Continental Airlines

(Reuters) - United Airlines parent UAL Corp will buy Continental Airlines Inc for $3.17 billion in an all-stock deal that will form the world's largest carrier and potentially prune excess capacity in the airline industry.

The widely anticipated deal, announced on Monday after three weeks of talks, sent most airline shares higher, even though some analysts said the capacity cuts could be minor.

"It's helpful," S&P analyst Jim Corridore said of the merger. "But it's not going to be the one thing that makes the industry fundamentally sustainable."

The airline industry has been hammered in the past two years by volatile fuel prices, low-cost competition and overcapacity.

UAL said the acquisition will help it attract more business travelers because the merged company will fly to 370 destinations and have 10 hubs worldwide, with Houston as its largest.

A JP Morgan Chase & Co analysis estimated the combined company will be able to lop off 8 percent of their capacity and cut expenses by 5 percent.

"By combining operations, it will benefit the airlines where it will solidify their ability to price," said Ray Neidl, an independent airline consultant. "But it also will benefit the whole system in that we'll have larger airlines to better serve their customers."

If approved by regulators, the new airline would be known as United Airlines and be based in Chicago. It will have over $29 billion in annual revenue and a workforce of nearly 90,000.

The deal is the first major U.S. airline merger since Delta Air Lines Inc's 2008 purchase of Northwest and caps months of speculation that more industry consolidation was ahead.

Experts said American Airlines, the AMR Corp unit that was the No. 1 U.S. carrier just two years ago, might eye Alaska Air Group Inc or US Airways Group Inc as a result of this deal. Alaska Air shares jumped 9 percent to close at $45.20 and US Airways ended the day 4.5 percent higher at $7.39.

UAL previously was in talks with US Airways. It was those talks that prompted Continental to enter discussions with UAL. But some analysts said US Airways may not be the fit for American that Continental is for United because US Airways does not have a robust enough international network.
"Eighteen months from now when you have a single carrier with United-Continental, maybe that would be time to bring in the remaining Star Alliance partner that would be US Airways," said airline consultant Robert Mann with RW Mann & Co.
Morningstar equity analyst Basili Alukos said AMR might be a good match for JetBlue Airways Corp after they announced a code-share partnership.
"I would imagine that's a first step toward a merger," he added.
ALL-STOCK DEAL
The deal is expected to produce between $1 billion to $1.2 billion in annual revenue and cost benefits by 2013.
Much of this comes from $800 million to $900 million in incremental annual revenues. The combined company will also cut costs by $200 unsecured loans million to $300 million.
Continental shareholders will receive 1.05 shares of United common stock for each Continental common share they own. Based on United's $21.60 closing price on Friday, and Continental's 139.6 million outstanding shares as of April 21, United would pay $3.17 billion for Continental, or $22.68 a share.
That is a 1.5 percent premium over Continental's closing price on Friday. Based on current shares outstanding, the combined company would have 314.5 million shares and UAL shareholders will own roughly 55 percent. UAL stock closed 2.4 percent higher at $22.11, while Continental was up 2.3 percent at $22.86.
Continental Chief Executive Jeff Smisek will be CEO of the holding company called United Continental Holdings Inc. Since he took the reins of Continental in January, the airline has added fees for meals and exit row seats -- changes the company might have balked at earlier, analysts said.
UAL CEO Glenn Tilton, who has been a long-time proponent of consolidation, will be nonexecutive chairman.
In a message to employees on Monday, Tilton said there would be "some reductions in the salaried and management workforce" at both companies. But Smisek told Reuters rank-and-file staff would see little impact on their numbers.
The Air Line Pilots Association, which bad credit loans represents pilots at both UAL and Continental, has indicated tentative support for the deal. But the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said it was concerned about the effect of the merger on benefits and job security of its more than 26,000 members at both carriers.
Both ALPA and IAM have seats on UAL's board of directors.
One-time merger costs of about $1.2 billion are expected over three years. The companies expect to receive government approval and complete the transaction by the end of 2010.
"We do not believe there are any material antitrust concerns," Smisek said. "We have a high degree of confidence that this transaction will close."
Smisek, 55, will become executive chairman when Tilton steps aside, expected two years after the merger closes.

London Zoo Monkey business

London - A few recent visitors to the London Zoo had the sunglasses stolen right off of their heads by a gang of squirrel monkeys, but keepers now have a plan to deter the thieves.

A group of 18 Bolivian squirrel monkeys, who live in a no barrier enclosure, are the culprits.

“We’ve found Ray-Bans and aviator sunglasses already and with more good weather approaching we think it’s a good idea to train the monkeys not to pinch people’s sunglasses," said Mammals South Team Leader Tracey Lee in an article on the London Zoo website.

“They don’t like the taste of anything sour so we are going to put bitter apple on the sunglasses - we hope this will be enough to keep visitors’ eyewear safe this summer.”

The five youngest monkeys, who are about a year old , are fondest of the glasses.

"The little ones are very inquisitive," unsecured loans the BBC quoted Kate Sanders, a keeper at the zoo, as saying. "They are attracted to the shiny lenses on the sunglasses.

