PRO May 15, 2015

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Bits & Breaks • Datebook • Datebook Tomorrow • Entertainment • Fun & Games • Image of the Day • Joke of the Day! • Last Minute Items • News & Nuggets • News Attack • Number for the Day • Television • Video of the Day • Wacky-But-True

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DATEBOOK: MAY 15, 2015

This is day 135 of 2015. There are 230 days remaining.

BIRTHDAYS

• Counterculture icon Wavy Gravy is 79

• Former secretary of state Madeleine Albright is 78

• Musician Brian Eno is 67

• Chazz Palminteri (The Usual Suspects) is 63

• Sports broadcaster Dan Patrick is 59

• Former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith (Dancing with the Stars) is 46

• David Charvet (Melrose Place) is 43

• Russell Hornsby (Grimm) is 41

• David Krumholtz is 37

• Jamie-Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos) is 34

• Alexandra Breckenridge (The Walking Dead, American Horror Story) is 33

• Scottish tennis champ Andy Murray is 28

IT HAPPENED TODAY

• 1718: James Puckle, a London lawyer, patented the world’s first machine gun.

• 1905: Las Vegas, Nevada, was founded when 110 acres, in what later would become downtown, were auctioned off.

• 1928: The animated short “Plane Crazy” was released, featuring the first appearances of Mickey and Minnie Mouse.

• 1930: Ellen Church became the first airline stewardess (today’s flight attendant), flying on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Cheyenne, Wyoming.

• 1940: Nylon stockings went on sale for the first time in the United States.

• 1940: McDonald’s was founded.

• 1941: Baseball player Joe DiMaggio started his record-breaking 56-game hitting streak.

• 1970: The Beatles’ last LP, Let It Be, was released in the United States.

• 1972: The island of Okinawa, under U.S. military governance since its conquest in 1945, reverted to Japanese control.

• 1973: Nolan Ryan threw his first no-hitter (at Kansas City).

• 1990: A Pittsburgh man sued his insurance company for canceling his health insurance after confusing his medical history with that of his dog.

• 2006: A defiant Saddam Hussein refused to enter a plea at his trial, insisting he was still Iraq’s president as a judge formally charged him with crimes against humanity.

• 2006: A drunken student who spent the night in a tree had to be rescued by British firefighters. The student had climbed 100 feet up a pine tree, without his shoes on, and then fell asleep. Eight firefighters needed 90 minutes and ropes and pulleys to get him down from his precarious perch. As one fire official put it, “Alcohol and climbing trees don’t really mix.”

• 2007: The Rev. Jerry Falwell died at age 73.

SPECIAL EVENTS

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Day

• Peace Officer Memorial Day

• Bike to Work Day

UPCOMING

• May 15: Jim Gaffigan on Reddit’s Ask Me Anything (Friday)

• May 16: The Preakness (Saturday)

• May 17: Mad Men Finale (Sunday)

• May 17: Billboard Music Awards (Sunday)

• May 20: David Letterman’s final show (Wednesday)

• May 25: Memorial Day (Monday)

• June 6: Belmont Stakes (Saturday)

• June 21: Father’s Day (Sunday)

• More holidays

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DATEBOOK WEEKEND

SATURDAY, MAY 16

• Pierce Brosnan is 62. Debra Winger is 60. Mare Winningham is 56. Krist Novoselic (Nirvana) is 50. Janet Jackson is 49. David Boreanaz is 46. Country singer Rick Trevino is 44. Tori Spelling is 42. Melanie Lynskey (Two and a Half Men) is 38. Megan Fox is 29.

• The Preakness runs today; Armed Forces Day; National Piercing Day; Learn To Swim Day; World Whisky Day; Wear Purple for Peace Day; National Barbecue Day.

SUNDAY, MAY 17

• Bill Paxton is 60. Bob Saget is 59. Enya is 54. Craig Ferguson is 53. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails is 50. Jordan Knight (New Kids on the Block) is 45. Derek Hough (Dancing With the Stars) is 30. Nikki Reed is 27.

