Diberdayakan oleh Blogger.

Popular Posts Today

Head to shore for a give-back experience on your next cruise

Written By kolimtiga on Rabu, 15 April 2015 | 22.25

Crystal Cruises on Tuesday rolled out 16 shore excursions for passengers who like to give back on their cruises. Passengers can choose to work at a food bank in British Columbia or learn how to rescue a dolphin in Spain during their trip.

Humanitarian and conservation excursions are free and open to guests and crew under the cruise line's program called "You Care, We Care."

Some of the options include:

--Barcelona, Spain: You can visit the marine rehabilitation center in Prat de Llobregat to learn about the local marine habitat and take part in a 50-minute drill on how to rescue a dolphin stranded on a beach.

--Dubrovnik, Croatia: Visitors go to a shelter for the poor, elderly and ill which has been around since 1347. You may help residents with some gardening or take them on a stroll along the waterfront.

--Santa Barbara: Passengers can pick fruit and other produce while volunteering with Backyard Bounty, which harvests food that would otherwise go unused. The food you collect will be distributed to feed the hungry.

--Puerto Limon, Costa Rica: You can spend time with children and families of SOS Children's Village. Most of the children in this orphanage have been abandoned and are being raised at the orphanage.

Give-back trips are scheduled on more than 20 sailings with Crystal Cruises. All-inclusive cruise fares start at $2,345 per person until April 30. You can find a full list with the "shore excursion finder" on the line's website.

Info: Crystal Cruises, (888) 722-0021

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cedar Fair plans dark rides for all its amusement parks

Best known for its collection of behemoth steel roller coasters, a chain of regional amusement parks plans a concerted push into immersive dark rides long considered the exclusive domain of Disney and Universal theme parks.

Cedar Fair — the parent company of Knott's Berry Farm, Cedar Point and Canada's Wonderland — has already introduced a pair of interactive dark rides and plans a portfolio of future attractions under the banner of Amusement Dark.

Canada's Wonderland unveiled Wonder Mountain's Guardian in 2014 and Knott's plans to open Voyage to the Iron Reef on May 15. Both attractions were designed by Montreal-based Triotech, a relative newcomer to dark-ride manufacturing.

Cedar Fair president and CEO Matt Ouimet plans to eventually expand the Amusement Dark concept to all 11 park locations in the chain.

"I think ultimately you'll see them at every Cedar Fair park," said Ouimet, a former Disney executive who served a stint as Disneyland president.

Cedar Fair has never been known for its dark ride collection. Scooby Doo-themed haunted dark rides based on an off-the-shelf Ghost Blasters model by Sally Corp. opened in the early 2000s at Canada's Wonderland, Carowinds, Kings Dominion and Kings Island. The rides were re-themed in 2010 as Boo Blasters on Boo Hill when Cedar Fair decided to drop the intellectual property branding.

Other Cedar Fair parks — including Cedar Point, Dorney Park and Knott's — have featured dark rides throughout their history that have long since been shuttered.

Meanwhile, Cedar Fair rival Six Flags, long known for its themeless steel parks, has also leaped into the dark ride game with a pair of Justice League attractions from Sally Corp. opening this summer at Six Flags Over Texas and Six Flags St. Louis.

Industry watchers have long been expecting Ouimet to instill more Disney DNA into Cedar Fair parks since taking over as CEO in 2011. While recent additions at Cedar Fair parks have placed a higher emphasis on family entertainment and themed environments, the new attractions have lacked the immersive storytelling associated with the most elaborate Disney rides.

In typical executive bullet-point fashion, Ouimet distilled his Amusement Dark vision into three S's: strategy, storytelling and social interaction.

The strategy portion envisions a fleet of dark rides with a highly interactive interface and a digital infrastructure allowing for constant upgrades. Think Toy Story Midway Mania video game screens with Buzz Lightyear Astro-Blasters ray guns.

The storytelling aspect focuses on traditional topics such as pirates, dinosaurs, dragons and cowboys and Indians that don't require expensive IPs from major media companies.

And the social component seeks to include gaming elements that encourage competition between family and friends while driving repeat visits.

