Clint Eastwood With An Empty Chair

The idea must have seemed sure-fire when Mitt Romney's advisors hatched it: Highlight the final night of the Republican National Convention with a surprise appearance by that long, tall drink of gritty Americana, Clint Eastwood.

The beloved movie star and filmmaker surely would confer some of his abundant credibility on the Republican presidential nominee, still trying after six years of running for the White House to persuade some voters of his authenticity.

Eastwood would then flee into the swampy Florida night and Romney would launch his acceptance speech. Instead, Eastwood's 12-minute rhetorical ramble — featuring his conversation with an empty chair that represented President Obama — became the target of decidedly mixed reviews for the film icon, inspired a social media pile-on and diverted at least some attention from Romney's nomination acceptance speech on the crowning night of his political career.

Republican Party regulars watched gleefully as Eastwood took the stage at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on Thursday night and slammed Obama for the "national disgrace" of allowing 23 million Americans to remain unemployed. He told the chair, "When somebody does not do the job, we got to let them go." He suggested Vice President Joe Biden amounted to nothing more than "a grin with a body behind it."

Talk radio star Rush Limbaugh said Friday he "loved" the shtick, certain that it had gotten "under Obama's skin." A lot of other conservatives said they felt that way too.

If Obama was sweating, he tried not to let it show. He tweeted out a photo of himself sitting in a chair marked "The President," with the text: "This seat's taken."

Top Romney campaign strategist Stuart Stevens insisted that the Eastwood "improv" (the staff thought he would sit in the chair, not use it as a prop) was not a problem and that Romney laughed at it as he waited in the wings to make his acceptance speech.

But that did not appear to be the sentiment from at least some of Team Romney, with advisors the day after the close of the convention shifting the conversation to anything but their Hollywood pitchman.

And, on the network morning television shows, Romney's wife, Ann, sounded less than thrilled with the Eastwood performance.

She told ABC's "Good Morning America" she was "grateful for his support" but quickly shifted to much more effusive praise of Olympic athletes and Mormon church friends who had addressed the convention earlier in the evening.

She also quickly segued away from Eastwood's bit when speaking with "CBS This Morning." "You can never take away from the fact that this country is in trouble" she said, "and people are looking for real leadership and that I know that Mitt is the man for this moment."

A Romney campaign official, who asked not to be named in order to discuss internal planning, said Eastwood had gone on for about twice as long as expected. Although staffers had seen some of the actor's notes before he took the stage, they didn't have any control over the message.

"You don't edit Clint Eastwood," the official said.

A rising GOP star, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, said on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" that he "cringed" at the Eastwood appearance, which implied a couple of off-color references by the imaginary Obama. Walker said he would have preferred to see prime-time appearances by the Romney family friends who made emotional speeches during the lightly televised portion of the program before 10 p.m. EDT.

Other fans of Eastwood were not as kind.

"Clint, my hero, is coming across as sad and pathetic," tweeted film critic Roger Ebert. "He didn't need to do this to himself. It's unworthy of him."

Republican political consultant Mike Murphy tweeted that he was "dying" to read a full account of how the "Clint train wreck actually happened. Incredible." Murphy on Friday added: "Some senior Romney genius (amazingly) didn't know a basic showbiz rule dating back beyond the Ed Sullivan show: Always clear the material."

A representative of Eastwood's production company said he was not granting any interviews Friday. But his longtime agent, Leonard Hirshan, said most of the calls he had received were from Republicans who liked the empty-chair riff.

As with any self-respecting 21st-century pop culture phenomenon, the Eastwood moment quickly developed its own social media afterlife.

One wag created a Twitter handle, @InvisibleObama, for the unseen chief executive. It had more than 52,000 followers by Friday afternoon. Social networks teemed with photos of "Eastwooding," people (and even pets) gesturing to empty chairs.

Comedians considered what the party in power would have to do next week at the Democratic National Convention to top Eastwooding. "To restore balance to the universe," said Patton Oswalt, "Obama must have Tommy Chong onstage at the DNC, talking to a steak." Seth Myers of "Saturday Night Live" offered another option: "[Vice President Joe] Biden has to go shirtless for DNC to top it."

Blue Moon what is that means?

Tonight's blue moon may not be as rare as it sounds, but it's still special — as is every glorious full moon, whichever color you use to describe it.

Actually, the term "blue moon" is something of a misnomer. There's no reason for the full moon to be any bluer than usual (thoughit's certainly possible for the moon to take on a blue tinge). Instead, it has to do with the extra occurrence of a full moon in a given calendar cycle.