"Once they get hold of a pair they all race round the enclosure chasing the monkey with the glasses. They've grabbed around seven pairs so far."

She said that after one of the animals gets a new pair of sunglasses, bad credit loans others chase them around to see what they have.

In 2006 monkeys at the zoo, attracted to the lights and noises, were stealing mobile phones when visitors tried to use them to take their photos. That behaviour was discouraged when keepers put sticky substances on old mobile phones and let them take them.

The Bolivian squirrel monkey is native to the rainforests of South America. They weigh 365 to 1135 grams

(12.85 to 39.95 oz), eat mainly insects and fruits, and can live as long as 30 years.

Draw Something, new owner

Social gaming overlord Zynga has officially snapped up rival studio OMGPOP, the creator of the Pictionary-style Draw Something app.
Confirming reports earlier this week, the studios have reached an agreement, thought to be in the region of $200m (£120m).
Draw Something has proved to be somewhat of a phenomenon over the last month, rising to the top of the iOS, Android and Facebook charts soon after unsecured loans its launch.
The game requires its 30 million plus users to draw pictures based on word clues, while attempting to guess those doodled by opponents. It can also be played across platforms.

Engendering social interactions

Noting the game's dramatic rise to the top of the social gaming arena, Zynga (which enjoyed similar success with Scrabble clone Words With Friends) has moved fast to acquire the title.
"The OMGPOP team has created a game that's fun, expressive and engenders real social interaction," said Zynga CEO Mark Pincus in a news release.
"Draw Something has captured the imagination of millions of people around the world. We love the way they've worked playful and relevant bad credit loans culture into their games from Devo to Daft Punk, from Lin to Beckham.
"We're honored to have the opportunity to partner with and support such an innovative team of creative inventors."
AllThingsD reports that Zynga will take over OMGPOP's 40-strong New York-based team, as well as its portfolio of titles and future releases.
The next game scheduled for launch is The Street, a gangster RPG, which is unlikely to have anywhere near the same level of success.

Encyclopedia Britannica

Chicago:  Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. said on Tuesday that it will stop publishing print editions of its flagship encyclopedia for the first time since the sets were originally published more than 200 years ago.

The book-form of Encyclopedia Britannica has been in print since it was first published in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1768.

It will stop being available when the current stock runs out, the company said. The Chicago-based company will continue to offer digital versions of the encyclopedia.

Officials said the end of the printed, 32-volume set has been foreseen for some time.

"This has nothing to do with Wikipedia or Google," Encyclopedia Britannica Inc. President Jorge Cauz said. "This has to do with the fact that now Britannica sells its digital products to a large number of people."

The top year for the printed encyclopedia was 1990, when 120,000 sets were sold, Mr Cauz said. That number fell to 40,000 just six years later in 1996, he said.

The company started exploring digital publishing the 1970s. The first CD-ROM version was published in 1989 and a version went online in 1994.

The final hardcover encyclopedia set is available for sale at Britannica's website for $1,395.

"The sales of printed encyclopedias have been negligible for several years," he said. "We knew this was going to come."

The company plans to mark the end of the print version unsecured loans by making the contents of its website available free for one week, starting on Tuesday.

Online versions of the encyclopedia now serve more than 100 million people around the world, the company said, and are available on mobile devices. The encyclopedia has become increasingly social as well, Mr Cauz said, because users can send comments to editors.

"A printed encyclopedia is obsolete the minute that you print it," he said. "Whereas our online edition is updated continuously."

Lynne Kobayashi of the Language, bad credit loans Literature & History section of the Hawaii State Library notes there will always be people who prefer using print sources over electronic sources.

However, the proliferation of publishers of electronic databases has resulted in an audience becoming attuned to online searching.

"There are many advantages to online searching, chief among them the ability to search within the text," Kobayashi said.

"The major disadvantage is the need for a computer or devices with access to the Internet."

Kobayashi noted that whether she uses traditional methods in doing research or going online depends on the question she wants answered.

"Sometimes subject knowledge and familiarity with standard resources may get faster results than keying in a search and sifting through results," she said. "If the search is broader, searching across several online sources may yield more options."

Britannica has thousands of experts' contributors from around the world, including Nobel laureates and world leaders such as former President Bill Clinton and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. It also has a staff of more than 100 editors.

"To me, the most important message is that the printed edition was not what made Britannica," Mr Cauz said.

"The most important thing about Britannica is that Britannica is relevant and vibrant because it brings scholarly knowledge to an editorial process to as many knowledge seekers as possible" he added.

Kobayashi said as information professionals, librarians see an important part of their role as directing patrons to trustworthy information sources.

"While Wikipedia has become ubiquitous, the Britannica remains a consistently more reliable source," she said.

Read more at: http://www.ndtv.com/article/world/encyclopedia-britannica-to-end-print-editions-185741&cp

What is Cardiac Arrest?

Each year sudden cardiac arrest claims over 300,000 victims in the United States. It is the number-one cause of death, accounting for more deaths than breast cancer, lung cancer, and HIV combined. This unfortunately affects the young and the old alike. How often do we hear about a loved one, friends, or acquaintances suddenly dying? How often do we hear about a young amateur professional athlete dying suddenly during an athletic contest or on the practice field? Sudden cardiac arrest is indeed a severe problem with consequences not only for the victim but also for the family members.

