Tuesday, March 28, 2017

On Saturday, Wikinews visited the set of indie comedy film Dead on Set. Using the movie-in-a-movie concept, the film is a comedy about a group of people filming a zombie movie, during which a real zombie virus outbreak occurs. The entire film was shot in the greater Tyler, Texas area.

The film was written, directed and produced by Amanda Spangler. An array of make-up artists worked to create the realistic bite and injury marks for actors.

When asked how she came up with the idea for the film’s script, Spangler said, “We often see the efforts of filmmakers being put to the test when it comes to creating fantasy or horror based movies. I had always wondered what would happen if their dreamscape became their reality and how they would react. For this film, they’re so entwined in what they’re doing they can’t even tell the difference between real zombies and the fake ones. Considering the hilarity of that concept, I decided to write a comedy on that very subject.”

Although production for the film has ended, the project must now go though the editing process. Spangler plans to submit the film to Tyler’s film festival in mid-May and the film is to screen at Tyler’s historic Liberty Theater in late May or early June for cast members and their families. Roughly half of the film was shot in or near a hair salon owned by Coby Archa, who appeared as a contestant on the reality television series Survivor.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

At least 68 different pieces of luggage has been found behind a pet store inside a garbage dumpster in Houston, Texas. The luggage came from several different international flights and authorities do not know how they got there or if the contents of the luggage have been stolen.

“We’re going to be investigating and the authorities are going to be investigating,” said spokeswoman for Continental Airlines, Mary Clark. All luggage was handed over to Continental Airlines.

The luggage is reported to have been sifted through, and most pieces have come from all over the world. The luggage is reported to have come from Bush Intercontinental Airport. Some pieces of the luggage have name tags and Clark states that “we’re trying to reach whoever we need to let them know the bags are there.”

Officers with the Houston Police Department are in charge of the investigation. The luggage was found by individuals who own the pet store.

The FBI has stated that the bags do not pose any danger.

Friday, May 18, 2007

British explorer and mountaineer Edward “Bear” Grylls, has set a new altitude record by piloting a powered paraglider above Mount Everest reaching 29,494ft (8,990m). He and his fellow pilot, Giles Cardozo, who had invented and developed the parajet engine, set out on their attempt from the Himalayan village of Pheriche (altitude 14,435ft (4,400m)) in the early morning of 14th May.

Grylls, 33, is a mountaineer, best selling author and television presenter who spent three years with the elite British Special Air Service (“SAS”) forces. During this time he was involved in a horrific parachuting accident in which he broke his back in three places, almost severing his spinal cord. Remarkably, in 1998, after months of rehabilitation, he became at 23, the youngest British climber to scale Mount Everest and return alive.

Cardozo is considered to be one of the top paragliding pilots in the world, and it is reported that he and Grylls first came up with the idea for the attempt about a year ago when he had invented the engine that would take them up the mountain.

Grylls and Cardozo flew their paragliders together to 28,001ft (8,353m) surviving temperatures of minus 76°F (-60°C) and dangerously low oxygen levels, when a fault developed in Cardozo’s engine, and he had to abort his attempt just 984ft (300m) below the summit. Grylls went on to reach his record height at 09.33 local time. He had originally intended to cross the Mountain but turned back to base camp fearing that he might be arrested if he entered Chinese airspace.

On his return to Kathmandu, Grylls voiced his feelings of loneliness and exhilaration:

The attempt was sponsored by British technology and engineering group GKN. The project, GKN Mission Everest, raised £500,000 (approximately $1m) for Global Angels, a charity helping children in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

In a separate incident, a German paragliding champion has survived being sucked up by a storm to a height of 32,612ft (9,940m) whilst preparing for a world paragliding championship in Manilla, New South Wales, Australia.

Ewa Wisnierska, 35, the 2005 World Cup paragliding winner, lost consciousness and was covered in ice and battered by orange-sized hailstones as she was pulled upwards by the sudden tornado-like storm which she had been attempting to skirt. After regaining consciousness as she descended she was able to make contact with her ground team which had been tracking her by her GPS equipment, and landed safely 40 miles (60km) from where she took off.

Remarkably she spent only an hour in hospital after her experience, being treated for frostbite and blistering to her face and ears.

A fellow competitor, 42 year old Chinese man, He Zhongpin, who was also caught up in the storm, was not so fortunate and died from lack of oxygen and the extreme cold.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

The four stars of Bratz appeared Thursday in Toronto on the television series MuchOnDemand, to promote their new film.

While a great deal of computer animated, direct-to-DVD Bratz films have been made, as has a relatively successful television series, Bratz: The Movie is the first time the characters have appeared in live action.

The film centres around four “BFF”s, best friends forever, Yasmin (Nathalia Ramos), Jade (Janel Parrish), Sasha (Logan Browning) and Cloe (Skyler Shaye). Each has a distinct personality, talents, and fashion sense, which each friend supported. But entering high school, they suddenly face being lumped into social cliques, enforced by senior Meredith Baxter Dimly. Torn apart, they eventual decide to find peer pressure head-on, as “the Bratz”.

Director Sean McNamara commented in press materials, “The producers, writers and I hung out and talked about the fact that we had all lost friendships during high school, not because you want to but you start meeting new people and start hanging out with people that are into the same things as you.”

