simblr.com

The comedy sequel “Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay” follows its stoner heroes on an outlandish journey from Hoboken to Cuba to Alabama to good ole Crawford, Texas.
Written and directed by Randolph natives Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg, the picture offers a blend of satire, slapstick and trippiness. The adventure may be set in the South, but the filmmakers still incorporate memories of growing up in Jersey.
They built a pivotal scene around a poem, “The Square Root of Three,” written by a classmate from Randolph High School, David Feinberg, and published in the school’s literary magazine. A meditation on solitude framed around irrational numbers, the piece is recited by Kumar (Kal Penn) at the end of the story.
“We’re really glad we had a friend in high school who loved math and wrote poems about it,” Hurwitz says of Feinberg, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus who gave the directors permission to use his writing. “When we were thinking about Kumar’s backstory and trying to find a fulfilling ending that’s a little bit different, we decided to use this poem we loved in high school.”
Opening tomorrow at midnight in select locations, the movie is a follow-up to the 2004 cult hit “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle,” a tale of pals traversing the state to Cherry Hill on a quest for food. Hurwitz and Schlossberg, who wrote the first screenplay shortly after moving to Hollywood, advance to directing with the second installment.
The franchise grows out of New Jersey’s multiculturalism. “We always had Asian and Indian friends. We felt like it would be nice to see Asian- and Indian-American characters on the big screen that everyone could relate to,” says Hurwitz, 30.
Going against youth comedy grain, the films center on second-generation immigrants, while the white characters are cartoonish and marginalized. (Harold and Kumar’s bickering Jewish neighbors, Rosenberg and Goldstein, are loosely based on the filmmakers.)

nj.com

SEPTA will offer competitors in Sunday’s Blue Cross Broad Street Run a free ride on the Broad Street Line to the start of the race at Broad and Somerville Streets en route to the finish line at the southern end of Broad Street.
Special northbound express trains will operate for the 8:30 a.m. race from Pattison Station every 10 minutes beginning at 5:35 a.m. until 8:24 a.m. and make stops only at Walnut/Locust and City Hall stations en route to Olney Transportation Center just a short walk from the race starting line. Regular local trains will be in service throughout the day.
In addition, several SEPTA bus routes, including Routes 17, 27, 32, 37 and C, will be detoured from Broad Street from 8 a.m. until the 10-mile race is over.
Runners must display their official competitor bib number to ride free.
Special Broad Street Line Sports Express trains will also be in service for the Phillies weekend home stand against the San Francisco Giants and, if necessary, for a Flyers-Canadians playoff game on Sunday night. - Inquirer staff

philly.com

Now here’s a movie with a cast worth salivating over, but what’s the point when the end result turns out to be so negligible? I love the direction of Pierce Brosnan’s non-Bond career (The Matador, The Tailor of Panama); Patricia Clarkson constantly earns her designation as an indie goddess; Rachel McAdams quickly (and deservedly) gained her footing as one of Hollywood’s best young actresses; and Adaptation Oscar winner Chris Cooper is everyone’s idea of an exemplary character actor. Yet director-writer Ira Sachs (adapting John Bingham’s book Five Roundabouts to Heaven with co-scripter Oren Moverman) has assembled the quartet for a stifling domestic drama that promises mystery and intrigue yet only succeeds in wasting the talents of these exceptional actors. Set in 1949, this casts Cooper as Harry Allen, a pent-up businessman who seeks romance in a marriage in which his wife Pat (Clarkson, faring best of the four) wants only sex. Harry falls in love with a war widow named Kay (McAdams), and he tells his best friend Richard (Brosnan) that he plans to leave Pat and settle down with the fragile and much younger woman. What Harry doesn’t tell Richard is that, because he can’t bear the thought of Pat suffering after he leaves her (since he’s sure she’ll be devastated), he plans to murder her; what Richard doesn’t tell Harry is that, from the moment he saw her, he’s been plotting to steal Kay away from his longtime chum. Clarkson’s presence brings to mind Todd Haynes’ superb Far From Heaven (in which she had a supporting role), and one suspects that, like Haynes, Sachs was hoping to present an homage to the Douglas Sirk melodramas of the 1950s. Then again, it’s impossible not to notice that McAdams’ Kay is dolled up exactly like Kim Novak in Vertigo, so it’s possible Sachs was shooting for Hitchcock comparisons. Either way, he falls woefully short, since Married Life lacks any semblance of genuine emotion, leaves out even one iota of sweat-inducing suspense, and collapses under the weight of an ending that not only isn’t earned but contradicts its own key revelation. It’s best to ignore these scenes from a marriage; stick with Ingmar Bergman instead.

