Monsters rule box office in 'Hotel Transylvania'

By Lisa Richwine, Reuters

LOS ANGELES?-- Family film "Hotel Transylvania" brought new life to movie box offices with a chart-topping $43 million in U.S. and Canadian ticket sales during the weekend, a record for a September opening.

The animated 3-D movie featuring the voices of Adam Sandler and Selena Gomez finished ahead of new science fiction film "Looper," which took in $21.2 million from Friday through Sunday.

The police drama "End of Watch," which was in a tie with "House at the End of the Street" for the top spot last week, landed in third place with $8 million, according to studio estimates.

The big turnout for the top films helped revive a box office that has struggled through several weeks of sluggish attendance.

In "Hotel Transylvania," Frankenstein, the Invisible Man and other monsters gather for a party at a high-end resort operated by Dracula. Their celebration is disrupted when a boy discovers the hotel and falls in love with Dracula's daughter but must deal her overprotective father.

The film's domestic sales far exceeded distributor Sony Corp's prediction for $25 million-plus from the North American (U.S. and Canadian) market. The movie added $8.1 million from international markets, for a global debut of $51.1 million.

"It's absolutely an incredible result," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Corp's Sony Pictures studio, adding that the studio had hopes for something in the $30 million range, which he noted "in this market would have been extraordinary."

The hefty take easily beat the September opening record of $35.65 million for "Sweet Home Alabama," which had stood for 10 years.

"Hotel Transylvania" cost $85 million to produce.

Sony also distributed second-place film "Looper," a time travel story about a man charged with killing an older version of himself. The movie starring Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Emily Blunt earned rave reviews from critics with a 93 percent positive rating on the Rotten Tomatoes website.

Sony had predicted ticket sales of up to $20 million domestically for "Looper." Endgame Entertainment paid for the film's production.

"To see it open as it did bodes well for how well this movie will play in the future," said Bruer.

The weekend's other new movie, "Won't Back Down," stars Viola Davis and Maggie Gyllenhaal as two determined mothers who try to transform their children's failing inner city school. The film started off with $2.7 million over the weekend, in 10th place.

Rounding out the top five, Clint Eastwood baseball film "Trouble with the Curve" scored $7.5 million to take the No. 4 slot, while horror flick "House at the End of the Street" earned $7.2 million during its second weekend in theaters.

New comedy "Pitch Perfect," about a girls' singing group, pulled in an impressive $5.2 million in a limited debut on 335 screens for the sixth spot. Distributor Universal Studios chose a smaller opening in hopes of generating buzz ahead of a wider release on Oct. 5.

Related content:

Source: http://entertainment.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/30/14159727-monsters-rule-box-office-in-hotel-transylvania?lite

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Stock bulls eye Spain, Bernanke and jobs

NEW YORK?-?The S&P 500.INX.SPX finished its third positive quarter in the last four on Friday, despite suffering its largest weekly percentage decline since June. For the past three months, the S&P 500 gained 5.9 percent - its best third quarter since 2010. In contrast, the index was down 1.3 percent for the week.

The benchmark S&P 500 earlier this month reached its highest level since late 2007. Yet uncertainty remains over whether stocks can hold their gains against the headwinds of a struggling economy.

That explains, in part, the retreat over the last several days.

The S&P 500 hit a high of 1,474.51 in mid-September before pulling back by a bit more than 2 percent. A run at 1,500 seems possible, but the flurry of economic and world events ahead probably will prevent a major advance in the coming week.

Bulls are betting this week?s Spanish budget proposals will be a preamble to a bailout request by Mariano Rajoy?s government. The move would be seen as a first step to get the finances of the euro zone?s fourth-largest economy in order and would clear some of the market uncertainty regarding the euro zone crisis.

Monetary policy is also on the list of market catalysts next week. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is scheduled to speak on Monday and the minutes of the latest FOMC meeting are set for release later in the week. The week?s agenda includes meetings of the European Central Bank, the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan.

?I think we could see a rebound next week if we get some of the stars aligning and have Spain ask for a bailout, the ECB announcing favorable terms for that bailout, and if we see the Bank of Japan announce further monetary intervention,? said Brian Jacobsen, chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Funds Management in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. ?If Spain and the ECB don?t deliver, we could set ourselves up for a further lateral move in the markets. A negative would be if Rajoy flat-out denies that they need a bailout.? The ECB and BOJ are set to meet on Thursday, with the Bank of Japan?s meeting extending until Friday.

FACTORIES, JOBS AND THE DEBATES: Chinese factory and business conditions data will kick off a numbers-heavy calendar for markets. Manufacturing PMI, due on Monday, is expected to show a second straight month of contraction.