Cedar Fair will never create $100-million dark rides like Disney and Universal, Ouimet said, settling instead for budgets at 10% to 15% of the industry leaders. Similarly, Cedar Fair will have to make do without expensive intellectual properties such as "Frozen" or "Harry Potter," which Ouimet admits makes marketing the new attractions more difficult.

Instead, the Amusement Dark rides will tell stories about the "world underneath our parks," Ouimet said.

So far, in-house design teams have had wide latitude to dream up unique back stories about mystical creatures dwelling beneath each park — a dragon living inside a faux mountain at Canada's Wonderland and sea monsters lurking below Knott's boardwalk.

"We're not going to do a bunch of rides at once and put them at every park," said Ouimet, who envisions one day having a library of stories that might move around from park to park.

Avoiding the one-size-fits-all approach also allows Cedar Fair to capitalize on constantly improving technology. Iron Reef at Knott's will feature backlighted imagery and 10-times brighter cameras that were not available when Guardian was built at Canada's Wonderland.

That same flexibility allows Cedar Fair to transform an existing ride with a seasonal overlay or an entirely new theme.

"You can literally hit a switch and change the story," Ouimet said.

While animatronics have not played prominent roles in Guardian or Iron Reef, Ouimet expects to work on future Amusement Dark projects with San Bernardino-based Garner Holt Productions, which created life-like figures for recent refurbishments of the 1969 Timber Mountain Log Ride and the 1960 Calico Mine Ride at Knott's.

With no Amusement Dark projects currently in the pipeline, it's unlikely we'll see any new dark rides added at any Cedar Fair parks in 2016 — but that hasn't stopped Ouimet from planning for 2017 and beyond.

"We have blank spaces and empty boxes at every park," Ouimet said.

MORE

32 best new theme park additions of 2015

Disneyland 2055: What the future may hold for the original Disney park

21 creepiest abandoned amusement parks

> Follow the Los Angeles Times Funland theme park blog on Twitter, Facebook and Google+

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Florence Welch rocks Coachella set too hard, breaks foot

Remember Florence Welch's outstanding, stage-jumping Main Stage set on Sunday night at Coachella last weekend? She's paying for it today.

The singer announced in a Facebook post that one of her leaps off the Main Stage fractured her foot. She posted a photo of an X-ray and admitted that she'll have to be a bit more reserved in coming shows.

"Unfortunately while this heals, my performances will have to be somewhat stripped back," she wrote. "I'm so sorry, I'm pretty devastated, but I still want to do the shows. I understand this is not what you were expecting, but I hope its just as enjoyable. I'm going to try and make it super special for you."

Welch estimated that she should be back in fighting shape by the time the Glastonbury Festival kicks off June 24. Her new album "How Big How Blue How Beautiful" is due May 29, and as she put it, this injury might be appropriate to its themes.

"This album was so much about making something from what was broken, so let's see what we can do with this." 

Follow @PopHiss and @AugustBrown for more breaking music news.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Cuba welcomes removal from U.S. list of states sponsoring terrorism

Cuba welcomed President Obama's decision to remove the island nation from the list of states that sponsor terrorism -- a list on which "Cuba never should have been included," a senior Cuban official said.

Josefina Vidal, head of the North American section of the Cuban Foreign Ministry and Havana's leader of negotiations to renew diplomatic ties with the United States, praised Obama's "just decision" and said Cuba condemns rather than supports terrorism.

"Cuba rejects and condemns all acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, as well as any action that has as its objective the encouraging, supporting, financing or covering up terrorist acts," Vidal said in a statement released late Tuesday.

She said her nation had been the victim of terrorism rather than its promoter. She was alluding to efforts by U.S. and Cuban opponents of the Castro governments to overthrow or destabilize the regime, including the U.S.-backed attempted invasion at the Bay of Pigs in April 1961, which she said claimed the lives of hundreds of Cubans.

"The government of Cuba recognizes the just decision taken by the president of the United States to eliminate Cuba from a list on which it never should have been included," Vidal said.

Cuba's position on the list of state sponsors of terrorism, with Iran, North Korea and others, had been a major obstacle in the improving of diplomatic relations between Washington and Havana, announced by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December.

The Castro governments consistently demanded their nation be removed from the list -- along with insisting that the U.S. embargo on Cuba be lifted, something that only Congress can do.

