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See 'Dark Knight Rises' for $3 at AMC, part of summer program

Written by Barbara Vancheri on .

darkknightposterPlay it again, Sam
 
If you somehow missed “The Dark Knight Rises” when it played in theaters almost a year ago or simply want to look for yourself again at Heinz Field, AMC Theatres is bringing it and seven other movies back as part of its AMC Summer Nights program. 
 
Tickets are $3, with a portion of the proceeds benefitting the Will Rogers Institute, the Autism Society of America and Autism Speaks. 
 
Patrons can see these movies for $3 Monday, Tuesday and Wednesay nights at 10 p.m.:
 
 “The Dark Knight Rises,” June 24-26
“Django Unchained,” July 1-3
“The Amazing Spiderman,” July 8-10
“The Hunger Games,” July 15-17
“Olympus Has Fallen,” July 22-24
“Oz the Great & Powerful,” July 29-31
“G.I. Joe: Retaliation,” Aug 5-7
“Oblivion,” Aug. 12-14. 
 
The Will Rogers Institute will use its share of the money to fund cystic fibrosis research at Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Mo., and to fund other hospital grants. The program will support medical research through Autism Speaks and improve access to services and support through the Austim Society. 

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Mark Cuban praises Pittsburgh entrepreneur Lani Lazzari of Simple Sugars on 'LIVE with Kelly and Michael'

Written by Sara Bauknecht on .

lani-lazzari original 400

Life just keeps getting sweeter for entrepreneur Lani Lazzari, 19, of Fox Chapel (pictured above in photo by Robin Rombach/Post-Gazette). 

The teen's all-natural handmade line of Simple Sugars body scrubs recently earned her an investment on the ABC reality TV show "Shark Tank" with Mark Cuban, another Pittsburgh native. 

Mr. Cuban said every ounce of success that has come her way she has earned. During an appearance today on the morning talk show "LIVE with Kelly and Michael," the Dallas Mavericks owner mentioned Simple Sugars as one of his best investments on "Shark Tank." 

She did $600,000 in business in three days after the "Shark Tank" episode featuring Simple Sugars aired, Mr. Cuban told the show's hosts. 

"Her business is killing it," he said. "This girl is so smart."

Watch the full segment below, or check out my interview with Miss Lazzari here to learn more about how she started the business.

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A baaa start for Art Cart's 40th summer

Written by Diana Nelson Jones on .

shearing
The Citiparks’ Roving Art Cart is more than a cart. It’s an entourage of people under tents leading children in creating various forms of art, from puppetry to easel painting, for nine weeks in a different park each week day.
 
Art Cart has been rolling out its free summer program for 40 years and it started its first day of the summer this morning in Allegheny Commons Park on the North Side under leaden skies.  
 
Opening day featured something completely different — sheep shearing and wool spinning. 
 
Near the Story Mobile, Jean Adams and her sons had corraled eight sheep from their family farm in Perryopolis. Greenfield Farms trots out its sheep for  petting zoos and provides its Belgian horses for carriage rides but it is primarily a farm that has been in the same family for five generations.
 
spinnerCarol Cragos of Manchester set up her spinning wheel and baskets of supplies under a tent to demonstrate to children how the rough, dirty-looking piles of wool that are sheared from a sheep can become yarn for a sweater. She had clean examples that had already been carded.
 
Jean set the first of six sheep she would shear today up on it’s bum with its front legs in the air, explaining to a bevy of open-mouthed children that when their feet leave the ground, they are disabled enough for her to work on the belly without too much fuss. 
 
"This isn't their normal way of relaxing," she said. "But this way they don't mess with me."
 
As she shaved the first animal down to its birthday suit, several children sat, fascinated. One little boy had a worried look as he watched.
 
The wool was clearly ready to come off; it had already begun to hang from the animals' flanks in dull ropes like the hair of anarchist hippie chicks. As Jean sheared down the belly of one ewe, the animal tussled mildly.
 
“It’s like a 2-year-old getting his hair cut,” she said. "They don't mind it a lot, but they’d rather be doing something else.” 
 

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Are Penguins top heavy? - 06-18-13

Written by Seth Rorabaugh on .

Unlike most teams, the Penguins have the luxury of having two former Hart Trophy winners on their roster in the form of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

But just like every other team, the Penguins have to stay under the NHL's salary cap which is expected to drop to $64.3 million for next season.

The Penguins will enter the 2013-14 campaign with each player accounting for $8.7 million against the salary cap. At a combined 17.4 million, no two teammates currently signed to any NHL roster heading into next season will have higher combined salary cap hit.

Does that leave the Penguins enough salary cap space to address the rest of the roster with unrestricted free agents such as Pascal Dupuis or Matt Cooke? Or what about the long-term future of defenseman Kris Letang who can become a unrestricted free agent in the 2014 offseason?

Based on contracts currently signed heading into the 2013-14 season, the Penguins will have the highest percentage of permitted salary cap space tied into two players.

