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LOS ANGELES - Returning to the mystical land of "The Wizard of Oz" took more than 70 years and several hundred millions dollars.
Disney releases its highly anticipated prequel to the 1939 movie classic on Friday. Directed by Sam Raimi, "Oz the Great and Powerful" explores the origins of the wizard (James Franco) and the witches (Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams and Rachel Weisz) in a three-dimensional Oz.
The $200 million production, not counting another $100 million in estimated marketing costs, is a huge gamble for everyone involved, considering "The Wizard of Oz" is among the most enduring and beloved films of all time. Even Raimi, director of the first three "Spider-Man" movies, described the project as "daunting."
The risk is compounded by a general box-office slump and a poor showing for last weekend's $200 million big-screen take on another popular tale, "Jack the Giant Slayer," based on "Jack and the Beanstalk."
"The plus side is that there's such incredible awareness of `The Wizard of Oz' that it's going to translate into a mammoth opening weekend for `Oz the Great and Powerful,'" said Dave Karger, chief correspondent for Fandango.com. "The danger is that many people's natural tendency will be to compare this to `The Wizard of Oz,' and there's no film that will ever live up to that."
According to a survey done by the site, nearly all those buying tickets for the new "Oz" film have seen the original, and the film is far and away the most popular of the week, comprising almost 80 percent of tickets sold.
Franco has loved the world created by L. Frank Baum since he first saw the 1939 movie on TV as a kid. It inspired him to read all of Baum's books, which led him to other fantasy fare such as "Alice in Wonderland" and the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. But the notion of revisiting the Land of Oz with an A-list director wasn't enough to lure Franco to the leading role.
"I already had a lot of faith in the movie because Sam was attached, but as an Oz fan, I wanted to be sure that the approach was sound," the actor said. "They very smartly did not just do a boy version of Dorothy and have the same trip through Oz."
For one, Franco notes the wizard is a con man and his trip through Oz is very different than Dorothy's was. "He'll be getting into awkward situations, basically kind of bouncing off of Oz in ways that Dorothy didn't," the actor said.
While the new "Oz" has plenty of familiar elements - the yellow brick road, Emerald City, witches, munchkins (now multi-ethnic) - "the ways they're interacting with the protagonist (are) completely different," Franco said.
As the film opens in sepia-toned 1905 Kansas, Franco's Oscar Diggs is a carnival magician who dreams of fame and fortune at any cost. When a twister whisks him to a fantastical land bearing his stage name - Oz - whose inhabitants believe him to be a wizard sent to save them, he can't believe his luck. Power and riches are practically his for the taking.
But first, he faces three witches, none of whom are exactly as they seem. Oz befriends a few locals, including a flying monkey (Zach Braff) and a china doll (Joey King), and eventually makes the plight of the people of Oz his own.
Like Franco, Raimi grew up loving the original "Oz" film.
"I remember it being the scariest movie I'd ever seen in my life and also the most touching movie, the saddest, sweetest thing I'd ever seen," he said. "It was that spirit of sweetness, of characters becoming complete by the end of the story - that was the most powerful thing I took away from the 1939 classic and the thing we tried collectively to put in our picture."
Some critics have questioned the casting of Franco as the wizard. The AP's Christy Lemire wrote that he's "too boyish for the role ... neither charismatic nor self-loathing enough."
Yet Raimi believes Franco was the perfect actor to portray the wizard: "He was born to play the part."
Franco and Raimi are personal friends, and the director said he's seen the actor's growth as a performer and an individual since they first worked together on 2002's "Spider-Man."
"I knew James was a moody dreamer, and that's who Oz is," Raimi said. "He dreams of being this great man, even if he doesn't know what greatness is."
The director knew Franco could embody both the selfishness - which Raimi had seen in the actor when he was younger - and the heart of the wizard.
"Because James had, in his life, been all of these things, I knew that if he could grab a hold of them and recognize them and hold up a mirror to himself - however actors do that - he could channel everything he was through this character and really bring him to life like no one else," Raimi said.
Franco said playing the role "was really like I was stepping into the imaginative world of my childhood."
And coming into Oz through the wily wizard, whose origins were never fully explored in the Baum books, is an inspired way to revisit the world, he said.
"It's a great way to return to Oz through a character that you sort of know but not really," the actor said. "Because of that, it's a great entry that feels familiar and new."


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subset: commoncrawl


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Middle-Earth: Dagor Dagorath is a global mod based on J. R. R Tolkien trilogy "The Lord of the Rings" developing by "SiCh modding team".
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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After getting the news earlier about Rayman Legends being delayed and no longer being a Wii U exclusive, it caused an uproar over the net. Wii U owners being upset because a game they had been waiting for awhile now. Gamers have taken to forums everywhere to voice their opinions on what Ubisoft is doing with this game. Then, having the Xbox 360 and PS3 owners pretty happy with what's happening but what about how the developers feel? That's something we wouldn't usually know but today a Rayman Legends developer spoke up.
Wow, this really kinda puts things into perspective huh? Shows the kind of crap devs have to go through due to crappy business decisions by a bunch of guys in suits and ties.
This was all about money.
Ubisoft doesn't like WiiU sales, and fans were clamoring for Rayman for current consoles. This is one of the reasons why games are beginning to suck: They treat developers like SH*T!
Nintendo needs to quit having Ubisoft on their system launches. 3DS ,and now WIIU.
sometimes we as gamers have the right to be upset with developers when they are acting arrogant and whatnot, but in this case i knew i couldn't be upset with the development team because this decision could only be made by the higher ups.
my glad that more people can play this game, but it really sucks how the execs are holding back an already finished game from those who want to play it now.
That blurb puts all worldwide English teachers on suicide watch.


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Sony Pictures has started development on the fourth movie in the Men in Black franchise, EW has confirmed. The Wrap first reported the news.
Oren Uziel, who is writing the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie, has scored the screenwriting gig for MIB 4. He is also writing Sony's sequel to 21 Jump Street, last year's hit comedy starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill. That sequel will open on June 6, 2014. No release date has been set for MIB 4.
Men in Black 3 was a box office success last summer, earning the franchise's highest worldwide gross. The time-traveling threequel brought back franchise stars Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones and also starred Josh Brolin as an uncanny younger version of Jones' Agent K.
Follow Emily on Twitter: @EmilyNRome
Read more:
The 'Men in Black 3' ending makes no sense, no sense at all
Will Smith on turning down 'Django Unchained': 'I needed to be the lead'