Follow @TracyKWilkinson on Twitter for news out of Latin America

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Post offices to stay open late for last-minute tax returns

The U.S. Postal Service is keeping several Southern California post offices open later than usual Wednesday, including three locations until midnight, while taxpayers scramble to mail their returns before the tax day deadline.

These Southland post office locations will be open until midnight:

  • 7001 S. Central Ave., Los Angeles
  • 3101 W. Sunflower Ave., Santa Ana
  • 1900 W. Redlands Blvd., San Bernardino

These two locations will accept stamped mail until 10 p.m.:

  • 9029 Airport Blvd., Los Angeles
  • 2300 Redondo Blvd., Long Beach

This location will be open until 9 p.m.:

  • 28201 Franklin Pkwy., Santa Clarita

All other post office mail drop locations will be collected at their regular times.

For those considering a last-minute, panicked drive to a post office late Wednesday, consider this: There's a 6% greater chance of being in a car accident on tax day, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. So drive safely.

For breaking California news, follow @JosephSerna.

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ex-NFL star Aaron Hernandez found guilty of first-degree murder

A Massachusetts jury found former New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez guilty of first-degree murder Wednesday in the death of a semiprofessional football player.

Prosecutors charged that Hernandez shot Odin Lloyd six times at an industrial park in North Attleborough, Mass., on June 17, 2013.

An attorney for Hernandez, 25, told the court last week that his client was at the scene of the killing but didn't participate in the crime.

The jury of seven men and five women had the options of finding Hernandez guilty of first- or second-degree murder or not guilty. The verdict, which came after six days of deliberations, had to be unanimous.

The jury also found Hernandez guilty on ammunition and gun possession charges.

Hernandez faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Two other men -- Carlos Ortiz and Ernest Wallace -- have also been charged in connection with Lloyd's death. Both have pleaded not guilty and are to be tried separately

The weapon used to kill Lloyd has never been recovered.

The verdict at the Fall River Justice Center in Fall River, Mass., capped a trial that began in January and included 135 witnesses -- 132 for the prosecution.

The Patriots released Hernandez -- a former All-American at the University of Florida -- in June 2013 following his arrest on the murder charge.

In August 2012, Hernandez had signed a five-year contract extension with the Patriots worth up to $40 million.

Hernandez's legal troubles aren't over. In a separate case, he is charged with killing Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in July 2012 in Boston

The Associated Press contributed to this report.  

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times

7:52 a.m.: This post was updated with the information that Hernandez was also found guilty on ammunition and gun possession charges and that he faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

This post was originally published at 7:35 a.m.


22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

It's no joke; Jo Koy returns to Las Vegas for fight weekend

Comedian Jo Koy knows how to sell out a room. That makes him a natural to return to Treasure Island on Friday, May 1, during one of the biggest fight weekends in Las Vegas history.

Koy got his start in Las Vegas, performing at a coffee house in 1994. It wasn't long before his explosive personality, witty jokes, Filipino heritage and family humor propelled him to the top.

He landed on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" in 2005, followed by comedian Carlos Mencia's "Punisher Tour" in 2006.

Since then, Koy has appeared in numerous shows and specials including "Comedy Gives Back," "Jaime Foxx Presents: Laffapalooza," "Jimmy Kimmel Live," "Last Call with Carson Daly" and various VH1 specials.

Koy starred in two of his own specials on Comedy Central, "Don't Make Him Angry" in 2009 and "Lights Out" in 2012. He was also a regular panelist on "Chelsea Lately," appearing on more than 100 episodes from 2009 through the finale last year, and will appear on Chelsea Handler's new project when it debuts on Netflix this fall.

Now, Koy co-hosts "The Michael Yo and Jo Koy Show" podcast and is a regular guest on "The Adam Carolla Show" podcast.

Interesting fact: Koy's stage name comes from the Filipino term "jokoy," which means joker. It was also his childhood nickname.

Tickets start at $49.95.

Tickets: Treasure Island, (866) 712-9308

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

LAPD arrests 14 protesters after#BlackLivesMatter demonstration

More than a dozen demonstrators protesting the treatment of minorities by law enforcement were arrested Tuesday after blocking traffic during rush hour in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles police arrested 13 adults and a teenager about 5:45 p.m. for refusing to disperse after orders were given asking the group to leave, Officer Liliana Preciado said. The group was blocking the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Broadway.

