RSS Feed Twitter
What's next for 'Harry Potter' cast? "Harry Potter" fans are excited about the release of the final film in the mega-popular series, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2". With this culmination of nearly 10 years of work on making the "Harry Potter" film series, we take a look at what's next for the all-star cast.

Daniel Radcliffe
Character: Harry Potter



Next up for Radcliffe: He plays a German soldier in "All Quiet on the Western Front," based on the well-known book and 1979 movie, and a young lawyer tracking down a mystery in the remake of the supernatural film "The Woman in Black." Both are due to be released in 2012.
Emma Watson
Character: Hermione Granger


Next up for Watson: She is filming "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," based on the coming-of-age book of the same name by Stephen Chbosky. She'll play Sam, one of two friends of the main character, played by Logan Lerman. She began photo shoots for her new gig as the face of Lancome International in March.
Rupert Grint
Character: Ron Weasley



Next up for Grint: The redheaded British star has finished filming a World War II movie, "Comrade," in which he plays a British pilot forced to collaborate with his enemies to survive in the wilderness.
Helena Bonham Carter

Character: Bellatrix Lestrange

Next up for Bonham Carter: The gothic "Death Eater" in the last Potter film is set to star in designer Marc Jacobs' fall ad campaign. In 2012 she'll play Miss Havisham in "Great Expectations" and star with Michelle Pfeiffer in husband Tim Burton's remake of the '60s TV show "Dark Shadows"
Gary Oldman
Character: Sirius Black

Next up for Oldman: Hollywood's go-to villain is now starring in "Kung Fu Panda 2" and will reprise his Commissioner Gordon role in the new Batman movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," due in 2012.
Ralph Fiennes
Character: Voldemort

Next up for Fiennes: He and his co-star in "Deathly Hallows," Michael Gambon, are among the stars in the BBC spy thriller "Page Eight," which will air on PBS this fall.
Bonnie Wright
Character: Ginny Weasley


Next up for Wright: The redhead became engaged this past spring to Jamie Campbell Bower, who played the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald, in "Deathly Hallows and starred in the "Twilight" franchise. She's a confirmed cast member in the upcoming psychological thriller "The Philosophers."
Emma Thompson
Character: Sibyll Trelawney


Next up for Thompson: The Oscar-winning actress will voice aqueen in the Disney Pixar animated 3-D movie, "Brave," starring Reese Witherspoon. See her in "Men in Black 3." She'll also take screenwriting credit for the "My Fair Lady" remake coming out in 2012 and star in the comedy "Settle Down."
Tom Felton
Character: Draco Malfoy



Next up for Felton: Harry's schoolmate nemesis will star with James Franco in the "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" prequel. He's also signed a record deal.
Michael Gambon
Character: Professor Albus Dumbledore



Next up for Gambon: Starring in "Page Eight," with Ralph Fiennes. The BBC spy drama, written and directed by David Hare, will air on PBS this fall.
Maggie Smith
Character: Professor Minerva McGonagall

Next up for Smith: Hogwarts' favorite transfiguration professor appears in the BBC period drama "Downtown Abbey," as Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham. What's her real-life title?
Jason Isaacs
Character: Lucius Malfoy



Next up for Isaacs: He's the voice of spy jet Siddeley in the upcoming "Cars 2"  and the star of a new NBC pilot, "Awake," playing a police detective whose work straddles alternate realities.
Steven Spielberg demanded Megan Fox was fired from the Transformers franchise after she compared the director to Hitler.
The Hollywood beauty played Mikaela Banes in the first two movies in the popular series, but was replaced by British model Rosie Huntingdon-Whitley for the latest instalment Transformers: Dark of the Moon. It has now been claimed Steven was furious after Megan criticised director Michael Bay during an interview, claiming the filmmaker "wants to be like Hitler on his sets".
Michael has now revealed Steven – who is a producer on the movie - told him to cut the actress from the next Transformers film, which also stars Shia LaBeouf.

"You know the Hitler thing. Steven (Spielberg) said fire her right now," Michael explained.
Michael insists he was not upset by Megan’s comments.
Megan, 25, claimed at the time that it was her decision to leave the franchise as she wanted a new challenge.
Shia recently claimed Megan didn’t like being viewed as a sex symbol and felt uncomfortable with her role in Transformers.
“Michael films women in a way that appeals to a 16-year-old sexuality,” he explained. “And I think [Megan] never got comfortable with it. This is a girl who was taken from complete obscurity and placed in a sex-driven role in front of the whole world and told she was the sexiest woman in America. And she had a hard time accepting it."
Today is the longest day of the year, most of the countries including India lying to the north of the equator of the earth will witness ‘Summer Solstice'. Although people are already sweltering in certain parts of the U.S.  summer officially begins today. It’s the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. Summer Solstice is an astronomical phenomenon occurs when earth’s axial tilt inclined towards the sun. The solstice happens twice in year – summer and winter.

