A Chicago-area teacher has been accused of having sex with a 16-year-old student.

Ashley Blumenshine, 27, a physical education teacher at Plainfield North High School in Illinois, was discovered on Jan. 5th  in a car with a 16-year-old male student in the parking lot of a Kohls store.  Police noticed two suspicious cars sitting at the far end of the parking lot behind the store, and upon pulling up they discovered one car was empty while the other had two occupants; Ms. Blumenshine was in the driver’s seat of the second car while the unidentified student was in the back seat.  Upon questioning, both admitted to having engaged in sexual intercourse before the arrival of the police.  Blumenshine was arrested on a charge of criminal sexual abuse, and released the following day on $75,000 bond with an order to have no unsupervised contact with anyone under the age of 18.

Since the time of the incident, Ms. Blumenshine has tendered her resignation to the 202 consolidated school district, which they have accepted, and the school where she has taught since 2006 is also moving to have her teaching certificate revoked.

On Jan. 26th she appeared in court to enter her plea of not guilty to the charge of aggravated criminal sexual abuse.  She will have a pretrial hearing on March 2nd.

Sadly, we’re sure this will be the first of many teacher sex scandals this year.  I’ve tried to cut back some on how many of these I write up just because they’re so depressing when you really think about it.  I looked it up, and my 2010 teacher sex scandals had only 11 posts as opposed to the 2009 teacher sex scandals having 24. This isn’t to say there were less incidents, I simply tried to pay less attention to them.

Here’s hoping 2011 will have fewer of these stories to come across my news feeds, but I somehow doubt that will happen.

Henry Cavill has been cast as Superman in the new film to be directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan.

Still simply known as Superman Reboot, the next film centering around the iconic comic book character of Superman has found its Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman.  Henry Cavill is probably best known for playing Charles Brandon in The Tudors (picture in this post from that role), though he has appeared in several films.

Playing this role is tricky to be sure, and it’s hard to judge from one’s previous work how they will do it until you see them in the suit, but I do have to say he has the right “look” for the part.

Next to nothing is known about the plot of this film as of yet, although it is believed to be a complete reboot of the series, meaning that all of the Christopher Reeve films, as well as Superman Returns, will be ignored.

Here’s the full press release that was issued this morning.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures announced today that Henry Cavill has won the coveted role of Superman, the iconic superhero.

The film will be directed by Zack Snyder, who stated, “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time, and I am honored to be a part of his return to the big screen. I also join Warner Bros., Legendary and the producers in saying how excited we are about the casting of Henry. He is the perfect choice to don the cape and S shield.”

Charles Roven, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan and Deborah Snyder are the producers of the film. The screenplay is being written by David S. Goyer based on a story by Goyer and Nolan. Thomas Tull and Lloyd Phillips are serving as executive producers.

Cavill recently wrapped production on “The Cold Light of Day” and stars in the upcoming “Immortals,” opening this fall.

Targeted for release in December 2012, the new Superman movie will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

A total of 45 published this week … wow, I’m slowing down in my old age.

FunJug.com

• Dog Invades Football Pitch
• Homecoming Queen’s Got a Gun
• Japanese Kids Go Insane For Sponge Bob
• Seinfeld: “Jerry the Great”
• Disney’s Princess Ke$ha
• Robot Bollywood Movie
• Saturday Shorts: Self-Conscious Guy

SeanPAune.com

• Choose Your Own Adventure Books May Become A Movie
• 2011 Razzies Nominations Released
• Oscar Nominations 2011
• Hollywood Should Forget Vasquez Rocks Exists
• Thundercats Return To The Small Screen
• Scattercast Episode #130: The One With “That” Word
• Food Network: Crack For Women

