Earth Fever! Hubble Saved?
Da Vinci's Cars, Einstein Mission
Lava Life, Spike Shaved & More!
"So often it's the poorest that pay the price for projects that are supposed to bring development," said Peter Bosshard, main author of the International Rivers Network report.
"Bank-funded dams have displaced more than 10 million people, flooded millions of hectares of lands and pushed many countries deeper into debt. Yet the bank is set to repeat its mistakes all over again," he added.
The report, published on Earth Day and presented as the IMF and World Bank hold their spring meetings in Washington, underlines what it calls the dangers of the World Bank's renewed interest in engaging in big dam projects.
Richard Uku, spokesman for the World Bank's infrastructure branch, said the bank is indeed reinvigorating its development of water, communications, sanitation, energy and transportation infrastructure. The agenda is outlined in the Infrastructure Action Plan released in September 2003.
The world spends
about $60 billion on the water sector, including sanitation, irrigation,
hydro power and water supply in developing countries, said a World Bank
spokesperson. About 90 percent of that comes from domestic sources.
The World Bank accounts for 50 percent of external financing or $3 billion
a year.
World Bank supporters and bank President James Wolfensohn say the lender's
involvement in the projects helps ensure that some social and
environmental regulations are met.
"If we withdrew, in one case, it would have been financed separately
by people who didn't give a damn," Wolfensohn told reporters on
Thursday. "Sometimes there's criticism of us for staying in when it
would be a lot easier for us to move out."
However, Bosshard said, large dam projects often do more harm than good to
the environment and the displaced people.
The report, which focuses on India as a case study, calls on the bank to
look more into alternative projects like rainwater harvesting systems. The
report also suggests the World Bank apply the recommendations of the 2000
World Dam Commission review.
The review was the first global assessment of dams and was co-sponsored by
the World Bank.
The Bank has its own environmental and social safeguard policies, Uku
said.
Critics argue,
however, that the bank has a poor track record of implementing those
safeguards.
Alok Agarwal is a long-time activist with Save the Narmada, a group
against a controversial dam project in India with which the World Bank was
involved.
"On paper there is a policy that people should be given land for
land, but the government is not following those principles," Agarwal
said.
Nor, he said, did
the bank provide adequate compensation for the displaced people.
"The WCD analysis showed that in the past, those safeguard policies
... generally have not been implemented," said Deborah Moore, a
former commissioner on the World Commission on Dams.
"If you're
going to reengage with those kinds of projects, what is it that you will
be doing differently this time?"
International Rivers Network - http://www.irn.org
April 22, 2004 - Like thermometers in space, satellites are taking the temperature of the Earth's surface or skin. According to scientists, the satellite data confirm the Earth has had an increasing "fever" for decades.
For the first time, satellites have been used to develop an 18- year record (1981-1998) of global land surface temperatures. The record provides additional proof that Earth's snow-free land surfaces have, on average, warmed during this time period, according to a NASA study appearing in the March issue of the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. The satellite record is more detailed and comprehensive than previously available ground measurements. The satellite data will be necessary to improve climate analyses and computer modeling.
Menglin Jin, the lead author, is a visiting scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., and a researcher with the University of Maryland, College Park, Md. Jin commented until now global land surface temperatures used in climate change studies were derived from thousands of on-the- ground World Meteorological Organization (WMO) stations located around the world, a relatively sparse set of readings given Earth's size. These stations actually measure surface air temperature at two to three meters above land, instead of skin temperatures.
The satellite skin temperature dataset is a good complement to the traditional ways of measuring temperatures.
A long-term skin
temperature data set will be essential to illustrate global as well as
regional climate variations. Together with other satellite measurements,
such as land cover, cloud, precipitation, and sea surface temperature
measurements, researchers can further study the mechanisms responsible for
land surface warming.
Furthermore, satellite skin temperatures have global coverage at high
resolutions, and are not limited by political boundaries. The study uses
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Land Pathfinder data, jointly
created by NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
(NOAA) through NASA's Earth Observing System Program Office.
It also uses
recently available NASA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer skin
temperature measurements, as well as NOAA TIROS Operational Vertical
Sounder (TOVS) data for validation purposes. All these data are archived
at NASA's Distributed Active Archive Center.
Inter-annually, the 18-year Pathfinder data in this study showed global
average temperature increases of 0.43 Celsius (C) (0.77 Fahrenheit (F))
per decade.
By comparison, ground station data (2 meter surface air temperatures)
showed a rise of 0.34 degrees C (0.61 degrees F) per decade, and a
National Center for Environmental Prediction reanalysis of land surface
skin temperature showed a similar increasing trend in global and land
surface temperature, in this case 0.28 degrees C (0.5 degrees F) per
decade. Skin temperatures from TOVS also prove an increasing trend in
global land surface temperatures. Regional trends show more temperature
variations.
"Although an increasing trend has been observed from the global
average, the regional changes can be very different," Jin said.
"While many regions were warming, central continental regions in
North America and Asia were actually cooling."
One issue with the dataset is that it cannot detect surface temperatures over snow. In winter, most of the land areas in the mid to upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere are covered by snow.
