Reviews: More riffs on the Ring

Gorgeous and Green, the annual fundraiser for Global Green, takes place at the Bently Reserve on December 11, 2012.

Faconnable recently opened its doors for supporters of Children of Shelters. Their annual fundraiser “Jingle & Mingle” takes place December 6, 2012.

Located at 2724 Pacific Avenue, San Francisco, this beautiful 1894 Queen Anne mansion has gone on the market with an asking price of $30 million.

San Francisco Parks Alliance and the San Francisco Recreation and Parks Department recently hosted Party for the Parks at the Anglers Lodge in Golden Gate Park.

Lucas Cross-Back End Table, Black

The classic X-base design adds an airiness to this end table that’s especially welcome in smaller rooms. Launched in 1914 …

Laragh Rug, Red/Natural

With rich, luscious detailing and a vibrant feel, this rug enlivens any space. Hand-tufted of pure wool with strong cotton backing, the traditional …

Laragh Rug, Red/Natural

With rich, luscious detailing and a vibrant feel, this rug enlivens any space. Hand-tufted of pure wool with strong cotton backing, the traditional …

Laragh Rug, Red/Natural

With rich, luscious detailing and a vibrant feel, this rug enlivens any space. Hand-tufted of pure wool with strong cotton backing, the traditional …

An earthquake that lasted for three minutes forced Australia ns living in Darwin, probably already deep in dreamland, to rouse from their sleep at 2.30am local time. The source of the earthquake? A 7.3 magnitude earthquake in the Banda Sea off Indonesia that is actually more than 600 kilometres away from Darwin. Its epicenter, measured at 180km deep, fortunately was not strong enough to trigger damage both lives and property on nearby islands as well as to trigger a tsunami, Mark Leonard, Geoscience Australia senior seismologist, said. Nevertheless, it had been still widely felt.

The four remaining Voice contestants — Cassadee Pope, Terry McDermott, Trevin Hunte and Nicholas David — performed on Monday’s one-hour episode in hopes of making it to next week’s season three finale. PHOTOS: ‘The Voice’ Teams: Season 3′s Performers The show opened with Carson Daly announcing that only one contestant would be cut on Tuesday’s show, so three of the remaining four would move on to next week’s finale. That should be happy news for the contestants, but did anyone notice that the semifinalists looked so sad throughout this episode. Are they just tired? Nervous

DAVID D KIRKPATRICK The political crisis over Egypt’s draft constitution hardened on both sides Sunday, as President Mohammed Morsi prepared to deploy the army to safeguard balloting in a planned referendum on the new charter and his opponents called for more protests and a boycott to undermine the vote. Thousands of demonstrators streamed toward the presidential palace for a fifth night of protests against Morsi and the proposed charter, and the president, a former leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, formally issued an order asking the military to protect “vital institutions” and secure the vote. With the decision to boycott the charter, the opposition signaled it had given up hope it could defeat the draft charter at the polls, and had opted instead to try to undermine the referendum’s legitimacy. The call for new protests – with major demonstrations expected at the presidential palace again on Tuesday and Friday — ensures that questions about Egypt’s national unity and stability will continue to overshadow debate about the specific contents of the charter. Although international experts who have studied the draft say it is hardly more religious than Egypt’s old constitution, opponents say it fails to adequately protect individual rights from being constricted by a future Islamist majority in Parliament. The opposition “rejects lending legitimacy to a referendum that will definitely lead to more sedition and division,” said Sameh Ashour, a spokesman for the National Salvation Front

By Andre Teh My Paper Tuesday, Dec 11, 2012 SINGAPORE/HOLLYWOOD – Tolkien fans, the wait is almost over. Peter Jackson’s first instalment of the big-screen adaptation of The Hobbit will open in cinemas here on Thursday. Jackson’s The Lord Of The Rings trilogy is the highest-grossing motion-picture trilogy worldwide, raking in a total of US$2.91 billion (S$3.55 billion). The trilogy’s third film, The Return Of The King, tied with Ben-Hur and Titanic for the most number of Academy Awards won for a single movie – 11 Oscars. Jackson expressed doubt that his latest film will replicate his Oscars feat in a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly. He said that there are probably “great possibilities” in the “below-the-line”, technical categories

It’s like looking a lot at some tug-o-war. While many still pick on the supposed end of the world on December 21, 2012, still others take round the clock efforts to debunk the Mayan doomsday myth. While the Mayan calendar indeed ends of that date, it actually heralds the start of new beginnings for Earth and its people. “People have drawn a doomsday conclusion from the Mayan calendar, when there isn’t one,” Louix Dor Dempriey, a spiritual master who started the Louix Dor Dempriey Foundation, said in a statement. “The world is not going to come to an end on December 21st, and that’s not what the Mayan calendar predicted to begin with.” “Every so often, someone calls for a doomsday or some other major event that they state is going to happen,” Dor Dempriey added

A fourth accuser has come forward in the underage sex case of former Elmo actor Kevin Cash . A fourth man has filed suit against Clash — using the name John Doe — via attorney Jeff Herman, who also represents two other men who have accused Clash of sexual abuse. NBC News first reported the Monday filing. STORY: Kevin Clash ‘Deeply Sorry’ to Leave Sesame Street The lawsuit filed in Miami claims that Clash befriended Doe in late 1995 or early 1996, when Doe was 16 or 17. In 1996, the accuser says that Clash paid to fly him from Miami to New York. It was during Doe’s trip to New York that the abuse allegedly occurred. Herman said in a statement: “According to our lawsuit, Kevin Clash knowingly paid to transport a minor across state lines for the purpose of satisfying his sexual interests.” STORY: PBS’ Paula Kerger on Fred Willard’s Arrest, Big Bird and the Elmo Sex Scandal News of the scandal broke in early November when 24-year-old Sheldon Stephens claimed to have had a sexual relationship with Clash when he was 16

British Member of Parliament Keith Vaz stated that the devastated family of Nurse Jacintha Saldanha should also receive the same intensive counseling offered to the two Australia n radio hosts who made the royal prank call. The British MP first met the Saldanha family at their Briston home then welcomed them with a warm hug at the Parliament on Monday. “I would hope very much that trained psychologists and others will be helping this family because they are obviously grief-stricken. They simply cannot cope or understand what is happening. I am not sure that they are getting the kind of support that, for example, the DJs in Australia appear to be getting,” MP Vaz stated. “This is a small, loving family. When I was there they were having prayers for her and they will continue to love her and to cherish her until they take her to India where they wish to bury her, after they have reclaimed the body,” he further added. MP Keith Vaz also confirmed the police had been supportive to the family as well as the King Edward VII Hospital where Jacintha Saldanha worked.

British actor Robert Pattinson received an offer from “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis to be a guest star in the show. In of his many interviews for the promo tour of “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2″, the actor joked about turning the “Twilight Saga” into a porn film and combining “Twilight” cast members and “Girls Gone Wild.” This joke prompted an offer from the creator of the show to help Robert in his debut in the porn industry. “Girls Gone Wild” creator Joe Francis followed the story by offering Pattinson $100,000 to star in one of their shows. Francis made the offer through a letter sent to Hollywood Life. The letter suggested that Pattinson would be paid to film girls during a three-day, Spring Break period. Pattinson would be allowed to choose the spot for the film and could either keep the money or donate it to charity.