 

WHAT IS SUDDEN CARDIAC ARREST?

Sudden cardiac arrest is defined as the abrupt sensation of cardiac function, typically secondary to a rapidly beating heart, where the heart stops beating or when the heart mechanically stops functioning. Its end result is typically death within an hour. Although the majority of cases occur in the general population, we know that there are some conditions that predispose to the development of these lethal arrhythmias. What has to be understood is that conditions like acute myocardial infarctions, myocardial ischemia, old myocardial infarctions, disorders that affect not only the structure of the heart but also may disruptive of electrical condition, and genetic conditions that affect the way the heart electrically relaxes. 

 

WHAT CAN THE INDIVIDUAL DO?

The first step is to be honest with yourself regarding how you feel and whether or not you are having any symptoms potentially linked to cardiac disease. A detailed history and physical done by your physician should reveal whether you have hypertension, diabetes mellitus, hypercholesterolemia, evidence unsecured loans of cardiomyopathy, or indeed an abnormal electrocardiogram. If you have been diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes mellitus or elevated cholesterol, it would be essential that you are compliant with your medicines, diet, and exercise as prescribed by your physicians, and indeed dutiful to attend your physician appointments. The goal of adherence to prescribed therapy for patients with risk factors is essential in that if these conditions are tightly controlled, it will in turn reduce your risk of rapid acceleration of developing heart disease and in turn reduce your risk of sudden cardiac arrest.

 

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR IMMEDIATE FAMILY?

It is important that you insure your adult family members have seen a doctor and have access to health care. It is equally essential to be aware of what your parents’ medical conditions are and to insure that they are being compliant with the regimen as prescribed by their physician. This is particularly relevant in families with early risk of sudden cardiac arrest in the absence of heart disease. bad credit loans This has typically suggested a genetic predisposition to sudden death. In some instances it is recommended that multiple family members undergo risk stratification. In some cases, this can be done via electrocardiogram ruling out long QT syndrome or Brugada syndrome. In other cases, it can be done via a 2-D echocardiogram to rule out evidence of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

 

WHAT CAN YOU DO FOR YOUR COMMUNITY?

When sudden cardiac arrest strikes a member of your community, it is worth noting that the only effective therapy at the time of the arrest is CPR, as prescribed by the American Heart Association, and rapid defibrillation. Hence, it is essential to lobby for the placement of portable defibrillators at community centers, recreational facilities, or other community venues. 

 

In closing, sudden cardiac arrest is a common lethal disorder that is typically the end result of the confluence of multiple medical conditions. To improve one’s risk for sudden cardiac arrest, one must dutifully modify the potential risk factors including hypertension, diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypercholesterolemia as well as know your family history. In addition, it is important to lobby for the placement of portable defibrillators at heavily used community venues. 

Dorian Grey

The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's only known novel. The work first appeared in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890, and it was revised and published as a novel the following year. The work was considered scandalous and immoral when it first appeared, but it was really a way for Wilde to write about his philosophy of art. Here are a few quotes from The Picture of Dorian Gray.

• "But beauty, real beauty, ends where an intellectual expression begins. Intellect is in itself a mode of exaggeration, and destroys the harmony of any face."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
  
• "The ugly and the stupid have the best of it in this world. They can sit at their ease and gape at the play."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
  
• "The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
  
• "I knew that I had come face to face with someone whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very art itself."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
  
• "An artist should create beautiful things, but should put nothing of his own life into them."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
  
• "Some day you will look at your friend, and he will seem to you to be a little out of drawing, or you won't like his tone of colour, or something."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 1
  
• "The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it. Resist it, and your soul grows sick with longing for the things it has forbidden to itself, with desire for what its monstrous laws have made monstrous and unlawful."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 2
  
• "You are a wonderful creation. You know more than you think you know, just as you know less than you want to know."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 2
  
• "How sad it is! I shall grow old, and horrible, and dreadful. But this picture will remain always young. It will never be older than this particular day of June... If unsecured loans it were only the other way! If it were I who was to be always young, and the picture that was to grow old! For that-for that-I would give everything! Yes, there is nothing in the whole world I would not give! I would give my soul for that!"
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 2
  
• "Yes; he would try to be to Dorian Gray what, without knowing it, the lad was to the painter who had fashioned the wonderful portrait. He would seek to bad credit loans dominate him-had already, indeed, half done so. He would make that wonderful spirit his own. There was something fascinating in this son of Love and Death."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 3
  
• "Humanity takes itself too seriously. It is the world's original sin. If the cave-man had known how to laugh, History would have been different."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 3
  
• "My dear boy, no woman is a genius. Women are a decorative sex. They never have anything to say, but they say it charmingly. Women represent the triumph of matter over mid, just as men represent the triumph of mind over morals."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 4
  
• "You know how a voice can stir one. Your voice and the voice of Sibyl Vane are two things that I shall never forget."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 4
  
• "You, who know all the secrets of life, tell me how to charm Sibyl Vane to love me! I want to make Romeo jealous, I want the dead lovers of the world to hear our laughter, and grow sad. I want a breath of our passion to stir their dust into consciousness, to wake their ashes into pain. My God, Harry, how I worship her!"
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 4
  
