Sunday, May 17, 2015

Denny Hamlin wins NASCAR's All-Star Race



Denny Hamlin and the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing crew celebrate after winning the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.(Photo: Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports)

CONCORD, N.C. Keeping track of all the results and action from Saturday night's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway:

SEGMENT 5: Denny Hamlin won the 10-lap shootout, leading every lap from the restart after the field made a mandatory pit stop. He won the battle off pit road. As the pole-sitter, he had the first stall. Brad Keselowski, who appeared to come off pit road second, was penalized for speeding and restarted 13th. Hamlin got a very strong restart and Kurt Busch, who started second, wobbled a bit. Kevin Harvick tried to chase Hamlin down, but Hamlin's car in clean air was too fast. It is the first All-Star win for Hamlin and Joe Gibbs Racing.

"You want to win the Daytona 500, you want to win the Brickyard, you want to win Coca-Cola 600 and you want to be an All-Star," Hamlin said after climbing from his No. 11 Toyota. "Just a big day. It's just an unbelievable experience. ... We just didn't have a car that could run with some of those guys. But that pit crew, man, what can I say, they got this for me, there's no doubt. Hopefully we start to get some speed here down the road."

SEGMENT 4: Though he restarted fifth in the final segment, Kurt Busch quickly got to the front and passed Denny Hamlin (who took two tires) for the lead after three laps. Stewart-Haas Racing teammate Kevin Harvick was second, followed by Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.

SEGMENT 3: Jamie McMurray had the pole position for the start of Segment 3 after he took two tires on the pit stop in between segments. But he couldn't get going while Brad Keselowski did and Keselowski led all 25 laps en route to another segment win. Kevin Harvick finished second, followed by Kurt Busch.

SEGMENT 2: Brad Keselowski took two tires on a pit stop after Segment 1, which put him out front for the second segment. Keselowski used clean air to his advantage, leading 24 of the 25 laps (Kurt Busch led the other) to capture Segment 2. Busch finished just behind him in second, followed by Jeff Gordon, Joey Logano and Segment 1 winner Kasey Kahne.

SEGMENT 1: After starting fifth, Kasey Kahne quickly moved up through the field and caught race leader Denny Hamlin. He made the first pass for the lead after 14 laps and finished the segment ahead of Hamlin, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Brad Keselowski and Kurt Busch.

Denny Hamlin celebrates after winning the pole for the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.(Photo: Randy Sartin, USA TODAY Sports)

SPECIAL NIGHT FOR 24: Jeff Gordon got a special introduction prior to the race. He was introduced last, then was greeted on stage by former crew chief Ray Evernham. After remarks to the crowd, Gordon was joined by the other 19 All-Stars on stage for a group photograph. Then his family joined him for a picture and a hug.

QUALIFYING: Denny Hamlin won the pole for the race after he performed best in the unusual qualifying session, which requires drivers to come down pit road to make a pit stop in between their laps. Greg Biffle, who qualified for the race via the last-chance Sprint Showdown, started second, followed by Brad Keselowski, Clint Bowyer and Kasey Kahne.

ENGINE WOES: Danica Patrick qualified sixth for the All-Star Race after winning Friday night's fan vote, but she had to start 20th due to an engine change prior to the race on Saturday.

BACK ON TRACK: Kyle Busch raced in a NASCAR event for the first time since breaking his right leg and left foot during a Feb. 21 Xfinity Series race at Daytona International Speedway. Busch qualified 19th out of 20 drivers but posted the fastest time in Friday's practice session. He finished sixth. His wife, Samantha, is scheduled to give birth to the couple's first child on Monday.

Follow Gluck on Twitter @jeff_gluck

PHOTOS: Key moments in the 2015 NASCAR season

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RESULTS

1. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 110 laps, 114.2 rating, 0 points, $1,045,009.

2. (20) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 110, 109.1, 0, $249,784.

3. (16) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 110, 129, 0, $149,735.

4. (9) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 110, 93.7, 0, $119,705.

5. (17) Matt Kenseth, Toyota, 110, 78.9, 0, $114,705.

6. (19) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 110, 69.9, 0, $108,705.

7. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 110, 105.6, 0, $102,555.

8. (11) Joey Logano, Ford, 110, 80.4, 0, $101,555.

9. (3) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 110, 111, 0, $100,555.

10. (7) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 110, 64.9, 0, $99,555.

11. (13) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 110, 59.5, 0, $98,530.

12. (4) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 110, 61, 0, $97,530.

13. (2) Greg Biffle, Ford, 110, 43.3, 0, $96,530.

14. (8) Aric Almirola, Ford, 110, 31.7, 0, $96,030.

15. (12) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 110, 59.7, 0, $95,430.

