2014 news: 06/04/14

Wednesday 4 June 2014

'Orange' you glad it's back?

"Orange is the New Black" returns for season two on June 6 on Netflix. If you are new to the show, allow us to catch you up on who's who, including the main character, Piper Chapman (played by Taylor Schilling), an entrepreneur who lands in jail for drug offenses she committed years earlier.

Alex Vause (Laura Prepon) was Piper's former lover who causes her to go to jail because of Alex's involvement in drug smuggling when the two were a couple. The pair meet again in prison.

Sam Healy (Michael Harney) is a counselor and corrections officer at Litchfield Penitentiary in upstate New York. He has issues with lesbians and causes problems for Piper.

Miss Claudette Pelage (Michelle Hurst) is one of the oldest inmates at the prison. She ends up there after killing a client who abused an employee at her cleaning company. Other prisoners fear her.

Galina "Red" Reznikov (Kate Mulgrew) runs the prison kitchen and is a force to be reckoned with. Red, right, and Gloria Mendoza (Selenis Leyva), left, will probably butt heads in season two as Mendoza takes over Red's territory.

Nicky Nichols (Natasha Lyonne), left, is a recovering drug addict and Lorna Morello (Yael Stone) a kitchen worker who, in season one, were friends with benefits.

Lorna, left, with Suzanne "Crazy Eyes" Warren (Uzo Aduba), a disruptive inmate who takes a special liking to her "Dandelion," Chapman. Her more sensitive side is revealed later in season one.

Sophia Burset (Laverne Cox) is transgender and serves as the prison's hairdresser. Her sexual identity causes her to sometimes be bullied by some of the other inmates.

Prison guard John Bennett (Matt McGorry) and inmate Dayanara 'Daya' Diaz (Dascha Polanco) begin an illicit prison love affair that puts his job at risk.

Tiffany "Pennsatucky" Doggett (Taryn Manning) is a meth-addicted, born-again Christian who is not above attacking fellow inmates, including Piper.

Aleida Diaz (Elizabeth Rodriguez) is Daya's mother. Doing time for drug charges, she appears to not love her daughter initially, but is later revealed to be protective of her.

Jason Biggs plays Larry Bloom, a journalist and Chapman's (formerly) doting fiancé. He stood by her in season one even when the more sordid details of her past were revealed, but becomes increasingly disenchanted and eventually exploits her prison sentence to bolster his career.

Pablo Schreiber plays corrupt prison guard George Mendez, better known as Pornstache (one guess why). He breaks all the rules, from smuggling drugs into the prison to having sex with inmates. In season one, he is suspended without pay for his actions.

Lorraine Toussaint joins the cast in season two as Yvonne "Vee" Parker, shown here with Gloria. Former drug runner Vee clashes with the other inmates, including Red.

"Orange Is the New Black" season two releases Friday, June 6

Show is about a well-off character who ends up in a women's prison

A few details about the new season have slipped out

(CNN) -- "Orange Is the New Black," and it's the new face of comedy, too.

Since its debut in July 2013, the original Netflix series has become the poster child for the way many of us now watch TV -- in large doses, on our own time, and often on something other than an actual television set.

But before "Orange Is the New Black" became the hottest topic for anyone with Internet access, it was a languishing concept from "Weeds" producer Jenji Kohan, who was struggling to find a home for the series based on a book by Piper Kerman.

As viewers learned in season one, "Orange Is the New Black" follows a well-bred New Yorker named Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling), who gets sent to a Connecticut women's prison on an old drug charge that involved smuggling money for ex-girlfriend Alex Vause (Laura Prepon), who just happens to be serving time in the same facility. While there, Chapman gets indoctrinated into prison life with a series of scenes that have become infamous, like a bloody tampon given to her in a sandwich and a cellmate urinating on the floor.

Chapman, along with characters like Red (Kate Mulgrew), a grim Russian cook; Sophia (Laverne Cox), a transgender former firefighter; Crazy Eyes (Uzo Aduba), who's initially fixated on Chapman; and Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning), a disturbed drug addict, bring this dark comedy to life in a way that wouldn't have been out of place on pay-cable networks like HBO or Showtime.

Except neither network wanted it.

And then, in walked Netflix. With the company's image changing from being a source of mail-ordered movies to a streaming hub of entertainment, the service happily snapped up Kohan's dark comedy. As the writer/producer recalled to The New York Times, Netflix "pretty much bought it in the room."

The company's eagerness has paid off in full, as "Orange Is the New Black" has become the service's most-watched original series, according to an October letter to shareholders, and is already renewed for a third season.

