Who’s Next? | Vancouver Canucks at Dallas Stars Previewing Tuesday’s NHL battle in Dallas

RECENT RUN

The Canucks, who lost their first game of the season Saturday at home to Tampa, have won both their road games, beating Calgary and Edmonton. They have scored six road goals — two of them empty-netters — and only allowed two … The Stars, 2-1-2, are coming off a 6-5 overtime loss at home to Philadelphia in which they squandered 4-2 and 5-4 leads. They have lost both their home games. The other was a 3-2 shootout defeat to Chicago.

WHO’S HOT?

Canuck G Ryan Miller is a perfect 3-0-0 with a 1.95 GAA, .927 save percentage, one shutout and one shootout victory … LW Daniel Sedin has points in all four games (1-6-7) … The line of Sedin-Sedin-Vrbata has collected 18 points in four games and has 36 shots on goal … Stars forwards Tyler Seguin, Jamie Benn and ex-Senator captain Jason Spezza — now playing together — are all off to excellent starts. Seguin is 4-4-8 while Spezza is 1-6-7 and Benn 3-3-6.

WHO’S NOT?

Canucks grinders Derek Dorsett, Shawn Matthias and Jannik Hansen have yet to collect a point this season and have just eight shots on goal … Canuck centremen ranked a dismal 28th in the faceoff dot at 46.4 per cent before Monday’s action. The Stars weren’t much better, ranking 27th at 46.5 per cent … The Stars were even worse in penalty kill percentage, ranking 28th, with six goals allowed on 21 opposition attempts (71.4 per cent).

HEAD TO HEAD

The Tortorella-coached Canucks were dreadful against Dallas last season, losing all three games by a combined 12-3 margin. In Dallas, they were beaten 6-1 and 4-1. Tyler Seguin feasted on the Canucks in the three-game series with eight points and a plus-6 rating. Jamie Benn had five points and was plus-5 while goalie Kari Lehtonen earned all three wins, stopping 101 of 104 Canuck shots for a .971 save percentage. Kevin Bieksa assisted on all three Canuck goals.

QUOTABLE

“I think they ate up a lot of teams last year and, so far, this year they’ve done the same thing. Didn’t get they 4-5 points last game, too? Those guys are world-class players. They’re really good offensively, so you really have to make it hard on them, limit their time and space, make them play in the defensive zone and frustrate them.” – Canucks right wing Alex Burrows on trying to stop, or at least slow down, Seguin and Benn.

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Nexus 6 pre-orders confirmed to start on October 29

google and Motorola unveiled the Nexus 6 phablet last week. During the blog post announcement, we were told that pre-orders for the device would start on October 29.

And this date has just been confirmed by none other than the phone's listing in the Google Play Store. The Nexus 6 is in there, but you'll only be able to pre-order one starting on October 29 - next Wednesday, to be precise.

By now you probably know the pricing: the Nexus 6 will set you back $649 if you want the base 32GB model, or $699 if you need double that storage amount.

The Nexus 6 will become available at T-Mobile on November 12, though whether this will be its release date across carriers and retailers in the US is still a mystery. The phablet will also be sold by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular.

It boasts a 5.96-inch QHD (2,560x1,440) AMOLED touchscreen, a 13 MP rear camera with dual-LED flash, and a 2 MP front-facing unit for selfies. It's powered by a beastly Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset, with a 2.7 GHz quad-core CPU, 3GB of RAM, and a 3,220 mAh battery. It runs Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The Nexus 9 tablet by HTC, which was introduced alongside the Nexus 6, has already gone up for pre-order.

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The final curtain went down' Lynda Bellingham's husband reveals late star's epitaph

Speaking to Yours magazine today, he said: "I can tell you now that the words on her gravestone will be 'The curtain went up on May 31 1948, and the final curtain went down on October 19 2014."

He also revealed that he wanted people to remember her as an actress rather than a "celebrity" or Loose Women panellist.

"I just want her to be remembered as an actress more than anything - not as a celebrity or one of the Loose Women," he said.

