Here is a select list of stories to start the day

The story for the popular television serial “Marmadesam” was authored by him and he was known for writing thrillers, some of which were hits in the silver screen.

Mumbai Police arrested a budding songwriter for allegedly sending threat messages to Bollywood actor Salman Khan and demanding Rs 5 crore from him in the name of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Sohail Pasha, held from Raichur in Karnataka, wanted a song written by him to become famous and used this ploy for the purpose, police claimed.

Shah Rukh Khan’s last film, Zero, released in December 2018 after which he went on a long sabbatical. He has been reading scripts and even shortlisted a few of them. Meanwhile, the names of a lot of filmmakers did the rounds with whom the superstar was supposedly working with. However, of late, it has come to light that SRK is working with blockbuster filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani in his next directorial flick. Recently, while answering a fan question, he also let out a strong hint that he has indeed given his nod to Rajkumar Hirani’s flick. And naturally, it led to a lot of excitement among fans.

While not much is known about the film and its subject, Bollywood Hungama has exclusively learnt that for this venture, Rajkumar Hirani and his frequent collaborator writer Abhijat Joshi have been joined by Kanika Dhillon. She has become quite well known of late thanks to her work in films like Manmarziyaan (2018), Kedarnath (2018), Judgmentall Hai Kya (2019) and the web film Guilty (2020). Interestingly, in the beginning of her career, she had extensively worked with SRK’s Red Chillies Entertainment. She worked as an assistant director on SRK’s 2007 blockbuster Om Shanti Om. She wrote the screenplay of Ra.One (2011) and additional screenplay of Always Kabhi Kabhi (2011). Rajkumar Hirani’s next hence marks Kanika’s reunion with Shah Rukh and Red Chillies Entertainment after almost 9 years.

A source close to the project says, “Kanika Dhillon has come on-board and she along with Rajkumar Hirani and Abhijat Joshi are busy scripting the film. Kanika is mainly scripting while Rajkumar and Abhijat are helping her with inputs. They are hoping to finish in a month or two. The film was to go on floors in August but due to the lockdown, it seems that the shoot will be pushed ahead.”

Rajkumar Hirani’s last film, Sanju, released in 2018 and was based on the controversial life of actor Sanjay Dutt. Starring Ranbir Kapoor, this flick emerged as the biggest hit of that year, earning Rs. 342.53 crores. Hirani, in fact, holds the envious record of not giving a single flop as a director. The source assures, “His film with Shah Rukh Khan too seems to be shaping up well, at the writing stage. And Rajkumar-Abhijat-Kanika collaboration has added a lot to the script and it’ll be something to watch out for.”

Also Read: Post Manmarziyaan, Taapsee Pannu and Kanika Dhillon reunite for Haseen Dillruba

Dick Cavett talks to Cheever & Updike - Oct 14, 1981. (Earlier post.)

Linkastic © 2007 IndiaUncut.com. All rights reserved.
India Uncut * The IU Blog * Rave Out * Extrowords * Workoutable * Linkastic

Athar Shah Khan began his career at Radio Pakistan as a writer and had 700 plays under his belt

With no fanfare, Hollywood studios and leaders of the Writers Guild of America have moved back the start of masters contract negotiations a week to May 18. Representatives of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers were not immediately available for comment about the change, which was revealed Saturday. A WGA spokesman said, “It’s […]

Sarah Falzon, a Toronto-based entertainment lawyer with Taylor Oballa Murray Leyland LLP, joins us to chat about the recent slew of copyright infringement lawsuits hitting pop stars, including Drake and Katy Perry, as well as Taylor Swift, Sam Smith, and Ed Sheeran.

As Sarah says, it seems like the floodgates have opened in the wake of the infamous “Blurred Lines” conflict in which the estate of Marvin Gaye successfully sued Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams for copying the “feel” and “sound” of Gaye’s 1977 song, “Got to Give It Up.” We discuss the details of the newer lawsuits that make them interesting and whether we really have entered a riskier era for songwriters. Sarah also explains if the U.S. lawsuits have any bearing on Canadian songwriters and the relevant differences between Canadian and American copyright law.

