On Vacation with Hurricane Dean
I mentioned yesterday that our boss was stuck in a hurricane. TOTN's Executive Producer, Sue Goodwin, left on vacation a week and a half ago with her family. Unfortunately, she picked the Yucatan peninsula in Mexico, and Hurricane Dean followed her there (she's safe, and doing some reporting now that Dean has moved on). Lucky for us, she also has a digital camera with her, and has been emailing us a first-hand look at Playa del Carmen, before and during Hurricane Dean.
Continue reading "On Vacation with Hurricane Dean" »
Scott Cameron
3:19 PM ET
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08-21-2007
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Frustrations on a Plane
I guess I've had pretty good luck with planes... there've been delays, and bad storms, and my bags wound up someplace nicer than I did at one point. But, I've never spent a night at the airport, and even when there was a big delay, the gate agent found me a seat on the next flight out. And when I missed my plane altogether (stuck in traffic), they just added me to the next load. (No 10 hours on a tarmac for me, with overflowing toilets, thankfully. But check out the "strand-in" being put on by the Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights.) My biggest complaint is probably the lack of information (some might say lies). The "weather delays" on sunny days, the sudden fare jumps, and the oversold flights. And these days, good luck finding any service in the customer service area. Even the employees seem to be fed up with the airlines. We all have horror stories from our plane trips, but WHY is this summer so bad it's been dubbed the summer of hell? If you fly, or work in the industry, what's going on?
Scott Cameron
1:46 PM ET
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08-21-2007
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A Higher Plane (or Should I say Shuttle)
Space Shuttle Endeavour landed safely in Florida today, brought back a little early because of Hurricane Dean. It was another mission with too much excitement... Foam from the external fuel tank broke off during launch and gouged the underside of the shuttle. NASA is saying they'll have to come up with a fix before the next mission, but that will take time. We'll talk with NPR's Nell Greenfieldboyce about this past mission, and the future of the shuttle program.
Scott Cameron
1:39 PM ET
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08-21-2007
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Murray's Summer Movies!
It's the end of the road for our summer movie festival (at least for this year; we're open to topic questions for next summer!). We got a ton of emails asking us to post the list of movies mentioned during the series this year. And now (drum roll, please), here's the full list of favorites:
MOVIE THREE-QUELS
Spider-man 3
Shrek the Third
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End
Ocean's 13
The Bourne Ultimatum
Rush Hour 3
Pirates of the Caribbean 3
El Mariachi
The Bourne Ultimatum
Lord of the Rings
The "Apu" trilogy
The Sheikh
Godfather III
Blue, White,and Red
Indiana Jones
Matrix
Jaws 3-D
Goldfinger
Batman
Star Wars
Star Trek III: The Search for Spock
Austin Powers
Scary Movie
The Road to Zanzibar
Road to Singapore
Flesh, Trash, nd Heat
Back to the Future III
Beverly Hills Cop 3
Thin Man series
Toy Story 3
THE BEST BIG CAPER MOVIES
Heist
The Sting
The Pink Panther
Topkapi
Rififi
The Great Muppet Caper
The Killers
Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round
The Thomas Crown Affair
To Catch a Thief
The Lavender Hill Mob
The Ladykillers
Big Deal on Madonna Street
Italian Job
The Great Escape
The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
Who's Minding the Mint
$
Odds Against Tomorrow
FAVORITE ROBOT MOVIES
Star Wars
Robocop
Transformers
Westworld
Fembots
A.I.
Stepford Wives
2001
2010
The Terminator
Terminator II
Blade Runner
The Day The Earth Stood Still
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Star Trek Generation
Silent Running
Forbidden Planet
Gremlins
Short Circuit
Weird Science
Metropolis
Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
BEST POP STAR BIOS
Walk The Line
The Jolson Story
The Great Caruso
The Fabulous Dorseys
Yankee Doodle Dandy
Three Little Words
The Cole Porter Story
Words and Music
Coal Miner's Daughter
Night and Day
Ray
Sid And Nancy
Westway to the World
Aother State of Mind
The Glenn Miller Story
La Bamba
Bound for Glory
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle
Don't Look Back
Lenny
Bird
The Buddy Holly Story
BEST HIGH SCHOOL MOVIES
Clueless
Elephant
Blackboard Jungle
American Graffiti
Grease
Peggy Sue Got Married
Love Finds Andy Hardy
Sixteen Candles
Scream
The Breakfast Club
Mean Girls
To Sir With Love
Ferris Bueller's Day Off
Election
Dead Poet's Society
Stand and Deliver
Mr. Holland's Opus
Dazed and Confused
Friday Night Lights
Varsity Blues
Remember the Titans
Fast Times at Ridgemont High
Back to the Future
Napoleon Dynamite
Scott Cameron
1:27 PM ET
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08-21-2007
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Mainstreaming Autism
More than half a million American kids have been diagnosed with some form of autism, and those numbers are growing all the time. These kids need special instruction and care, and private schools like The May Institute have developed curricula specific to their needs. However, private schools require tuitions that are simply out of reach for many families. The other option, public school, is more financially appealing, but can classes, schedules, and lessons designed for average students flex to accommodate the needs of autistic kids? If you have a child with autism, what choices have you made about his or her education?
Sarah Handel
12:48 PM ET
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08-21-2007
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Bong Hits for Agrestic
My love for Showtime's Weeds knows no bounds. When I first heard the premise -- suburban mom deals pot to support upper-middle-class lifestyle after the death of her husband -- my interest was piqued, but just. And then I caught an episode of the show while staying in a hotel and I was HOOKED. It's got a cast full of faces you just can't turn away from -- the familiar, in Mary Louise Parker as the Stacy's Mom-esque dealer Nancy and Kevin Nealon as Doug, the ditzy CPA with a habit; and the vaguely familiar, and even more compelling Romany Malco as Conrad, Nancy's partner, and Tonye Patano as Heylia, Nancy's original hook-up. This is just the tip of the iceberg -- Nancy's kids, Silas and Shane, brother-in-law Andy, and on-again off-again BFF Celia and her family could fill another blog entry, not to mention guest stars like Zooey Deschanel, "Agent Wonderbread," and soon... Mary-Kate Olsen. Seriously, you have to see it, and if I haven't talked you into it yet, check out what creator Jenji Kohan has to say... I personally want to ask her if she thinks Heylia will adopt me!
Sarah Handel
12:25 PM ET
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08-21-2007
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