A solstice is an astronomical event that happens twice each year when the Sun's apparent position in the sky reaches its northernmost or southernmost extremes. The name is derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), because at the solstices, the Sun stands still in declination; that is, the apparent movement of the Sun's path north or south comes to a stop before reversing direction.
The term solstice can also be used in a broader sense, as the date (day) when this occurs. The solstices, together with the equinoxes, are connected with the seasons. In some cultures they are considered to start or separate the seasons, while in others they fall nearer the middle.According to Science Popularisation Association of Communicators and Educators (SPACE) President C B Devgun, the 'summer solstice' happens exactly when the earth's axial tilt is most leaning  towards the sun at its maximum of 23 26. During the longest day in summer - 'summer solstice', long day can be witnessed in the North Hemisphere, while on the contrary, Southern Hemisphere will witness the shortest day of the year. After the Summer Solstice, the length of the day starts decreasing till the 'winter solstice'.  India is also of the nations to witness this astronomical phenomenon- Summer Solstice.On June 21, Summer Solstice in India, the sun rose at 5:24 AM today and will set at 7:22 PM, in New Delhi. In order to witness this spectacular phenomenon, A 'Khagol Mela' has been planned by SPACE at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi.
A new study has found that food allergies in kids are rising. The study found that 30 percent of children who suffered from a food allergy  also suffered from multiple allergies. Researchers also discovered that Asian and African-American children were more likely to be affected.  One in 12 kids in the United States may have a food allergy, according to new findings based on an online survey.
The study, published June 20th in Pediatrics, also showed that more than one third of those kids had severe allergies, and that allergies were more common in minority kids.
Allergies are a particularly difficult chronic condition because kids can't escape food in any part of their daily lives, said lead author Dr. Ruchi Gupta, from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.
"What I hope this paper will do is open this awareness to how common (food allergy) is and how severe it can be, and develop policies for schools and sporting events and any activities that kids participate in to make it clear that everybody is looking out for these kids," she told Reuters Health.
Previous studies have estimated that anywhere between 2 and 8 of every 100 kids in the U.S. has a food allergy.
But most of those reports are based on studies that asked participants many different health questions, including only a few related to allergies, Gupta said. Other studies have also looked at emergency room trips for allergic reactions, or evaluated doctors' diagnoses in medical records.
Gupta and her colleagues instead wanted to design a study focused solely on the rate and severity of food allergies. They surveyed a nationally representative sample of almost 40,000 U.S. adults who lived with a child under 18.
Those adults filled out an online questionnaire about allergies based on a single kid in their household, reporting whether or not the child had any signs and symptoms of a food allergy, had ever been diagnosed with an allergy by a doctor, and had ever had a severe allergic reaction to food.
The results, published today in Pediatrics, showed that 8 percent of kids had a diagnosed food allergy or convincing symptoms that indicated an allergy - almost 6 million U.S. kids, the researchers said. Kids were most commonly allergic to peanuts, milk, and shellfish.
What was interesting was not just how many kids had allergies, Gupta said, but how many of those allergies were severe - cutting off a kid's airway or causing blood pressure to drop.
"One of our big findings was that 2 in 5 kids who had allergies had a severe reaction or a life-threatening reaction," Gupta said.
"There are a lot of misconceptions of what allergies are," she added. "When you think of allergies, you don't think of life-threatening."
Severe reactions were more common in older kids, possibly because young kids with allergies are more likely to be monitored by parents to make sure they stay away from potential allergy triggers, Gupta explained.
She and her colleagues also found that black and Asian kids had higher chances of having a food allergy than white kids - but that they were less likely to have that allergy diagnosed by a doctor.
That disparity "needs to be addressed," Dr. Scott Sicherer, an allergy researcher at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, told Reuters Health.
"The family is saying that their child had convincing reactions and yet they weren't really evaluated to confirm that with a doctor," said Sicherer, who was not involved in the study.
"Is that because they're not getting the health care they need? Is that because there's not an appropriate amount of concern? I would be worried that the next reaction could be severe and they're not prepared for it."
While the findings can't show whether or not food allergies are on the rise, Gupta thinks that's the case.
"As a clinician, I see it a lot more," Gupta said. Sicherer agreed that he thinks food allergies are becoming more frequent, but said that researchers aren't sure why that is.
The next question, Gupta said, is whether there is something going on in the environment that is driving that increase.
Songs of summer Whether you're planning a summer barbecue  camping trip  a night out on the town, or just need to kick back and relax in the warm weather, here's a list of hot and cool summer songs for any occasion.

