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10 Jul 2009 19:20

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Culture: Mr. Potter is Mr. Popular in the US. Well, everywhere actually.

  • 300 midnight showings are already sold out across the country, and that number is expected to rise “dramatically” before the movie is released July 15. source
  • Reuters is even reporting that Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the sixth film in the series, could gross between $800 million and $1 billion. source

10 Jul 2009 18:49

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Sports: Tour de Lance hits a snag in the seventh round. Jerks.

Who is this guy? Doesn’t matter, really. All you need to know is he’s beating Lance Armstrong, and he’s a menace. source

10 Jul 2009 18:24

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Music: Hallelujah, we agree with Leonard Cohen on this fact

  • I was just reading a review of a movie called Watchmen that uses it, and the reviewer said ‘Can we please have a moratorium on Hallelujah in movies and television shows?’ And I kind of feel the same way. I think it’s a good song, but I think too many people sing it.
  • Singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen • On the overdone popularity of his song “Hallelujah,” which he’s famous for by numerous proxies – Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, Kate Voegele, Jason Castro, and the list goes onnnn and onnnnnnnnnn. Someone kill this freaking song already! It’s like a roach. • source

10 Jul 2009 18:06

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Music: Update: Sufjan Stevens is (kinda) coming back (but not really)

  • State No. 3? Nope. Try reworked 1st album. Oh, Sufjan, how you tease us. Just a week ago, we were begging – no, pleading! – for your return to indie pop’s most famous serial novel. Well, this week, you showed back up, yeah, but you’re announcing the release of a reworked version of your first album, “Enjoy Your Rabbit.” “Run Rabbit Run,” the reworked album, will be reimagined by Osso, who’s helped Stevens in the past. OK dude, appreciated, but it’s no “Alaska”, which we’re sure will feature that destined classic, “Oh Sarah, You Media Showoff (the Ballad of Wasilla, A Stop on the Bridge to Nowhere).” source

10 Jul 2009 17:37

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Biz, Tech: GM takes a cue from Beanie Babies, plans to hawk stuff on eBay

OK, we kid, we kid, it is a viable business plan, but it is, pardon our pun, kind of a left turn for the company. source

10 Jul 2009 17:32

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Tech, World: High-profile Brit caught with his pants down (thanks to Facebook)

  • It’s not a state secret that he wears Speedo swimming trunks, for goodness sake.
  • British Foreign Secretary David Miliband • On Sir John Sawers’ private family photos, among other things, that ended up being published in the Mail on Sunday. How did they get a hold of this stuff you ask? He is the British representative to the United Nations and soon to be head of the British Secret Intelligence Service after all. Well, it seems his wife, Lady Sawers, doesn’t quite understand Facebook’s privacy settings. Oops. • source

10 Jul 2009 17:26

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Biz: AIG’s back at the government for another bonus round

  • $285 million in I-owe-you-nothing funds need to be paid source
 

10 Jul 2009 16:50

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Politics, U.S.: Levi Johnston on Sarah Palin: Well, I’m gonna be hypocritical

  • She had talked about how nice it would be to take some of this money people had been offering us and you know just run with it, say ‘forget everything else.’
  • Levi Johnston • On his would be baby’s-mama’s-mama, Sarah Palin, and her possibly golden-goose-related reasons for resigning as governor. He lived with the family for a short while while he was trying to be a son-in-law, Pauly Shore-style. Now, not to be critical or anything, but it’s not like Ricky Hollywood doesn’t have red on his hands. And to think, we used to like his jeans. • source

10 Jul 2009 16:17

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U.S., World: Is North Korea playing nice with those jailed journalists?

  • The good news: they’re not in prison labour camp yet. The two US journalists being held in North Korea, Laura Ling and Euna Lee, are still staying in a guest house in the county’s capital, according to University of Georgia political scientist Han Park. The bad news: North Korea still wants them, for now. source

10 Jul 2009 16:16

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Tech: The iPhone gets some lovin’ from St. Petersburg Times’ photographer

Melissa Lyttle recently completed an assignment…for a newspaper…using only her iPhone. Relax. Breathe. They actually look pretty good. source