Of Earth's land area, 90 percent of it is snow free in July, compared to only 65 percent in January. For this reason, the study only focused on snow free areas.
Still, in
mountainous areas that are hard to monitor, like Tibet, satellites can
detect the extent of snow coverage and its variations.
The satellite dataset allows researchers to also look at daily trends on
global and regional scales. The largest daily variation was above 35.0 C
(63 F) at tropical and sub-tropical desert areas for a July 1988 sample,
with decreasing daily ranges towards the poles, in general. Daily changes
were also closely related to vegetation cover.
The daily skin
temperature range showed a decreasing global mean trend over the 18-year
period, resulting from greater temperature increases at night compared to
daytime.
Things like clouds, volcanic eruptions, and other factors gave false
readings of land temperatures, but scientists factored those out to make
the skin temperature data more accurate.
Scientists are considering extending this 18-year satellite- derived skin
temperature record up to 2003. The mission of NASA's Earth Science
Enterprise is to develop a scientific understanding of the Earth system
and its response to natural or human-induced changes to enable improved
prediction capability for climate, weather, and natural hazards. NASA
funded the study.
Goddard Space Center - http://www.gsfc.nasa.gov
Tribal lawyers sought to have the case reheard by the full court after a three-judge panel ruled in February that the tribes had no right to the 9,300-year-old remains under the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act.
A brief order issued Monday by the court denied the request from the Nez Perce, Umatilla, Yakama and Colville tribes, who want to bury the remains without a scientific study.
The collection of 380 bones and bone fragments, which were found in July 1996 on the banks of the Columbia River in Kennewick, Wash., are being stored at the Burke Museum in Seattle.
Alan L. Schneider, a Portland lawyer representing the scientists, said his clients were pleased with the court's decision.
The tribes and the U.S. Justice Department have 90 days to appeal the case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Rob Roy Smith, a Seattle lawyer for the tribes, told The Oregonian that his clients "are clearly disappointed. This case has dealt a staggering blow to the tribes' ability to protect their cultural properties." Smith added that no decision has been made whether to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The February ruling, written by Judge Ronald M. Gould, upheld a 2002 decision by Magistrate John Jelderks of the U.S. District Court in Portland that the scientists can study the remains.
BBC News Science Editor
Pasadena April 23, 2004 (BBC) - A robotic rescue mission to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope may be feasible, according to NASA's Associate Administrator, Dr Ed Weiler. In January, the US space agency said there would be no more risky astronaut visits to the telescope, which would probably limit its life to a few years.
But Dr Weiler says there are now some promising ideas about how Hubble could be visited without the space shuttle.
A small spacecraft
could be built to attach itself to Hubble, he believes.
"There is a lot of optimism about the robotic possibilities," Dr
Weiler told BBC News Online. He added that NASA should be able to be more
definitive about the options in June.
It was NASA's chief, Sean O'Keefe, who said there would be no more manned
missions to Hubble because it was deemed too risky following the Columbia
accident of last year. Many astronomers were horrified that such an
outstanding telescope, with many years of productive life ahead of it,
should be abandoned in this way.
Astronauts, astronomers and politicians called on NASA to look at ways of
saving the telescope.
Now, Dr Weiler says studies have revealed some promising ideas for how it
might be possible for an unmanned servicing mission to carry out many of
the tasks that would be necessary to keep Hubble working further into the
future.
The major problems for the telescope will come when its gyros and
batteries fail. The gyros allow Hubble to be pointed accurately and must
be replaced or augmented, as must the batteries.
What is envisaged is a small spacecraft that would attach itself to the
observatory.
The spacecraft may
then be able to plug into Hubble and feed power into it without having to
remove its old batteries - which would be a tricky task for a robot. It
might also be possible for the attached spacecraft to take over the
pointing of Hubble.
But upgrading Hubble's optical instruments may be out of the question for
an unmanned mission.
Dr Weiler recently told reporters that he could imagine a situation in
which a new instrument was only partially installed by a robot and could
not be fixed. If that happened, it could render all the other instruments
useless, he warned.
In the coming months, NASA will ask industry to look into the options and
come up with specific proposals for servicing Hubble. The provisional date
for such a mission is 2007-8, so NASA needs to get contractors underway as
soon as possible. By the time any mission is flown, it is highly likely
that Hubble's remaining gyros will have failed.
Engineers are working on strategies for Hubble to carry on observing even
with more gyro failures, but eventually the telescope would have to be
shut down to await repair. Even if it is decided that Hubble cannot be
rescued, the telescope will still have to be visited by a small spacecraft
to help it re-enter the Earth's atmosphere.
Because of its size, Hubble cannot be allowed to crash to Earth in an
uncontrolled manner as debris from it could pose a hazard.
Hubble Official - http://hubblesite.org
Save The Hubble - http://www.savethehubble.com
Shuichi Arai of Kumatori, Osaka Prefecture, is facing a charge of trespassing, but police suspect he had wanted to sneak a peek at the women using the airport lavatories, reported the Mainichi Daily News.
