The House Next Door

1. "Blockbuster signs deal to be exclusive renter for Weinsteins": I'd like you to meet Harvey... he make cinema.

["Blockbuster (BBI) said Wednesday it reached a four-year deal giving it exclusive U.S. rental rights to Weinstein films, allying itself with the independent movie studio as it battles for market share. The deal teams Blockbuster with movie industry veterans brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein as it tries to counter an expensive rivalry with Netflix (NFLX) over online rentals, as well as cooling store-based movie rentals."]

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2. "Fuck Blockbuster": Alex Jackson responds to the above (and inspires a lengthy comments section) over at the Film Freak Central blog.

["You could probably guess where I come down on all this. I really fucking hate Blockbuster. I usually think that people who complain about such things are way out of touch with reality, I mean there are several things that are worth getting really angry about and Blockbuster hiring people who don't know 8 1/2 from 9 1/2 Weeks, making filmmakers turn in R-rated cuts of their NC-17 films, requiring all returned DVDs to be rewound, masking late fees under their "no late fees promotion" as "restocking fees"; it's not on that level. Anybody who gets really mad at that or even places it on the same level as Congressmen cutting taxes while increasing military funding and cutting social spending while adding tighter restrictions on abortion is a pampered little shit. But maybe I'm wrong, this news somehow really infuriates me. The idea that I might have to walk into a Blockbuster to rent Grindhouse is so utterly degrading that it's vaguely sexual. I'd rather rent from McDonald's."]

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3. "'50s R&B star Ruth Brown dies at 78"

["Ruth Brown's recordings of "Teardrops in My Eyes" and "(Mama) He Treats Your Daughter Mean" dominated the rhythm-and-blues charts in the 1950s and earned her the nickname "Miss Rhythm." But her other nickname might as well be "Miss Survivor" for persevering through the highs and lows of a career spanning six decades. Brown died Friday of complications from a stroke and heart attack at a Las Vegas-area hospital, said Lindajo Loftus, a publicist for the Rhythm & Blues Foundation, which Brown helped establish. She was 78."]

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4. "NASA adds its weight to waste in space": On the once-and-future methods of interplanetary waste management.

["NASA has often expressed concern over the growing problem of celestial jumble. Earth is ringed by hundreds of thousands of junk items, including old rockets, satellites, motors, nuts, bolts and spent instruments from defunct spacecraft. Its decision to relax its rules comes as a Russian cosmonaut, Mikhail Tyurin, prepares to add one more object to the sea of orbital debris. In an advertising stunt for a golf club manufacturer, which has paid the Russian space agency millions of dollars, Tyurin will launch the world's longest golf shot from outside the space station on Wednesday. NASA calculates that the ball will remain in orbit for three days before burning up in Earth's atmosphere, although Russian scientists claim that it could circle the planet for more than three years. If it were to hit the space station — impossible, say experts — the force would be equivalent to that of a 20-tonne truck speeding at 180 km/h."]

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5. "Hollywood hoopla ends in a wedding day": Well, why not. Congratulations you crazy, couch-jumping kids!

["It's no surprise Katie Holmes turned to Giorgio Armani to design her wedding dress. The Italian designer has been dressing Hollywood's stars since he provided Richard Gere's wardrobe for American Gigolo back in the 1980s. Holmes exchanged wedding vows with Tom Cruise, who also wore Armani, at a ceremony at a 15th-century castle in the Italian town of Bracciano at the weekend."]
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"Links for the Day": Each morning, the House editors post a series of weblinks that we think will spark discussion. Comments encouraged.