From Montana to France, 12 Towns For Sale

By SUSANNA KIM
June 27, 2012 

As home prices are slowly edging up in various parts of the country, the housing slump may be reaching its end, which may be good news for the owners of the town of Pray, Mont.

The town is available for sale through Internet bidding and will have a live auction on Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. mountain daylight time. The minimum starting bid is $100,000.

Here are 12 towns that have been for sale:

Pray, Montana

Located 22 miles from Livingston, Mont. and 30 miles from Yellowstone National Park, the town of Pray is on sale for $1.4 million. Sitting on five acres, the town is named after the congressman Charles M. Pray, who helped officially incorporate the town, which has been privately owned since it was founded in 1909. The current owner and mayor since 2007, Barbara Walker, is a professional photographer whose business has become more mobile, reported the Aspen Business Journal. Mason and Morse Ranch Company has the listing.


Henry River Mill Village, North Carolina

Henry River Mill Village, N.C., is on sale for $1.4 million after being used as the set of the downtrodden community of District 12 in the film "The Hunger Games." Wade Shepherd, 83, is selling the 72-acre property, with 22 buildings. The mill burned down in 1977, but no matter to die-hard fans of the book by Suzanne Collins and the film, which topped the box office for three straight weeks.

"Day and night, they're driving through, taking pictures, getting out and walking," Shepherd told the Associated Press about the film's fans. "I'm just bombarded with people."

Shepherd said the home is available for auction through Hollywood Treasure, the Syfy channel show, until July 31. However, Shepherd said he is authorized to sell it on his own before then.

He said the most recent interested party is based in New York.

"If you have anyone with a briefcase of money, send them my way," Shepherd told ABC News.

The village is about 70 miles east of Asheville and south of the town of Hildebran and Interstate 40.


Toomsboro, Georgia

On sale for $2.5 million, the town of Toomsboro, Ga. is about halfway between Atlanta and Savannah.

David Bumgardner, a developer in south Georgia, is trying to sell 28 properties in the town, which has 700 residents. Bumgardner purchased over 50 acres from preservationist Bill Lucado and through an auction about a decade ago, the Associated Press reported.

About 119 miles southwest of Atlanta and 137 miles northeast of Savannah, Toomsboro may be ideal for a movie production company that needs a set, Lucado told the AP. Lucado said he is now working for Bumgardner to help sell the properties.

Lucado calls it an "almost complete town from the early 19th century" in "amazing" condition.

The town has an old opera house that seats 500 people, a barber shop, and a hotel with 18 bedrooms and baths built in the 1880s. Lucado said it is in "immaculate, A-1 condition," with over $1 million in restoration work. The town also has an old bank with brass teller cages that is "off the charts."

The town also includes an operating grist mill, syrup mill, cotton warehouse, railroad station and about a dozen houses.


Courbefy, France

The French village of Courbefy, 280 miles southwest of Paris, was up for auction in February for an asking price of $400,000, or 300,000 euro, but no one bid. But an American buyer bought the property for about $649,594, (520,000 euro), from the French Bank Credit Agricole.

Ahae, a South Korean-born photographer based in New York, purchased the property in an auction on May 21, the Guardian reported. Ahae, who did not disclose his plans for the property, did not immediately return a request for comment.

His photography exhibition opens at the Louvre Museum in Paris on Wednesday.

Credit Agricole previously held the mortgage to this French hamlet after its owners, who had run a luxury hotel and restaurant, stopped making payments and abandoned it around 2008. The property has a tennis court, horse stable, more than a dozen buildings and a swimming pool. The village's 12th century chapel, however, is not for sale.


Buford, Wyoming

Called "the nation's smallest town" at about 10 acres, Buford, Wyo. was auctioned on April 5 for $900,000. Don Sammons, Buford's only resident, sold the town through Williams and Williams, an auction company.

Bidding for Buford, 28 miles west of Cheyenne and just north of the border with Colorado, began at $100,000. Included in the sale were the Buford Trading Post, which is a convenience store and gas station, U.S. post office boxes, a cellular tower with lease, five buildings and about 10 acres of land.

Reported to be the second-oldest town in Wyoming, Buford was built in 1866 for workers building a railroad but the population, once 2,000, plummeted when the railroad bypassed the town, Williams and Williams reported.

The Sammons family moved from Los Angeles to Buford in 1980 after Don Sammons bought the town's trading post in 1992, the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle reported.


Monse, Wash.

Set between Seattle and Spokane, the small mountain town of Monse, Wash., was on sale for $575,000 in 2003. The town had an old schoolhouse, seven houses, a general store and a post office. But even with views of the Okanogan River and several serious offers, it remained unsold for years until the town's owners split up the 60 acres of land it into parcels.