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Thanks to Hannah Montana, I may never have to buy a TV again.
No, I didn't win a new television at a Miley Cyrus concert. But the other day, I found my daughter watching an episode of "Hannah Montana" on the computer in our living room. When I asked her why she didn't just turn on the tube and watch the Disney Channel, she gave me that "Daddy, you are so behind the times," look and said, "Because on the computer I can watch it whenever I want. And on the TV, I had to wait for it to come on."
You need to understand something important about my TV-viewing habits: I don't really have any. When I lived in Boston, I watched two things: Red Sox baseball and the Food Network. Period. I allowed my children one, maybe two hours of TV a day. And on school days, none at all. I was the TV Grinch. (My wife hates TV with a passion, having grown up without it.) I've never seen an episode of "Survivor," have no idea who Donald Trump has fired lately, and I'm lost about "Lost." I don't TiVo.
OK, I confess, every now and then I watch "CSI:." But that's when I feel wild and crazy.
I should have realized, however, that I was making the shift to computer-based viewing when I moved to Washington, D.C. I purchased the mlb.com package to watch the Red Sox on my computer. I started showing my kids clips of SCTV (Second City Television, a Canadian sketch-style comedy show from the late 1970s and early '80s) on YouTube. I started watching news reports from the BBC and others online.
Jennifer Squires Biller, who writes a blog called Tube-Talk (www.tubetalk.blogspot.com/) says I am far from alone when it comes to seeing the benefits of watching TV online.
"Viewing television shows on the Web has become commonplace for a certain genre of viewers, who prefer to watch their favorite shows at their convenience and often on-the-go, whether on their iPods during a flight, or on their laptops during their lunch hour at work," Ms. Biller wrote in an e-mail. "I truly believe that Web viewing of television shows has already saturated our popular culture, and that it's here to stay, very much the same way cellphones permeated our society in the last 15 years."
Now that the TV-on-the-computer-screen idea has finally dawned on me (such convergence was predicted in the pre-2000 tech-boom times), I have realized several things:
1. I don't need a new TV. For my family, the Web provides just enough programming. My kids get their shows, I get my Red Sox. (I'm still waiting for the Food Network. Come on, dudes!) My old TV is on its last legs, and I've been hearing all these warnings about February 2009, when people will need a digital TV or at least a converter box to watch broadcasts. Why bother? I'll save myself a few bucks, thank you kindly.
2. Good-bye cable. We're moving again. (Long story, third time in eight months, I feel like a Bedouin.) We are moving to an area outside Washington with no cable. (I thought the peak of Mt. McKinley was the only place in the United States without cable.) But who cares?
In my new home, I can receive an Internet signal via a wireless service. A little receiver sits in my bedroom closet and broadcasts throughout the house. A local Internet provider charges $60 a month for the service. It costs more than what a cable company would charge, but worth it.
While I still watch CNN at work, it and other cable news networks stream important political events online. NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, and other networks offer complete episodes of some of their top shows online. If I pay a few extra bucks I can watch a movie downloaded from the iTunes store or Netflix. So why pay $100 a month for the pleasure of watching the Golf Channel and the Home Shopping Network? No thanks.
3. This is why the Writers Guild of America is on strike. Lots of young people already watch TV online, but as more old fogeys like me cotton to this stuff, you can see why writers want to be paid appropriately for the increasing number of people who watch their shows on a computer instead of on a TV set.
But watching TV online also raises a question: Might a show be canceled if Americans watch it only online instead of on the tube?
No, says Biller, watching online can actually help save a show. She offered the example of "Jericho," a drama that appears on CBS.
"It's obvious ... that the system does not accurately reflect ratings when you see a situation like what transpired with the show 'Jericho,' " she writes. "The network canceled the show due to dismal ratings, but apparently didn't realize the enormous fan base for the show. Millions of fans bombarded the network with millions of pounds of nuts (a nod to a line from the show) demanding 'Jericho' be returned to the airwaves. The network caved, and 'Jericho' lives on."
At this point, it never ceases to amaze me how our media choices are evolving. With at least three ways you can watch your favorite show now (iPod, computer, television), who knows how many more there will be down the road?


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Welcome Home Brother: Honoring our Vietnam Veterans
Starting Friday, Sept. 21, at 6 p.m. at the Events Centre at 700 Crockett St. in Beaumont, the City of Beaumont and Vietnam Veterans of America Inc. - Chapter 292 are honoring Vietnam veterans. All proceeds benefit Texas Capitol Vietnam Veterans Monument.
Friday, Sep. 21, 6-8 p.m. - Veterans' Reception & POW MIA Ceremony, Beaumont Event Centre
A veterans' reception planned for Friday will honor all veterans and their families. It will be held at the new Event Centre in downtown Beaumont. The powerful and poignant POW/MIA ceremony will be conducted honoring those still missing. The event is free to veterans and their families. All others are encouraged to donate to the monument. Refreshments provided.
Saturday, Sept. 22, 9 a.m. – 25th Anniversary Celebration & Ceremony, Ben J. Rogers Regional Visitors Center
Vietnam Veterans of America Inc. Southeast Chapter 292 celebrate their 25th anniversary with a special ceremony at the Ben J. Rogers Regional Visitors Center.
Saturday, Sept. 22, 10:30 a.m. – Veterans Memorial Motorcycle Ride, Ben J. Rogers Regional Visitors Center
The ride will honor POW/MIA's and veterans of all wars. Cowboy Harley Davidson will host the after party with lunch provided by Saltgrass Steakhouse. There will be entertainment, drinks and door prizes. Pre-registration forms available at area motorcycle dealers and shops or on the Welcome Home Brother Weekend Facebook page. Register on-site the day of the event from 8-9 am and immediately following the ceremony. Bikes line-up at 10:30 a.m. Cost of the ride is $20 for driver and $20 for passenger.
Saturday, Sept. 22, 6 p.m. – Support Our Veterans VIP Reception with Artist and Author, Art Museum of Southeast Texas
Opportunity for sponsors and VIP's to meet author Col. Albert J. Nahas and artist Duke Sundt with the scale model of the monument. If you would like to become a sponsor, contact Barbara Otto at (409) 880-3736 or botto [at] ci [dot] beaumont [dot] tx [dot] us.
Saturday, Sept. 22, 7 pm – Heroes Dinner, Beaumont Civic Center
Enjoy dinner with true American heroes – Vietnam veterans from throughout Southeast Texas. Featured guests at the dinner are artist Duke Sundt with the scale model of the monument, and guest speaker Col. Albert J. Nahas, author of recently released book "Warriors Remembered, Vietnam Veterans – Welcome Home."
It is time to welcome our brothers from Vietnam home.
Sponsorship opportunities are available; contact Barbara Otto at botto [at] ci [dot] beaumont [dot] tx [dot] us or call (409) 880-3736. For tickets or table sales, contact Sandra Womack at (409) 781-0778 or sandrawr2 [at] aol [dot] com. For hotel reservations contact the Holiday Inn & Suites Beaumont Plaza, call (409) 842-5995. Use the code UVV to receive the special rate of $75 a night.
Find the event on Facebook: Welcome Home Brother Weekend


