Who scored Grammy gold? SoCal Syrians debate what's best for their homeland. Antonio Banderas is Puss in Boots. JPL on the chopping block. Your pick for the worst car ever made! Norwegian Cosa Nostra.
Grammy's 2012: A night for Whitney & Adele
Music's biggest night was about the powerful (and recuperated) voice of British songstress Adele and the lost voice of Whitney Houston. The sudden death of the pop star on Saturday threatened to overshadow a celebratory occasion. Presenters and performers were mostly able to pivot between bittersweet emotions. Host and hip-hop originator L.L. Cool J led off the show with a prayer for Houston. Perhaps the most fitting tribute would be Adele's domination of the night – a newcomer blessed with vocals as pitch-perfect and stirring as Houston's.
Adele's debut album "21," with critical and commercial hits "Rolling in the Deep" and "Somebody Like You," won six Grammy Awards, including best song, record, and album of the year. The Foo Fighters made a big showing with five awards. Kanye West was uncharacteristically speechless as a no-show to pick up his four Grammy Awards.
Performance highlights included Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band, Rihanna alongside Coldplay's Chris Martin, and Katy Perry. Bonnie Raitt and Alicia Keys sang a tribute in memoriam of music icon Etta James. Jennifer Hudson sang "I Will Always Love You," one of Whitney Houston's most enduring ballads. Absent was any remembrance of Soul Train founder, Don Cornelius.
WEIGH IN:
Was it an oversight by the Grammy producers? What were your favorite moments of the night? How will you remember Whitney Houston?
Guest:
Monica Herrera, Associate Editor, Rolling Stone magazine
SoCal Syrians debate what's best for their homeland
The first shockwaves of North Africa's "Arab Spring" were felt in Syria 11 months ago. Activists began sporadic protests against the regime of Basher al-Assad. The Syrian Army and police responded with force. With journalists, international observers and aid workers prevented access, it has been extremely challenging to track events across the country. Human rights groups say more than 7,000 civilians have been killed since last March. From the reports getting out, the city of Homs has been the site of the worst bloodshed. In the last week alone, "hundreds have reportedly been killed," according to sources of the Associated Press.
On Friday, two suicide car bombers struck security compounds in the major industrial city of Aleppo, killing 28. State media said the bombings are proof the regime faces a campaign by terrorists, not a popular uprising. Far from it all, Syrian Americans, of various ethnic and religious backgrounds, share worries about the chaos. On Friday afternoon, a protest was organized outside of the Syrian Consulate in Newport Beach. Other Syrians here fear that opposition rule could be even worse for their country.
WEIGH IN:
What are the various perspectives on a U.S. or United Nations response? Who does the opposition represent? What can stop the bloodshed?
Guests:
Honey Al Sayed, Syrian Journalist. In 2011, Al Sayed was nominated to represent Syria as a participating journalist in the Edward R. Murrow Program for Journalists, funded by the U.S. Department of State; Creator & Former Host of "Good Morning Syria” for the country’s first private radio station
Nour Douchi, Political Activist
Anonymous
Sireen Sawaf, Attorney
Mahmoud Harmoush, Professor, California State University San Bernardino. Teaches Arabic and Humanities.
Antonio Banderas is Puss in Boots
Nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at the 84th Academy Awards, "Puss in Boots" is a computer-animated, action comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and directed by Chris Miller who also directed "Shrek the Third" in 2007.
The executive producer is Guillermo del Toro, "Puss in Boots" stars Antonio Banderas, Salma Hayek, Zach Galifianakis, Billy Bob Thornton and Amy Sedaris. The film is a spinoff prequel to the Shrek franchise and it follows the character Puss in Boots in his adventures before his first appearance in "Shrek 2" in 2004.
Accompanied by his sidekicks, Humpty Dumpty and Kitty Softpaws, Puss is pitted against Jack and Jill, two murderous outlaws who possess magical beans that promise great fortune. The film opened to very positive reviews and grossed over $516 million as of February 2012. It was released in Digital 3D.
Guest:
Antonio Banderas, Spanish film actor, film director, film producer and singer. Antonio Banderas voiced the English, Spanish and Italian versions of Puss in Boots, the fictional cat and a supporting character in the Shrek film series, as well as the primary protagonist of the 2011 spin-off prequel Puss in Boots.
NASA announces deep cuts to planetary exploration
NASA is slated to announce deep cuts this morning, as part of the agency’s fiscal year 2013 budget. Planetary exploration is expected to take the biggest hits. Two proposed joint missions with Europeans to explore Mars in 2016 and 2018 are expected to be eliminated.
Congressman Adam Schiff of Pasadena called such potential budgetary changes “absolutely devastating,” and called into question what effect this will have on Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which leans heavily on NASA’s budget for its operating costs. In fact, during the last round of large budget cuts at NASA, JPL laid off about 240 employees as a result.
In President Obama’s proposed budget, $309 million would but cut from studying planets, a 21 percent cut. The overall budget would increase by that same amount, with most money being directed into efforts helping private firms develop their own space shuttles which would be used as taxis for astronauts to go to and from the International Space Station.
Is the American dream of reaching other planets on its last legs? Is this a smart move for NASA, or does it weaken the organization? Where should money be directed within NASA? Should it be funded at all?
Guest:
Scott Hubbard, Professor, Stanford University, Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Author of “Exploring Mars: Chronicles from a Decade of Discovery” (University of Arizona Press)
Your pick for the worst car ever made!
Everyone has fond memories of their first car, but for many of us the first one was the worst one. Well now we finally have a definitive list of the absolute worst cars ever made. The experts at Edmunds.com have put together their list of the top 100 Worst Cars Ever, and last week Los Angeles Times auto writer Jerry Hirsch made his picks for the top 10 worst. Well it's about time we had a real Hall of Shame for the worst of the worst of auto industry so we’ll run down the top ten and then take your picks for the absolute worst car ever made.
WEIGH IN:
So…who will take the top spot? Will it be the Plymouth Cricket? The Saturn Ion? Or everyone’s favorite punching bag, the Yugo? What's your vehicular Saab story?
Guests:
Jerry Hirsch, Staff writer covering the auto industry, Los Angeles Times
Scott Oldham, Editor in Chief, Edmunds dot com
Norwegian Cosa Nostra
“Lilyhammer” follows New York mobster Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano as he enters the federal witness protection program after ratting on his boss. A sports fan, Frank wants to make his new life in Lillehammer, the Norwegian town that hosted the 1994 Winter Olympics – or as he calls it – “Lilyhammer.” Frank has visions of a paradise of “clean air, fresh white snow and gorgeous broads” far away from the temptations of the Big Apple and from mob hit men.
Reality, of course, turns out to be spectacularly different. “Lilyhammer” stars “The Sopranos” mainstay and E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt in a new original series that premiered on Feb. 6.
Guest:
Steven Van Zandt, actor currently playing the part of New York mobster Frank “The Fixer” Tagliano in the new Netflix series “Lilyhammer;” he’s also a musician who is well known as a member of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band, in which he plays guitar and mandolin