Donna and Fritz Van Doren decided to sell the land when they moved out of Monse, according to the Associated Press. One family bought six acres of land in 2006 "for peace and quiet and to get out of the rat race."


Scenic, South Dakota

The 46 acres around Scenic, S.D., were on sale for two years with an asking price of $3 million until the price dropped to $799,000 in July 2011. The owner, rodeo legend Twila Merrill, had bought the land slowly over several decades but she and her family decided to sell because of her declining health.

In August, the Iglesia ni Cristo church, established in the Philippines in 1914, bought the 12-acre town and surrounding land, but the group has not made its plans known.

David Olsen, the Coldwell Banker real estate selling agent in Rapid City for Merrill, said there is someone from the church living in the town and making basic repairs. Though Scenic has had a relatively mild winter without much snow, it is still difficult to move dirt because the ground is frozen.

"Come spring, we'll see a lot of activity," Olsen told ABC News.

There's still a post office in the town, according to a spokesman for the U.S. Postal Service. No decision has been made if it will close; there is a moratorium on office closings until May 15.


Garryowen, Montana

In January 2008, Chris Kortlander, owner of Garryowen, near the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument, announced plans to sell the town and the Elizabeth Bacon Custer Manuscript Archive for $6.5 million.

Garryowen comprised part of Sitting Bull's camp in 1876 when the Battle of the Little Bighorn began. Sioux and Cheyenne Indians defeated five companies of the 7th Cavalry under Lt. Col. George Custer.

The property includes a trading post, museum, office complex, bed and breakfast, post office, gas station, restaurant and a 4,000-square-foot residence, according to the Associated Press.

Kortlander has been in a protracted legal battle with the government which has raided his memorabilia for alleged dealings in fraudulent artifacts. No charges were filed and the government dropped its investigation in 2009.


The Grove, Texas

Founded in 1859, The Grove was a farming community until it became a ghost town after a highway was re-routed away from it in the 1930s because some residents wanted less traffic. An antique collector, Moody Anderson, bought the old buildings in 1972 and opened the Country Life Museum there. Anderson attracted tourists but failed to attract eBay bidders in 2008. Instead, he held a sale through the Burley Auction Group and a woman from San Jose, Calif., whose grandfather formerly owned the town's general store, bought it for $200,000, the San Jose Mercury News reported.


Eustis, Florida

It may not be an entire town, but the Orlando Sentinel reported in October 2008, that downtown Eustis, Fla., was on sale for $7.8 million on eBay in October 2008.

The Lake Community Foundation listed the 11-acre property in the lakefront city. There were no serious offers. The foundation received the property in 2003 after the previous owner, a hospital, moved to a neighboring town. Soon, the collapse of the real estate market led to difficulties in developing the land.

Virginia Barker, executive director of the charitable foundation, told ABC News four city blocks are still for sale, three of which cost around $1 million each.


Rocky Bar, Idaho

In June 2007, half of the ghost town of Rocky Bar, Idaho, sold for $250,000. The buyer was Michael Ciluaga, a construction company owner from Boise. He got 8.9 acres of land, a hotel, mine, wading pool, town jail plus timber and mineral rights, the Associated Press reported.

Ciluaga told the AP he wants to restore the old buildings, which date back to the 19th century, with the help of preservationists.

"I'm a third-generation Boisean," Ciluaga said. "When I read the story about it being for sale, I knew immediately that I wanted it."


Palisade, Nevada
An unnamed buyer bought Palisade, Nev., in an auction for $150,000 in 2005. The 160-acre town was once a railroad connection for nearby mines and included a cemetery, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Located halfway between Reno and Salt Lake City, the town is 135 years old. The town emptied out after activity at the nearby mines ceased.

The Chronicle said the biggest event that may have happened in the town was, according to local legend, the possible attempted assassination of President Herbert Hoover in 1932. The local Gazette paper reported that as Hoover was making his way to Palo Alto, Calif.: "On the way, three miles west of Palisade, Nevada, a watchman found 22 sticks of dynamite near the trestle the train would pass over a few minutes before Hoover's arrival. Two men skirmished with the watchman and fled, and the plot to kill the president was foiled."

(via ABC News)

Birth mom: I raised questions about Jerry Sandusky

Nearly two decades before Matt Sandusky's blockbuster allegation that he was sexually abused by his adoptive father, his biological mother raised questions about their relationship.

