Questlove gives Jay-Z a sound baby present

Questlove gives Jay-Z a sound baby present

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Questlove gave Jay-Z a special iPod loaded with thousands of songs that span the alphabet, but he only got up to the letter J.

JAY-Z approved of Questloves baby gift. The Roots drummer told us at Saturdays second annual Comedy Awards that his gift to Blue Ivy Carter was a big hit with the infants hip-hopping daddy. Jay loves it, said Quest, who was on hand at the Hammerstein Ballroom to perform with his band.

Back in January, the Afroed music aficionado told us he was still working on a specially curated iPod of 12,000 songs to present to Hova and Beyonce, but he didnt quite reach his goal when he presented it to the new parents. I put like 4,000 songs on it, Quest said, adding, Ironically, I only got to the letter J. The bandleader and part-time deejay wanted the iPod to feature songs spanning the alphabet but said hell make up for the missing tracks another way. We have a system now where Ill re-up it once a year, every Christmas, said Quest. Its the gift that keeps on giving.

ELLE MACPHERSON was on the arm of one billionaire on Saturday, and has another in mind to run for office with. The 48-year-old Australian supermodel was the date of British billionaire banker Roger Jenkins at the Vanity Fair White House Correspondents Assocation Dinner after-party. When we started to talk politics with the leggy lady, she told us: Id love to have Mayor Bloomberg as my running mate. When we tracked down the Mayor to inform him what The Body told us, the 70-year-old Bloomberg rolled his eyes a bit and said: It would be an honor. We bet.

ED HARRIS doesnt look like a man who cries a lot, but he shed some tears at the Stars of Stony Brook Gala on Wednesday. The actor, who played abstract art great Jackson Pollock in the 2000 film Pollock, was honored and got misty when he recounted the struggle he and his producer partners faced bringing the Oscar-nominated biopic to the screen. The benefit raised $ 3.6 million to insure the future upkeep of the late artists East Hampton home-turned-museum.

It also produced one revelation about the paint-splattered floor of the barn studio where Pollock worked. IMAX CEO and Stony Brook Foundation Board Chairman Rich Gelfand told the crowd that experts come from all over to study the floor because it contains splatters that can be matched to particular masterpieces created there. But he added: Then I meet Jonathan Pollock, Jacksons nephew, and he confesses that, as an 8 year-old, he used to sneak into the studio at night, splatter his own paint, then ride over it with his bike.

DOES DANIEL RADCLIFFE have politics on his horizon? At the Bloomberg & Vanity Fair White House Correspondents Association Dinner after-party at the French Embassy Saturday night, Washington public-relations priestress Tammy Haddad introduced the Harry Potter star to Obama strategist Bill Knapp of SKDnickerbocker. You would love me, Radcliffe told Knapp. I would be such a great candidate for you. Tory or Conservative? asked Knapp, referring to Britains political parties. I would be Labor, replied the actor, before heading off into the star-studded room for another celebrity briefing.

KANYE and KIM have become so close they're starting to dress like each other. Headline-grabbing couple Kanye West and Kim Kardashian dined at The Lion Friday night in Greenwich Village where a source says they arrived wearing "matching leather pants." Apparently West's weren't properly secured because as they entered the restaurant paparazzi nearly caught a side of West they've never seen before when the mercurial rapper's pants sagged a little too low. The pair "ate alone," according to the source, and after a quick meal headed back to West's downtown apartment.

SCARLETT JOHANSSON looks that good in her The Avengers costume for a reason. At Saturdays Tribeca Film Festival premiere of the superhero movie at the Ziegfeld, actors weighed in on their co-stars ensembles. Clark Gregg told us it was Tom Hiddleston, who plays Norse god Loki, that had the most challenging getup. Hiddleston agreed and said it comes in about 30 pieces of leather and chain mail, and someday, it will be in a museum." As for their curvy co-star, who plays Black Widow, Gregg said her process wasnt as time-consuming: I think they just took some wetsuit oil and slid Scarlett into that thing.

Contact Gatecrasher:

Frank DiGiacomo: fdigiacomo@nydailynews.com

Carson Griffith: cgriffith@nydailynews.com

Adam Caparell: acaparell@nydailynews.com

Follow us on Twitter: @NYDNGatecrasher

Makeshift bazooka forces evaucation

Makeshift bazooka forces evaucation

Todd Maisel/New York Daily News

A Queens school was evacuated Monday morning after a makeshift bazooka was found outside, police sources said.

The weapon, described by a Department of Education official as a dismantled gun attached to wires, was found leaning against a light pole outside PS 68 on St. Felix Ave. in Ridgewood about 7:45 a.m.

The bazooka was taken to the police firing range on Rodmans Neck in the Bronx, where investigators will determine if it is live, sources said.

The school was evacuated for about half an hour, according to the DOE.

bpaddock@nydailynews.com

‘Celebrity Apprentice’ recap: Jingles st...

‘Celebrity Apprentice’ recap: Jingles st...

NBC

Audrey O’Day has some high and low notes for her team’s jingle on ‘Celebrity Apprentice’.

Drama, drama, drama.

The lesson to be learned from this week's "Celebrity Apprentice" is two-fold. First, don't let Aubrey O'Day out of your sight if you value your position as project manager, and second, don't let Dayana Mendoza get in your way if you value your position as project manager.

Both are risks that come hand in hand with having either player on your team, but luckily for Team Forte, the latter will no longer be a problem.

After last week's tough boardroom, in which magician Penn Jillette was made to disappear, Team Forte is left with loud Lisa Lampanelli, demure Dayana and kooky Clay Aiken.

Yes, kooky.

The former "American Idol" contestant is sad to see his buddy Penn out of the picture, but can now clearly see the pot of gold, er, oversized check, at the end of the tunnel. Ironic, though, that he and Arsenio are the two last men standing, he notes, even though the men's team had hit the ground running at the start of the competition.

But here's a chance for Clay to really shine: the challenge for this week involves creating a 90-second jingle for Good Sam's Roadside Assistance, something that's right up obnoxious-and-catchy Clay's alley.

Dayana, however, steps forward as project manager, boasting that it's her turn to prove her management skills. Arsenio steps up for Team Unanimous - though he knows full well that Aubrey will try to take the reins.

Sure enough, the redhead starts spewing out ideas left and right, most of which Arsenio shoots down. No cheerleaders, and hell no to the tap dancing!

Eventually, however, the talk show host gets worn down and relents after the exec kind of agrees with Aubrey on the concept, and Teresa Giudice mildly endorses it too.

If only Team Forte were so, well, unanimous.

Dayana confuses jingle with "Jingle Bells" and assumes their team is supposed to write a Christmas carol. Or at the very least, rhyme words. Or maybe call up ex-contestant Debbie Gibson?

Silence.

Clay and Lisa try their best to be diplomatic with Miss Universe, but it's clear that their patience is wearing thin with the Venezuelan beauty. Her string of bad suggestions just never ends.

She peers over Lisa's shoulder as she's trying to write the script and even goes so far as to tell Clay how to sing the jingle. And don't nobody do that to Clay Aiken, "American Idol" superstar!

The usually bubbly singer is noticeably irked, flaring nostrils and all. Clay is now 100 percent on Lisa's side.

Meanwhile, over at Team Unanimous' camp, Aubrey is being a team player the only way she knows how - by not being a team player. Instead, she takes charge of the whole project.

When Don Jr. pops by to observe, Aubrey leaps at the chance to throw Arsenio under the bus, calling him "weak."

But is that better or worse than Dayana, who calls Lisa - wait for it - loud? Because when you call Lisa loud, Lisa doesn't like it. And Lisa will explode and rage and yell and stomp. Which, she did.

"She better hope we don't lose," Lisa gripes.

Unfortunately for Dayana, Team Forte does lose. At the presentations, the execs loved Team Unanimous' message and jingle (not so much, however, Aubrey's over-the-top cheerleader outfit), and award Arsenio and crew with the win.

Team Forte is left in the boardroom to duke it out. Among the highlights: Lisa sniping at Dayana to "write her a memo" on how to be a huge failure just like her, and Arsenio admitting that he would prefer to be "kicked around" by Aubrey than work with Dayana.