Team Players,
position		 Individual
Salary Cap
Hit		 Combined
Salary Cap
Hit		 Percent of
potential payroll
(*-$64.3 million)
Penguins Sidney Crosby, C
Evgeni Malkin, C		 $8.7 million
$8.7 million		 $17.4 million 27.0 %
Ducks Corey Perry, RW
Ryan Getzlaf, C		 $8.625 million
$8.25 million		 $16.875 million 26.2 %
Capitals Alex Ovechkin, LW
Nicklas Backstrom, C		 $9.538,462
$6.7 million		 $16,238,462 25.2 %
Hurricanes Eric Staal, C
Alexander Semin, RW		 $8.25 million
$7 million		 $15.25 million 23.7 %
Lightning Vincent Lecavalier, C
Steven Stamkos, C		 $7,727,273
$7.5 million		 $15,227,273 23.6 %
Wild Zach Parise, LW
Ryan Suter, D		 $7,538,462
$7,538,462		 $15,076,924 23.4 %
Predators Shea Weber, D
Pekka Rinne, G		 $7.857,143
$7.0 million		 $14,857,143 23.1 %
Rangers Rick Nash, LW
Henrik Lundqvist, G		 $7.8 million
$6.875 million		 $14.675 million 22.8 %
Sharks Joe Thornton, C
Patrick Marleau, LW		 $7 million
$6.9 million		 $13.9 million 21.6 %
Kings Drew Doughty, D
Anze Kopitar, C		 $7 million
$6.8 million		 $13.8 million 21.4 %
Senators Jason Spezza, C
Erik Karlsson, D		 $7 million
$6.5 million		 $13.5 million 20.9 %
Sabres Thomas Vanek, LW
Ryan Miller, G		 $7,142,857
$6.25 million		 $13,392,857 20.8 %
Blue Jackets Marian Gaborik, RW
James Wisniewski, D		 $7.5 million
$5.5 million		 $13.0 million 20.2 %
Bruins Zdeno Chara, D
Milan Lucic, LW		 $6.916,667
$6 million		 $12,916,667 20.0 %
Red Wings Pavel Datsyuk, C
Henrik Zetterberg, LW		 $6.7 million
$6,083,333		 $12,783,333 19.8 %
Blackhawks Patrick Kane, RW
Jonathan Toews, C		 $6.3 million
$6.3 million		 $12.6 million 19.5 %
Fyers Daniel Briere, RW
Kimo Timonen, D		 $6.5 million
$6 million		 $12.5 million 19.4 %
Devils Ilya Kovalchuk, LW
Travis Zajac, C		 $6,666,667
$5.75 million		 $12,416,667 19.3 %
Canadiens Carey Price, G
Andrei Markov, D		 $6.5 million
$5.75 million		 $12.25 million 19.0 %
Canucks Daniel Sedin, RW
Henrik Sedin, C		 $6.1 million
$6.1 million		 $12.2 million 18.9 %
Maple Leafs Dion Phaneuf, D
Mikhail Grabovski, C		 $6.5 million
$5.5 million		 $12.0 million 18.6 %
Oilers Jordan Eberle, RW
Taylor Hall, LW		 $6 million
$6 million		 $12.0 million 18.6 %
Flames Mike Cammalleri, C
Miikka Kiprusoff, G		 $6.0 million
$5,833,333		 $11,833,333 18.4 %
Panthers Brian Campbell, D
Tomas Fleischmann, LW		 $7,142,875
$4.5 million		 $11,642,875 18.1 %
Avalanche Paul Stastny, C
Ryan O’Reilly, C		 $6.6 million
$5 million		 $11.6 million 18.0 %
Blues Jay Bouwmeester, D
David Backes,		 $6.68 million
$4.5 million		 $11.18 million 17.38 %
Stars Kari Lehtonen, G
Jamie Benn, C		 $5.9 million
$5.25 million		 $11.15 million 17.34 %
Jets Tobias Enstrom, D
Evander Kane, LW		 $5.75 million
$5.25 million		 $11 million 17.1 %
Coyotes Oliver Ekman-Larsson, D
Shane Doan, RW		 $5.5 million
$5.3 million		 $10.8 million 16.8 %
Islanders John Tavares, C
Lubomir Visnovsky, D		 $5.5 million
$4.75 million		 $10.25 million 15.9 %

Note:

*-The salary cap has been estimated to drop to $64.3 million for next season but that total has not been finalized by the NHL.
-All salary figures are from CapGeek.com.
-Malkin's salary cap hit will jump to $9.5 million after the 2013-14 season with his new contract. With Crosby, their combined salary cap hit will climb to $18.2 million.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

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'Invincibelle Spirit' pink hydrangea helps fund breast cancer research

Written by Doug Oster on .

blog invincibelle 616'Invincibelle Spirit' is a wonderful Annabelle type of hydrangea. Photo by Doug Oster

Hydrangeas have a reputation as being fussy, often refusing to bloom in our climate. The main offender is Hydrangea macrophylla or the mophead hydrangea. It's the most common variety grown, but there are many different types which bloom easily.

'Invinciblelle Spirit' came out a few years ago. It was the first pink Annabelle variety (Hydrangea arborescens). Annabelle hydrangeas are the only variety which can be cut to the ground at the end of the season and will bloom the next spring. Try that with macrophylla and you'll be cutting off next year's blooms.

I bought three 'Invincibelle Spirit' hydrangeas last fall. They are blooming beautifully right now, but are also grown for a cause. $1.00 will be sent to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each 'Invincibelle Spirit' sold. So far over $600,000 has been raised with a goal of one million dollars.

Mine are growing in the shade, but have lots of flowers on them. They were purchased in one gallon pots and will get bigger through the years. I hope to split them up at the end of the season and grow them in other beds too. I amended the soil with compost when I planted them and they certainly seem happy. The blossoms are only about four inches across, I'm assuming they would be larger in full sun.

If you're looking for a hydrangea which is a realiable bloomer with stunning pink flowers, 'Invincibelle Spirit' is the wanswer and will be easy to find at any good nursery.

 

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