But first, we have to prepare for season two's arrival on Friday. Though cast members and Kohan are tight-lipped about what's to come, here are a few tidbits on what to expect:

1. Nudity. "I love graphic sex, the more sex the better," Kohan said at an industry lunch in April. And the show has certainly put some of its performers on display right from showering get-go. This year may include male nudity, Kohan said, with a caveat: "I don't think it's going to be erect."

2. Triangle tension. You know that romantic triangle between prison guards Pornstache (Pablo Schreiber) and Bennett (Matt McGorry) and Daya (Dascha Polanco)? It's going to get messier. "There's kind of a tectonic shift happening between Pornstache, Bennett and Daya by the big point of the second season, and I think you might be surprised who you may be siding with in that triumvirate," Schreiber told EW.

3. A rising writer. Larry's had some success with his column about having a fiancée in prison, but his relationship with her is under strain. "If you're going to keep Larry involved, there needs to be some sort of change, and there are some in store," Jason Biggs, who plays Larry, told EW.

4. More romance and back story. Big Boo (Lea DeLaria) and Nicky (Natasha Lyonne) are going to have a "sex contest," reports TV Guide. We'll find out more about Red's (Kate Mulgrew) Russian gangster past. And watch out for a key insect.

5. A change of the guard? A number of "Orange" stars have commitments to other shows. Natasha Lyonne (Nicky) is doing an NBC show produced by Amy Poehler, and Schreiber is working on an HBO comedy. Laura Prepon (Alex) told the Daily Beast she will be in just four episodes in season two, though she's indicated she'd be willing to come back full-time for season three. Kohan is already thinking ahead. "If I could keep cycling people through and bringing in new people, the show could go on forever," she told EW.

Donald Sterling agrees to sell team

Attorney for Donald Sterling says his client's disputes have been resolved

But a lawsuit has yet to be withdrawn

Shelly Sterling, acting on behalf of the family trust, sold the team last week

Steve Ballmer tried to buy a franchise in 2013 but was turned down because he wanted to move team

(CNN) -- Donald Sterling has agreed to the sale of the Los Angeles Clippers to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Sterling's attorneys told CNN on Wednesday.

Last week, Sterling's estranged wife, Shelly, agreed to sell the franchise to Ballmer for an NBA record $2 billion. The Sterlings are co-owners of the team through a family trust.

Donald Sterling initially indicated he would fight the sale and filed a lawsuit against the National Basketball Association.

The suit has yet to be withdrawn, attorneys Bobby Samini and Maxwell Blecher, said, but that likely will happen this week.

"Donald Sterling officially announces today, the NBA and Donald Sterling and Shelly Sterling have agreed to sell the Los Angeles Clippers to Steve Ballmer for $2 billion and various additional benefits. All disputes and outstanding issues have been resolved," Samini said in a written statement.

Blecher said he thought that Sterling worked out a resolution with the league or with Shelly Sterling.

The NBA was expected to issue a news release commenting on Wednesday's developments.

Steve Ballmer, the former CEO of Microsoft, appears set to buy the L.A. Clippers. Ballmer, seen here at a NBA playoff game on April 29, is not one to hide his emotions. Rather, he is known for his exuberant persona at tech events. Here's a look at some of his many mugs:

Here Ballmer responds during an interview at a 2000 tech conference in Florida. If only we knew what the question was.

"Don't ask me again about Windows Vista."

Oh, this is a caption contest waiting to happen. Here Ballmer speaks at the Web. 2.0 Summit in 2011 in San Francisco.

Here Ballmer (pick one: 1. grimaces 2. grins 3. remembers he left the stove on) while talking about Windows 7 during a 2009 appearance in Munich, Germany.

"I'll shout louder so you guys in the back can hear me."

If this Microsoft thing hadn't worked out, Ballmer might have made a fearsome football coach.

"Well, Apple has had some success, sure. And Facebook is big. Don't get me started on Google. ... What was the question again?"

Please don't make Steve Ballmer angry. Just don't.

Ballmer speaks, or perhaps yells excitedly, during the 2013 opening of a Microsoft store in Troy, Michigan.

The many faces of Steve Ballmer

NBA owners still have to approve the sale to Ballmer, who has indicated he would keep the team in Los Angeles. Ballmer, according to Forbes magazine, is worth $20.3 billion.

Ballmer has tried to buy a NBA team before. Last year, he and investor Chris Hansen were set to purchase the Sacramento Kings, but the NBA nixed the deal because the duo would have moved the franchise to Seattle.

Who is Steve Ballmer?

Donald Sterling bought the team in 1981 for $12 million.

Sterling's recorded racist remarks to his companion, V. Stiviano, spawned outrage among NBA fans, players and executives. Chief among the latter was NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who banned Sterling from the league, fined him $2.5 million and pushed through a charge to terminate all of his ownership rights in the franchise. The recording was posted online by TMZ in late April.

