Cutthroat Everyman (Creative Loafing Charlotte)

Plus, there's not much in Egypt ... By Perry Tannenbaum Whether the action is set along Hollywood Boulevard or Broadway, David Mamet takes a certain amount of satisfaction in pushing his audience beyond their cushy comfort zones. The infamous scatology is merely the salt in the water when we suddenly find ourselves swimming among the sharks – the con artists, the cheats, the brutes and the ...

02-07-08 EUR ALL ON ONE PAGE (Eurweb)

BRANDY AND RAY-J BEGGED MOM NOT TO SUE KIM K.: Sonja Norwood says she held off as long as she could.

Bitesized (Albany Times Union)

Black History Month events (The State)

BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS AT THE CITADEL: Keynote address featuring Paul Robeson Jr., 6:30 tonight, Copeland Auditorium, Grimsley Hall; “Beyond the Playing Field — An Alumni Panel Discussion,” 6:30 p.m. Feb. 12, Copeland Auditorium; Opera singer Morris Derhon Robinson, 6:30 p.m. Feb. 21, Summerall Chapel. (803) 953-6779 BLACK HISTORY MONTH PROGRAMS AT THE COLUMBIA MUSEUM OF ART: Film: “Over ...

Super Bowl time and the partying is easy for most (Austin American-Statesman)

Crowds gather for reasons other than the big game. Made-up holidays are cherished by Americans as much as traditional or official ones. Customary Epiphany (Jan. 6), once a major stop on the ecclesiastical calendar, passed this year with barely a blip.

Iron Chef America: The Series is an American cooking show based on Fuji Television's Iron Chef, and is the second American adaptation of the series, following the failed Iron Chef USA. The show is produced by Food Network, which also carries a dubbed version of the original Iron Chef. Like the original Japanese program, the program is a sort of culinary game show. In each episode, a new challenger chef "battles" one of the resident "Iron Chefs" in an one-hour cooking competition based on a theme ingredient.The show is presented as a successor to the original Iron Chef, as opposed to being a remake. The chairman is portrayed by martial arts expert Mark Dacascos, who is introduced as the nephew of the original Japanese chairman Takeshi Kaga (in fact, contrary to the urban legend which suggests that Moriko McVey, Dacascos' real-life mother, is the sister to Kaga, the two are not related). The commentary is provided solely by Alton Brown, and Kevin Brauch is the floor reporter.Per the introduction fiction from the Battle of the Masters miniseries (and ignoring story elements from the 2002 Iron Chef Japan Cup Special), Chairman Kaga (the character) has ordered his nephew to continue the tradition of Kitchen Stadium, this time in New York's Chelsea Market. For the inaugural battle, the elder Chairman dispatched two Iron Chefs: Hiroyuki Sakai and Masaharu Morimoto.The show is one of the more successful ones on Food Network (both in the US and Canada), attracting many from outside its normal demographic - in particular, the core 18-49 male demographic. This is due in part to its roots - Iron Chef in all its incarnations is often touted as more of a sporting event than a cooking show. However in Australia, it was pulled after airing for less than two months due to negative viewer feedback and replaced by the original Iron Chef.Unlike the original Iron Chef or Iron Chef USA, Alton Brown, rather than the chairman, is credited as the show's host.