Spike Lee working on Michael Jackson film - BBC News
Spike Lee has revealed he is close to finishing a Michael Jackson documentary marking the 25th anniversary of the singer's Bad album.
The director said the footage to which he was given access was a "treasure chest of findings".
"We have footage in this documentary that no one's ever seen - stuff that Michael shot himself and behind the scenes stuff," he said.
The film is due to be released later this year.
It tells the story behind the 1987 album, the record-breaking world tour it led to and the short film music videos it spawned.
These include the video promo for the title track, directed by Martin Scorsese and featuring the actor Wesley Snipes.
"We had complete access to the vaults of Michael Jackson," Lee said. "He wrote 60 demos for the Bad record. Only 11 made it.
"We got to hear a lot of that stuff, too, so it was just a great experience."
The documentary features 40 interviews Lee conducted with Jackson's confidants, choreographers, musicians and other collaborators.
He also includes interviews with Kanye West, Mariah Carey and Sheryl Crow - who was a backup singer on the Bad tour - about the album's lasting influence.
"We really divided it into two things," Lee said. "Artists today who were influenced by Michael, and then people who worked side by side [with him]."
Besides Jackson's artistry, Lee said the documentary would show a more personal side of the singer who died in 2009.
"He had a great sense of humour, and he was funny," he said. "You'll see a lot of that stuff.
"I'm more than just a huge fan of Michael Jackson. Having the chance to actually know him and work with him, I deeply care about his legacy."
The 25th anniversary re-issue of Bad, titled Bad 25, will be released on 18 September.
Late goal gives Toronto FC edge over Whitecaps - CBC
It was a game that seemed destined to end in yet more Toronto FC disappointment. But this time there was a happy ending for the MLS cellar-dwellers.
Terry Dunfield scored five minutes into stoppage time to give Toronto FC a 3-2 win over Vancouver in a wild game Wednesday night that appeared headed for a heartbreaking tie after the home side had gifted a goal to the Whitecaps on an earlier injury-time mistake.
For Toronto manager Paul Mariner, it was a Tony Robbins-type lesson of a game.
"As I've said many times this week, the brain is an unbelievable thing that keeps those legs going as far as football is concerned," said the former England international. "It's all about the state of mind. If you keep telling yourself that you're tired, then you are tired. But if you're willing to drive on, as we did for 90-plus minutes tonight, then anything's possible.
"I asked the players for a response from Philadelphia (a 3-0 loss Sunday) because that wasn't us and I think that we all got it."
Toronto (3-11-4) had pulled ahead 2-1 on second-half goals by rookie Luis Silva and captain Torsten Frings four minutes apart, only to see the bottom fall out one minute into stoppage time.
Goalie Milos Kocic tried to punch away a high cross and missed it, leaving Vancouver's Darren Mattocks a clear header that sent the ball looping into the goal. It was the second goal of the game for the rookie striker from Jamaica, who looked dangerous all night.
While most of the 19,821 fans at BMO Field hung their heads at the 2-2 score, the Toronto players kept their eye on the prize and blitzed the Vancouver goal.
"I think we were all wide-eyed looking at that and amazed at just how high he got and how well he timed it," Vancouver coach Martin Rennie said of the goal by the six-foot Mattocks. "He outjumped a goalie who's already six foot four who's able to use his hands. So that was an amazing jump."
Toronto won a corner and Dunfield, a former Vancouver player who scored against Toronto in the Whitecaps' MLS debut last season, rose majestically and headed in the winning goal off a Frings corner in the fifth minute of injury time.
"Probably the best feeling in my soccer career. That was incredible," said a delighted Dunfield, who may still be smiling after his first league goal for Toronto.
"It's been a long, tough season for us at the bottom there but the guys showed a lot of character to come back twice today."
There was supposed to be four minutes of injury time but the Vancouver score kept the clock ticking.
"I told Terry I owe him dinner," said Kocic, whose blushes were spared by the late goal. "He really stepped up for me and for the team and for everybody.
"We showed character tonight," he added.