In the recording, Sterling argues with Stiviano about how she posted a photo of herself with NBA legend Magic Johnson to Instagram.

"In your lousy f**ing Instagrams, you don't have to have yourself with -- walking with black people," Sterling says.

"If it's white people, it's OK?" the woman responds. "If it was Larry Bird, would it make a difference?"

Bird was a Hall of Fame player who played with the Boston Celtics and was a storied rival of Johnson, who played for the Los Angeles Lakers.

He also tells her not to bring Johnson to Clippers games and not to post photos his friends could view.

"Admire him, bring him here, feed him, f**k him, but don't put (Magic) on an Instagram for the world to have to see so they have to call me," he said.

What to know about Steve Ballmer

CNN exclusive: Donald Sterling insists he's no racist, still slams Magic Johnson

World's most popular theme parks

25. Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise in Japan features amusement park rides, an aquarium and over 500 varieties of fish.

24. Efteling theme park in the Netherlands is one of the oldest theme parks in the world.

23.Tivoli Gardens in Denmark features all sorts of amusements and entertainments.

22. While SeaWorld California has come under fire recently, with questions being raised about the care of its whales, visitors keep coming to see Shamu and other marine animals perform.

21. Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris is just one part of Disney's French empire.

20. Europa-Park in Germany features a restaurant with a one-star Michelin rating.

19. SeaWorld Florida also features the famous whales in its shows.

18. Check out the Steel Dragon roller coaster at Nagashima Spa Land in Japan.

17. Universal Studios Hollywood offers behind-the-scenes access to Universal Studios movies (the VIP tour is shown here).

16. Universal Studios at Universal Orlando in Florida is abuzz with additions to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, shown here in 2010.

15. The Everland amusement and animal park in Yongin, south of Seoul, is South Korea's largest amusement park.

14. Lotte World in South Korea includes a theme park, shopping mall, hotel, sports facilities and a movie theater.

13. Toy Story Land is one of the star attractions at Hong Kong Disneyland.

12. Ocean Park in Hong Kong has been criticized for how it treats its marine life, much like SeaWorld, but visitors keep coming to the park.

11. Islands of Adventure at Universal Orlando features the Jurassic Park river adventure, where visitors will spot friendly and not-so-friendly dinosaurs.

10. Disney's California Adventure Park features Mickey's Fun Wheel and the California Screamin' roller coaster.

9. Universal Studios Japan in Osaka features Universal Wonderland, an amusement zone within the park.

8. Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park at Florida's Walt Disney World Resort welcomed daytime TV talk show host Wendy Williams and her son Kevin, shown here on a ride on Toy Story Midway Mania!

7. Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Florida offers hotel views of animals wandering by.

6. Mickey Mouse poses in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle at the Disneyland park outside of Paris.

5. Disney's Epcot at Walt Disney World in Florida features the futuristic Spaceship Earth geosphere and monorail, shown here.

4. Tokyo DisneySea offers steamer boat rides through all the ports of the park.

3. There's nothing like visiting the original Disneyland, featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle in Anaheim, California.

2. Tokyo Disneyland celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2013.

1. It takes many hands to keep the Magic Kingdom in Florida on top as the No. 1 amusement park in the world. Here a custodian polishes the Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse statue at the Orlando park.

There were more than 200 million visits to the top 25 parks in 2013

Many of those visits were to Disney theme parks on three continents

Universal Studios and SeaWorld parks were also popular

(CNN) -- What's the most popular theme park in the world?

Hint: It's got Mickey Mouse ears.

This Disney theme park had more than 18 million visits last year, an increase of nearly 6% over 2012, according to a report released Tuesday. (Click through the gallery to check out the top 25 parks in the world.)

Amusement park attendance is on the rise around the world.

There were 215 million visits to the top 25 theme and amusement parks worldwide, up 4.3% from 2012, according to the Themed Entertainment Association and AECOM global attractions attendance report. The index lists the 25 most visited amusement and theme parks worldwide, based on attendance figures compiled by AECOM.

Disney dominated the list.

Disney parks in the United States, Europe and Asia made up nine of the top 10 parks and held 11 of the top 25 spots. Universal Studios' theme parks came in a distant second with just one park in the top 10 list and four in the top 25 list. SeaWorld held two spots.

Visits to North American and Asian parks keep increasing, and not just at the top 25 parks: There were 135 million visits to the top 20 North American theme/amusement parks last year, up 2.7% from 2012. There were 117 million visits to the top 20 Asian theme/amusement parks last year, up 7.5% from 2012.