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cosmicfantasia necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 436 diseños de 146 diseñadores freelance.
We are looking for a logo that stands out from the crowd, for a diversified company called CobaltBlu.
The CobaltBlu logo should ecapsulate the follwoing characteristics of the company Magnetism, Strength, 'essential' part of success and the ability to deal with the heat and pressure of 'battle'.
More details in long description...
We are looking for a logo that stands out from the crowd, for a diversified company called CobaltBlu.
CobaltBlu is a Global business that comprises the following core brands:
- Dundeti Consulting Services, for Entrepreneurs and under-commercialised Intellectual Property, much of which leverages new technological advances- CommunityCarbon, implementing a community lead response to climatechange - True Talent and True Services, proving talent management and operational support services.
- CobaltBlu Consulting, an executive and management consulting service for corporate clients.To be successful, they require a rare combination of essential talent, intelligence, insight and experience.The CobaltBlu captures the companies:
- Magnetism- Strength- 'essential' part of success- Ability to deal with the heat and pressure of 'battle'- Cool, fresh and clean….associated with the colour.We are looking for a logo that is generic enough to suit our disparate business, yet captures the nature of the team.
Designers would do well to refer to the description of Cobalt and CobaltBlue below.
Cobalt is one of the world's essential elements. Of all elements, 27 are essential to man. Cobalt is one.
It has many strategic and irreplaceable industrial uses but it is as the central component of Vitamin B12 that it is VITAL. Cobalt has many uses based on several of its unique properties:
* It has a high melting point (1493°C) and retains its strength to a high temperature - Cutting tools, superalloys, surface coating, high speed steels, cemented carbides, diamond tooling
* Cobalt is ferromagnetic (nickel and iron are as well) and retains this property to 1100°C, a higher temperature (Curie Point) than any other material.
* Cobalt in conjunction with silica, etc., produces intense blue colours - Cobalt Blue in paints, glazes, enamels, etc. Cobalt is used in the preparation of magnetic, wear-resistant, and high-strength alloys.
The cobalt based superalloys consume most of the produced cobalt. The temperature stability of these alloys make them suitable for turbine blades within gas turbines and jet aircraft engines. The nickel-based single crystal alloys surpass the cobalt based in temperature stability, but the cobalt based are still in use. These alloys are also corrosion and wear-resistant.
Special cobalt chromium molybdenum alloys are used for prosthetic parts such as hip and knee replacements. Some high speed steels also use cobalt to increase heat and wear-resistance. The special alloys of aluminium, nickel and cobalt, known as Alnico, and of samarium and cobalt (magnet) are used in permanent magnets, which can be used for recording media. Cemented carbides (also called hard metals) and diamond tools.
Cobalt blue (cobalt(II) aluminate, CoAl2O4) gives a distinctive deep blue color to glass, ceramics, inks, paints, and varnishes.
- No tagline. This will be added on site and other material separely.
- Although it is a corporate logo. Not look for old style boring corporate.
- The symbolism within the design is important. But shouldn't be over the top. Prefer it to be subtle. An explination of the symbolism would go a long way.
- Cool, fresh and clean
- Don't want to limit what designers think they should use as far as colours go. But obviously blue would be one of the first colors to work with.
- Adobe Illustrator vector format. (.ai or .eps)
- Old style boring corporate
- Over the top symbolism. Should be subtle.
- Designs that look similar to others.
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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Primeira Liga Wrap: Castro suffers Porto loss
Luis Castro suffered his first defeat in charge of Porto as Sporting Lisbon claimed a valuable 1-0 win at Estadio Jose Alvalade on Sunday.
Interim coach Castro had overseen victories over Arouca and Europa League opponents Napoli since taking over from Paulo Fonseca earlier this month.
However, Islam Slimani's 52nd-minute header proved enough to condemn Porto to a fifth Primeira Liga defeat of the campaign.
Slimani pulled away from his marker at the far post to nod home Andre Martins' cross from the right.
Second-placed Sporting now hold a five-point lead over Porto and are four behind Benfica ahead of the leaders' match at Nacional on Monday.
At the bottom, the weekend's big winners were Pacos de Ferreira, who climbed out of the relegation zone with victory on Saturday before seeing the two clubs they leapfrogged lose on Sunday.
Basement outfit Olhanense are now winless in 13 away league games after a 2-0 reverse at the hands of Arouca.
Roberto Rodrigo and Lassad Nouioui were on target for Arouca, the latter sealing victory with an injury-time penalty.
Arouca, who saw Cristian Ceballos sent off late on, had previously gone seven Primeira Liga matches without a win, but can breathe a little easier after pulling five points clear of the bottom two.
Belenenses are alongside Olhanense on 17 points following a 3-1 loss at home to Vitoria Setubal.
Rafael Martins put the visitors in front just after the half-hour mark, only for Tiago Caeiro to level on 66 minutes.
Setubal then seized control in the closing stages with goals from Ricardo Horta and Martins.


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Poets United is a community for poets who blog. Our purpose is to unite the poets from all walks of life who are found in the blogosphere. Our goal is to provide an active and supportive community. We each write poetry for our own personal reasons, but if you are here, one of those reasons is to share your writing with others.
As many poets also like to tell stories in prose – whether fiction or 'creative' non-fiction – we also have a couple of opportunities per month for (very short examples of) that form of expression.
Below you will see just a small sampling of what goes on here at Poets United. We are all about our members and the community.
Mary is on duty all the time as our Editor in Chief, who monitors everything behind the scenes, keeps our blog roll up-to-date, and offers guidance and practical assistance when needed.
Sunday – On every Sunday except the first one of the month, either Sherry Blue Sky or Mary hosts Poetry Pantry (an Open Link experience). The Pantry will go live every Sunday at 1 a.m. Central Time. It's a day or two for our members and those just passing through to share their poetry with this community. We just ask that you visit others as they visit you rather than "link and run." The Mr. Linky for Poetry Pantry will close Monday at 12 p.m. (blog time). However, you are still able to comment on the poems that have been linked.
On the first Sunday of every month, Magaly Guerrero hosts Telling Tales with Magaly Guerrero: a Pantry of Prose (very short prose of 313 words).
Monday – Sherry Blue Sky will alternate between three different features. One week it will be the popular Life of a Poet interview series. Another week it will be a Poem of the Week selected from works of members of Poets United. A third week it will be a Blog of the Week
Tuesday – Time to enjoy reading the interview, poem of the week, or blog of the week, and preparing your Midweek Motif. (We try to give you advance notice.)
Wednesday – In Midweek Motif Susan Chast or Sumana Roy offer particular themes or topics to inspire us.
Thursday – More time for posting your Midweek Motif poem, or reading and commenting on others.
Friday – On the first and fifth Fridays of the month, Rosemary Nissen-Wade is responsible for (in random order of posting) I Wish I'd Written This, a modern or contemporary poem for our community's reading pleasure, often but not always emanating from Australia; The Living Dead, selecting one from a past era, or sometimes a poet more recently deceased; Moonlight Musings, where she reflects on matters poetic and actively invites discussion; and Thought Provokers, poems that invite pondering, and often surprise. Hopefully all of these will spark some wonderful discussions.
On the second Friday of the month Sanaa Rizvi will present Wild Fridays, which will be interactive.
On the third Friday of the month, Magaly Guerrero hosts Moonlight Musings, the Interactive Edition (again very short prose, this time 369 words).
On the fourth Friday of the month, Sherry Blue Sky hosts a special session of I Wish I'd Written This with a particular emphasis on Canadian poets.
Saturday – Time to catch up with the Friday feature and/or plan ahead for what you will share in the Pantry.
Poets United is not a place for advertisement or to blindly beg for followers. This is a place to explore and share the art of poetry. If you are looking to participate in a community with others like you then you have found the right place. Make yourself at home and please enjoy everything our community has to offer.
The concept of our community is simple. Poets United asks that you support the other members found here in this community by commenting or interacting with them and their blogs. This community is what you make of it. If you are active and comment often you will most likely find that so are others. If you feel inclined to follow the blogs found here that is all the better for us as Poets United. Do explore our blogroll on the right sidebar.
This community is not meant to be used in a negative manner. We ask that you be respectful of all the people on this site as each individual poet is entitled to their own opinion, style, and path to creativity.
Thank you for your creativity, it is your imagination that fuels the world.