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Console Wars Season 2 Coming Soon
• Kno Tablet Hands-On Plus Student Ambassador Program
• Aura Wallpaper – TechnoBuffalo Wallpaper Collection
• Xbox 360 or Cash From TechnoBuffalo Giveaway Reminder
• Rover Puck Review – 4G Wi-Fi Hotspot
• HP Topaz Specs Leak Out
• Foursquare Enjoys 3400% Growth In 2010
• Apple Patent Hints At A Keyboard That Replaces The Mouse
• HTC Flyer Confirmed By Second Source
• Amazon Looks To Expand AmazonTote Nationwide
• Ask The Buffalo – Your Questions Answered (video)
• T-Mobile Slate Release Dates Leak Out
• Verizon 4G LTE Modems Receiving Mac Support In February
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops First Strike Map Pack Gets Detailed
• Samsung Announces Four New Mid-Level Phones
• Sony Ericsson Xperia Play (PlayStation Phone) Revealed
• HTC EVO Shift 4G Unboxing (video)
• Google Releases Android 3.0 Honeycomb Development Kit
• Samsung To Show Galaxy Tab 2 At MWC?
• Hulu Pondering Live Streams And Less Free Content
• MacBook Pro Refresh Looks To Be Imminent
• Sony’s NGP Recap (video)
• Android Honeycomb Gets Revealed In Screenshots
• Netflix Hits 20 Million Customers; Looks At Personalization
• Amazon 2010 Sales Rise 40%
• Blackberry Curve Touch Image And Specs Leak Online
• Samsung Galaxy Tab To Receive Multiple Versions
• Jon Rettinger On CNBC: Apple’s Plans For NFC In The iPhone 5
• Verizon iPhone 4 Pre-Orders Begin At 3AM EST On Feb. 3rd
• Motorola ATRIX Demo Video Hits The Internet
• Flashback Friday: Nintendo Game Boy Paved The Way

Can the Food Network be classified as an addictive drug yet?

While I’ll admit to having spent some time watching the Food Network, most specifically when they were first running the Japanese version of Iron Chef, I can’t say I’m a huge devotee of the channel.  With that being said, I seem to watch/hear more of this channel than any one human should ever have to.

You see, as loyal readers know, I live with my parents.  I believe my mother only knows the location of two channels on DirecTV, and those are the Food Network and HGTV.  I figured this was only an issue in my house, but when recently speaking with a married friend of mine, the subject of Iron Chef came up, and that led to us discussing the Food Network in general.  I mentioned my situation with my mom, and he said that ever since he got married he felt those were the only two channels ever on in his house.

I thought about it some more, and I realized that another female friend of mine, also married, also seems to watch the Food Network exclusively.

Is there something about this channel that men are incapable of comprehending?  I’m not some sports fanatic, so it isn’t like I’m opposed to exploring other channels or I have to be watching ESPN 24/7, so it’s not the concept of the channel somehow offends my sensibilities, but how can anyone stand to watch that many hours of people having cake decorating competitions?  If I have to hear one more story from Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa about how she has to have a meal prepared before her guests arrive, I may scream.

The only concession I get is that the channel does get turned off any time Rachael Ray comes on as my hatred of that woman is well-known, and there is a fear of me hurling something at the screen.  However, during those slivers of time where I receive a reprieve from endlessly steaming pots of boiling water, I get treated to House Hunters on HGTV.  We own a house … why are we watching a show about people hunting for a house?  Is there something I’m missing about a show where people wander through homes nitpicking every little thing, obviously hamming it up for the cameras?

I digress.  I do realize it isn’t just women who watch the Food Network as my father has an unhealthy obsession with one of their competition shows, Chopped.  So, yes, men can and do watch the channel, but I have yet to find one who watches it for hours on end like the women I have mentioned in this post.

I don’t get the attraction, and I’m not sure I want to either.

It’s episode #130 of Scattercast … and, as always, I’m flying by the seat of my pants.

Lots of movie talk this week such as Oscar Nominations 2011, but a bit of a serious note this week with some strong language.  The language is the subject, so it has to be used.  Hopefully no one will be offended, but it is discussed very clinically.

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ThunderCats, the cult classic cartoon from the 1980′s is officially on its way back to the small screen. ThunderCats – Ho!

The 1980′s were inundated with cartoons that served as half-hour long commercials for toy lines.  While there were varying degrees of quality, one of the true standouts of the time period was ThunderCats.