Arai admitted trespassing, but said he climbed into the airport ceiling to escape somebody who was chasing him.
Police officers said they found Arai trapped in the maze of pipes above the ceiling.
But on Friday, the Museum of History and Science in Florence -- the heart of Renaissance Italy -- unveiled the first "automobile" built based on some of the sketches from da Vinci's famous notebooks.
"This has been a big adventure which has also helped us to develop tools to help people unaware of Leonardo's scholarship understand this complex device," said Paolo Galluzzi, director of the museum.
The primitive-looking contraption runs on springs instead of petrol and was probably intended to produce special effects at courtly events, but it was still the world's first self-propelled "vehicle," the experts said.
The "automobile" -- which in fact looks more like a wagon -- is by no means the first invention discovered in da Vinci's mysterious manuscripts, which include flying machines, helicopters, submarines, military tanks and bicycles.
Born near Florence in 1452, da Vinci is thought of as the original "Renaissance Man" -- a talented painter, sculptor, engineer and musician.
Many of his ideas were recorded in notebooks now housed in museums and enjoying unprecedented popularity due to the best-selling novel the "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown.
In 1905, Girolamo Calvi, one of the pioneers of da Vinci studies, noted the links between da Vinci's designs and the first motor cars which were beginning to take to the roads.
In 1936, Calvi referred to da Vinci's sketches as "Leonardo's Fiat" but it wasn't until very recently that scientists correctly interpreted his design and the models on display in Florence are the first reconstructions.
Three "car" models, copies of da Vinci's sketches and an interactive digital simulation can be seen at the museum until June 5th.
Museum of History
and Science in Florence - http://www.imss.fi.it/news/eautomobile.html
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES April 23, 2004 (AP) Labeled an environmentalist-come-lately as a candidate, Arnold Schwarzenegger answered his critics by announcing plans to retrofit one of his gas-swilling Hummers to run on eco-friendly hydrogen power.
"I think that's where the future of fuel will be going," he said at the time.
But seven months later, the high-tech Hummer has yet to hit the road.
For the moment, the
project has produced more talk than torque.
Seven companies submitted bids to do the work ranging in cost from
$40,000 to $150,000 but no contract has been signed, said Rick
Margolin, assistant director of Energy Independence Now, a Santa Monica
group that evaluated the proposals on behalf of the governor.
"He does have people working on it," Margolin said.
Schwarzenegger, who has owned as many as six of the enormous SUVs at one
time, raised his proposal for a clean-fuel vehicle with officials in the
Hummer division of General Motors Corp. But for now the company is not
engineering a hydrogen-fueled Hummer for him or anyone else.
"It's out there as an idea," said David Caldwell, a spokesman
for Hummer. "It's not something that exists currently. It's not
something you would expect to see in the near future."
He added, "We would never do a Hummer on any energy source that would
not perform like a Hummer is supposed to perform."
Schwarzenegger took delivery of the first Hummer made available to the
public more than a decade ago, a civilian version of a military vehicle
that caught the public's attention during the Gulf War.
His popularity in Hollywood helped transform the brand into a favorite
status vehicle. He was forced to defend his association with the hulking,
low-mileage Hummer during the campaign when rivals questioned his
environmental credentials considering his choice of transportation.
General Motors markets and distributes the latest version of the vehicle,
the 6,400-pound H2, and estimates it gets 10 to 13 miles per gallon.
Dealers put the figure at 8 to 10 mpg.
The issue hasn't vanished. Activists planned a Thursday news conference in
Sacramento to urge the governor to stop driving his signature vehicle,
citing its impact on air quality.
Sierra Club lobbyist Bill Magavern said the gas-greedy Hummer "wreaks
havoc on our environment" but viewed the governor's promise to
retrofit his sport utility vehicle as "largely irrelevant."
"The Hummer is the opposite kind of vehicle from what we would like
to see on California streets," he said. "What's more important
to us is whether he keeps his promise to reduce California air pollution
by 50 percent.... We have yet to see his strategy."
There was no mention of his Hummer on Tuesday, when Schwarzenegger
directed state agencies to work with private companies and research groups
to develop a statewide network of stations offering hydrogen fuel within
six years.
"Your government will lead by example," he said in announcing
the initiative.
With the governor working on the alternative-fueling plan, the retrofitted
Hummer was "pushed down on the priority list," Margolin said.
April 23, 2004 - Gravity Probe B a NASA mission to test two predictions of Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity is orbiting 400 miles above Earth, and all spacecraft systems are performing well. Its solar arrays are generating power, and all electrical systems are powered on.
The spacecraft is
communicating well with its supporting satellite relay and ground
stations. Launched April 20 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.,
Gravity Probe B is managed by the Marshall Center.
After two days in orbit, all Gravity Probe B systems are performing as
planned. The solar arrays are generating power, and all electrical systems
are powered on.
The spacecraft is
communicating well with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System
(TDRSS) and supporting ground stations.
All four Gyro Suspension Systems have now been activated. In addition, a
lift check was successfully accomplished for gyros #2 and #3.
