being acknowledged. She also alleged that her collaborators - a group that includes U2's Bono and the Edge - had undermined her by developing a rival script while she was ironing out production difficulties during the play's preview run.

In a statement, co-producers Michael Cohl and Jeremiah Harris of 8 Legged Productions said the resolution will allow them to concentrate on rolling out the show to other theaters and foreign markets.

"We're happy to put all this behind us," the pair said. "We are now looking forward to spreading 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark' in new and exciting ways around the world."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/director-julie-taymor-settles-spider-man-turn-off-203306579.html

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Moog's Paul Vo takes his Vo-96 "acoustic synthesizer" prototype to Kickstarter (video)

Moog's LEV96 sensoriactuator prototype wields touch control of 96 simultaneous harmonics, we go eyeson video

Moog's LEV-96 Sensoriacuator was a prototype tool that magnetically altered the vibration of an acoustic guitar's strings to extract 96 simultaneous harmonics. While the company seemingly passed on a commercial release, inventor Paul Vo decided to press on with the unit as a solo project. Vo, the man behind the Moog Guitar and Lap Steel's infinite sustain, has gone to Kickstarter to raise $50,000 necessary to manufacture the first production run, since renamed as the Vo-96 "Acoustic Synthesizer." At a price of $1,450, it's not aimed at the general public, but hardcore strummers with fat wallets can head on past the break to see how the hardware can turn your finger plucking into a demented Boards of Canada b-side.

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Via: Oh Gizmo, Gizmodo, MoogMusic

Source: Kickstarter

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/10/vo-96-kickstarter/

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Penney CEO's challenge: Can it be fixed?

NEW YORK (AP) ? There won't be an easy fix for J.C. Penney ? if it can be fixed at all.

As Mike Ullman takes the reins again less than two years after his departure, he faces a Herculean task to undo the mess left by CEO Ron Johnson, who was ousted Monday. With the department store retailer in the middle of a disastrous overhaul that has driven away shoppers, the 66-year-old Ullman has to quickly figure out what parts of Johnson's legacy to keep and what to trash.

The overarching question is whether the century-old company can be saved at all. Very few retailers have recovered from a 25 percent sales drop in a single year, like that suffered by Penney under Johnson's watch. On Tuesday, the retailer's stock price dropped more than 12 percent to a 12-year-low of $13.93 as investors' worries escalated about Penney's future.

"Ullman can't go back to the old ways, but he can't do what Ron Johnson did," said Ron Friedman, head of the retail and consumer products group at Marcum LLP, a national accounting and consulting firm. "I think there will be a combination of the two. But he has to make some quick moves."

Apparently, the company's board of directors felt Ullman, who served as Penney's CEO for seven years and is known for strong relationships with suppliers and calm, steady execution, would be the best choice right now to secure the company's future. But it could take Ullman 18 months to stabilize the business, says Burt Flickinger III, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group. He gives the chain a 50-50 chance to survive.

"The odds are declining every day," said Flickinger, noting that rivals like Macy's are taking away market share. "Competitors see blood in the water."

Johnson, the mastermind behind Apple Inc.'s successful retail stores, lasted just 17 months. He faced an ever-growing chorus of critics calling for his resignation as they lost faith in the aggressive overhaul. The rapid-fire changes included getting rid of coupons and most discounts in favor of everyday low prices, bringing in new brands and remaking its outdated stores. Johnson's goal was to reinvent the stodgy retailer into a mini-mall of hip specialty shops.

Instead, Penney's loyal shoppers went in search of deals elsewhere, and the chain didn't attract the younger and more affluent shoppers that Johnson coveted. Now the 1,100-store chain is burning through cash. In the past year, the company lost nearly a billion dollars and saw its revenue tumble by nearly $4.3 billion to $12.98 billion. Customer traffic dropped 13 percent. Steep sales declines have continued, say analysts, even though Johnson added back some sales events and coupons early this year.

Some speculate that Ullman may ditch the everyday price strategy and instead ramp up the return to discounting and coupons to get shoppers back in the stores. But that will still be an expensive move. Michael Binetti, an analyst at UBS Investment Research, and others believe that Ullman also will temporarily suspend the rollout of the mini-shops, which started late last year and feature such brands as Joe Fresh and Levi's.