"She started her career as an actress and never thought of herself as a celebrity. She's always been an actress."

Michael revealed the advanced state of her illness meant it was clear she would have been unable to die at home as she had dearly wished.

He added to the publication,  for which his late wife was a columnist: "She was in too much pain and they didn't have it under control enough for me to be able to look after her."

The star is survived by her two sons and third husband [GETTY]

The star, who found fame as the mother in the OXO adverts in the eighties, announced she was stopping treatment for the disease last month in the hopes of having one more Christmas with her family.

In a statement on behalf of Bellingham's family, Latimer said: "Lynda died peacefully in her husband's arms yesterday at a London hospital.

**CLICK HERE FOR LYNDA'S LIFE IN PICTURES**

"Lynda died peacefully in her husband's arms yesterday evening at a London hospital.

"Her family, to whom she was devoted, would like to thank the nurses and staff for their tremendous care and support.

"As an actor, writer and presenter, Lynda was a consummate professional to the very end.

She added: "Those of us privileged to have known her personally will miss the entertaining, life enhancing, true and honest friend that blessed our lives.

She received an OBE in 2013 [GETTY]

She was diagnosed in July last year and finished her chemo-therapy on August 13.

Speaking about her decision to end her treatment, she said: “The decision to give up chemo was a huge relief because I took back some control of myself."

BOWELL CANCER EXPLAINED

“It’s there on the table if I want it. I don’t want the boys or my husband to see me die a little sad old lady. I want to go out there as I am.”

Lynda - whose farewell interview on Loose Women is set to air on Wednesday - had come to terms with her untimely death and insisted to friends and family that she was ready to go.

Speaking on Loose Women recently, she told viewers: "Grasp it all, don't be afraid, enjoy the bits you can and tell your family you love them while you have the chance."

Earlier today, the Loose Women panellists broke down as they remembered their beloved friend.

Sharing stories and anecdotes about the actress, the foursome - including Coleen Nolan, Nadi Sawalha, Jane Moore and Ruth Langsford - comforted one another as they laughed, joked and cried together.

She was a regular presenter on ITV's Loose Women for years [GETTY]

Introducing the show, Ruth said: “As I was saying to the audience just now obviously it’s a very sad day for us, the mood is very different here in the studio this morning.

"We want this to be a celebration of Lynda as well, she was such fun and so full of energy and verve but but we miss her so much.”

Visibly upset, Coleen added: "We miss her already, so much. It's so hard not to be sad and the only think I think will get me through the day is I can almost feel her behind me whacking me, saying 'get on with it.'

"She was such a strong woman right up until the end… brave and funny. I finished her autobiography and I laughed and I cried. The strength. It shines through in the whole book
 and just the honesty of her. She was such a fantastic woman.”

Lynda spoke of her wishes for a 'knees-up' funeral in her book, There's Something I've Been Dying To Tell You.

Writing in the memoirs, she said: "Michael thinks it would be great for our friend Peter Delaney, the vicar who married us, to come down to Somerset – Michael’s old stomping ground and a place we love – and conduct the service there.

The Loose Women stars broke down as they remembered their friend earlier today [ITV]

'The curtain went up on May 31 1948, and the final curtain went down on October 19 2014' [WENN]

"Grasp it all, don't be afraid, enjoy the bits you can and tell your family you love them while you have the chance."

Lynda Bellingham

"I say: ‘I wouldn’t expect everyone to have to come all the way down here to pay their respects. I want a tribute, or something that is nice and handy and anyone who fancies coming in and saying goodbye can do so easily, not have to get on a train for three hours."

She added: "We have reached a compromise, I think, and there will be a service in Somerset and a knees-up in London. So if you are passing, do drop in for a quick boogie." 

The 66-year-old was born in Montreal on May 31, 1948 after her father, an airline pilot, moved there for work, but she grew up near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.

She got her first taste of stage success at school before going on to study at the Central School of Speech and Drama, followed by a steady succession of roles in theatre, film and television.

The mother-of-two went on to form a career on stage with appearences at the Old Vic and the Royal Court and in the West End production of Calendar Girls.