connectsavannah.com

All Items in Police Beat are based on official police reports of events. Reports
are published by The Daily Journal as soon as they are made available.
A 38-year-old Cedarville woman told police her purse containing $800 was stolen from the trunk of her car Sunday. She said she visited Wawa on North 2nd Street in Millville, Denny’s at Delsea Drive and Chestnut Avenue, Cumberland Mall and discovered the theft when she arrived at Red Lobster. She indicated she might not have secured the trunk lid during her travels.
Someone stole 54 cans of beer, a bottle of wine and several wine coolers from an outdoor refrigerator in the 2100 block of East Oak Road. The homeowner found a bicycle and a scooter at the rear of his property.
Four tires were slashed on a car at Arbors Apartments in the 800 block of North Main Road on Saturday night or early Sunday morning.
Someone broke the side window of a car on Howard Street and stole a $200 GPS.
A window was broken on a vehicle at Sears, Delsea Drive and Landis Avenue, on Sunday and a $200 GPS was stolen.
Robert R. Outland, 61, of the Econo Lodge Motel in the 900 block of West Landis Avenue, was served a warrant for failure to appear in Vineland Municipal Court.
John Cook, 31, of Berryman’s Branch mobile home park, Pennsylvania Avenue, and Michelle Marquez, 24, of Arbors Apartments were charged with possession of marijuana following a disturbance at 5:30 a.m. Sunday at Arbors Apartments.
Juan A. Reyes, 22, of the 500 block of Landis Avenue was served two warrants from Vineland Municipal Court.
Willie J. Johnson, 18, of the 2200 block of Sunset Avenue was served a warrant for failure to appear in Monroeville Municipal Court.
Anthony C. Figueroa, 17, of Cedar Crest mobile home park, North East Avenue, was issued summonses for driving while his privilege is suspended and careless driving after a two-vehicle collision at Delsea Drive and Forest Grove Road at 12:05 a.m. Sunday.

thedailyjournal.com

Updated 3:20 p.m. PDT: Added Google saying the suit is without merit.
From the I-can’t-believe-it-took-this-long file, a couple in Pittsburgh has sued Google claiming that the Street View on Google Maps is a reckless invasion of their privacy.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Aaron and Christine Boring say they bought their home in late 2006 partly because of its secluded location on a street that is “clearly marked with a ‘Private Road’ sign.”
Google Street View was expanded to Pittsburgh in October. The Borings found that their home was clearly visible on the map, causing them “mental suffering” and diluting their home value, according to the suit. They are seeking more than $25,000 in damages and asking that the images of their home be taken off the site and destroyed.
A Google spokesman said there is no merit to the lawsuit. “It is unfortunate litigation was chosen to address the concern because we have visible tools, such as a YouTube video to help people learn about image removal, and an easy-to-use process to facilitate any such request,” he said.
Ironically, the Borings have subjected themselves to even more public exposure by filing the lawsuit, which includes their home address, notes The Smoking Gun site, which first reported the lawsuit. In addition, the Allegheny County’s Office of Property Assessments includes a photo of the home on its Web site, according to the blog post.
Shortly after launching the product Google decided to remove recognizable faces and license plates when people request it, which quelled some complaints. The Street View photos are taken in the public domain, which is considered fair game. My colleague Declan McCullagh has more on that.
Beyond Binary by Ina Fried A look at how technology is changing our lives and at the people behind all that life-changing stuff.

news.com

The wonderful artworks of Isaiah Zagar are scattered all across South Philadelphia, and I should know because I’ve seen ‘em hundreds of times. (Start at 4th & South Street!) Gigantic murals peppered with brightly colored tiles and thousands of mirror shards … and when you step back from the massive murals (or if you peer in real close), Mr. Zagar’s artworks hit you with all sorts of strange new details. I think that native Philadelphians probably take these exhibits for granted, but I think they’re the coolest sort of art imaginable: Vibrant, emotional, perpetually evolving masterpieces.
But before last week, I had NO IDEA who created all these awesome pieces. Then I read the plot synopsis for a documentary called In a Dream. You’re telling me that all these fantastic walls were done by one guy? Wow.
Lovingly crafted by Isaiah’s own son, In a Dream is easily one of the most “personal” documentaries I’ve ever had the pleasure to see. If you or I made a movie about our eccentric artist dad, it’d probably be a horror story or a warm-hearted white-wash, but director Jeremiah Zagar does a flawless job of documenting a man who is equal parts talented, lovable, and periodically (very) eccentric. Even if In a Dream were content to focus only on the long-running marriage between Isaiah and his devoted wife Julia (and their rehab-bound son), it’d still be a great little documentary…