When the overhaul of its home area is completed next month, the company will have carved up 30 percent of its store space into mini-boutiques. But after that, Ullman is expected to pull back the pace of the rollout as Penney tries to conserve cash. That means that some suppliers who expected to have mini-shops could be left in the lurch.

Ullman also will have to find ways to boost employee morale amid severe cuts that have slashed the work force by nearly 30 percent. As of February, Penney employed 116,000 full- and part-time workers, down from 159,000 a year ago.

Whatever Ullman ends up doing, analysts expect him to be thoughtful and deliberate in his moves. That's a big difference from Johnson, who was criticized for not testing his strategies in a few stores, particularly the pricing plan.

In a statement released by Penney on Monday, Ullman said he plans to immediately "engage with the company's customers, team members, vendors and shareholders, to understand their needs, view and insights" and then work with the management team and the board to develop a game plan.

"(The board) chose stability and experience, in my mind," said Antony Karabus, president of SD Retail Consulting. "Instead of big, grandiose ideas, what they need now is someone to stabilize and execute effectively. He has a calm way about him. If anyone can do it, he can, because he knows the business. He knows the customers."

Bud Konheim, president of designer fashion brand Nicole Miller, which has sold an affordable version to Penney since 2005, agrees.

"(Ullman) is very smart. Everybody loves him. He's a strong executive but he's not a bull in the china shop," he said. "He's not as much show biz as Ron Johnson. He flies under the radar."

Still, there are concerns. Penney struggled under Ullman's first regime, though the company was still profitable. Ullman brought in Penney's first mini-shops, including beauty company Sephora and exclusive names like MNG by Mango, a European clothing brand. But he didn't do much to transform the store's shopping experience or to attract new customers.

That showed up in the sales figures. During Ullman's previous tenure, from December 2004 to October 2011, sales declined from $18.18 billion in 2004 to $17.6 billion in 2010, his last full year at the company. Sales per square foot dropped to $155 from $177, according to Deborah Weinswig, an analyst at Citi Research.

When Ullman left Penney in November 2011, the situation wasn't great. But it also wasn't the crisis it is now. The company's credit ratings are deep into junk status. Its stock has lost 67 percent of its value since February 2012 when investors bullish on Johnson's grand plans drove the price up around $43. That makes it that much harder for Ullman to turn business around.

History also dictates that the odds are against a sales recovery. Last fall, Credit Suisse surveyed 17 retailers that reported annual declines of anywhere from 15 percent to 25 percent in a single year from 2000 to 2011. Of that group, only four retailers recovered the lost revenue ? Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Ann Inc., Guess Inc. and Barnes & Noble Inc. ? and it took an average of three years to do so. The rest were either acquired by a private equity company, went bankrupt or merged with another public company.

Ultimately, Penney's fate lies in once-loyal shoppers like Beth Williams, 39, who deserted the chain early last year.

Williams, a writer and mother of a 3-year-old from Plum, Pa., said she used to shop at Penney once a month for her family. But that changed when her local store got rid of coupons and sales events. She also doesn't like the new styles that she believes only target customers in their teens and 20s.

Williams says she would go back if Penney had more sales and brought back more traditional clothing like khaki shorts with forgiving fits.

"I would go back," she said. "I miss it. That was my go-to store for a long time, and then it changed."

___

Anne D'Innocenzio can be reached at __http://twitter.com/ADInnocenzio

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/penney-ceos-challenge-fixed-215115414--finance.html

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Monday, March 25, 2013

SpaceX dragon spacecraft carrying NASA cargo ready for return to Earth

Mar. 24, 2013 ? More than three weeks after arriving at the International Space Station, the Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) Dragon spacecraft is ready for the trip back to Earth, now scheduled for Tuesday, March 26.

Dragon's originally scheduled March 25 return date was postponed due to inclement weather developing near its targeted splashdown site in the Pacific Ocean. The additional day spent attached to the orbiting laboratory will not affect science samples scheduled to return aboard the spacecraft.

NASA Television will provide coverage of Dragon's departure beginning at 4 a.m. EDT.

Dragon is scheduled to be detached from the Earth-facing side of the station's Harmony module and unberthed by Expedition 35 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn. Expedition 35 Commander Chris Hadfield of the Canadian Space Agency will back-up Marshburn and monitor Dragon's systems during the activity.

