Thursday, 25 December 2014

Obama personal chef to hang up apron after 6 years

FILE - In this June 12, 2104, file photo, first lady Michelle Obama stands with Sam Kass, White House Senior Policy Adviser for Nutrition Policy, before they make salads from vegetables harvested from the White House garden with area students in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington. President Barack Obama’s personal chef is leaving after nearly six years in which, unlike any assistant White House chef before him, he cooked up policy alongside his meals. Kass held the title of senior policy adviser for nutrition policy, which gave him a seat at the table to help administration officials hash out everything from an updated “Nutrition Facts” label for processed foods to new government standards to cut the amount of fat, calories and sodium in federally subsidized school meals. (AP Photo/Charles Dharapak, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — For six years, Sam Kass cooked up policy as well as meals for President Barack Obama and his family. He was not only their personal chef but also senior adviser for nutrition policy, giving him a seat at the table where administration officials hashed out everything from updated food labels to new requirements for healthier school lunches.

Kass, a newlywed, is leaving the White House at the end of the month, but don't ask him what the Obamas like or don't like to eat. "Top secret," he said.
"I love this family and believe in everything the president and first lady are doing and this has been the greatest job of my life and I assume will be the greatest job of my life," the 34-year-old said in an interview. "But I'm going to be with my wife. Once you're married you kind of need to be together."
Kass' wife, MSNBC host Alex Wagner, is based in New York City.
Kass' relationship with the Obamas started when they hired him to cook healthier meals for the family in Chicago before the 2008 elections. Michelle Obama was a vice president at the University of Chicago Medical Center and caring for young daughters, while Obama was a U.S. senator spending most of his time in Washington.
But the relationship sprouted well beyond the professional. Besides Kass' tireless work for Mrs. Obama, for whom he wore a third hat as executive director of her anti-childhood obesity campaign, Kass sometimes traveled with Obama and joined his weekend or vacation golf outings. Obama, in turn, blocked out several hours on his busy schedule to attend Kass' late-August wedding.
Obama said Kass "has grown from a close friend to a critical member of my team" and has left "an indelible mark on the White House." Mrs. Obama praised Kass' "extraordinary legacy of progress," which she said includes healthier food options in groceries, more nutritious school lunches and initiatives to improve how food is marketed to kids.
Unlike any White House chef before him, Kass helped make decisions with far greater potential consequences than whether the president's veggies, which Kass often plucked from the first lady's garden on the South Lawn, should be steamed or sautéed.
The school lunch changes have led Mrs. Obama into a public spat with the School Nutrition Association, an industry-backed group that represents school cafeteria workers and food companies that sell to schools. The group has lobbied Congress to weaken the standards, arguing they are a burden on financially pinched districts and a big reason why kids are throwing their lunches into the garbage.
A House Republican-led effort to allow some districts to ignore the new lunch standards altogether failed to advance in Congress, but requirements for more whole grains in school foods will be eased instead. The fight over the broader standards is expected to heat up again next year when Republicans, who are sympathetic to the association's arguments, will control both houses of Congress.
Nutrition advocates say anyone who hopes these issues will disappear with Kass will be disappointed.
"This administration is very committed to nutrition and obesity prevention. That commitment runs very deep," said Margo Wootan, a nutrition lobbyist for the Center for Science in the Public Interest, who has pushed for healthier school meals.
Despite her group's issues with the lunch standards, Patricia Montague, the School Nutrition Association's chief executive, said Kass and "Let's Move" played "an important role in promoting healthier lifestyles for children both at school and at home."
Kass will stay involved with "Let's Move," Mrs. Obama's anti-childhood obesity initiative, along with broader efforts to improve childhood nutrition, the White House said.
Testifying to Kass' commitment, former colleague Kristina Schake said Kass spent weekends living the work he did at the White House, including visiting farms, farmers markets and food purveyors. "He can talk about different types of lettuce the way other men talk about sports teams," she said.
Kass said his big plan after leaving the White House is to get some sleep, and "I guess I'll also be the chef for my wife."
While some former White House chefs welcomed Kass' extra-culinary activities, one said Kass was an unnecessary staff addition.