Well, that about sums it up. When both Lisa and Clay admit that they have no respect for Miss Universe, The Donald has no choice but to send his favorite beautiful - nay, stunning - contestant home.

Now who's Lisa going to cage-fight?

jchen@nydailynews.com

Social media is latest front of cola wars

Social media is latest front of cola wars

The cola wars are escalating on the social-media front.

With its launch today of Pepsi Pulse, a pop culture destination on Pepsi.com, the snack-food giant aims to be a major player in conversations on Facebook, Twitter and other social sites such as Pinterest.

Rival Coca-Cola is partnering with social-music site Spotify to add fizz to its own online presence. Spotify's music-streaming player will be integrated into Coke's 41-million strong Facebook page. Also in the works: a Coke app on Spotify's service.

Pepsi and Coke are among a multitude of companies buying into social media's ability to strengthen their brands. Consumers are 55 more likely to recall ads that include social-media components than non-social ads, according to a 2011 Nielsen survey. "Consumers are incredibly empowered, and what used to work to get their attention now needs a bit more thoughtfulness," says Brian Solis, principal analyst at the Altimeter Group and author of The End of Business as Usual.

Ads in TV and print remain part of their plans, but both are looking for more interactive engagement with consumers. "The future of branding now comes down to experiences more than ever," Solis says.

Pepsi Pulse will host a real-time top 10 pop culture ranking, and regular chances for consumers to connect with celebrities. Singer Nicki Minaj, for example, might urge fans to share pictures of their alter egos to create an online photo album, says Shiv Singh, global head of digital for PepsiCo Beverages.

Use of the Twitter hashtags "LiveForNow" and "Now" would reflect Pepsi's new "Live for Now" campaign theme. Those celebrity challenges, expected to occur as often as weekly, "are all about inspiring and getting consumers to live in the now," Singh says. "This is about integrating into pop culture in a meaningful way."

Pepsi has enlisted social-media optimization company SocialFlow to do the real-time analysis of pop culture conversations on Twitter, Facebook and other sites. Its findings will be used to create the pop culture ranking. Consumers can find the ranking on Pepsi Pulse, along with current pop culture coverage and stories that are generating buzz. Pepsi will have a major promotion on Yahoo.com this Wednesday, aimed at driving traffic to Pepsi Pulse.

Coke is looking to Spotify to help it build on its Coca-Cola Music program, which last year included a 24-hour interactive studio session with rock band Maroon 5.

"We want to have a sustained conversation around music with our consumers because it is an everyday passion point for them," says Joe Belliotti, director of global entertainment marketing for Coca-Cola. Coke and Spotify plan to make a splash during London's Olympic Games this summer. You'll see Spotify references on Coke packaging. Through the decades, Coke has sponsored radio programs and live concerts.

"This is just the next chapter in that evolution where you take the product and the services and social ability of Spotify and bring it into the Coca-Cola brand experience," he says.

Study to ID art subjects with face recognition

Study to ID art subjects with face recognition

Researchers at the University of California, Riverside are turning to facial recognition software to identify the subjects of historical artworks.

The project called FACES: Faces, Art and Computerized Evaluation Systems will initially focus on three-dimensional works such as sculptures to test out the success of facial recognition before moving to two-dimensional pieces.

"Almost every portrait painted before the 19th century was of a person of some importance," says Conrad Rudolph, a professor of art history at UC Riverside and the project's director, in a statement. "As families fell on hard times, many of these portraits were sold and the identities of these subjects were lost. The question we hope to answer is, can we restore these identities?'

Identifying subjects in portrait art might prove most challenging, Rudolph adds, because depictions are often based on the artist's perspective instead of a photographic likeness.

The project has been funded by a $ 25,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Rudolph says if the advancements in facial recognition pay off, museums could use it to identify architectural details in artworks or potentially discover the origins of ancient manuscripts.

"These portraits are social documents that are as significant as historical documents," says Rudolph. "Today's campaign ads are political documents that are also visual. Portraits operate in the same manner. Identifying the subjects of these historical portraits can help us better understand the social history of the work of art."

(Hat tip to The Verge)

Check out the arthouse flicks amoung the...

Check out the arthouse flicks amoung the...

Michelle Williams and Luke Kirby in “Take This Waltz”

There will come a moment, after The Avengers and Battleship and MIB3, when youll need a break from special effects. As it happens, actors also like a little quiet now and again so youll find plenty of stars hiding out in the relative calm of the arthouse during popcorn season.

For starters, Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black (Milk) directs Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris in Virginia, about a single mother entangled with her small towns sheriff. Other indie moms at the movies will include Eva Mendes, who neglects daughter Cierra Ramirez in Girl in Progress, and Catherine Keener, who sends Elizabeth Olsen to bond with grandma Jane Fonda in Peace, Love & Misunderstanding. Meanwhile, Kathleen Turner drives her kids (Emily Deschanel and Jason Ritter) nuts running for Catholic Woman of the Year in the dark comedy The Perfect Family.

Alas, there are also lots of ladies unlucky in love: Rashida Jones is separated from Andy Samberg in Celeste and Jesse Forever, Greta Gerwig has to recover from being jilted by her fianc in Lola Versus, and Freida Pinto is bound by cultural constraints in Michael Winterbottoms Trishna, an India-set update on Tess of the dUrbervilles.

Michelle Williams has a strong(ish) marriage to Seth Rogen so the last thing she expects is to fall for neighbor Luke Kirby in Take This Waltz. In Fernando Meirelles 360, Rachel Weisz is betrayed by Jude Law, while Emily Blunt and Rosemarie DeWitt create a complex triangle with Mark Duplass in Your Sisters Sister. Things do seem happier for Maggie Gyllenhaal, who revs up her sex life with Hugh Dancy in the Victorian-era romantic comedy Hysteria.

And no, we havent forgotten about the guys. One of this seasons highlights ought to be Morgan Spurlocks documentary Mansome, in which buddies like Paul Rudd, Jason Bateman, Zach Galifianakis, and Will Arnett ponder the concept of 21st century masculinity.

Thrillers include The Good Doctor, starring Orlando Bloom as a physician with a decidedly dark side, and The Samaritan, which sees Samuel L. Jackson starting over after two decades in prison. In The Woman in the Fifth, Ethan Hawke cant help wondering whether new love Kristin Scott Thomas is actually a killer. And in "The Day," postapocalyptic survivors (including Dominic Monaghan and Ashley Bell) face one last deadly trap.

On the lighter side, Chris Rock builds a happy (if chaotic) home with Julie Delpy in 2 Days in New York, and Zoe Kazan turns out to be Paul Danos dream woman in Ruby Sparks, which also stars Annette Bening and Antonio Banderas.

Finally, keep in mind a film with absolutely no familiar faces, but ecstatic advance word of mouth: Beasts of the Southern Wild. Benh Zeitlins mythical drama, about a little girl (Quvenzhan Wallis) living in an endangered corner of Louisiana, won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. If youre hoping to find something truly unique this summer, put it on the calendar now; itll be out on June 27 hidden in the shadows cast by Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and G.I. Joe: Retaliation.

'Angry Birds Space' tops 50 million downloads

'Angry Birds Space' tops 50 million downloads

It took 35 days for Rovio's hit physics-friendly puzzle game Angry Birds Space to top 50 million downloads.

Developer Rovio says the game's download pace has smashed all their previous records.

The news follows a recent update to the mobile versions of the game, which add 10 more levels.

Like previous Angry Birds titles, Space requires players to knock out groups of greedy pigs by launching super-powered birds with a slingshot. Since the game is set in space, players must contend with gravity in choosing the best trajectory for their shots.

The game is available on PCs, Macs, Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile platforms.

REVIEW: 'Angry Birds Space' is out of this world

Coming new Accord MUST be a hit for Honda

Coming new Accord MUST be a hit for Honda

Randy LeBlanc has owned Honda Accords for more than 20 years. The real estate agent in New Orleans' suburbs bought a used 1988 in the early 1990s and got a new Accord in 2001. Now, 125,000 miles later, LeBlanc, 41, and his wife need a new sedan. He's 90 sure it won't be a Honda.

He's shopped Toyota, Hyundai and Kia lately; is leaning toward Toyota. He says Honda makes him move up too many trim levels to get now-common features like Bluetooth, and that the Accord is too noisy.