Debra Long fought the court system over her son's placement in the home of the famed Penn State assistant football coach, who was convicted Friday of sexually abusing 10 boys. Her objections, which she discussed in a December interview with The Associated Press, add a new dimension to the grim trial testimony that illustrated how Sandusky wooed the victims he culled from his charity for at-risk youth.

Prosecutors said Sandusky used gifts, trips and access to Penn State's vaunted football program to attract and abuse vulnerable boys he met through the charity, The Second Mile. "If they'd have listened, these boys didn't have to be abused," Long said. "They would have found the problem back then, and a whole lot of kids wouldn't be victims now."

Instead, she said, "we couldn't get anything done. It was Jerry Sandusky. He started The Second Mile home. He could've done nothing wrong." Matt Sandusky said that Jerry Sandusky, once Hall of Fame coach Joe Paterno's heir apparent, began sexually abusing him in the late 1980s, when he was 8 years old, and continued until he was 15, according to a police interview recording that NBC aired Tuesday.

He was placed in foster care with the Sandusky family in January 1995, about a month after he set fire to a barn and several months after Long tried to cut him off from Sandusky and The Second Mile. Matt Sandusky, who was adopted after he turned 18, described for investigators showering with the ex-coach and trying to avoid being groped in bed, according to the police recording. He said he was undergoing therapy, that his memories of abuse were only now surfacing and that he was coming forward so his family would know what happened.

His attorneys confirmed the recording's authenticity to the AP, but declined to comment beyond a statement. "Although the tape was released without Matt's knowledge or permission, it illustrates that he made the difficult decision to come forward and tell the painful truth to investigators despite extraordinary pressure to support his father," the lawyers, Justine Andronici and Andrew Shubin, wrote in the statement.

Jerry Sandusky hasn't been charged with abusing his son. Unless Matt Sandusky alleges rape, which he didn't do in the police recording, the ex-coach cannot be charged criminally based on his son's accusations, because of the statute of limitations.

In the December interview with the AP, Long said that Sandusky was pushy, was controlling and estranged Matt from his birth family — but that Centre County's court system ignored her concerns because of Sandusky's stature.

Long did not return several messages left for her on Monday and Tuesday. Records provided to AP by Long in December show that after Matt Sandusky attempted suicide in 1996, his probation officer wrote, "The probation department has some serious concerns about the juvenile's safety and his current progress in placement with the Sandusky family."

Despite those concerns, probation and child welfare officials recommended continued placement with the Sandusky family, and the judge overseeing his case agreed. Centre County President Judge Thomas Kistler, who joined the bench in 1997 and was not involved in Matt Sandusky's juvenile case, said he saw "legitimate questions" about the decision to keep Long's son in the Sandusky home, but "I can't shed any light on them."

Speaking generally, he said nearly every birth parent objects when the state decides to remove a child from the home. "These kinds of decisions made by judges and social workers are very emotionally charged. I don't think the parents have ever agreed with me on any of the cases where I've taken the kids," he said.

In the early years of his relationship with Jerry Sandusky, Matt would hide behind a bedroom door and beg his mother to tell the coach he wasn't home when he spotted Sandusky pulling in the driveway, Long said.

Her son never said why. "Nobody could ever get that out of him. But then again, Matt was afraid of Jerry," she said. Long said Matt was a good kid but began acting out after Sandusky entered the picture, and his behavior got progressively worse. She became alarmed by Sandusky's controlling behavior and tried to stop visitation in the fall of 1994.

But Sandusky continued taking Matt out of school, without her knowledge or consent, she said. "I didn't like his treatment of Matt," she said. "I thought he was a little too possessive, and it was my son, not his son."

In early December 1994, Matt set fire to a barn. He spent his 16th birthday, on Dec. 26, in juvenile detention. On Jan. 6, 1995, records show, he was placed in foster care — with the Sandusky family. Long said she knew Matt would be placed in a Second Mile foster home but didn't think it would be with the Sandusky family. Of all the foster families in Centre County, "he had to end up with that one," she said. It struck her as odd.

"Jerry told Matt that he had a judge ready to sign the order and nobody could stop it," she said. "He told Matt before we ever went to court that I wouldn't win against him. Matt came right to me and told me, he said, 'Mom, Jerry said you wouldn't win against him.'"

Long was initially limited to a half-day a month with her son. Her lawyer repeatedly petitioned the judge for greater access. Matt attempted suicide in March 1996, swallowing 80 to 100 pills, according to the probation department report.

He referred to it in the recent police interview. "I know that I really wanted to die at that point in time," he said. But he nevertheless indicated he wanted to remain in the Sandusky home. "I would like to be placed back with the Sandusky's, I feel that they have supported me even when I have messed up," Matt Sandusky wrote shortly after the suicide attempt. "They are a loving caring group of people."