• "His sudden mad love for Sibyl Vane was a psychological phenomenon of no small interest. There was no doubt that curiosity had much to do with it, curiosity and the desire for new experiences; yet it was not a simple but rather a very complex passion."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 4
  
• "Thin-lipped Wisdom spoke at her from the worn chair, hinted at prudence, quoted from that book of cowardice whose author apes the name of common sense. She did not listen. She was free in her prison of passion. Her prince, Prince Charming, was with her. She had called on Memory to remake him. She had sent her soul to search for him, and it had brought him back. His kiss burned again upon her mouth. Her eyelids were warm with his breath."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 5
  
• "Oh! How I shall play it! Fancy, Jim, to be in love and play Juliet! To have him sitting there! To play for his delight I am afraid I may frighten the company, frighten or enthrall them. To be in love is to surpass oneself."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 5
  
• "I wish I had, for as sure as there is a God in heaven, if he ever does you any wrong, I shall kill him."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 5
  
• "I hope that Dorian Gray will make this woman his wife, passionately adore her for six months, and then suddenly become fascinated by someone else. He would be a wonderful study."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 6
  
• "I love Sibyl Vane. I want to place her on a pedestal of gold, and to see the world worship the woman who is mine. What is marriage? An irrevocable vow. You mock at it for that. Ah! Don't mock. It is an irrevocable vow that I want to take."
  - Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray Ch. 6

Layer Cake

For one drug dealer (Daniel Craig) in London, there are certain rules to be abided by if you want to make enough money to retire early. You stick to your plan, you unsecured loans respect that the police are not as stupid as some of his contacts seem to think, and you don't get any more involved in the lives of your fellow gangsters than you need to. What a pity, then, that he is called to a meeting by his boss, Jimmy Price (Kenneth Cranham), with a proposal. Well, it's not so much a proposal as an order: track down his associate's junkie daughter who has run away from rehab or face the consequences - which is exactly the kind of thing he was trying to avoid.

There are a lot of bad tempered people in Layer Cake, which started out as a Guy Ritchie film but when he couldn't do it his regular producer Matthew Vaughn stepped in to to make his directorial debut. The result was unlike the earlier Richie efforts as the humour was downplayed to make for a more serious minded thriller, but no less convoluted for all that thanks to the screenplay adapted from his own novel by J.J. Connolly. It's to Vaughn's credit that he didn't let the plot's twists and turns run away from him, but there was a curious lack of excitement here.

Arguing and threats fill up the time as our self-satisfied hero, who is never named and simply referred to as XXXX in the credits, negotiates his way around various dodgy geezers, precisely the kind of people he has successfully kept at arm's length for the whole bad credit loans of his criminal life. He has a small gang of three trusted men around him, and meets with Jimmy's right hand man Gene (Colm Meaney) to set up his drug sales, but after the boss's decision to set him on a mission it all gets very dangerous and there will be developments along the way that change his perceptions of his place in the world.

He works out a way of persuading someone else to find the runaway, offering a handsome reward if they can discover her whereabouts, but that is not the end to his troubles. There is a small time crook called Duke (Jamie Foreman) who has stolen a huge stash of high-grade ecstasy from a Serbian ganglord and he is looking to sell it to the highest bidder. Obviously no one in their right minds would touch it, least of all our protagonist as the Serb has a habit of separating those who cross him from their heads, but unfortunately Duke has been liberally dropping his name (whatever it may be) into conversations about the stolen goods.

Craig is ice cool in a role that proved him to be more than able to carry a film, all this a couple of years before the James Bond opportunity arose, but like the rest of the film he's a cold fish for most of the time. His character's confidence takes a beating, as does he at one point, but we never get the feeling he is losing control as he adapts well to every revelation that is thrown into his path. The supporting cast could do this kind of crime drama in their sleep, and they do bring to life what could have been rather muted, yet despite clever tricks (though Duran Duran was a mistake) to keep things interesting you couldn't say you were especially bothered one way or the other how the story works itself out for Craig's drug dealer. Music by Ilan Eshkeri and Lisa Gerrard.                          

The walking dead show vs comics

The Walking Dead is the biggest thing right now, and that makes me really happy; not just for Frank Darabont, who’s finally gotten a recent project off the ground that isn’t a Stephen King adaptation (or, uh, The Majestic), but for creators Robert Kirkman, Tony Moore, and Charlie Adlard, who brought into the world a comic that was selling boffo numbers long before the TV series came out.

Still, it’s hard not to compare and contrast the two, especially when it comes to a TV show adapting a comic book with scores of fans. Plus, as visual mediums, comics and cinema are cousins that look a lot alike but are, in many ways, very different. You can especially see some surface-level similarities between comics and TV, both known for serialized installments and trade paperback collects kind of resembling full season DVDs.