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WTA World #1 Serena Williams wins her 17th Grand Slam title, defeating fellow Wilson player Victoria Azarenka 7-5 6-7 6-1 for the US Open title. The defending US Open champ was in control with her Wilson Blade tennis racket throughout the tournament, only dropping one set en route to the title.
"I love New York!" said Serena Williams. "I love the crowd and support here at home. Wilson has been with me every step of the way and it's a great feeling to know I have the right racket in my hand to play my best tennis."
Williams has been on a dominant World #1 in 2013, starting the season 26-0, marking the best start to a season since 1997 (Hingis), winning her second French Open Singles title, seven WTA titles and her fifth US Open title.
"Serena continues to leave her mark on the game," stated Wilson General Manager, Jon Muir. "All of us at Wilson continue to be proud of Serena and her ongoing career achievements on the court."
Wilson Blade was designed for hard hitting, aggressive players. It's a control racket for the modern, aggressive game and upgraded with Amplifeel for enhanced feel and a new construction for increased performance. As the choice of many tour and Next Gen players, the Blade is the future of control.
For more on the Wilson Blade: http://www.wilson.com/en-us/tennis/rackets


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CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The Harvard football team clinched its 14th Ivy League championship—its sixth under Tim Murphy—with a 37-20 win against Penn Saturday afternoon at Harvard Stadium.
The Crimson (8-1, 6-0 Ivy League) wrapped up the outright league title with a week remaining in the season behind a defense that limited the Quakers (5-4, 4-2) to 219 yards, including just 24 on the ground, and caused three turnovers. The win combined with Dartmouth's victory over Brown gave Harvard a two-game cushion in the standings with only The Game next week at Yale left on the schedule.
Josue Ortiz paced the defensive effort with 10 tackles, including 3.5 for loss and two sacks, while also forcing and recovering a fumble. Alex Gedeon added eight tackles, and Chris Splinter notched six. Harvard also won battles of special teams and field position, starting four drives in Penn territory in addition to Alexander Norman's interception return for a touchdown.
The Crimson ran for 204 yards, with Zach Boden (11 carries for 86 yards) and Treavor Scales (10 for 70) scoring once and averaging more than seven yards per rush. Collier Winters ran for 56 yards and a score to go with 132 yards on 13-for-20 passing and a touchdown pass to Cameron Brate.
Ortiz, Scales and Winters are among 21 seniors on the Crimson. The members of that class, who were freshmen when Harvard last won the Ivy crown in 2008, were honored before the game, their last at Harvard Stadium.
The teams traded punts on the game's first five possessions. Ortiz recorded a sack on the Quakers' first drive and ended their second with another sack, his league-leading ninth of the season.
Penn then took advantage of a few breaks to go ahead. After a penalty extended the drive and a pass batted by two Crimson defenders landed in the hands of Joe Holder for a 22-yard gain, Billy Ragone hit Ryan Calvert for a 21-yard score. The Penn quarterback threw for 195 yards with 17 completions in 36 attempts.
The Penn lead lasted less than three minutes. On the first play of the Quakers' next drive, Matt Martindale stopped Jeff Jack in his tracks, allowing Ortiz to come in to force and recover a fumble at the Penn 24-yard line. Winters evened the score at 7-7 with a pass over the middle to Brate on the first play of the Crimson possession.
The Crimson gained its first lead barely a minute before halftime. Chris Lorditch hauled in a juggling catch down the right sideline for 37 yards to the Penn 19, and Boden ran around the left side three plays later, scoring from 14 yards out.
After the Quakiers' next drive stalled, they got off bad snap on their punt attempt, and Harvard got the ball at the Penn 18 with six seconds left in the half. David Mothander converted a 35-yard field goal to give the Crimson a 17-7 halftime lead.
Harvard stopped Penn to start the second half and then used the ground game to extend its lead to 24-7. After Boden runs of 13 and 12 yards earlier in the drive, Winters danced around defenders on a 17-yard quarterback draw to the Penn 15. He later scampered around the left side from the 4-yard line and leaped into the front corner of the end zone for a 24-7 edge.
The Crimson defense forced a three-and-out by the Quakers, and Scales ran the lead up to 30-7. He broke free up the middle for 35 yards on the final play of the third quarter and then ran two more times to punch the ball into the end zone. Norman added another score 20 seconds later, running back an interception 34 yards up the right sideline.
Penn took advantage of a muffed punt by Harvard, recovering and cutting the lead to 37-14 on a one-yard run by Ragone four plays later. Ragone added one more score in the final four minutes, hitting Calvert from 13 yards out.


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Dust Bowl
- More on The Dust Bowl
- KQED Interviews Ken Burns
Ken Burns and producer Dayton Duncan chronicle the Dust Bowl in all its complexities and profound human drama. It is both an oral history, using interviews of 30 survivors, and an historical accounting of what happened and why during the 1930s on the southern Plains, using first person accounts, narration, comments by historians, and restored photographs, footage and music from the period.
Dust Bowl Previous Broadcasts
Reaping The Whirlwind (Episode #102#)
KQED World: Sat, Apr 11, 2015 -- 4:00 PM
In the second episode, experience the gradual relief as the families of the plains seek new lives in California and government conservation efforts - and a break in the drought in 1939 - eventually stabilize the soil and bring the farms back to life, but with dangers of another Dust Bowl facing future generations.
The Great Plow Up (Episode #101H)
KQED World: Sat, Apr 11, 2015 -- 2:00 PM
In the first episode, feel the full force of the worst manmade environmental disaster in America's history as survivors recall the terror of the dust storms, the desperation of hungry families and how they managed to find hope even as the earth and heavens seemed to turn against them.