"There is no need for two chefs in the White House. One is enough," said Roland Mesnier, who spent 25 years there as executive pastry chef. He was referring to executive chef Cristeta Comerford, who likely would have prepared Obama's meals had Kass not come along. She handles menus for official White House entertaining, such as state dinners.

Monday, 2 September 2013

X Factor returns with a ratings boost

Sharon Osbourne returns after six years away

The return of The X Factor to Saturday night saw the ITV show win back some of the viewers it lost for last year's opening show.

An average 9.2 million tuned in to watch the launch show, which saw the return of Sharon Osbourne to the judging panel.
Last year ratings for the opener fell to 8.7 million, considerably down on the 12 million of 2011.
Boss Simon Cowell has promised changes to boost flagging ratings.
One of the big changes is the re-introduction of intimate auditions before the judging panel before contestants perform in front of an arena audience.

Sam Bailey was the surprise hit of the first audition

Osbourne has been brought back to replace the departed Tulisa Contostavlos. She was last on the judging panel in 2007, having been one of the original cast back when it started in 2004.
One of the highlights of Saturday's show was the appearance of prison officer Sam Bailey, who surprised the judges with her rendition of Beyonce's Listen, which saw all four judges rise to their feet in admiration.
From the start The X Factor will be running two shows every weekend, with the Sunday night programme showing the contestants performing in front of a live audience as well as the judges.
The BBC's own Saturday night entertainment staple, Strictly Come Dancing, returns on Saturday,
The two shows will have a short overlap between Strictly ending and X Factor starting.
The full line-up of Strictly Come Dancing contestants will be revealed on Wednesday night but four names have already been disclosed.
Broadcaster Vanessa Feltz, Countdown maths whizz Rachel Riley, golfer Tony Jacklin and Abbey Clancy, wife of footballer Peter Crouch, will all be donning Lycra and sequins for the new series.
ITV launched its own celebrity dancing shown on Saturday.
Stepping Out, which saw six celebrity couples learning to dance together, attracted an average of 3.7 million for its first show.

Lady Gaga opens iTunes festival

Gaga (second left) last performed in the UK a year ago

Lady Gaga has opened the iTunes festival in London, playing a set of entirely new material.

The 60-minute show marked The pop star's comeback, after a broken hip caused her to cut short her Born This Way Ball tour earlier this year.
"To say that I've missed you, it's a bit of an understatement," she told her fans on stage at London's Roundhouse.
Featuring pig men in boiler suits and multiple costume changes, the show was streamed live around the world.
In the audience were celebrity fans including Adele, Niall Horan from One Direction and TV personality Arlene Phillips.

Many fans dressed for the show, following a bizarre dress code laid out by the pop star on Twitter

For fans, it was the first taster of Gaga's forthcoming album ArtPop, as seven songs - including Manicure, I Wanna Be With You and Swine - were played for the first time.
Many attended the show in a dress code dictated by the 27-year-old on Twitter - including "bedazzled pig snouts" and "trash bags or artclothes".
"Artclothes are clothes you don't mind getting covered in live art!" she said, warning there would be a "paint zone" at the show.
In the event, nobody left the show resembling a Jackson Pollock painting - with the "live art" amounting to nothing more than dancers spray-painting canvasses.

In an X Factor era, pop's main message is "be yourself". Lady Gaga isn't interested in that.
"I'm not one icon. I'm every icon," she recently told WWD magazine. "I'm an icon that is made out of all the colours on the palette at every time."
In essence, she's a visual performance artist, exploring fame's ability to seduce, transform and distort. Not for nothing does she sing "art's in pop culture in me" on her current single.
But the music is what fans came for - and the good news is that, on first impressions, Gaga's new material is catchy and clever. Manicure is Abba by way of Giorgio Moroder, while Sex Dreams is every bit as saucy as the title suggests.
The set could have done with less waffle, and the pauses between songs were unforgivable. But when she's paying attention, Lady Gaga can out-sing, out-perform, and out-smart most of her contemporaries.

Gaga took to the stage nearly half-an-hour late, dressed as a bandit, holding a knife, with a black bandana obscuring the lower half of her face.

