SpongeBob Christmas special goes stop-motion

LOS ANGELES (AP) — How does “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!” squeeze even more fun out of our porous little hero and the Bikini Bottom gang? By turning the animated characters three-dimensional for their holiday special.

In a tribute to classic fare such as “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” the “SpongeBob SquarePants” crew has been re-imagined as puppets and put through their comedy paces for stop-motion photography.

The story line as dreamed up by Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob, and his musical collaborator Andy Paley: The denizens of Bikini Bottom are suddenly rude because of exposure to jerktonium, a plot by naughty Plankton to get on Santa’s (voiced by guest star John Goodman) nice list.

Plankton “wants to put everyone on their worst behavior when they should be on their best behavior, and zany mayhem ensues,” Kenny said.

“It’s a SpongeBob Christmas!” debuts 9:30 p.m. EST Friday on CBS, followed by an encore on the show’s home network, Nickelodeon, at 7:30 p.m. EST Sunday, Dec. 9.

The first-time foray into stop-motion is a welcome change for the 13-year-old “SpongeBob,” Kenny said.

“It’s fun that after all these years we can still do stuff that’s a little different. It’s like reinventing the wheel a little bit — if you can refer to a square character as a wheel,” he added, unable to resist the quip.

The actor looks back fondly on childhood memories of “Rudolph” from the Rankin-Bass studio and other stop-action projects. Even the TV commercial that put Santa on an electric razor subbing for a sleigh gets a Kenny shoutout.

Asked if young viewers might be fazed by seeing the familiar characters in a new guise, Kenny mulled the question before rebutting it.

“The characters act the same, the recording process is exactly the same. Our job is exactly the same. … There’s still plenty of the animated mayhem and anarchy that happens in the 2-D version of the show.”

Screen Novelties, the Los Angeles studio that produced the Christmas special, made a feast out of the job. In just one of their inventive approaches, filmmakers used fruit-flavored cereal to create a coral reef.

“I came to the studio and they had hundreds of boxes of cereal open and were hot-gluing it together,” Kenny recalled.

The Patrick Star puppet was covered in wool-like material and SpongeBob “wasn’t a sponge but some kind of weird material they found somewhere,” he said. “They’re like ‘MacGyver,’ always repurposing something.”

The TV special has a small element of recycling. Kenny calls it a testament to “a goofy little song” he and Paley wrote three years ago — “Don’t Be a Jerk, (It’s Christmas).”

“Bring joy to the world, it’s the thing to do. But the world does not revolve around you. Don’t be a jerk, it’s Christmas” is among its bouncy yet cautionary verses.

The tune is among a dozen included on the digital release “It’s a SpongeBob Christmas! Album,” most written by Kenny and Paley (a songwriter-producer who’s worked with artists including Brian Wilson and Blondie). Four songs are part of the special.

Music fans might want to check out the album for its craftsmanship. The veterans who play on it include harpist Corky Hale and harmonica player Tommy Morgan, both of whom have backed a roster of big stars, including Billie Holliday and Frank Sinatra.

The recording sessions proved an early holiday gift for Kenny.

“We’d spend a half-hour working and then make the musicians tell stories about who they played with,” he said.

___

Online:

http://spongebob.nick.com/

http://www.cbs.com/

Entertainment News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

S&P 500 gains for fourth session on light volume

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Stocks finished modestly higher on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 up for a fourth session, although volume was one of the year’s lowest on the day ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.

Investors welcomed news that a ceasefire was declared to end the flare-up in violence between Israel and the Palestinians, though the lack of a deal to release emergency aid for Greece limited the market’s advance.

Investors also remained anxious about the mandatory tax increases and spending cuts that would go into effect in the new year if a deal is not reached to prevent it – known as the “fiscal cliff” – though policymakers are not expected to get back to negotiations until after Thursday’s Thanksgiving holiday.

About 4.76 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the Nasdaq and the NYSE MKT, compared with year-to-date daily average volume of 6.5 billion shares. On Thursday, the U.S. stock market will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday, and on Friday, it will close early at 1 p.m. (1800 GMT).