• Neighbor Day; World Baking Day; Pack Rat Day; Cherry Cobbler Day.

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NUMBER FOR THE DAY

15: Percentage of household wealth held in stocks and bonds.

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NEWS ATTACK!

There was another lockdown of the White House after someone tried to fly a drone over the fence. [It had a camera attached and was taking pictures of the White House windows. It turns out to have been Hillary’s new decorator measuring for curtains.]

Comedian Dane Cook has been banned from the Hollywood stand-up club The Laugh Factory for using vulgar and obscene language at one of the club’s waitresses. [Being banned from a comedy club for being vulgar and obscene is like being banned from a locker room for being hot and sweaty.]

Harry Shearer, the voice of dozens of Simpsons characters including Mr. Burns, has left the show. [Because, apparently, only being paid a few million to make funny voices is a real insult.]

Harry Shearer, the voice of dozens of Simpsons characters including Mr. Burns, has left the show. [To fill the gap The Simpsons will rely on guest appearances by other cartoon characters such as SpongeBob, Scooby-Doo, and Donald Trump.]

The latest survey shows that the American cities with the worst allergies are Richmond, Virginia and Memphis, Tennessee. [Those are neither red states nor blue states. The pollen makes them sort of yellow-green states.]

The President of Ukraine has asked Sen. John McCain to join his advisory council. [Well, as long as it’s not an advisory council on how to win a presidential election.]

They’re having a bit of trouble with The Avengers: Age of Ultron in China. The Chinese subtitle translation isn’t very accurate. [For example, Captain America isn’t supposed to tell Iron Man, “Just hold me.”]

A Missouri state legislator with a wife and three kids was caught sexting with a college freshman intern. [I know what you’re thinking, and yes, he does sound like presidential material.]

A new study says that our attention span has shortened. We now only have an eight-second attention span. [The good news is that maybe now they’ll start making shorter TV commercials.]

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NEWS & NUGGETS

FTC ROLLS OUT INTERACTIVE RESOURCE FOR VICTIMS OF IDENTITY THEFT _ The FTC launched a new tool that tries to make it easier for consumers to recover from identity theft. IdentityTheft.gov (and RobodeIdentidad.gov) provides an interactive checklist, sample letters and other materials that are intended to simplify the recovery process and help victims to understand which recovery steps should be taken as soon as they are alerted that their identity has been stolen. According to the FTC, immediate steps that should be taken include contacting the companies where you know fraud has occurred and placing fraud alert on your credit reports.

H.S. BACKS DOWN AFTER ORDERING STUDENT TO REMOVE FLAGS FROM TRUCK _ Peyton Robinson is a flag-tivist. He wants to fly the American flag from the back of his pickup truck, but his high school won’t let him. The 18-year-old resident of York County, South Carolina, has a number of family members in the military, so he put an American flag and a POW flag in the bed of his pickup truck to honor their service. When York County High School administrators cited complaints about the flags that billowed from his truck as he drove, Robinson didn’t see the problem. Robinson was upset at the request to take down his flags. Apparently, one administrator even attempted to remove the flags from Robinson’s truck while he was in class. The high school senior was furious about it — and he was far from alone. Robinson drew support from veterans’ groups and classmates after posting about the incident on Facebook. They rallied around him Thursday morning in a demonstration against school administrators, with students affixing huge American flags to their own cars in solidarity. Eventually, the school decided to change its attitude toward flags on student cars because of the students’ “outstanding display of patriotism through peaceful demonstration.”

THOUSANDS PLEDGE BIRTHDAY GIFTS TO WOMAN TURNING 100 _ Thousands have pledged birthday gifts to a British woman turning 100 at the end of the month. The widow has absolutely no family or friends. After a Facebook appeal was made to help Winnie Blagden celebrate her birthday on May 31, people with kind hearts began pledging birthday gifts to her. The Facebook post (by BBC Radio Sheffield) about Winnie Blagden’s 100th birthday says “she has no family at all and not much contact with the outside world” and asks for help to make her birthday “really special.” The post has now been shared more than 40,000 times and been viewed an estimated 2.5 million times.