"We've successfully achieved the first of many upcoming steps in preparing these four gyroscopes for science data collection," said Rob Brumley, Stanford Gravity Probe B Deputy Program Manager, Technical.
"We are all
extremely gratified with the initial performance of these gyroscopes in
space, including the first ever levitation of a Gravity Probe B gyro on
orbit."
The spacecraft's Attitude Control System is maintaining initial attitude
control. Fine attitude control should be achieved when thruster
calibrations have been completed. After that, the ultra-precise science
telescope will be locked onto the Gravity Probe B guide star, IM Pegasi,
to within a range of 1/100,000th of a degree.
The spacecraft is being controlled from the Gravity Probe B Mission
Operations Center, located at Stanford University. The Initialization
& Orbit Checkout (IOC) phase of the Gravity Probe B mission is planned
to last 45-60 days, after which the 12-month science data collection will
begin. This will be followed by a two-month final calibration of the
science instrument assembly.
NASA's Gravity Probe B mission, also known as GP-B, will use four
ultra-precise gyroscopes to test Einstein's theory that space and time are
distorted by the presence of massive objects. To accomplish this, the
mission will measure two factors -- how space and time are warped by the
presence of the Earth, and how the Earth's rotation drags space-time
around with it.
Marshall Space Flight Center - http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/news
April 23. 2004 - A new discovery of microbial activity in 3.5 billion-year-old volcanic rock and one of earth's earliest signs of geological existence sheds new light on the antiquity of life, says University of Alberta researchers who are part of a team that made the groundbreaking finding.
"People have been looking for signs of early bacteria for the last 50 years," said Dr. Karlis Muehlenbachs, from the U of A's Faculty of Science and an author on the paper just published in the journal Science.
"A variety
have claimed they've seen it and subsequently been challenged as being
flawed. We are
suggesting that we have clear evidence of life prospering in an
environment where no one else has bothered to look."
The research team, also made up of Drs. Harald Furnes from the University
of Bergen in Norway, Neil Banerjee from the U of A, Hubert Staudigel from
the University of California and Maarten de Wit from the University of
Cape Town, studied samples of pillow lava taken from the Mesoarchean
Barberton Greenstone Belt in South Africa. They found mineralized tubes
that were formed in the pillow lava, suggesting microbes colonized
basaltic glass of the early oceanic crust, much in the same way as they do
modern volcanic glass.
This evidence of life in the basaltic glass on the seafloor comes in the
form of textures produced by microbes as they dissolve the glass, said
Banerjee. "These textures include channels or tubes produced by the
microbe as it tunnels through the glass, possibly using the glass as a
source of nutrients," he said. "We have also found traces of
carbon, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium-all essential to life-as well
as DNA associated with the microbial alternation textures in the recent
basaltic glass samples."
The team then compared its $3.5 billion-year-old samples to the modern
pillow lava on the seafloor using several sophisticated tests and was able
to find much evidence of life. To date the microbial activity, the team
compared the relationship between the tubular structures and the
metamorphic mineral growth.
"On the
microscopic level, we see that during metamorphism, the new minerals cross
cut the preserved biological features," said Muehlenbachs. "This
means that the biological features pre date the metamorphism, leading to
the conclusion that the microbes were attacking the glass 3.48 billion
years ago-very soon after the glass chilled and lasting a few million
years, perhaps until the usual geological processes buried and cooked
them."
Despite challenges to previous research claiming evidence of life
activity, this research team is certain its evidence is solid. "In
other discoveries, there has been much discussion and argument about the
rock type and where it came from," said Muehlenbachs. "Everyone
agrees our rock is from the sea floor-that's a sure thing. Ultimately that
leads to the question of where did life start and where did it originate.
And we could argue fairly effectively that maybe there is a link with the
origin of life in our work."
Another interesting aspect to the research, said Muehlenbachs, is that the
rock type they studied is the same as on the surface of Mars.
"Martian rocks would also have glass that would retain a record of
life activity-we could learn a lot from them as well."
University of Alberta - http://www.ualberta.ca
Scripps Institution of Oceanography - http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu
Hollywood April 23, 2004 (Sci Fi Wire) - James Marsters, who plays Spike on The WB's Angel, will shave off his trademark blond hair for charity on The Ryan Seacrest Show on April 27, The WB announced.
Marsters will shave
his head to raise money for the Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS
Foundation.
The top 10 donors will receive a personalized autographed photo, along
with a lock of James' hair.
The deadline for
donations is April 26. Marsters' series, Angel, is wrapping production of
its final season, and the California-born actor will no longer need
Spike's platinum do.
Elizabeth Glazer Pediatric AIDS Foundation - http://www.pedaids.org
Marsters,
Knightley Voted Favorite Romeo and Juliet
LONDON April 22, 2004 (Reuters) - US actor James Marsters and British
actress Keira Knightley are favorites to play Romeo and Juliet, according
to a poll by Britain's Royal Shakespeare Company on Thursday.
The online poll on the eve of Shakespeare's 440th birthday asked visitors
to the theater company's Web site who they would ideally like to see play
the bard's most famous lovers.
