Lindsay Lohan’s charge of felony grand theft for the $2,500 necklace she allegedly lifted from the Kamofie in California was reduced to a misdemeanor; the hearing will continue in May 2011. This was reported by entertainment news sites, April 22, 2011.

Lohan’s violation of her probation however, had dire consequences; she was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Stephanie Sautner to 120 days in jail with 480 hours of community service.

Lohan have previously turned down a plea deal. Her attorney Shawn Chapman Holley will appeal the probation violation charges. Meanwhile Lohan was taken into custody while bail is posted at $75,000.

The 480 hours of community service will be served at the local Downtown Women’s Center and the LA morgue, 360 hours and 120 hours respectively.

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Scotty McCreery
Image credit: starmometer.com

Scotty McCreery, also known as Scotty the Body, won the American Idol 2011 Season 10.  The country singer from Garner, North Carolina has won the hearts of the judges even from the audition stages and up to the finals of American Idol, as reported by various entertainment sites, May 25.

McCreery has never been in the bottom three during the American Idol 2011 contest and has always been the favorite of American viewers during the contest. His songs in the finale were “I Love You This Big,” “Gone,” and “Check Yes or No,” while Lauren Alaina sang “Flat on the Floor,”  “Maybe it was Memphis,” and “Like my Mother Does.”

Scotty McCreery’s career is predicted to grow by leaps and bounds as a country singer and reportedly much more than that, with many record companies vying for his songs. American Idol 2011 has produced again another singing superstar with McCreery.

More than 122 million votes were cast and said to be unprecedented. As the big background screen flashed “Scotty Wins!” Lauren Alaina smiled and embraced him. The 17 year old country singer went down on his knees – as McCreery always does when he was emotionally high – and shed tears of joy.

This is a video, uploaded by ScottMcCreeryfans of the audition of Scotty McCreery.

Scotty McCreery Wins! Video courtesy of MTV.

Myanmar Earthquake
Image Credit: sciencedude.ocregister.com

Myanmar earthquake last Thursday night, March 24, 2011 kills more than 60 people. The 6.8 magnitude quake’s epicenter is in the north of Tachileik along the Thai border. According to international reports, there are 65 people killed and 111 injured in the incident with constant updates as authorities still check the injuries in remote areas.

According to a United Nations official, the organization is now coordinating with the Myanmar authorities and Myanmar Red Cross Society to provide assistance to the victims which are mostly in the form of medicines.

As one of the poorest and underdeveloped countries in Asia, Myanmar is quite reluctant in giving information about the number of casualties as it is very sensitive to outside criticisms. The government controls the information about the recent quake that hit their country.

After the strong shaking of the ground, aftershocks followed. According to some residents, seeing the aftermath of the quake in Japan intensifies their fear.

iPad 2
Image Credit: gizmag.com

iPad 2 may face shortage due to the aftermath of Japan’s recent earthquake and Tsunami, according to a report released last March 17, 2011. According to international news sites, some key components of iPad 2 like the flash memory and battery are coming from Japan.

The battery is manufactured by Apple Japan and with the crisis happening in the country, customers of the gadget may wait longer than expected before they can have their new set of iPad 2.

The shutdown of factories, difficulties in the procurement of raw materials and the shipment problems may cause a delay in the delivery of the iPad. Currently, customers need to wait for 4-5 weeks to receive their orders from online sites.

Meanwhile, Apple announced the delay in the launching of the new iPad in Japan due to the current crisis that the country is facing. However, the new date for the iPad 2 launching was not specified as the Japanese are in constant worry about the effects of nuclear radiation to their health.

Karen Rodriquez on “American Idol”
Image Credit: homorazzi.com

American Idol says goodbye to Karen Rodriquez. The 21-year old American Idol finalist from New York received the smallest share of votes as revealed last Thursday, March 17, 2011.

With the last episode, the wanna-be superstar from New York delivered her version of Taylor Dayne’s “Love Will Lead You Back”. After knowing she had the least votes, she made a multilingual performance of Maria Carey’s “Hero”. She earned a standing ovation from the crowd for such wonderful interpretation.

The bubbly bilingual girl auditioned for American Idol to be the first Hispanic winner. Her mother reveals putting a radio on her belly while she was pregnant with Karen.

