- “Oz The Great and Powerful” lived up to its name in its debut
weekend, hammering the rest of the field at the box office with an $80.3
million effort that was more than the earnings of the next 24 films on the list
– combined. While its $215 million budget means Sam Raimi’s latest project has
work to do before turning a profit, it’s a great start. The same cannot be said
for “Jack the Giant Slayer,” which chased a ho-hum first-week effort with a
63-percent decline in earnings and a $10 million weekend to raise its
cumulative domestic total to $43.8 million. The über-awful “Identity Thief”
claimed third place with $6.4 million and has banked $116.5 million in five
weeks. “Dead Man Down” was the second new film in the top four, raking in $5.4
million for a lackluster debut that doesn’t do much for Colin Ferrell’s résumé.
Fifth place went to “Snitch,” owner of $5.1 million in earnings for the frame
and a $31.8 million tally after three weeks in theaters. “21 and Over” slipped
three spots to sixth in its second weekend, banking $5 million to marginally
raise its overall domestic haul to $16.8 million. “Safe Haven” remained in
seventh place with a $3.9 million effort that boosted its four-week earnings
total to $62.8 million. The strong run of “Silver Linings Playbook” stretched
into its 17th week as the Oscar-winning film added $3.8 million to its profit
margin and has brought in $120.7 million thus far. In ninth place was the
animated “Escape From Planet Earth,” with $3.3 million for the weekend and
$47.8 million in its first four weeks. “The Last Exorcism Part II” continued
its high-speed free fall out of the top 10, going from fifth last weekend to
the list’s last slot this time around with $3.1 million. With just $12 million
in two weekends, it should be on the outside looking in next weekend, much the
same way “A Good Day to Die Hard” (No. 11) and “Dark Skies” (No. 14) were this
time around……..
- The fight rages on in the Falkland Islands and this time,
the weapons are votes instead of guns. Residents of the islands are holding a
referendum this weekend that, depending upon whom you ask, should either
definitively declare the will of the people who matter most or have no merit
whatsoever on the issue of which nation controls them. The referendum asks 1,672 eligible
voters on the islands, population 2,500, whether they want the Falklands to remain an
internally self-governing British overseas territory. Argentina, which has
accused the British of oppressive colonialism, has already dismissed the vote as illegal and continues to demand that
Britain relinquish control of the islands, which raise their own taxes but
depend on the British for defense and foreign policy. Residents initiated the
referendum themselves, but Argentina does not care what they want. The two
nations vying for control of the Falklands fought a brief but bloody war
over the islands in 1982 and Britain has held the barren islands since 1833.
Buenos Aires continues to claim that what it calls "Las Malvinas" are
occupied Argentinean territory. One of the islands’ legislators, assembly
member and sixth-generation Falkland Islander Jan Cheek, hopes the vote sends a
strong message to Argentinean leaders. "We would be deluding ourselves if
we thought that Argentina would change overnight, but we hope it'll be a strong
message to them and to others," Cheek said. Argentinean President Cristina
Kirchner is a vocal critic of British control of the islands and islanders hope
the referendum result provide them with a definitive message to present to
other nations in waging their battle for acceptance on the international stage.
In the epically named Falklands capital of Stanley, islanders hung bunting with
the British Union Jack and the Falklands flag ahead of the vote. Aregentina’s
argument against the referendum is essentially that the islands are “implanted”
squatters who cannot legally possess the right to self-determination. The
Argentinean foreign ministry derided the vote as "a British attempt to manipulate" the status of
the archipelago and insisted “the attempt will not alter the essence of the
Falklands or put an end to the sovereignty dispute.” Regardless of the result,
don’t look for a repeat of what went down on April 2, 1982, when Argentina's
then-ruling junta invaded the Falklands, sparking a 74-day war with Britain
which resulted in the deaths of 649 Argentine and 255 British troops……..