… A florist has pledged to send Winnie 100 pink roses on her birthday. An entertainer has pledged his musical services. Other services and gifts offered include a free lunch or dinner, a session with a professional photographer, and customized slippers from a clothing company. Many have also promised to send cards.

… And the best part? The gifts will be a surprise to the woman who thought she would get nothing since she has no one except her caregivers.

DAD MAKES SON PAY FOR FAILING GRADES BY SMASHING HIS OWN XBOX CONSOLE _ A video went viral this week showing a unique punishment doled out by a dad to his son who apparently came home with failing grades from school. While there’s not much detail available on who the dad and son are, or where they are located, the video has sparked on online debate over whether the punishment is appropriate, or if the dad is simply bullying his son.

… In the video the dad yells at his son, saying “Let’s go! Now!” Then we see the boy smashing his Xbox and its accessories with a sledgehammer.

… The video first appeared on Reddit. Many commenters are slamming the dad. One noticed that the boy in the video, obviously upset about being forced to smash his own Xbox, repeats the protest, “It’s not my fault!” over and over, claiming that he did nothing to deserve the bad grades — his teacher just wanted to fail him for some arbitrary reason. • VIDEO

Start it on Facebook, take it to the phones: Is dad being a good parent, or a bully?

SCHOOL APOLOGIZES OVER VIDEO SHOWING STUDENTS PLAYING WITH DEAD CATS _ An Oklahoma school apologized this week after a video circulating on social media showed students holding up dead cats and making it look like they were dancing when they were supposed to be dissecting the specimens in a biology class. The clip was filmed in fall 2013, but went viral this week after the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) shared it on social media. Harding Charter Preparatory High School in Oklahoma City said in a statement on the school’s website: “We agree that animals should be treated and handled with respect and dignity, a standard that was not upheld in this instance.” • VIDEO

FATHER CALLS 911 FROM TRAIN AFTER REALIZING HE LEFT HIS 1-YEAR-OLD IN SUV _ On Wednesday, a frantic Massachusetts father called 911 after taking a train to work then realizing that he had left is 1-year-old daughter in her car seat in the back of his SUV parked at the station. When he got of the train and started his walk toward work, the father of two said he began thinking about how easy it had been to get both of his children to daycare that morning. He froze as he realized that he had left his youngest daughter in the SUV. He says that at first he tried to convince himself that he had taken her to daycare after dropping off his oldest child, but he realized that he had not stopped at the daycare. The man immediately jumped on a train headed back toward the station. He frantically called 911. Officers found the 1-year-old in the SUV before the father was able to get back. After calling 911, the man texted his wife and she rushed to the station to meet him. When the man made it back to the station, he hugged his little girl tightly and cried. The man says he had heard stories of parents leaving their children in their cars, but he never thought that he would do it.

… The man said that he always placed his daughter’s diaper bag in the passenger seat to remind him she was in the car. On Wednesday, he says that he was distracted by the news about the Amtrak crash and had placed the diaper bag beside his daughter in the backseat because she had been playing with it. He added that he had even considered creating an app to warn parents that they left their child in the car.

BABY HIPPO’S SEX REVEALED AFTER 7 WEEKS OF WAITING  _ Princess Charlotte only kept us waiting a few hours, but it took seven weeks of waiting before the San Diego Zoo revealed the sex of its new hippo baby. The mystery was solved on Tuesday, when zoologists were finally able to get a clear look at the little hippo and determine the animal is female. Staff at the zoo were relatively certain the newborn was female, but couldn’t get a close enough look to confirm because of mom Funani’s protective nature. Most hippo moms keep their children hidden during the baby’s early days. Funani kept her little girl, now named Devi, tucked away in the vegetation of the hippo exhibit, and even blocked the baby with her body.

OLYMPIC RINGS FROM SYDNEY BRIDGE SELL ON EBAY _ The giant Olympic rings that were a centerpiece of the 2000 Summer Olympics, adorning the Sydney Harbour Bridge, have been sold online after being discovered gathering dust in a factory. The five massive rings, measuring 230 by 130 feet and weighing 40 tons, were listed on eBay after being found abandoned in a shed on a property a guy bought in New South Wales. They were made by a company which owned the factory the man bought. The man sold the huge, heavy Olympic rings for just over $17,000.