She was awarded an OBE in 2013 for charity work, and wrote her memoirs and a novel.

She married three times and is survived by her two sons.

The star remained positive throughout her illness [REX]

Bowel Cancer UK released the following statement: “At Bowel Cancer UK, we were all saddened to hear of the news of Lynda Bellingham’s death from advanced bowel cancer.”

“But unfortunately it’s all too common.  Bowel cancer is the UK’s second biggest cancer killer and that’s why we launched our Time for Guts campaign to improve survival rates and support for people with advanced bowel cancer, in an urgent bid to save more lives. Every year 41,500 people are diagnosed with bowel cancer which equates to a diagnosis every 15 minutes and around 16,000 people die of the disease.”

“A diagnosis of incurable cancer obviously has a huge impact on the patient but also their family and friends, which is often underestimated.”

“People deal with their diagnosis in different ways but it can have physical, psychological, and emotional effects, as well as causing financial and relationship issues.  Therefore access to holistic support and care which is tailored to meet the needs of all those affected is essential.   Some patients and their families also find it helpful to meet others in the same situation.”

“Access to best treatment and care is critical and currently in the UK that can be patchy.  Some people are dying early because of late diagnosis and variations in treatment and care.  This must be addressed urgently.”

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Taylor Swift's 'Welcome to New York' is the next New York anthem

To promote her new pop album 1989, Taylor Swift is releasing one song at a time.

The latest of these gifts from the Swift is 1989 album-opening “Welcome to New York,” a pop song about Swift’s liberating move to New York City, a move she talked about extensively in a recent Rolling Stone interview. Swift released 30 seconds of the song in a preview video. There are also full versions of the song available on the home of Swift’s most devoted fans, Tumblr.

The song is also Swift’s attempt to come at Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind” and displace it as the unofficial anthem of New York. This is a very bold, but completely logical, move by Swift.

And it is going to work.

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Now, Swift hasn’t said anything about Jay-Z or “Empire State of Mind” or anything really at all about the song, other than that New York inspired her to write it.

“The inspiration that I found in that city is kind of hard to describe and hard to compare to any other force of inspiration I’ve ever experienced in my life,” she said in an appearance on Good Morning America.

Everything about the song, though, seems calculated to become the next New York anthem. There are the lyrics of the hook, the repetitive “Welcome to New York!” sung over and over again. I can picture the New York DJs now throwing the song on and watching the young, dancing people screaming the words back to them.

You can picture this, too. Don’t try to fight it, either. This is happening, whether any of us want it to or not.

This is not a difficult or complex song. It is pulsing synths and easy lyrics that take the standard “I’m a young person just trying to make it in the big city!” narrative and reduces it like a wine sauce, until there’s nothing left but sweet and sticky syrup. This isn’t rocket science; it’s a pop song.

Still, it works. It works because Taylor Swift is the kind of artist that doesn’t care — at all — thatthe “I’m a young person who just moved to New York!” narrative is a tired cliché. She justlived it: She moved to New York, and she felt her life was changed by moving to the big city.

Sure, she’s a millionaire and can’t walk anywhere without a horde of paparazzi following her, but she identifies with the same story as the 22-year-old girl from Topeka who just moved into a crummy apartment in Bed-Stuy. New York changed Taylor Swift, just like it changed everyone else.

Swift could not care less that the story has been told ten thousand times because it’s her story, and she’s going to sing about it in a way that every other person in the country is going to want to sing along.

This is going to be the next New York anthem. Don’t fight it. It’s already over.

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Gennady Golovkin defends WBA middleweight title with 18th straight stoppage win against Marco Antonio Rubio

Gennady Golovkin beats Marco Antonio Rubio 1:19 into the second round

Golovkin defended his WBA middleweight title with 18th straight stoppage

Golovkin: 'He tried to hurt me, but my power was too much for him'

Gennady Golovkin stopped Marco Antonio Rubio in the second round, defending his WBA middleweight title with his 18th consecutive stoppage victory.

