Lunch Break: North Haven

Lunch Break: The Dark Knight Rises Trailer

Catch a sneak peak at this summer's blockbuster film.

The Dark Knight Rises promises to be this summer's blockbuster movie and you can catch a sneak peak now! Warner Brother's trailer #3 for the latest film in the series is today's most popular YouTube video, racking up more than 3 million views and counting. Christian Bale returns as the star of The Dark Knight Rises, and he is joined by Gary Oldman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, among others. The movie opens in theaters and Imax on July 20. The Internet Movie Database says of the flick: "Eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face's crimes, a new terrorist leader, Bane overwhelms Gotham's finest, and the Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that brands him an enemy." What do you think of the trailer?

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'50 Shades of Grey': Just How Smutty Is It?

Plenty, but it's also unintentionally humorous and so badly written it hurts (and not in a good way).

In keeping with the number theme in the title, here's what you need to know before buying "50 Shades of Grey." Number of times the protagonist, Anastasia Steele, says "Crap" or "Holy Crap": 86 Number of times Anastasia refers to her lover Christian Grey and his moves as "hot" or "freaking hot": 37 Number of times a specific part of the female anatomy is referred to as "down there": 6 If fine writing is like bittersweet truffles, this book is like a wad of Gummi Bears stuck to your back teeth. To use another food metaphor — and I'm not sure this author knows what a metaphor is — it's the literary equivalent of eating Sugar Smacks for dinner. Author E.L. James gives us the first-person perspective of a naive 21-year-old college graduate who …

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Anthony Karge

3:48 pm on Tuesday, May 1, 2012

Gentlemen, this really isn't the place to have this discussion. I'm closing down comments on this article.   more ›

Titanic, 100 Years Later: Sinking's Centennial Spurs Film, TV Explosion

Whether you're captivated by the story of the Titanic or not, you can't avoid the avalanche of film and television offerings commemorating the 100th anniversary of the ship's sinking.

When an anniversary as meaningful as a centennial comes around, you've got to expect a little fanfare and the inevitable TV special or two. But the 100-year anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic has brought new meaning to the term "commemoration." There's been hundreds of ceremonies in towns throughout the Eastern Seaboard, if not the country. There's been numerous Titanic-themed exhibits opening, including one in our backyard designed by Dr. Robert Ballard at the Mystic Aquarium. But most conspicuously, the past few weeks have seen a flood of tributes, commemorations and investigations on cable television channels up and down the dial.  And, of course, the re-release of the James Cameron blockbuster "Titanic" in 3-D, which grossed …

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Titanic, 100 Years Later: Survivor Suffered the Rest of His Life

William T. Sloper of New Britain found a seat on the first lifeboat launched after the Titanic began sinking but was falsely accused of impersonating a woman to get the seat. He spent the rest of his life defending his reputation.

Anyone who knows anything about the Titanic disaster believes that there was a certain protocol for those who boarded the scarce lifeboats onboard the ill-fated ship — or was there?  Actually, the “women or children only” rule was in effect only on the port side of the ship; “women or children first” was the rule on the starboard side. Furthermore, a 14-year-old girl in first class was considered a child; a 14-year-old girl in third class was considered an adult. These variations in protocol are important in understanding the sad case of William Thompson Sloper, a 28-year old stockbroker from New Britain who survived the sinking. Son of Andrew Jackson Sloper, a New Britain bank president, William had spent three months in Europe on both …

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Titanic, 100 Years Later: Cultural, Culinary Items Went Down with the Ship

The cargo manifest on the ill-fated ship was as diverse and interesting as the passenger list was.

Despite the common belief that there were mostly British, Irish and American citizens aboard the RMS Titanic, the truth is that 29 different nationalities were onboard. The cargo manifest for the Titanic contained articles as diverse as the nationalities of the people onboard the ill-fated ship. Consider the following items that went to the bottom along with the ship: Three very rare books were also lost to the sea. Harry Elkins Widener, a 1907 Harvard graduate and an avid book collector, had purchased several rare books to bring home on the Titanic, including a very rare first edition of essays by Francis Bacon. Harry saw to it that his mother and her maid were safely placed in a lifeboat and then stepped back. Later, William Carter …

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Titanic, 100 Years Later: Nearby Titanic Museum is a Hidden Treasure [VIDEO]

Don't be fooled by appearances: This museum contains some outstanding artifacts and is well worth visiting.

Edward Kamuda, founder of the Titanic Historical Society (THS) and curator of its Titanic Museum, remembers well how he first got hooked on the story of the Titanic. He was in junior high school in Indian Orchard, a part of Springfield, MA, in the early 1950s, and his teacher required the class to read an essay and write about it. Ed chose “A Great Ship Goes Down,” by Hanson Baldwin. It was about the sinking of the Titanic. The experience changed his life. Edward S. Kamuda started the Titanic Historical Society’s collection of survivors' artifacts in the early 1960s, and he and his wife, Karen, have been caring for it ever since. The collection is housed in the back room of his family’s jewelry shop at 208 Main St. in Indian Orchard. …

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CT Author Explores Reproductive Technology in 'No Easy Choice'

Ellen Painter Dollar of West Hartford wrote the book she wished she'd had when trying to make difficult decisions about her family's future.

Non-fiction books don't usually grab me the way fiction does. When I start one, it's not unusual for me to put the book down for weeks before I pick it up again. But there are exceptions, and "No Easy Choice: A Story of Disability, Parenthood, and Faith in an Age of Advanced Reproduction" is one of them.  I read it in a matter of days, and I was sorry when the book ended, so caught up was I in Ellen Painter Dollar's morally complex struggle to determine whether her Christian values were compatible with using advanced reproductive technology to prevent a disabling disease in her children. Dollar, who grew up and lives in West Hartford, was born with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), more commonly called "brittle-bone disease." Those who have …

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Interesting Facts About Connecticut's Irish

Nearly 1 in 5 state residents have Irish ancestors — a much higher ratio than the national average.

The number 3.5 million is useful for Connecticut residents to remember. It is roughly the current population of the state, and it's also the number of Americans of Scotch-Irish ancestry (Irish-Protestants from County Ulster) in the United States. Americans with Irish-Catholic ancestry are much more numerous both in Connecticut and in the United States — roughly 35 million Americans claim Irish ancestry, approximately 10 percent of the country’s population of just over 350 million. Only Americans claiming German ancestry — about 17 percent — are greater in number. The percentage of Connecticut’s residents who claim Irish ancestry exceeds the country’s percentage by 7 percent. Almost 18 percent of Connecticut residents claim Irish ancestry…

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Your Photos of the Week, Feb. 19

Photos from Patch towns in the region. Feel free to share your own.

Enjoy these photos from around the region!

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The Golden Review

DVD Shelf: A Decade Of Oscar Winners

Coming up on Academy Award seasons, this week I highlight past Oscar-winning films.

Well, friends, the Super Bowl of the entertainment awards – The 84th Annual Academy Awards – will air next Sunday at 8:30 p.m. But in the meantime, let’s take a look back at one of my favorite films from the last ten years of Oscars.   “The Social Network” (2010) (see full review on QuadNews.Net) Certain films portray more than just a story; they take a snapshot of their generation. “The Social Network” is a nearly pitch-perfect account of the beginnings of Facebook and the start of the social network revolution. Jesse Einsenberg shines in his award-winning portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg, but the most praise belongs to David Fincher’s slick direction and Aaron Sorkin’s witty, wordy script. Almost a postmodern “Citizen Kane,” its flashback …

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