A weight-lifting guru, author and podcaster calls the U.S. response to the pandemic an “exercise in hysteria" that might do more harm than good

-- Read more on ScientificAmerican.com

Kannada writer TK Dayanand and poet Arif Raja have boycotted the Bangalore Lit festival that is being held in the city on December 5 and 6.

Archives, Room Use Only - PN6231.T4 L54 1882

Archives, Room Use Only - HE7669.P55 1945

File: (L-R) "The Sarah Silverman Program" writer Harris Wittels, comedian Sarah Silverman, executive producer/head writer Dan Sterling and actress Laura Silverman, arrive at Comedy Central's Emmy Awards party at the STK restaurant Sept. 21, 2008 in Los Angeles.; Credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images

Harris Wittels, a comedy writer who worked on "Parks & Recreation," has died at 30, the Los Angeles Police Department's Jane Kim tells KPCC.

Wittels was discovered by his assistant around 12 p.m., Kim said, and was already dead. Kim said that Wittels' death was a possible overdose, but that the Coroner's Office would determine the cause of death. Wittels had attended drug rehab twice.

Comedy Central, where Wittels worked on "The Sarah Silverman Program" and "Secret Girlfriend," confirmed Wittels' death, as did the comedy show he appeared at Wednesday night.

Comedy Central tweet

Meltdown Show tweet

Wittels was also well known for his @Humblebrag Twitter account and later book, helping to popularize the idea online of the false modesty of bragging while trying not to look like you're bragging.

Wittels had spoken about his struggles with addiction in places including Pete Holmes's podcast "You Made It Weird" in a November episode.

"I just really stopped caring about my life," Wittels said on "You Made It Weird," explaining how he got into doing drugs. "I just really started to think, well, if I'm only here for 80 years, then who cares if I spend it high or not?"

Wittels received his first big break when Sarah Silverman saw him performing comedy and gave him a job writing for her Comedy Central show.

Wittels also wrote for HBO's "Eastbound & Down," several MTV awards shows and the American Music Awards. He had a recurring role on "Parks & Recreation" and was a regular guest on the "Comedy Bang Bang" podcast.

Comedians, actors and fans mourned Wittels' death online.

Harris Wittels Storify

See Wittels in a scene from "Parks & Recreation":

Wittels on Parks & Recreation

Listen to Wittels on "Comedy Bang Bang":

Wittels on Comedy Bang Bang

This story has been updated.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

Exposing and discussing harassment is a way to send the message that it's not OK.

Although the Tesla Roadster is already on the streets of America, one Motor Trend writer favors the upcoming Chevy Volt over the electric supercar.

Filmmaker and writer Jonathan Kesselman talks about his latest project, what's funny about global warming, and California's growing anti-circumcision movement.

Among other things, Rob Kutner thinks we're on the verge of a new Ice Age.

Silver Lining encourages strength when facing adversity and overcoming situations of despair - bullying, violence, abuse, trauma - reminding us to practice self love, patience, and acceptance over hate.

Gettysburg author Jessica James received the 2019 John Esten Cooke Award for Fiction for her 2018 Civil War novel "The Lion of the South."

Workshops, retreats, and general accommodations in beautiful Bruce Peninsula, Ontario, Canada

As the very few affected by both tragedies that took place in Los Angeles, Destiny uses her music to heal and rebuild; paying respect to the many lives lost and honoring communities that came together in support.

Chino Valley Ranchers organic, cage-free eggs were recently featured in an Instagram post by Travel Foodie Writer Layla Nia on her profile @lafoodiegirl

Writing center director releases new book of prompts and instruction just in time for National Write a Book Month (NaNoWriMo)

Second Release by the Critically-Acclaimed Talent is Already Turning Reviewer Heads in Americana Land

Mental health teen advocate, singer, and songwriter, Destiny Malibu, uses her music to celebrate youth, feminine strength, and self respect in her new single release, "Sweet Persuasion," due to drop the January 17th, 2020.

Ryah gives listeners an infusion of pop music with a twist of a rhythm and blues vibe.

Sharpe's books are riveting inspirational thrillers written in honor of her daughter Kate and her husband Steve.

The L.O.V.E Show, a music and entertainment experience taking you on a journey through love goes live at Halle Theater in Apex on Saturday February 15th 3pm & 7pm

A global event limited series that asks "what is an American?"