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Budget Battles
Buttigieg Would Hike Corporate Taxes to Pay for His Health Plan
Warren Says She'll Release a Medicare for All Finance Plan
Pelosi Pushes Ahead on Drug Bill Despite Clashes With Trump
The $30 Trillion Question Haunting Elizabeth Warren's Campaign
A Cheaper Way to Provide Universal Health Coverage?
Your Two-Minute Summary of Tuesday's Democratic Medicare-for-All Debate
2020 Democratic Debate: What Voters Want to Hear About Health Care
Are Democrats Too Afraid of Raising Taxes?By Michael Rainey
One of the crucial unanswered questions hanging over the democratic debate on Medicare for All is how its proponents plan to pay for it. While Bernie Sanders has made it clear that he would raise...
The $30 Trillion Question Haunting Elizabeth Warren's Campaign
There's a $30 trillion question looming over Elizabeth Warren's presidential campaign: How would she fund the cost of the Medicare-for-All plan she proposes? The issue was the subject of repeated...
Moderate Dems (Cautiously) Critique Warren Wealth Tax
Tuesday night's Democratic presidential debate saw moderate Democrats battle with Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders over their proposals for a wealth tax. Both Warren and Sanders have...
A Look at How Far Corporate Tax Rates Have FallenBy Michael Rainey
A chart from Howard Silverblatt of S&P Dow Jones Indices shows just how far corporate tax rates have fallen since the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed. According to Silverblatt's calculations,...
Bernie Sanders Wants to Undo Trump's Corporate Tax Cut – and Much MoreBy Michael Rainey
Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders wants to raise the top corporate income tax to 35%, the same level it was before the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act lowered it to 21 percent. In a sweeping...
Trump's Tax Cuts Cost Homeowners $1 Trillion: AnalysisBy Michael Rainey
The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has cost millions of homeowners a collective $1 trillion in lost property values, says Allan Sloan, a former senior editor at Fortune and now an editor at large at...
Are We Asking the Wrong Question About Trump's Tax Cuts?By Michael Rainey
Most economists say it will take years to fully evaluate the effectiveness of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, but Greg Leiserson, director of tax policy at the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, isn'...
2019 Deficit Was Just Under $1 Trillion, Highest in 7 Years: CBO
The federal budget deficit for fiscal year 2019 grew to $984 billion, or 4.7% of GDP, the highest since 2012, the Congressional Budget Office estimated on Monday. The total for 2019 is 26% higher...
The Incredible Shrinking Tax Rate for the RichBy Michael Rainey
The highest-income households in the U.S. have seen an enormous reduction in their overall tax burdens since 1950, a development highlighted Sunday by The New York Times' columnist David Leonhardt,...
Would a Warren/Sanders Wealth Tax Kill the Economy?By Michael Rainey
As Democratic presidential candidates debate a variety of new social programs, from universal health care to free higher education, Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders are calling for a wealth tax to...
IRS: Sorry, but It's Just Easier and Cheaper to Audit the PoorBy Paul Kiel, ProPublica
The IRS audits the working poor at about the same rate as the wealthiest 1% . Now, in response to questions from a U.S. senator, the IRS has acknowledged that's true but professes it can't change...
Elizabeth Warren Wants to Tax Corporate LobbyingBy Michael Rainey
Elizabeth Warren released a proposal to tax companies that spend more than $500,000 a year on lobbying the federal government. The goal of the plan is to "end lobbying as we know it," Warren said in...
Rising Income Inequality Is a Fiscal Risk: Moody's
Income inequality in the United States last year reached the highest level since the Census Bureau started tracking it more than 50 years ago, even as median household income also reached a nominal...
Judge Rejects State Challenge to SALT Deduction LimitBy Michael Rainey
A lawsuit by four states challenging the cap on state and local tax deductions was dismissed Monday by a federal judge. The states – New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Maryland – claimed that the...
Bernie Sanders' New Inequality Tax Targets High CEO PayBy Michael Rainey
Bernie Sanders released a plan Monday that would penalize companies that pay their CEOs far more than their average workers. The proposal is designed to combat rising income inequality, Sanders said...
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The highly rated Metro UK newspaper app for Windows Phone is currently experiencing issues and is not successfully pulling down content from the Metro website. This is a confirmed problem and one the developer has been working on. We're pleased to relay that an update is well on the way that will fix everything up.
When inquiring about issues with the app, here's the response we received:
"Sorry you are experiencing some downtime with the Metro app on your Windows phone. You might have noticed the recent change to metro.co.uk. Because of this we have had to change how the app handles the content feeds, an update for which is currently in approval with Windows."
Unfortunately the app has been receiving negative reviews on the store due to the problems that have arisen. The cause is the newspaper's new website, which requires the Windows Phone app to be altered to handle new content feeds. As the app update is required to be submitted and approved by Microsoft, it's taking some time for it to roll out.
If you're a frequent Metro app user, fear not as an update is well on the way. It's available on the Store for free.