Marshburn, working from the robotic work station in the space station's cupola, will maneuver the station's robotic arm for the release of the spacecraft at 7:06 a.m. Dragon will execute three thruster firings to move away from the station to a safe distance for its deorbit burn at 11:40 a.m. Dragon will splash down around 12:36 p.m. in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.

Dragon is the only space station resupply spacecraft able to return to Earth intact. It will return about 2,668 pounds (1,210 kilograms) of science samples from human research, biology and biotechnology studies, physical science investigations and education activities.

Experiment samples coming back to Earth will help researchers continue to assess the impact of long-duration spaceflight on the human body. Returning plant samples will aid in food production during future long-duration space missions and enhance crop production on Earth. Crystals grown aboard and returning from the station could help in the development of more efficient solar cells and semiconductor-based electronics.

For NASA TV schedule and video streaming information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about SpaceX, including ways to connect on social media, visit: http://www.spacex.com

For more information about the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station

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Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/o-65ort_o7o/130324195409.htm

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The Senate's Punchy, All-Night Budget Vote-A-Rama

The Senate?s vote-a-rama began shortly before 4 p.m., as former pre-school teacher Patty Murray warned her senatorial pupils about wandering off the floor.

?You leave at your own peril,? she said, the chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and master of these ceremonies.

Plenty wandered off anyway. The marathon voting session came, after all, on the eve of a two-week congressional recess and in the midst of the second night of March Madness basketball.

Even Sen. Mitch McConnell, the GOP leader who has mercilessly chastised Democrats for failing to put a budget on the floor for four years, admitted to splitting his attention between the floor proceedings and his home-state Western Kentucky Hilltoppers. ?Sen. McConnell cheering on #WKU from the U.S. Capitol tonight in between #budget votes. #GoTopps!? his office tweeted during the game. (They lost 57-64 to No. 1-ranked Kansas.)

Senators? shoulders slumped, tempers flared and Harry Potter even made a cameo in the congressional record as the voting dragged into the early Saturday hours.

As each roll call vote was taken, senators streamed from the sanctuary of their separate cloakrooms to cast votes for nonbinding budget amendments that ranged from the Keystone pipeline (backed by 62 senators, including 17 Democrats) to a carbon tax (overwhelmingly defeated) to instituting stricter sales tax collections on Internet purchases (it, too, passed).

By 6:30 in the evening, the second floor of the Capitol smelled of barbeque. A buffet was dished out in McConnell?s office, as Republican senators traipsed back and forth from the floor holding paper plates piled high with meat, cornbread, baked beans and salad.

For a while, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., decamped to a quiet hallway off the floor, whipping out her laptop to catch up on work. She was sure to return to the floor as the Senate took up a measure to express the chamber?s displeasure with federal subsidies for ?too big to fail? banks. There was no opposition but members wanted a recorded vote anyway.

It passed 99-0 and clapping erupted -- a big Senate no-no -- in the well of the chamber. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y., pointed blame at Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Missouri. ?It was Schumer,? McCaskill pleaded innocently. (Both she and Schumer had clapped.)

Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Oregon, thumbed through an iPad on the floor during one of many recorded tallies, perhaps unaware that one of Senate Republicans? favorite talking points in recent months has been that the iPad didn?t exist the last time Senate Democrats passed a budget.

At least he wasn?t making any noise. The volume on the floor kept steadily growing as Murray asked the chair to restore order. Around 10 p.m., Murray declared, ?I know there is alot of March Madness going on but I?d like to keep calm on the floor.? The chamber quieted briefly before returning to the mood and noise level of a cocktail party, befitting the late Friday night hour.

Even the leaders of the Senate budget warring -- Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Murray -- stood together and laughed, at times. Just weeks earlier, Sessions had accused Murray of insinuating that he disliked poor people during a budget ?hearing related to welfare and food stamps.

Gillibrand was spotted showing off Friday?s New York Times, which featured a front-page story about the growing clout of women in the Senate. She flipped and pointed her colleagues to the story?s jump page, which just so happened to feature a prominent color photo of her. Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, sat in his chair, reading a hardcover book in his newish black-framed hipster glasses.

