'Shark Week' ready to shred 'Sharknado'

TV

Rob Owen TODAY contributor

16 hours ago

Jeff Kurr / Discovery Channel

Discovery's "Return of Jaws" program features a shark cam that tracks these predators of the oceans, including great white sharks off Cape Cod.

If you?re not among the ?Shark Week? faithful, it?s easy to wonder: How many TV shows can possibly be made about sharks before this programming event threatens to jump the shark? After all, Discovery is kicking off its 26th year of shark-centered programming on Aug. 4.

But recent buzz about the cheesy Syfy movie ?Sharknado? proves there?s an unending appetite for shows that star these predators of the seas. The campy made-for-TV flick starring Ian Ziering and Tara Reid debuted to just 1.4 million, but repeated airings have drawn more and more viewers, with the third delivering 2.1 million sets of eyeballs.

But compared to the sensation that is Discovery's "Shark Week," that's peanuts.

?It?s our biggest week of the year and brings in a lot of people who are not your core, common Discovery viewers,? Nancy Daniels, executive vice president of production and development for the network told TODAY.com. ?It?s a pop culture phenomenon people talk about.?

Ratings for "Shark Week" 2012 in the 25-54 demo were 39.6 percent higher than the network's prime-time average. The premiere event also reeled in more than 21 million cumulative viewers, according to Discovery. In addition to high ratings, the TV event also blew up on social media last year, with 2.6 million @SharkWeek tweets and 17.5 million people reached on Facebook.

"Shark Week," which kicked off in 1988, has since featured more than 150 shark-centric programs. This year, Discovery will add 11 more to the list, including, "Megalodon: The Monster Shark That Lives," about a search for a species thought to be extinct; "Return of Jaws," which features a robot submarine that tracks the deadly fish; "Voodoo Sharks," about bull sharks in the Louisiana bayou; and more.

Of the new offerings, Daniels said she?s especially excited about ?Megalodon.?

?For years we?ve found teeth of megalodon and we know they used to exist and we think they might still exist in ?Megaladon,? ? she said.

If it sounds like the cheesy Animal Planet programs about mermaids, ?I think you might need to watch it to check it out,? Daniels teased.

This year's "Shark Week" will also feature a first for the network: ?Shark After Dark,? a late-night talk show hosted by comedian Josh Wolf, best known for his regular appearances on ?Chelsea Lately.?

The live, one-hour show will be ?shark-centric? with shark experts as guests, Wolf told TODAY.com, but it will also feature celebrity guests, including ?Sharknado?s? Reid.

Launching a late-night talk show on Discovery is something network executives had been considering before settling on testing the chum-infested waters during ?Shark Week.? Daniels said ?Shark After Dark? will serve as a learning experience for the network as it considers a more permanent late-night program.

?Shark After Dark? will include some mentions of the night?s prime-time shows and previews of the next night?s offerings, but Wolf said it?s not a recap show like other after-shows. (Think AMC's "Talking Dead.")

?I?m gonna assume people tuning in have just watched ?Shark Week? so it?s only smart to comment on it,? Wolf said. Besides, he?s a fan of shark shows too: ?I?m one of those guys who?s always been obsessed with watching it.?

Wolf said he gets geared up for ?Shark Week? each year, but he?s hesitant to actually swim with sharks.

He?s not alone in his armchair enthusiasm. By mid-July, Twitter was lighting up with anticipation:

Discovery jump-started interest in ?Shark Week? this year with a promotional campaign that showed a shark snatching Snuffy the Seal as he was being returned to the ocean. (Slogan: ?It?s a bad week to be a seal.?)

Daniels credited Lara Richardson, Discovery?s senior vice president of marketing, for coming up with a campaign that plays off the frequent ?Shark Week? image of sharks breaching the ocean?s surface to chomp on seals. (Daniels revealed what viewers often see on ?Shark Week? are sharks attacking fake, decoy seals dragged behind boats in an effort to capture dramatic footage.)

The spot shocked some viewers with how dark it was, but it did the trick in drawing attention to "Shark Week" 2013. Just one month after the spot premiered in late June, the video already had more than 1.3 million views on YouTube.

As for competing networks trying to steal Discovery?s shark thunder, Daniels said she?s not concerned.

?(Syfy) figured out something we?ve known for a long time: Sharks are awesome and people love sharks,? she said. ?('Sharknado') just reaffirmed what we do every year for ?Shark Week.? ?

Source: http://www.today.com/entertainment/shark-weeks-ready-shred-sharknado-it-returns-26th-year-6C10809668

louisville basketball Ready for Love ncaa annette funicello joel osteen Accidental Racist Fallon Fox

4-year-old mayor is re-elected in northern Minn.