A snapshot of U.S. manufacturing activity will be provided on Monday when the Institute for Supply Management releases its September index. The September ISM reading is expected to show another month of contraction, but at a slightly slower pace than in August. On Wednesday, the ISM will release its US services-sector Purchasing Managers? Index, which could show a slight deceleration in the pace of growth in the non-manufacturing sector.

?We have Chinese economic data over the weekend, and we?ll see how markets react on Monday,? said Wasif Latif, vice president of equity investments at San Antonio, Texas-based USAA Investment Management. ?It seems like the market is bracing for bad numbers, meaning if they?re not as bad, it could be market-positive,? Latif said.

Non-farm payrolls for September, due on Friday, are seen up 115,000, while the U.S. unemployment rate is seen ticking up 0.1 percent from August to 8.2 percent in September.

The jobs data will come on the heels of the first of three U.S. presidential debates, scheduled for Wednesday night. Recent poll numbers point to a strengthening lead by President Barack Obama, but a weak payrolls reading could give some hope to Republican challenger Mitt Romney. ?If Romney doesn?t turn the ship with a very strong (debate)performance, the president is going to win,? said Jack de Gan, chief investment officer at Harbor Advisory Corp in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. He said the trend in the polls has taken away some of the market uncertainty regarding the presidential election. He added that an ECB- or Spain-related headline out of Europe on Thursday could overcome almost anything that would happen Wednesday night during the debate. ?I think the market is coming to terms with the fact the president is ahead, and unless something significant changes, (he) will prevail.?

Source: http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/09/30/news/profit/stock-bulls-eye-spain-bernanke-and-jobs/

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Personal Storage Ottawa Helps Free Up Space in Your Home Or ...

When it comes to freeing up space in your home, you need a company that offers personal storage ottawa services. Getting affordable personal storage is important when your home is either too small or far too cluttered to be comfortable. Personal storage Ottawa units allow you to store all of those items in a safe and secure environment. You don't have to worry about anybody accessing these items, since you will be able to lock the storage unit so that nobody can get to it. There a lot of benefits to owning a personal storage unit, below you will find some of the items that are useful to be stored in these containers.

Yard equipment We don't often mow or clean up our yards, so storing yard equipment in a personal storage unit is a great opportunity. If you have a lot of machinery like weed whackers, lawnmowers, tremors and more, storing this in your personal storage unit gets it out of your home and away from your sight. The best part about it is that storage units aren't really that expensive. In general, a typical storage unit will be well under $100 per month. This allows you to save money and get all of your garden equipment stored safely and securely in a unit that you can access when you need it. Anytime that you go to clean your yard, you can simply drive down to your unit and pick up your items.

A spare car Believe it or not, storage unit facilities will actually let you store a spare car inside one of their containers. Lots of people have spare cars around their home, but this can really take away from the overall appeal of your home. If you have a spare car that just sits in your front yard or driveway, you can store that car in a storage unit so that you no longer have to see it anymore. Surely, you and your neighbors are going to appreciate this opportunity.

Antiques Antiques can be something that we want to hold onto for as long as possible. Storing these antiques somewhere that they're going to be safe is important so that you can one day sell them and get a return on investment. If you have lots of antique furniture or items in your home, rather than keeping them in the garage or sitting somewhere that they really don't belong, you can store them in a storage unit. It doesn't matter what type of antiques you own, storage units will accept whatever it is you want to bring into the facility.

Business supplies Often times, businesses will have far too many supplies in order to keep all of them at their place of business. Additionally, if you operate out of your home, it can be difficult to keep track of business supplies and organize them efficiently. If you'd like a place to store some of the things that you purchase for your business, a storage unit is a great opportunity to do so.

Keywords: personal storage ottawa, ottawa storage, business storage, self storage ottawa

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3.4 magnitude quake rattles Dallas, Texas, suburb

DALLAS (AP) ? A minor earthquake measuring a 3.4 magnitude rattled a suburb west of Dallas overnight, but there were no immediate reports of any damages or injuries and a major international airport nearby continued operations without disruption, authorities said.

The quake struck at 11:05 p.m. CDT Saturday and was centered about 2 miles north of the Dallas suburb of Irving, the US Geological Survey's national earthquake monitoring center in Golden, Colo., reported. USGS Geophysicist Randy Baldwin told The Associated Press by telephone from Colorado that the quake lasted several seconds and was strong enough to be felt near the epicenter and probably up to 15 or 20 miles away.