Noise "has been a knock on Honda for how many years now?" LeBlanc asks. "It doesn't seem to be a concern of theirs."

Honda now has standard Bluetooth on some models, such as the redone 2012 CR-V, but the 2012 Accord requires spending for the leather-clad EX-L trim to get Bluetooth.

So he'll likely join others who've forsaken Accord, once a must-drive for family car shoppers.

The onus is on the redesigned 2013 Accord, due this fall, to make up that lost ground. Honda previewed its look in January with a coupe concept (above). It will be smaller and lighter, Honda says, with lots of crash-avoidance technology. And the hybrid returns.

But the midsize sedan competition is fiercer than ever. Accord was deposed by Toyota Camry as No. 1 in sales in 2001, but held No. 2 for nine years before low inventory after Japan's tsunami last year let Nissan Altima push it to No. 3. Then it slipped to fourth behind Ford Fusion also being redesigned this year. Accord was 1-in-6.7 family cars sold as recently as a year ago; now it's about 1-in-10.

As sales fell this year, Honda threw upwards of $ 1,000 in dealer cash atop discount financing to keep interest in the 5-year-old car. But rivals ratcheted up appeal, too. A redone Camry rolled out in October, and by this spring, Nissan threw up to $ 2,250 on the Altima's hood ahead of the redesigned 2013's intro.

It worked: Sales through March boomed 39 for Altima and 37 for Camry -- while Accord fell 8.

Honda spokesman Chris Martin says slow sales this year are "absolutely a concern, but you have to look at the competitive marketplace." He notes that Camry just had a full model change, Hyundai Sonata and Kia Optima had full changes in 2011 and "the (Volkswagen) Passat entered the marketplace as an actual, credible contender. So if you look five years ago, a lot of these people weren't playing seriously."

An unanswered question is just how different the next Accord will be. We've only seen the concept while rivals such as Nissan and Ford have gone the full monty with their redesigns.

Honda typically is secretive about new models, but perhaps it should have made an exception this year. There's four months before Honda plans to release Accord details -- a lot of time for shoppers to compare such sedans as the new Altima, new Fusion, new Malibu, Camry, Sonata and Optima in buying research that likely will exclude Accord.

"You're going to be fighting for buzz with (the redone) Altima and Fusion, and the rest of the (Chevrolet) Malibus will start coming out," AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan said.

Martin says sedan sales are not a "zero-sum game" and that all the redesigns will pull in new shoppers -- a rising tide can lift all sedans.

But Honda had very different results with its two key redesigns last year. Will the next Accord be a Civic or a CR-V?

Honda stumbled with the redesigned Civic, widely dinged for a cheap interior and subpar handling. Sales rose 19 through March, but outpaced the market by just 6 some came thanks to dealer incentives a redesigned car shouldn't need. By contrast, sales of the redone CR-V, out in December, are are up 30 with zero incentives.

Honda's Martin says he's confident the 2013 Accord will put Honda "back into a segment leadership position" in many areas.

"We are bringing a four-cylinder engine with direct-injection and all-new CVT transmission. We're going to have a very powerful and efficient (V-6) engine with a six-speed automatic transmission. So (the) '13 Accord is going to make some major strides in fuel economy and feature content and level of technology and safety."

Improperly screened baby closes N.J. airport terminal

Improperly screened baby closes N.J. airport terminal

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) A terminal at Newark Liberty International Airport was shut down for over an hour Friday after officials discovered that a baby hadn't been properly screened, Transportation Security Administration officials said.

The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport, described the incident as a security breach that occurred at around 1:15 p.m. at a security checkpoint. Terminal C was evacuated and passengers had to go through security screening again.

TSA spokeswoman Lisa Farbstein said a mother and baby went through a metal detector when the machine sounded an alarm. The mother handed the child to the father, who had already been screened. The mother was cleared, but the baby hadn't been properly screened. The parents and baby left the checkpoint and headed to their gate, Farbstein said.

TSA officers searched for the family in the secure area of the terminal and notified Port Authority police as per protocol, but they emphasized that it was a low-risk situation, Farbstein said.

A TSA official said they had explained the circumstances of the breach to the Port Authority police and recommended against evacuating the terminal since it was a low-risk situation.

Steve Coleman, a Port Authority spokesman, said that it took the TSA more than 30 minutes to notify police of the lapse and that officers "took immediate action to make sure the breach did not endanger passengers or our facility."

"We're not going to second-guess a real-time decision made by our police department to err on the side of caution and protect passenger safety," he said.

The terminal and checkpoint were closed from 1:30 p.m. to 2:50 p.m.

Passenger Jennifer Pallanich said she was on a Houston-bound flight scheduled to depart at about 2 p.m. and boarding had been completed, but because of the breach, the passengers had to evacuate and go through security screening again.

Romney campaigns in N.H. with potential VP

Romney campaigns in N.H. with potential VP

Mitt Romney campaigns today in New Hampshire alongside Sen. Kelly Ayotte, who will be in for a round of the latest political guessing game: Would she make a good vice presidential pick?

Ayotte, elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, has campaigned previously with and on behalf of the presumptive GOP nominee. But it's different now that Romney has begun the formal search for a running mate.

STORY: Rubio as Romney's VP?

The list of VP possibilities is most frequently topped by Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio. Whenever they go out on the trail with Romney it's accompanied by a round of stories about potential running mates.

Ayotte, 43, has said she is flattered by the VP talk but she's concentrating on her present job. The former New Hampshire attorney general is being given a 4.2 chance of becoming Romney's running mate, according to Intrade.

Event planner takes careful approach in...

Event planner takes careful approach in...

Anthony DelMundo/for New York Daily News

Elizabeth Katusa, 26, just purchased her first home, a 900-square-foot apartment in Jackson Heights.

Elizabeth Katusa, 26, has been socking away money since she was 14 years old. She is about to reap the rewards.

Katusa, an event planner for two Manhattan restaurants, will soon close on her first home, a pre-war, 900-square-foot one-bedroom co-op in Jackson Heights, Queens.

"It's beautiful," she said. "The owner has taken immaculate care of the space."

Katusa's no starry-eyed buyer. As she approached home ownership, she was determined to avoid the kinds of traps that led many into financial ruin when the housing crisis hit.

Home ownership has been Katusa's dream since she graduated from college. But she decided to take the plunge seven months ago after watching interest rates fall to historic lows.

"Financially it's a wise decision," she said. "I plan to be in New York indefinitely."

The young event planner first figured out what she could afford on a monthly basis. She was determined to pay no more than a few hundred dollars above the $ 1,250 a month in rent she currently pays for her apartment in Astoria.

RELATED: More New Yorkers are becoming first-timehomebuyers

With her budget in mind, Katusa researched neighborhoods. A big plus for Jackson Heights: it "has the lowest move-out rate," she said.

Katusa's broker, Robert Ferri of Citi Habitats, found her an apartment she liked at a price she could afford: $ 235,000.

Thanks to gifts from her mother and years of working and saving - she has held down jobs straight through high school and college - she was able to come up with a down payment of $ 47,000.

With a 30-year fixed rate morgage at 4.125, her monthly mortgage and maintenance costs come to $ 1,475 a month - just $ 225 more than her rent.

Most important for Katusa, after she closes she will have plenty of cash in reserve. That was especially important to her, even though she is confident in her ability to continue earning enough to afford her new home.

"I have seen people who have dug themselves into holes," she said. "To me, it's scary. It's not worth it."

pfurman@nydailynews.com

Review: Heroes are real Marvel in 'The A...

Review: Heroes are real Marvel in 'The A...

From left, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Jeremy Renner, Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo in “The Avengers”

If superhero movies now shoulder the responsibility of being our eras moral parables, then The Avengers is a rocket-powered boost to the tops of mounts Olympus, Rushmore and Sinai.

Or, in less highfalutin words: Folks, these flicks dont get any better than this.

Directed by Joss Whedon and tying together the Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Thor and Captain America movies, this mega-entertaining Avengers film is something comic fans have dreamed of since Marvel debuted the title almost 50 years ago.