DORSET, Minn. (AP) ? Robert "Bobby" Tufts hasn't made it to preschool yet, but he's already been elected twice as mayor of a tiny tourist town in northern Minnesota.

Mayor Tufts' name was picked Sunday during annual Taste of Dorset festival to be mayor of Dorset for a second term. It has no formal city government and has a population of 22 to 28, depending on whether the minister and his family are in town.

Anyone could vote as many times as they like ? for $1 a vote ? at any of the ballot boxes in stores around town. The proceeds go toward organizing the festival.

Bobby was only 3 when he won election last year. His mother, Emma Tufts, said she and her son, who turns 5 in October, got choked up when his name was pulled for re-election Sunday.

The boy picked a random man out of the crowd to pick the name out of a clear tub. and the man was blindfolded twice, she said.

While this was happening, Bobby told the crowd how to musky fish, she said.

"He's been going since 3 o'clock yesterday with cameras on his face," she said Sunday afternoon. "He's having a long day but he's done really well. I'm surprised."

Asked how he felt during a phone interview, a tired Bobby made clear he was done answering questions. "I want to be with the boys," he told his mother.

They were on their way to dinner and then planned to go fishing or have a bonfire to celebrate. Bobby, of nearby Nevis, starts preschool this fall.

Emma Tufts said her son's agenda includes raising money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of the Red River Valley in Fargo, N.D., and a new welcome sign for Dorset, which bills itself as the Restaurant Capital of the World.

They already raised $750 from a walk this summer and planned to donate half the proceeds of Sunday's T-shirt sales to the charity. He wants to do a snowshoe scavenger hunt this winter to raise money, she said.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/4-old-mayor-elected-northern-minn-223025918.html

optimal Samantha Steele Espn goog Sylvia Kristel st louis cardinals Steelers Schedule tory burch

FORD TAURUS ?05. Leather, sunroof, full power, $4,795. Seacrest

Source: Daily Advance

FORD TAURUS ?05. Leather, sunroof, full power, $4,795. Seacrest Sales, Eliz. City, NC 335-9048.

Source: http://dailyadvance.kaango.com/ad-ford-taurus-05-leather-sunroof-full-power-4795-seacrest/22280327

brazil Dick Van Dyke pro bowl victoria azarenka Royal Rumble 2013 senior bowl norovirus

Envoys seek to avert bloodbath in Egypt

By Tom Perry and Matt Robinson

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egypt's army-backed rulers and allies of its deposed Islamist president gave the first signs on Saturday of a readiness to compromise, pressed by Western envoys trying to head off more bloodshed.

Faced with the threat of a crackdown on supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood, diplomacy appeared to pick up pace, a month to the day since Egypt's army deposed President Mohamed Mursi and plunged the country into turmoil.

Recognizing for the first time the strength of popular protest against his one-year rule, Mursi's allies said they respected the demands of millions who took to the streets before his overthrow.

A spokesman said the Mursi camp, which has refused to abandon weeks of sit-in protests until he is reinstated, wanted a solution that would "respect all popular desires".

They told envoys from the United States and the European Union that they rejected any role in a political settlement for army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who led Mursi's ouster, and wanted the constitution he suspended to be restored.

"I respect and hold in regard the demands of the masses that went out on June 30, but I will not build on the military coup," spokesman Tarek El-Malt told Reuters, relaying what the pro-Mursi delegation had told the envoys.

Asked whether the delegation had insisted on Mursi's reinstatement as part of any political deal, Malt, a member of the Brotherhood-affiliated Wasat party, said that was a detail for future discussion.

But given that Mursi's opponents insist he should not be part of the political solution, Malt said that "Sisi must also not be in the political equation". He said the pro-Mursi camp was ready to talk with the National Salvation Front, a loose alliance of leftist and liberal parties represented in the interim government installed by the army.

RAGE 'THE EASIEST THING'

In an interview with the Washington Post, Sisi appeared to rule out running for president himself, despite his growing popularity among some of the 84 million-strong population.

"You just can't believe that there are people who don't aspire for authority," Sisi told the interviewer when asked if he would stand for president. Asked "Is that you?", he replied, "Yes." The Post said the interview was conducted on Thursday.

Egypt's military has laid out a "road map" to elections in about six months. It promises a return to civilian government, having brought down the first freely elected president after 60 years of rule by military men.

The Brotherhood, an Islamist movement that spent decades in the shadows before winning power in elections after the 2011 fall of autocrat Hosni Mubarak, had spurned the road map.