He said the quake's online reporting system received no reports of any damages or injuries, but was flooded with some 1,200 online responses from people who felt it. "Of all the reports we've received there were no intensities of a damaging nature. We haven't heard of any kind of damage and it's probably too small for that," he added.

Authorities in Irving said early Sunday they were still checking their area but had no immediate report on the quake or any impact.

The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport continued operations normally during and after the quake, which barely rattled nerves at the airport located partially within the city limits of Irving, said airport public affairs officer David Magana. He told AP said the airport, which bustles at peak hours to get some 1,800 flights in and out daily, was in a quiet period with very little air traffic late Saturday night.

But he said those still in the airport definitely felt the quake.

"I wouldn't call it panic. I would call it surprise," Magana said.

He said members of the airport operations team immediately conducted a special inspection of the airfield, buildings and found nothing harmed by the quake.

"We don't have any damage to report. There were no impacts or (power) outages and no disruptions to flights," Magana said. "I felt it at my house. It shook it a little bit but it wasn't enough of a jolt to shake anything loose like you have in California. I've been in California and this was nothing like that."

Some reports in Dallas said the rattling was felt for many blocks all around Irving and the surrounding area, beginning lightly and ending with a jolt. One person reported the quake was strong enough to knock open some file cabinets at a home near the epicenter.

Baldwin says smaller aftershocks are a possibility over the coming day or so, noting that the region has been rattled by a number of minor quakes since 2008.

He said the Saturday night quake was detected by a seismological station located about 65 miles from the epicenter ? somewhat distant ? and the preliminary magnitude of 3.4 could be revised up or down once further data is evaluated.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2012-09-30-Texas-Earthquake/id-3c15301a88ac4832a62807235bcee923

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Therapy over the phone as effective as face-to-face, study suggests

ScienceDaily (Sep. 28, 2012) ? A new study reveals that cognitive therapy over the phone is just as effective as meeting face-to-face. The research was published September 28, in the journal PLoS ONE.

Researchers at the University of Cambridge together with the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research & Care (NIHR CLAHRC) and NHS Midlands & East also found that providing talking therapy over the phone increases access to psychological therapies for people with common mental disorders and potentially saves the NHS money.

For the study, data from 39,000 patients in seven established Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) services (an initiative which aims to expand the availability of psychological therapies) in the East of England were used to compare Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) delivered face-to-face versus over the phone. For all but an infrequent, identifiable clinical group with more severe illness, therapy over the phone was as effective as face to face, and the cost per session was 36.2% lower.

Patients may be unable to access health services due to transport problems, work commitments and physical disability, among many reasons. So increasing availability of talking therapies over the phone will make mental health services more accessible to patients.

On the back of the study results, NHS Midlands & East has instigated a regional training programme to standardise service delivery and ensure therapists are competent at phone contacts. The training programme has recently been extended into a partnership with a third party organisation.

Professor Peter Jones, Principal Investigator of the study from the University of Cambridge, said: "Providing therapy over the phone will not only help individuals gain much-needed access to mental health treatment, it will provide a more cost effective way of providing these services at a time when everyone is concerned about cutting costs."

Mental health illnesses affect one in four adults in Britain every year. Additionally, the NHS spends more on mental health than it does on cancer, heart disease, stroke and asthma put together (a total of ?9.95 billion in 2010-2011), with general practitioners spending more than a third of their time on mental health issues.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Cambridge. The original story is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Hammond GC, Croudace TJ, Radhakrishnan M, Lafortune L, Watson A, et al. Comparative Effectiveness of Cognitive Therapies Delivered Face-To-Face or Over the Telephone: An Observational Study Using Propensity Methods. PLoS ONE, 2012 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042916

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/mind_brain/mental_health/~3/rJ3fQKAJ010/120929140240.htm

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Schwarzenegger admits affair with Brigitte Nielsen

AAA??Sep. 29, 2012?12:31 PM ET
Schwarzenegger admits affair with Brigitte Nielsen
By JULIET WILLIAMS and MICHAEL R. BLOODBy JULIET WILLIAMS and MICHAEL R. BLOOD, Associated Press??

