NEW YORK - "MONDEWHAAAAT?" The sarcasm was palpable in the one-word headline that appeared in The New York Post on the day after Kraft Foods revealed that it planned to name its new global snack business "Mondelez," an interpretation of a mash-up of the Latin words for "world" and "delicious." But that wasn't the only dig. One blogger teased that she would've been "stifling giggles" if she'd been in meetings to determine the name. A Forbes contributor suggested a trick for remembering how to say it: "Just think Bush Administration Secretary of State. You know, Mon-de-leza Rice." Crain's Business Chicago tittered that it bears close resemblance to a vulgar Russian term for a sexual act. Michael Mitchell, a Kraft spokesman, said executives took all the ... Continue reading →
Rick Knabb, Ph.D., selected to lead NOAA’s National Hurricane Center May 18, 2012 Rick Knabb, Ph.D., the new director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center. Download here. (Credit: NOAA.) NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco, Ph.D., today announced Rick Knabb, Ph.D., as the next director of NOAA’s National Hurricane Center in Miami. Knabb will start his duties on June 4. “When hurricanes threaten our coastal communities, those in harm’s way look to NOAA’s National Hurricane Center for life-saving information,” said Lubchenco. “Rick personifies that calm, clear and trusted voice that the nation has come to rely on. Rick will also lead our hurricane center team and work closely with federal, state and local emergency management authorities to ensure the public is prepared to weather the storm.” Knabb returns ... Continue reading →
May 15, 2012, 9:20 pmAaron Sorkin Signs On as Screenwriter for Steve Jobs Biography By MICHAEL CIEPLYLOS ANGELES — After flirting with the project for months, Aaron Sorkin is finally on board as the screenwriter of a movie to be based on Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs.Sony Pictures Entertainment is expected to announce the deal with Mr. Sorkin imminently, according to a person who was briefed on the arrangement, but spoke on condition of anonymity because the studio had not yet disclosed the news.Mr. Sorkin, whose screenplay for Sony’s “The Social Network” won an Oscar in 2011, said last year that he was inclined to adapt Mr. Isaacson’s biography for Sony. But no deal had been set until now.His agreement to proceed sets the ... Continue reading →
Of course many people who watch Ms. DeGeneres or any other talk-show host today are too young to have watched Carson when he was the undisputed master of late night. Even among those viewers who are old enough, there are plenty who didn’t grow up in a Carson household, never saw Carnac the Magnificent and to this day don’t fully understand all the fuss. But Johnny Carson is still an enigmatic presence 20 years after he retired and 7 years after his death. He was idolized and imitated by three generations of stand-up comics and adored by many millions of ordinary viewers who watched him every night as a kind of nightcap before bedtime. Almost every current late-night talk-show host echoes Carson’s comic style and ... Continue reading →