Golovkin (31-0, 28 KOs) punctuated his brief West Coast debut with a crushing left hand to the forehead. Rubio tumbled to the canvas and couldn't get his wits together in time, the fight ending 1:19 into the second round.

'I liked the fight,' Golovkin said. 'Rubio, he does not step back. He is a good fighter. I respect him. It was a very hard punch.'

The flourish of Golovkin's final blows rocked StubHub Center, which was packed to standing-room-only capacity with fans of the Kazakh-born, California-trained middleweight who has become one of the sport's most charismatic stars. 

The crowd of 9,323 - easily the largest turnout for a boxing event at the outdoor stadium - chanted 'Triple G!' and leaped to its feet for the stoppage.

'Those cheers were not only for the fighter, but for the person he has shown to be,' said Abel Sanchez, Golovkin's trainer.

Golovkin battered Rubio (59-7-1) throughout his 12th title defense, hurting Rubio earlier in the second round with a right hand and a left uppercut.

A raucous sellout crowd in the outdoor stadium chanted the name of the Kazakh-born, California-trained middleweight who has become one of boxing's most charismatic stars.

'I felt I hurt him with the left hand, and the uppercut was when he was very badly hurt,' Golovkin said. 'I knew I had him... I was happy he came forward. He fought Mexican style, and he tried to hurt me, but my power was too much for him tonight.'

Golovkin won Rubio's WBC interim belt, which means the winner of WBC champion Miguel Cotto's upcoming bout with Canelo Alvarez must either fight Golovkin or vacate the title. Golovkin has trouble attracting the world's biggest 160-pound names, so he hopes to clean out the division by winning every belt.

'He'll fight anyone, whoever we can get in the ring,' promoter Tom Loeffler said.

Rubio briefly complained that the knockout punch was illegal, although television replays clearly contradicted him.

'Gennady is a great champion,' Rubio said. 'He hit me hard, but it's not the hardest I've been hit. I came to fight, to put on a good show. I got up, but the referee decided to stop it.' 

Rubio missed weight for the fight on Friday by nearly 2 pounds, costing him the chance to fight for both titles. He entered the ring weighing 181 pounds, but Golovkin floored him with the same relentless style that has been too much for every middleweight opponent to date.

Golovkin landed 28 power punches in just over four minutes of ring time against Rubio.

Golovkin has trained in Southern California with Abel Sanchez for the past four years, and the Germany-based fighter is contemplating a full-time move to Los Angeles. After starting his U.S. career with five fights on the East Coast, he debuted in California with the Los Angeles Dodgers' logo on his left hip.

The fight was a validation of Golovkin's rising status, highlighting his surge to the top of the middleweight division. Golovkin's pro career foundered until he signed with the Klitschko brothers' promotional company in early 2012, but the 32-year-old has been making up for those lost years with a busy schedule and a relentless series of knockouts.

Golovkin made his US debut just over two years ago, gathering savvy fans and HBO's promotional might with each spectacular stoppage.

'He's collecting belts,' Loeffler said. 'He wants to show he's a super champion, and 2015 will be a huge year for him.' 

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S.F. Giants’ Travis Ishikawa can’t believe he hit clinching homer

“The more I watch it, and see it’s me, it doesn’t feel like me,” Ishikawa said two days after he sent the Giants to the World Series with his three-run, ninth-inning homer in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series.

“It's like someone pretending to be me.”

Life in San Francisco has changed for the 31-year-old first baseman and (now) outfielder, who prided himself on being a back-bencher yet now finds himself unable to hide behind the big boys.

“I can't walk across town,” Ishikawa said. “I can't be that modest, quiet, back-of-the-room guy anymore. I’m taking a lot of pictures. It’s great. It’s a very humbling feeling right now. It just hasn’t fully sunk in. It’s hard to put into words what it feels like.”

No changes: Manager Bruce Bochy said the Giants have no plans to change the rotation or roster for the World Series, which means unused Tim Lincecum remains in the bullpen and Games 1 through 4 will go to Madison Bumgarner, Jake Peavy, Tim Hudson and Ryan Vogelsong, in that order.