RELATED: HOW MARVEL STUDIOS ASSEMBLED 'THE AVENGERS'

RELATED: MEET THE WOMEN OF 'THE AVENGERS'

RELATED: THE SUPER WOMEN BEHIND 'THE AVENGERS'

The filmmakers including Whedon and co-writer Zak Penn are aware of the power they wield, and so make sure the movie not only meets expectations but also is accessible to everyone. They succeed with flying colors, injecting our real world with Marvel-style myth. They even make sure to frame the cast in several valiant, poster-ready tableaux.

After seeing those, 12-year-old boys, and their dads, should be ready to decide who theyd be.

As for the (slightly dense) plot, things start fast. As scientists examine the Tesseract a blue cube, first seen in last years Captain America" and Thor, that opens a door to other worlds the evil demigod Loki (Tom Hiddleston) emerges from it and starts turning men into minions, including government agent Clint Hawkeye Barton (Jeremy Renner).

In response, Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, including Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), kick-start the Avengers Initiative, bringing together Tony Iron Man Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), the once-frozen WWII hero Steve Captain America Rogers (Chris Evans) and split personality Dr. Bruce Hulk Banner (Mark Ruffalo).

PHOTOS: 'THE AVENGERS' HIT THE RED CARPET

RELATED: 'AVENGERS' STARS SWOOP IN TO CLOSE TRIBECA

Once the Asgardian god Thor (Chris Hemsworth) hits Earth to deal with his half-brother Loki, the team is in place.

But that doesnt mean they fit. Intrapersonal conflicts nearly derail the mission (there are super-sized egos and super-issues involved). Stark provokes man-out-of-time Captain America, whose powers were funded by Starks dad. Thor, for his part, considers Loki a family issue. And Banner works at keeping calm so he doesnt turn into a huge green rage monster till the time is right.

Whedon avoids choppy, whiplash-edited action scenes in favor of a measured elegance. And his genre sensibility is pop-retro; if you cant quite hear pages turn, you can certainly let your eyes linger (especially during one panorama-style shot, set to Alan Silvestris lush John Barry-style score, that locates each hero mid-fight). This is how it should be: Everythings in its place, so why rush?

Most refreshingly, these ultra-powered characters are ultra-human. Funny, conflicted and in need of guidance, they also know how to put on a good show a handy trait when youre wearing spandex and armor costumes.

The film does, too. Lokis appearance at a German opera house is a classic grandstanding villain scene halted by Captain Americas mighty shield. And whereas the mid-section features a battle in a contained space S.H.I.E.L.D.s invisible flying battleship the final 40 minutes is a massive rumble across Manhattan as Lokis alien army and their giant flying bug-things burn the city until the Avengers assemble to thwart them.

We wouldnt care about them collectively if we didnt know them individually, and it helps to have four Oscar nominees in this bunch. Ruffalo is the revelation, turning Banner into a wry reservoir of calm ready to become a volcano (and his CGI Hulk actually provides big laughs). Evans conveys Captain Americas confusion at being decades away from home, and Downeys Stark is again a wisecracking wonder with a heart that cracks when a member of the film series is lost.

They anchor a superb group effort. Most impressive of all, The Avengers makes superhero movies new again a colossal task indeed.

Magic Moment: The colorful cast rally in a circle as they prepare for battle.

Brooklyn Decker wants to adopt special-needs child

Brooklyn Decker wants to adopt special-needs child

Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage

Even though she's a model, Brooklyn Decker admits that she's really 'such a tomboy.'

Theres much more to Brooklyn Decker than meets the eye.

The model, 25, next stars in the action flick Battleship opposite Rihanna and Alexander Skarsgard, but her goals extend well beyond the silver screen.

I want to adopt a child or a baby with an intellectual disability one day, Decker told Canadian magazine Flare. I mean, thats in the distant future, but thats always been a goal of mind.

Decker married tennis star Andy Roddick in 2009, and has since expressed her interest in expanding her brood.

I want to live a normal life - drive my kids to school, have tons of animals running around, be barefoot and pregnant, she told Women's Health in 2010.

Decker credits her aunt, a Special Olympics athlete, as the inspiration behind her desire to adopt a special-needs child.

Unfortunately, a lot of kids with intellectual disabilities are given up for adoption when theyre born cause its a lot for a family, she explained to Flare.

The actress also revealed to the gossip site FabSugar that although she is best known for donning a bright yellow bikini on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, she actually doesnt like flaunting her figure.

The biggest thing is finding that balance between masculine and feminine, she told the site. Because Im such a tomboy, I hate showing off my body.

(My stylist) is always like You have to show your figure.

jchen@nydailynews.com

Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner add gri...

Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Renner add gri...

Zade Rosenthal

Samuel L. Jackson is Nick Fury in Marvel’s “The Avengers.”

While thumbing through a comic book, Samuel L. Jackson spotted a familar face one that looked strikingly like his own.

In that 2002 issue from Marvel Comics, the coolest geek in Hollywood spied an updated version of eye-patched government agent Nick Fury.

So I was flipping through it and I saw a panel where they go, If they make a movie about you who do you want to play you? Samuel L. Jackson, says the 63-year-old star of The Avengers.

I go, Hmm, okay, is this leading to something?

And it ultimately did.

5-STAR REVIEW: 'THE AVENGERS' REDEFINES SUPER HERO MOVIES

RELATED: HOW MARVEL STUDIOS ASSEMBLED 'THE AVENGERS'

PHOTOS: 'THE AVENGERS' HIT THE RED CARPET

We were all huge fans of Samuel L. Jackson here at Marvel, says the publishers chief creative officer Joe Quesada. The idea was to create an African-American Nick Fury, but it wasn't really until the artwork came back that we realized, Wow, he could be played by Samuel L. Jackson.

Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige got Jackson to put on an eye-patch and play Nick Fury for a cameo at the end of the credits of 2008s Iron Man as a gift to fans.

It was art imitating life, says Quesada.

RELATED: MEET THE WOMEN OF 'THE AVENGERS'

RELATED: 'AVENGERS' STARS SWOOP IN TO CLOSE TRIBECA

It was also the first hint that the studio was building toward a larger universe to include franchises for Thor and Captain America and culminate in the superhero mega-franchise, The Avengers, which hits theaters this Friday.

It was also the first hint that the studio was building toward a larger universe to include franchises for Thor and Captain America and culminate in the superhero mega-franchise, The Avengers, which hits theaters this Friday.

This larger universe needed Nick Fury at the center of it: Marvel signed Jackson to a nine-picture deal after Iron Man. He certainly is a huge upgrade over the last guy to wear the eyepatch, David Hasselhoff, in a 1998 TV movie.

What made Jackson think there would actually be nine movies?

I dont know, they still havent made them, he says with a completely straight face. We're only up to five.

In The Avengers, Jackson finally gets his chance to do some fighting alongside Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr.), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth).

With Shaft and the Star Wars prequel under his belt he still owns his lightsaber with the letters, B.M.F. (a phrase not appropriate for a family newspaper) on the handle Jackson knows how to defeat his enemies.

Its a great to pick the bazooka up, run out the door, shoot it at a plane and hit it, he says. Its kind of great to stand behind a door, grab a guys gun, flip him over and all that other stuff. Bust over a few caps and jump out a helicopter, shoot a few people.

Jersey teen makes heartwrenching decisio...

Jersey teen makes heartwrenching decisio...

Norma Juarez

New Jersey teen Victoria Valdez, right, and her mom, Carina Veronica Valdez.  

A New Jersey ninth grader made the toughest decision of her life Sunday she planned to stay behind while her mom was set to head to Kennedy Airport to be deported.

I told her that I cant get on the plane, said Carteret teen Victoria Valdez, choking back tears.

My mom doesnt want to but she doesnt want to face the bad outcome that could happen, said Valdez, who was born in Argentina.

Im really not going to risk leaving my life here, and going where I dont know anybody.

After Immigration and Customs Enforcement moved to deport both Victoria, 14 and her mom Carina Veronica Valdez, the elder Valdez signed an agreement called voluntary departure promising to leave.

Her mom bought tickets for the two of them to leave at 8 p.m. Sunday, to comply with ICEs deadline.

It isnt clear if she actually boarded the flight.

Victoria, who left Argentina for New Jersey when she was three, said Sunday afternoon she planned to stay behind with a relative.