“Usually on patriotic holidays, which I think Thanksgiving is one, we often see a rally on a light volume. So I wouldn’t be surprised if we see that on Friday, if there is no major news,” said J.J. Kinahan, chief derivatives strategist at TD Ameritrade in Chicago.

“So far this week, we have heard good news in terms of (the) fiscal cliff. Both sides seem to be playing nice, but we will start to see big day-to-day swings (in the market) from next week, when we get more details.”

Greece’s international lenders failed again to reach a deal to release emergency aid to the debt-saddled country. Lenders will try again next Monday, but Germany signaled that significant divisions remain.

A truce between Israel and Hamas gave stocks some support around midday after Egypt announced a ceasefire would come into effect later in the day.

Fears that the fiscal cliff discussions in Washington could be drawn out or yield no resolution have been at the forefront of investors’ minds in recent weeks. Combined with concerns about the euro zone’s continued debt problems, the worries had driven a sell-off that has taken more than 5 percent off the S&P 500 since Election Day in early November.

Positive comments from U.S. politicians that they will work to find common ground have helped the S&P 500 recoup some of that loss in recent sessions.

The Dow Jones industrial average <.DJI> gained 48.38 points, or 0.38 percent, to end at 12,836.89. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index <.SPX> added 3.22 points, or 0.23 percent, to finish at 1,391.03. The Nasdaq Composite Index <.IXIC> rose 9.87 points, or 0.34 percent, to close at 2,926.55.

St Jude Medical shares tumbled 12.2 percent to $ 31.37 after an inspection report from health regulators raised new safety concerns about one of the company’s leads that are used with implantable defibrillators, analysts said.

A modest gain in International Business Machines helped the Dow outperform the other indexes. IBM rose 0.6 percent to $ 190.29.

Dow component Hewlett-Packard Co climbed 2 percent to close on Wednesday at $ 11.94, recouping a small slice of Tuesday’s loss, when the stock slid to a 10-year low after the computer and printer maker reported a $ 5 billion charge related to “accounting improprieties” at Autonomy, a British software company that HP bought last year. At least two brokerages have cut their ratings on HP’s stock, while analysts at several firms lowered their price targets.

Salesforce.com Inc jumped 8.8 percent to $ 158.78 a day after the business software provider reported results that beat Wall Street‘s expectations for the third quarter and maintained its outlook for the rest of the year.

But Deere & Co dragged on the S&P 500 after the world’s largest farm equipment maker reported a weaker-than-expected quarterly profit. Its stock lost 3.7 percent to $ 82.83.

The market did not derive much direction from the day’s economic data, with initial jobless claims falling last week, as expected.

Other data showed manufacturing picked up at its quickest pace in five months in November, while the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final reading for November showed the consumer sentiment index improved only slightly from the previous month.

The focus will likely turn to retailers on Friday as analysts try to assess how strong the holiday shopping season will be this year, according to Kurt Brunner, portfolio manager at Swarthmore Group in Philadelphia.

The S&P 500 retail sector index <.SPXRT> was up 0.6 percent.

Holiday shopping traditionally kicks off the day after Thanksgiving, known as Black Friday, as stores offer deals and discounts to lure consumers.

Advancers beat decliners by a ratio of about 2 to 1 on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.

(Editing by Jan Paschal)

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

HSBC China flash PMI at 13-month high as growth quickens

BEIJING (Reuters) – China‘s vast manufacturing sector saw expansion accelerate in November for the first time in 13 months, preliminary results from a factory survey showed, a sign that the pace of economic growth has revived after seven consecutive quarters of slowdown.

The China HSBC Flash Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) rose to a 13-month high of 50.4 in November, the latest indicator of recovery in the real economy after data showing solid credit growth, firmer exports and rising industrial output in the previous month.

A sub-index measuring output rose to 51.3, also the highest since October 2011.

