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Monkey See
12:59 am
Sat April 28, 2012

Garry Marshall On His 'Happy Days'

Originally published on Sat April 28, 2012 11:22 am

Director Garry Marshall has worked on so much popular comedy in his career — television like Happy Days and The Odd Couple, movies like Pretty Woman and Beaches — that something he's done has probably made you laugh. And now he's written a memoir called, fittingly, My Happy Days In Hollywood: A Memoir.

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A Blog Supreme
6:37 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Around The Jazz Internet: April 27, 2012

Credit Douglas Kirkland / Courtesy of the artist
Herbie Hancock's International Jazz Day initiative will be celebrated in two all-star concerts on Monday.

Originally published on Sat April 28, 2012 10:16 am

An informal poll on Twitter reveals that 18 followers prefer the version of "Watermelon Man" from Herbie Hancock's debut album Takin' Off, and 16 prefer the electric funk version of "Watermelon Man" on Head Hunters. Several others registered a "both" vote. And now, these news:

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Live Fridays From XPN
6:30 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Third World In Concert

Credit Courtesy of the artist
Third World.

Originally published on Mon April 30, 2012 9:54 am

Well known as ambassadors of reggae, Jamaican veterans Third World have been performing in one form or another since the 1970s. Despite several line-up changes over the years, the group continues to blend reggae, pop and funk for adoring audiences.

Third World has collaborated with the likes of Stevie Wonder and shared the stage with The Jackson 5 and Bob Marley and the Wailers. Dedicated to the spread of 'peace, love, and unity', the band has released 22 albums and garnered numerous awards, including the 1986 United Nations Peace Medal, and received 10 Grammy nominations.

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The Two-Way
5:52 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Ukraine's Opposition Leader Is 'Wasting Away' In Prison

Credit AFP/Getty Images
A picture taken on April 25 shows jailed opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko in the Kachanivska penitentiary colony for women in Kharkiv.

Yulia Tymoshenko is "wasting away in prison," her family told the AP. Tymoshenko went on a hunger strike and her family said she was "bruised from prison beatings and afraid she will be force-fed by her political foes."

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The Salt
5:20 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Taming Those Wild, Stinging Backyard Greens Into Dinner

Originally published on Sat April 28, 2012 11:22 am

On a chilly grey morning I come across a big, lush patch of nettles in a Pittsburgh park. Leah Lizarondo, the food writer who brought me here, has her hands wrapped in old plastic bread bags.

Those bags are crucial because touching stinging nettles with your bare hands can be pretty unpleasant. "It's like something pricked you, like a little ant bit you, and then it starts being a little painful," said Lizarondo.

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Election 2012
4:54 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Obama Team Changes Line Of Attack Against Romney

Credit Lucas Jackson / Reuters/Landov
Vice President Biden defends the administration's foreign policy --€” and questions Mitt Romney's ideas — on Thursday at New York University.

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 6:02 pm

General-election battle lines are taking shape between President Obama and likely Republican challenger Mitt Romney.

Romney is sticking with his long-standing attack on the president as someone not up to the huge job of turning around the economy.

But the Obama campaign has recently changed its message: Instead of portraying Romney as a flip-flopping, say-anything politician, it is now arguing that the former Massachusetts governor is a man with extreme positions far outside the American mainstream.

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Poetry
4:32 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

NewsPoet: Monica Youn Writes The Day In Verse

Credit Doriane Raiman / NPR
Monica Youn visits NPR headquarters in Washington on Friday.

Originally published on Wed July 25, 2012 10:20 am

Today at All Things Considered, we continue a project we're calling NewsPoet. Each month, we bring in a poet to spend time in the newsroom — and at the end of the day, to compose a poem reflecting on the day's stories.

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The Two-Way
4:31 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Secret Service Tightens Conduct Rules Following Prostitution Scandal

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:53 pm

The fallout from the Secret Service prostitution scandal in Colombia continues: Now the Secret Service says it is tightening and clarifying its policies for traveling employees.

NPR's Tamara Keith spoke to a Secret Service spokesperson who says the Secret Service leadership detailed the new rules in an internal message regarding personal conduct sent to all employees.

The new policy covers alcohol consumption and what types of businesses employees can patronize, Tamara tells our Newscast unit. "The Agency is also adding additional briefings on standards of conduct."

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Deceptive Cadence
4:23 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Around The Classical Internet: April 27, 2012

Credit Sean Gallup / Getty Images
Conductor Kurt Masur in a 2007 file photo from Berlin.

Originally published on Sat April 28, 2012 10:15 am

  • After falling off the podium last night in the middle of a performance with the Orchestre National de France, 84-year-old Kurt Masur has been hospitalized in Paris. A spokesperson for the orchestra says that he is expected to be released "very soon," adding that "he fell upside down onto his back because his left foot was too near the edge of the podium. It's not linked to health problems.
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Economy
4:20 pm
Fri April 27, 2012

Mixed Signals: Weaker Growth, Higher Profits

Credit Don Ryan / AP
Consumers spent more than expected in the first quarter of 2012, partly because they dipped into their savings, but businesses spent less.

Originally published on Fri April 27, 2012 5:05 pm

The U.S. economy lost some steam during the first three months of the year. The Commerce Department said Friday that growth slowed to just 2.2 percent, down from 3 percent at the end of last year.

The good news was that the economy continued to grow during the first quarter of the year. But anyone who was waiting for growth to kick into a higher gear was disappointed once again. One reason for that was a slowdown in business investment — companies spent less on new equipment and software even though profits were surprisingly strong.

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