You can read up on the whole plot of the series for yourselves, but suffice it to say it’s about humanoid cats … stop laughing.  It wasn’t my favorite show, but it was cool.

While the toy line didn’t last very long, the cartoon series ran for four seasons, concluding in 1990.  There have been talk for years of the series being revived, but nothing ever came of it, but now something has.

In production from Japanese animation house Studio 4°C, the new series will be aired on the Cartoon Network. Here’s the official press release.

THUNDERCATS

Series Coming Soon to Cartoon Network

Roaring to life through WBA and Studio4°C’s use of the Japanese animated artistry of anime, “ThunderCats” characters Lion-O, Mumm-Ra, Panthro, Cheetara and others will spring off the screen with realistic cat-like characteristics inconceivable in previous incarnations.

The new “ThunderCats” will appeal to viewers who have loved the characters all their lives as well as young newcomers to the franchise. A sweeping tale combining swords and science and boasting ferocious battles with the highest of stakes, the grand origin story of Prince Lion-O’s ascension to the throne – and of those who would thwart his destiny at any cost – takes on epic dimensions in this sharp new telling. As the forces of good and evil battle each other in the quest for the fabled Stones of Power, Lion-O and his champions learn valuable lessons of loyalty, honor and mortality in every episode.

“ThunderCats” is executive produced by Sam Register (“Teen Titans,” “Ben 10,” “Batman: The Brave and the Bold”). Michael Jelenic (“Batman: The Brave and the Bold,” “Wonder Woman”) and Ethan Spaulding (“Avatar: The Last Airbender”) are the producers.

“ThunderCats” © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. “ThunderCats” and all related characters and elements are trademarks of and © Warner Bros.

There’s no release date as of yet, but I’m willing to give it a shot. Luckily there are no signs yet of Snarf, the annoying ThunderCats pet, so I’m waiting pretty eagerly to see this.

Vasquez Rocks needs to be put on the list of “places no one should ever film ever again”.

There was an episode of the original Star Trek series called “Arena” where Kirk got trapped on an alien planet with a Gorn – a green lizard – and they had to fight to the death.  There was a famous cliff in the background which is located just north of Los Angeles.  Ever since that episode, you can’t go more than a few days without seeing it show u[ in a movie or TV show.

You can actually head over to MovieSites.org to get a good feeling of just how many TV shows and movies these rocks have been in, but seeing them in the season premiere of Big Love, albeit for about two seconds, just made me realize that you just can’t use them any more.  They’re too recognizable, and they actually pull you out of he story to a degree as you go, “Oh look, it’s those rocks!”

Just as Hollywood has run out of ideas, it appears they have run out of locations to film things, so we constantly get these rocks.  Enough already, we enjoyed them the first 500 times, now it’s time to move on.

The nominees for the 83rd annual Academy Awards have been announced.

The awards show will air Sunday, Feb. 27th, at 8 PM est/5 PM est on ABC in the United States, hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway.

The films with the most nominations are:

• The King’s Speech – 12
• True Grit – 10
• The Social Network – 8
• The Fighter – 7
• Inception – 7
• 127 Hours – 6
• Black Swan – 5
• Toy Story 3 – 5
• The Kids Are All Right – 3

Full list after the jump.

Continue Reading ->

Considering how many bad movies there are a year, it’s amazing that the Razzies can narrow the filed of nominations down to so few.

Each year the Razzies host their “awards” show the night before the Academy Awards, so it makes sense they would announce the nominations the day before the Oscars do.  It’s quite the mix this year, but I think you’ll notice some definite trends.

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the Oscar nominations, and leave your thoughts below for your predictions on the Razzies for 2011.