FILE - In this Feb 11, 2009 file photo, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a bust of Abraham Lincoln are seen in profile during a celebration of Lincoln's 200 birthday held at the California Museum of History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger, who came to office during California's historic 2003 recall election, will soon be releasing his autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story."(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

FILE - In this Feb 11, 2009 file photo, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and a bust of Abraham Lincoln are seen in profile during a celebration of Lincoln's 200 birthday held at the California Museum of History, Women and the Arts in Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger, who came to office during California's historic 2003 recall election, will soon be releasing his autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story."(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

FILE -- In this April 15, 2004 file photo, Actor Danny DeVito, left, waves as he walks through the Capitol with long-time friend, movie co-star and current Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger, who came to office during California's historic 2003 recall election, will soon be releasing his autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story."(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

FILE - In this June 13, 2007, file photo, former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, right, and former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, D-Los Angeles, joke around before a legislative group photo is taken at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. In one of his last formal acts as governor, Schwarzenegger used his executive powers to grant clemency to Nunez' son, who was involved in a fatal stabbing and pleaded guilty to manslaughter charges. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

FILE - In this Jan. 13, 2009 file photo, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger brings the sword he used in the movie "Conan The Barbarian," to the conference table before the start of budget negotiations with legislative leaders at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger, who came to office during California's historic 2003 recall election, will soon be releasing his autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story."(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

FILE -- In this file photo taken Oct. 5, 2003, Republican gubernatorial candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, playfully strums a guitar to the Twisted Sister song, "We Ain't Going to Take it Anymore," during a campaign rally held at the Capitol in Sacramento, Calif. Schwarzenegger, the former governor, who came to office during California's historic 2003 recall election, will soon be releasing his autobiography, "Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story."(AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli, file)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? Arnold Schwarzenegger is confirming that he had a "hot affair" with actress Brigitte Nielsen at a time he and Maria Shriver were dating and already living together.

Schwarzenegger and Nielsen co-starred in the 1985 film "Red Sonja." Nielsen write in a memoir published last year that she and Schwarzenegger had an "outrageous affair" while making the movie and that she did know until later that he was involved with Shriver.

In his memoir "Total Recall," coming out Monday, Schwarzenegger writes that he and Nielsen did indeed have a "hot affair," but he knew it wouldn't last. In fact, their "fling" only made him realize that he wanted to marry Shriver.

Nielsen would soon marry Schwarzenegger's fellow action star, Sylvester Stallone.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2012-09-29-Schwarzenegger%20Book/id-c6ea363463d84d66a31d3a53838a3097

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Romney's wealth as stated by campaign omits at least $100 million ...

Mitt Romney?s history as a business magnate was supposed to be one of his best assets going into the election. Early on the GOP?s messaging that a successful businessman would be the best choice to lead us out of economic disaster seemed like an easy sell. But it hasn?t gone that way for Mitt?recent polls show his enormous personal wealth has alienated him from voters, who feel Mitt can?t understand their problems.

As it turns out, there?s a lot more of that wealth which, until now, voters haven?t even known about.

The Romney campaign has consistently stated Mitt is worth $250 million. But a new report in Bloomberg concerning Romney?s fancy finances reveals there?s at least another $100 million that the campaign omits from this figure. Even more problematic, the extra $100 million is set up as a tax-free shelter for his heirs.

From Bloomberg:

Romney?s effective income tax rate in 2011 was about 14 percent. He has also enhanced his family?s wealth by moving assets worth $100 million into a trust while taking steps to avoid paying any gift taxes. The trust?s value isn?t counted in the $250 million that his campaign cites as Romney?s net worth.

Here?s how the trust works: it allowed Romney to dedicate shares in ad company DoubleClick to his heirs before the company went public, when the shares were technically worth nothing or very little. Less than a year later the company had gone public, Google had bought it for $3.2 billion, and Romney was able to sell those shares at a 1,000% profit, pay the relatively low capital gains tax on the profit himself, and avoid paying a gift tax altogether. Romney did the same with hedge funds, interests in Bain Capital funds, etc. There is no tax liability to his kids, who will inherit the $100 million-plus dollar fund with no tax liability whatsoever.

So not only is Romney actually worth at least $100 million more than we thought he was worth, that $100 million is sequestered in an IDGT trust for the express purpose of avoiding taxes.

This can?t sit well alongside Romney?s recent damning words for the supposed 47% who don?t pay income tax?that they think they?re ?victims? and that they?re ?dependent on government? for their financial well-being.

Somewhat hilariously, Bloomberg points out that the IDGT trust, ?a more powerful driver of wealth transfer in estate planning than almost anything else,? is hence nicknamed the ?I Dig It? trust. Can?t you just picture Mitt with his tax attorney siphoning off one of his hundreds of millions to be sequestered as a tax-free trust for his kids, while staying off the books of his personal wealth??Ha ha, I dig it,? he?d say. Must be nice.

Source: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com/189130/romneys-wealth-as-stated-by-campaign-omits-at-least-100-million/

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