Long said she once called the Sandusky house when Matt's biological brother, Ronald, was in an accident. She said Sandusky's wife, Dottie, answered the phone and said, "What are you calling him for? It's no longer his brother."

"I said, 'I'm sorry, but the same blood courses through his veins (that) courses through his brother's veins. They're not separated by a name change,'" Long recalled. "She was downright rude." The AP was unable to contact Dottie Sandusky.

Jerry and Dottie Sandusky couldn't conceive children, according to his autobiography, and adopted six children. None of the other five has commented on their father's legal case or Matt Sandusky's allegations. Messages left for them were not returned.

Matt Sandusky said, according to the NBC recording, that he decided to come forward after publicly standing by his dad, for his family, "so that they can really have closure and see what the truth actually is. And just to right the wrong, honestly, of going to the grand jury and lying."

(via Mail.com)

Partial Refund for Woman Forced to Fly Next to Corpse

By Genevieve Shaw Brown
Jun 25, 2012 2:26pm

A woman who was forced to sit next to a deceased man for several hours on a Kenya Airways flight from Amsterdam to Tanzania has been given a partial refund by the airline. And apparently, that suits her just fine.

The Australian, citing an article in the Swedish tabloid Expressen, reported Lena Pettersson, a journalist, boarded the flight and noticed a man sweating and having seizures.  Despite this, the plane took off and the man died during the overnight flight.

The cabin crew reportedly laid the body across three seats and covered him, “but left his legs and feet sticking out.” With no where else for her to sit, Pettersson was forced to sit across the aisle from the deceased man for the rest of the flight.

“Of course it was unpleasant, but I am not a person who makes a fuss,” the paper quotes Pettersson as saying.

She complained to the airline and was compensated with a refund for half the price of her flight.

A woman who found maggots in her in-flight snack on a Qantas flight was also offered half the cost of her airfare, plus access to the club lounge on her next Qantas flight.

(via ABC News)

Erika Slezak's 1995, 1996, & 2004 Emmy Wins

Erika Slezak was robbed tonight, in my opinion. She totally should have won and I'm not just saying that because One Life to Live has ended. But what's done is done and it can't be changed.

I was searching around Youtube and came across these videos featuring her 1995, 1996, and record breaking 2004 Emmy wins.

A Nice View of Boston

The view from one of the windows of the Feldburg Building at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center

 
© 2012 David Larsson

'Devious Maids': Lifetime Orders Marc Cherry Series Starring Susan Lucci

Posted: 06/22/2012 5:31 pm

The maids are about to get devious on Lifetime. The female-centric network has ordered Marc Cherry's "Devious Maids" to series after ABC passed on the pilot.

“We are thrilled to be getting into business with one of entertainment’s true visionaries," Lifetime said in statement. "This show and Marc Cherry’s unique story telling voice perfectly articulate Lifetime’s strategy of attracting top-tier creatives with their most original and exciting projects.”

Lifetime, which had been rumored to be in talks to pick up the series, will air 13 episodes of the series with a 2013 launch. The series follows the lives of five maids, "with ambition and dreams of their own while they work for the rich and famous in Beverly Hills," according to Lifetime. "Devious Maids" stars Ana Ortiz ("Ugly Betty"), Judy Reyes ("Scrubs"), Dania Ramirez ("Heroes"), Roselyn Sanchez ("Without a Trace"), Edy Ganem ("Livin’ Loud"), Grant Show ("Melrose Place"), Brianna Brown ("Homeland"), Rebecca Wisocky ("American Horror Story"), Tom Irwin ("Grey’s Anatomy"), Mariana Klaveno ("True Blood"), Brett Cullen ("Damages"), Drew Van Acker ("Pretty Little Liars") and "All My Children" veteran Susan Lucci.

“Marc Cherry is a visionary, and we are honored to share his newest inspiration, 'Devious Maids,' with Lifetime,” Barry Jossen, executive vice president of creative and production at ABC Studios, said in a statement. "'Devious Maids' is a perfect series for ABC Studios to continue its successful collaboration with the incredibly talented team at Lifetime."

The show earned a bit of criticism about its depiction of the Latino community, but Eva Longoria told HuffPost that the show is "a reality so why not tell their story and their point of view ... I think people really need to look at the paradigm of television and go, 'This is a very powerful medium for Latinos to have a voice. Let's support it so that they will make more of these.'"