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Our third and final installment of Polaroid people-watching at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas, as seen through the analog lens of acclaimed music blog Gorilla vs. Bear—presented by Topman and Nordstrom Men's Shop.
Sarah Silverman
Fun Fun Fun Fest by Gorilla vs. Bear: Day 3on November 13, 2013
Gorilla vs. Bear—Live from Fun Fun Fun Feston November 8, 2013
We're teaming up once again with British brand Topman and acclaimed music blog Gorilla vs. Bear, this time to bring you live updates from Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin, Texas.
Meet the Designers: Scott Sternberg of Band of Outsiderson August 26, 2013
We spent a week this summer invading the offices and going inside the minds of six American menswear heroes. In our final installment, Band of Outsiders founder and designer Scott Sternberg talks French film, adult onesies and how to put on a show.
What's the story behind your fall collection?
It took inspiration from a very childlike notion of building a city from scratch. Sort of like if you could start your own urban utopia, like Brasilia—Oscar Niemeyer's, you know, South American little getaway. What would the roads look like? What would the signs look like? What would the uniforms look like, and what would the mail people drive around? And all that stuff. Uh, so I was very titillated by that.
How did the idea of building your utopia come about?
Just a conversation with my old design assistant. I think that up on the board, we had this archival print of these, uh, flies. They weren't crawling up and down lines [on a shirt] at the time. They just seemed like something. And there were a bunch of maps on the board. I had just bought a piece by an artist called Sam Durant. And then I started pulling all these different artists who worked with maps, like Jules de Balincourt, who's more painterly than Sam, who is much more sculptural. And we just sort of riffed on that. It seemed like a cool way to do a collection, versus being, like, inspired by Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor, or you know, the number nine or something. [Laughs.]
What are some ways you brought the city-planning concept back to the clothes?
So I started with the maps, and then there were other sort of sartorial references that just took place: imagery of boat workers, and this thing about workwear. Like this [twill jacket] is typical workwear. Cotton workwear material—a work shirt, pretty much. But how do you strip away all the elements and simplify it almost to the point of… not childlike, but just… elementary? And then, give it one sort of key signifier that makes it feel new.
Like in our uniforms, the two-tone zipper. Or this reefer coat, which is a very traditional reefer coat that's, like, very preppy, like "go to work"—but with these super-athletic, sporty cuffs, like from a track jacket or something. Sort of thinking about combining workwear with what you might wear to the office and athletic stuff—in some cases, it's all in one garment.
The fly [embroidered on this shirt] is this idea of insects being, like, the base of the city—underneath it all. Then just sort of getting playful. A lot of what we do is taking things that are really easy to wear, very preppy ways of dressing, but just sort of f—ing around with it a little bit. I mean "screwing around with it." [Laughs].
No worries, we'll bleep it.
…So, just simple things like combining very familiar fabrics to make something that just seems very simple, but slightly off, like this contrast-pocket [shirt]. And even from a practical standpoint, I like the idea of using both. [The shirt effectively has two pockets.]
What's the name of your made-up city?
We just called it "The City." But in parentheses, I think. We put a lot of things in parentheses. I hate naming things. Coming up with "Band of Outsiders" was torture.
Was it? Do you still like the name "Band of Outsiders" now?
The first two years, I was really tortured by it. I thought, "This is really putting it out there." But no, it's, uh… it becomes semantics after a while. It just becomes sounds. And they work thematically with what we do. So, I'm into it.
Where does the name come from?
It's the English translation of a Jean-Luc Godard movie called Bande à Part, which is a French new-wave film that my clothes look not very much like. It wasn't like I was trying to recreate that world—although I'd love to be in that world—but it's more about the tone of the brand. Band of Outsiders [the Godard film] is like a gangster movie about gangster movies. I mean, it's completely a work of art and this great film, but it really is making fun of the genre of film.
How does the film relate to what you do?
We're not making fun of preppy clothes, and we're not making fun of fashion. These are great clothes. They're super well-made. But, there's always sort of a further investigation… into, like, the slight ridiculousness that is fashion. And with men, the sort of habits and things that pull guys down and prevent them from having fun dressing.
Sartorial satire. Is that why this oxford shirt has two pockets, and this polo shirt has a fake pocket?
Yes. Trapped. I call it a trapped pocket. I started this line called "This Is Not a Polo Shirt," but we're slowly dissolving it just to be Band of Outsiders… just to remove syllables from people's daily lives. But you know, it was an investigation of the polo shirt—and one thing that I found right away when looking into them was that, okay, nobody uses that pocket. But when you take it away, it sort of feels naked. So it's this vestigial thing; it's like your appendix. It's there for a reason. It keeps the symmetry there somehow. It's how people understand it. But it's not actually utilized. So, that was my comment on the chest pocket.
This is not a pocket. So, why is that not a polo shirt?
It is a polo shirt! That's the whole thing. But it's not, because you don't play polo in it. The concept was really about—we obviously like investigating this tried-and-true part of a man's wardrobe—but also thinking about how men are obsessed with utility, and how it ties to what they wear. And how that somehow makes it all right. So if it's a polo shirt or a hunting jacket or you name it—in the lexicon of Ivy League clothes, they're all attributed to some function that happened at some time, most likely romanticized in the '50s or '60s, or even before. And I think it's sort of ridiculous and great, because nobody's hunting, for the most part, in those jackets. Nobody's playing polo, period. But we still call them that. It still helps us feel okay with wearing them.
On the conceptual note: who is René Magritte?
Well, he's a super-smart guy, a surrealist artist and he did a painting called The Treachery of Images. It's a painting of a pipe [and says in French], "This is not a pipe." Yes, it's a pipe, but it's a painting of a pipe, so it's not a pipe. It's all about perception. And you know, guys in the store will definitely [consider that] when buying clothes. [Laughs]. Tapping into all those hot marketing points here at Band of Outsiders!
You're joking, but you must include those references in your work for a reason?
We're building, hopefully, something that's meaningful—a brand that means something authentic. It's really an extension of me, and things I love, and the other people who work here and what they bring to the table. I think people ultimately really respond to that well.
You didn't present the Fall '13 collection via a normal runway presentation. What did you do instead?
Oh, God, this is ridiculous. This was the second in a series of non-traditional fashion shows for men that sort of utilized social media as a primary means to get out there and make people aware of the collection. So it was presented as part of a scavenger hunt, which was Matt vs. Miles. We pitted two ridiculously good-looking models against each other, gave them ten clues, ten looks each, and they were running around Manhattan for a day—this urban utopia, back to the inspiration—modeling looks from the collection. So it was a super-rad experiment. A lot of people paid attention, except for fashion people [laughs], who like to watch people walk by them on the runway. We make it a little difficult at times, not purposefully, for people to access what we're doing. And it's not for any other reason than to sort of challenge the norm and try out new ideas.
During those guerrilla-marketing campaigns, you often wear some kind of one-piece…
…Yeah, uniform. They're boiler suits. It goes back to the urban utopia thing—the idea about what workers will wear on the street. I love those onesies. They're great. I wore a black one to a show once, where I was in the show. It was like a men's tuxedo that looked like a boiler suit. I'd rock that anywhere; I don't care. They're super-comfortable. They're gonna be the staff uniforms for our retail shops.
Do they have everyone's names monogrammed?
I thought about it. I like the idea instead of just having a rainbow of them in the back room, and you just sort of grab one when you come in.
Why do you collect vintage calculators?
Gosh, um, I collect a lot of vintage things. I'm interested in the idea of technology that is so simple that really, in a way, it doesn't need to go away. Polaroid is such a tragedy, because really, they should still be making film, because we haven't replicated that technology. A screen with a digital image does not do that. It's singular. It's interesting. A calculator… it can be on here [motions at his computer screen], and that's fine, but—this is a useful tool. This thing, right here, being here outside of this. It's more productive that way. So, as objects, they're beautiful.
Speaking of vintage, your fall women's collection contained some archaic video-game references.
You know, when you're sort of mining for inspiration—desperate for inspiration [laughs]. Um, no. I was trying to think of something very graphic and colorful and sort of obtuse. And I'd had Atari, which was a big part of my childhood, floating around as a potential part of a few collections. [That women's collection] had this sort of '30s Billie Holiday thing, and it was lacking any edge at all. So, just by process of, you know, force, I took all the Atari stuff—we colored it, sized it and put it into the women's—and it sort of gave it exactly what it needed, which was something obtuse that wasn't so vintage and nostalgic, but more strange and surprisingly beautiful or whatever.
Why Atari?
It makes its way in because it's part of my childhood—like, a super-personal reference, which I think is so obvious and universal, but then you ask the kids lined up out there [at Band of Outsiders HQ], who are my designers, and they're like, "What's Atari?" And they're Googling it. Oh, my God, I am so old.