Strapped into a metal cage that resembled a medieval torture device, she was hoisted above the audience to perform the opening number, Aura.
"What's up, London?" she demanded as the song ended. "Do you have to scream so loud? I can barely hear myself."
The new music largely stuck to the electro-pop template of her biggest hits, Bad Romance and Just Dance - but one track, Jewels and Drugs, which featured rapper TI, was inspired by the star's love of hip-hop.
"I wanted to set myself free of this box they put you in, in pop music," she explained. "It's like you have to stay inside the box and be a good girl.
"But I don't want to be a good girl. I want to be out of the box."
Later, the singer, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, told fans she had survived "some really tough times" and explained she had used "wigs and make-up" to "cover up the pain".

SETLIST

Aura
Manicure
ArtPop
Jewels & Drugs
Sex Dreams
Swine
I Wanna Be With You
Applause

"When I didn't feel strong enough to be me, I created someone else. And it worked.

"So here I am, the human underneath the wigs," she said, removing her headpiece and bobby pins to reveal a tousled brunette bob.
"This is my real hair."
Fans lapped up the theatrics, as Gaga attempted to break down the artifice of pop stardom by changing wigs and costumes in full view of the audience.
But some were disappointed that the hits were being ignored.
"Just play Poker Face," shouted one during a lull in the music.
Accordingly, the singer's current single, Applause, got the most rapturous response of the night, as the singer prowled the stage in a Mad Hatter costume, complete with a Sherlock Holmes' pipe.
The singer's eye-opening performance marked the opening night of the month-long iTunes festival, which will also see concerts by Elton John, Justin Timberlake, Queens Of The Stone Age and Katy Perry.
Competition-winners make up the audience every night, with entry via a free ballot.

Wednesday, 7 August 2013

Samsung likely to unveil new Galaxy Note on Sept. 4

With a 5.6-inch display screen, the Samsung Galaxy Note II leads a wave of smartphone-tablet hybrids.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Samsung expected to unveil new Galaxy Note on Sept. 4
Invitation to Berlin event says to "note" the date
The company's Note line leads a bigger-screen category

(CNN) -- It's becoming an annual tradition: Samsung will unveil the next generation of its Galaxy Note smartphone in advance of the IFA technology conference in Berlin. The company sent invitations to the press on Monday for an event on Sept. 4, two days before the first day of the conference.

Like previous device unveilings, Samsung is calling the event "Samsung Unpacked 2013." The event will be live streamed via the web, and Samsung will host a press event at the same time in New York City's Times Square for people to watch and get hands-on time with the devices.

Samsung isn't officially revealing information about the devices. However, the invitation and subsequent tweet include the phrase, "Note the Date" (emphasis added). Plus, at the two previous IFA events, Samsung released the first and second generations of its Galaxy Note smartphone, which have extremely large screens relative to other phones.

Thus, it's a foregone conclusion that Samsung will unveil the Galaxy Note 3 (or III) at its September event. It's been almost a year since the company released the Galaxy Note 10.1. The question on everyone's mind this time: Just how big will Samsung go?

Competitors have responded to the Galaxy Note's success (now at 5.6 inches with the Note II) with large screen sizes as well, including the 5.5-inch LG Optimus G Pro and 5-inch Droid Ultra. Samsung itself debuted the 6.3-inch Galaxy Mega earlier this year.

Samsung's other plans for Sept. 4 also remain unknown. Last year, it took the wraps off several new devices, including its ATIV line of Windows 8 PCs, the first phone to run Windows Phone 8, and the Android-powered Galaxy Camera point-and-shoot.

We'll likely see more focus this year, but Samsung could still surprise — perhaps with an entry into wearable computing. Its rumored smart watch is called "Gear."

What do you think Samsung has in store for Sept. 4? Let us know in the comments.

Washington Post just one of many wacky Bezos buys

Jeff Bezos' purchase of the Washington Post is not the craziest thing he has put his money into.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos astonished the world Monday when he offered $250 million to buy the Washington Post.

But the out-of-left-field purchase didn't shock anyone who has followed the mogul's long history of strange investments.