Despite being a visual medium, Robert Kirkman writes an incredibly verbose comic in The Walking Dead. Characters speak in paragraphs that fill the pages, and much of it would sound rotten if spoken aloud by real actors. Not to say his dialogue is bad per se, but it was written to be read, not spoken. To see what I mean, go watch The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. The script was by James Dale Robinson, of such comics as the classic 1990s Starman and the current Justice League of America, and you can tell he writes comics because the characters make declarations about what’s on screen, which (bad) comic books do, but movies don’t have to. Apparently Kirkman himself is writing episode 4 of the show, “Vatos,” and I’m curious how he’ll fare. Hopefully somebody on staff will set him right as far as screenwriting versus comic book scripting.

In the first episode of The Walking Dead, “Days Gone Bye,” Frank Darabont crafts an excellent adaptation of the initial issues of Kirkman’s comic by taking out all the words and relying on pure visual storytelling to drive the narrative. Protagonist Rick Grimes (Andrew Lincoln) wanders this unfamiliar, zombie-infested world with nary a word uttered until he actually locates some semblance of humanity. Even when Rick is alone, unsecured loans  Kirkman can’t restrain himself from throwing in some needless word balloons: “Gasp!” or “What happened here?” Those don’t even really work on the page, and on screen they’d just remove all the tension — which the first episode has in spades.

Episode 2, “Guts,” is closer to the comics in terms of execution, as it features lots of characters talking. Unfortunately, the gaggle of survivors totally lack depth, with such winners as Merle the cartoon racist (Michael Rooker) and a large black man named T-Dog (IronE Singleton). It’s the year 2010, The Wire set a new standard for nicknaming black characters, and still — T-DOG. Even beloved character Glenn doesn’t feel right as Steven Yeun is forced to utter some ponderous dialogue.

Episode 3, “Tell It to the Frogs” gives us what we should probably come to expect from the series if the comics are any indication. The episode focuses on character interaction, using zombie very sparingly. The big draw of The Walking Dead (like, to some extent, zombie classics as Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later) is the interpersonal conflict. If you can’t get into the characters there’s no reason to care if they survive. Here Darabont and company finally start to paint their characters in ways that make them resemble human beings.

When I heard The Walking Dead was going to be faithful to the comic, I was worried. More accurately, I was afraid that Frank Darabont would be adapting every issue into an episode, word-for-word, and thus give viewers like me little surprise and forcing me to wonder just what the point was of experiencing the same exact story twice in two different mediums. So far this isn’t the case.

Thankfully, the show is close enough to the comics to capture just what made them great, but with enough surprises to keep people like me interested. For one thing, he develops Morgan — who, in the comics, is pretty much just the guy who delivers exposition to Rick/the readers — into an honest-to-goodness character with an identifiable personal conflict, so much that I’m hoping he joins the main cast sooner than later.

One of the more dramatic changes to the story in TV form is the creation of Merle Dixon (played by the wonderful Michael Rooker) as the guy who Rick inadvertently causes to get abandoned amidst a zombie attack in Atlanta. In the comics Rick and Glenn return to Atlanta just to pick up more guns, which is a bit video gamey and akin to the concerns of early episodes of Lost — ooh, we discovered the water part of the map! With Merle’s life in danger, Rick’s not given more reason to go back to the city after just reuniting with his bad credit loans wife, but the show sets up Rick as the guy who takes it upon himself to make tremendously difficult decisions that affect the other characters in the series. So far in the series Rick has been a boring character compared to Shane (who seems like the chillest bro in the apocalypse), but given the knowledge of where Rick’s character is headed in the comics I hope they bring some more of those “heavy is the head” moments to the earlier installments. Great thing about narrative hindsight.

Shane is the other big change, as the show actually tries to make him likable. The comic casts him as the asshole who tries to take Rick’s woman, while the show sets him up as the guy who Rick is essentially usurping — who begins the series talking about how his one-night stands always leave his lights on and soon finds himself with a surrogate family in the form of Rick’s wife and son, who are convinced poor Rick is dead. Which makes sense because, um, zombies. Shane’s also a lot more fun than Rick, who as of yet has no personality traits except leadership.

Having read the comics voraciously (at the risk of skipping work — deadly for a freelancer), I’m glad The Walking Dead the TV show is deviating from The Walking Dead the comic book. While I’m sure the major twists and turns will still be there, I still feel like I don’t know what’s going to happen. And that’s essential to the Walking Dead experience.

Don’t prove me wrong, Episodes 4 to 6.

Paris-Nice

Thomas De Gendt (Vacansoleil-DCM) continued what has been an incredible Paris-Nice for the Dutch ProTeam, with an epic solo victory between Sisteron and Nice. The Belgian escaped the lethargic peloton, 48km into the 219.5km stage, with former Estonian champion Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis), and managed to build up a lead that peaked at 12’40” in the mid part of the stage.

Contrary to the usual scenario however, with De Gendt and Taaramäe trailing race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) by 15’44” and 31’07 respectively at the start of the day, the peloton did not bother to chase the two breakaways; instead a battle for the podium ensued between fourth place Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step).

With Leipheimer already having crashed twice, and chasing back to the peloton on the final descent of the Col de Vence with four of his teammates, the Movistar team moved to unsecured loans the front to try to stop him coming back. A third crash, as all five Omega Pharma-Quick Step riders came down into a Gendarme’s motorbike that was blocking the outside of a corner, saw the end of the American’s challenge. He remounted, but rolled down the rest of the descent, his race over; Valverde had won the battle and moved up to third overall.

