James Brown

The late James Brown — the Godfather of Soul who passed away in December of 2006 — is apparently missing! According to his daughter LaRhonda Pettit, Brown’s body has not been entombed in his crypt as he should because, she believes, there are people trying to keep his cause of death a secret. Now, I’m not sure how Pettit knows that her father’s body is missing from his crypt but she seems pretty sure that his body has been stolen away.

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2008 was something of a vintage year for popcorn-munchers. But is there a 2009 film that can equal the colossal success of The Dark Knight? Which hot franchises will step up to fill the spaces left by Batman, Bond and Indy?

We’ve taken a look through the studio schedules and picked out the most promising prospects for the coming year. History tells us that when times are tough, box office takings boom. Here’s our selection of the best films Hollywood has to offer us in 2009.

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Greed takes a rest next year as a nation battered by the recession lowers its expectations and settles for smaller cars, smaller houses and an appreciation of all things local, or so says Richard Watson, a professional adviser on future trends. Watson, a 48-year-old Briton who lives in Sydney, looked into the future for times2 a year ago and proved spot on when he foresaw a year dominated by loathsome bankers, contempt for high-earning CEOs and campaigns to protect local businesses.

Now he sees a sombre 2010 where loneliness and depression become preoccupying issues. Watson argues that prediction is about interpreting and illuminating the present. Some trends, he says, endure, not least the instinct to protect ourselves when we feel threatened and the extreme reaction to this — the rise of right-wing politics.

But as he casts his eye over 2010 it’s not all bad news — here at least we’re celebrating Watson’s belief that we can expect newsprint, magazines, novels and yes, paper, to live on as “slow media” becomes a watchword for 2010.

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A Berlin brothel is doing its bit for the environment – by offering discounts to customers who arrive on bicycles. 

“The recession has hit our industry hard,” said Thomas Goetz, owner of the Maison d’envie brothel.

“Obviously we hope that the discount will attract more people. It’s good for business, it’s good for the environment – and it’s good for the girls.”

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Michael Jackson's golden casket

Michael Jackson’s private family funeral was fit for a king and had a price tag to match: roughly $1 million, according to court documents released Tuesday.

Although Jackson died in June and had a large public tribute at the Staples Center in Los Angeles in July, the private family funeral held Sept. 3 appeared to have been arranged with urgency.

Legal requests for payments filed with estate administrators by attorneys for Michael Jackson’s mother only three days before the scheduled burial noted that if payment was not received by the funeral home and the Glendale Police Department by Sept. 1, “the funeral will not proceed.”

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