But its supporters, camped out at two sites in Cairo, face the threat of being violently dispersed by security forces who shot dead 80 of them a week ago. Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since Mursi's overthrow, and much of the movement's leadership is in custody.

The deposed president is being held in a secret location, under investigation on a raft of charges including murder.

Diplomats say the Brotherhood and its political wing, the Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), understand that Mursi will not return as president, but they want a face-saving legal formula for him to step down.

"Those empowered to speak for the FJP understand that Mursi is not coming back. But they are maintaining that as a negotiating position," a Western diplomat said. Another diplomat said the Mursi bloc had shown flexibility in Saturday's talks.

Analysts say civilians in the new government are also trying to promote a political solution despite resistance from security services that want to take a hard line on the Brotherhood.

"Rage is the easiest thing. It is the easiest thing to say, 'Let's crush the Brotherhood'," interim Vice President Mohamed ElBaradei told Al-Hayat TV. "There is no solution in Egypt that can be based on exclusion. Salafists, Brotherhood, secularists, liberals, whoever, we are condemned to live together."

He said talks with outside envoys would focus on "specific steps" to reduce tensions. "We will discuss together how in the next 48 hours how we can halt the violence, reducing the number of protests."

'CONTACTS' WITH BROTHERHOOD

Stepping back from a threat to disperse the Brotherhood protests, the government said on Friday it would blockade the camps, but not storm them.

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry offered protesters a "safe exit" and political integration. Spokesman General Hany Abdel Latif said they had been "brainwashed".

U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns and European Union envoy Bernadino Leon were leading the diplomatic push, meeting Mursi's allies, interim Foreign minister Nabil Fahmy and interim President Adli Mansour. The United Arab Emirates, which has given the new government $3 billion in support, sent Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, who also met with Fahmy.

Fahmy told reporters there had been some contact with the Brotherhood.

"I wouldn't use the word negotiation. There have been contacts between different figures. There is no desire to use force if there is any other avenue that has any potential for success," he said.

The crisis in the Arab world's most populous country has posed a dilemma for the United States and other Western governments, which had advocated democracy following the overthrow of Mubarak but grew increasingly uncomfortable with Mursi's Islamist leanings.

Many Egyptians shared that concern, and frustration grew over Mursi's failure to solve social and economic problems.

The interim government gained the United States' approval on Thursday when Secretary of State John Kerry said the army had been "restoring democracy" when it toppled Mursi. Cairo remains central to U.S. policy in the Middle East, notably because of its peace agreement with Israel.

(Additional reporting by Michael Georgy, Tom Finn and Omar Fahmy in Cairo, Phil Stewart in Washington; Writing by Angus MacSwan and Matt Robinson; Editing by Robin Pomeroy and Peter Cooney)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/international-envoys-meet-minister-cairo-ease-egypt-crisis-123128004.html

texas relays meniscus robyn the colony ncaa final four 2012 uk vs louisville university of kansas

Supreme Court orders California to free thousands from crowded prisons

Rich Pedroncelli / AP file

An inmate at Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center in Elk Grove, Calif., in May. California is under a court order to reduce prison crowding by tens of thousands.

By M. Alex Johnson, Staff Writer, NBC News

The U.S. Supreme Court refused Friday to let California delay the release of thousands of inmates from state prisons to relieve crowding.

In June, a lower court ordered California to release about 10,000 inmates ? nearly 8 percent of all state prisoners ? by the end of the year to improve to improve medical and mental health treatment. Gov. Jerry Brown last month asked the Supreme Court to delay the order, arguing that it would jeopardize public safety.

---

Justice Antonin Scalia, joined by Justice Samuel Alito, strongly dissented with the high court's 6-3 one-sentence order Friday, predicting a wave of?murders and rapes in the streets of California.?Justice Clarence Thomas also disagreed but didn't join Scalia's dissent.

Brown also blasted the decision Friday, saying, "California must now release upon the public nearly 10,000 inmates convicted of serious crimes, about 1,000 for every city larger than Santa Ana."

Rich Pedroncelli / AP file

California Gov. Jerry Brown, pictured at a news conference in Sacramento in January, called the Supreme Court's order dangerous Friday.

The legal issue was Brown's request for a stay of a ruling by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for Northern California ordering the state to release about 9,600 inmates in the short term as part of larger proceedings requiring it to reduce its prison population by about 30,000.

The state argued that it had made "meaningful progress" by transferring thousands of "low-risk" inmates to county and local jails. Scalia and Alito agreed with that argument.

A spokesman for the coalition supporting the inmates didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. But Mike Bien, a lawyer representing inmates in the case, told Capital Public Radio of Sacramento that the decision was significant because it appeared that Brown was gambling everything on his request for a stay.