Immigrant students continued to flood Twitter to urge the feds to allow both to stay.

ICE did not immediately return a request for comment.

When Victoria and her mom entered the country, Argentines did not need a visa to visit America. They were supposed to only stay for 90 days, but never left. The policy changed in 2002.

The family says Immigration and Customs Enforcement flagged them last December after mom Carina Veronica Valdez filed a restraining order against Victorias father. He has since been deported.

epearson@nydailynews.com

Amazing Race: Is it hair today, gone tom...

Amazing Race: Is it hair today, gone tom...

CBS

In Detour A, Engaged couple Rachel and Brendon must decorate an elephant for a local festival then clean up after her in order to receive the next clue, on THE AMAZING RACE.

Would you shave your head to improve your odds to win a million bucks?

That's the question that confronted former Big Brother winner Rachel on Sunday's episode of The Amazing Race.

Rachel and Brendon were the second team to depart on the tenth leg of CBS' race around the world in Cochin, India, but the first with the opportunity to take advantage of the Fast Forward. Each team gets just one crack at the skip-all-tasks and head straight for the pit stop option.

The clue only mentioned taking part in a cultural ritual. But when the engaged couple arrived at the Fast Forward they found out the ritual was simple enough ... but the task was not.

"I don't want to shave my head," Rachel blubbered. "I paid $ 500 for extensions. It would be so sad."

Although the head-shaving would have all but guaranteed a first-place finish and a 1-in-4 chance at the million, there was no way Rachel was overcoming her fear - and insecurity - to face the clippers.

"I spent years to get my hair to look so good," she said.

Brendon didn't push her and they abandoned the Fast Forward and rejoined the pack.

"I need hair to be pretty," she later explained as the border patrol agents were both shocked and dismayed by Rachel's decision. "I don't need a big nose and no hair."

Art and J.J., who had already used the Fast Forward earlier in the race, knew that Team Big Brother's decision had just opened the door - even if just a crack - for Bopper and Mark.

Team Kentucky had been hopelessly behind to start the leg after the dancing fiasco and Mark's near heat exhaustion in the previous leg of the race. Mark, who needed an IV treatment just to get to the starting line, and his best pal had avoided elimination last week but now faced the additional hurdle of having to perform a Speed Bump task.

They needed a lucky break, or just a contestant who valued her hair more than a potential huge pay day.

Rachel and Dave, far removed from the Fast Forward drama, continued to control the race. They battled through the Road Block ("Who is at the end of their rope?") - using the husks of coconuts to spin 40-feet of rope - and made the wise choice at the Detour to earn their sixth win of the season. The Army pilot and his wife now stand just one victory shy of the all-time record for wins in a season.

The smart choice was picking "Pachyderm" over "Pack-a-Box".

In the pachyderm option, the contestants had to decorate an elephant and then transport 15 loads of elephant dung using a wheelbarrow to earn their next clue. It ended up being a far less time-consuming option than the box-packing task which only Art and J.J. opted to tackle.

Matt Lauer buys 40-acre horse farm in the Hampto...

Matt Lauer buys 40-acre horse farm in the Hampto...

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Matt Lauer, host of NBC's 'Today' show, on the set at Rockefeller Center.

Here's the first look at what will become Matt Lauers posh horse farm in the Hamptons.

The NBC Today hosts equestrian paradise will sit on 40 acres of lush farmland with sweeping ocean views.

Its magnificent, listing broker Enzo Morabito said of the property in ritzy Water Mill.

Lauer plopped down $ 3.5 million to purchase the property.

Its probably going to be one of the most beautiful places in the whole East End.

Lauer and his wife, Annette Roque, wont have to go far to frolic with their horses.

The couples $ 15 million mansion is just down the road.

Fresh off of inking his eye-popping $ 25 million-a-year contract with NBC, Lauer plans to pour piles of cash into the project.

MATT LAUER TO STAY ON 'TODAY' IN LONG-TERM DEAL

He envisions transforming the former nursery into a full-fledged horse haven.

It will include an indoor arena, paddocks and barns, Morabito said.

Stephen Barcelo For New York Daily News

Matt Lauer purchased this 40-acre fomer tree nursery in Water Mill for $ 3.5 million to build a horse farm.

The tract is surrounded by protected land, offering the Lauers privacy and private access to the famed Pine Barrens.

The beauty of the place is that if youre into riding, you can duck into those woods and enter a world that no one knows, said Morabito.

You can literally go and go and go.

The plans have been sent for town approval, which Morabito is expecting to come within the next two months.

Lauers wife and three kids are said to be particularly passionate about horses.

In 2009, Lauer was photographed cheering on his son Jack at the Hampton Classic horse show.

rschapiro@nydailynews.com

Obama promotes infrastructure projects

Obama promotes infrastructure projects

President Obama told unionized construction workers today that he is pushing for new infrastructure projects, but congressional Republicans keep blocking him.

"Time and time again, the Republicans have gotten together and said no," Obama told members of the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

In calling for better roads, bridges, airports, Obama said "the truth is, the only way we can do it on a scale that is needed is with bold action from Congress -- they're the ones with the purse strings."

Citing the competitive pressures on this election year, Obama also said "infrastructure shouldn't be a partisan issue."

Yet Obama himself also cited election themes, saying Republicans would rather provide tax breaks to millionaires then help finance improvements to the nation's transportation system.

Speaking to a key part of his political constituency, labor, Obama also told AFL-CIO members that Republicans are also dedicated to "dismantling unions like your."

Everything Everywhere campaigns for faster UK 4G rollout

Everything Everywhere campaigns for faster UK 4G rollout

Smarpthone retailer and network provider Everything Everywhere has announced it is to push for a faster rollout of 4G networks in the UK with the 4GBritian campaign set to target business leaders and consumer heads.

The Orange and T-Mobile collaboration is pushing to bring the UK in line with the likes of the US which already benefits from a range of next-generation high-speed 4G with UK 4G spectrum sales delayed by disagreements as to how the airwaves should be distributed.

"This is a call for attention to be brought to this issue, to stop battling in the background and let us catch up with the other 34 countries that have already launched 4G services," an Everything Everywhere spokeswoman has announced.

Speaking with the BBC last year Everything Everywhere CEO Olaf Swantee prompted the push for a faster rollout suggesting UK was lagging behind a selection of other nations. "The UK had struck me as a place where mobile technology is deployed first and yet the infrastructure is behind Germany, Scandinavia and the US, he said before adding: I want to do something about this issue

Defending the rollout procedure of the 4G spectrum in the UK regulator Ofcom has suggested networks have caused the hold ups. A spokesperson said: "Delays have been caused by legal challenges and threats of future litigation from various companies as they seek to defend their own commercial positions. While we recognise the need for companies to protect the interests of their shareholders, our role is to promote the interests of consumers."

Are you keen to see 4G networks introduced to the UK or would you rather see stronger, more widely available 3G networks pushed first? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Energy Transfer Partners buys oil refiner Sunoco

Energy Transfer Partners buys oil refiner Sunoco

DALLAS (AP) Natural gas pipeline company Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) is buying petroleum operator Sunoco (SUN) in a deal valued at about $ 5.3 billion.

The acquisition would give Energy Transfer the capability to transport crude and other liquid hydrocarbons that are being produced in greater quantities thanks to the boom in shale drilling. Sunoco's pipelines crisscross the country, connecting the Great Lakes and Northeast to America's refining center along the Gulf Coast.

Energy Transfer Chairman and CEO Kelcy Warren said the company has been looking to diversify into oil pipelines in response to an expected slowdown in the natural gas pipeline business. Some oil and gas production companies have been taking natural gas operations offline following a plunge in prices to 10-year lows. Many are now focused on producing more domestic crude oil, which is both cheaper and of a higher quality than imported crudes.

"We needed to be more diversified," Warren said in a conference call. "We needed to be more involved in the movement of crude."

The acquisition continues a run of deal-making for Energy Transfer. The Dallas company bought Louis Dreyfus Highbridge Energy for $ 1.93 billion in May 2011. And Energy Transfer Equity, which owns Energy Transfer Partners' general partner, bought Southern Union for more than $ 5 billion in March and Regency Energy Partners for $ 300 million in 2010.

