pimblr.com

Kristi Turnquist offers a handful of reasons to obsess about pop culture this week
moviesVAMPIRES INVADE OREGON!
It’s the same old story: teenage girl meets boy; falls for him; learns he’s a vampire. The forbidden love between mortal and immortal is at the core of “Twilight,” the young adult novel that’s become a publishing phenomenon. Stephenie Meyer’s original has been followed by two sequels, with the fourth and final book in the series, “Breaking Dawn,” due Aug. 2. “Twilight” fans are also agog over the movie version of the first book, which has been filming in Portland (at Madison High School, among other spots) and around the Northwest. On her Web site (www.stepheniemeyer.com), Meyer recalls how she came to set her story in Forks, Wash. She turned to Google to look “for the place with the most rainfall in the U.S. This turned out to be the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I pulled up maps of the area and studied them, looking for something small, out of the way, surrounded by forest. . . . And there, right where I wanted it to be, was a tiny town called ‘Forks.’ It couldn’t have been more perfect if I had named it myself.” Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson play the star-crossed lovers, and Catherine Hardwicke (”Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown”) directs. The movie’s due to open Dec. 12.
toysSPEAKING OF PHENOMS . . .
While I was minding my own business, something called Bakugan has apparently been driving boys into a purchasing frenzy. Baku-what, you say? Actually, that’s what I said. And a helpful press kit enlightened me: “From the Japanese words ‘baku,’ meaning ‘to explode,’ and ‘gan,’ meaning ’sphere,’ Bakugan are small spheres that pop open into powerful Bakugan monster action figures when skillfully rolled onto the game’s cards. Each player must strategically choose their Bakugan and cards to play, which affect the battle differently, and when two opposing Bakugan land on the same card, they do battle. Once the points are added up, the winner is determined.” Whew. As if the hot-selling Bakugan toys weren’t enough, there is — of course — an animated TV series, which debuted at No. 1 in its time slot on Cartoon Network in February. Parents — consider yourselves warned!

oregonlive.com

Kristi Turnquist offers a handful of reasons to obsess about pop culture this week
moviesVAMPIRES INVADE OREGON!
It’s the same old story: teenage girl meets boy; falls for him; learns he’s a vampire. The forbidden love between mortal and immortal is at the core of “Twilight,” the young adult novel that’s become a publishing phenomenon. Stephenie Meyer’s original has been followed by two sequels, with the fourth and final book in the series, “Breaking Dawn,” due Aug. 2. “Twilight” fans are also agog over the movie version of the first book, which has been filming in Portland (at Madison High School, among other spots) and around the Northwest. On her Web site (www.stepheniemeyer.com), Meyer recalls how she came to set her story in Forks, Wash. She turned to Google to look “for the place with the most rainfall in the U.S. This turned out to be the Olympic Peninsula in Washington state. I pulled up maps of the area and studied them, looking for something small, out of the way, surrounded by forest. . . . And there, right where I wanted it to be, was a tiny town called ‘Forks.’ It couldn’t have been more perfect if I had named it myself.” Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson play the star-crossed lovers, and Catherine Hardwicke (”Thirteen” and “Lords of Dogtown”) directs. The movie’s due to open Dec. 12.
toysSPEAKING OF PHENOMS . . .
While I was minding my own business, something called Bakugan has apparently been driving boys into a purchasing frenzy. Baku-what, you say? Actually, that’s what I said. And a helpful press kit enlightened me: “From the Japanese words ‘baku,’ meaning ‘to explode,’ and ‘gan,’ meaning ’sphere,’ Bakugan are small spheres that pop open into powerful Bakugan monster action figures when skillfully rolled onto the game’s cards. Each player must strategically choose their Bakugan and cards to play, which affect the battle differently, and when two opposing Bakugan land on the same card, they do battle. Once the points are added up, the winner is determined.” Whew. As if the hot-selling Bakugan toys weren’t enough, there is — of course — an animated TV series, which debuted at No. 1 in its time slot on Cartoon Network in February. Parents — consider yourselves warned!

oregonlive.com

Watching the video of teenage girls beating the daylights out of another girl, I placed myself at the scene of the crime.
Six girls, according to officials in Polk County, Fla., have been charged with kidnapping and battery, first-degree felonies that could carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The girls, ranging in age from 14 to 18, have been charged as adults.
Chances are, you’ve seen the video, since news shows have been replaying the brutal beating over and over again.
In an absurd way, the girls apparently got exactly what they wanted.
“They lured her into the home for (the) express purpose of filming the attack and posting it on the Internet,” said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, who called the beating an “animalistic attack.”
The video shows a young girl curling up into a ball to ward off her attacker, scurrying into a corner to brace herself for more blows and fighting with a doorknob in hopes of escaping.
The door, allegedly, had been locked.
She’s assaulted by one, then another, thrown around the room as if she were a wash rag, certainly not another human being.
The girls take turns, but take great care in not hurting the furniture, as one warns.
“Why don’t you like (girl’s name)?” one attacker asks, pointing to someone off camera.
Then she slams her elbow in the victim’s face.
“Why don’t you like (another girl’s name)?” she asks again, before pounding the victim’s body.
“Why not (another girl’s name?)”
Not like any of these girls? I can’t imagine why not.
The worst part of the video, MSNBC.com reports, has not been aired, Judd said. Worse than what I saw?
Honestly, I could not turn away. Not out of some sort of ambulance-chasing interest, but out of a sense of helplessness. I wanted to save her.

timesrecordnews.com

If you could put any public figure on the hot seat, what would you ask him or her?
Let us know, and we will get you an answer.
First up is San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre.
E-mail your questions to us at dialog@uniontrib.com. We will submit the best of them and publish the responses in a Sunday newspaper.
Fax questions to 619-260-5081, or write Hot Seat, The San Diego Union-Tribune, P.O. Box 120191, San Diego, CA 92112-0191.
Your toddler into the Nintendo Wii? Have you broken down and gotten your 3-year-old a Wii or have you resisted the little one’s pleas? We’d like to talk to you about how toddlers are the newest converts to the Wii phenomenon. Please contact Jennifer Davies or call 619-293-1373.
When Coors Amphitheatre opened 10 years ago, its 19,442 capacity instantly established the sprawling Chula Vista site as the largest outdoor venue for live music in San Diego County – and beyond. That's still the case for the venue, which on Thursday was renamed Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre. But the fiercely competitive concert industry is undergoing a shift to smaller venues that could see such mega-venues working hard to maintain their dominance.
“Every year our grosses go up, every year the average ticket price goes up, and every year less people go to shows,” said Nick Masters, president of the Southern California division of Live Nation, which acquired the Coors venue here in 2006 after it bought out the rival House of Blues chain.
“We did over 20 shows at Coors last year and it will probably be about the same this year, and we have some superstar acts that are almost on the level of The Police that we'll be announcing soon. So, we're not cutting back drastically, but we're not looking to add concerts just because they are available.”

signonsandiego.com