Around 11 p.m., Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid came to the floor to praise the evening?s progress. ?We?re doing fine,? he said. ?We?re not at carnival stage yet. Let?s proceed and try to reach this with a lot of dignity.?

None of these late-night votes had any chance of making it into law. Instead, this marathon session was all about setting policy precedents and scoring political points ahead of the 2014 mid-term elections, when the Republicans hope to take back the Senate.

Senators loosened further as the clock ticked past midnight. Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, rose to oppose an amendment that defunded, in some way, a part of the president?s health care law, likening the GOP effort to tossing ?Harry Potter?s invisibility cloak? over the legislation. The amendment, one of multiple attempts to chip away at the health care?law during the vote-a-rama, failed by a voice vote.

Good humor was in shorter-supply around 1:30 a.m., as Republicans continued to demand more votes. ?Reid pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes during one exchange between Murray and Sessions. Murray pleaded with Republicans to consider the Senate?s ?elderly? members.

The amendments continued unabated.

By 3 a.m., Reid and Murray demanded that senators, like unruly schoolchildren, stay seated in their desks to speed up the process.

Republicans obliged, happy to be having their say on the floor, no matter the time.

?I?m glad we?re voting,? Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had said a few hours earlier. ?It?s what the Senate should be doing every day.?

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/senates-punchy-night-budget-vote-rama-044418332--politics.html

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Saturday, March 23, 2013

Lifetime wins legal battle to air Chris Porco movie

By Tim Kenneally

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Rejoice, crime-biopic fans; Lifetime will "Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story" this Saturday after all.

After being slapped with an injunction by a New York judge on Tuesday, mere days before its premiere date, Lifetime won an appeal in New York State Appellate Division, Third Department, to premiere the film Saturday at 8 p.m., as originally intended.

New York Supreme Court judge Robert Muller handed down the injunction after Porco - the subject of the movie, who was convicted in 2006 of murdering his father and maiming his mother - claimed that the movie uses a "substantially fictionalized account ... about plaintiff and the events that led to his incarceration," and uses his name for "purposes of trade," in violation of New York Civil Rights Law section 51.

According to papers filed by Lifetime's legal team on Wednesday, Porco had neither seen the film or read its script.

Lifetime's legal team protested Muller's decision, calling it a "classic prior restraint that violates the First Amendment" and contains "multiple errors of law."

Lifetime's lawyers further asserted that "the details of the crimes, the criminal investigation, and the conviction of Porco as presented in the movie are all factually correct and well-documented."

"Romeo Killer: The Chris Porco Story" stars "Hatfields & McCoys" actor Matt Barr as Porco. The cast also includes "Will & Grace" alum Eric McCormack and Lolita Davidovich of "Gods and Monsters."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/lifetime-wins-legal-battle-air-chris-porco-movie-230048471.html

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Iowa State rolls to 76-58 win over Notre Dame

Iowa State forward Georges Niang points to a teammate in the first half of a second-round game against Notre Dame at the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)

Iowa State forward Georges Niang points to a teammate in the first half of a second-round game against Notre Dame at the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)

Iowa State forward Melvin Ejim dunks against Iowa State half of a second-round game at the NCAA college basketball tournament on Friday, March 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)

Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey watches the second half of a second-round game against Iowa State at the NCAA college basketball tournament on Friday, March 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Notre Dame forward Jack Cooley (45) shoots against Iowa State in the first half of a second-round game at the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 22, 2013, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Skip Peterson)

(AP) ? Freshman Georges Niang matched a season high with 19 points and Iowa State, showing it can do much more than just fire away from outside the 3-point line, dismantled Notre Dame 76-58 on Friday night in the NCAA tournament.

The 10th-seeded Cyclones (23-11) will play No. 2 seed Ohio State on Sunday. The Buckeyes advanced with a 95-70 thrashing of Iona.

Iowa State led the nation in 3-pointers this season, but the Cyclones were just as effective from short range in ousting the Fighting Irish (25-10), who played their final game as a member of the Big East and will join the Atlantic Coast Conference next season.

Melvin Ejim added 17 points for Iowa State, which shot better than 70 percent for much of the second half.

Tom Knight scored 14 to lead the Fighting Irish.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-03-22-BKC-NCAA-Iowa-St-Notre-Dame/id-74a037df0ee84036a78f4e11786db02c

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