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'Blue Beetle' benefits from $4 movie tickets on National Cinema Day

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

What happens when you cut prices for a popular amusement by, in some places, 75%?If you bought a ticket for National Cinema Day on Sunday, you paid just $4 a ticket. Of course, many people took advantage of the deal. More than 8.5 million tickets were sold on Sunday, according to The Hollywood Reporter and participating theaters saw an increase in attendance by five percent compared to last year. In 2022, tickets were sold for $3.While moviegoers appreciated the low ticket prices, some movie studios were pleased with how this impacted their films. Bruna Marquezine, Xolo Maridueña and Angel Manuel Soto speak onstage as they promote the upcoming film "Blue Beetle" during the Warner Bros. Pictures Studio presentation during CinemaCon, the official convention of the National Association of Theatre Owners, at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 25, 2023 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)"Blue Beetle," which was expected to drop 61% in its second weekend, actually got a boost ...

Henry Hate Brings Red Light District to East Hollywood

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

L.A. born and bred artist Henry “Hate” Martinez made a name for himself in local tattoo shops, but it took a move to the UK to elevate his work and profile. Deemed the “Notorious Henry Hate” by The Advocate in 2014, his legendary London tattoo shop called Prick attracted the likes of the late Alexander McQueen and the late Amy Winehouse (he drew the latter’s famous pinup girl arm piece). This writer has known him for years, and our favorite thing about him has always been his raw honesty and bold outlook on life, qualities that saturate his work to this day.Under The Pleasure District, Hate’s new “sexhibition” features works that, like the artist, are not for prudes or precious types. Based on Sigmund Freud’s theory of the “pleasure principle,” which motivates people to seek immediate gratification, both “instinctual or libidinal,” Hate aims to connect on a primal level, his inspirations driven by the “prosperity  gospel” central...

Labor Day weekend festivals: Scottish Games, arts, music, vegan food

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

The three-day Labor Day weekend marks the unofficial end of summer with some of the Bay Area’s biggest and longest tenured outdoor events, plus a vegan food fest now in its third year:157th Scottish Highland Gathering and Games: The Bay Area’s largest celebration of Scottish culture features “heavy athletics” contests such as the caber and stone tosses, a Kilted Mile race, heritage exhibits, traditional foods, whisky tastings and music including pipe bands, harpists, fiddlers and Celtic rock. 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday-Sunday at the Alameda County Fairgrounds, 4501 Pleasanton Ave., Pleasanton. Tickets must be purchased online at www.thescottishgames.com.Kings Mountain Art Fair: More than 100 juried artists from the U.S. and Canada will gather to create a fine-art gallery in the redwoods at this 60th annual event. Live entertainment, food and drink booths. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday at 13889 Skyline Blvd., Woodside. Free admission. Details: kingsmo...

Apple expected to unveil new iPhone at ‘Wonderlust.’ special event at Cupertino headquarters

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

By Jennifer Korn | CNNNew York — The next iPhone could be just weeks away.Apple announced its fall special event on Tuesday, sending out press invites for the morning of September 12th. Invitees will get to attend in-person at the Steve Jobs Theater inside Apple Park, the company’s headquarters in Cupertino, California, while the general public can watch online at 10 am PST.Apple’s event invitations are always closely studied for hidden meanings, with this year’s featuring a disintegrating, multi-hued Apple logo and the tag line: “Wonderlust.”Related ArticlesTechnology | Apple-leased Silicon Valley office building is bought as value jumps Technology | Appeals court revives bribery charge for Apple security exec in Santa Clara County concealed-gun permit scandal Technology | California exodus: Top destination for Bay Area transplants isn’t in Texas or Florida. It’s … Seattle? Technology | Apple to pay up to ...

UNC graduate student charged with killing faculty adviser

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

By Hannah Schoenbaum, Gary D. Robertson and Sarah Rankin | Associated PressCHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Authorities charged a University of North Carolina graduate student Tuesday with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of his faculty advisor, in an attack that caused a campus lockdown while police searched for the gunman.Tailei Qi, 34, was due in court later Tuesday for an initial hearing in the Monday killing of Zijie Yan inside of a science building on the Chapel Hill campus. In addition to the murder count, he is charged with having a 9mm handgun on educational property, according to a warrant for his arrest.Yan was an associate professor in the Department of Applied Physical Sciences who had worked for the university since 2019, UNC said in a statement Tuesday.“The University is in contact with Yan’s family and is providing resources and support,” it said.In a page that has been taken down since the attack, Qi was listed on the school’s website as a gradua...