(via The Huffington Post)

Texas father who killed daughter's attacker won't face charges

By Jim Forsyth 
SAN ANTONIO | Tue Jun 19, 2012 8:29pm EDT
  
(Reuters) - A grand jury has declined to bring charges against a Texas father who said he beat to death a man who was attempting to sexually assault his 5-year-old daughter, officials said on Tuesday. 

The father, whose name has not been released because he has not been charged with a crime, told police he heard his daughter's screams and ran to a secluded area where he found her under attack by Jesus Flores, 47, who worked for the family.

The father, 23, admitted to Lavaca County Sheriff Micah Harmon and a Texas Ranger investigating the case that he beat Flores to death to protect his child during the incident earlier this month, authorities said.

The case received national attention and focused interest on exactly how far a person could go to prevent a violent crime from happening to a child.

"The Texas Rangers and the Lavaca County Sheriff completed an extensive investigation into the death of Jesus Flores, and the evidence showed that the use of deadly force was justified," District Attorney Heather McMinn said on Tuesday.

"The five year old had injuries consistent with what her father witnessed."
In the dramatic call to 9-1-1 the father made, he frantically tells the dispatcher, "I need an ambulance! This guy was raping my daughter, and I beat him up, and I don't know what to do!"

(Editing By Barbara Goldberg and Mohammad Zargham)

(via Reuters)

Like Something Out of The Twilight Zone

With temperatures the way they've been these past couple of days, I couldn't help but be reminded of The Twilight Zone episode, "The Midnight Sun".

No money for forced sterilization victims in NC

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The first serious proposal to compensate victims of forced sterilization failed Wednesday when North Carolina legislators said they were not approving any money for them. One ardent supporter declared: "At this point, I have lost all hope."

The effort to give each victim $50,000 passed the House, but the Senate never gave the measure consideration. Republican leaders in that chamber said the state didn't have the money in such a tight budget year to make up for misguided, decades-old procedures. Legislators also feared paying the victims would lead other groups, such as descendants of slaves, to seek reparations.

"If you could lay the issue to rest, it might be one thing. But I'm not so sure it would lay the issue at rest because if you start compensating people who have been 'victimized' by past history, I don't know where that would end," Republican Sen. Austin Allran said.

Most states had eugenics programs but abandoned those efforts after World War II when such practices became closely associated with Nazi Germany's attempts to achieve racial purity. Scientists also debunked the assumption that "defective" humans could be weeded out of the population.

North Carolina stood out because it actually ramped up its program after the war. Between 1929 and 1974, North Carolina forcibly sterilized about 7,600 people whom the state deemed "feeble-minded" or otherwise undesirable. Many were poor black women.

A group set up to help North Carolina victims estimated up to 1,800 were still living, though it had only verified 146 people. The N.C. Justice for Sterilization Victims Foundation held numerous public hearings over the past year on whether to compensate the victims and how much to give them. At the hearings, victims voiced the pain of being sterilized and said their anger hadn't abated with time.

"That's the only thing I hated about being operated on, 'cause I couldn't have kids," Willis Lynch, 77, who was sterilized at 14, said at a hearing last year. "It's always been in the back of my mind."

Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue set aside $10 million in her proposed budget for the victims. She had the backing of Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis, but couldn't muster support from key Republican senators.

The compensation was considered a failure when legislators agreed to a state budget plan that didn't include any money for the victims. The budget plan still needs approval from both chambers. Any compensation would need to be in that package.

Tillis said he considered the rejection a personal failure on his part. He and other legislators said they would keep fighting for compensation. One of the measure's biggest supporters, Democratic Rep. Earline Parmon, said she was ashamed to be a part of the General Assembly.

"I'm appalled that the North Carolina Senate today took no action to compensate the victims that we as a state robbed of their rights to reproduce and to have children," Parmon said. "At this point, I have lost all hope."

Parmon became the lead champion of the bill after Rep. Larry Womble, who led the fight for 11 years, was critically injured in a car wreck that killed another man. He returned to the Legislature last month, pleading with a committee from his wheelchair to approve the bill.

Allran, the Republican senator, said the timing was not right. "The state has no money anyway and the teachers would like to have a pay raise, and state employees would like to have a pay raise and you're dealing with a $250 million shortfall in Medicaid," Allran said.

Republican Sen. Don East said last week would not change anything. "You just can't rewrite history. It was a sorry time in this country," East said. "I'm so sorry it happened, but throwing money don't change it, don't make it go away. It still happened."

People as young as 10 were sterilized, in some cases for not getting along with schoolmates, or for being promiscuous. Although officials obtained consent from patients or their guardians, many did not understand what they were signing.