Same players, different team
After collecting three points in the first 10 games of the season under Aron Winter, Toronto has now picked up 10 in eight games under Mariner. And remarkably those eight games have been compressed into 26 days.
While Toronto remains at the foot of the standings, it still represents quite a turnaround for a defensively-challenged team that lacks depth in all positions.
Frings' go-ahead goal came in the 72nd minute after goalie Joe Cannon hit the turf in the wake of punching away an Eric Avila cross. The ball came to Frings and the former German international hammered home a right-footed shot from outside the penalty box with the goalie out of position.
Frings had come close seconds earlier, forcing a diving save from Cannon off a free kick. Silva had earned the kick after being scythed down by Alain Rochat.
Silva, who was influential all game, made it 1-1 in the 68th minute with his first MLS goal. And it was a thing of a beauty as he stuck out a foot to deflect in an Ashtone Morgan cross.
Fullback Lee Young-Pyo was off the pitch for both goals receiving treatment.
"By the time he was back on, we were 2-1 down," said Rennie, who noted that Morgan's cross and the corner both came in Lee's area. "So that was very disappointing, that was a major turning point in the game because we were winning and fairly comfortable.
"So to come out of that losing three goals leaves me scratching my head a little bit. But it's something that we're going to have to bounce back from."
Lee had a glorious chance to tie the game in the 85th minute but his shot rattled the right post.
Vancouver (8-5-6) had opened the scoring in the 50th minute after midfielder Barry Robson carved open the Toronto defence with a through ball to Mattocks, who seemed to have butchered the chance when his scuffed shot was stopped by Kocic as a nearby defender went flying. But the ball bounced back to the rookie striker and Mattocks moved towards the byline, slotting the ball into the empty net from a tight angle.
It was the fifth goal in nine games this season for the elusive Jamaican, taken second overall in the 2012 SuperDraft.
The goal was a bitter pill for Toronto, which had taken the game by the scruff of its neck late in the first half and come close to scoring. The second-half comeback was a welcome tonic, especially on the heels of the poor performance in Philadelphia.
The game' continued the Whitecaps' losing run at BMO Field.
Last season, Vancouver celebrated its MLS debut with a 4-2 win over visiting Toronto but later lost 1-0 at BMO Field on a goal by Nick Soolsma, a Dutch forward who was released earlier Wednesday.
The Whitecaps had more bad memories of Toronto this season after losing the second leg of the Amway Canadian Championship 1-0 in an ill-tempered game that saw players from both sides sent off.
But Vancouver, on the fourth leg of a five-game road trip, came into the game with a 20-point bulge over Toronto in the standings.
The first half started slowly with neither team showing much finesse in the final third of the pitch. Fans behind or to the side of the goal seemed in more danger from shots than either 'keeper.
Vancouver did not manage a shot on target in the first half although Brazilian Camilo had a couple of chances, sending a header from a corner over the bar and later driving a ball across the goal.
But as the first half wore down, Silva began to make his presence felt and the home side came close.
A long Silva pass to Ryan Johnson in the 41st minute bounced off defender Martin Bonjour and found the Jamaican international with a clear path on goal. But Cannon came out and made the save with his body.
Seconds later, Cannon was up to the challenge again, this time palming away a Julian de Guzman shot.
Johnson, found behind the defence again via a beautifully flighted Silva pass, seemed destined to score in stoppage time but — with Cannon beaten — his shot bounced off the right post.
For the hard-working Johnson, who has played every minute this season but only has three goals, it was yet another instance where he deserved better.
Toronto fullback Jeremy Hall exited in the 28th minute with a tight hamstring.
Maradona invited to Al Wasl "farewell ceremony" - Reuters UK
DUBAI |
DUBAI (Reuters) - Diego Maradona has been invited to a 'farewell ceremony' by United Arab Emirates club Al Wasl after they sacked him as coach, a senior official said on Wednesday.
The club added that the ceremony would “reflect the unique and strong relationship" between them and the mercurial Argentine.
The 51 year-old World Cup winner's two-year contract, signed in May 2011, was terminated on Tuesday by the club's board after a trophy-less season that saw Al Wasl finish eighth in the 12-team UAE Pro League.