"They raised all their arguments," he said. "They filed hundreds of pages of documents. They used specially hired Supreme Court counsel at over a thousand dollars an hour to raise these arguments."

Even though the ruling was issued without explanation, Scalia managed to find that it came "at the expense of intellectual bankruptcy," writing in a blistering dissent (.pdf) that?it was "nothing more than a ceremonial washing of the hands ? making it clear for all to see, that if the terrible things sure to happen as a consequence of this outrageous order do happen, they will be none of this Court's responsibility."

The state had already taken steps to start moving some inmates out of state, releasing more low-risk inmates and expanding parole programs ? actions it said it was taking under protest.

Watch US News crime videos on NBCNews.com

Pete Williams of NBC News contributed to this report from Washington.

Related:

This story was originally published on Fri Aug 2, 2013 3:28 PM EDT

Source: http://feeds.nbcnews.com/c/35002/f/663306/s/2f7e4f01/sc/11/l/0Lusnews0Bnbcnews0N0C0Inews0C20A130C0A80C0A20C198372790Esupreme0Ecourt0Eorders0Ecalifornia0Eto0Efree0Ethousands0Efrom0Ecrowded0Eprisons0Dlite/story01.htm

ncaa basketball ncaa tournament schedule March Madness Live Google Keep ncaa scores Splash Ncaa Basketball Tournament

Lenoir City family talks about the perks of home schooling

').addClass('pl-'+video.id).append(
$('').append(''+video.title+'').find('a').click(function() { if($(document).data('first')) { $(document).data('second', true); } var ts = Math.round((new Date()).getTime() / 1000); g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].config.dfp = {adtag:'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x480&iu=/301721715/WVLT&ciu_szs&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&ad_rule=1&unviewed_position_start=1&correlator='+ts+'&cmsid=3275&vid=ANV_GRTV_'+video.id}; g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].config.canonical_url="http://www.local8now.com/video?videoid="+video.id; g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].loadVideo(video.id,57, 'GRTV'); $('.playlist_list').removeClass('current'); $('.pl-'+video.id).addClass('current'); $('.rec-'+video.id).addClass('current'); }) ) ); } else { var ts = Math.round((new Date()).getTime() / 1000); g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].config.dfp = {adtag:'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x480&iu=/301721715/WVLT&ciu_szs&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&ad_rule=1&unviewed_position_start=1&correlator='+ts+'&cmsid=3275&vid=ANV_GRTV_'+initVideo}; g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].config.canonical_url="http://www.local8now.com/video?videoid="+video.id; g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].loadVideo(video.id,57, 'GRTV'); $('#playlist').addClass('hidePlaylist'); }; }; }); $('.pl-'+id+' a').click(); $(document).data('first', true); var ts = Math.round((new Date()).getTime() / 1000); g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].config.dfp = {adtag:'http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/ads?sz=640x480&iu=/301721715/WVLT&ciu_szs&impl=s&gdfp_req=1&env=vp&output=xml_vast2&ad_rule=1&unviewed_position_start=1&correlator='+ts+'&cmsid=3275&vid=ANV_GRTV_'+initVideo}; g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].config.canonical_url="http://www.local8now.com/video?videoid="+initVideo; g_anvato_objects['playlistembed'].loadVideo(initVideo,57, 'GRTV'); $('.playlist_list').removeClass('current'); $('.pl-'+initVideo).addClass('current'); $('.rec-'+initVideo).addClass('current'); } function load_tabbed_playlist(data) { var videos = data.videos; var id = ''; $('#tabbed_playlist').html(''); jQuery.each( videos, function(key, video) { if (key == 0) id = video.id; $('#tabbed_playlist').append( $('').addClass('pl-'+video.id).addClass('row-fluid').attr('style', 'padding-bottom:4px; margin:0px;').append( $('').append( $('').append( '' ).find('a').click(function() { if($(document).data('first')) { $(document).data('second', true); } g_anvato_objects['tabbedplayerembed'].loadVideo(video.id, 57, 'GRTV'); $('.playlist_item').removeClass('current'); $('.pl-'+video.id).addClass('current'); $('.rec-'+video.id).addClass('current'); }).append( $('').attr('src', video.thumbnail).attr('height', '55px') ) ), $('').append( $('').append( $('').text(video.title) ) ) ) ) }); $('#tabbed-vod-player').attr('style', ''); $('#tabbed-vod-player').removeClass(); $('.pl-'+id+' a').click(); $(document).data('first', true); } function change_video(vidid,playerid,mcpid) { g_anvato_objects['playerembed'].loadVideo(vidid,playerid,mcpid); }

LENOIR CITY (WVLT) -- When it comes to education, parents have several options from which to choose. Parents of thousands of children in Tennessee choose home schooling.