Sunoco, based in Philadelphia, will continue its exit from the refining business. It already has shut down a refinery in Marcus Hook, Pa., and it is planning to sell its controlling interest in its Philadelphia refinery to The Carlyle Group.

Energy Transfer Partners said the deal will bring its cash flow mix for its pipeline businesses to about 70 natural gas, and 30 heavier hydrocarbons. Company officials did not immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The offer equals $ 50.13 per Sunoco share. It includes $ 25 in cash and a portion of an Energy Transfer Partners unit. Sunoco shareholders can also opt for $ 50 in cash or slightly more than one ETP unit.

The price represents a 29 premium to the 20-day average closing price of the Philadelphia company's shares as of Friday. The company's stock closed at $ 40.91, and the $ 50.13 per share price represents a 23 premium to that.

The boards of both companies have approved the deal. It's expected to close in the third or fourth quarter of this year. Regulators and shareholders must still sign off.

Sonoco will continue to be based in the Philadelphia area.

Barnes & Noble, Microsoft team up on Nook reader, college

Barnes & Noble, Microsoft team up on Nook reader, college

NEW YORK (AP) An infusion of money from Microsoft sent Barnes & Noble's stock zooming Monday, as the software giant established a way to get back into the e-books business.

The two companies are teaming up to create a subsidiary for Barnes & Noble's e-book and college textbook businesses, with Microsoft paying $ 300 million for a minority stake.

Shares of Barnes & Noble jumped $ 10.41, or 76 percent, to $ 24.09 in morning trading. The opening price of $ 26 was a three-year high. Microsoft's stock rose 2 cents to $ 32.

The deal gives Barnes & Noble ammunition to fend off shareholders who have agitated for a sale of the Nook e-book business or the whole company, but the companies said Monday that they are exploring separating the subsidiary, provisionally dubbed "Newco," entirely from Barnes & Noble. That could mean a stock offering, sale, or other deal.

The deal puts to rest concerns that Barnes & Noble doesn't have the capital to compete in the e-book business with market leader Amazon.com Inc. and its Kindle, said analyst David Strasser at Janney Capital.

For Microsoft, the investment means that it will own 17.6 percent a company that sells tablet computers based on Google Inc.'s Android, one of the main competitors of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's smartphone software.

Microsoft also said the deal means that there will be a Nook application for Windows 8 tablets, set to be released this fall. The app is likely to get a favored position on Windows 8 screens.

There's already a Nook application for Windows PCs, but none for Windows phones.

William Lynch, the CEO of Barnes & Noble, said Nook software will continue to be available on devices like the iPhone that compete with Windows Phone.

Barnes & Noble has had some success with its e-book sales and the Nook line of e-readers, and is estimated to account for about 25 percent of the U.S. e-book market.

Microsoft has a long-standing interest in the e-book field. It launched e-book software in 2000, but was never able to build a substantial library of books. It's discontinuing the software on Aug. 30.

Barnes & Noble, based in New York, currently runs 691 bookstores in 50 states. The companies said that the subsidiary will have an ongoing relationship with Barnes & Noble's retail stores, but what that relationship will be is unclear.

"The whole reason the Nook business is expanding so rapidly is because book stores are committed to it and know how to market the product in that environment," said Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba information.

The possibility of a separation of Barnes & Noble's digital and college businesses has been brewing recently. In March, private investment firm G Asset Management, a Barnes & Noble shareholder, offered $ 460 million for a 51 percent stake in the company's college bookstore unit, Banes & Noble College Booksellers LLC.

Under that plan, the college bookstore unit was proposed to begin as a private business but become public within a "reasonable" amount of time. G Asset's offer was contingent upon Barnes & Noble keeping current management in place and separating its Nook e-business from the rest of the company. At the time the offer was made, Barnes & Noble declined to comment.

In 2009, Barnes & Noble Inc. bought the college bookstore unit from Chairman Leonard Riggio in a deal worth $ 596 million. The deal ended up costing Barnes & Noble $ 460 million after accounting for the unit's cash on hand at the closing date.

Barnes & Noble, Microsoft team up on Nook reader, college

Barnes & Noble, Microsoft team up on Nook reader, college

NEW YORK (AP) An infusion of money from Microsoft sent Barnes & Noble's stock zooming Monday, as the software giant established a way to get back into the e-books business.

The two companies are teaming up to create a subsidiary for Barnes & Noble's e-book and college textbook businesses, with Microsoft paying $ 300 million for a minority stake.

Shares of Barnes & Noble jumped $ 10.41, or 76 percent, to $ 24.09 in morning trading. The opening price of $ 26 was a three-year high. Microsoft's stock rose 2 cents to $ 32.

The deal gives Barnes & Noble ammunition to fend off shareholders who have agitated for a sale of the Nook e-book business or the whole company, but the companies said Monday that they are exploring separating the subsidiary, provisionally dubbed "Newco," entirely from Barnes & Noble. That could mean a stock offering, sale, or other deal.

The deal puts to rest concerns that Barnes & Noble doesn't have the capital to compete in the e-book business with market leader Amazon.com Inc. and its Kindle, said analyst David Strasser at Janney Capital.

For Microsoft, the investment means that it will own 17.6 percent a company that sells tablet computers based on Google Inc.'s Android, one of the main competitors of Windows Phone 7, Microsoft's smartphone software.

Microsoft also said the deal means that there will be a Nook application for Windows 8 tablets, set to be released this fall. The app is likely to get a favored position on Windows 8 screens.

There's already a Nook application for Windows PCs, but none for Windows phones.

William Lynch, the CEO of Barnes & Noble, said Nook software will continue to be available on devices like the iPhone that compete with Windows Phone.

Barnes & Noble has had some success with its e-book sales and the Nook line of e-readers, and is estimated to account for about 25 percent of the U.S. e-book market.

Microsoft has a long-standing interest in the e-book field. It launched e-book software in 2000, but was never able to build a substantial library of books. It's discontinuing the software on Aug. 30.

Barnes & Noble, based in New York, currently runs 691 bookstores in 50 states. The companies said that the subsidiary will have an ongoing relationship with Barnes & Noble's retail stores, but what that relationship will be is unclear.

"The whole reason the Nook business is expanding so rapidly is because book stores are committed to it and know how to market the product in that environment," said Michael Norris, an analyst at Simba information.

The possibility of a separation of Barnes & Noble's digital and college businesses has been brewing recently. In March, private investment firm G Asset Management, a Barnes & Noble shareholder, offered $ 460 million for a 51 percent stake in the company's college bookstore unit, Banes & Noble College Booksellers LLC.

Under that plan, the college bookstore unit was proposed to begin as a private business but become public within a "reasonable" amount of time. G Asset's offer was contingent upon Barnes & Noble keeping current management in place and separating its Nook e-business from the rest of the company. At the time the offer was made, Barnes & Noble declined to comment.

In 2009, Barnes & Noble Inc. bought the college bookstore unit from Chairman Leonard Riggio in a deal worth $ 596 million. The deal ended up costing Barnes & Noble $ 460 million after accounting for the unit's cash on hand at the closing date.

Matt Lauer buys 40-acre horse farm in the Hampto...

Matt Lauer buys 40-acre horse farm in the Hampto...

Jemal Countess/Getty Images

Matt Lauer, host of NBC's 'Today' show, on the set at Rockefeller Center.

Here's the first look at what will become Matt Lauers posh horse farm in the Hamptons.

The NBC Today hosts equestrian paradise will sit on 40 acres of lush farmland with sweeping ocean views.

Its magnificent, listing broker Enzo Morabito said of the property in ritzy Water Mill.

Lauer plopped down $ 3.5 million to purchase the property.

Its probably going to be one of the most beautiful places in the whole East End.

Lauer and his wife, Annette Roque, wont have to go far to frolic with their horses.

The couples $ 15 million mansion is just down the road.

Fresh off of inking his eye-popping $ 25 million-a-year contract with NBC, Lauer plans to pour piles of cash into the project.

MATT LAUER TO STAY ON 'TODAY' IN LONG-TERM DEAL

He envisions transforming the former nursery into a full-fledged horse haven.

It will include an indoor arena, paddocks and barns, Morabito said.