"We have not decided on a timeframe (for the ceremony) and it depends on Maradona's response," club vice-chairman Mohammed bin Dokhan told reporters through an interpreter.
He said Maradona, who was sacked with all his support staff, had not yet replied.
Some hours later, however, Maradona published a statement on his personal website (www.diegomaradona.com) thanking Al Wasl for the chance they had given him to be their coach and suggesting they could still reach an agreement about signings to strengthen the team.
"It was always my wish to stay in that wonderful land that so welcomed me and I am totally grateful to the sheikh, especially for having received me and given me the opportunity to coach a team from the Emirates," he said.
"Unfortunately, the club made a statement that I don't agree with, because my wish was and is to carry on coaching Al Wasl and if it is impossible for the club to buy players, due to a lack of budget, there will also be the possibility to discuss that together with the board and seek solutions," he added.
"I hope to have a meeting soon with the board...(and) I am quite sure they will be well disposed to do so and we will come to a good agreement."
Bin Dokhan said four or five names were on the table to replace Maradona and an announcement was likely within a week.
One of them was Bruno Metsu, who coached the UAE to victory in the 2007 Gulf Cup and won the AFC Champions League with Al Ain in 2003. Metsu also coached Senegal to a notable win over France in the opening match of the 2002 World Cup.
'RIGHT TIME'
Defending the decision to terminate Maradona's contract, bin Dokhan said the time had been right.
"We cannot deny Diego Maradona is the best technical footballer all over the world and he is a qualified coach but we are looking for someone to win a championship for Al Wasl in the next stage," he added.
"We are not happy to terminate the contract but we should always keep away emotion and work for the sake of Al Wasl. The Board acts for the sake of Al Wasl and in the interests of Al Wasl to put Al Wasl back on the right track."
The closest Al Wasl, which last won the domestic league title in 2007, came to success last season was in reaching the final of the Gulf Champions League.
However, having won the first match against Bahrain side Al Muharraq 3-1, Maradona's side capitulated in the second leg in Dubai, having two players sent off en route to a 3-1 loss before defeat on penalties.
"Maybe it was a reason to terminate, the result of that match," said bin Dokhan.
Maradona's sacking came a month after he received a vote of confidence from the chairman of a newly constituted board, appointed after the mass resignation of the previous one following the lack of on-field success.
Bin Dokhan denied that Tuesday's announcement was a U-turn.
Maradona's sacking continues his modest record as coach, one that is in complete contrast to his time as a player.
In addition to his World Cup-winner's medal, Maradona enjoyed league title successes in Argentina, Italy and Spain but as a coach he has yet to achieve any such highs.
He had brief spells with Mandiyu and Racing Club in his home country in 1994 and 1995 respectively but neither proved successful. Although he led Argentina to the World Cup finals in 2010, his side lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarter-finals.
(Additional reporting by Rex Gowar in London; Editing by Alan Baldwin and Alison Wildey)
Satellite Of Love: Why Virgin Galactic's New Private Launcher Is So Swoon-Worthy - Fast Company
Virgin Galactic is already busily spearheading a whole new industry in space tourism with SpaceShipTwo. But today at the Farnborough air show the British company revealed it's also ready to disrupt a long-standing industry and take it in wholly new directions: It's formally unveiled LauncherOne, a tiny cost-effective rocket system to put small satellites into low Earth orbit. It could change your life sooner than you think. Really.
LauncherOne leverages the expertise that Virgin Galactic has been building up with its space tourism business, and stands on the innovations made by Scaled Composites when it launched SpaceShipOne on its historic X Prize-winning flight. That's because it uses exactly the same air-launched model for the rocket, with a carrier aircraft lifting the spacecraft high into the atmosphere before dropping it and letting its engines fire it into space. LauncherOne actually employs the same WhiteKnightTwo launch aircraft used for the space tourism flights--which is a proven, existing airframe that instantly reduces costs.