While some kids go back to class, the Rains dust off their books in the comfort of home.

"We just take it a day at a time and if there's something, you know, luckily we're still in the younger grades, but if there's something I'm a little unsure of, we can fall back and dad can help or we're part of a co-op group and we can kind of do it with other moms," said Farah Rains, a mother who home-schools.

Nick and Farah Rains made the decision to teach from home when Elysia, their oldest child, started preschool. Originally, it was a faith based decision, but the family was able to expand the definition of learning by teaching outside testing guidelines.

"We turn anything we do into a learning experience. So we view education as not just somewhere you go or a setting, but there's something to be learned wherever you go in life. That's some of the beauty of the home-school philosophy,? said Nick Rains, a father who home-schools.

All of the benefits of home schooling do come with stereotypes.

?There's a little bit of a stigma with the whole home-school lifestyle, with the choice of home-school," said Nick Rains.

The family of four doesn't fit the stereotype. Between its son's football practices and daughter's dance classes, the family is always on the go.

"I mean we're just so busy all the time. I can't imagine. Socialization has just never been an issue for us," said Nick Rains.

The Rains' education isn't stereotypical either. By home schooling,they can teach to the specific needs of each child. They help their son learn through visual and hands-on ways, while their daughter learns through listening.

"This was never about just classroom or not. This was about a priority in life," said Farah Rains.

The Rains say Tennessee's home-school guidelines make the process easy. The Rains are held accountable through an umbrella group that checks curriculum, attendance and grades.

While the family doesn't have to test, it chooses to through Stanford University. Doing that ensures sure the kids aren't just meeting expectations, they're exceeding them.

If a family is considering the home schooling option, it does come at a price. Curriculum can cost from hundreds to thousands of dollars. Even at that price, it's still a cheaper option than private school.

Source: http://www.local8now.com/news/headlines/Lenoir-City-family-talks-about-the-perks-of-home-schooling-218072761.html

daytona 500 national margarita day Ronda Rousey Cecil Hotel Cressida Bonas Kenny Clutch Edward Gorey

Rahmon, In Moscow, Promises Tajikistan Will Ratify Long-Delayed Military Base Deal

Presidents Emomali Rahmon and Vladiimir Putin meet outside Moscow. (photo: kremlin.ru)

Tajikistan President Emomali Rahmon traveled to Moscow this week to meet with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. At the top of the agenda was the long-delayed ratification of the agreement, signed last year by the two presidents, to extend the presence of Russia's 201st military base in Tajikistan until 2042. While Russia has already ratified the agreement, Tajikistan has been dragging its feet for reasons that remain unclear. But after the meeting in Moscow, Rahmon promised that the parliament would ratify the deal by this fall:

?I'd like to say that we treat this issue [of the Russian military base] very seriously,? Rahmon said, ?and we are firmly committed to fulfilling our obligations. Now that we have solved a range of issues concerning the base, and as our parliament is returning from holiday, we will solve this issue by the fall of 2013.?

The two sides also apparently discussed the $200 million in military aid that Moscow has promised Dushanbe. One detail that emerged is that this amount is to be disbursed over a period stretching until 2025. ?President Vladimir Putin?s orders are straightforward: to assess all risks and to help the Tajik armed forces face these risks,? Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said after the Putin-Rahmon meeting.

As usual with these sorts of meetings, details were scarce but speculation rampant. Much speculation centered around what the two discussed about Tajikistan's upcoming presidential elections. Political analyst Shokirjon Hakimov told the Tajikistan newspaper Avesta:

I think that as we approach the presidential elections in Tajikistan, considering the influence Russia has over the media and the Russian factor in the region as a whole, Rahmon will make some concessions and give the order to the Tajikistan parliament to ratify the agreement on the extension of the presence of the Russian military base, although many conditions of the agreement contradict the national interests of Tajikistan.

Even pro-presidential analyst and member of parliament Sukhrob Sharipov acknowledged that Putin's support in the elections was probably discussed "over tea," though he emphasized that the accumulated issues around the ratification of the base agreement would have necessitated the meeting anyway.

Still, no new details emerged about the particular elements of the base agreement, like the deals on labor migrants and supplies of gas and oil, which seem to have been sticking points. But Tajikistan's defense minister, Sherali Khairulloyev, stayed on in Moscow to work with Russian defense officials on the details about military cooperation, so perhaps some political decision was reached on that.

Source: http://www.eurasianet.org/node/67341

AJ McCarron ups Aj Mccarron Girlfriend CES 2013 joe budden notre dame notre dame football