16. (14) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 110, 41.9, 0, $95,155.

17. (10) Carl Edwards, Toyota, 110, 45.4, 0, $95,030.

18. (18) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 110, 30.8, 0, $94,930.

19. (15) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 110, 34.1, 0, $94,830.

20. (6) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 78, 30, 0, $94,730.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 106.452 mph.

Time of Race: 1 hour, 33 minutes, 0 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.923 seconds.

Caution Flags: 4 for 0 laps.

Lead Changes: 7 among 4 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 1-14; K.Kahne 15-25; B.Keselowski 26-32; Ku.Busch 33; B.Keselowski 34-75; D.Hamlin 76-77; Ku.Busch 78-100; D.Hamlin 101-110.

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): B.Keselowski, 2 times for 49 laps; D.Hamlin, 3 times for 26 laps; Ku.Busch, 2 times for 24 laps; K.Kahne, 1 time for 11 laps.

Source: http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nascar/2015/05/16/nascar-sprint-all-star-race/27464837/



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Saturday, May 16, 2015

Ariel Winter Is A Gorgeous Prom Goddess



Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/30/ariel-winter-prom-winter_n_7184694.html?utm_hp_ref%3Dentertainment%26ir%3DEntertainment



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NBA draft: Utah's Delon Wright shows off his skills to prospective teams



He's not only enjoying the process: He's embracing it.

"It's been fun," Wright said. "I'm glad to be here, and I've been through so much that I'm just trying to have fun with it all. I just have to focus on what I need to do better, work on the strengths I already have and be the best player I can be. Everything else will fall into place."

As the lone local collegian at the combine the premier camp before the draft Wright knows what he can do the minute he steps on an NBA floor.

He was a great defender in college. He was one of the best players in the country at attacking the rim, and his length is uncommon for a point guard.

Wright measured 6-foot-5 in shoes, and 6-4 without shoes. His wingspan measured at nearly 6-8, which gives him almost ideal size for his position at the NBA level. It also gives him a good shot at being a first-round pick. Wright is one of those prospects who could be drafted in the teens, or he could last until late in the round. But he will he drafted, and that gives him the shot of making an instant impact.

"Delon, man, he's a really skilled player. You don't find a lot of 6-5, 6-6 point guards out there," Arizona forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson said. "I played against him for two years in the Pac-12, and it was a real challenge guarding him. He helped me become a better defender, because it was so tough to stay with him. I think he's going to have a good chance to be a really good player."

Wright's drawbacks are noted. He's never been the best perimeter shooter, and he will have to prove to teams that he can knock down open jumpers. Otherwise, getting to the basket in the NBA will be a challenge for him, because teams will play off him defensively.

Strength has been an issue as well. But that may be in the past, because Wright looked noticeably bigger in the arms and shoulders on Thursday the product, he says, of living in the weight room six days a week.

Wright didn't play five on five, but he did participate in measurements and drills. He had an 8-5 standing reach, registered 6 percent body fat and had an 8-inch hand measurement.

"I think a lot of it helps with my length on defense," Wright said. "It helps me to guard point guards. At first this season, I was trying to prove to people that I can shoot. But now, I think hitting shots has to be natural for me. When I'm open, I just shoot it."

The next month for Wright equates to a whirlwind. He is expected to work out for the Utah Jazz in the coming weeks, as well as other teams. He's conducted multiple interviews with teams at the combine.

It's all a part of the process for Wright. And by the end, he is expected to become the first player drafted from the University of Utah since Andrew Bogut.

tjones@sltrib.com

twitter: @tjonessltrib

Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sports/2514997-155/nba-draft-utahs-delon-wright-shows



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Sony PlayStation Network Down; Lizard Squad Claims Credit



After Sonys PlayStation Network (PSN) intermittently went down yesterday, reports claim that the hacking group Lizard Squad might be behind the outage.

Disgruntled online PSN gamers took to social media, complaining they were unable to go online with their PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 3 consoles, which prevented them from playing multiplayer games such as Destiny and Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare. Other issues also surfaced when trying to connect single-player games, including Bloodborne, to third-party servers.

Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Store, PlayStation Video, PlayStation Vue, PlayStation Now, and all social features were inactive. You may be experiencing issues related to signing in or creating an account on PlayStation Network, the company posted on its website, in response to a barrage of nervous questions from customers.

The bad news is that Lizard Squad is back as it claimed it was responsible for the recent PSN outage at more or less the same time people started complaining about the network problems. The group also tweeted that it was launching an attack on PSN servers moments before DownDetector realized hundreds of gamers were complaining about it. The group even provoked the FBI by saying none of its members had been indicted, though another report indicated that a few were charged.