read_more

The Sarasota Marathon will be held on Sunday, March 2, 2008.The run will include a full Marathon, and a Half-Marathon, which will be run on the same course at the same time.
The event will end at 12:00 Noon.
Because there will be runners sharing the roadway along this route, there will be temporary lane closures at the following locations:
1. Southbound US 41 from 23
Street to Gulfstream Avenue.
2. Westbound Gulfstream Avenue/John Ringling Blvd from US 41 to N. Washington Dr.
3. Eastbound Ringling Causeway from S. Washington Dr. to Bayfront Drive.
4. Southbound US 41, (Mound St.), from Gulfstream Avenue to Osprey Avenue.
5. At Southbound US 41 and Gulfstream, beach traffic will be directed into one (1) lane for westbound turns while southbound traffic will be directed into one (1) lane to continue south on US 41.
6. At Northbound US 41 at Gulfstream Avenue, there will be only one (1) turn lane for beach traffic. The second turn lane will be closed. Both Northbound US 41 lanes will remain open to traffic.
Drivers are urged to use caution during the hours of this event. Drivers can expect some delays due to the temporary lane closures and the increase of traffic volume during late morning hours.
Sarasota Police officers and volunteers will be on post along the route to assist motorists in congested areas and to ensure the safety of the Marathon participants.
For detailed maps of the race course, click the links below…