Marsters, who plays Spike in the TV series "Buffy The Vampire
Slayer" was a clear winner to star as Romeo, the RSC said.
Knightley, star of hit movies "Love Actually" and "Pirates
of the Caribbean" pipped Kate Winslet, Nicole Kidman and Scarlett
Johansson for the role of Juliet.
Other contenders for Romeo included Orlando Bloom, Ewan McGregor, Jude
Law, Johnny Depp, Colin Firth - and Ozzy Osbourne.
More than 2,000 people voted for over 150 actors.
[Marsters' character Spike also just won a SPACEY as SPACE viewers
favorite in Canada. See the entire list of SPACY winners below.
Spike is also leading Angel in our own eXoNews Angel Poll, BTW. Ed.]
eXoNews Angel Fan Poll - http://richlabonte.net/angel
Official Angel - www.thewb.com/Shows/Show/0,7353,||139,00.html
Spidey Leaps,
Sky Captain Steps Back
By Gregg
Kilday
LOS ANGELES April 22, 2004 (Hollywood Reporter) - "Sky Captain and
the World of Tomorrow," a retro-futuristic action-adventure movie
starring Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and Angelina Jolie, won't be taking to
the skies during the crowded summer months.
Paramount Pictures is postponing the film, which had been scheduled for
release June 25, nearly three months to a new Sept. 17 playdate. The
studio said the shift comes because of moves on the part of its
competitors.
"Sky Captain," which first-time director Kerry Conran shot with
his actors performing in front of green screens with elaborate special
effects added in postproduction, had been scheduled to open a week before
Sony Pictures' "Spider-Man 2," which was originally set to bow
Friday, July 2.
However, Sony
recently announced it was moving "Spider-Man's" debut up two
days to Wednesday, June 30. With "Spider-Man" previews expected
to take place Tuesday night, June 29, that would have left "Sky
Captain" just four days before it had to fend off
"Spider-Man."
"To have a window of a mere four days seemed to be wrong,"
Paramount vice chairman Rob Friedman said. "We have a great movie
that the public is excited about and the media is excited about. With
think it's a bigger opportunity in what is right now an extraordinarily
crowded summer to put (the movie) in a less competitive situation where we
will have a greater opportunity."
"Sky Captain" is in the midst of a hectic postproduction effects
crunch, and nearly a dozen effects houses have been called in to work on
the movie.
Although not
atypical for a lavish effects film, the situation had led to speculation
that the film would not meet its delivery date.
"It would definitely have made it," Friedman said. However,
since the studio would not have gotten the finished film until close to
its release date, it would not have been able to do extensive screenings
before a June 25 release.
Under the new
schedule, it said, Paramount will now have several months to promote the
film at events like the annual Comic-Con International convention in
July.
On its new Sept. 17 date, "Sky Captain" is expected to find more
open sailing.
The date currently appears to be host to just one other wide release, Warner Bros. Pictures' "Duma," directed by Carroll Ballard.
Official Sky Captain - http://www.skycaptain.com
Angel: The Girl
in Question
LOS ANGELES April 22. 2004 (Zap2it.com) - As "Angel" nears its
May 19 finale, it's looking like Joss Whedon will stick to his vow not to
clutter up the last few episodes with characters from "Buffy the
Vampire Slayer."
That's not to say, however, that Buffy is not a presence on the show. In
fact, one of the final episodes will revolve around Angel and Spike trying
to rescue her from an old foe.
"The Girl in Question," the episode scheduled for Wednesday, May
5, will find the two soul-cursed vampires (David Boreanaz and James
Marsters) heading for Rome at the behest of Buffy cohort Andrew (Tom
Lenk). They're on a mission to rescue the slayer from The Immortal, a
nemesis from their past.
Darla (Julie Benz) and Drusilla (Juliet Landau) appear in flashback
scenes, but Buffy herself (Sarah Michelle Gellar) doesn't show up in the
episode. Whedon has said that he doesn't want to overshadow
"Angel's" core characters by having Gellar or other
"Buffy" stars around for the finale.
The WB is somewhat more cryptic about the final two episodes, saying only
that Angel and Co. will battle Wolfram & Hart's mysterious Senior
Partners and someone will die. The network also says that Connor (Vincent
Kartheiser) will appear in the series finale on May 19, but the
character's role is left undefined.
Zap2it's Kate O'Hare talks to Scott Bakula, who plays Capt. Jonathan
Archer of the starship Enterprise about genre show cancellation worries,
including Angel - http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,274|87709|1|,00.html
Save Angel - http://www.savingangel.org
eXoNews Angel Fan Poll - http://richlabonte.net/angel
Official Angel - www.thewb.com/Shows/Show/0,7353,||139,00.html
Duchovny Talks Connie and Carla and Mulder
LOS ANGELES April
22, 2004 (AP) - "Connie and Carla" helped David Duchovny
rediscover his love for acting.
In the musical comedy, Duchovny plays Jeff, the love interest of Nia
Vardalos' Connie. He says he likes to surprise fans with his comedic
talents.