Up ahead De Gendt, who had dropped Taaramäe on the climb to the Col de Vence, rode on to take a solo victory on Nice’s iconic Promenade des Anglais; Taaramäe came in 6’18” later, while John Degenkolb (Project 1t4i) led the peloton over after a massive 9’24”.

"This morning I thought most of all to save bad credit loans strength for tomorrow,” said De Gendt at the finish. “But I found myself in the right break and once it was gone I realised I was in for a long day.

“[On the] Col de Vence, I asked Taaramäe to take his turn and he wouldn’t,” he explained. “It got on my nerves and that’s how I went. The finale was one of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen with such a splendid view.

“We’re all in great shape at Vacansoleil,” he added. unsecured loans “We have a great team spirit, we work hard and Paris-Nice is a race within our reach. We don’t have the level to compete in the big Tours so we focus on this kind of event and I’m convinced [my teammate] Lieuwe Westra is going to win tomorrow.”

Wiggins was safely in the group, along with second place Westra and - apart from Leipheimer - the rest of the top ten. The British champion still leads Westra by six seconds, and now Valverde by 18, with just the final stage time trial to the top of the Col d'Èze to come.

The mountains continue but the Mediterranean is on the horizon
With the hills and mountains of the Centre region now well and truly behind them, the peloton was now faced with the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence and the Alpes-Maritimes before they could dip its toes in the warm waters of the Mediterranean. Contrary to recent usual practice however, the finish on Nice’s iconic Promenade des Anglais would not be the end of things, with the 9.6km time trial to the Col d'Èze awaiting.

After several breakaway attempts in the first hour, Taaramäe - who had only recently hit the deck - escaped with De Gendt after 48km.

By the time De Gendt led Taaramäe over the top of the 2nd category Col des Lèques after 73.5km, the peloton - led by the Belgian’s Vacansoleil-DCM teammate Frederik Veuchelen in the polka-dot jersey - was 8’25” behind. The 3 points he received for third place gave Veuchelen an unassailable lead in the mountains classification; he now just needed to finish the race to take the jersey.

With De Gendt 15’44” behind Wiggins in the overall standings, Team Sky was allowing the Belgian plenty of leeway. Over the top of the 2nd category Col de Luens after 91km, the peloton was 12 minutes back; Evgeni Petrov (Astana) was 1’10” in front of the field at this point, having attacked on the climb.

The 3rd category Côte de Peyroules after 99km saw De Gendt and Taaramäe allowed even more time, with their lead now up to 12’40”.

The long descent that followed saw Petrov reeled in but, more significantly, Leipheimer crash for the first time. The American came down with Adrian Saez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), but two teammates paced him back to the peloton without too many problems.

Through the intermediate sprint at Tourrettes-sur-Loup, after 150km, the two leaders’ advantage was still as high as 11’50”, but surely this would come down as they began the climb to the 1st category Col de Vence a few kilometres later.

The final climb begins but the peloton is still not interested
De Gendt, weary of Taaramäe’s unwillingness - or inability - to contribute any longer attacked and dropped the Estonian. The last time the climb had been used in Paris-Nice it had been used as a springboard to victory by the late Xavier Tondo, and it looked now as De Gendt was about to do the same. Over the top - with 165km down, and 54.5km to go - the Belgian was more than a minute ahead of Taaramäe; Luis Angel Maté (Cofidis) led the peloton over the top a massive 11’35” back.

As the peloton hit the descent, a crash saw Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-Quick Step) come down for a second time. Most of the American’s team dropped back to pace him back up again, but the Movistar team was now on the front, trying to get Valverde onto the podium ahead of the next day’s mountain time trial.

With 30km to go De Gendt’s lead was 1’45” back to Taaramäe, and still 11’30” to the peloton; Movistar had the bit between its teeth now though, with Leipeimer still struggling to get back on.

Inside the final 22km De Gendt was 2’40” clear of Taaramäe; the real battle now though, was between Valverde and Leipheimer; the Movistar-led peloton was now 11’15” behind De Gendt, but Leipheimer and his Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammates were at 12’10”, 55 seconds further back. The American was not only on the verge of losing his podium spot, but at this rate would be lucky to end the day in the top ten.

As the descent continued the Movistar and Omega Pharma-Quick Step teams seemed locked together, 55 seconds apart. Leipheimer though, seemed to be having trouble staying with his four teammates as they swept around the winding curves.

With De Gendt at 15km to go, the American was just passing the 25km banner, but the Belgian team’s work appeared to be paying off, and the gap had come down to 40 seconds.

Disaster strikes Leipheimer as De Gendt solos to glory
Suddenly disaster struck the American, as the five members of Omega Pharma-Quick Step all came off on the outside of a corner, hitting a Gendarme’s motorbike as he guarded a sheer drop. Dries Devenyns appeared to be the worst off physically, as directeur sportif Wilfried Peeters tried to work out if his rider had suffered a concussion; Leipheimer’s race was over though, and after a few moments he remounted and rolled gently away with Tony Martin at his side.