Various cultures have used different terms to describe that extra lunar cycle — Adhik Maas for Hindus, or an extra month of Adarfor the Jewish calendar. The Maine Farmers' Almanac used the term "blue moon" to describe an extra moon in a particular quarter of the year.

Then, in 1946, an amateur astronomer named James Hugh Pruett wrote about the phenomenon for Sky & Telescope magazine, in the context of the old saying that a rare occurrence happened only "once in a blue moon."

Only problem was, he got it wrong.

Pruett described the blue-moon phenomenon as the second full moon in a calendar month. Sky & Telescope stuck with that, and the definition has been used (and hotly debated) ever since. If you go along with the definition, then tonight's full moon is blue due to the fact that it follows a full moon on the night of Aug. 1.

There's another long-debated issue surrounding blue moons: You could argue that they happen way too often to be considered as rare as a "blue moon" in the proverbial sense. The interplay of the lunar and solar calendars dictates that a blue moon should occur, on average, every 2.7 years.

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson summed up the issue a couple of days ago in a Twitter update: "A month's second full moon is the blue moon. Not rare. More frequent than presidential elections, yet nobody calls them rare."

Technically speaking, the moon is already a few hours past its full phase — but it's still well worth taking note of, and not just because it's the last blue moon until July 31, 2015. It provides a fitting opportunity to pay tribute to history's first moonwalker, Neil Armstrong, who passed away last weekend. In fact, Armstrong's family is urging you to look at the moon in Neil's honor.

"The next time you walk outside on a clear night and see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink," the family said.

Google Doodle Celebrates Educator Maria Montessori

Google on Friday honored Italian physician and educator Maria Montessori with a homepage doodle celebrating her 142nd birth anniversary.

The drawing (below, right) features some of the tools that form the basis of Montessori's educational methods, which emphasize hands-on, individualized learning within mixed age groups in a child-friendly setting.

Montessori was born in 1870 in Chiaravalle, Italy and early on rejected the traditional gender roles of her time, choosing to attend technical school, which few girls did, according to her NNDB biography. Upon graduation, she continued her education at the Regio Istituto Tecnico Leonardo da Vinci, where she excelled and developed a passion for the biological sciences.

In 1890, she applied to University of Rome but was denied entrance to the medical program because of her gender. Instead, she enrolled to study physics, mathematics, and the natural sciences and was eventually allowed to study medicine. In 1896, she presented her thesis to an all-male board and they were so impressed that they awarded her a full medical degree, making her the first female doctor in Italy.

After working in insane asylums with mentally handicapped children, in 1904 she began re-engineering the field of children's education. She believed that all children have an inner drive to learn, and that children learn best when in a safe, hands-on learning environment.

Montessori also found that children help teach each other when put into groups with other kids of their own age range. She believed that teachers should pay close attention to students, not the other way around.

Her early efforts were so successful that she amassed a large following of parents and teachers who wanted to learn her methods. She later gained support from Thomas Edison, Helen Keller, and Alexander Graham Bell, who founded the Montessori Educational Association, headquartered in Washington D.C.

Montessori died in 1952 in The Netherlands. Her methods are still in use today in public and private schools all over the world.

Google's co-founders, Sergey Brin and Larry Page, both went through the Montessori education system and have credited it for their success.

"I think it was part of that training of not following rules and orders and being self-motivated, questioning what's going on in the world, doing things a bit different," Page said in an interview with ABC (below).

For more on Google's doodles, meanwhile, see the slideshow below. Recently, the company has honored Amelia Earhart, jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé and Robert Moog, considered by many to be a pioneer in the electronic music space, as well as artist Keith Haring, zipper pioneer Gideon Sundback, and Howard Carter, a British archaeologist best known for uncovering the tomb of King Tutankhamen in Egypt.

Maria Montessori: Is the Montessori method any good?

Google celebrates the 142nd birthday of Italian physician Maria Montessori. Does Montessori's 'child-centered' method work?

In 1907, Italian physician Dr. Maria Montessori opened the first Casa Dei Bambini to work with poor children in the slums of Rome, presenting the world with a living example of her scientific theories of education.

Google

At the beginning of the 20th century, Italy's first female physician, Maria Montessori, sought to turn education on its head. Using methods developed through her work with developmentally disabled children, Montessori created a 'child-centered' approach that emphasizes rich environments, freedom, and respect for the student's point of view.

"Education is not what the teacher gives," wrote Montessori, a devout Catholic whose classical empiricism echoes that of St. Thomas Aquinas, in a 1946 book. "[E]ducation is a natural process spontaneously carried out by the human individual, and is acquired not by listening to words."