“This reflects that conditions for smaller firms, especially exporters, are looking up,” said Li Wei, a Shanghai-based economist for Standard Chartered. “The consensus in the market is already for a small, gradual improvement.”

An uptick in key economic activity indicators in October, following encouraging signs in September, cemented the view of many analysts and investors that a rebound in the world’s second largest economy gathered momentum as it entered the fourth quarter, thanks to a raft of pro-growth policies rolled out by the government over recent months.

China is currently shuffling its senior officials after the seven top leaders of the ruling Communist Party were selected at a congress last week. The new appointments should end months of uncertainty in the highest ranks, although economic policy is not expected to change abruptly in the near-term.

Even before the congress, the central bank had moved to ease liquidity by pumping short-term cash into money markets rather than resorting to the interest rate cuts or reduction in banks’ required reserve ratios that many investors had expected.

STEADY THROUGH YEAR-END

This month’s PMI reading above 50 is likely to be seen as a turning point by the market, particularly if it is born out by the final reading due on December 1 and by official indicators.

Asian shares <.MIAPJ0000PUS> extended gains slightly after the data to stand up nearly 1 percent on the day and the Australian dollar, sensitive to demand from the biggest customer for Australia’s resources, rose as far as $ 1.04.

“This confirms that the economic recovery continues to gain momentum towards the year-end,” Qu Hongbin, chief China economist at index sponsor HSBC, said in a statement accompanying the data.

“However, it is still the early stage of recovery and global economic growth remains fragile. This calls for a continuation of policy easing to strengthen the recovery.”

With a one-month exception in October 2011, the HSBC PMI — which largely reflects the private manufacturing sector — has remained stubbornly below the 50-point level separating accelerating from slowing growth since June 2011.

Unlike the patchy results seen in previous months, in November almost all the sub-indices in the HSBC survey concurred in showing an improving economy.

The one exception was a fall in the sub-index measuring output prices, demonstrating that manufacturers are still struggling with overcapacity and relatively weak domestic demand.

That could also reflect the weight in the survey of exporting firms, which have less ability to raise sales prices, said Standard Chartered’s Li.

Indeed, China’s exporters are increasingly squeezed by rising domestic costs and competition from new international suppliers, Zhou Haijiang, head of Chinese textile exporter Hodo Group, told reporters this month.

“Not only Western countries manufacture industrial goods, but also a lot of developing countries including former socialist countries who now have market economies are all exporting, thus creating a global surplus that cannot be changed,” Zhou said.

“Because of this it is hard to raise sales prices, everyone is selling and it is hard for manufactured goods prices to rise. In some cases prices have even fallen.”

Analysts expect no further cuts to interest rates this year or next after back-to-back cuts in June and July, and only one more 50 basis point cut to banks’ required reserve ratios (RRR) in 2012 after three since late 2011 that have freed an estimated 1.2 trillion yuan for new lending.

Chinese banks are on course to make new loans worth more than 8.5 trillion yuan ($ 1.4 trillion) in 2012, expansionary versus the 7.5 trillion of new loans extended in 2011 and above the 8 trillion yuan that sources told Reuters back in February was the target for 2012.

Total social financing aggregate, a broad measure of liquidity in the economy, weakened to 1.29 trillion yuan in October, down from 1.65 trillion yuan in September, but still remained on track to hit a record 14 trillion yuan this year.

China also opened many previously-closed sectors to private investment with a view to funding new infrastructure projects and supporting economic growth without piling on more debt that local governments can ill-afford.

Although analysts expect fourth quarter GDP growth to outpace the 7.4 percent seen in the third quarter, full-year expansion for 2012 is expected to be the slowest in 13 years.

(Editing by Alex Richardson)

Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

NJ jury convicts NY man in iPad data breach case

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — A federal jury on Tuesday convicted a man of illegally gaining access to AT&T‘s servers and stealing more than 120,000 email addresses of iPad users including New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and film mogul Harvey Weinstein.

Andrew Auernheimer, of New York, was convicted of identity theft and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers. Each count carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.