The dynamic voice first heard on Ted Nugent's "Penetrator" album, that led to Brian becoming the powerhouse vocalist and writer for the band Bad Company, before leaving to shape his solo career, died Wednesday. He was 66.

The writers of the film realised that academic failures do not mean it's all over.

Baltimore sportswriter extraordinaire David Ginsburg & Orioles legend Rick Dempsey share stories you've never heard before as they take behind the scenes in the Orioles Dugout, Locker Room & Press Box

Over the past 7 years, a strong collaboration has emerged between the H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest ecosystem research group and the Spring Creek Project for Ideas, Nature, and the Written Word, an independently funded program for nature writing based in the Department of Philosophy, Oregon State University. The program is called Long-Term Ecological Reflections and it brings together scientists, creative writers, and environmental philosophers to consider new ways to conceptualize and communicate views of long-term ecological change in forests and watersheds and the participation of humans in that change. The program is designed to parallel the Long-Term Ecological Research program, a national science program initiated in 1980 and involving the Andrews Forest. Both programs focus on primary inquiry and have 200-year planning horizons, which have resulted in some uniquely farsighted perspectives and astute ecological observations.

Singer-songwriter CADY GROVES has passed away in her TENNESSEE home at the age of 30 from natural causes. GROVES, an EMPORIA, KS native, was best known for her 2009 EP, "A Month of … more

The comedy writer has given the new Irish BBC drama her seal of approval

IOWA CITY — Once upon a time, there was a house in a city that loved literature. It was a quaint, two-story home in the heart of the historic district with brick stairs, pale yellow siding, a...

When Andrea Wilson approached me five years ago with her idea of creating a space for writers in our community separate from any offered by the University of Iowa, I must admit I was a bit skeptical,...

When Andrea Wilson approached me five years ago with her idea of creating a space for writers in our community separate from any offered by the University of Iowa, I must admit I was a bit skeptical, if not defensive. Over a long coffee discussion, I shared with her a detailed look at the literary landscape of Iowa City and all of the things my organization, the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature was doing to make those assets more visible and accessible.

• Coronavirus closes the Iowa Writers’ House - for now

Despite this, Andrea mentioned the need for an “on ramp,” a way for people who don’t feel a part of that community to find their path, to access those riches. It was there, I thought to myself. She just hadn’t looked in the right place.

Then she built that ramp in the form of the Iowa Writers’ House. As she and her team defined what that ramp should look like, what role it should play, the Writers’ House evolved from being an idea with promise to a vital part of our literary infrastructure. She showed that people were hungry for further instruction. They desired more and different ways to connect with one another. These were things beyond the scope and mission of the UI and the City of Literature. She had found her niche, and filled it, nicely complementing what was offered by my organization and others.

But those services do not come without cost. Andrea and her team scrambled, using the house as a literary bed-and-breakfast that was used by many visiting writers. They scheduled workshops. They held fundraisers. But that thin margin disappeared with the onset of COVID-19. Unable to hold those workshops, to serve as a bed-and-breakfast, to provide meaningful in-person connections, the Writers’ House was unable to carry on in its current configuration.

We have every hope and expectation that the Iowa Writers’ House and Andrea will continue to be a part of our literary landscape in the future. This will come perhaps in another form, another space. Conversations have been underway for months about the needs of the literary community beyond the UI. Andrea has been a key part of those discussions, and the work that she and her team has done offer vital information about where those conversations need to go. Gaps have been identified, and while they won’t be filled in the same way, they will be filled.

These conversations join those that have been taking place in our community for decades about the need for space and support for writers and artists. As we all have realized over these past few weeks of isolation just how much we miss when we are not able to gather to create and to celebrate those creations, perhaps those conversations will accelerate and gain focus once we reconvene. The newly formed Iowa City Downtown Arts Alliance, of which we are proud to be a part, is an additional voice in that conversation.

In the meantime, we want to thank Andrea, Associate Director Alisha Jeddeloh, and the team at the Iowa Writers’ House, not just for identifying a need, but for taking the rare and valuable step of actually rolling up their sleeves and doing something to meet it.