"I'm always joking with my manager about how people always say they
didn't know I was funny," he told AP Radio.
Acting didn't always bring Duchovny joy, and he temporarily lost his love
for it while working on "The X-Files," where he played FBI Agent
Fox Mulder for nine seasons.
"I stopped enjoying being (on the set) as an actor because it was old
for me it was old for all of us," he said.
"In the last
couple of years, I've been able to rediscover some kind of joy in
performing and acting that I felt I'd lost over time."
He hopes to apply such feelings to the new "X-Files" movie, now
being written by series creator Chris Carter.
He says he expects
Mulder to remain the character fans have come to love.
"I don't know if Mulder should develop I mean, Mulder is Mulder.
That's one of the things I learned fighting for the last three, four years
on the show trying to change the guy," he said. "The nature of
the character is what I eventually learned to love about him he's ...
a great character."
"Connie and Carla" is in theaters now.
Connie and Carla Official - http://www.connieandcarla.com
eXoNews X-Files II Fan Poll - http://richlabonte.net/keyofx/x.htm
Tim Robbins
Joins Cast of His Off-Broadway Play
By Ernio
Hernandez and Robert Simonson
Playbill
New York April 23,
2004 (Playbill) - Academy Award-winner Tim Robbins will join the cast of
his play Embedded at The Public Theater April 27, and the Off-Broadway run
has been extended yet again, through May 22.
The Public Theater's presentation of The Actors' Gang production of the
Robbins work began preview Feb. 24 and opened March 14 at the Newman
Theater space. Robbins also directs the piece.
Embedded is a mix of satirical depictions of governmental and military
operations and scenes of sentimental naturalism involving the war's
"little people": journalists and soldiers. Central are a sextet
of grotesquely masked "President's men," who are linked to the
Bush White House by such nicknames as Dick, Pearly White, Gondola, Wolfy
and Rum Rum.
The term "embedded" was used during the war in Iraq to refer to
journalists who were allowed to accompany American troops as they marched
toward Baghdad. In Robbins' play, the reporters are whipped into fighting
form by a hard-as-nails sergeant with a predilection for show tunes and
editorial censorship.
Embedded had its world premiere in November 2003 at The Actors' Gang in
Los Angeles, where Robbins is artistic director.
Robbins, who recently won an Oscar for his performance in the film
"Mystic River," has been seen in such films as "Bull
Durham," "The Hudsucker Proxy," "The Shawshank
Redemption" and "The Player." He recently appeared
Off-Broadway in two other rotating cast shows: The Guys and The
Exonerated. Also a screenwriter-director, Robbins penned and helmed the
film versions of "Cradle Will Rock," "Bob Roberts" and
"Dead Man Walking."
The cast of Embedded includes Ben Cain, V.J. Foster, Brent Hinkley, Kaili
Hollister, Mark Lewis, Riki Lindhome, Jay R. Martinez, Kate Mulligan,
Steven M. Porter, Toni Torres, Lolly Ward and Andrew Wheeler.
The design team includes Richard Hoover (scenic design), Yasuko Takahara
(costume), Adam H. Greene (lighting), David Robbins (sound) and Erhard
Stiefel (masks).
Tickets are $50 and are on sale now at The Public Theater box office, 425
Lafayette Street; on-line at www.publictheater.org
and at (212) 239-6200.
Stargate
Atlantis: The Web Site
Hollywood April 22, 2004 (Sci Fi Wire) - A new Web site has gone live for SCI FI Channel's upcoming original series Stargate Atlantis, which premieres July 16.
The new preliminary
site includes a welcome message from "President Henry Hayes";
cast and crew biographies; a gallery of images; wallpaper, e-card and IM
icon downloads; and a bulletin board.
Stargate Atlantis, a spinoff of SCI FI's hit original series Stargate
SG-1, features a new cast led by Joe Flanigan, playing a crew that
undertakes humanity's greatest and most dangerous mission yet.
Atlantis will debut with a two-hour premiere in July and feature crossover
appearances by members of the SG-1 team. Following its premiere, 18
additional original episodes of Atlantis will air during the show's
regular Friday 10 p.m. ET/PT timeslot as a companion series to the new
eighth season of SG-1, which airs at 9 p.m.
Stargate Atlantis, meanwhile, is featured in the current issue of TV
Guide, with new photos inside and on the cover. The issue, covering the
week of April 25, is now on newsstands.
Stargate Atlantis Official - http://www.scifi.com/atlantis
Gateworld Ultimate Stargate Fan site - http://www.gateworld.net
Fox Renews
24 - Tru Fate Unknown
LOS ANGELES April
21, 2004 (Reuters) - TV broadcaster Fox on Wednesday renewed four of its
most successful prime-time shows for the 2004-2005 season, while the fate
of a few others was still up in the air.
Fox, which said earlier this week it would launch a new slate of six shows
in June as part of a year-round programming strategy, ordered a new season
of family comedy "The Bernie Mac Show," real-time thriller
"24," teen drama "The O.C." and offbeat comedy
"Malcolm in the Middle."