Instead of emphasizing drills and memorization, with students all doing the same thing at the same time the same way, the Montessori method deploys student-selected work, small-group instruction, a lack of exams and grades, and collaboration, often between students of different ages. Montessori stressed the importance of developing social skills alongside academic ones.

Her approach has caught on. The International Montessori Index estimates that there are some 4,000 certified schools in the United States and about 7,000 worldwide. ('Montessori' is not trademarked, and other estimates say there are roughly 20,000 such schools around the globe.) In the United States, this includes hundreds of public schools, as well as some high schools.

But does it actually work? How does a Montessori education stack up to a conventional one?

The evidence tilts in Montessori's favor. A 2006 study of 112 students in a Montessori school and conventional public schools in Milwaukee found that the Montessori students performed significantly better on both cognitive and social measures.

Half of the students in the study were 5 years old, and half were 12. The Montessori 5-year-olds performed better than those their age at other schools when it came to identifying letters and words, solving basic math problems, and ordering and categorizing. The young Montessori students interacted more positively on the playground and were more likely to deploy reasoning in social negotiations, often with appeals to abstract values such as justice and fairness. The researchers found no differences between the spatial reasoning, vocabulary, and concept formation skills between the two groups of 5-year-olds.

The differences between the two groups of 12-year-olds were less pronounced, but still present. Essays written by Montessori students used more complex sentence structures and were rated as more creative, but the students in the conventional public schools appeared to have "caught up" on many of the researchers' other measures. The Montessori students tended to select more constructive responses to hypothetical social problems, and they reported feeling a stronger sense of community at their school.

In a 2006 interview with Scientific American, University of Virginia psychologist Angeline Lillard, who led the study, speculated that the less-conspicuous differences in academic performance between the Montessori and non-Montessori 12-year-olds could have been a result of the school being only three years old when the 12-year-olds enrolled back in 1997. Lillard noted that it takes time for a school to put Maria Montessori's method into practice.

"This was very authentically implemented Montessori," she told Scientific American. "It's actually a fairly small percentage of schools that are this strict.

Other studies loosely corroborate Lillard's findings on the effectiveness of a Montessori education, but they vary in the details. A 2009 study, also in Milwaukee (which is attractive to researchers because students are placed via lottery), found that high school students who had attended a Montessori school performed significantly better on math and science tests, but not in English and social studies.

What accounts for the outcomes among Montessori kids? It could be that the Montessori method teaches them to be more motivated and focused. A 2005 survey of 290 middle-school students by psychologists Kevin Rathunde and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi found that the Montessori students were more likely to report being driven by an interest in academic tasks, and that they were more likely to report getting joyfully immersed – feeling "in the zone" – when doing their work.

Such finding would be very much in line with Montessori's educational philosophy, which emphasizes devoting long uninterrupted blocks of time to tasks. "The child who concentrates," wrote Montessori in her book The Absorbent Mind, "is immensely happy."

The same holds true for adults, even into old age. A number of studies have found that Montessori-based activities can benefit the elderly, particularly those experiencing dementia.

So if the Montessori method is so effective, then why are most American students still getting twelve years of standardized, test-driven, teacher-centered, school-bell-interrupted pedagogy? Part of the reason is that the Montessori method is so tricky to implement. Read this sweet, yet daunting, essay, "Owner’s Manual for a Child," written by author and educator Donna Bryant Goertz, who founded a Montessori school in Austin, Texas.

Taking the perspective of a toddler writing to a parent, Goertz describes how demanding child-centered learning can be. She writes:

"I want to be like you.  I want to be just like you, but I want to become like you in my own way, in my own time, and by my own efforts.  I want to watch you and imitate you.  I do not want to listen to you except for a few words at a time, unless you don’t know I’m listening.  I want to struggle, to make a grand effort with something very difficult, something I cannot master immediately.  I want you to clear the way for my efforts, to give me the materials and supplies that will allow success to follow initial difficulty.  I want you to observe me and see if I need a better tool, an instrument more my size, a taller, safer stepladder, a lower table, a container I can open by myself, a lower shelf, or a clearer demonstration of the process.  I don’t want you to do it for me or rush me or feel sorry for me or praise me.  Just be quiet and show me how to do it slowly, very slowly."

Goertz's essay is directed at parents, not teachers, but it's easy to see how only the most skilled and patient educators can consistently adhere to this method, even as the child is ultimately leading the way.