Despite having despatched its big rival, and having elevated Valverde to the podium for tonight at least, the Movistar team kept the pressure on right to the bottom of the descent. There was no way that the Spanish team was going to catch De Gendt, with the Belgian still 10’50” clear with 10km to go, but they might be able to put another of Valverde’s rivals under pressure on the technical twists and turns.

De Gendt meanwhile, was on the flat coastal roads and heading towards Nice. He was beginning to look tired but, providing he could hold off an equally exhausted Taaramäe, some 3’35” behind him, he had the stage in the bag.

Sure enough, as De Gendt entered the last five kilometres, his gap to the Estonian was growing and, as Movistar began to relax the pace behind, his gap to the peloton began to open up a little.

The Belgian gave a ‘thumbs up’ to the peloton as he cruised along the sunny Promenade de Anglaises, then sat up to take a well-earned solo victory.

As the peloton hit the flat coast road, Movistar allowed Team Sky to take over, and the British team line up in front as they rode into Nice.

Taaramäe just about managed to stay away, crossing the line some 6’ 17” later, puffing his cheeks and sitting up to enjoy the fact that he was getting the applause of the crowd all to himself. After a long sprint from DE Gent’s Vacansoleil-DCM teammate Romain Feillu, John Degenkolb took the sprint for third some 9’23” later.

Leipheimer, along with Omega Pharma-Quick Step teammates Tony Martin, Kevin De Weert, Nikolas Maes - but not Dries Devenyns, who had abandoned - rolled in after 16’50”, losing the American more than seven minutes to his former rivals and dropping him down to 39th overall.

Stacey Solomon smoking!

The controversy surrounding pictures showing Stacey Solomon smoking whilst pregnant has taken its toll on the star who broke down in tears on live TV earlier today.

Appearing on This Morning, the former X Factor finalist admitted that smoking whilst being seven months pregnant was a "selfish" thing to do.

Asked by presenter Holly Willoughby if she thought of the unsecured loans health implications smoking would have on her child, Stacey tearfully replied:

"At the end of the day, nothing that I can say makes it right. All I can say is that from the day I found out that I was pregnant, I have tried my best to give up. I completely understand why people would be angry, because for some people it's incomprehensible.

"I understand that it's a selfish thing to do, so I don't think the comments are unjustified, although I do thing some are a bit harsh. As soon as you get pregnant, you think you need so stop. I did smoke between 5 and 10 a day, but I completely cut down and from there on I have been trying to stop."

Admitting that she's now smoking up to three cigarettes a day, the star added: "I'm smoking between 1 and 3 a day, if that... I just thought I would be able to quit. And some days I've done really, really well and had none but there are some days when I have had some. I'm doing my best to just go without, but sometimes it's not just as easy to cut it out.

"I don't condone it in any way and I think it's important that people know bad credit loans that. I don't want people to think it's OK or that I think it's OK."

Bieber Fever

Justin Bieber spent Thursday morning with Mariah Carey, filming a music video and ignoring the allegations of another Mariah: the 20-year-old woman who filed a paternity suit against the teen star.

Lawyers for Mariah Yeater, the fan who claims she and Bieber conceived a child during bathroom-stall relations last year, told Radar there is “credible evidence that bad credit loans [the teen star] is in fact the father of her baby.” Said evidence will be revealed in court this December.

Bieber and his team have called her claims “malicious, defamatory, and demonstrably false,” which is about as firm as a denial can be.

So what could Yeater’s “credible evidence” be, if it indeed exists? Was the baby born with Bieber’s signature haircut? A Canadian accent? Celebritology asked two law professors for guidance.

“‘Credible evidence’ likely refers to ‘circumstantial evidence’ tending to show (or even establishing) that the putative or alleged father had sexual relations with the unsecured loans mother at a point in time close to the date of conception,” Catherine J. Ross, a George Washington University law professor, explained in an e-mail. “This only means that he would be a possible candidate for paternity, and could justify a court order to subject himself to DNA testing.”

Creamfields

Following another sell out year at Creamfields in 2011, the festival is set to return on August bank holiday 2012 and the long awaited line up has finally been released.

This years line up reads as a who's who of DJ Mag and is set to tickle electro enthusiasts taste buds with its latest offerings for the international dance festival, which has won 'Best Dance Event' 3 years on the run.

In the last three years Swedish DJ's have dominated the dance music scene and this is reflected in the billing, with Avicii headlining the South Stage on Saturday along with unsecured loans Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso and Steve Angello controversially shying away from their Swedish House Mafia grouping and performing solo over the weekend.

Having attracted over 25,000 visitors to his main stage performance last year, Tiesto returns with his own 'Clublife' stage along with Grammy nominee and Ibiza resident David Guetta, who will perform on the North Stage on Saturday.

An exciting addition is Canadian electro maestro and arena sell-out DJ Deadmau5, who will make his performance on the North Stage on Sunday his last UK festival performance.

Other highlights come from Paul Van Dyk, who will jet in exclusively from his Ibiza residency just for the occasion, as well as Grammy winner Skrillex who will headline the Radio 1xtra tent.