Band of Outsiders started out as only men's clothing. How did you get off the ground, back in 2004?
I had a really ridiculous notion to start a line of shirts and ties. I was working in the entertainment industry. I was an agent at a talent agency. And I just sort of started it. It was no real thing. I just saved up 30 grand and opened about three credit cards and went [for it].
Why did you start with shirts and ties, in particular?
At first, it was just a strange instinct. There was gonna be a sort of a "future prep" thing, right? Like, that was clear. And if you just thought of that uniform, those were the two essential elements of it—minus a blazer. Those elements made a look, you know, shirt and tie together. And a collection of 20 ties and 20 shirts actually made myriad looks, right? Like, where you can really start playing. And I think with neckwear, in particular, there's sort of not a lot of rules in terms of color, pattern, all of that—because it's sort of the one place where you can go a little nuts. So that allowed me, just with a few garments, the platform to sort of show my graphic taste and sense of color. And I could just get it done. I found a tie factory, I found vintage silk and I figured out how to make a shirt.
You got picked up by a couple key stores in 2004, and your product flew off the shelves. Why do you think Band of Outsiders was so popular right off the bat?
It was cute! Listen, it was preppy. At the time, when you went into [a high-end men's store], everything's black, sort of grey. Serious, European, very slick, like this idea of "luxury." So I think when [certain] buyers saw all this preppy stuff, from a merchant's perspective at a store, they were excited. There was color. There was—I think I had a pair of golf pants in there too—so, plaid pants. It felt like fashion somehow, because it just wasn't out there. This was before all the other people, who followed us. I don't know the names, but they're all doing a great job. [Laughs]. So, it was rather easy at the beginning. It was just like, "Great, give me more. What else do you have? More colors?"
Why does your menswear come in sizes 0 through 5?
I just like making things difficult for people. [He's kidding.] You know, it's actually something we're reassessing right now. The original reason was that the proportions were non-traditional, so referencing existing sizing, whether that was small, medium, large—or even on the suiting, like 34 or 44 or whatever—didn't feel like a great idea. I wanted to take people out of that context and just do a size scale relative to ourselves. So that was the original thought. But as we expand, [it might change]. Nordstrom readers, tell me your thoughts! Seriously.
How did you start designing women's clothes as well?
It wasn't like I started men's so I could eventually do women's. I'd had what I thought was a joke of a notion, to start a women's line called "Boy"… it sort of sneaked up and started becoming a thing, just by the market consuming it. So it really forced me to figure out how the hell to make dresses. And you know, be a designer and all that stuff. That was scary.
You're not trained as a designer. So… trial by fire?
Nope. Yep. I mean design, most of it—you have to understand how to make things, and you have to understand how to communicate to people. Because ultimately, [you're not the one] sewing up all those garments that go into the store. [You're] working with great craftsmen, who are gonna translate [your] vision. So, I'm a pretty good communicator.
The second piece is really knowing what you want. It seems obvious, but you [have to be able to] make a stand at a moment in time, in a season, for a particular part of a collection, [and say] "This is what I want." And really, that's design. I know what I want, I know how to communicate to the people who can make what I want. There you go.
How do you multitask between men's and women's? Is it difficult to switch gears and do both?
Yes. Yes. It's really challenging. Men's is very topical—we're designing fabrics, we're working on graphic elements. We're not changing shapes too much, but we're changing the smallest of details, to ignite desire with something familiar.
With women's, it's totally different. Everything's on the table to some extent. It's super-challenging, but it's fun. It's freeing, you know? It's sort of like you can just go for it. When you're doing a show, it's like, what are you trying to say? And how do you say that 32 different ways, where it's all the same, but all totally different? It's a lot… What did I do? [Laughs.] I'm kidding. I love it.
Band of Outsiders has created some great campaign imagery over the years. How did you decide to start shooting actors and musicians instead of models?
It wasn't really a conscious decision, like, "Let's do this." I think the first—I met Michelle Williams at a party in New York, and she was really sweet and sheepish about being a fan, which I thought was hilarious. And we talked about it right then, like, "You should be in some of these Polaroids that I shoot." I hadn't shot anybody famous [before]. And then it sort of became a thing.
Someone in your office was showing us a book of Polaroids earlier—and they're real Polaroids. Point and shoot. What made you decide to use that kind of camera?
Super-practical. At the time, you could buy the film at Rite-Aid. I first thought I needed to get a fancy photographer to shoot my lookbooks and stuff, but I didn't have much money when I started. Plus, I wasn't even finding anybody whose aesthetic I liked. I knew photography [Sternberg majored in economics and photography in college], but I knew I didn't want to be traveling around with a crew. I wanted to do stuff very simply. So, I ordered a couple old cameras, and it was like a no-brainer. I mean, you don't have to light anything, and it looks fantastic as long as you know like three tricks. It's so easy.
What do celebrities think about being shot with lo-fi, instant equipment?
It creates a super-immediate trust level. They're obviously super-concerned about their image and have been shot a million times, and those images [often] have been completely manipulated from what they thought they were agreeing to. It's also so fast, it's kind of crazy. Those shoots will take two or three hours. Normally, shoots take two or three days for a campaign. It's all these setups, all this crew, hair and makeup, lots of people talking to each other all day about God knows what. None of that sh— happens on our shoots. It's just like, "Okay, we're done."
How do you decide which actors and actresses to work with?
It's super-organic. It's very much about the feeling of the collection. You know, I shot Amy Adams for a collection that had very much a Southwest sort of feel. I felt like there was no question; it was gonna be Amy Adams. Like, she was just that girl out in the prairie, and that whole vibe. Um, Frank was Frank [see above—those are the originals!]. I mean, come on. I was gonna shoot Frank Ocean, and it didn't matter where the f— I was gonna shoot him at. He's somebody that we'd been communicating with for a while. And then sometimes it's just what's going on in culture. Greta Gerwig is so awesome, an actress that I just loved forever. And I knew she had a movie coming out, which I had seen a preview of, and it felt like this was Greta's moment. Like, "I want to shoot her right now." And that was it.
Is it always someone you know and are friends with ahead of time?
No, never. I mean, I'm not that social. I don't have a lot of friends. [Laughs]. Okay, I have really good friends, but, uh, I don't fly around with actors all the time. They're mostly working on movies and stuff. We go through normal means—you know, cold-call publicists, that sort of thing. The ones who get it immediately say yes, and the ones who don't—you know, no harm, no foul.
You've shot Jason Schwartzman a couple times. Do you think he would be friends with us?
Yeah, he's so nice. But he doesn't leave his house. He had a baby a couple years ago. He's so cute and sweet with this baby, and so worried about this baby, that I don't think that baby will ever leave his sight. He used to come by here every week, to pick up new clothes. He's such a good one. Good egg. He was sort of plucked out of nowhere for Rushmore. Well, not nowhere, but high school.
What about Sarah Silverman? Can we all hang out?
She's really intense. She's a comedian. It's a whole world… I think she'd eat you alive.
Is that what happened to you when you shot with her?
No. She was so sweet. But you have to remember that I have a camera, so there's this thing that happens. I'm not going into these shoots being like "Be my friend, let's hang out." It's very, like, "I need you to do this for me, and you will go here now, and let's do this." And then it's all very friendly, but it's all very professional. So, yeah, Sarah Silverman would love you.
Did she say anything offensive to you that day, when you were shooting?
Oh, my God, no. She was offended, actually. I shot her twice—once for Interview magazine, with Aziz Ansari, and that was just like caging two zoo animals. Uh, seriously, though—when I shot her the first time, we shot at Canter's Deli, which is a famous old deli here. And we went down to the kitchen, which I would not suggest anybody do, and they had these vats of pickles—like literally vats. Pickles are the free things you get at the table there. And it smelled so bad. She had like, a minor meltdown, but it had nothing to do with me. It was the pickles. [Laughs]. Only on a Band of Outsiders shoot.
— — —
Key items from Band of Outsiders' Fall collection:
'Schoolboy' Blazer | Twill Jacket | Wool Sweater
Oxford Shirt | Double-Breasted Overcoat | Inside-Out Piqué Polo
[Photos by Robin Stein. Interview by Justin Abbott.
Special thanks to Scott Sternberg and the Band of Outsiders team.]
Frank Ocean in Band of Outsiders' Spring Polaroidson March 22, 2013
After rocking a rad Band of Outsiders yellow shawl-collar tux at his recent Grammy performance (and channeling Richie Tenenbaum with that headband), Best Urban Contemporary Album winner Frank Ocean is starring in the brand's spring 2013 'Polaroids' campaign.
Shot by designer Scott Sternberg himself, Ocean follows in the footsteps of some of our favorite people ever, like Jason Schwartzman, Sarah Silverman, Josh Brolin and Marisa Tomei—proving once again that Sternberg and co. have great taste, and not just in clothes.
…And See new Frank Ocean pics as Band of Outsiders
releases them this weekend on their Tumblr.
[Photos via Band of Outsiders. Individuals pictured do not endorse Nordstrom.]