Exhibit A: clocks.
Bezos has poured at least $42 million into a project called "The 10,000 Year Clock," which will be built into a mountain on his West Texas property and tick once every year. A cuckoo will come out every millennium.
"It's a special clock, designed to be a symbol, an icon for long-term thinking," said Bezos, in a letter on the project's website.
Bezos also has an obsession with outer space. He has invested in Blue Origin, a SpaceX competitor that aims to lower the cost of space travel. He also financed a deep-sea expedition to recover the remnants of F-1 rocket engines that plunged into the Atlantic Ocean after lifting the Apollo 11 astronauts to the moon in 1969.
Related link: Bezos buys Washington Post for $250 million
The Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500) CEO has made several investments in controversial Silicon Valley startups.
He helped lead a $37 million round of financing for Uber, the mobile app that connects customers to luxury drivers. Uber has bickered with taxi regulators in major cities, including Washington. He has also invested in Airbnb, the short-term vacation rental site that's also run afoul with several cities' regulators.
Though not every investment is off-the-wall, Bezos isn't afraid to use his money to take a political stand: He donated $2.5 million to Seattle-based Washington United for Marriage, which is one of the biggest contributions to the cause of legalizing same-sex marriage.
Bezos has not said much publicly about the desire to go into the newspaper business, but he is not new to media investments. He pumped $5 million into the news website Business Insider in April. Bezos was also an early investor in Twitter.
So for those skeptical of what kind of owner Bezos will be for the Washington Post, his past investments (particularly the clock) may offer some insight about his philosophy: forgoing immediate returns in hopes of building sustainable quality.

Summer concert tickets scarce and expensive

It looks like the Rolling Stones are indeed on a roll with touring this year, commanding almost $8 million so far, according to<a href='http://www.pollstar.com' target='_blank'> PollStar</a>, which tracks industry data. But other entertainment offerings also are doing well.

It looks like the Rolling Stones are indeed on a roll with touring this year, commanding almost $8 million so far, according to PollStar, which tracks industry data. But other entertainment offerings also are doing well.

Summer concert tickets are averaging several hundred dollars
British acts One Direction and The Rolling Stones are the most expensive
Expert says fans are willing to pay for a live music experience

(CNN) -- If someone in your house is mad for One Direction, get ready to lay out some serious cash.

The boy band tops the list of most expensive concert tickets with the average ticket costing $674.23. That's a lot of hours of babysitting for your average teen girl to be able to buy her own ticket.

According to Jesse Lawrence, founder and chief executive officer of the ticket search engine, TiqIQ, there are a few reasons for the super-sized prices.

Acts such as the Rolling Stones price their tickets high in the primary market (Companies such as TicketMaster, Live Nation and your venue's box office) so that the secondary ticket market (those brokers/companies that resell those tickets) can't make as much money off of their show.

So while an upper level ticket for One Direction may have originally been as inexpensive as $29.50 from a primary seller, those prices rise much higher when they are scarce and being sold in a secondary market. Lawrence said the Rolling Stones strategy of pricing their primary tickets high can backfire as the group recently discovered when they found themselves unable to sell some tickets.

But it's the secondary markets that help to keep the ticket prices high in the rafters, Lawrence said.

"They get sold in the primary market for, say a round number of 100 bucks, a broker buys those and says 'I'm going to mark these tickets up to $300 because I think that's what the market demands,'" he said.

There also is the matter of the scarcity of tickets. Many fans have experienced the utter frustration of waiting for tickets to go on sale at 11 a.m. only to have a site register that there are no more tickets available just minutes later. But what about those phrases you have to type in that ensure that you are a human and not a bot attempting to buy blocks of tickets?

It matters not, Lawrence said.

"One of the worst examples of that was a Justin Bieber concert in California," he said. "Only 8% of the tickets went on sale to the general public. The rest were getting sold through his fan club, through [credit] cardholder [special promotions,] and artist hold-backs. Literally, that on sale to the public is a really small percentage of tickets."

New Jersey U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell has drafted legislation that would require more transparency.

"What I want is that people will know ahead of time how many tickets are going to go on sale for the general public," Pascrell told Today.

If you are lucky enough to score one, it's going to cost you.