Bochy said the staff gave no thought to Yusmeiro Petit replacing Vogelsong in the rotation. Vogelsong lasted only three innings in Game 4 of the NLCS. Petit has pitched nine shutout innings in two games, allowing two hits and striking out 11.

“I like Petit in the job he’s done in the role we’ve had him in,” Bochy said. “Going back to Washington, without Petit, it’s hard to say what would have happened (in the 18-inning win). In St. Louis, the innings he gave us were big.”

Lincecum has not pitched since Sept. 28.

Notwithstanding what happened to the Cardinals when their “Lincecum,” Michael Wacha, was asked to pitch the ninth in Game 5 of the NLCS, Bochy professed a need for Lincecum.

“Timmy’s done a lot for us,” Bochy said. “I’ll stick with that. When you get to the postseason, there’s going to be a guy, maybe two, who don’t get a lot of work. It doesn’t mean they may not get a key role.

“You can’t ever have enough pitching and experience. I think about Timmy all the time. Trust me. We know what he can do for us.”

The Giants had hoped to let Lincecum throw to hitters for practice Saturday, but he woke up with a sore neck.

Souvenirs: Ishikawa’s home run ball was in his locker Saturday. The fan who caught it returned it for a signed bat, then was presented with tickets to Game 3 of the Series.

Michael Morse also has the ball he hit over the left-field fence for the pinch homer that tied Game 5 an inning earlier. At least he thinks he does.

“I hope it’s that ball,” Morse said. “It could be a Wilson minor-league ball.”

Not likely. His homer landed in a tunnel not accessible to fans.

Briefly: Although Morse is expected to be the designated hitter in Kansas City, Bochy was not ready to say who will have that role. ... Bumgarner has thrown 312/3 postseason innings after 2171/3 in the regular season. Bochy, asked if he needed to see whether Bumgarner is OK to pitch Game 1, said, “I think I would insult him if I checked on him. He's a big, strong guy.”

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Anjaan - Tamil Movie Review

On the lines of Baasha Bhai and Vishwa Bhai, here comes a powerful Raju Bhai who enjoys killing and also finds time for some love. A simple story revolving around a revenge spree is what Anjaan is all about. The dazzling Suriya looks dashing and smart. The Neymar like hair do, toned down costumes and exquisitely built body are all thoroughly convincing.

 

Santhosh Sivan's yellow DI throughout the film gives the much needed look to the Mumbai based underworld film. There was no darkness in the compositions, to bring out the brevity of the script. All the gloss and shine goes with the art direction and shot divisions. Anthony sets a pace and rhythm to this almost 3 hour long commercial film. Lingusamy has written the film based on the 'present to memories' filled non-linear narration to detail a suspense attempted story. Dialogues to a great extent are acceptable except for one that keeps coming along.

 

The Tamil mass audiences want popcorn films. Essentially, the film has to get over before the eatable gets over. Anjaan takes its own sweet time to start and wrap. Though not much time is spent on how Raju and Chandru became a name to be feared, the Raju Bhai phenomenon is given the typical cliched hype almost till the second half.

 

Samantha is cute and apt. The love portions almost work. Yuvan's background score gives varied colors. The siren used in the BGM during the build-ups is an experimentation. Special attention could have been given to the lip-syncs.

 

Starting from the perspective of the challenged Krishna who goes on the picaresque search of his lost brother, the story dwells too much on the already experienced cinematic liberties like the act of love, friendship and revenge.

 

The pre-interval stunt sequence needs a special mention. Stunt Silva has made it look live and realistic. Thanks to Suriya, Vidyut gets his slice of stunts in the flashback. Dissolved characters, unfurnished villains, stereotypical narration and song placement duds the flow of the film. The comedy portion of Brahmanandham forcefully put post-interval catering to the Telugu audience, is a speed breaker to the already lurching movie.

 

The predictable climax makes the whole product less impactful. One palpable connect towards the denouement is a life saver. Anjaan goes to the list of, 'Could have been better' movies.

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