Network of Ideas

The View ‘President Obama’ Talks Lindsay Lohan and Justin Bieber

US President Barack Obama has made an appearance on the chat show The View, where, among other, more important things, he also agreed to take on a pop culture quiz. Even President knows of Lindsay Lohan’s stay in jail, though he may not be aware of the existence of Jersey Shore’s Snooki or does not have Justin Bieber’s songs on his iPod. Aside from talking about the economy, the job market and how badly the US has been in recent months, Mr. Obama also found some time to crack a few jokes and laugh a bit with the ladies of The View.

The first question asked of him was whether he knew about Lindsay Lohan’s sentencing and subsequent stay at a prison facility in Lynwood, California, to which he replied in the affirmative. When pushed for details, the President said he could not say exactly how he knew – but he did know that. Another question asked was whether he’d heard the Mel Gibson rant tapes but, since this is a more delicate matter than Lohan’s legal predicament in which she’d gotten herself, Obama refused to get drawn into the debate. When Sherri Shepherd tried to force the words out of his mouth, Obama only said that he hadn’t seen a Mel Gibson film in quite a while, thus completely avoiding the question of whether he thought the actor needed anger management or not.

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Joaquin Phoenix is coming back

There are rumors going around that Joaquin Phoenix has decided to come out of retirement, as Contact Music informs. There is no confirmation of this has yet been made, but fans are already ecstatic about the idea of having Joaquin back where he did so extraordinarily: in front of the camera. In the past, the star has several drunken public appearances, poor live rap performances and after making himself almost unrecognizable by adopting what the media dubbed the “homeless chic” style.

“Joaquin Phoenix’s rap career has been put on hold – he will return to the big screen as Edgar Allan Poe, according to Oscar-winning sound engineer Resul Pookutty. The Walk The Line actor quit Hollywood last year (09), announcing plans to focus on becoming a hip-hop star. He disappeared from the spotlight, only emerging for a string of bizarre TV interviews, which saw him sporting a scraggly beard and giving one-word replies to questions, and a couple of disastrous gigs. However, Slumdog Millionaire sound designer Pookutty has revealed Phoenix is heading back to acting to play iconic American writer and poet Poe,” Contact Music writes.

Yepey another Resident Evil installment

I can’t wait for Alice to return this September 2010 for the fourth installment of Resident Evil, Nightmare on Elm Street. Fans will be happy to learn that they don’t have to wait that much longer to see the first trailer for the fourth film. “Just heard that the teaser for RE4 will come out in front of nightmare on elm street!” Milla tweeted. This means on April 30 in the US. “Resident Evil: Afterlife” arrives in US theaters in September 2010 and also stars “Prison Break” hottie Wentworth Miller, Ali Larter and Shawn Roberts. The film is directed by Paul W.S. Anderson on a script also penned by him.

Also, the second trailer for “Nightmare on Elm Street” had dropped and was causing quite a stir with fans of the original franchise and of horror movies in general. Many were reserved when they first heard that Platinum Dunes was set on coming out with a remake for the first film in the series, saying that there was no way they could make Krueger a believable killer in the actual context. It seems those who had doubts were wrong – at least, judging on the trailer alone.

“Slasher movie fans, Freddy has come for you – in the new trailer for the upcoming remake of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street.’ Freddy Krueger, the demonic killer who lives in teenagers’ dreams is back; but instead of watching a new batch of kids get cut up, we’re getting a not-so-’80s look at how the terrifying story began (luckily the red-and-green sweater remains). The casting of Jackie Earle Haley, as Krueger, is still the most exciting aspect about this project. This just-released trailer is our best look at Haley’s burnt-up, nightmare monster,” MovieFone wrote upon the release of the trailer.

Tiger Woods sponsorships fall down?

According to the latest news of BBC WORLD, Gatorade cut ties following Woods’ admission that he was unfaithful to his wife. The drinks company, owned by PepsiCo, had already discontinued a Tiger Woods-themed drink, Tiger Focus. It follows AT&T and Accenture in ending deals.

A spokeswoman for Gatorade said: “We no longer see a role for Tiger in our marketing efforts and have ended our relationship… We wish him all the best.” Its move comes just one week after the star made a frank public address to a select gathering at PGA Tour headquarters in Florida.

Gatorade is the third company to end its relationship with Mr Woods. Communications company AT&T and corporate services business Accenture previously cut their sponsorship deals. Male grooming business Gillette and luxury watchmaker Tag Heuer have also distanced themselves from him. Car making giant General Motors (GM) also said recently an arrangement that allowed Woods free access to its vehicles was over.

The world’s number one golfer did have an endorsement contract with GM’s Buick brand, but that ended in 2008. Such arrangements made Tiger Woods the world’s wealthiest athlete, estimated to have earned $100m a year in endorsement deals before allegations of infidelity emerged in December of last year. Recent study suggested the total economic damage of the Tiger Woods affair to all involved parties could amount to as much as $12bn.

On the other hand, sports equipment giant Nike, which pays Woods a reported $40m a year, has given its support. And video game maker Electronic Arts is to go ahead with plans to roll out an online game featuring the golfer.

good news for coin collectors

I have been hearing and reading a lot of articles about coins as an investment because of its financial value that increases over time. However, I find it more appropriate to consider coins as collection rather than investment. Of course that is my point of view, others might view it the other way.

Getting the supposedly rare silver coin and gold coin is no longer difficult today. Anyone can now access a complete list of the coins for acquisition at any given time with the help of the internet. A coin dealer or a collector can just log in the web and search for the item that leads to several sites like Monaco Rare Coin that offers these coins. Still ordering the coins is much convenient if the interested parties call the company. From that they will be able to send write-ups, photos and many more, more importantly their inventory.

Collectors and coin dealers already enjoyed the announcement of the US Mint for the America the Beautiful series new program. Tons of fanfare about the list of national parks and sites the new quarters will feature, it was easy to miss the Mint’s same-day introduction of the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins. These new coins feature up to five new designs each year beginning Read the rest of this entry »

Cage financial and legal troubles

Last night news said that, in August this year it emerged that Hollywood actor Nicolas Cage owed $6.2 million in unpaid taxes. Over the weekend, the star was slapped with yet another lawsuit also over money, in which the East West Bank alleged he had defaulted on a $2-million loan, as confirm by E! Online.

The court papers say East West Bank extended Cage a $2-million loan in August 2007, with the loan set to mature one year later. The actor, in his turn, agreed to pay $11,590 per month, the same papers say. However, in May this year, Cage missed payment – and continued to do so for the following months as well, namely June, July, August and September. Seeing how Cage had suddenly become unavailable, East West Bank did the only thing possible to cut some of the loss and took legal action against him.

Oscar winner secured a three-month extension and promptly defaulted on the loan in November 2008, the suit states. At that time, he entered into a change-in-terms agreement that reset the maturity date to pay back $1,953,732.94 for Jan. 23, 2011. Of course, he had to fork over some money before then. But starting in May, according to East West Bank, he stopped making his monthly payments of $11,590.82 – and then missed the Oct. 1 deadline to pay $100,000 in outstanding principal sums and interest.” E! Online says of the actor’s most recent financial and legal troubles. As of now, Nicolas Cage has not been available for comment on either lawsuit.