Other contenders who made it to the bottom three include Haley Reinhart and Naima Adedapo.

The remaining American Idol finalists include Casey Abrams, Lauren Alaina, James Durbin, Stefano Langone, Jacob Lusk, Scotty McCreery, Paul McDonald, Thia Megia and Pia Toscano.

Fat Tuesday 2011 kicks off in New Orleans and in several places as people go partying, drinking and eating.  Fat Tuesday is also called Mardi Gras by the French.

What is Fat Tuesday?

Fat Tuesday is a day of celebration before Ash Wednesday which denotes the start of the Holy Week celebrated by Catholics. Non-Catholics though, celebrate also Mardi Grass 2011 with Fat Tuesday food that gives “pleasure” and satiates the palate.

What are Fat Tuesday foods?

Foods like pancakes, cakes and fatty rich foods are usually the foods of choice because they symbolize a non-fasting state.  Fat Tuesday recipes usually include in eggs and milk, foods which are avoided during the Lenten season of fasting.

In New Orleans, stalls are erected for food and merchandise in expectation of the influx of local and foreign tourists. America celebrates Fat Tuesday but New Orleans does it in style, with parades, floats, and the complete set-up.

Prince William and Kate Middleton also celebrated Mardi gras in Belfast, where they tossed pancakes with the residents.

People celebrating Mardi gras get ready for Fat Tuesday 2011 as they prepare their colorful clothing and paraphernalia.

This is a video about Fat Tuesday, which is uploaded by slatester.

Miley Cyrus, who has been assailed by negative publicity stunts, is unscathed as she goes around talking about how she misses “Hannah Montana” and Jason Earles. The beautiful, young star has been nominated to the 2011 Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards. Cyrus appreciates the nomination and had openly expressed her gratitude to her fans.

Miley Cyrus hosts Saturday Night Live (SNL) with guests, The Strokes. The rumors about a Miley Cyrus scandal and her allegedly “distasteful video” are now put to rest, permanently or temporarily.

Uploaded by pinkpokeadotz, this is the promotional video for SNL with Miley Cyrus of her guest hosting on Saturday Night Live.

Marine Corps Marathon
Credit: womenwhoride.typepad.com

The Marine Corps Marathon (MCM) registration for 2011 will open on February 23, 2011, according to marinemarathon.com.

With 30,000 participants, the marathon starts at Arlington and ends at Iwo Jima Memorial. The slots are quickly filled, so participants are encourage registering earlier. The age requirement is 14 years by the time the Marine Corps Marathon or MCM is held on October 30^, 2011. The marathon covers 26.2 miles and seasoned marathon players will not have any problem with this, but tyros will have difficulties meeting this challenge.

The Marine Corps Marathon also marks the Iwo Jima battle with the momentous flag raising. Confirmation of registration can be done at marinemarathon.com

About 20,000 Fossils in China can reveal how certain species recovered after mass extinction. This was reported by LiveScience.com.  The fossils were found excellently preserved with some soft tissue intact which would reveal more of how certain species survived the stages of annihilation caused by massive volcanic eruptions and the “damage caused by humanity.”

These marine fossils of prehistoric creatures, like reptiles, snails, crustaceans, and similar materials, were unearthed from a mountain in Luoping, Southwest China. Scientist Shixue Hu of China’s Chengdu Geological Center, led the team of  experts.

Here is a a picture of one of the fossils. You can view more of this at the LiveScience.com site.

New York Jets assistant coach, Sal Alosi, tripped Miami Dolphins’ Player, Nolan Carroll with his knee while Carroll was running down the sideline. Alosi later apologized, saying that he made a mistake and that his conduct was “inexcusable.”

Carroll went down without knowing why. This was reported on December 13, 2o1o by ABC News. The incident was captured on video with the Jets coach caught sticking his knee to trip Caroll.

In response to the unexpected and “shameful” behavior, Tony Sparano, Dolphins head coach expressed his intention of sending the play to the league for further action. On the other hand, the Jets team is also looking into the matter before deciding how to proceed.

The Miami Dolphins won with a score of 10-6.

Here is the video from YouTube of the incident.