John Kenyon is executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature.

IOWA CITY — Once upon a time, there was a house in a city that loved literature.

It was a quaint, two-story home in the heart of the historic district with brick stairs, pale yellow siding, a hipped red roof and a rich history: Its original owner was Emma J. Harvat, who in 1922 became the nation’s first female mayor for a city of more than 10,000.

Nearly a century later, in 2014, Andrea Wilson was working in advertising in Florida and pined for a more “altruistic purpose” for her life. So she planned a return to Iowa, where she grew up in Columbus Junction.

But this time Wilson would live in Iowa City, known for — among other things — pioneering academic creative writing pursuits at the University of Iowa’s famed Writers’ Workshop.

Wilson wanted to write and found the idea of the historic Harvat house so charming she bought it “sight unseen” from down in Miami, aiming to run it as a bed-and-breakfast. But when she arrived, Wilson discovered a need in her new community she aimed to fill. It had a surprising dearth of literary resources for those outside the university.

“There wasn’t any place for the public to take a class or meet other writers or really be part of a writing community where people could just express their humanity through words,” she said. “It became my passion project — to try to create that for this community. I thought if anywhere should have a place like that, it would be America’s only UNESCO City of Literature at the time.”

So in March 2015, Wilson debuted Iowa City’s first community-based literary center for writers — or those aspiring. She had hoped to open a communal writing space closer to downtown but didn’t have the funding. So she gave her home a third identity: the Iowa Writers’ House.

She continued to live there and maintain her bed-and-breakfast business, which funded the writing endeavor and kept its cozy corridors bustling with interesting characters.

Famed visiting writers included Leslie Jamison, American novelist and essayist with works on the New York Times bestseller list; Hope Edelman, whose six non-fiction books have published in 17 countries and translated in 11 languages; Alison Bechdel, an American cartoonist and MacArthur fellow; and Piedad Bonnett Velez, Colombian poet, playwright and novelist of international acclaim.

And over the years, the Iowa Writers’ House connected, served and motivated thousands with its workshops, seminars, readings and summer camps. It offered editing services, founded a Bicultural Iowa Writers’ Fellowship, and — among other things — inspired a growing network of friends and creatives to value their own stories and the stories of others.

“I said yes to everything anyone ever asked of me,” Wilson said. “We gave tours. I received visiting scholars. We hosted dinners for visiting poets and writers for the university. And a lot of that was all volunteer. We never had a steady funding stream like most literary centers do.”

So when the coronavirus in March reached Iowa City, later shuttering storefronts, canceling events, curtailing travel plans and crippling the economy, the Iowa Writers’ House momentum stopped, too.

“Once COVID hit, because all of our programming is live and people come to the house, we had to cancel it,” Wilson said.

She dropped most of the organization’s spring season. She lost all her projected bed-and-breakfast business. And in a message posted to the Iowa Writers’ House website last month, Wilson announced her hard but unavoidable news.

“As the situation pushes on, and with no programming in the foreseeable future, we must make drastic changes,” she wrote. “Organizations must weather the storm or adapt, and in the case of this little organization with a big heart, evolution is the only option.”

And so after five years of intimate conversations, communal meals, singing, laughing, crying and lots and lots of writing and reading — all done in the shadow of Harvat — the organization is leaving the historic space and “taking a break to assess our mission and consider our best options for the future.”

Wilson said she plans to focus on her own writing. And the Bicultural Iowa Writers’ Fellowship program will continue — allowing for the release later this year of a third volume of “We the Interwoven: An Anthology of Bicultural Iowa,” including six new authors with multilingual stories of living in Iowa.

News of the goodbye — at least for now — has been met with an outpouring of support and testimonials of the impact the Iowa Writers’ House has had,

“I grew up without a writing community, and it was a very lonely experience,” Erin Casey wrote to Wilson after learning of its pause.

Casey — on the Iowa Writers’ House team and director of The Writers’ Rooms, an offshoot of the house — said her involvement in the project shaped not only her career but her personal growth.

“You, and the Iowa Writers’ House, helped me become a stronger person who felt deserving of companionship, respect, and love,” she wrote. “Watching the house grow, the workshops fill, and the stories come in about how much the IWH touched people’s lives added to the joy. I finally found a place to call home.”