The Brits are the hottest tickets this summer with the Rolling Stones clocking in just behind their countrymen, One Direction, with the average ticket price being $637.50. Super Diva Beyonce came in third place, commanding an average $358.97.

Such prices are the reason Rolling Stone magazine recently reported that "The days of seeing the world's biggest rock and pop bands for a few bucks, plus a little extra for parking and service fees, are as long gone as Peter Frampton's curly hair."

Lawrence said fans are willing to pay for a chance to see (maybe) the Rolling Stones last concert or Beyonce's moves in person.

"There is a lot of interest in the live concert experience, especially with the Internet and TV even, concerts are kind of the last thing that you can't experience the same way in your living room or on your computer," he said.

Kick-Ass 2': Not your average sequel

'Kick-Ass 2': Not your average sequel

Jim Carrey, left, as Colonel Stars and Stripes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Kick-Ass in "Kick-Ass 2."

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

"Kick-Ass 2" cast and director don't reveal too much about the film's actual plot
Actors who portray Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl and Red Mist appear via satellite
Drew Carrey withdrew his support from the movie because of its extreme violence
"This is not a rinse-and-repeat sequel," says director-screenwriter Jeff Wadlow

(CNN) -- Universal Pictures debuted new footage from the upcoming film "Kick-Ass 2" during a panel at San Diego Comic-Con. The stylized, violent clip introduced fans to the sequel's aesthetic and revealed several new characters, including Colonel Stars and Stripes, played by Jim Carrey.

Although Carrey -- who has withdrawn his support for the film over the violence - was not on hand, Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-Ass), Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Red Mist) and director-screenwriter Jeff Wadlow spoke with the convention-goers. Chloe Grace Moretz, who plays fan favorite Hit-Girl, made a special appearance via satellite to discuss her character's arc.

The cast and director didn't reveal too much about the film's actual plot, although it was clear from the footage that Hit-Girl's path takes her to high school and deals with her issues following the death of her father (played by Nicolas Cage) in the first "Kick-Ass" film.

"That was a big, interesting arc that Jeff had the smart idea of putting in the movie," Moretz said. "Hit-Girl decides to give up her life of crime. She goes to high school, and what she realizes is that whether it's a drug dealer on the streets and a murder or a bad girl at school who is hating on these kids, she has to bring justice to the situation. She realizes she and Hit-Girl are the same person. It could also really touch young teenagers, because it's what they're going through in school."

For Taylor-Johnson, the sequel was an opportunity to pick up where he left off with his character. The only major difference, he said, is that he has been doing a lot of one-armed push-ups to bulk up this time around.

"It felt like a natural progression," Taylor-Johnson said of the sequel. "For my character, what's nice is that he hasn't changed at all since the first one. It's always been a conversation about when are we going to do the second one. I got a call from (producer) Matthew Vaughn saying, 'I've got someone really great who's written a fantastic script and I'd like you to read it and see what you think.' And it was a page-turner. He took these characters through a wild journey that was really complex. It took these characters to a whole new level."

Batman, Superman to team up

Mintz-Plasse's character takes on a much bigger role as the villain in this new film. Shooting those scenes was intense for the actor, but he said he feels that the journey his character takes is important to the story laid out both in the graphic novel and the film. Red Mist, who lost his father as well in "Kick-Ass," is reborn in this film as The Mother F----r, which should give an indication of his qualities.

"I was really scared to do something this intense and nerve-wracking, but Jeff (Wadlow) had a great acting coach that came onboard," Mintz-Plasse said. "We worked for a month prior to shooting and read every line and figured out what to do for the character. I'm wearing a gimp outfit in this movie. It's super dark. There's some things in the comic book that we took out, which I think was a good choice. It was very intense to play."

"Kick-Ass 2" will be in theaters on August 16, but fans are already wondering about a third film. The writers of the graphic novel, Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., haven't actually completed a third book yet, however, and Wadlow said he's not ready to focus beyond this sequel yet.

Bell: "Veronica Mars" could be my whole life

"Also," Wadlow continued, "this is not a rinse-and-repeat sequel where we have the characters just do the same thing again. We put them through a meat grinder."