By flying like this, LauncherOne doesn't need a big, expensive first stage rocket loaded with fuel to get it off the ground. Instead it requires just two boost stages to take it from launch into space, and then into orbit. This simplifies the avionics and engineering needed to make the thing fly, lowering the cost and reducing the chances that things can go wrong. Ground-launched rockets have all sorts of complex range-safety matters to deal with, involving clearing airspace and, sometimes, the sea in the general launch trajectory because the rocket might fail during flight. Because LauncherOne is launched from an aircraft, it can avoid many of these logistical issues, and it also allows for payloads to be more easily put into unusual orbits--the aircraft simply has to point it in a different launch direction.
The upshot of all of this cost-saving is that according to Virgin, a LauncherOne vehicle can put 500 pounds of payload into orbit for "below $10 million." That works out cheaper than its likely biggest competitor Orbital's Pegasus XL--another air-launched vehicle--and Virgin intends it to be able to reach the "world's lowest prices" for launches.
And that's just for single-satellite launch scenarios. There's no reason that LauncherOne couldn't be configured to release a swarm of low Earth orbit microsatellites in a single launch, and this is one of the most promising areas of space science right now.
In fact, when revealing the vehicle's parameters, Virgin boss Richard Branson even remarked that with LauncherOne, "nations, states, cities and even universities and schools will be able to launch dedicated satellites that will answer their diverse needs." Satellite launches have nearly always been massively expensive, risky and fall within the purview of government-backed operations, or via defense companies, and even recent commercial space systems have been very expensive--until Virgin's effort.
Right there is the part where your life will be affected, although it's difficult to predict how much things will change and how fast. But to see what this could mean, imagine if a news organization like CNN stumped up the millions necessary to fly its own small imaging satellite--or possibly even a small fleet of them. When a global disaster occurs, or a breaking news story hits, CNN may then be able to deliver live or near-time satellite imaging of the event. (And they may even get their facts right.) Because Virgin is a private entity, it's even possible that other startups may leverage its potential to do their own climate change science, or space-based observations of almost everything on Earth from traffic congestion in cities to tracking ships, or selling very real-time imagery to companies like Apple or Google to drive the "satellite view" that we're all getting used to using for navigating around with our smartphones.
And lest you think this is all just pop science mumbo jumbo, VG has already signed up enough launch partners for "several dozen" launches and aims to be commercially operating by 2016.
[Image: Virgin Galactic]
Chat about this news with Kit Eaton on Twitter and Fast Company too.
RSS does not take any decision under political pressure: Jayantibhai Bhadesia - Economic Times
The RSS said that the infighting is the internal matter of the party but Sangh in such a situation remains in touch with leaders and discusses with them what should be their role as a 'swayamsevak'.
The statements come at a time when there is a general perception that the powerful Hindu outfit has aligned with Modi and BJP is facing state elections later this year.
The Sanjay Joshi feud, the issue of reliving pracharak Bhaskar Rao Damle, who is supporter of anti-Modi group leader within BJP Keshubhai Patel from its state executive and Modi's bid for prime ministerial post, have created an impression that the RSS is supporting Modi.
In an interview published in 'Sadhna' a Gujarati mouthpiece of the RSS here, Gujarat region head of the organisation Jayantibhai Bhadesia denied that removal of Damle or any other decision were taken under political or any other pressure from the state chief minister.
"RSS never takes any decision under political pressure. Throughout the years, RSS has continued to stick to its own system and well defined policies," Bhadesia said.
Ahead of the forthcoming assembly election, it seems that instead of working unitedly the BJP is on the roads of fragmentation, as former chief minister Patel and other senior leaders have indicated that they will float their own political front to take on Modi in the state elections.
Expressing his view on the role of RSS when the infighting is at its peak, Bhadesia said, "It is the internal matter of BJP. RSS believes that everybody has to mind its own business. But RSS continues to keep in touch with its swayam sevaks and guide them appropriately."
Sources in the RSS said that joint general secretary of RSS, Suresh Soni had recently visited the state and met both Modi and Patel to broker peace between the two warring groups but the attempt has not fructified.
GRAINS-Markets tumble on profit-taking, rainy forecast - Reuters UK
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.
0 Responses to "Spike Lee working on Michael Jackson film - BBC News"
Post a Comment