Worst Picture

• The Bounty Hunter (Columbia Pictures/Relativity Media)
• The Last Airbender (Paramount/Nickelodeon Movies)
• Sex and the City 2 (Warner Bros/New Line/HBO Pictures)
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (Summit Entertainment)
• Vampires Suck (20th Century-Fox/Regency Enterprises)

Worst Actor

• Jack Black in Gulliver’s Travels
• Gerald Butler in The Bounty Hunter
• Ashton Kutcher in Killers and Valentine’s Day
• Taylor Lautner in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Valentine’s Day
• Robert Pattinson in Remember Me and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Worst Actress

• Jennifer Aniston in The Bounty Hunter and The Switch
• Miley Cyrus in The Last Song
• The Four “Gal Pals” (Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis & Cynthia Nixon) in Sex and the City 2
• Megan Fox in Jonah Hex
• Kristen Stewart in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Worst Supporting Actor

• Billy Ray Cyrus in The Spy Next Door
• George Lopez in Marmaduke, The Spy Next Door and Valentine’s Day
• Dev Patel in The Last Airbender
• Jackson Rathbone in The Last Airbender and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Rob Schneider in Grown Ups

Worst Supporting Actress

• Jessica Alba in The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers, Machete and Valentine’s Day
• Cher in Burlesque
• Liza Minnelli in Sex and the City 2
• Nicola Peltz in The Last Airbender
• Barbra Streisand in Little Fockers

Worst Screen Couple / Screen Ensemble

• Jennifer Aniston and Gerald Butler in The Bounty Hunter
• Josh Brolin’s Face and Megan Fox’s Accent in Jonah Hex
• The Entire Cast of The Last Airbender
• The Entire Cast of Sex and the City 2
• The Entire Cast of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel

• Clash of the Titans
• The Last Airbender
• Sex and the City 2
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Vampires Suck

Worst Director

• Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer for Vampires Suck
• Michael Patrick King for Sex and the City 2
• M. Night Shyamalan for The Last Airbender
• David Slade for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• Sylvester Stallone for The Expendables

Worst Screenplay

• The Last Airbender (written by M. Night Shyamalan, based on the TV series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko)
• Little Fockers (written by John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey, based on characters created by Greg Glienna and Mary Ruth Clarke)
• Sex and the City 2 (written by Michael Patrick King, based on the TV series created by Darren Star)
• The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the novel by Stephenie Meyer)
• Vampires Suck (written by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer)

Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3-D

• Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore
• Clash of the Titans
• The Last Airbender
• The Nutcracker in 3D
• Saw 3D

Choose Tour Own Adventure books, which published 185 titles from 1979 to 1999, looks set to become a film. Let head scratching commence.

It was reported recently on CHUD that a production company Red Crown has announced that it’s working on TV and film adaptations of the Choose Your Own Adventure series.  While this is considered the fifth best selling book series out there, I can’t for the life of me figure out how this will work in either of the listed mediums.

While the books were immensely popular in my childhood, I never once sat around and thought, “Man, I can’t wait to see a movie of this!”  I read a few of them, but even as a kid I thought they were pretty much mindless drivel.  You couldn’t develop a real story when you were having to consider so many potential endings.  They were a distraction and nothing more, but at least they kept kids reading.

Now, if they want to develop a video product off of this concept, the Internet could make for an interesting venue for them.  There have been people doing something similar for ages on YouTube where you can place multiple choices at the end of a video and you can click which way you’d like to follow.  That I could see being done, but sitting in a movie theater?  Will we have little controls?

As for TV, will we be given choices at the end of each episode to decide what we see the following week?

Can we just get this out of the way now and say this may be one of the worst ideas in the history of Hollywood?  Yeah, I think we can say that with a fair amount of certainty.

A total of 50 published again this week.  Would you believe I’m still catching up on CES stuff?