Stephen Barcelo For New York Daily News

Matt Lauer purchased this 40-acre fomer tree nursery in Water Mill for $ 3.5 million to build a horse farm.

The tract is surrounded by protected land, offering the Lauers privacy and private access to the famed Pine Barrens.

The beauty of the place is that if youre into riding, you can duck into those woods and enter a world that no one knows, said Morabito.

You can literally go and go and go.

The plans have been sent for town approval, which Morabito is expecting to come within the next two months.

Lauers wife and three kids are said to be particularly passionate about horses.

In 2009, Lauer was photographed cheering on his son Jack at the Hampton Classic horse show.

rschapiro@nydailynews.com

AMC's 'The Pitch' takes into an advertis...

AMC's 'The Pitch' takes into an advertis...

DAVID M. RUSSELL/AMC

From left, Ted Wirth, Tony Pace and Jeff Larson on “The Pitch”

IF YOU love Mad Men, AMC is hoping youll also love watching some real-life modern-day mad men, and women.

But The Pitch may be a tricky sell.

Its not that the show isnt well done. It is. It follows two advertising agencies as they compete for one account, a good setup because advertising is such a high-pressure business that the screen is always jammed with the Type-A personalities who keep reality shows lively.

The Pitch also reminds us, however, that filming real life almost never produces as compelling a story as filming made-up lives.

When you make it up, especially when you make it up as well as Matt Weiner makes up the characters and stories in Mad Men, you can tailor it so everything works together.

In real life, no matter how well you edit the material, theres always some expression, some bridge conversation or some summary remark that real-life people dont deliver.

Thats why reality shows almost all interview their subjects later, because those interviews fill the gaps.

The Pitch has those later interviews, too. The woman we follow at the McKinney agency explains that she decided to keep working after her children were born because, If Id been a stay-at-home mom, my whole family would have gone into therapy.

Its a good line and it also underscores the unsurprising fact that people in the ad industry tend to be driven, competitive and in a lot of cases neurotic.

The Pitch helps explain why.

The McKinney agency, a small outfit in North Carolina, is competing with WDCW, a much larger agency in California, for a shot at designing a new campaign for Subway.

Landing an account that size, even for the one specific task of promoting Subways new breakfast menu, would be a huge get for either.

We watch the whole process, from Subway explaining what it wants, to the agencies coming up with concepts, the presentation of those concepts, and Subways decision.

Most of the ideas, including some of the ones that are pitched, arent very good, which is instructive because it shows that coming up with good ad ideas is way harder than it sounds.

The only tools you bring to the game in this case, convincing 18- to 24-year-olds to break all their normal eating patterns and start coming to Subway in the morning are a goal and a lot of thin air.

Watching The Pitch should make more listeners appreciate just how elusive a great ad campaign can be.

Still, theres an extent to which watching ad development becomes like watching someone write a song or a book. Unless youre in the game yourself, the result is the only part you really care about.

The Pitch is quality TV for a modest demographic.

NYPD sergeant is busted on assault rap

NYPD sergeant is busted on assault rap

Bryan Pace for New York Daily Ne

A New York City police sergeant was arrested late Sunday and charged with assault and criminal obstruction of breathing, cops said.

George St. Louis, 37, was detained shortly before 11 p.m.

He is also accused of unlawful imprisonment.

Further details of the arrest were not immediately available.

Consumer spending slowed in March, incomes grew

Consumer spending slowed in March, incomes grew

WASHINGTON Americans increased their spending more slowly in March than in February.

The Commerce Department said Monday that consumer spending increased just 0.3 last month after a 0.9 gain in February. Incomes grew 0.4 following a 0.3 gain in February.

Still, after-tax income when adjusted for inflation increased just 0.2 in March. The tiny gain followed two months of declines.

Consumer spending accounts for 70 of economic growth. It rose 2.9 in the January-March quarter fastest pace in more than a year. Consumers could be cutting back because of weak income gains and a slowdown in hiring.

The government reported Friday that the overall economy grew at an annual rate of 2.2 in the January-March quarter, a slowdown from growth of 3 in the October-December period. That was mainly because of government budget-cutting and weaker business investment.

Some economists worry consumers can't keep spending as freely as they did the first three months this year without bigger pay raises. After-tax income rose just 0.6 in the first three months vs. a year earlier. That was the smallest increase in two years.

People spent more in part because they saved less. Some economists worry that people won't keep spending more unless their income grows.

A healthy job market could change that. But the economy created just 120,000 jobs in March half the pace of the previous three months.

The government will release the April jobs report Friday. Economists predict the economy added 173,000 jobs, slightly better than March's figures but well below the pace from December through February.

One positive change since winter: gas prices appear to have peaked. That would give consumers more money to spend elsewhere.

The nationwide average for a gallon of regular gasoline stood at $ 3.82 Monday, down 10 cents from a month ago, according to AAA's fuel gauge report.

LeAnn Rimes, Eddie Cibrian renew wedding vows

LeAnn Rimes, Eddie Cibrian renew wedding vows

Joe Corrigan/Getty Images for Mercedes-Benz

Eddie Cibrian and LeAnn Rimes celebrated their first wedding anniversary this weekend.

Why let Will and Kate have all the fun?

LeAnn Rimes and Eddie Cibrian celebrated their own one-year anniversary Friday with a vow renewal ceremony, and Rimes shared tidbits of their week-long celebration on Twitter.

"Renewed our vows today ... it's incredible to thank each other for the past year as husband and wife," the country singer wrote Friday. "Here's to another great year!"

Rimes, 29, and Cibrian, 38, got hitched on April 22 last year, and started their week-long celebration this year with a lunch at Calabasas eatery Toscanova the previous Friday.

"I gave Eddie his anniversary gift early," Rimes tweeted at the time. "I can never wait! He was so cute. He loved it so much, he wore it to bed. For your dirty minds, it was a watch."

Cibrian similarly gifted his wife with a symbol of his love - a huge ring featuring a giant green gem encircled by diamonds, according to Us Weekly.

The pair spent the day by the water Saturday, "climbing on the rocks ... to see the thousands of crabs," Rimes tweeted.

The couple famously met on the set of Lifetime movie "Northern Lights" in 2008, when both were married to other people.

Rimes has made it clear, however, that she has moved on from the tabloid attacks, and she emphasized it again Saturday by retweeting a quote.

"The best thing in life is finding someone who knows all your mistakes and weaknesses and still thinks you're completely amazing," she posted.

Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon also renewed their vows over the weekend - on top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

The couple, who are parents to 1-year-old twins, married in 2008 during a wedding in the Bahamas.

"Tonight was an incredible night," Carey tweeted Friday. "I can't express how amazing it was to renew our vows in Paris at the top of the Eiffel tower."

jchen@nydailynews.com

'Amazing Race's' Phil Keoghan is a gearhead

'Amazing Race's' Phil Keoghan is a gearhead

// //

Phil Keoghan, host of TV's The Amazing Race, travels the world to tape his pieces for CBS' hit reality show, which has its season finale Sunday.

The New Zealand native is a gearhead who hauls his considerable tech collection with him on shoots to record, select and then transfer his work back home to Los Angeles and the producers.

We met with Keoghan at his home in Los Angeles, in his spacious living room, which was decked out with gear from one end to the other.

Why such a gearhead?

"I always had this fear that if I didn't embrace technology really cool things would pass me by. I feel technology enhances our lives."

What he totes on the road

An Apple MacBook Pro laptop, Sony PDWF800 camera, recordable Blu-ray discs, the new Sony 3-D binoculars ("not sure what I'm going to do with these, but I'm sure I'll find a cool use"), an audio recorder, noise-canceling headphones, iPad, Nikon D700 camera, 85mm 1.4 lens ("magic for portraits"), Sennheiser microphones, a sound mixer and a teleprompter (which connects to a small Sony video camera) and his iPhone.

The most important tool

A $ 225 Temptu airbrush makeup kit, which he uses to apply his makeup on the road. "With the advent of HD, it's kind of unfair. When I started in television 26 years ago, I was younger I had a lot less lines. The irony is, TV had a lot less lines." He travels without a makeup artist, so he pulls out the airbrush sprayer, douses his face, "and it maybe reduces 1,000 lines."