The dance mecca will also welcome back self confessed king of disco Calvin Harris, who will join Deadmau5, plus a live performance from the multi-talented rapper/producer/writer/singer Example.

The acts, however, are just scratching the surface, bad credit loans with the festival introducing four new arenas for 2012. 

Absolute favourites Groove Armada will DJ their own stage, which promises the usual funky, outrageous and fun atmosphere that the group bring, along with their dance inducing melodies.

International Superstar DJ Eddie Halliwell will also return to Creamfields to debut his Fire It Up arena. Fans have been told to expect lots of production and special effects as the DJ is due to be joined by Sander van Doorn, Mark Knight, Funkagenda and Michael Woods. 

Techno-trance genius Richie Hawtin promises big things with his brand new concept of the M-Nus presents Enter arena, where the man himself will bring together exciting artists such as Loco Dice, Seth Troxler, Gaiser and Paco Osuna.

The trance will continue in the legendary Cream Arena, where Above and Beyond, Gareth Emery, Markus Schulz, Judge Jules and Mat Zo will hit the decks.

Fans who simply can't stand still when they listen to vocal house will be pleased to hear that Dirty South will be present to get the crowd moving when they perform on the South Stage on Sunday.

After performing through the afternoon at previous Creamfields, Dutch DJ Laidback Luke has worked his way through the ranks and gained himself super DJ status and will be back once again this year with his Super You & Me tent, joined by Steve Aoki, Wolfgang Gartner, Sunnery James and Ryan Marciano.

Old school fans will be pleased to see legend Pete Tong let loose with a set on Sunday with guest DJ Benny Benassi.

Creamfields just wouldn't be Creamfields without dance veteran Annie Mac's tent, and this year she doesn't disappoint with Major Lazer, Erol Alkan, Crookers and Mele all joining her to run a set. 

The hedonistic fabulousness that is Hed Kandi will host the hospitality arena, which sold out almost 3 months in advance in 2011 and is tipped to do the same this year.

CREAMFIELDS 2012 LINE UP

SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST

South Stage
Avicii
Sebastian Ingrosso
Alesso
Cazzette
Norman Doray
Syn Cole

North Stage
David Guetta
Example
Nicky Romero
NERVOU
Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike

Cream in Association with Mixmag
Above & Beyond
Gareth Emery
Markus Schulz
Judge Jules
Mat Zo
Gareth Wyn
Ben Gold
Rob Harnetty

Size Matters
Steve Angello
Pete Tong
AN21 & Max Vangeli
Third Party
Tim Mason
Qulinez
Special Guest: Benny Benassi

Pryda Friends
Eric Prydz
John Digweed
Joris Voorn
Maya Jane Coles
Sébastien Léger
Scuba
Jeremy Olander

BBC Radio 1Xtra
Skrillex
Skream feat. Sgt Pokes
Benga feat. Youngman
Andy C feat. MC GQ
Caspa
Flux Pavilion
Friction
Mistajam
Doctor P
Loadstar feat. MC Texas and Ikay
Koan Sound
Rudimental

Annie Mac Presents
Annie Mac
Major Lazer
Erol Alkan
Crookers
Madeon
Brodinski vs Gesaffelstein
Melé

Fire It Up
Eddie Halliwell
Sander van Doorn
Mark Knight
Funkagenda
Michael Woods
Thomas Gold
Kryder
D.O.D

Hed Kandi Hospitality
Phil Faversham
Sam Cannon
DJ Eibhlin
Sarah Louise
Steve Lewis (Percussion)
Aimee Jay (Saxophone)

SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST

North Stage
deadmau5
Calvin Harris
Zane Lowe
Feed Me
Porter Robinson

Clublife South Stage
Tiësto
Axwell
Dirty South
Hardwell
Tommy Trash
Cream
Paul van Dyk
Ferry Corsten
John O’Callaghan
Simon Patterson
Ørjan Nilsen
Adam Sheridan
Super You&Me
Laidback Luke
Steve Aoki
Wolfgang Gartner
Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano
Zedd
Swanky Tunes

Groove Armada Presents
Groove Armada (DJ Set)
A-Trak
Fake Blood
Jaguar Skills
Alex Metric
Burns
Special Guest: Jacques Lu Cont

Mistajam Presents Speakerbox
Sub Focus Live
Knife Party
Borgore
Shy FX (Stamina MC)
Redlight
16bit
North Base
M-Nus Presents Enter
Richie Hawtin
Loco Dice
Seth Troxler
Gaiser
Paco Osuna
Mixmag Allstars
James Zabiela
Hernan Cattaneo
Nick Curly
Paul Woolford
George Fitzgerald
Mar-T
Anthony Probyn

Hed Kandi Hospitality
Carl Hanaghan
Stephanie Jay
Dave Silcox
Matt Nash
Steve Lewis (Percussion)
Aimee Jay (Saxophone)

FRIDAY 24TH AUGUST (Silent Disco)

That Mixmag Thing
Brookes Brothers
True Tiger
The Prototypes
Mixmag Allstars
UNION
Kissy Sell Out
UNION
Engine-Earz Experiment
Snatch!
Riva Starr
Kim Fai
The Japanese Popstars
Jet Project