Prosecutors said the former Fayetteville, Ark., resident was part of an online group that tricked AT&T’s website into divulging email addresses including those of Bloomberg, Weinstein, then-White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel, who’s now Chicago’s mayor, and other celebrities.

The group then shared the addresses with the website Gawker, which published them in redacted form accompanying a news article about the breach, prosecutors said.

A second man arrested with Auernheimer early last year, Daniel Spitler, of San Francisco, pleaded guilty that June.

At the time of the arrests, U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said there was no evidence the men used the swiped information for criminal purposes. But authorities cautioned that it could have wound up in the hands of spammers and scam artists.

According to court papers, the men used a computer script they called the iPad3G Account Slurper to fool AT&T’s servers into thinking they were communicating with an iPad. The theft of the email addresses occurred in June 2010.

Prosecutors said at the time of Auernheimer’s arrest that he had bragged about the operation in a blog posting and in an interview with CNET published online after the Gawker article. Court papers also quoted him declaring in a New York Times article: “I hack, I ruin, I make piles of money. I make people afraid for their lives.”

Auernheimer, after he was charged and released on bail, had declined to comment.

iPad maker Apple Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., referred questions to AT&T, which acknowledged a security weak spot on a website that exposed the email addresses. AT&T said the vulnerability affected only iPad users who signed up for its 3G wireless Internet service and said it had fixed the problem.

Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Watch: Baby With Outside Heart Saved by Surgeons

Home > Video > Health > Health News

Baby With Outside Heart Saved by Surgeons

Baby With Outside Heart Saved by Surgeons

Doctors in Houston reconstructed Audrina’s chest to make room for her heart.

A Day in the Life of Immigration Equality

A Day in the Life of Immigration Equality

Organization provides LGBT immigrants and asylum seekers with legal counsel and advocates for reform.

Teen Gymnast Paralyzed During Practice

Teen Gymnast Paralyzed During Practice

Jacoby Miles, 15, lost feeling from the chest down after landing on her neck at practice.

Great Apes Also Get the Mid-Life Crisis

Great Apes Also Get the Mid-Life Crisis

New research shows getting older is not so great for apes either.

Young Boys Exercising to Extremes

Young Boys Exercising to Extremes

A new study in the Journal Pediatrics shows an alarming number of boys using steroids.

Paralyzed Dogs Walk Again With Nose Cell Transplant

Paralyzed Dogs Walk Again With Nose Cell Transplant

Results of Cambridge University study show how mobility is restored to the legs.

RAINN Urges Young Sexual Assault Victims to Tell

RAINN Urges Young Sexual Assault Victims to Tell

Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network campaign helps survivors of child sexual abuse.

Miss America Contestant to Undergo Double Mastectomy

Miss America Contestant to Undergo Double Mastectomy

Miss D.C. Allyn Rose discusses preventative procedure to avoid breast cancer.

Robin Roberts Bone-Marrow Transplant Update: Day 60

Robin Roberts Bone-Marrow Transplant Update: Day 60

The “GMA” Anchor wrote about how she is doing after a brief stay back in the hospital.

Maine Man Hiccups for 13 Days and Counting

Maine Man Hiccups for 13 Days and Counting

Doctors struggle to find a cure for the man’s non-stop hiccups.

Miss America Contestant to Undergo Double Mastectomy

Miss America Contestant to Undergo Double Mastectomy

Genetically predisposed to cancer, Allyn Rose, 24, elects to take preventative measure after January pageant.

Woman Gives Birth to Largest Triplets Ever

Woman Gives Birth to Largest Triplets Ever

California mother gives birth to heaviest triplets on record, weighing a combined 20 pounds.

Health News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Leading economic indicator rises in October

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A gauge of future U.S. economic activity rose marginally in October, pointing to modest growth in the near term.

The Conference Board said on Wednesday its Leading Economic Index increased 0.2 percent to 96.0 after advancing 0.5 percent in September. It was the second consecutive month of gains and was in line with economists’ expectations.

“Based on the trends, the economy will continue to expand modestly through the early months of 2013,” said Ken Goldstein, an economist at the Conference Board.