102-YEAR-OLD RECEIVES DOCTORATE 77 YEARS AFTER NAZIS DENIED HER _ In 1938, Ingeborg Rapoport was denied the right to defend her doctoral thesis in Germany. Seventy-seven years later, she was given a second chance. The 102-year-old, who lives in Berlin, was just 25 when she wrote her doctoral thesis on diphtheria, an infection that among the leading causes of death for children in Europe and the U.S. at the time. Because her mother was Jewish, Rapoport was deemed ineligible for academic advancement by the Nazi regime. That same year, she emigrated alone to the U.S. where she completed hospital internships and eventually earned her M.D. While at her first job at a Cincinnati hospital, she met the man who would become her husband. The couple had four children and eventually returned to Europe after receiving unwanted attention from the U.S. government for their communist views.

… Upon hearing of Rapoport’s situation from her son, Tom, a colleague took her cause to Dr. Uwe Koch-Gromus, the dean of the University of Hamberg’s medical faculty. The dean then devised a legal pathway for Rapoport to take the oral exam that was denied to her almost 80 years ago.

PROFESSOR PRAISED FOR LYING DOWN ON THE JOB _ A professor who aimed to teach students to challenge authority by lying down and encouraging them to step over him has won respect on social media. The 51-year-old professor in China (Wuhan University of Technology) designed the exercise to help students overcome obstacles, such as social taboos, in their pursuit of knowledge. At first the class of around 150 students were at a loss when the professor laid down at their classroom door just as class was about to end. Some chose to leave through a back door instead; an understandable reaction, especially in China, where tradition holds teachers in high regard and striding over someone is seen as humiliating. But the professor was persistent, and after several students made a leap of faith, others followed. Photos of the professor conducting the lesson went viral online.

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WACKY-BUT-TRUE

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: LARGE ALLIGATOR CAUGHT AT TACO BELL DRIVE-THRU _ A six-foot-long alligator was caught at the entrance to a Taco Bell in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina. A witness said the animal was a couple hundred pounds, at least six feet long, and feisty. He hissed as he was captured and was “flipping all over the place.”

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: BODY ROLLS FROM HEARSE AT LIGHTS IN POURING RAIN _ Onlookers watched in horror as a body strapped to a gurney was loaded back into the hearse it fell out of at a busy Auckland, New Zealand, intersection this week. Motorists and nearby workers saw the body, strapped to a gurney and covered in a sheet, lying on the road in the rain. It was then loaded back into the hearse by the driver and bystanders. Apparently a faulty latch on the rear door was to blame.

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: SNAKE SWALLOWS BARBECUE TONGS _ What’s the last thing your family pet swallowed? A sock? A child’s toy? A pet python in Australia had to undergo surgery to remove a pair of barbecue tongs he swallowed. The snake, named Winston, was being fed a rat by his owner using the metal tongs when he latched on and refused to let go. Owner Aaron Rouse says he left his python to play with the tongs and later returned to find Winston had devoured them. • PHOTO

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: DRIVER FACES JAIL FOR F-BOMBING TRAFFIC TICKET _ (CAUTION) A driver in China faces some jail time for signing a traffic ticket with the Chinese equivalent for “[blank] your mother.” The man faces up to ten days in jail for the message.

WACKY-BUT-TRUE: DOC LEFT PHONE IN WOMAN’S STOMACH DURING CAESAREAN _ A gynaecologist in Jordan allegedly dropped his phone in his patient’s abdomen during a caesarean section — but she only realized when it started vibrating inside her. The woman was admitted to a private hospital in late April to deliver her baby. It wasn’t until she got home that she noticed her abdomen was vibrating — and she had pain. The new mother’s family took her back to the hospital but nothing was done. So the family took her to another hospital where they took an X-ray — and found the phone. A Jordanian Health Ministry spokesman says the story is “baseless and fabricated”.

