“Dan Brown's 'Lost Symbol' flies off shelves - Los Angeles Times” plus 4 more

Dan Brown's 'Lost Symbol' flies off shelves - Los Angeles Times
Celebs among those entertained at NM gov's mansion - Daily Illini
Cornish shines in 'Bright Star' - Washington Square News
Bolivian med school head busted for bodies on roof - Salon
Giraffe that starred in Jim Carrey movie dies at Boston zoo - Jam! Showbiz

Dan Brown's 'Lost Symbol' flies off shelves - Los Angeles Times

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 12:03 AM PDT

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Celebs among those entertained at NM gov's mansion - Daily Illini

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 09:26 PM PDT

SANTA FE, N.M. — Gov. Bill Richardson spent almost $139,000 for dinners and receptions at the governor's mansion last year, entertaining thousands of guests including movie stars George Clooney and Robert Duvall.

A discretionary expense account covers the costs of the events. Spending from the fund was up 63 percent from 2007, when the governor campaigned for the Democratic presidential nomination and traveled extensively outside of New Mexico.

Expenditures totaled $138,925 in 2008, according to a report obtained by The Associated Press in response to a public records request. That is up from $85,197 in 2007 from $109,486 in 2006.

About 85 events were held at the governor's residence last year and nearly 5,200 guests attended, according to Gilbert Gallegos, a spokesman for Richardson.

The governor's mansion is a single-story territorial style house on a hilltop north of Santa Fe. The governor and first lady Barbara Richardson live in private quarters, and the larger public areas are used for formal dinners and receptions.

Clooney and actor Kevin Spacey were guests at a dinner last November when they were in New Mexico for a film project. Duvall and actor Jeff Bridges attended a dinner last September when they were shooting a film in the Santa Fe area. Other celebrities entertained at the governor's mansion included actors Robert Redford and Ruben Blades, country music star Toby Keith and comedian Paul Rodriguez.

Richardson, a Democrat whose second term runs through the end of 2010, has promoted films as economic development in the state. The governor has supported a package of financial incentives, including a tax credit and interest-free loans, to attract film productions.

The governor, a former U.N. ambassador during President Clinton's administration, also uses the mansion for diplomatic events and guests included Chihuahua Gov. Jose Reyes Baeza.

"The governor's residence is an important part of New Mexico's culture and history. The governor and first lady are happy to open up the residence to organizations and community groups that want to use it to raise awareness for important causes," Gallegos said in a statement.

The only restriction in state law on the so-called contingency fund is that expenditures must be "for purposes connected with obligations of the office" of governor.

The Richardson administration released a "cash flow statement" that summarized the fund's expenses in categories: food and drinks, $60,609, or 44 percent; $41,744 for contracted staff; $7,440 for taxes, including those paid on wages; $10,115 on rentals; $12,967 on flowers, kitchen equipment, supplies and miscellaneous expenditures; and $6,050 on entertainment and a photographer who takes pictures at events.

The fund ended 2008 with a balance of almost $6,952, which was carried forward into this year.

The fund received $90,000 from the Legislature, $10,754 in reimbursements and deposits, and interest earnings of $43.

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Cornish shines in 'Bright Star' - Washington Square News

Posted: 17 Sep 2009 12:53 AM PDT

"Bright Star," the new film by Academy Award-winner Jane Campion, is just that kind of movie, but fortunately, it stands out from the pack with its unexpected sense of humor and a fantastic lead performance by rising star Abbie Cornish.

"Bright Star" is about a poet, so it's fitting that Campion weaves a poetic narrative about a woman who falls in love. The story is based on the short life of the legendary Romantic poet John Keats and the love letters he exchanged with his muse, Fanny Brawne.

The movie isn't primarily about Keats. It's also the story of Fanny — how she sought to immerse herself in the world of poetry and literature while everyone else told her to be content sitting around and sewing.

The title is a reference to one of Keats' sonnets, and the film's tagline reads, "first love burns brightest." Keats may have lived only to age of 25, but what he shared with Brawne was deep and meaningful. The film implies that their love remained with Brawne for the whole of her considerably longer life.

Brawne is made magnificently three-dimensional by Cornish's performance. Cornish's credits include scene-stealing small parts in "A Good Year," "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and "Stop-Loss," but in "Bright Star," she's a revelation. She's hardly the typical romantic lead — not quite as regal as Keira Knightley or as utterly charming as Anne Hathaway.

But what she possesses, and what those two actresses lack, is a startling ability to seduce everyone around her with scorn and sarcasm. The chemistry Cornish has with costar Ben Wishaw, who plays Keats, is mostly unspoken and almost entirely implied. But it's there, and it's powerful.

Paul Schneider, known for his dramatic contributions to films such as "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and "Lars and the Real Girl," shows his funnier side as an irritable Irishman who wants Keats all to himself. The three characters form a love triangle that is far more entertaining than we might expect from a period piece. The film comes alive and seems just as relevant as any modern-day love story. After an impressive start, the film occasionally drags on, but Cornish's excellent performance never loses its fire and always keeps the film engaging.

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Bolivian med school head busted for bodies on roof - Salon

Posted: 16 Sep 2009 01:12 PM PDT

Sep 16th, 2009 | LA PAZ, Bolivia -- A Bolivian university director is in police custody after five bodies were discovered decomposing on the roof of a building his school shares with a movie theater, police said Wednesday.

Rector Juan Villaroel Rodriguez told police that he bought the bodies from a public hospital in the capital, La Paz, said Police Col. Julio Cesar Miranda.

Villaroel transported the corpses in a truck that was also carrying furniture to a campus of the Saint Paul University in the central city of Cochabama, Miranda said.

Police found the partially dismembered bodies on Tuesday after neighbors complained about foul odors from the top of the building, which houses a movie theater on its ground floor and the university's medical classrooms on upper floors.

Authorities also detained a medical student who doubles as Villaroel's secretary.

"The inadequate way in which the bodies were stored presented a public health hazard," said Miranda, who added that police also are looking for any evidence that the bodies were used for organ trafficking.

Officials contacted at university headquarters in La Paz declined to comment.

Medical schools must comply with certain regulations in order to possess cadavers for teaching purposes, Miranda said.

On its Web site, Saint Paul University says that its classes are based on "future science" and its mission is to "train professionals who want to reach the highest technological and academic levels."

The bodies have been taken to a morgue.

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Giraffe that starred in Jim Carrey movie dies at Boston zoo - Jam! Showbiz

Posted: 15 Sep 2009 05:21 AM PDT

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BOSTON - A giraffe that starred in a series of TV commercials for Toys R Us and appeared in Jim Carrey's movie "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" has died at a Boston zoo. American Humane, an animal welfare group that oversees animal treatment on movie ...