Goldstein said superstorm Sandy, which ravaged the East Coast at the end of October, was not yet fully reflected in the LEI data. He cautioned, however, that the storm could adversely affect consumer spending and home building in the short-term.

“In addition, the outcome of the fiscal cliff debates is another factor that could alter the outlook,” said Goldstein.

The fiscal cliff refers to automatic government spending cuts and higher taxes that could suck about $ 600 billion from the economy early next year. Business confidence has taken a dive in recent months on fears of tighter fiscal policy.

(Reporting By Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci)

Economy News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Greek PM presses for deal on loan

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has reacted with dismay to the European Union‘s failure to agree to release vital rescue loan funds for the debt-ridden country, with the prime minister warning it was not just Greece’s future that hangs in the balance.

The delay prolongs uncertainty over the future of Greece, which faces a messy default that would threaten the entire euro currency used by 17 EU nations.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed that Greece has done what its creditors from the EU and International Monetary Fund required. “Our partners, along with the IMF, also must do what they have committed to doing,” he said.

He said that “it is not just the future of our country, but the stability of the entire eurozone” that depend on the success of negotiations in coming days.

Europe News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Greek PM presses for deal on loan

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece has reacted with dismay to the European Union‘s failure to agree to release vital rescue loan funds for the debt-ridden country, with the prime minister warning it was not just Greece’s future that hangs in the balance.

The delay prolongs uncertainty over the future of Greece, which faces a messy default that would threaten the entire euro currency used by 17 EU nations.

Prime Minister Antonis Samaras stressed that Greece has done what its creditors from the EU and International Monetary Fund required. “Our partners, along with the IMF, also must do what they have committed to doing,” he said.

He said that “it is not just the future of our country, but the stability of the entire eurozone” that depend on the success of negotiations in coming days.

Europe News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Kopp: Impostor filed motion in NY Facebook case

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — Lawyers fighting a New York man’s ownership claim against Facebook Inc. say a bizarre motion bearing the name of convicted abortion doctor killer James Charles Kopp earlier this month was apparently filed by an impostor.

In court papers, Facebook lawyers say they received a sworn statement from the imprisoned Kopp Monday denying he’s filed any motion in Paul Ceglia‘s lawsuit. An accompanying letter from Kopp to the federal judge handling the case says someone is impersonating him.

The motion signed with Kopp’s name had sought permission to intervene in Ceglia’s lawsuit while accusing Ceglia of a litany of personal slights, threats and crimes. Kopp’s serving life in prison for the 1998 killing of Dr. Barnett Slepian in suburban Buffalo.

Facebook says the Kopp motion, even if it’s real, should be denied.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne to reprise roles for “Insidious” sequel

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) – FilmDistrict, Alliance Films and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will bring “Insidious Chapter 2,” the sequel to last year’s hit film “Insidious,” to U.S. theaters on August 30, 2013, the companies announced Monday.

Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye and Ty Simpkins will reprise their roles in the film, which “Insidious” director James Wan will direct from a script written by Leigh Whannell who also wrote the first film.

Jason Blum, who produced “Insidious,” is producing the low-budget sequel through his Blumhouse Productions. Brian Kavanaugh Jones, Oren Peli, Steven Schneider, and Charles Layton are executive producing. Production on the sequel is set to begin on January 15 in Los Angeles.

Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions acquired the U.S. rights to the film in conjunction with FilmDistrict. The film is being financed by Alliance Films. FilmDistrict will distribute the film theatrically in the United States, with Sony handling the majority of ancillary rights in the U.S.

Alliance Films will distribute in Canada, the U.K. (via its Momentum Pictures subsidiary) and Spain (via Aurum), and Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions will distribute in all other international territories.

Peter Schlessel, FilmDistrict’s CEO, said: “We are all very excited to see the next chapter of James and Leigh’s vision of the Further. It’s great to be in business again with Blumhouse, Alliance and Sony.”

Movies News Headlines – Yahoo! News

Read More..