The James Logan Courier

By Denay Harris, Courier Daily Editor

March seemed to be the start of the perfect world for new solo artist/song writer Keri Hilson, as Hilson released her first solo album, “In a Perfect World.”

The album, originally due to be released in 2007, but delayed by many setbacks, is well worth the wait.

Representing the “dirty south,” 27-year-old Hilson was born in Decatur, GA, only a few miles outside of Atlanta, according to the biographical material provided by her publicist. Known as “Keri-Okey” by her friends, she has been on this musical journey for a while now. Growing up watching shows like Star Search and Showtime at the Apollo, she was already planning a career in music at age 12.
arts.

By Tish Wells
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

Before J. R. R. Tolkien was known as the master fantasy writer behind "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit," he was fascinated with Norse mythology.

Lost for 70 years, and buried among his papers, were two poems he wrote concerning "the Volsung and Niflung (or Nibelung) legend, using modern English fitted to the Old Norse metre." They now appear for the first time as "The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun."

Tolkien's tireless son, Christopher, has footnoted, detailed other versions and traditions — Germanic, Icelandic and others. By the end, the detail is illuminating but overwhelming.

By Jericho Faustino and Rohan Kumar Courier Staff Writers

Have you ever dismembered an alien? Or run over someone with a tank?

In many popular games such as, Gears Of War and Call of Duty, violence is their main appeal. In Grand Theft Auto, the game allows you to perform various vigilantes and obscene crimes. Also, in Halo, gamers can manipulate their opponents to perform derogative acts of harassment.

By Brian McCollum
Detroit Free Press (MCT)

DETROIT — You can practically feel the buzz building.

Nearly five years after his last album of new material, Eminem is headed back into the limelight. "Relapse," the first of two promised albums for the Detroit hip-hop icon this year, will hit stores May 19. The record's saucy first single, "We Made You," was released two weeks ago amid much hoopla.

And now the fanfare — which has been on a steady simmer since the autumn release of Em's autobiography — is set to flash to a boil.

By Tish Wells
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

Amid a tsunami of Jane Austen-based books, "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" has a unique twist: romance novel and horror flick.

Most people are aware of the original "Pride and Prejudice" either through school reading lists or recent movies. It is a classic tale of the English class, good breeding and husband-hunting centering on the Bennet family of five daughters — Jane, Elizabeth, Kitty, Mary and Lydia.


Fewer people may be aficionados of the zombie genre. A zombie is an animated corpse. Here, zombies are ravenous brain-munching, rotting "Unmentionables" that travel in packs, attack coaches, milkmaids, kitchen staffs, and the occasional aristocratic ball room.

By Roger Moore
The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)

If Jason Statham is the greatest B-movie action star of our day (and he is), then the "Crank" movies are his showcase. These gonzo, amoral, politically incorrect rides put the ripped, bald and mean Statham through his paces like nothing else in his action repertoire.

And unlike the decline and fall of "The Transporter" series, the latest "Crank" shows few signs of slacking off the pace.

We know Chev Chelios died at the end of "Crank," plummeting to his death as he pummeled his nemesis mid-fall. In "Crank: High Voltage," Chev has been scooped off the street and kept alive for organ harvest by Chinese doctors working in the back of a Chinatown brothel. Chev (Statham) wakes up post-op, realizes he has an artificial heart and quickly learns from his underworld surgeon pal (Dwight Yoakam, on his game) that he needs to get his real heart back and that he has about an hour to do it, depending on stops for re-jolting the apparatus in his chest.

"Juice me."

By Mike Osegueda
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

FRESNO, Calif. — A week ago marked the 15th anniversary of Kurt Cobain's death.

One Chicago band is helping to keep Cobain's — and his band Nirvana's — legacy alive.

Nevermind started playing Nirvana tunes in 1991 and 18 years later has toured all over the country (and even outside of it) re-creating the Nirvana experience.

We talked to J. Veldman, Nevermind's frontman, to learn more about the band:

Question: How did you guys come to start a Nirvana tribute band back in 1991, when Nirvana first hit big?

By Dan Deluca
The Philadelphia Inquirer (MCT)

NEW YORK — It's 10 minutes to show time backstage at "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon," and Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson is wondering what the Roots have gotten themselves into.

"There are two sayings: 'The grass is always greener on the other side' and 'Be careful what you wish for,'" says the drummer and bandleader of the Philadelphia hip-hop-plus ensemble. Since March 2, when Fallon replaced Conan O'Brien at 12:35 a.m. EDT on NBC, the group has been aptly introduced to America as "The Legendary Roots Crew."