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ON TELEVISION

SEASON FINALE: THE AMAZING RACE (8p ET, CBS) — The final four teams race for the finish line in Dallas, Texas. Race has been renewed for another season.

SEASON FINALE: GRIMM (8p ET, NBC) — Grimm’s 4th season ends tonight. The show has been renewed for a 5th season.

SEASON FINALE: SHARK TANK (8p ET, ABC) — Shark Tank will return for another season.

WHOSE LINE IS IT ANYWAY? (8p ET, CW) — Scott Porter (Hart of Dixie, Friday Night Lights) is the guest in this new edition. A repeat follows.

SCREAM 2 (8p ET, FOX) — FOX airs this 1997 film tonight.

COLD JUSTICE (8p ET, TNT) — New

ACM PRESENTS: SUPERSTAR DUETS (9p ET, CBS) — This 2-hour special includes performances by Dierks Bentley, Clint Black, Luke Bryan, Kenny Chesney, Sam Hunt, Miranda Lambert, Patty Loveless, Ronnie Milsap, Darius Rucker, Dwight Yoakam, Alabama, Eli Young Band, Florida Georgia Line and more.

BEYOND THE TANK (9p ET, ABC) — New

DATELINE (9p ET, NBC) — A new, 2-hour edition

THE MESSENGERS (9p ET, CW) — New

20/20 (10p ET, ABC) — New

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ENTERTAINMENT

THE JOHNNY DEPP DOGS COUNTDOWN _ As you’ve heard, Johnny Depp has been given an ultimatum by Australia: send your pet dogs back home to the United States or face having them put down. Depp is in hot water with the Department of Agriculture after failing to declare his two Yorkshire terriers when he flew into Australia on his private jet last month for the filming of the fifth installment of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie franchise. Depp brought the dogs — Pistol and Boo — into Australia without getting proper certification and the proper permits required. Depp has to either take his dogs back to California or the dogs will be euthanized.

… And the clock is ticking.

… Why is Australia being such bullies? Well, they’re not. Australia’s strict biosecurity measures are in place in order to keep out canine diseases such as rabies. The agriculture minister said no one should be able to bypass biosecurity rules, even if they had been voted the world’s sexiest man twice.

… Can a guy who owns two Yorkshire terriers be allowed to keep his People magazine “Sexiest Man Alive” designation?

… UPDATE! TMZ reports Boo and Pistol (will be boarding/have boarded) a private jet back to U.S. soil. The Friday afternoon departure — Australian time — means they will not be euthanized on Saturday as the country’s Minister for Agriculture had threatened.

LETTERMAN’S FINAL GUESTS INCLUDE BILL MURRAY, TOM HANKS _ Along with Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder, Bill Murray and Tom Hanks will be among the very last Late Show guests as David Letterman winds down his 33 years in late-night television. Next week’s Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday broadcasts will be Letterman’s last.

… Tom Hanks goes first, on Monday, his 60th appearance with Letterman; that night will also feature Vedder in a musical performance with Paul Shaffer and the CBS Orchestra. Bill Murray — Letterman’s first guest when Late Night debuted in 1982 — will be back for a 44th time on Tuesday.

… No specific guests have been announced for the final show on Wednesday night, but CBS promises it will be filled with “surprises, memorable highlights, the show’s final Top Ten List and more.”

HARRY SHEARER WAS OFFERED $14 MILLION FOR TWO YEARS _ By now you know actor Harry Shearer, the voice of several characters on The Simpsons, will be leaving the show’s cast. A source says Shearer was “offered the same deal as the rest of the cast, but turned it down.” The actor was offered a guaranteed $14 million for two years of work. The proposed deal also allowed for him to do other projects.

… That last part, though, seems to be in dispute, and central to Shearer’s decision to leave; Shearer tweeted that it’s because he “wanted what we’ve always had: the freedom to do other work.”