- Whose world isn't made better by the discovery of a
potentially mythical crystal found in a shipwreck from a Viking boat that sunk off the
island of Alderney - in the English Channel - in 1592? The crystal is believed
to be similar to a sunstone, which was
a powerful navigational aid said to have been used by Viking mariners centuries
ago. A French research team theorized that the transparent crystal may
have been used to locate the sun even on cloudy days and its existence could
explain how the Vikings successfully navigated large portions of the sea before
the magnetic compass was ever conceived of or invented. Many in academia
dismiss the sunstone theory as a total myth, but a team from the University of
Rennes in France found the crystal while examining the wreck of a British ship
that disappeared beneath the waters of the English Channel in 1592. The oblong
crystal, less than five inches in length, was located next to a pair of
dividers - suggesting it was part of the navigational equipment. Lab analysis
revealed that the crystal is a piece of Iceland spar - a form of calcite known
for its property of diffracting light into two separate rays. By testing
another piece of Iceland spar, the scientists were able to prove that by
rotating the crystal, it was possible to find the point where the two beams
converge and thus identifying the direction of the sun, even on cloudy days or
after the sun has set. Even though the piece of Iceland spar found on the ship
was on a vessel centuries after the Vikings’ era of dominance in the ninth and
10th Centuries, the UR team hypothesized that use of such crystals may have
continued for several centuries as a backup to the often unreliable magnetic
compass, which was introduced in Europe in the 13th Century. Even in Viking
legends, references to sunstone are scarce, so it’s entirely possible that
their use is a myth and the Vikings were just that damn good in setting out
from Scandinavia and using their longboats to explore and conquer parts of
Europe, Greenland, Iceland, Russia and even North America………
- What a load of crap. A Pennsylvania truck driver finds
himself in the middle of a steaming, stinking pile of trouble after his truck
hit a ditch and crashed on a snow-covered road in central Pennsylvania,
spilling 17 tons of processed human waste. With the effects of the winter storm
that smacked much of the Keystone State still being felt, this poor blue-collar
worker was motoring along early Wednesday in Antis Township when slippery road conditions caused him to lose control, hit a ditch and
flip his truck. The vehicle spilled its cargo into a nearby marsh and for some
reason, that’s a huge problem. Pennsylvania State Police cited the driver for
the crash and failing to control his vehicle, which seems a bit cruel given
that the man was treated for minor injuries suffered during the accident.
Getting hurt and being known as the dude who dumped 17 tons of crap into a
marsh should be punishment enough, but leave it to the police to unnecessarily
pile on to add extra pain and suffering to the process. That doesn’t even
include the possibility that the driver could lose his job because of the
incident, making it even tougher for him to pay his legal fees and court costs.
The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection responded to the scene
to supervise the cleanup of the eight-plus tons of processed human waste and
the citizens of Blair County need not worry that a truck full of processed
fecal matter will do serious damage to their ecosystem. Of course, worse refuse
than processed human waste have been found in many a water supply in many a
city across the United States over the years, so polluting a marsh with a truck
full of crap isn't that much worse……..
- Did they or didn’t they? The Baltimore Ravens may or may
not have demanded that wide receiver
Anquan Boldin either take a pay cut or be released. Boldin, who had a huge
postseason with 22 receptions for 380 yards and four touchdowns to help lead
the team to its second-ever Super Bowl win last month, is scheduled to earn $6
million in the coming season and will carry a $7.531 million salary-cap figure
if he remains on the roster. At 32 years old, he’s not too far past his prime
to be an impact player and is arguably the toughest receiver in the NFL, having
once literally had his face broken on the field by a vicious hit and returning
a few weeks later without the aid of pain medication. However, is cap number is
high and there were questions about the team’s willingness to bring him back
even after they didn't have to use the franchise tag on quarterback Joe Flacco,
who signed a six-year, $120.6 million deal. Yet late last week, news leaked out
that the front office had demanded that Boldin either accept a reduced deal or
be released. Boldin claims that demand was not made and said that even though a
restructuring of some sort may be necessary at some point, the team has not
approached him on the issue. For now, he plans to play next season under the
terms of his current deal, although there is the distinct possibility the issue
has been discussed and Boldin is merely trying to keep it from becoming a major
battle fought through the media. Numerous reports suggested that Boldin is
ready and willing to take his chances on the free-agent market if he is
released because the team wants to save money it can spend to retain free-agent
linebacker Dannell Ellerbe. Boldin did say last month that he would retire if
he was cut by the Ravens, but that could very well be an emotional response in
the heat of the moment from a proud player who didn’t like the idea of being thought
of as expendable………
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