Before Christmas last year, PSN went down for nearly five days amid an outage that limited Sony services to offline and rendered thousands of brand new consoles useless for gamers all over the world. Lizard Squad was held responsible for the massive DDoS attack and the group admitted its motivation to carry out the attack with the statement: Some lizards just want to watch the world burn. The attack also wiped out Microsoft Corporation Inc.s (NASDAQ:MSFT) Xbox Live for around 24 hours.

However, just because the cyber rebels have claimed they made the attack doesnt necessarily mean they did it. There is a possibility that someone else was controlling the Twitter account and pretending to be the Lizard Squad. An unscheduled maintenance could be another reason for PSN servers to go down, which has happened in the past.

VentureBeat asked the Japanese company about what caused the problem, but Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE) has not said anything on the issue yet.

Source: http://www.bidnessetc.com/42949-sony-playstation-network-down-lizard-squad-claims-credit/



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'Pitch Perfect 2,' 'Mad Max' Matinees Strong After Late Nights � Box Office Friday



UPDATED, 4:53 PM: Its still early, but it looks as though Pitch Perfect 2 is headed over $50M as matinees are very strong today; that would be right in line with Deadlines estimates from earlier in the week. As it stands now, it looks like Universal could end up with the top opener of all time for a musical as it might end up with a low $20M Friday. Mad Max: Fury Road is still moving along at the same pace we expected for a possible mid $40M 3-day take. Avengers: Age of Ultron is still performing strong in its third week and might surprise with $40M+. Stay tuned.

UPDATED, 1:06 PM: Matinee estimates from both Mad Max: Fury Road and Universals Pitch Perfect 2 are right in line with what we have below, at the moment, with the female-driven PP2 holding Mad Max away from the No. 1 spot. It is extremely early right now but PP2 could take in around $20M today with Mad Max behind it, grossing in the mid-to-high teens.

UPDATE: 7:25 AM: Warner Bros. just weighed in on late nights for Mad Max: Fury Road (see below) and, as expected its three-day gross will be a step behind its female-driven competitor Pitch Perfect 2. Shouldering a $200M+ budget, this testosterone-packed actioner is on track right now for a mid-$40M haul and the studio is hoping that positive reviews and good word-of-mouth will give this violent film longer play. Its international rollout also began last night (see my colleague Nancy Tartagliones box office report here).

PREVIOUS, 7:12 AM: Universal Pictures Pitch Perfect 2 and Warner Bros. Mad Max: The Fury both debuted last night in previews starting at 7 PM in a weekend that pits a female-directed musical comedy against an male-helmed violent, dystopian actioner. In more than3,000 theaters, Mad Max (3D) took in $3.7M last night while Pitch Perfect 2 belted out $4.6M in 2,652 theaters. The PG-13 PP2 heads into 3,472 theaters tonight. The R-rated Mad Max will be at 3,702 theaters, on only seven Imax theaters and 360 of the large-format screens.

Everyone is a bit stumped for a decent comp for the PG-13 Pitch Perfect 2, but with its highly charged female demo, some point to Foxs The Fault In Our Stars which hauled in $8.2M on its Thursday preview beginning at 9 PM and ended up with a three-day weekend gross of $48M. The Great Gatsby grossed $3.25M in May 2013 in Thursday previews, starting at 10 PM and delivered $50M for its opening weekend. Divergent grabbed $4.9M in late-night Thursday screenings that began at 8 PM for a $54.6M three-day.

PP2 is expected to make around $50M (more or less) this weekend as anticipation is high and the strength of the female demo is off the charts. Its doing better in early shows so far than FaultIn Our Stars, but Fox had those $25 tickets for late nights (if you all remember) which helped its late night take a bit.

As for comps for Mad Max, Lucy grossed $2.746M in 2,386 locales when it previewed in the heart of the summer in July 2014 and packed a three-day of $43.8M. Warner Bros. is looking at comps anywhere from Pacific Rim ($3.6M and $37.2M three-day), Prometheus ($3.6M and $51M) and World War Z ($3.6M and $66.4M) to 300: Rise Of An Empire ($3.3M and $45M).

The fact of the matter is that its doing better than Lucy and not as good as Prometheus early, early this AM so there you have it. For now. Waaay early.

In the meantime, the George Miller-directed Mad Max releases day-and-date internationally and last night got a nice marketing push with a red carpet premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, complete with starsTom Hardy and Charlize Theron. The film got a fantastic start, boasting 2015s best opening day for the greater Paris area and opening easily to No. 1 in New Zealand and Australia, the home of Miller and producer Village Roadshow. Of course, Miller is the director of the original Mad Max feature series that launched Mel Gibsons career in the late 1970s and early 80s.