'All Summer Long'
Rocker Kid Rock sings about his summers growing up on the lakeshores of his home state. Good for a backyard barbecue or a trip to the swimming hole.
'Rolling in the Deep'
The latest single from breakout soul singer Adele has been burning up the charts since its release and is poised to be summer's big hit.
'I'm Yours'
Jason Mraz's reggae-sounding single was on everyone's lips during the summer of 2008. Its laid-back sound makes it a good addition for a trip to the beach.
'The Edge of Glory'
The pop singer has been churning out hit after hit since her debut album, and with her newest summer single, it seems she's not slowing down.
'All I Wanna Do'
The song appeared on Sheryl Crow's first album  and sets the summer mood for just wanting to have fun.
'Hot Child in the City'
Seventies rocker Nick Gilder released this platinum hit single in 1978 on his second album. It's a nice summer tune for rolling down the car windows.
'Brown Eyed Girl'
Van Morrison's most recognizable song  about the remembrance of young love and playing outdoors, is perfect for a summer romance.
'Good Vibrations'
One of America's first surf bands  the Beach Boys set the summer soundtrack with this hit and others.
'Amber '
This 2001 hit, by rock band 311, uses reggae sounds to make a perfect beach song. The song was featured in this 2004 film and is rumored to be about lead singer Nick Hexum's ex-fiancée she's a pop star.
'Could You Be Loved'
Arguably the most popular figure in reggae music, Bob Marley was a figure in the late '60s and '70s  with his groovy island tunes.
'Summer of '69'
Canadian rocker Bryan Adams released this nostalgic summer tune in 1985, and we've been rocking out to it every summer since.
'Dog Days Are Over'
Fight the dog days of summer  with this up-tempo tune off Florence and the Machine's first album, "Lungs". Lead singer Florence Welch was recently named the face of this fashion house.
'Power'
Outspoken rapper Kanye West released this single just before summer in May 2010 off his fifth album and was nominated for a Grammy.
Ten days after admitting that he lied about sending sexually-charged text messages and photos to women he met online, Rep. Anthony Weiner, D-N.Y., is preparing to step down.
NBC News confirms that Weiner called Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chair Rep. Steve Israel last night to inform them he had decided to resign on Thursday.

The New York Times was the first to report that Weiner told friends of his plan to resign under mounting pressure from House Democratic leaders, who were poised Thursday to strip the New York congressman of his committee assignments.
Weiner has scheduled a 2pm ET news conference in New York.
At a regularly-scheduled press conference Thursday morning, Pelosi repeatedly declined to comment on the matter until after Weiner's afternoon event.
NBC reported shortly before the news broke that congressional staff members appeared to be packing up Weiner’s office this morning. Per NBC's Alex Moe, two staff members and two interns left the office with their belongings after turning off lights and locking the door.
Weiner resisted giving up his seat for more than a week, despite calls for his resignation from Pelosi and President Barack Obama.
But the Times reports that Weiner decided to step down after “having long discussions” with his wife, Huma Abedin, who just returned Tuesday from an overseas trip with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. News broke last week that Abedin is pregnant.
Republican House Speaker John Boehner told reporters at a press conference Thursday morning that Weiner had not informed him of his decision to resign, adding that the episode has been a "distraction."
source

Food slang. I'll have a cup o' joe and a heart attack on a rack. Lost? That's diner slang for a cup of coffee and a beloved Southern dish. Brush up on your All American diner lingo with the following list of scrumptious slang.


Adam & Eve on a raft
American diners are known for their quick, no-nonsense breakfasts served up hot with a piping mug of coffee. Next time you sally up to the diner counter for some breakfast grub, try ordering the popular Adam and Eve on a raft.
Butcher's revenge
While this dish sounds like the name of a serial killer, a slab of butcher's revenge is more likely to be served at Grandma's house than the big house.
Eve with a lid on
It doesn't get more American than this yummy dessert. Next time you find yourself at a roadhouse diner, order an Eve with a lid on. For an extra treat, have your waitress put a hat on it
Honeymoon salad
This clever play on words will have you asking for a honeymoon salad on your sandwich or burger, or even as a basic side dish
A spot with a twist
While you may not catch Queen Elizabeth II ordering her afternoon drink in slang, try asking for a spot with a twist next time you're in need of a warm beverage. Hungry? Accompany your drink with some of these traditional British treats.
Pigs in a blanket
Often served with a side of spicy mustard, pigs in a blanket became one of America's favorite party appetizers in the 1950s. They are loved by both kids and adults -- there's even a holiday celebrating them.
Walk a cow through a garden
Summer barbecue season can bring out the grill master in all of us, so it's no surprise this next dish is a favorite of many backyard chefs. Next time you light up the charcoal, treat yourself and walk a cow through a garden.
Noah's boy on bread
Named after the biblical Noah's second son, this lunchtime favorite is traditionally served on rye bread with a large dill pickle on the side. In Ireland you're likely to see its sister dish, Noah's boy with Murphy carrying a wreath.
Eighty-six the onions
While the origins of the slang term "eighty-six it" are unknown, a popular theory attributes it to Article 86 of the New York state liquor code, which outlines the circumstances under which an establishment can refuse to serve a patron or send him walking. Restaurants adopted the saying as a shorthand way for waiters and waitresses to customize an order.
12 alive in a shell
These delicious mollusks have been a favorite of seafood lovers since ancient Rome. Often ordered as an appetizer, these tiny treats have been known to enhance romantic feelings. Whether you're out on a first date or celebrating an anniversary, try ordering 12 alive in a shell.
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)
Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More