Laurie Houts killing: Court delays murder dismissal pending appellate decision

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

SAN JOSE — The dismissal of a murder charge against a man who beat two trials in the 1990s over the strangling of Laurie Houts in Mountain View is on hold, a judge ruled Tuesday.Laurie Houts after a softball game the night before Houts died. (Photo: special to the Bay Area News Group) Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Shella Deen  also preserved home detention and $350,000 bail for John Kevin Woodward to ensure he cannot leave the country — he resided in the Netherlands when he was arrested last year — in case the Sixth District Court of Appeal overturns her dismissal ruling and sends the case to trial.When Deen issued her Aug. 22 order dismissing a murder charge for Woodward, she allowed whatever side she ruled against to petition the appellate court for a review within five days.The Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office filed a writ with the appellate court Monday, a day before the deadline, and Deputy District Attorney Alexandra Gadeberg...

Australia: Neurosurgeon removes live worm from woman’s brain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

By Rod McGuirk | Associated PressCANBERRA, Australia — A neurosurgeon investigating a woman’s mystery symptoms in an Australian hospital says she plucked a wriggling worm from the patient’s brain.Surgeon Hari Priya Bandi was performing a biopsy through a hole in the 64-year-old patient’s skull at Canberra Hospital last year when she used forceps to pull out the parasite, which measured 8 centimeters, or 3 inches.“I just thought: ‘What is that? It doesn’t make any sense. But it’s alive and moving,'” Bandi was quoted Tuesday in The Canberra Times newspaper.“It continued to move with vigor. We all felt a bit sick,” Bandi added of her operating team.The creature was the larva of an Australian native roundworm not previously known to be a human parasite, named Ophidascaris robertsi. The worms are commonly found in carpet pythons.Bandi and Canberra infectious diseases physician Sanjaya Senanayake are authors of an article about t...

Pedestrian hospitalized after being hit by car coming out of Walnut Creek parking garage

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

WALNUT CREEK — A pedestrian was hospitalized Monday after being hit by a car that was coming out of a parking garage, officials said.The collision happened on S. Main Street and Botelho Drive and caused police to shut down S. Main Street for about an hour.The pedestrian went by ambulance to John Muir Medical Center with injuries that officials said were not life-threatening.According to city spokesperson Betsy Burkhart, police spoke to the driver who showed no signs of impairment. Police did not arrest anyone.Burkhart said the driver was turning out of the Macy’s parking garage at Broadway Plaza and hit the person who was in the crosswalk.Police re-opened the S. Main Street at about 3 p.m.Related ArticlesCrashes and Disasters | 3 Marines who died in Australian Osprey crash identified, 3 Camp Pendleton Marines remain hospitalized Crashes and Disasters | 3 U.S. Marines killed, others injured in aircraft crash in Australia Crashes and Disaste...

Three-bedroom home sells for $2.5 million in Palo Alto

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

A 1,105-square-foot house built in 1952 has changed hands. The property located in the 600 block of Ashton Avenue in Palo Alto was sold on Aug. 11, 2023. The $2,500,000 purchase price works out to $2,262 per square foot. The layout of this single-story home consists of three bedrooms and one bath. Inside, there is a fireplace. Additionally, the house features a single carport.Additional houses that have recently been purchased close by include:In January 2023, a 1,679-square-foot home on Saint Michael Drive in Palo Alto sold for $1,585,000, a price per square foot of $944. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.On Cowper Street, Palo Alto, in May 2023, a 925-square-foot home was sold for $2,140,000, a price per square foot of $2,314. The home has 3 bedrooms 1 bathroom.A 1,754-square-foot home on the 3300 block of Middlefield Road in Palo Alto sold in October 2022, for $3,750,000, a price per square foot of $2,138. The home has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms.

Want Amazon’s free shipping? You may need to buy more

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:50:18 GMT

Lauren Rosenblatt | The Seattle Times (TNS)Amazon shoppers might have to start putting more items in their cart to qualify for free shipping.The Seattle-based company is testing a new minimum requirement, $35 instead of $25, to waive the shipping fee, according to Amazon spokesperson Kristina Pressentin.Amazon is testing the new free-shipping threshold in some randomly generated regions. Everyone in the same region will have the same price tag requirement.The price increase does not apply to Prime members, who pay $139 annually for the subscription that guarantees free shipping on 300 million items, Pressentin said.This isn’t the first time Amazon has tried to raise the bar for free shipping. It upped the price tag from $25 to $35 in 2013, then to $49 in 2016. That didn’t last long — Amazon dropped the price back to $35 in February 2017 and down to $25 a few months later.“We continually evaluate our offerings and make adjustments based on those assessments,” Pressentin said Monday.T...