By Jessica Knoblauch
Mother Nature Network (mnn.com) (MCT)

A new book explores how the world's first wildlife forensics lab is solving crimes and saving endangered species.

Not long ago, illegal wildlife smugglers could pretty much get away with murder. From selling polar bear rugs to crocodile-face ashtrays, these smugglers pull in as much as $20 billion annually, ranking just behind drugs and human trafficking as the third largest illegal trade worldwide.

But a little known group of dedicated scientists are stemming the tide of illegal wildlife trade at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., the world's first wildlife forensics lab.

By Billy O'Keefe
McClatchy-Tribune (MCT)

Sometimes, it's the little things. In a game as wonderfully, erratically ambitious as "The Godfather II," it's the little things that, however subtly, sometimes save the day.

Take, for instance, the game's ingenious living map, which not only helps you get from point A to B — handy, considering the story takes place in open-world Florida and open-world New York City at the same time — but keeps track of your targets, your allies, your family's holdings, the profit margins at each property and just about everything else you need to manage via the game's newfound Don powers. When a holding is under attack, the animated 3D map quite decisively illustrates the urgency. Ditto for when a rival holding is up for grabs.

By Roger Moore
The Orlando Sentinel (MCT)

We've had to wait decades, enduring first subtitled Hong Kong films and later sputtering Hollywood attempts at turning him into a conventional Chinese character actor, for our first chance to see the great Chow Yun-Fat cut up the way he does in "Dragonball Evolution." Whatever the director (James Wong of "Final Destination") was going for, whatever the studio intended in this film adaptation of a beloved comic and video game, Chow saw his chance to chew the scenery. And he took it.

As Master Roshi, mystical martial arts master, owner of a dragonball and of late, trainer to young Goku (Justin Chatwin), Chow goes for the laughs, and lands them.

"Believe it punk, you're gonna get your clock cleaned," he says when we and Goku meet him. He mugs. He grins. His every move is a calculated bit of tomfoolery. And he's a stitch, almost the only reason to see this warmed-over Far Eastern fantasy.

By Mark Stryker
Detroit Free Press (MCT)

DETROIT — Finally, the summit.

For two years, Hungarian pianist Andras Schiff has been climbing one of the highest peaks in classical music, performing all 32 Beethoven Piano Sonatas in chronological order. The rewarding journey concludes this week with a final concert Saturday in Ann Arbor, Mich. Schiff's performances have become a sweeping manifesto, with the 55-year-old pianist performing the cycle not only here but in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His celebrated live recordings of the sonatas for ECM grew out of a European cycle in 2004-06.

By Jenelle Gallardo, Courier Staff Writer

Tuesday Night's Believers Never Die Tour Part Deux was kick started at the Bay Area's very own San Jose State University's Event Center. The weather was less than perfect being a little muggy and slight overcast. By the time I arrived, the caution tape was already broken in to and the arena was shaking with colorfully dressed youth and accompanying parents who looked like they did not want to be there.

By David J. Neal
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

Even the president takes a break to fill out a bracket. Domed stadiums host NCAA men's basketball Final Fours as regularly as they do Super Bowls. The NBA's pushing LeBron and D-Wade, the NHL"s pushing Sid the Kid and Alex the Great, and every sport tries to find its popularity-boosting star rivalry it can call its "Bird vs. Magic." ESPN is ubiquitous.

And so much of all that began 30 years ago, on March 26, 1979. That's when a nation tuned in for the 1979 NCAA title game between Michigan State and Indiana State, turned on to Magic Johnson and Larry Bird and dropped out of one era of sports and into another.

By Jessica Stewart, Courier Editor-in-Chief

He'd only just found out he had a son, and now that little boy's life depended on a group of men he hadn't met until a few months ago. Men who were at this moment laying their own lives on the line, shielded only by the inky cloak of night and their bravery as they crept toward the abandoned sugar factory ahead, where he'd been told to meet Chase's kidnappers.

So begins Ferrarella's addition to the Maitland Maternity series from Silhouette Books. The plot is original, and the characters are simply complex. The setting, Austin, Texas, adds a bit of flavor to everything, combining the mysterious cowboy image of the past with the modern world. My only problem is that Ferrarella fails to explain everything to the reader's satisfaction. Otherwise, it proved to be a light, quick, relaxing read, perfect for a lazy spring day.