FunJug.com

• Peach and Zelda Catch Up
• If Movie Characters Had The Internet
• BMX Race Start Epic Fail
• Avengers Assemble! Episode 7: Carpool
• Niche Marketing
• Utah Jazz bear and Cleveland Cavalier fan go at it
• Saturday Shorts: How Quiet Helps at School

SeanPAune.com

• Green Lantern Toys Giving Hints To The Movie’s Vibe
• Golden Globe Winners 2011
• Starbucks Trenta
• First Official Picture From X-Men: First Class
• The Dark Knight Rises Gets Its Villains
• First Images From X-Men: First Class
• Scattercast Episode #129: Can’t … Catch … My … Breath …
• Wonder Woman Heading Back To TV

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Mortal Kombat: Rebirth To Get Web Series
• Kinect Bundles Outsold Move Bundles By 5:1
• Kindle Lending Club Matches E-Book Borrowers And Lenders
• HP Training Site Hints At webOS Netbooks
• Japanese Women Apparently Would Marry The Galaxy Tab
• Apple’s iOS 4.3 Only For Newer Devices
• BREAKING: Steve Jobs Takes Unannounced Medical Leave From Apple
• 3D Without Glasses? Yup
• Rumor: iPad 2 To Contain Vibrating Motor
• Sense, MotoBlur & TouchWiz: Android Skins Compared
• Why Aren’t Samsung Phones Getting Android 2.2?
• Who Will Replace Steve Jobs As Apple CEO?
• How Much Does Netflix Spend On Streaming Content?!?
• Rumor: webOS Tablet Images Leak Out Prior To Feb. 9th Event
• GIVEAWAY: Win An Xbox 360 or Cash From TechnoBuffalo!
• Apple Reports Record Breaking $26.7 Billion Quarter
• HP Promises Big Things In New Feb. 9th Event Invite
• Final Fantasy XIII-2 Gets Announced For 2011 Release
• Samsung Says It Isn’t Charging Carriers For Android Updates
• Apple Announces All Time Most Popular iPhone & iPad Apps
• HP Files For “Touchpad” Trademark
• Nintendo 3DS Gets Launch Date, Price And Games
• Deals: Amazon Gift Cards For Half Price
• Starbucks Gets Into The Mobile Payment Game
• Sidekick Brand Phones Return To T-Mobile in 2011
• FaceTime, Camera and PhotoBooth All But Confirmed For iPad 2
• Apple iOS 4.3 Multi-Touch Gestures Demo On Video
• Eric Schmidt Steps Down As CEO Of Google
• Duke Nukem Forever Releases On May 3rd
• Mozilla Blocks Skype In The Firefox Browser
• SoldierKnowsBest Weekly Recap Video For Jan. 21st
• Flashback Friday: Why Do Video Game Movies Go So Wrong?
• T-Mobile Samsung Vibrant Units Finally Receiving Android 2.2
• Motorola XOOM Retail Price Set at $800
• Do Nothing For 2 Minutes Challenges You To Do Nothing

David E. Kelley, creator of such series as Ally McBeal and Boston Legal, has sold a pilot for a new version of Wonder Woman.

WB TV, the television arm of Warner Brothers, which in turn owns DC Comics, has been shopping around a reimagined version of Wonder Woman by television producer and writer David E. Kelley.    The series has been shopped around to the major broadcast networks since early Jan. according to Deadline, but all had passed on the concept initially.

Bob Greenblatt, the new president of NBC reconsidered the network’s initial pass on the series based on the successful premiere of another new series from Kelley for the network, Harry’s Law. “I had a lot of fun writing it,” Mr. Kelley said recently of the project at a TCA event after it had been initially been passed on. “It’s a huge project, and it was probably a bit too much to ask anyone to try to chew on it for next season. But I’m confident it will still happen. It’s a very complicated piece, which is the most fun thing about it.”

In the new version of the story, Diana Prince will be fighting crime in Los Angeles by night, and a successful business executive by day.  Yeah, I’m not sure where that concept came from either.

For those of you unfamiliar with the process of television production, the ordering of a pilot does not mean that we will necessarily see the show on our TV sets any time soon.  A pilot is a test episode that is filmed to show the network, but there is no guarantee of i being turned into a series.  If it isn’t picked up, then the pilot is usually not seen by the public ever.

While I have been a fan of Mr. Kelley for years, I’m definitely going into this project with some trepidations.  The character of Wonder Woman can be interesting at times, and at others she can be a dreadful bore.  And with Kelley at the helm … well … I fear the appearance of dancing babies when her biological clock starts ticking.

We’ll see how this goes, but I’m concerned.