Earlier that day, demonstrators gathered outside Los Angeles Police Department headquarters.

The group marched through downtown Los Angeles and blocked the Metro Blue Line tracks near Los Angeles Trade Technical College off Washington Boulevard.

Trains were stopped as demonstrators wandered onto the tracks and staged a die-in, affecting the rush-hour commute throughout the rail system.

Demonstrators nationwide took to the streets Tuesday, sharing images of their protests under the social media hashtag #ShutDownA14 and #BlackLivesMatter.

In San Francisco, the California Highway Patrol arrested six demonstrators after they climbed onto eastbound Interstate 80 and allegedly tried to take it over.

Multiple lanes of Interstate 880 were blocked by protesters in Oakland, the CHP said.

The nationwide demonstrations were sparked by a series of controversial shootings and beatings involving police and minorities.

In South Carolina, a police officer shot and killed a black man running away from him after a traffic stop on April 4.

LAPD officers shot and killed a homeless black man on skid row March 1 after the man allegedly grabbed an officer's holstered gun during a struggle, police said.

Then last week, 10 San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies were placed on leave after a video taken by a KNBC helicopter showed them repeatedly punching and kicking Francis Pusok, 30, after he mounted a horse and led them on a pursuit in Apple Valley.

The FBI has launched a civil rights investigation into the beating.

For breaking California news, follow @VeronicaRochaLA

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Alaska Airlines worker falls asleep in cargo hold, wakes up mid-flight

Written By kolimtiga on Selasa, 14 April 2015 | 22.25

A terrifying moment occurred Monday for an Alaska Airlines contractor when he fell asleep in the cargo hold and woke up to discover the plane was in the air.

After the plane took off at 2:39 p.m., the pilot of the Los Angeles-bound flight heard banging from below and immediately returned to Seattle, according to the airline. Flight 448 was in the air for 14 minutes before making an emergency landing in Seattle.

When the plane landed, crew members found a ramp employee inside the pressurized and temperature-controlled front cargo hold.

The worker, who was a contractor with Menzies Aviation, walked off the plane and told authorities he had fallen asleep.

He was taken to an area hospital, where he passed a drug test, the airline said.

The worker was part of a four-person team loading baggage onto the plane.

He had been working since 5 a.m. and was expected to get off at 2:30 p.m., but his team members noticed he was missing before departure.

They called into the cargo hold and texted his phone but didn't get a response.

At that point, the team believed he had finished his shift and had gone home for the day.

The plane was carrying 170 passengers and six crew members.

The flight eventually made it to Los Angeles that evening.

For breaking news in California, follow @VeronicaRochaLA

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More

Actress Rita Wilson announces she has breast cancer, expects recovery

Actress and producer Rita Wilson announced Tuesday that she was recently diagnosed with breast cancer and has undergone a double mastectomy. 

"Last week, with my husband by my side, and with the love and support of family and friends, I underwent a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction for breast cancer after a diagnosis of invasive lobular carcinoma," she said in an interview with People magazine. "I am recovering and most importantly, expected to make a full recovery."

Wilson, 58, has been married to actor Tom Hanks since the late 1980s, and the couple have two children. She has appeared in a number of films, including "Sleepless in Seattle," and was a producer of the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding."

Wilson said she has taken a leave from appearing in the Broadway play "Fish in the Dark" to get treatment.

In the interview, Wilson encouraged other women to "trust their instincts if something doesn't 'feel' right." 

Actress Angelina Jolie has undergone elective surgeries to reduce her cancer risk, which she has written about in the New York Times.

Wilson said she has an underlying condition that she has monitored with yearly mammograms and breast MRIs. Her cancer was discovered after a friend who had had breast cancer suggested Wilson get a second opinion.

"I share this to educate others that a second opinion is critical to your health. You have nothing to lose if both opinions match up for the good, and everything to gain if something that was missed is found, which does happen," she told People. "Early diagnosis is key."

Copyright © 2015, Los Angeles Times
22.25 | 0 komentar | Read More
Techie Blogger