Wednesday, October 12, 2011

THREE AND OUT by John U. Bacon

3rd NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix

Three and Out tells the story of how college football’s most influential coach took over the nation’s most successful program, only to produce three of the worst seasons in the histories of both Rich Rodriguez and the University of Michigan. Shortly after his controversial move from West Virginia, where he had just taken his alma mater to the #1 ranking for the first time in school history, Coach Rich Rodriguez granted author and journalist John U. Bacon unrestricted access to Michigan’s program. Bacon saw it all, from the meals and the meetings, to the practices and the games, to the sidelines and the locker rooms. Nothing and no one was off limits. John U. Bacon’s Three and Out is the definitive account of a football marriage seemingly made in heaven that broke up after just three years, and lifts the lid on the best and the worst of college football.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

The 100-Year Starship: US Agencies Ponder Interstellar Travel

2nd  NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix

From Space

Warp drives. Artificial gravity. Terraforming planets. These concepts might sound as though they're ripped from the pages of science fiction, but they're the topic of serious scientific presentations at a symposium this weekend sponsored by DARPA, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.

Called the 100-Year Starship Symposium, the public event will run Sept. 30 to Oct. 2 in Orlando, Fla. For three days, scientists from universities, NASA centers and private institutions will discuss far-out ideas for building a spaceship to visit another star.

Monday, October 10, 2011

MARCEL THE SHELL by Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp

2nd  NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix

From Huffington Post

Once just a shell with just a lentil for a hat and a Dorito for a hangglider, Marcel is now the proud owner of a new book and a television development contract. Not too shabby for a tiny animated creature who skis on a man's toenail.

Brought to life in a stop motion animated YouTube video made by Dean Fleischer-Camp and former "SNL" actress Jenny Slate, who gave him his squeaky, lovable voice, Marcel has been watched nearly 12 million viewers. The national attention earned Slate and Fleischer-Camp a deal for a series of children's books, with the first title slated for release on November 1st.

Deer Rescued from Verrazono-Narrows Bridge

1st NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix

 
View more videos at: http://nbcnewyork.com.

Exorbitant Bank Fees

1st NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix


video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player

The Approval Matrix: Week of October 17, 2011


Thursday, October 6, 2011

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Dane Cook's Superfinger Entertainment Pairs with NBC


4th NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix
From Digital Journal

Stand-up comedian Dane Cook is working on a new comedy show at NBC. The network signed Cook for a deal for a half-hour comedy show for the network's next season lineup. This will mark the comedian's first major role on national TV.
The 39-year old-comedian-actor will headline the sitcom, but will also be part of the development through his own production company Superfinger Entertainment. NBC aims for a fall 2012 debut of the still untitled program. Cook will join his other contemporaries like Whitney Cummings, Chelsea Handler and Sarah Silverman at the peacock network.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Monday, October 3, 2011

Saudi Arabia Gives Women Voting Rights

2nd  NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix 

From Guardian UK

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah has said women will have the right to stand and vote in future local elections and join the advisory Shura council as full members.

"Because we refuse to marginalise women in society in all roles that comply with sharia, we have decided, after deliberation with our senior ulama [clerics] and others … to involve women in the Shura council as members, starting from the next term," Abdullah, 87, said in a speech.

"Women will be able to run as candidates in the municipal election and will even have a right to vote," he added.

Liberal activists in the country have long called for greater rights for women, who are barred from travelling, working or having medical operations without the permission of a male relative and are forbidden from driving.

BLACK SWAN Interns Sue Over Fetching and Cleaning

1st NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix 

From Gawker

A couple guys are suing Fox Searchlight Productions, claiming they were exploited during the production of "Black Swan." Basically, they claim that the studio used them as free unpaid labor. One plaintiff found that his duties were mostly coffee-related:
One plaintiff, Alex Footman, a 2009 graduate of Wesleyan University who majored in film studies, said he worked as a production intern on "Black Swan" in New York from October 2009 to February 2010. He said his responsibilities included preparing coffee for the production office, ensuring that the coffee pot was full, taking and distributing lunch orders for the production staff, taking out the trash and cleaning the office.

Nefertiti and the Nephra Kids


1st NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix 

From The Daily News

The Manhattan couple who abducted their eight kids from a foster-care facility claims they did it because some of the children were being sexually abused.

Nadal, 28, and Payne, 34, were nabbed late Monday in Harrisburg, Pa., a week after they spirited the children away from a supervised visit in Queens.
 
The eight kids - seven boys ages 4 to 11, all named Nephra, and an 11-month-old girl.
 
 

Nadia Habib Avoids Deportation

1st NW Quadrant: The Approval Matrix
From The L.A. Times

A college student who grew up in New York has won a temporary reprieve from immigration officials who had threatened to deport her to her native Bangladesh, which she left as an infant when her mother brought her to the United States.

Nadia Habib and her mother, Nazmin, had appeared before immigration officials Thursday with their passports and luggage ready to go after Nazmin Habib's illegal status caught up with them. Nadia, who has lived in the United States since she was 20 months old, had not realized that she was an illegal immigrant until she qualified for financial aid for college and was asked to produce identity papers.

At Thursday's hearing in Manhattan, the mother and daughter were ordered to give up their passports but told they could remain in the country while the case is reviewed further. They were not told when a final decision would be made.

The Approval Matrix: Week of October 10, 2011