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Jacob's interview on New Dimensions Internet Radio will stream from May 21-29. An archive of the interview is also available for download from the link below.
For the past 50 years, Jacob Needleman has probed the world of ideas in search of what is wisest in life. Here we explore some of life's larger questions, such as: When is love born in the human heart? Why is knowledge inseparable from goodness? What does it mean to live in the now? Attention is something that is uniquely human. Needleman says, "When you give your attention to yourself, inwardly, it transforms something, you become another person. When you give your deep attention to another human being, they flourish. The earth needs human attention. Love is an act of giving what only human beings can give…Essential love is the love that only attention and conscious energy can bring…[I]n order to sustain love, you have to bring intention into it and intentional love is work and great work, joyful work, but still work…You cannot sustain a relationship just by the force that made you fall in love." (hosted by Phil Cousineau)
- See more at: http://www.newdimensions.org/program-archive/the-search-for-wisdom-with-jacob-needleman/#sthash.3HRJNDQJ.dpuf


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The nation's green movement is taking on shades of red, white, and blue.
In ads, articles, and websites, environmentalists have pulled a page from President Bush's patriotic playbook, selling their cause of energy conservation against a backdrop of national security.
One online video, created for Greenpeace by cartoonist Mark Fiore, plays the Marines' Hymn while flashing scratchy images of US government posters from World War II. "When you drive alone, you drive with Hitler," admonishes one. The video then cuts to a modern cartoon character slapping a flag on his SUV before driving away from home, water running, lights blazing.
Another website, launched by an 80-year-old Colorado woman, asks readers to "make history" by pushing for energy-efficiency legislation. A headline on her Smart Energy site, comparing the effort to the race to develop the atom bomb during World War II, calls it "a Manhattan Project for our times."
And the "Patriot's Energy Pledge" promises signers of this online petition that they can serve their nation by keeping their car tires filled, riding the subway, or buying a Toyota Prius.
Energy security "is an issue that has percolated very quickly to the top over the course of the past 15 months," says Jon Coifman, a spokesman for the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an environmental group in Washington. "People are saying, 'We want to meet our needs for mobility and transportation and hauling the soccer team around, but we don't need to make ourselves dangerously dependent on foreign oil to do that.' "
In some ways, this message is old hat. During World War II, citizens eagerly answered the government's pleas to use less gasoline and other household items. In 1973, Americans sat endlessly in lines at the pump during the Arab oil embargo. And a few years later, President Carter spoke somberly to the American people, calling the battle for energy independence "the moral equivalent of war."
What is different this time, however, is that the calls for conservation are more bottom-up: Many come from ordinary citizens, hoping that if they speak loudly enough, their leaders will listen. And their disparate voices seem to be tapping into a very real - and unmet - need for some Americans to be asked to do their part in the war on terrorism.
"People are sensing that there are threats to this country, and they want to respond with something beyond going shopping - which was what we were asked to do after Sept. 11," says iconoclast columnist Arianna Huffington.
Ms. Huffington should know. When she wrote a column last month for Salon, somewhat whimsically calling for an ad campaign linking energy waste to terrorism, more than 5,000 e-mails poured in. Many asked how they could support the ads, which Huffington suggested might follow the lines of this one, designed by "Got Milk?" adman Scott Burns.
Opening: Camera zooms in on a man at a gas pump.
"This is George," a kid's voice-over begins.
Camera shifts to pump: "This is the gas George buys for his car."
The ad follows the oil money's path - from gas station to oil company, from oil company to Saudi Arabia, and eventually to Al Qaeda and 9/11.It closes with a wide shot of bumper-to-bumper traffic: "The biggest weapon of mass destruction is parked in your driveway."
Huffington finished her column with a rhetorical question: "Anyone willing to pay for a people's ad campaign to jolt our leaders into reality?" And offers poured in. She says she heard from Republicans and Democrats, from students and businessmen, even from the unemployed. Wrote one reader: "If you're serious, although I'm just a working guy driving a truck, I'd gladly donate a thousand dollars to support the ad campaign you suggest."
Within two weeks Huffington had deposited $30,000 in a nonprofit account and accepted the pro bono services of a director and producer. The hypothetical ad campaign is poised to become a reality.
"I think [the column] touched a chord because of that link between patriotism and what are we really being asked to do," Huffington says. "The fact is, we're not being asked to do anything. We're at war. During the Second World War, people were asked to conserve. People truly do want to do something."
Don't tell that to Jerry Taylor, director of natural-resource studies at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. "People who think the American people want to be told to do things got their butts kicked in the last election," he says.
Recent history lends some credence to his argument. Many political analysts date Mr. Carter's slide in popularity to the famous 1977 speech in which he dressed in a sweater to symbolize the virtue of lowering the thermostat.
But others say Carter's mistake was couching energy use in terms of sacrifice rather than common sense. "[Carter] unfortunately used the term 'conserve' and appeared in a sweater and made people think that energy conservation meant starvation or discomfort," says Amory Lovins, CEO of the Rocky Mountain Institute in Golden, Colo.
Carter may have lost the next election, says Mr. Lovins, but the energy policies he introduced had an impact. More fuel-efficient cars helped lead to a 15 percent drop in oil use between 1979 and 1985, Lovins says. Oil imports fell 87 percent.
"If we had kept on [following Carter's policies] one more year, after 1985 we wouldn't have needed a drop of oil from the Persian Gulf," says Lovins.
Instead, in the Reagan era those gasoline standards, known as corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, standards, were rolled back. Gas mileage declined. Oil imports soared.
Now, with Americans more focused than ever on the Middle East, environmental groups are seizing on the opportunity to renew the debate. The NRDC recently published "Dangerous Addiction," an in-depth report on America's oil dependence. The Union of Concerned Scientists produced a similar report, "Energy Security," with a slick cover showing hybrid cars and an SUV parked in front of a wind farm. Solar energy panels in the shape and color of an American flag fill the foreground.
Both reports propose incentives to buy hybrid vehicles and use more renewable energy. But their strongest recommendation is raising the CAFE standards: up to 40 m.p.g. by 2012 and 55 m.p.g. by 2020 - roughly twice today's average for cars. It's a step, the groups say, that by 2012 would shave 18 percent off current consumption projections. And, they emphasize, it wouldn't demand sacrifice.
"Honda has been making noises about a 400 horsepower sports van that gets 42 m.p.g.," says Mr. Coifman of the NRDC. "Toyota has a hybrid minivan on the market in Japan. And even in conventional vehicles, there's an awful lot of room for improvement."
Critics, like Cato's Taylor, scoff.
"A lot of Americans want to do something to support our war against terrorism," Taylor says, "and an easy target is SUVs. But it's a misplaced target."
Auto-industry folks say tougher fuel- efficiency standards would hurt American car companies and encourage production of less-safe, lighter vehicles. The Bush administration tends to push a different solution: more domestic drilling, in places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Which, perhaps, is why today's energy-conservation messages - spicy, homespun, and sometimes downright humorous - are emerging from the grass roots.
Take the campiness of the World War II-era propaganda in the Greenpeace video (which can be found at www.greenribbonpledge.org). It opens with a black-and-white declaration in capital letters: "Doing Our Part At Home In The Battle Against Evil!" Scratchy lines run down the screen as the "newsreel" rolls.
"[Humor] is the best way to lead people into what you're trying to teach them," says Mr. Fiore, the cartoonist who created the video. "With animation, you can get away with something that, if you wrote it down, would sound heavy handed."
The "Patriot's Energy Pledge" at www.SaveABarrel.org plays it straighter. But the pledge, adorned with red, white, and blue, also has traces of humor. As it admonishes citizens to follow the speed limit, Revolutionary War fifers march across the top of the screen.
A coalition of economists, environmentalists, and businessmen, led by energy experts Larry Rockefeller and Peter Fox- Penner, developed the pledge. Despite no marketing budget, 40,000 people have signed.
For her part, Liz Moore of Lakewood, Colo. would settle for 400. After three months, her resolution at Smart Energy (www.energysmart.net) has just 250 signers. But Ms. Moore couldn't be more optimistic.
The site has given Moore, who worked in the 1980s for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a new sense of purpose. "There's an awful lot of fear, and anger, and negative stuff floating around, but we don't have any place to channel it," she says. "In a time like this, if you can make the connection to, yes, this is about oil, then you can be energized to go out and do something constructive."
Although her efforts were slowed by a death in the family, Moore has big plans. "It seems to me that [America] could help the world with [energy]," she exclaims. "We're geniuses at inventing things! We could produce the cheapest energy-efficient products. The opportunities are just everywhere."


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The surviving members of Queen were joined by two pop stars during their performance at the iHeartRadio music festival in Las Vegas yesterday. Adam Lambert and the frontman for fun. played two classic Queen songs with the band.
Former 'American Idol' Lambert, who's sang with Queen before, performed a handful of Queen classics with the band, including 'We Are the Champions,' 'A Crazy Little Thing Called Love' and 'Bohemian Rhapsody,' according to Rolling Stone.
They were then joined by fun. frontman Nate Rues, who sang lead on 'Somebody to Love.' Lambert then joined them all onstage for 'Fat Bottomed Girls.' You can watch video from the concert above.
The genre-spanning iHeartRadio fest, which takes place in Las Vegas this weekend, also included performances by Katy Perry and Elton John, who performed classics like 'The Bitch Is Back' and 'Bennie and the Jets,' as well as some cuts from his new album, 'The Diving Board,' which comes out on Tuesday.
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