TRUE DETECTIVE’S SEASON 2 LOOKS GRITTY AND ROUGH _ We finally have a real True Detective season two trailer. HBO on Thursday released an actual trailer and it gives us a good look at what the season is actually going to be about. • VIDEO

NEW MINIONS TRAILER _ A new trailer for Minions was released on Thursday. The film follows the minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob as they are recruited by Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock), a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb (Jon Hamm), hatches a plot to take over the world. In the trailer, Scarlet wants the minions’ help in stealing the Crown Jewels from the Queen of England. But things do not go according to plan. The film is a prequel to Despicable Me, in which Steve Carell played a supervillain named Gru. Minions opens in theaters July 10. • TRAILER

TITLE OF NEXT PLANET OF THE APES SEQUEL CONFIRMED _ As Caesar said, war has begun. We all knew it was coming, but now it’s official. The next Planet of the Apes movie will be titled War of the Planet of the Apes. This is the third movie in the new series, which began in 2011 with Rise of the Planet of the Apes. War of the Planet of the Apes will be in theaters in 2017.

SHANGHAI DAWN IS COMING, STARRING JACKIE CHAN AND OWEN WILSON _ Shanghai Dawn is being made. It’s the third film in the Shanghai Noon series, with both Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson set to return for their roles of Chon Wang and Roy O’Bannon. Shanghai Noon was an action-comedy combination of the Western and kung fu genre and was released fresh off the heels of Chan’s other notable buddy pairing franchise, Rush Hour. The first movie hit theaters 15 years ago and grossed just under $100 million at the global box office.

JENNIE GARTH, ACTOR DAVE ABRAMS WILL MARRY ‘SOON’ _ Jennie Garth says her wedding will happen soon. The 43-year-old actress and Dave Abrams started dating in fall 2014, and got engaged in April. Jennie says Abrams took her on a trip to the Carolinas to propose: “It was like the world sort of stopped spinning for a minute and it was so quiet. He got down on this knee and did his thing.”

WAS PATRICK DEMPSEY DUMPED FROM GREY’S OVER AFFAIR? _ Patrick Dempsey reportedly lost his job on Grey’s Anatomy after cheating with a much-younger staff member, and now it appears the affair is the reason for his divorce as well. Dempsey announced recently that he and wife Jillian are divorcing. Just a few weeks later his character Dr. Derek Shepherd was abruptly killed off Grey’s Anatomy, a move that was particularly shocking given that Dempsey had renewed his contract and appeared to many to be in good standing with the show. But now it turns out that Dempsey’s string of bad luck may all come back to the same incident. A new report from Radar Online claimed that Jillian ended the marriage when she found out Dempsey was cheating with a staffer.

… The report: “Patrick’s affair with the staffer on the show began last August. It was obvious to everyone Patrick was [sleeping with] her. It got very messy and emotional on set and became a huge liability. Patrick would remain in his trailer after hooking up with her on set and refuse to come out. He had also been complaining about the storyline of his character, and felt he wasn’t getting enough screen time.” The affair allegedly caused a rift on the set of Grey’s Anatomy as well, leading to an unplanned absence for Patrick Dempsey. It also polarized other actors, driving a wedge between Patrick and his co-star Ellen Pompeo. Ellen took the cheating particularly hard, the report claims, as she had grown quite close to Patrick Dempsey’s wife.

… There were hopes that sending Patrick Dempsey off for a while would cool tensions, but the situation only worsened when he got back. When he returned, the staffer had been moved and reports suggest that Dempsey grew impossible to work with, leading showrunner Shonda Rhimes to kill him off.

SHONDA RHIMES THREATENS TO FIRE GREY’S ANATOMY STAFFERS _ A show source says Grey’s Anatomy creator Shonda Rhimes sent out an email that warned her show’s staffers not to speak about the reported affair between Patrick Dempsey and a Grey’s staff member.

ED ASNER FILES FOR DIVORCE _ 85-year-old actor Ed Asner separated from wife Cindy in 2007, but for some reason he didn’t pull the trigger until this month. The couple married in 1998, and it seems the split was bitter. Ed tried to cut off her temporary spousal support the year after they separated, saying she was making no effort to become self-supporting. According to divorce docs, they reached some sort of financial settlement in 2009, but years passed and no one filed for the big D.

