| Film review: Reality trumps fantasy in `Spiderwick Chronicles'
"The Spiderwick Chronicles" may not be in the same fantasy league as the tales of J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and J.K. Rowling. Yet the family flick based on the books of Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black is an all-around class act, even if its world of ogres and goblins is a bit stale in the wake of its more ambitious cousins in the over-the-rainbow genre. The human characters are the main source of wonder here. Freddie Highmore, Sarah Bolger and Mary-Louise Parker authentically capture the fractured spirit of a family newly cast into single-parent mode, while David Strathairn adds a wistful streak as a naturalist so absent-minded he fails to notice how his devotion to a magical realm has cut him off from the marvels of everyday life. Far more modest than films based on Tolkien's "Lord of the Rings," Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" and Rowling's "Harry Potter" books, "Spiderwick Chronicles" actually becomes more pedestrian the further it wanders from reality.
Clinton and Obama spar in Texas
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has accused rival Barack Obama of political plagiarism during a live televised debate. But Mr Obama brushed off the accusation that he represented "change you can Xerox", saying it was just part of "silly season" politics. The debate took place in Texas, which holds a crucial primary next month. It comes in the wake of Mr Obama's victory among Democrats living abroad - his 11th straight win over Mrs Clinton. Both the Texas and the Ohio primaries on 4 March are being seen as must-wins for Mrs Clinton, and Thursday night's debate at the University of Texas in Austin was a major test for her flagging campaign. Call for change "If your candidacy is going to be about words, then it should be your own words," Mrs Clinton said.
SO FAR, SO GOOD FOR SHEETS (5:38 p.m. ET)
This is a big year for Brewers starter Ben Sheets to prove he can stay healthy. He's averaged a mere 135 innings over the past three seasons, and his extended absences last year contributed to Milwaukee finishing two games behind the Cubs in the National League Central. Sheets made only 24 starts because of hamstring and finger injuries. Sheets made his 2008 Cactus League debut Saturday and retired six straight Colorado Rockies on an economical 15 pitches. So far, so good. Among other things, Sheet said he felt extremely comfortable with his arm slot -- something he had difficulty finding last season. "It seems like it would be an easy thing to remember once you get in it,'' Sheets said. "But we searched and searched last year and I could never find it.'' Sheets, 29, will make $11 million this season in the final year of a four-year, $38.5 million deal.
Sino-Blizzard 08: The ice factor
In my last post I jested that China's recent snow trouble was nothing like what we face back where I'm from. And while that may be true, there is one aspect of China's dilemma that resembles what we faced back in Canada. For us, it wasn't so much the snow that caused the problems as it was the ice. When ice covers transmission towers, it can potentially bend them to the ground as if they were made of straw: This youku.com video, which graced their front page today, shows that China is, indeed, facing the same icy problem. Scaling and repairing icy transmission towers likely was not a big part of the workers' training, I'm sure. Let's hope it's covered somewhere in their manual. For a comprehensive look at China's snow woes, drop on over to All roads lead to China, where he points out that the problem runs far deeper than simply an uber-crowded train station.
Survivor's tale of Holocaust touches kids' hearts
She had always been hesitant to talk about her childhood, how at 13, her family was yanked from their home in Hungary and sent to Auschwitz, where her grandmother, parents and sister perished. But she had been persuaded to speak to a group of middle school students in Waynesboro, Va., most of whom had never met a Jew in their young lives. The 16 students videotaped her hourlong talk, recording for posterity the story of Ann Feig Rosenheck, Holocaust survivor. But it didn't end there: Haunted by her story, the young teens, about the same age Ann had been when she was sent to the concentration camp, created an informal after-school club. They met every Tuesday, playing and replaying the videotape of her talk, until it broke. Rosenheck, now 77 and living in Sunny Isles Beach, had always planned, still plans, to write her life story.
Headliner: St. X vs. 'Bama champ
2 p.m. - Huber Heights Wayne vs. Warren Central (Ind.) 5 p.m. - Colerain vs. McKeesport (Pa.) 8 p.m. - St. Xavier vs. Prattville (Ala.) Sunday, Aug. 31 at Paul Brown Stadium Noon - Elder vs. East St. Louis (Ill.) 3 p.m. - Moeller vs. Montgomery Bell (Tenn.) 6 p.m. - Lakota West vs. St. Rita (Ill.) "We're excited about the matchups," Noel said. "We think it's going to be another great event." Intersport joined the Herbstreit team in 2007 to help promote and market the event, after Herbstreit acknowledged the 2006 event lost nearly $200,000.After paying down debts, the event was able to break even financially for 2007, Noel said. Noel said event organizers are working through potential television details for 2008.
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