One of the most outspoken victims, Elaine Riddick of Atlanta, has said she was raped and then sterilized after giving birth to a son when she was 14. Riddick said she planned legal action, but she has already been to court once. In 1983, a jury rejected victims' claims that they had been wrongfully deprived of their right to bear children. Ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the case.

"I have given North Carolina a chance to justify what they had wronged," she said Wednesday. "These people here don't care about these victims. ... I will die before I let them get away with this."

Associated Press writer Gary D. Robertson contributed to this report.

(via Mail.com)

Disney animates Oswald the Lucky Rabbit sketches

The original sketches for one of Walt Disney's earliest characters have been animated 85 years after they were drawn.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit is seen as a precursor to Mickey Mouse

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was created in 1927, a year before Mickey Mouse was born, and the rabbit starred in 26 cartoons in the 1920s and 30s.

Archivists have used dozens of drawings from Disney's personal sketchbook to create a new Oswald cartoon.

Harem Scarem was unveiled at Disney's D23 fan event and can be seen online.

Walt Disney and long-time collaborator Ub Iwerks created the rabbit while working at Universal before he set up his own empire.

Oswald's oversized ears, big eyes and shorts bear a striking similarity to Disney's next creation, Mickey Mouse, who was inspired by a mouse who would visit his drawing board.

However, Disney had to relinquish control of the character when he left Universal, aged 27.

In 2006, Disney chief executive Bob Iger and NBC Universal struck a deal to see ownership of Oswald return to the company. He has already featured in video game Epic Mickey, and is thought to have a starring role in the game's forthcoming sequel.

"Walt would be so excited about having Oswald back," Disney archives director Becky Cline told Yahoo News. "And for a Disney fan, to get the character back in the fold, is really exciting. To see something they've never seen before."

The new 90-second animation does not alter the original sketches, but sees them placed in order to create a basic animating effect.

[. . .]

(via BBC News)

Is The Archers going to get 'darker and bigger? No.

Keri Davies | 09:51 AM, Wednesday, 6 June 2012

Has recent press coverage made you worried that The Archers is going to take a lurch into EastEnders territority? Well, worry not, because it isn't. Acting Archers editor John Yorke explains the truth about this story.

A few months ago I was asked by a national newspaper if EastEnders would ever consider doing a live stage musical. I answered with a categorical 'No'. Two weeks later, I was slightly taken aback to read: 'EastEnders to stage musical'.

Perhaps I shouldn't have been shocked then to read a flurry of headlines yesterday, cataloging my plans to smash up Ambridge like some bloated property developer and turn it into Albert Square...
It's a great story - but it isn't true. The source was a fairly innocuous interview with Radio Times about what's coming up on the show.

A few months ago, Radio 4 had very kindly asked me if I'd consider looking after the programme for four months while its long standing editor Vanessa Whitburn was away. I agreed straight away - on one condition - that it stayed exactly as it was and that I didn't have to change anything.

The Archers has been in my family for three generations. It's as perfect as long running drama gets; why would I want to change a hair? Apart from anything else my Mum would probably kill me.

The comment that was picked up was very clearly a specific reference to one storyline - the intimidation of Ruth and David. Ironically, this story was planned long before I joined the show.

It is dark but in the very best traditions of a programme not scared to kill its leading lady in a barn fire, and it fits snugly I hope alongside everything Ambridge does best.

Joe's ferrets, Lynda's hay-fever and cliffhangers built on whether Clarrie will finish her jubilee cake in time; all will remain and I hope live for as long as The Archers draws breath.

John Yorke is the acting editor of The Archers

[. . .] Vanessa returns in July after a period of long service leave
 
(via The Archers Blog)

Let's Pizza vending machine ready for U.S. debut

June 8, 2012 - Alicia Kelso

Let's Pizza, a vending machine that creates pizzas from scratch in 2.5 minutes, is about to plant a flag in U.S. soil. The machine was created by Italian Claudio Torghel and is distributed by A1 Concepts, based out of The Netherlands.

The machine's presence has been growing throughout Europe since its launch about three years ago and A1 Concepts is now planning on opening a U.S. headquarters in the Atlanta area in the third quarter. Machine distribution is expected to follow at a brisk pace, with national companies already expressing interest in installation.

PizzaMarketplace talked with A1 Concepts' CEO Ronald Rammers about the machine's debut in the U.S., where pizza competition is certainly not lacking.

PizzaMarketplace: How does the machine create fresh pizzas for every order?