NATALIE PORTMAN CONFIRMED TO PLAY JACKIE KENNEDY IN BIOPIC _ Natalie Portman will be in a new Kennedy movie. The Oscar winner will play Jackie Kennedy in a film which covers the first four days in the First Lady’s life after the assassination of her husband, President John. F. Kennedy.

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BITS & BREAKS

NEW IN THEATERS TODAY

MAD MAX: FURY ROAD (R)

In a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, two rebels just might be able to restore order: Max, a man of action and of few words, and Furiosa, a woman of action who is looking to make it back to her childhood homeland.

• Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
• Links: website • trailer • reviews

PITCH PERFECT 2 (PG-13)

After a humiliating command performance at Lincoln Center, the Barden Bellas enter an international competition that no American group has ever won in order to regain their status and right to perform.

• Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld
• Links: website • trailer • reviews

NEW ON DVD THIS WEEKEND

• Blackhat
• Mortdecai
• The Cobbler
• Still Alice
• Battlestar Galactica: The Definitive Collection
• Dallas Seasons 1-3
• Walker Texas Ranger: Complete Collection
• The Colbys: The Complete Series

OFFICIAL: MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES BY STATE

The annual release date of the Social Security Administration’s baby name data is here. The national data for 2014 was released last week and it pointed at Emma, Olivia, and Sophia as the most popular names for girls, and Noah, Liam, and Mason the biggest for boys last year.

So which states followed the pack?

The full list on the SSA website ranks the top five baby names for each state from 2014, but here’s the number one most popular baby name for each state (and Washington, D.C.).

GIRLS

• Olivia: Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Utah, Washington, Wisconsin, Wyoming

• Emma: Alaska, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Vermont, Virginia

• Sophia: Arizona, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, West Virginia

• Ava: Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina

• Harper: North Dakota, South Dakota

• Elizabeth: Washington, D.C.

• Isabella: Florida

• Mia: New Mexico

BOYS

• Liam: Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota, Vermont, Washington

• William: Alabama, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, South Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia

• Noah: Arizona, California, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas

• Mason: Arkansas, Connecticut, Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, West Virginia, Wisconsin

• Alexander: D.C.

• Benjamin: Massachusetts

• Henry: Minnesota

• Michael: New Jersey

• Jacob: New Hampshire, New York

• Jackson: Wyoming

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FUN & GAMES

TRIVIA: One tenth of American’s personal items are located where? (In storage)

THIS IS EASY!

• Of all the U.S. states, Hawaiians consumer more Spam per person. Which U.S. residents love Spam the most? (Hawaiians)

• The average person consumes almost 250 extra calories on Saturdays. What day of the week do we eat the most food? (Saturdays)

• A Twinkie has 39 ingredients. But how many ingredients does it have? (39)

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JOKE OF THE DAY

Two cannibals, on a trip to New York, were depressed by all the meals passing them on the street. They knew they couldn’t practice their custom in a civilized city. As they passed a newsstand, one of the cannibals grabbed a magazine and started tearing out pictures of people and eating them. “What are you doing?” his friend asked. “Try one,” he replied, handing over the magazine. “This dehydrated stuff is mighty fine.”

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VIDEO OF THE DAY

Kiss cam goes wrong.

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IMAGE OF THE DAY

Can’t wait for grandma to pass away so I can get some of those great mints.

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LAST MINUTE ITEMS

• Mac users: get the fantastic Forecast Bar.

• Dad saves the day!

• Watch two crazy people fly jetpacks over Dubai.

• Captain American backpack.

• Play with a virtual spider.

• The Beth Project shows off impressive weight loss in fun photo series.

• Cancer survivor designs cards she wishes she’d received from friends and family.

• Moving hacks.

• This infographic has a list of all the upcoming superhero films.

• If you were not born in the country you were, what would your life be like?

• The trailer we’re so damn happy they didn’t release: Star Wars: The Binks Awakens.

• For those who own vinyl but no longer own a turntable.

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