Casey said that while the future is unknown, its legacy is not.

“The IWH will live on in the hearts of the people you touched,” she wrote. “Writers have found friends, support, guidance …”

Although the project isn’t getting a fairy-tale ending, Wilson said the story isn’t over.

“The organization is leaving the space. I’m leaving the space. We’re going on an organizational break so we can determine what a sustainable future might be,” she said. “But it’s really the end of a chapter. And we don’t know what the next chapter will be.”

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com

Our staff of reporters and photographers at the Inlander has been working tirelessly to cover the coronavirus pandemic and all of its implications for the Inland Northwest — on jobs, schools, employment, the restaurant industry, arts organizations, hospitals and much, much more. However, we’ve also tapped into a boundless resource that is our region’s community of writers, and in recent days they’ve shared with Inlander readers an awe-inspiring series of essays and stories that has left us inspired, hopeful, heartbroken and more than a little grateful.…

A system according to one embodiment includes at least two write transducers for writing to a magnetic medium; and a low reluctance path from a first pole of a first of the write transducers to a second pole of a second of the write transducers. In another embodiment, either 1) the first pole of the first write transducer and the second pole of the second write transducer are positioned close enough to each other that a low reluctance path is present from the first pole of the first write transducer to the second pole of the second write transducer, or 2) a magnetic strap extends between the first pole of the first write transducer and the second pole of the second write transducer thereby creating a low reluctance path therebetween.

A magnetic head according to one embodiment includes a module, the module having first and second transducers of different transducer types positioned towards a media facing side of the module, wherein the different transducer types are selected from a group consisting of data reader transducers, servo reader transducers, write transducers, piggyback read-write transducers and merged read-write transducers; a first protection structure for protecting the first transducer; and wherein the second transducer has either no protection or is protected by a second protection structure that is different than the first protection structure.

The present disclosure provides for a magnetic writer pole for use in a hard drive. The magnetic writer pole comprises a first bevel formed by a non-magnetic layer, the first bevel formed at a first angle and extending to a first throat height. The magnetic writer pole further comprises a second bevel formed by the non-magnetic layer and extending distally from the first bevel at a second angle that is greater than the first angle and extending to a second throat height. The magnetic writer pole further comprises a third bevel formed by the non-magnetic layer and extending distally from the second bevel at a third angle that is greater than the second angle.

A method and system provide a magnetic transducer having an air-bearing surface (ABS). The magnetic transducer includes a main pole and at least one coil for energizing the main pole. The coil(s) have a number of turns. The magnetic transducer also includes at least one shunt coupled to at least one of the number of turns. At least one remaining turn of the number of turns carries a current. The shunt(s) carry a portion of the current from the shunted turn of the number of turns. Thus, the coil(s) have an effective number of turns is less than the number of turns.

A data writer may suspend a transducing head from an actuator. The transducing head can consist of a writer coil positioned proximal a write pole. A protruding signal may be passed through the write coil to contact a data storage medium with the transducing head. A write signal can be passed through the write coil to write a data bit on the data storage medium.

“Writers write.” “Publish or perish.” Even without a global pandemic, writers face constant pressure to produce new material. But for the first-time novelist, publishing a book when bookstores are closed for browsing, signings and readers is particularly tough.

Richard Lutz points to the books he enjoyed in 2019. And the ones he’d rather forget. 

John Prine, a wry and perceptive writer whose country and folk songs often resembled vivid short stories, has died at age 73. His death, from complications caused by COVID-19, was confirmed by his family. Even as a young man, Prine — who famously worked as a mailman before turning to music full-time — wrote evocative songs that belied his age. With a conversational vocal approach, he quickly developed a reputation as a performer who empathized with his characters. His beloved 1971 self-titled debut features the aching "Hello In There," written from the perspective of a lonely elderly man who simply wants to be noticed, and the equally bittersweet "Angel From Montgomery." The latter song is narrated by a middle-aged woman with deep regrets over the way her life turned out, married to a man who's merely "another child that's grown old." Bestowing dignity on the overlooked and marginalized was a common theme throughout Prine's career; he became known for detailed vignettes about ordinary

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.