Catching Fire Casting: Why Sam Claflin Is the Perfect Finnick Odair

Catching Fire Casting: Why Sam Claflin Is the Perfect Finnick Odair

Image Credit : Kevin Winter/Getty Images

What can you tell me about Sam Claflin, the actor who's now officially playing Finnick in my fave book series ever?

—Vespa R., via the inbox

You speak of Catching Fire, the second in The Hunger Games trilogy, and of Sam Claflin, a kid I've had the pleasure of meeting in person. Yep, like fellow Hunger hunk Josh Hutcherson, he's also got a Kristen Stewart connection, thanks to his costarring role in Snow White in the Huntsman. No, I do not know what he thinks of the whole Rupert Sanders-cheating-in-the-car incident. But I know plenty else.  In fact, if you're obsessed with actors who actually have a lot in common with their characters—and Jennifer Lawrence haters, I'm looking at you—you have a lot to like in this latest casting news.

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Let's start with the surface stuff. Claflin's got green eyes. Really. Not blue. Not gray. Green. Fans came down hard on Jennifer Lawrence for her lack of brown-ness, but maybe they can be happy with Claflin's eye color; Finnick Odair's eyes are also green. I've seen them. So there.

If that isn't enough, here are some more facts that prety clinch it for the guy:

• Claflin's childhood clearly prepared him for the bloody Panem arena. "My parents bought me this book called Twisted Tales when I was a kid, which is all the fairy tales turned on their heads," he told E!'s Marc Malkin. "At the end of Cinderella, the prince finds out she's not a princess...so he chops her head off."
• He's said he spent his teens in "one of the roughest schools there is." And, in the same way that Finnick has a "self-effacing humor," according to the books, Claflin is down-to-Earth too. When I interviewed him last year, he modestly explained, "I come from the bottom of the ladder. I'm from Norwich. Not many people seem to know about it. It's that sticky-outy bit over there. You know, in the east."

Find out exactly how much Jennifer Lawrence is getting for Catching Fire!

• Fans of the books also know that Claflin has a true love, Annie Cresta. Claflin, meanwhile, has a real woman he's pretty crazy about: fiance Laura Haddock, 26, a British actress who appeared in Captain America: The First Avenger. "Back in London and reunited with @laurajhaddock," he Tweeted a few days ago after a trip to South Africa. "Happy happy happy. Sun shiny day as well. Good timing. Hope you all have a good one x."
• And oh: Like career tribute Odair, Claflin has a mentor. "Johnny Depp gave me the best advice," Claflin told me after costarring with him in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. "He said, ‘Keep your feet on the ground. Stay grounded. Remember where you came from'."
• Finally, the kid knows from pain. I won't spoil what happens to Finnick in the Suzanne Collins series, but Claflin does know what it's like to be knocked out of a competition. Before he became an actor, he wanted to be a pro soccer player, but a busted ankle killed that plan. It's a loss for the Norwich soccer team, but definitely a gain for Hunger Games fans.

Meet Sam Claflin's new castmates in Catching Fire

http://www.eonline.com/news/340102/catching-fire-casting-why-sam-claflin-is-the-perfect-finnick-odair

Official: Sam Claflin is Finnick Odair in 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'

Image Credit: Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images

Ending weeks of speculation, Sam Claflin (Snow White and the Huntsman) has officially been cast as the dashing former Hunger Games champion Finnick Odair in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Lionsgate announced today. The British-born Claflin, 24, had been the front-runner for the coveted role since mid-July.
Of all the new characters in Catching Fire, Finnick looms largest. After he won his Hunger Games for District 4 when he was 14 thanks to his prowess with a trident, Finnick’s rakish good looks and louche charm helped him become something of a celebrity in the Capitol. (MILD SPOILERS AHEAD!)

Along with Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson), the 24-year-old Finnick is among the previous champions forced to return to the arena for the 75th annual Hunger Games, also known as the Quarter Quell. Katniss is initially wary of him — in Suzanne Collins’ bestseller, when they first meet, Finnick is wearing nothing but a fishing net with some strategically placed knots. But along with his former mentor Mags (Lynn Cohen), Finnick proves to be a powerful ally once they get to the arena.

The role marks yet another remarkable step forward in the lightning-fast rise of Claflin’s career. He first appeared in a supporting role in the Starz miniseries The Pillars of the Earth. In 2011, he starred in Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides as the young romantic lead (i.e. the Orlando Bloom role). And earlier this summer, Claflin vied for Kristen Stewart’s affections in Snow White and the Huntsman.