“This theme of cliques still happens even when you grow up, it’s in the business world — hey they are everywhere,” McNamara continued. “I think that’s what I’m trying to say with this movie is that you don’t have to be part of a clique exclusively. You can have friends all over the place and still be with kids that are into what you’re into… be with your jock friends, your science friends, whomever.”

Actress Logan Browning comments, “Friendships are so important because you can think that you can go to school and be by yourself and be the coolest girl but without true friends, you’re going to be stuck in your life.”

The movie is produced by Avi Arad, a producer of the Spider-Man and X-Men trilogies, The Hulk, The Fantastic Four, The Punisher, and Ghost Rider.

Arad feels that “If we can unite kids without taking away their individuality, that’s fantastic.”

MuchOnDemand is a long-running program MuchMusic, Canada’s primary music channel. The program airs every weekday at 5 pm ET, as an hour-long per broadcast viewer interactive television program.

View all of the Creative Commons-licensed photos by Robin Wong at Wikimedia Commons’ gallery.

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Former President Bill Clinton and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg have revealed plans to merge their climate leadership groups C40 and the Clinton Climate Initiative on Wednesday.

Bloomberg serves as the chair for C40 Cities, an organization of cities devoted to tackling climate change. Together with the Clinton Climate Initiative, a program of the William J. Clinton Foundation, the two high profile environmentalists believe the alliance will assist cities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through a range of energy efficient and clean energy programs.

“I am pleased and honored to be here with my friend President Clinton. He has been a life-long champion of climate initiatives and I can think of no greater partner in this effort,” said Bloomberg.

President Clinton said the merger will “make it possible to create jobs and grow economies through reduced emissions. By combining forces with the C40, I believe the CCI Cities Program can continue to expand this work and make an even greater impact.”

Mayor Bloomberg also announced that the fourth C40 Summit will commence on May 31st in São Paulo. Both Clinton and Bloomberg will give keynote addresses at the summit, which is attended by the Mayors of many of the world’s major cities.

Sunday, February 21, 2016

A growing number of cities in the Indian state Haryana have been under curfew since Friday. At least eight people are reported dead, with government offices, property, dozens of buses, and eight railway stations burned after protests over job quotas for the Jat caste turned violent in several cities including Rohtak, Bhiwani, and Jhajjar. Reportedly some protesters broke into an armory in Rohtak, stealing arms and ammunition.

Shoot-at-sight was ordered for Rohtak, Bhiwani, Sonipat, Panipat, Jhajjar, Jind and Hisar. Shops, hotels, and restaurants were set afire by protesters. Thirteen national army columns were called, and helicopters were used to reach various places in the state. Internet was disabled in affected districts, and the state government ordered blocks of all social networking websites.

Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar held a meeting to decide if Jats should also gain the reservation rights for government jobs and colleges by classifying them under Other Backwards Castes.

Burning of stations and uprooting of tracks affected 810 scheduled trains, according to The Indian Express. Police said protesters torched Finance Minister Captain Abhimanyu’s house. The state might face water crises. Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) was to hold the Haryana Central Teacher Eligibility Test today, but cited “administrative difficulties” for suspending it.

Back in 2014, the UPA government appealed for a Jat quota which was rejected by the Supreme Court. This morning, Manohar Khattar tweeted “I appeal to all my fellow Haryanvis to maintain law & order in the State, and ensure that harmony is maintained in society.”

Last year, similar protest took place in Gujarat as Patels protested for reservation led by Hardik Patel.

[edit]

Thursday, September 27, 2007

Dr Karl Kruszelnicki has announced that he will run for the Australian senate in the upcoming federal election. Kruszelnicki will be number two on the Climate Change Coalition‘s New South Wales Senate ticket.

“I’m in the business of communicating important ideas. I’ve dedicated my life to it. This is another way to continue that dedication. And I’m looking forward to the opportunity to talk about the big questions in a political context. The personal is political,” Mr Kruszelnicki said in a media release.

According to his ABC bio, Kruszelnicki has worked as a physicist, labourer, roadie for bands, car mechanic, filmmaker, hospital scientific officer, biomedical engineer, TV weatherman, and medical doctor at The Kids Hospital in Sydney. However Dr Karl is best known for his work as a science commentator on Australian TV and radio.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Family First Senator Steve Fielding arrived at Parliament today, dressed as a beer bottle to raise awareness of a bill he intends to move in the Senate today. Senator Fielding will introduce a bill to establish a nationwide refund scheme for bottles and cans.

A similar scheme has operated in South Australia since 1977.

Family First wants a rebate of 10 cents per container, while the Australian Greens want 20 cents.

Speaking to reporters outside parliament dressed as a beer bottle, the Senator said the legislation would reduce litter by 25 per cent. “There’s a message in this bottle.”

“I am no longer trash, I’m cash.”

“We should get the litter off the streets and off the creeks and into recycling – that’s good for the environment and good for the community”

“It’s a win-win and I can’t understand why nationally we don’t have a scheme,” said Senator Fielding.

Senator Fielding said that recycling not only reduced litter, but also consumes less energy than making new containers from scratch. “Recycling a plastic bottle saves more than 80 per cent of the energy used to make a bottle from scratch and recycling aluminium cans uses just five per cent of the energy used making a can from scratch,” said the Senator.

Senator Bob Brown, leader of the Greens said while there were environmental benefits from recycling, it would also create thousands of new jobs.

“This is a very good way of recycling and reducing energy because a lot of energy goes into making cans and bottles,” Senator Brown told reporters.

“It will employ tens of thousands of people across Australia.”