By Jericho Faustino, Courier Daily Editor

Finally, the dream match of all dream matches: Ali vs. Tyson.

People would never have dreamed of a fight of this caliber. Soon, you can live fights like this in Fight Night Round 4.

The two monster athletes grace the cover of EA Sports Fight Night's latest game. Three years after the last Fight Night, Fight Night Round 3, FNR4 offers the same classic beat-down experience, but adds, also, the dynamics of a live match.

By Mei-Xin Yang, Courier Staff Writer

The Oakland Zoo in Bay Area has been around since 1922, and it is one of the most well known zoos in the country. There are more than 440 animals in the zoo, and there are six different zones for the animals living places. Last Saturday, my friend and I had the chance to go visit in the zoo.

It is the first time for me to go to zoo in America, and I figured "why not?" since we'd been living here for almost 4 years and had yet to go. When we entered the zoo, I was pleasantly surprised at the size of the zoo, since most people miss it, hidden up in the hills. Walking around, we kept finding the path leading to different areas and exhibits.

By Colin Covert
Star Tribune (Minneapolis) (MCT)

The redeeming quality of '50s space invader movies was their earnestness. There's not a drop of irony in "This Island Earth" or "Forbidden Planet." Their campy sincerity is what makes them fun to watch today. Just add sarcasm and enjoy.

"Alien Trespass," an affectionate tribute to flying saucer movies, treats the cliches of drive-in sci-fi with touching naivete, too. So why isn't it more fun?

"Alien Trespass" requires some knowledge of creature features to get the jokes. How the movie will play to anyone who has not seen a blob, a body snatcher or a beast from 20,000 fathoms is hard to guess. Directed by "X-Files" veteran R.W. Goodwin, it hits all the expected notes, wringing mild amusement out of space mutants, dedicated men of science and perky, idealized mid-century housewives. This is the sort of film where a visible zipper running up the back of an alien's space suit is a pretty boffo gag.

By Jenelle Gallardo, Courier Staff Writer
Editor's Note: Promoters have provided The Courier with free tickets to the Fall Out Boy's April 7 show for review purposes.

Headlining this year's Believers Never Die Tour, Part Deux is multi-platinum selling band Fall Out Boy. After forming in 2001, the band has gone from performing in basements, garages, and old folks homes, to headlining arenas, festivals, and other sold-out venues.

In support of their their latest album, Folie A Deux, out last year, is currently on a world-wide tour, which stops in the Bay Area Tuesday for a show at the San Jose State Event Center.

By Walter Tunis
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

For well over three decades, Americans have viewed Zakir Hussain as one of the world's most prominent ambassadors of Indian classical music.

When you have collaborated with such pioneering jazz and rock greats as guitarist John McLaughlin, drummer Mickey Hart, saxophonist Charles Lloyd and, more recently, banjoist Bela Fleck, you can't help but gain a reputation as something of a journeyman.

But on Hussain's "Maestros in Concert" tour, the Grammy-winning tabla player is contining a long-standing alliance with deep, homeland roots that are only now reaching Kentucky.

By Jordan Levin
McClatchy Newspapers (MCT)

MIAMI — In Cuba she was a diva of nueva trova and boleros, a singer with great talent whom songwriters vied to have perform their compositions. And when Xiomara Laugart arrived in the United States in 1998, it seemed she would continue her success — first singing with a prestigious Cuban rumba-fusion project, Deep Rumba, then fronting the hot Cuban-funk band Yerba Buena. More recently, she starred in the off-Broadway musical "Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz."

By Brandie Moore, Courier Daily Editor

˜You okay?" He asked quietly, his grey-blue eyes dark. I opened my mouth and to indignantly say ˜Of course," but then I shut it again. I'd known Robbie too long and had been through too much with him to fob him off with white lies. He had been one of the first people I'd told about being a blood witch, about being adopted, about being Woodbane. Of the seven Great Clans of Wicca, Woodbanes were the ones who sought power at all costs, the one who worked with dark magick. When I'd found out about being a blood witch, I hadn't known my clan and had hoped that I was a Rowanwand, a Wyndenkell, a Brightendale, a Burnhide. Even a mischievous Leapvaughn or warlike Vikroth would have been fine. But no, I was Woodbane: tainted.

Are you guys ready for more from the Sweep series? I hope so, because here comes book 6. Morgan has found out that she is a blood witch, adopted, and a Woodbane. How much more can there possibly be? Trust me there is definitely more to learn.