The international estimate is anywhere between $70M and $85M for the weekend as it hits 68 markets and 16,000 screens.

In terms of social media, MadMax hashtags have consistently built up over the last three weeks (thank you Ultron), according to RelishMix. In the meantime, the social media choir is singing strong and sure for PP2. The films cross-promo tie-in with Cover Girl has gotten 9.3M views.

The total Facebook reach with the official pages is 13.6M and Twitter total reach at 10.9M. Anna Kendrick has 4M Twitter followers and 2.8M on Instagram. Rebel Wilson, who is full game on, is pushing promoting the film with 2M Twitter followers as is first-time feature director Elizabeth Banks with her 1.7M Twitter fan base.

Pitch Perfect (the original) opened in limited release before going wide in the fall of 2012. The total domestic gross was $65M. Worldwide, it ended up $115M.

Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&ct2=us&usg=AFQjCNHlnDw5KuKYeoBjcYYQ0MY2ZOfCAg&clid=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331&cid=52778841566865&ei=aPZWVZjTNcPC8gGS-oDoCQ&url=https://deadline.com/2015/05/pitch-perfect-2-mad-max-the-fury-box-office-thursday-1201427235/



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Friday, May 15, 2015

David Letterman: Antidepressants Saved My Life



As David Letterman plans to retire from a 33-year career as a late-night host, he revealed that an antidepressant saved his life.

"It saved my life," he told the New York Times. "I used to wonder how other people weren't always screaming and punching the Sheetrock. And then I started this, and I felt like, 'Ahhh, I see!' And now I don't punch Sheetrock and scream as much."

Letterman had suffered from depression for 20 years, but he was reluctant to take medication. "My friend and doctor, Louis Aronne, 20 years ago, he said, 'You should take something for this,' and I said no, because I thought it would make me loopy or make me hallucinate or make me drowsy," he told CBS' This Morning.

Letterman fought a battle with shingles, which led to him developing "nervous anxiety" along with his depression. "I was really screwed.

"I said to Louis, 'OK, OK, I'll try anything just to get rid of this depression,' he told CBS' This Morning. "Because it's different than, 'Oh, I don't feel good today.' It's different than feeling sad. It's different than feeling blue. It's really, like a friend of mine says, it's the world with 20/20 vision."

Letterman also weathered an extortion scandal in 2009 that revealed marital infidelities, and he revealed in 2013 that he sees a psychiatrist once a week.

"For a long time I thought I was a decent guy," Letterman said in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. "But yet, thinking I was a decent guy, I was still capable of behavior that wasn't coincidental to leading a decent life. That's what I'm working on. I want to really be the person I believe that I was. I wanna be a good person."

During the interview, Letterman revealed that he suffered from depression and described it as a "sinkhole" he thought he'd never escape. Medication, he said, helped him recover, and now he has compassion for others who also suffer from the condition.

"I always thought, 'Aw, you're depressed? Go do some push-ups and you'll feel better,'" he told Winfrey. "But it's not that."

2015 NewsmaxHealth. All rights reserved.

Source: http://www.newsmax.com/Health/Health-News/depression-medication-life-saving-David-Letterman/2015/05/15/id/644909/



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Scandal's Scott Foley: Why Filming s*x Scenes with Kerry Washington Was ...



Scott Foley

Kristina Bumphrey/Startraks

05/15/2015 AT 11:40 AM EDT

Thanks to its central love triangle, Scandal has become a reliable source of steamy love scenes but Scott Foley has some behind-the-scenes scoop that, unfortunately, will be a real mood killer for Olake shippers.

Foley, who plays Olivia Pope's (Kerry Washington) sometime lover Jake Ballard, told PEOPLE at The Paley Center for Media Scandal panel on Thursday that filming s*x scenes with Washington, 38, during season 3 was "delicate" to say the least.

"One of the craziest things [while filming] was trying to have a s*x scene when Kerry was seven months pregnant," said Foley, 42.

"The director, this fantastic French director, Jeannot [Szwarc], kept saying, 'Just get on top of her, and I'm going to shoot it,' " said the actor.

"And I was like, 'No, no, no, I can't she's got a baby [in there]!'"

"The maneuvering was delicate, to say the least," admitted Foley. In the end, though, the costars figured out the tricky situation, and fans were none the wiser until now.

RELATED VIDEO: Scott Foley Reacts to Olivia Pope Finally Picking Her Man Something tells us Olitz fans, who are probably still gloating after the romantic balcony kiss at the end of Thursday's season 4 finale, will appreciate Foley's insight most of all.

Source: http://www.people.com/article/scandal-scott-foley-s*x-scenes-kerry-washington-pregnant



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