Ronald Rammers: The machine contains a specially developed bag of flour and a bag of mineral water. Every time you order a pizza, the machine will start making the dough, then shape it into a crust, and top it with organic tomato sauce. Next, one of the toppings is placed on top and the pizza is ready for the oven.

PizzaMarketplace: How is the pizza able to cook so fast?

Ronald Rammers: In just 2.5 minutes after you've ordered, a fresh and hot pizza is ready to eat. This is (because of) an infra-red oven.

PizzaMarketplace: What toppings are available and how does the machine remain stocked?

Ronald Rammers: Each pizza machine is connected to the Internet to control stock. If necessary, besides the standard services, the operator will (re-stock). Each pizza machine contains ingredients for 200 pizzas.
We have our own facilities where we produce the toppings and it is possible to create any kind of pizza – meat, fish, vegetarian, any kind. We also receive requests for kosher pizzas and pizzas that meet the requirements for Muslims. All options are open. Each machine offers four different pizzas.

PizzaMarketplace: What will the pizzas retail for?

Ronald Rammers: The suggested retail price for a 27-centimeter (about 10.5-inch) pizza is $5.95. But it is possible to charge different prices at special locations. A large theme park in Florida wants the pizza machines in their location. This way, they can offer the same quality of pizzas all day and they will likely charge more.

PizzaMarketplace: Where are you planning on installing Let's Pizza once it comes to the U.S.?

Ronald Rammers: You will find Let's Pizza at malls, airports, hospitals, restaurants, hotels, supermarkets, universities, gas stations, bus stations, etc.

PizzaMarketplace: Will the machines be operated by corporate, franchisees or both?

Ronald Rammers: We will offer local operators the responsibility to be in charge of one or more machines. There are also companies – national companies – that want to do the entire operation.

PizzaMarketplace: Will Let's Pizza directly try to compete with local or national pizza operations? Do you anticipate any cannibalization of these existing players?

Ronald Rammers: We don't have the intention to become the competition of the existing players. But once people discover the quality of the pizza and the convenience and, indeed, the speed factor, we expect to have competition in our favor.

Let's Pizza is a huge success in Europe and especially in Italy. That was proof for us that we have a very good pizza.

 

(via pizzamarketplace.com) 

The Archers: Susan and Lynda Watch the DVD

Susan Carter (Charlotte Martin) and Lynda Snell (Carole Boyd) were watching footage from a security camera in the woods, hoping to catch sight of Lynda's "monster". Instead, they catch sight of something else. Hilarious scene from Friday's episode of The Archers.

It's my birthday and I'll die if I want to

A Swiss study has found that people are almost 14 percent more likely to die on their birthdays than any other day of the year.

The researchers analysed data on the deaths of some 2.4 million people over 40 years to find that we are 13.8 percent more likely to die on our birthday, UK newspaper The Independent reported.

The authors of the study, led by Dr. Vladeta Ajdacic-Gross from the University of Zurich, found that many deaths on birthdays were caused by strokes, cancer, falls, heart attacks and suicides, leading to the conclusion that the stress of birthdays plays a significant part in many deaths.

The risk of dying on a birthday was found to increase to an 18-percent likelihood for the over-60s. The chance of dying from a cardio-vascular condition such as heart attack increased to 18.6 percent, with an increase of 21.5 percent for death from a stroke.

The risk of suicide on a birthday was significant only for men, whose chances of dying this way increased by 34.9 percent.

“The authors suggest that this increase could be related to more alcohol being drunk on birthdays. But perhaps men are more likely to make a statement about their unhappiness when they think people will be taking more notice of them,” Dr. Lewis Halsey from the University of Roehampton told the newspaper.

He also suggested that women might not opt for suicide on their birthdays out of a sense that it would be unfair to put those celebrating with them through such an ordeal.

The number of fatal falls also increased by 44 percent on birthdays, with significant increases in instances from about four days prior to the event.

One theory suggests that sick elderly people try to hold on to reach one last milestone before giving up, but the researchers’ evidence suggested that it was in fact the stress of the event itself that caused the deaths. In particular, the researchers found that older people suffer from more acute stress around their birthdays.

Lyssandra Sears (news@thelocal.ch)

(via The Local)

Eggs In The Bushes

I was outside doing some weeding when I came across these.
 

The Archers to be more like Eastenders, with 'darker and bigger' plots to come

The Archers is becoming more like Eastenders, with cliffhangers, characters in jeopardy and darker plots to come, the show's new editor has disclosed. 

By Hannah Furness

7:00AM BST 05 Jun 2012

John Yorke, controller of BBC drama production and acting editor of The Archers, warned certain storylines would get “darker and bigger”, with a focus on triumph over adversity and dramatic twists to keep listeners wanting more.