mysuncoast.com

Nick Kaaze, 16, pulled out his driver’s license and smiled.
The photograph, though only a few months old, was already outdated. Kaaze’s image was nearly unrecognizable, as the picture bore his pre-boxing likeness — a face definitely framed with more baby fat than his currently chiseled features.
Call it a byproduct of the hours Kaaze has logged at Hastings Boxing Academy.
Hastings Boxing Academy, founded and managed by Fernando Ortiz and former Cottage Grove resident Nicole (Erny) Ortiz, opened last summer but moved to a new location above Rivertown Collision on Vermillion Street in Hastings in December.
Months of having children show up at their door asking for boxing lessons inspired the Ortiz’s to not only open a boxing gym, but to give youth a chance to learn, train and compete in a sport that requires little money but a lot of sweat and discipline. By teaching and conditioning young boxers — free of charge, if they lack the funds — the Ortiz’s and the gym’s trainers hope to indirectly help generate a comeback in the sport that’s shaped their own lives for the better, but has nationally fallen out of mainstream.
And like Kaaze, patrons training at the new academy are coming away with more than just reshaped physiques.
Boxing’s history — and its future
To a longtime Hastings resident, the man standing in the corner holding onto a boxing bag is probably a familiar face.
Fred Litschke, 68, helps train athletes at the new boxing academy, bringing to the table years of experience and coaching he accumulated since he began boxing as a 14-year-old.
The Hastings boxing scene, though, was quite different when Litschke first stepped into the ring. The Hastings Golden Gloves Boxing Team, as the club was called at the time, was the size of any successful high school sports program today and could fund its equipment, training and competitions from sponsorships by the National Guard, Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion clubs and a whole host of others, Litschke said.
But something changed. Not just in Hastings, but all over the country.
The Vietnam War began and Litschke went into the Marine Corps in 1960. When he got out four years later, Hastings Golden Gloves Boxing Team membership had severely dwindled.
“We went from being kids to where we were too old to get back into boxing,” Litschke said. “Everyone had to go into the service and what have you. Maybe that had something to do with it. But for a good number of years, there was really nothing. Even the Golden Gloves doesn’t get the big turnout it used to. People have fallen away from the sport of boxing. It’s tough to get going, but we’re looking for sponsorships like what we used to have years ago.”
Around the same time, reports of the sport’s potential danger also began hitting the airwaves.
By the early 1980s, American physicians cited chronic brain damage prevalence among fighters and called for a ban of boxing — or if the sport were permitted, stricter safety measures.
According to the USA Boxing Web site, in April 1986 the United States Olympic Committee approved and funded a proposal by the John Hopkins Medical Institute to undertake a study of amateur boxers. The study compared USA boxers with little or no experience boxing to active amateur boxers and found no evidence of brain dysfunction or central nervous system defect.
But USA Boxing has also shaped amateur boxing to be much safer than pro boxing, requiring amateurs — like the ones training at Hastings Boxing Academy — to wear mouthpieces and headgear. Female amateur boxers are required to wear breast protectors, and amateur gloves are designed to absorb — not transmit — shock.
But even with such precautions in American amateur boxing, the professional sport lost a huge national fan base and was replaced by other rapidly growing contact sports.
And still today, despite countless dollars put into sports research all over the world, opinions on contact sports like boxing still differ. A group of researchers at Sahlgrenska University in Sweden concluded in September 2006 that dementia pugilistic disease, or “punch drunk,” can affect professional and amateur boxers. But British and American doctors concluded in 2004 and 2007 research, respectively, there was no strong evidence to associate chronic traumatic brain injury with amateur boxing, nor were there any long-term brain injuries directly linked to amateur boxing.
“When people see boxing and punching, they relate it to violence,” Fernando Ortiz said. “But there is a lot of discipline with it.”
Youth interest encouraged Ortiz’s to open gym
Though not as many Americans plop in front of their television sets to watch a boxing match as they did half a century ago, there are plenty of them still interested in the sport. Hastings Boxing Academy’s existence is proof of that.
“I used to have a punching bag at my house and in the summer when I had the garage open, a lot of neighborhood kids started showing up and started asking, ‘Can you teach me? Can you teach me?’” said Ortiz, a former Texas resident who met wife Nicole at a boxing gym in St. Paul. “Next thing I know, I’ve got five or six kids punching the bag. That’s when we decided, ‘Maybe we should open a little boxing gym.’”
After a month at its new location, that “little gym” sprouted into a 30-member club, with participants ranging from 3 to 68 years old.
Ortiz, trainer Dante Rivera and Litschke help tutor athletes who come to the Academy for various reasons, whether it is to learn how to fight, to lose weight or to just gain confidence in themselves.
Whatever the intentions, each fighter starts with the basics.
“We try to teach them how to evaluate their own body,” Ortiz said. “We teach them from the beginning how to put on hand wraps, how to put on gloves, how to balance, how to throw your first punch, cardio and how to breathe.”
Even more important than each punch is what the legs are doing during the punch, Ortiz said. Athletes are taught that strength is drawn from the legs, and a boxer has to turn properly with every punch. Where a person can or cannot hit is also well defined.
A full workout at the Boxing Academy can take anywhere from 45 to 60 minutes — including a 10-minute warm up — and runs much like circuit training. A bell is set for two to three minutes and buzzes to let boxers know when they have 30 seconds left of a round.
Participants shadow box, or box in front of a mirror, for three rounds, then practice on double end bags and speed bags before doing cardio work, which is on the treadmill or with jump ropes.
It’s the training that usually surprises most people, Nicole Ortiz said.
“People don’t realize the whole workout is cardio,” she said. “The kids (become) more confident. They feel better about themselves.”
A handful of Hastings’ boxers have already seen their fair share of competition.
Kaaze took first at state and went on to take second place in the 14-15 year old division’s 147-pound class at regionals Dec. 30 in Spooner, Wis.
Not only has he heightened his athletic prowess, Kaaze dropped 40 pounds since he began boxing in July.
“It takes a lot of endurance and strength and power, because if you’re not in shape, you’re not going to last long fighting,” Kaaze said. “You’ve got to really be in shape.”
Fellow Hastings boxers Joey Meier (69 pounds), Ashton Stauger (75), Steven Lutchen (100) and Jesus Rivera (95) competed in the championship finals of their respective weight classes Dec. 1 at the Silver Gloves Tournament, as posted on amateur Web site, www.livefromringside.com.
And though the gym has only been open for six months, the Boxing Academy can boast a state tournament trophy.
“I think we’re kind of special,” Fernando Ortiz said. “We’ve accomplished a lot of stuff in a short time. We’re one of the smallest gyms in the state of Minnesota. We’re very, very small, but we’ve conquered a lot of stuff.”
One obstacle, though, remains to be conquered.
The Hastings Fire Department donated money to the club, and other businesses have given money or merchandise.
But the Academy has very few sponsors to help pay for costs. Participants who are able (no one is turned away, Fernando Ortiz said) pay $45 a month, and any equipment a participant needs is already at the gym.
But the club has so few donations, the Ortiz’s and Rivera pay out of their own pockets for the children’s competitions, along with the Academy’s rent, gauze pads, hand wraps, tape and travel expenses.
“When we went to regionals, we didn’t have enough to pay for a hotel for the kids, so we traveled for four, three hours and then came back the same day,” Fernando Ortiz said. “We cannot pay, we had to come back. A lot of the kids come from families with low incomes.”
Some of the kids have backed out of competition all together because they didn’t have the money.
“A couple of times they want to come and fight, but they can’t afford it,” Fernando Ortiz said. “We struggle with the economy, paying rent and having enough for them.”
Hastings Boxing Academy athletes will put on a show for its home crowd, performing at 7 p.m. March 15 at the VFW in Hastings. Tickets will be $10 in advance, $12 at the door.
But getting kids in competitions is only one of many goals Fernando Ortiz has for the young athletes who come through the Academy’s doors.
“Having a good kid and taking it to the Olympics, that would be my goal,” he said. “I think my goal is already accomplished — it’s to take kids out of trouble and help them out. If they’re here, they’ve got nothing to prove outside. I’ve had tough kids show up and (say), ‘Oh, I’ll fight anybody,’ then when they see that boxing is totally different and it’s a lot of discipline, they find out there is something else.”

swcbulletin.com