eNews Magazine #025

PLENTY OF REMOTE CONTROL FUN TO BE HAD We're big fans of toys - especially ones that make the most of the very latest technology. As Christmas looms and your younger (or perhaps not-so-young) friends and relatives compile their wish lists, or even as you consider what you might want to buy for yourself, all manner of newly-launched toys are appearing on the horizon. One of them is the Sphero Ollie - and we'd like to reassure you that it's more than just another remote controlled toy. You'd be forgiven for thinking that it was, to be fair. On first spying this curious toy, we must admit that we thought it looked rather unassuming. Of course, many astonishing toys are like that these days, but even so, we found it…

Rick Ross had two seizures in a single day, sending him to the hospital three years ago. Health didn’t concern the 300-pound rapper then, but he’s shed nearly 100 pounds in the last seven months by eating healthier foods and embracing a high-intensity workout plan. Ross, 37, says he continues to work long hours creating music, including his seventh album, “Hood Billionaire,” released Monday. It’s the second album Ross has put out this year after the March release of “Mastermind,” which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. But in the middle of making music and running his Maybach Music Group record label, Ross has made his health a main priority. And now, he believes if he can drop pounds, you can, too. In an interview with…

Kurt Cobain is the focus of a new documentary that probes the life and untimely death of the Nirvana singer-guitarist. It will be released in theaters next year and air exclusively on HBO, the network said Tuesday. Co-produced by HBO Documentary Films, “Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck” is the first documentary made with the cooperation of Cobain’s family. It draws on home movies, journals and other personal archives. It features Nirvana songs and performances and previously unheard Cobain originals. The film’s director-producer, Brett Morgen, has previously made the documentaries “Crossfire Hurricane,” about the Rolling Stones, and “The Kid Stays in the Picture.” Cobain formed Nirvana in 1985, and by the early 1990s was decreed the spokesman of Generation X. He died of suicide in 1994 at age 27.…

NEW YORK (AP) -- The musical duo She & Him - that’s Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward - convened a 20-piece orchestra to make “Classics,” a collection of songs written between 1930 and 1974. It’s an eclectic list of compositions popularized by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Herb Alpert, the Righteous Brothers and Dusty Springfield. So we thought it would be fun to talk to the artists about songs that stick out in their minds for various reasons. A SONG YOU’D LIKE TO COVER BUT INTIMIDATES YOU Ward’s choice: “This Is Radio Clash” by the Clash. It’s one of his favorite bands, but he doesn’t think it’s in his vocal range. “There is a certain attitude to their music, and to the Ramones’ music, that I think is untouchable,” he…

“Mad Men” stars Christina Hendricks and John Slattery will be presenting a special award at the International Emmys Gala to the show’s creator and executive producer Matthew Weiner who’s preparing the final episodes of the 1960s Madison Avenue ad agency saga slated to air in spring 2015. Weiner will be receiving the honorary International Emmy Founders Award at Monday night’s ceremony at the Hilton New York. “`Mad Men’ has really come to define television for a whole generation of viewers,” said Bruce L. Paisner, president and CEO of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. “It’s an amazing global cultural phenomenon ... a force of nature as much as just a television series.” “Although these are stories in theory out of the 60s, part of the success of the…

WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM WATCHKIT We were all excited about Apple's long-awaited wearable, the simply-titled Watch, when it first broke cover in September. We weren't even given a precise release date, still only knowing that it will become available to buy at some point early next year. What we do know, though, is that the Apple Watch is worth making a fuss about. Now, the device's developers' toolkit - WatchKit - has been launched. WatchKit is all that the already well-established iOS developer community needs in order to create apps for the upcoming wearable - that's right, they can get to work before it even makes an appearance on store shelves. In announcing WatchKit's launch, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing, Philip Schiller, said that it was for…