He added it was important to put characters in danger to make the audience love them more, with each episode having a clear focus and storylines driven in new directions.

Mr Yorke, who was executive producer of EastEnders between 1999 and 2002, reassured listeners their favourite scenes of countryside domesticity would also remain in place, confirming: “The seasonal rhythms of agriculture, the floral competitions – those things are vital.”

The change, which comes as the show’s editor of 21 years Vanessa Whitburn takes a break, will include every episode having an “arc”, and cliffhangers to ensure listeners are “left wanting more”.

Speaking to the Radio Times about the similarities between the popular radio drama and BBC1’s soap opera Eastenders, Mr Yorke said: “The fundamentals of character and storyline being vital is the same.

“But The Archers moves at a slower pace than EastEnders, which is absolutely right. It’s an extraordinarily important programme to a lot of people and you don’t want to break it”

Earlier this year, Richard Bacon criticised the radio show for being “hum drum” and “dull”, where “fictional rural people chat aimlessly about their menial chores”.

“I honestly believe there are two types of people in the world: those who find The Archers boring … and those who find it boring but pretend to enjoy it as they think it makes them look superior,” he added.

His comments inspired an impassioned debate, with some quietly expressing support and others leaping to The Archers’ defence.

Now, after Mr Yorke threatened to invite him to open a fete in the fictional village of Ambridge, he said: “I shall certainly give the show another listen. That’s what drama needs: villains, arguments and someone getting their comeuppance.”

The change in direction is also likely to be welcome news for Prime Minister David Cameron who last year disclosed he preferred Eastenders to the Archers, claiming he was “of the Dirty Den generation.”

The programme is currently the longest-running serial in the world and the BBC’s most listened to radio programme online.

Famous fans of the soap, which has five million listeners, include Stephen Fry, Sir Ian McKellen, Kirstie Allsopp and Victoria Wood.

According to the BBC’s catch-up service, plots last week included “Pip is feeling unsettled”, “republican rumblings in Ambridge” and “Adam is causing concerns.”

Perhaps confirming the importance of occasional high drama, around 70,000 more listeners were reported to tune in last year when popular Nigel Pargeter was killed off in a rooftop fall.

Mr Yorke added the most dramatic storylines could still only be written about once a year, to avoid the rural drama becoming “implausible”

“I want it to feel like The Archers but as good as it can be,” he said.

(via The Telegraph)

Brief Review: Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)

Creature from the Haunted Sea is a comedy-horror film, starring Antony Carbone, Betsy Jones-Moreland, and Robert Towne. The movie (narrated by Towne) centers around an American criminal and his villainous crew, who have helped a group of exiled Cubans smuggle a box containing a large portion of the Cuban treasury out of the now-Communist Cuba. The criminal and his crew plan to kill off the Cubans and keep the money for themselves. And to do that, they pretend that a local legend, a sea creature, is the one doing the killings. But they soon learn that the creature is, in fact, real.

I had many problems with this film, the first, major problem being the monster itself. The monster looked like something out of Nick Jr's Yo Gabba Gabba!. It wasn't convincing in the slightest.

 

Then there was Pete Peterson, Jr (played by Beach Dickerson). If ever there was a character who needed to die, it was him. The constant animal sounds weren't cute nor funny. All they did was make me wish that I was legally old enough to drink. And if Pete's animal sounds weren't bad enough, who should he find when he lands on the island? None other than Rosina Perez (played by Esther Sandoval), an island native who also makes animal sounds. The two together could make a recovering alcoholic fall off the wagon. It's needless to say that I was very happy when both of them died.

Another problem I had was with Agent XK 150 (played by Robert Towne). I don't know whether it was Towne or the writing but I found the character to be quite annoying as well, especially when he would try to convince Mary-Belle to give up her life of crime and run away with him.

Now in terms of comedy, there really wasn't any. There were a couple good lines. Towne's line, "It was dusk. I could tell, because the sun was going down," got a chuckle from me. As did Jones-Moreland's "I just can't believe that you're real". But that was basically it. Not even the final scene was funny to me.

In terms of horror, I found there to be some (sort of). The first being when the monster first appeared. I actually jumped a little when he emerged and grabbed the Cuban.

The second was the film as a whole. I didn't think it would actually be that bad! But it was!

The only real highlight of this film was Betsy Jones-Moreland. Moreland was mesmerizing as she sang "Kiss Me, Baby". And her character, Mary-Belle Monahan, was tolerable. I was actually sad when the monster took her at the end.

Overall, I give this film one out of four stars.

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© 2012 David Larsson