He joins Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jena Malone, and Amanda Plummer as one of the main new additions to the Hunger Games franchise. Director Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) is due to begin shooting this fall, and the film is set to arrive in theaters on Nov. 22, 2013.
http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/08/22/hunger-games-catching-fire-finnick-sam-claflin/

Avril Lavigne to marry Nickelback's Chad Kroeger

A spokeswoman for Avril Lavigne has confirmed a People magazine report that says the pop-punker is engaged to Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger.

The magazine says Kroeger popped the question after a six-month courtship that seemingly flew completely under the radar of media outlets and fans alike.

Nickelback lead vocalist Chad Kroeger proposed to Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond ring on Aug. 8, People magazine says. (Rick Osentoski/Associated Press)

Nickelback appeared to verify the news Tuesday, posting on its website and official Twitter account, "Congrats Chad and Avril!" along with a link to the People article.

Lavigne retweeted the Nickelback note on her Twitter account and then tweeted her thanks to the multiple congratulations that came her way.

People says the romance began after the two got together in February to co-write a song for Lavigne's upcoming fifth studio album.

Kroeger, 37, has never been married before. People says the Hanna, Alta., native proposed to Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond ring on Aug. 8.

Lavigne, 27, of Napanee, Ont., filed for divorce from fellow Canuck rocker Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 in 2009 after three years of marriage.

The engagement was trending on Twitter on Tuesday night with many expressing their surprise at the news.

Lavigne surged to fame with her 2002 album Let Go. Kroeger has served as lead vocalist and guitarist for Nickelback since the band formed in 1995.

Avril Lavigne and Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger aren’t just making music together. They’re getting hitched.

A spokeswoman for Lavigne confirmed a Tuesday report from People magazine that the Canadian couple became engaged earlier this month after dating for six months.

The magazine says Lavigne was introduced to Kroeger in February when they met to co-write a song for Lavigne’s upcoming album.

“A romantic relationship blossomed as they spent time writing together,” said a friend of Lavigne.

It will be the first marriage for 37-year-old rocker Kroeger and the second for 27-year-old pop singer Lavigne. She filed for divorce in 2009 from Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley after three years of marriage. Kroeger popped the question on August 8, presenting Lavigne with a 14-carat diamond ring.

“He makes her so happy,” a family source told People. “Both of their families could not be more excited.”

Lavigne surged to fame with her 2002 album “Let’s Go.” Kroeger has served as lead vocalist and guitarist for Nickelback since the band formed in 1995.

The relationship has been quiet to say the least. Lavigne was dating Brody Jenner -- Kim Kardashian’s stepbrother -- until they appeared to quietly part ways in January. She was Jenner’s date to Kardashian’s ill-fated wedding to Kris Humphries last year.

Amber Portwood Leaves Leah With Gary

Amber Portwood has had a difficult situation on Teen Mom. She has struggled with addiction and her relationship with Gary, the father of her 3-year-old daughter Leah, has not been easy either. Now that there is just two episodes left in the series, fans will see the downward spiral that ended in her signing her parental rights away.
Leah's house was vandalized prior to her returning home from rehab and because of that, she isn't allowed to have her daughter overnight. On tonight's episode, after a fun day of mother-daughter bonding, Amber and Leah are forced to part ways and Leah isn't happy.

It's a sad moment and even sadder to think about how things ended up for Amber. She is currently in an Indiana jail and won't be released for several years. Amber still gets to see her daughter, but the situation is far from ideal.

To see more Amber Portwood, tune in to the final two episodes of Teen Mom airing tonight and August 28 at 10/9c on MTV.

Remember back in the day when Amber Portwood was a bright-eyed PYT with a fit n' fine body that wasn't covered in dermals and thumb piercings? Neither do we. This troubled gal has been through so much since she first appeared on 16 and Pregnant that we barely recognize her nowadays!

Not only did Amber tattoo her entire stomach with a giant photo of her daughter's face, she pierced various parts of her hot bod, started wearing false nails and eyelashes, and gained a small amount of weight. The latter is to be expected considering that Amber is on-and-off her bipolar medication (which can cause weight fluctuation), and we can't imagine the food is that healthy in prison.

Oh, right –– we forgot to mention the biggest change of all! Amber is currently locked in the clink, where she'll remain for up to five years. Thanks to her sentence, Abs had to trade in her fashionable sweats for an orange jumpsuit. It's like they put her in jail and forced her to commit a fashion crime, sigh.

Obviously, Amber looked great back in the day, but a little weight gain in moderation never hurt anyone, and if you look past the bright orange, Amber actually looks pretty healthy in her most recent pics. Do you prefer her new or old look?