Culling his best video takes

From his hotel room, he transfers the Race video footage to the MacBook Pro and Final Cut Pro 7 video-editing software (he prefers the older version to the new, more consumer-friendly Final Cut Pro X) and selects the best takes of the day. He then ships his selections to the producers via the hotel Internet connection. For this process, "We used to take paper notes there were lots of opportunities for error." Making the visual selection himself has "allowed a more effective, precise way of working."

Other favorite: His Ford Focus

He owns a souped-up Focus, which was featured on Race showing off its parking assist and in-dash navigation. The car is decorated with blurbs for a local cycling team that he sponsors. "How could you ever get lost? Everything is voice-activated."

Full autonomous driverless cars to be introduced 'next decade'

Full autonomous driverless cars to be introduced 'next decade'

Industry experts have suggested full autonomous, driverless cars are less that a decade away.

With a number of features such as cruise control, parking sensors and collision imminent braking already available to aid the driving experience and pave the way for driverless vehicles, future car specialists have told T3 fully autonomous cars will be available within the next decade.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with T3 Dr Nady Boules, Director of General Motors Research and Development for Electrical and Controls Integration has said that whilst automated cars will soon be a thing of reality their introduction will not be an overnight occurrence.

Autonomous cars introduction to the market will not be a single event, it will happen gradually as building blocks of the technology are introduced to enhance vehicle safety, Dr Boules said. Once you have reached a point where you have cars that do not crash using a number of technologies you wouldnt need to drive but could let the car drive itself.

Describing driverless cars as the result of trying to address safety issues, Boules went on to detail the likely rollout plans for full autonomous vehicles suggesting driverless vehicles are to be preluded by a selection of driver aids that will gradually reduce the levels of human interaction required.

By the middle of the decade, the first semi autonomous capability will be introduced, with more sophisticated self-driving systems by the end of the decade. Full autonomous technology is expected to be ready some time during the next decade.

Are you excited by the possibility of fully autonomous vehicles or are you unnerved by the lack of control provided by driverless cars? Let us know via the T3 Twitter and Facebook feeds.

Strauss: 5 signs that you are ready to quit your day job

Strauss: 5 signs that you are ready to quit your day job

Q: I have been a part-time entrepreneur the past two years and my question is this: When do I know that it is safe to quit my day job and concentrate full time on my business? A.D.

A: It is no easy feat running two enterprises at once, be it a job and a home-based business or a business and a family.

Yes, we live in the age of the multi-tasker, where gadgets like smartphones and tablets make such endeavors easier, but easier is not the same as easy. Indeed, taking an idea, executing it, making a profit, and then keeping it going takes a lot of mental, emotional, physical, and financial bandwidth. It demands total commitment, dedication and attention.

If you can't give your business the attention it deserves, because of family, another job or some other commitment or circumstance, it may not be fatal, but it is not good, either. The nature of a startup is that the sooner you can give it 100 attention, the better, because that is how you give it the best chance of success.

But this caveat is also important: The timing has to be right. If you started a business with the coffers flush, bully for you, and you get to go forward at full speed. But everyone else - the part-timer, the weekend warrior, the bootstrap entrepreneur - finds themselves asking the same question you are asking: When I can I make this my full-time occupation?

Here are Top 5 Signs That You Can Quit Your Day Job:

5. You are headed in the right direction: Starting a business at home, at night or on weekends requires not only that you keep up with your regular job, and your home or family commitments, but also that you dedicate most the remaining time to the business.

As such, it will take a while to get off the ground, gain altitude, and fly in the right direction. But once you get past that startup phase, once you have a tailwind and are headed in the right direction, you know you are on the verge of being able to let go of the safety net that is your day job.

4. You know what you are doing: A corrolary to No. 5 is that you are past the novice stage and actually know what the heck you are doing.

Sure, you can fly earlier, but if you don't really know what works and what does not, you will more likely fall than soar with the eagles.

3. You have reliable customers: Notice I did not just say that you have customers, but that you have reliable customers. They are not the same thing. Customers come and go. They stay, buy, and fly. (OK, I'm done, having clearly beaten this flying metaphor to death!)

Reliable customers are different. They found you and like you and like working with you or shopping with you. Reliable customers give you both the confidence and the financial wherewithal to do without the safety of the regular paycheck, benefits, and healthcare.

2. You make enough money to (almost) live on: Again, notice "almost." If your part-time business gives you enough income that you believe you can do even better if you go full time, you are probably right.

But this should also mean that you have saved some money. Quitting will hit your wallet, as will ramping up, as will buying your own health insurance and more. Until you quit, the money you make in your extra endeavor should also provide a nest egg for the full-time version.

And the No. 1 sign you are ready to quit your day job . . .

1. You can't not do it: When you get to the point that the business is going so well, when opportunities are presenting themselves, when its so fun and profitable that you miss it and think about it when you are not doing it, when not doing it more costs you money, then you are ready to do fly like the wind, my friend.

Today's Tip: The economy has changed a lot since the financial meltdown of 2008. So how does a company, large or small, survive and thrive in this new environment? In the new book "Small Town Rules," authors Barry Moltz and Becky McCray suggest that the secret is to adopt small-town rules. By investing for the long term, adopting new technologies, helping one another and planning for change, any entrepreneur can navigate this new economy. It's a great book. Steve says check it out.

Ask an Expert appears Mondays. You can e-mail Steve Strauss at: sstrauss@mrallbiz.com.An index of Strauss' columns is here. Steven D. Strauss is a lawyer, author and speaker who specializes in small business and entrepreneurship. His website is: TheSelfEmployed.com. His latest book is The Small Business Bible. Follow him on Twitter @stevestrauss.

Ghost of Charlie Sheen returns

Ghost of Charlie Sheen returns

Warner Bros. Television Entertainment/Darren Michaels

Kathy Bates dons vest made famous by Charlie Sheen's character, Charlie Harper, as she visits from great beyond after Alan (Jon Cryer) suffers minor heart attack in season finale of Two and a Half Men.

Unless Glee can talk Barack Obama and Mitt Romney into doing a full-dress duet from La Cage Aux Folles for its season finale, no gimmick on broadcast TV this season can come close to Monday nights twist on Two and a Half Men.

Kathy Bates plays a reincarnation of Charlie Harper, the character played by Charlie Sheen until Sheen got himself fired from the show and Charlie Harper had to be killed off in this years first episode.

Sheen has since landed another sitcom, Anger Management, which premieres June 28 on FX, and he very likely considers it nectar-sweet vindication that Two and a Half Men thinks even his ghost is a drawing card.

Credit the producers with casting Bates, a perfect choice who embodies everything that drove us nuts about Charlie Harper.

Shes arrogant, narcissistic and oblivious to others. She smokes a big cigar. In a hospital room.

She explains to Charlies brother Alan (Jon Cryer) that shes been sent back from hell, which raises the reassuring possibility that Satan, whatever his other shortcomings, has a sense of humor.

At one point Bates character matter-of-factly shows Alan her reincarnated body has both male and female genitalia. Her term for those items isnt quite that delicate or technical.

It also turns out that the dead Charlie Harper focuses just as obsessively on sex as the live one used to. And lest anyone miss the fact this whole gag is really more about Charlie Sheen than Charlie Harper, Bates makes one of her exits with a pair of long tall ladies who carry themselves much like Sheens goddesses.

Happily, the return of Charlie Harper isnt the episodes only gag. It also continues the ongoing saga of Walden (Ashton Kutcher) kicking Alan out of the house so his girlfriend and her daughter can move in.

Alan, meanwhile, moves in with his own girlfriend.

If that sounds like a live happily ever after deal, or even a win-win, you havent been following Two and a Half Men very closely.

Even the Half Man, Alans son Jake (Angus T. Jones), jumps in to make everyones life a little dicier.

Well, except his own. He seems pretty happy, because hes got a girl and some weed. Wonder where he acquired tastes like that.

Bates has a show of her own on NBC, Harrys Law, that has a healthy audience but will almost certainly get cancelled because that audience is considered too old.

But the reincarnated Charlie doesnt feel like a long-term replacement.

While the writers could keep feeding Bates new gags forever, the joke feels like its starting to get a little stale around the edges even by the end of this show.

As a quick hit, though, its inspired.