The News Review:
- Jon Chu – Movies – New York Times
- Winter break activities
- Overheard: ‘Who the &%!@# is Bob Wire?’
- New interfaces for games use brain waves
- Strict rules follow drunken EHS dance
- Maksim Chmerkovskiy not part of ‘Dancing with the Stars’…
Jon Chu – Movies – New York Times
New York Times – Feb 18, 2008
HALBFINGERPublished: February 18 2008 HOLLYWOOD — The movie industry loves a comeback if you’ve achieved stardom once already. But what if that first big break slipped by unexploited? Skip to next paragraph. Chu Multimedia… Chu who checked the impulse to turn up his nose at a direct-to-video project and instead set about reconceiving it. The original “Step Up” had only a handful of dance numbers he said; this one would have three or four times as many. He pulled together YouTube clips of the street dancing and music he had in mind and of the actor-dancer Robert Hoffman whom he saw as his star. He figured out a way to have Mr. Tatum appear briefly early in the film to pass the torch to the new ensemble.
Winter break activities
Utica Observer Dispatch – Feb 18, 2008
Dunham Public Library 76 Main St. 736-9734 * Monday: Share in an afternoon of Irish dancing beginning at 2 p. Demonstration and workshop conducted by students of the Butler-Sheehan Academy of Irish Dance. * Tuesday: An afternoon of Yu-Gi-Oh for ages 8 and older starting at 2 p.
Overheard: ‘Who the &%!@# is Bob Wire?’
New West – Feb 18, 2008
Then as I was putting on some break music he asked me to turn it up so they could hear it in the front of the bar. Break music needs to be louder than the band. I turned it up and noticed that the dance floor was becoming pretty crowded with two-steppers circling the floor to Junior Brown. I began to have my doubts about playing to a fawning crowd of admirers.
New interfaces for games use brain waves
San Francisco Chronicle – Feb 18, 2008
“This is an additional area that has been ignored and is wide open for a great deal of experiences. To be sure the gaming world has introduced a number of peripherals in the past. Konami’s Dance Dance Revolution for example enjoyed success with its dance pad that reacts to foot moves. But for every success there has been a raft of failures and the industry has been slow to consider new accessories and input devices. But with recent advances in technology and the success of the Wii with its motion-sensing remote and Guitar Hero and its spiritual cousin Rock Band the trend may be changing. “With the Wii and Guitar Hero what’s happening is developers and publishers are looking beyond traditional controllers” said Colin Sebastian an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets. They’re moving to ‘What else can we do using this box? What is more realistic or more fun?’ “In that vein San Francisco’s Emotiv is expected to announce a new headset Tuesday that measures brain activity and turns it into game play… He said it’s hard for peripherals to find an audience without the full support of a big player like Nintendo which can push it out to its base. Indeed most of the upcoming peripherals don’t have any independently developed games to announce beyond their own bundled titles. But Pachter said titles like Guitar Hero and Rock Band show that a cool game with a bundled peripheral can break through where others have failed. Kai Huang co-founder and president of Sunnyvale’s RedOctane the studio that developed the Guitar Hero franchise said the opportunities are huge for developers who are looking to move beyond the traditional game pad. He said the Guitar Hero franchise which has raked in more than $1 billion in sales has succeeded by appealing to people’s sense of fun. The guitar peripheral was essential to the proposition because it delivered the experience in a simple familiar and accessible way. He said he’s eager to see what new opportunities are created from the latest generation of peripherals.
Strict rules follow drunken EHS dance
seacoastonline.com – Feb 18, 2008
comFebruary 18 2008 1:18 PM EXETER Exeter High School has tightened up its punishment for students caught drinking on school grounds after a handful of students were found intoxicated at a holiday dance. Six or seven students were caught drinking at the December dance and two or three were so drunk they had to go to the hospital EHS Principal Victor Sokul confirmed. As a result students caught drinking on school grounds will no longer receive just an administrative punishment typically a 10-day suspension but will be charged under the state’s internal possession of alcohol law Sokul said. One student has been charged so far but that student was not at a dance he said… “The lighting has also helped put a damper on some of the more provocative dancing that was taking place he said. “We’re not out to get kids we’re out to keep them safe” Sokul said. “If you break the law and you participate in these risky behaviors there is going to be a consequence and we hope the consequence won’t be a fatal consequence. “The Youth Risk Behavior survey results which will be talked about Wednesday night had some alarming details Sokul said. 5 percent of students at the EHS reported they had ridden in a car with someone who had been drinking within the past 30 days. “Those things hit you like a brick” Sokul said.
Maksim Chmerkovskiy not part of ‘Dancing with the Stars’…
Reality TV World – Feb 18, 2008
“He just needs a break” an ABC spokesperson told People. “He is part of the Dancing family and he will be back.