Fox also gave a three-year extension to its late-night sketch comedy show
"MADtv," keeping it on air through 2008.
The network had previously given full-season orders to comedy "That
'70s Show" and animated mainstays "The Simpsons" and
"King of the Hill."
A spokeswoman for the network said the fate of shows like the critically
acclaimed comedy "Arrested Development" and the drama "Tru
Calling" were still up in the air and would be decided over the next
month. The network plans to announce its full fall schedule on May
20.
The spokeswoman said the early pickups were designed to allow the shows to
secure their staff and talent for next season. The other networks have
made the same move in recent weeks as they go through the process of
selecting the new shows they will add to the new schedule.
[Zap2it says the chances for Tru Calling might be better than ratings
watchers think - apparently Tru is reaching the right age demographics for
Fox and the Zorro Net may renew based on their beloved 18-24 age group
rather than overall audience. Ed.]
Frasier, Hewitt
and Chaplin Do Scrooge
LOS ANGELES April 23, 2004 (Zap2it.com) - Jennifer Love Hewitt and
Geraldine Chaplin will show off their musical chops in NBC's
"Christmas Carol."
Chaplin, the daughter of screen legend Charlie Chaplin, has signed to play
the Ghost of Christmas Future in the movie, which is based on the Madison
Square Garden's musical adaptation of the Charles Dickens story.
Hewitt will play
Emily, Ebenezer Scrooge's long-lost love, according to The Hollywood
Reporter.
Kelsey Grammer ("Frasier") will star as Scrooge in the film,
which is scheduled to premiere during the holiday season.
Jason Alexander
("Seinfeld"), Jane Krakowski ("Ally McBeal") and Jesse
L. Martin ("Law & Order") are also in the cast.
Hallmark Entertainment is producing "A Christmas Carol."
Chaplin has worked on several Hallmark productions in the past, including ABC's "Dinotopia" miniseries and NBC's "Gulliver's Travels" and "The Odyssey."
Other credits
include "Talk to Her," "Jane Eyre" and
"Chaplin," in which she played her own grandmother.
Hewitt will next be seen in "Garfield: The Movie."
The former "Party of Five" star and part-time singer also starred in an ABC comedy pilot this spring.
[Don't laugh!
Jennifer Love Hewitt has a great voice! She began in show business as a
singer at the tender age of 5. Ed.]
Networks
Fail The Grade
By Geoffrey
Berkshire
New York April 21, 2004 (Variety) - A new study on race and gender
diversity on television has found that networks aren't making the grade
when it comes to fair and accurate representation in their
programming.
Among the findings of "Fall Colors 2003-04: Prime Time Diversity
Report," issued by child research and action org Children Now:
Study is the fourth such report by Children Now, with the goal of
providing a five-year progress report on the nets' stated efforts to
increase diversity in their shows.
Researchers examined two episodes of each primetime entertainment series
on the six national broadcast networks; midseason replacements were not
included.
While the org praised the progress made in increasing Latino
representation, the good news was tempered by the fact that Latino
characters in the study are more likely to hold low-paying jobs than other
racial groups.
The study also determined that the 8 o'clock hour, when children are most
likely to be watching, is primetime's least diverse hour of programming.
And sitcoms, the genre of choice among kids, are the least likely shows to
have racially mixed casts.
"The message primetime TV sends to kids about the world in which they
live is that some racial groups are privileged, while others are
under-represented or even invisible," said Patti Miller, director of
Children Now's Children & the Media program.
2nd
Annual SPACEYS - Complete List of Winners!
[Here is an award genre fans can be proud of and it certainly makes me
wish I lived in Canada - or at least that I could get SPACE on cable. Even
the award show sounds great! Some Americans think that SPACE is the
Canadian equivalent of Sci Fi Channel, but SPACE has no time for sad
two-star "original" movies. Take a look at their schedule! These
guys have everything - from Angel to Buffy to Firefly to Star Trek to
X-Files! Even Harsh Realm pops up on SPACE from time to time. A true
science fiction depository! When are we going to get something like this
in the US? Probably never... Ed.]
TORONTO April 18, 2004 (CNW) - With tens of thousands of SPACE viewer
votes counted, the results are in!
The winners of the 2nd Annual SPACEYS, honouring the finest in science fiction and fantasy entertainment, were announced tonight on SPACE: The Imagination Station.
Co-hosted by
Hypaspace's Jonathan Llyr and SPACENews videographer Natasha Eloi, this
year's award show traveled from London, England to Hollywood to track down
the award winners in 14 categories as chosen by viewers and SPACE's panel
of judges.
Some of the guest presenters included Edmonton-born actress Tricia Helfer
from Battlestar Galactica, the "Matrix Twins" Adrian and Neil
Rayment from The Matrix Reloaded, and Ron Perlman from Hellboy.
Ben Browder also
made a guest appearance and hints about the possible resurrection of
Farscape, while Bruce Campbell from Evil Dead presented two awards from
his home in Oregon.
The winners of The 2nd Annual SPACEYS are as follows:
FAVOURITE TV
CHARACTER - MALE
Nominees: Captain Jonathan Archer (Enterprise), Clark Kent (Smallville),
Jack O'Neill, (Stargate SG-1), Lex Luthor (Smallville), Spike (Angel)
Award Presenter: Victoria Pratt from Mutant X - Winner: Spike (Angel) -
Accepted by James Marsters
FAVOURITE TV CHARACTER - FEMALE
Nominees: Lana Lang (Smallville), Phoebe Halliwell (Charmed), Shalimar Fox
(Mutant X), Sydney Bristow (Alias), T'Pol (Enterprise)
Award Presenter: Ben Browder from Farscape - Winner: T'Pol (Enterprise)
- Accepted by Jolene Blalock
BEST ACTION SEQUENCE
Nominees: "The Bride and the Crazy 88" (Kill Bill - Volume 1),
"Battle of Pelennor Fields" (The Lord of the Rings: The Return
of the King), "Freeway Chase" (The Matrix Reloaded),
"Demolition Derby" (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines),
"Nightcrawler Attack" (X2: X-Men United)
Award Presenter: Ben Browder from Farscape - Winner: "Freeway
Chase" (The Matrix Reloaded) - Accepted by Shane Cawley of Warner
Bros. Canada
FAVOURITE MOVIE
VILLAIN - SCI-FI/FANTASY
Nominees: Agent Smith (The Matrix Reloaded/The Matrix Revolutions),
Bullseye (Daredevil), Go Go Yubari (Kill Bill - Volume 1), T-X (Terminator
3: Rise of the Machines), William Stryker (X2: X-Men United)
Award Presenter: David Prowse from Star Wars - Winner: Agent Smith (The
Matrix Reloaded/The Matrix Revolutions) - Accepted by "The Matrix
Twins" Adrian and Neil Rayment
BEST COMIC BOOK
ADAPTATION MOVIE
Nominees: American Splendor, Daredevil, Hulk, The League Of Extraordinary
Gentlemen, X2: X-Men United
Award Presenter: Ron Perlman from Hellboy - Winner: X2: X-Men United -
Accepted by director Bryan Singer
FAVOURITE
CANADIAN TV SERIES
Nominees: Andromeda, Jeremiah, Mutant X, Stargate SG-1, Starhunter
Award Presenter: Ellen Dubin from The Collector - Winner: Stargate SG-1
- Accepted by Richard Dean Anderson, Christopher Judge and Amanda Tapping
FAVOURITE TV SERIES
Nominees: Alias, Angel, Enterprise, Smallville, Steven Spielberg Presents
Taken
Award Presenter: Tricia Helfer from Battlestar Galactica - Winner:
Angel - Accepted by director/writer Steven S. DeKnight
BEST
HORROR/SUSPENSE MOVIE
Nominees: Cabin Fever, Gothika, Jeepers Creepers 2, 28 Days Later, Willard
Award Presenter: Bruce Campbell from Evil Dead - Winner: 28 Days Later
- Accepted by producer Andrew MacDonald
BEST SCIENCE FICTION/FANTASY MOVIE
Nominees: Kill Bill - Volume 1, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the
King, The Matrix Reloaded, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the
Black Pearl, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines
Award Presenter: Bruce Campbell from Evil Dead - Winner: The Lord of
the Rings: The Return of the King - Accepted by Peter Jackson
FAVOURITE MOVIE
HERO
Nominees: The Bride (Kill Bill - Volume 1), Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the
Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl), Neo (The Matrix Reloaded/The
Matrix Revolutions), Sam (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King),
Wolverine (X2: X-Men United)
Award Presenter: Adrian and Neil Rayment, The Matrix Reloaded - Winner:
Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl) -
Accepted by Terry David Mulligan for Johnny Depp
BEST VISUAL SFX
Nominees: Hulk, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, The Matrix
Reloaded, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, X2: X-Men United
Award Presenter: Ray Harryhausen - Winner: The Lord of the Rings: The
Return of the King - Accepted by Peter Jackson
FAVOURITE VIDEO GAME
Nominees: Call of Duty, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Prince of
Persia: The Sands of Time, Rise of Nations, Star Wars: Knights of the Old
Republic
Award Presenter: Victor Lucas from Electric Playground - Winner: Star
Wars: Knights of the Old Republic - Accepted by Bioware
BEST ANIMATED MOVIE
Nominees: Finding Nemo, Brother Bear, Looney Tunes: Back in Action,
Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas, Triplets of Belleville
Award Presenter: David Hayter, screenwriter of X-Men and X2 - X-Men United
- Winner: Finding Nemo - Accepted by director Andrew Stanton
FAVOURITE MOVIE
VILLAIN - HORROR
Nominees: The Creeper (Jeepers Creepers 2), Death (Final Destination 2),
Freddy, (Freddy vs. Jason), Jason (Freddy vs. Jason), Leatherface (The
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003)
Award Presenter: Emily Perkins from Ginger Snaps - Winner: Death (Final
Destination 2)
SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - Peter Jackson
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD - Ray Harryhausen
Check out Canada's SPACE: The Imagination Station at - http://www.spacecast.com
