Memorial Day: President Obama vows better care for veterans as New Yorkers honor the fallen with parades, barbecues

Hours after returning from a surprise visit to Afghanistan, President Obama commemorated Memorial Day by honoring the nation’s troops — and promising to do better by them at home. “We’re in a pivotal moment. Our troops are coming home. By the end of this year, our war in Afghanistan will finally come to an end,” the president said after laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington National Cemetery. “And yesterday at Bagram (Air Force Base), and here today at Arlington, we pay tribute to the nearly 2,200 American patriots who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan. We will honor them,

always.”

Speaking to service members and their families, Obama made reference to the scandalous reports of waitlists and poor services at hospitals run by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

“As we’ve been reminded in recent days, we must do more to keep faith with our veterans and their families, and ensure they get the care and benefits and opportunities that they’ve earned and that they deserve,” Obama said.

“These Americans have done their duty,” he said. “They ask nothing more than that our country does ours — now and for decades to come.”

In New York, Mayor de Blasio, whose father served in World War II, honored veterans in ceremonies at the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Memorial in Riverside Park and at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.He also marched in the Little Neck-Douglaston Parade in Queens.

“Every one of us has been touched by wars all over the world, having men and women in our families who went and fought on our behalf,” de Blasio said.

“My dad was wounded on Okinawa, came back and struggled like so many veterans do. So today is a day where we honor everyone who served. We honor everyone who’s serving now and defending us now. And we especially remember those who didn’t come back. This is a day when we have to hold them in our minds and our hearts. Never let the memories go.

Gov. Cuomo also walked the Queens parade route, waving to the throngs who came out to show their love for the troops on a perfect spring day.

“It’s a beautiful day, a day for families, a day for barbecues, a day for enjoying the great weather, but it’s also a day to remember. And it’s a day to remember that freedom is not free and many people paid a very high price indeed,” Cuomo said.

Rocco Moretto, 89, of Astoria, was one of the grand marshals of the parade The World War II vet, who fought at D-Day, was one of only two men in a unit of 219 to make it through the war without being wounded or killed.

“I think about the buddies I lost, and it’s a solemn day, really. So many young friends you lost. There hasn't been a day in my life I haven’t thought about it,” he said.

Another World War II vet, Barnet Schulman, 89, of Bayside, said he always looks forward to the parade.“It’s important to me, and it’s my day out. I’m married 65 years, and this is one day I can do what I want!” he said.

While many turned out for the parades — Cuomo’s Republican rival Rob Astorino and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, wearing an American flag scarf, both marched in Chappaqua — some took advantage of the beautiful weather just to have fun.

In Coney Island, revelers were sunbathing, playing volleyball, building sandcastles and dancing.

“Obviously, it’s a holiday to remember the veterans, but it’s also a time to hang out with family and friends,” said Kristina Luna, 34, who’d biked with her husband all the way from the Bronx.

Alcindor Jenkins, 26, doffed his shirt on the boardwalk.

“I love showing off my physique because God blessed me with this beautiful body. Sometimes the tourists come up to me to take pictures. Hundreds of people walk through here, so this is the perfect place to show off my body,” he said. “It’s all positive.”

With Jennifer Fermino

Ten Things To Know As You Start Playing 'Watch Dogs'

I published my massive 3,600 word review of Ubisoft’s Watch Dogs late last night, but I thought it would be wise to write a separate, shorter post to ease new players into the game with tips and hints I learned in my 20+ hours of gameplay over the weekend. There are a few things I wish I knew from the start, and perhaps one or two of these will help you better acclimate to the game.

Here are ten points that will hopefully improve your experience with the game from the get-go. There are zero spoilers ahead.

1. Manage Your Expectations

Don’t go in expecting Watch Dogs to be world-changing. It’s a good game, but it isn’t revolutionary. Understand that it may feel closer to Grand Theft Auto than you’re comfortable with, but you can try to separate the two if you focus on stealth whenever possible. My personal view is that the game is much more fun (and much less like GTA) if you at leastattempt to be silent and sneaky when taking on different missions in the game. The machine gun is usually the easy answer to your problems, but it’s the dullest way to play.2. Upgrade Your Hacking Tree Early

There are a number of skill trees you can invest in, but far and away, Hacking is the must-have above Driving, Crafting and Combat. Specifically, invest early on in perks that allow you to control traffic-based hackable items, with bridges and steam pipes being the most useful. Know early on that you will NOT be able to out-ram or out-run the pursuing gangs or police, nor can you kill them with drive-bys, as the mechanic doesn’t exist in the game. Rather, these sections are usually only beatable through using the city to dispatch your foes, and they can be extremely hard early on if you have to rely solely on flipping traffic lights alone.

3. When Fleeing, Head to Water

This always felt like kind of a cheap trick whenever I used it, but I ran into several missions where the heat from gangs or cops was so intense that I literally couldn’t get away using traffic hacking tricks alone. More than once, I simply drove to the water, got in a boat and sped away for the escape. Sometimes, if there wasn’t a boat, I would just swim halfway across a massive river until I was just too far away from shore to be found. Unlike GTA, enemies don’t have boats, so this works when all else fails. Later in the game, you can combine this method with the “Disable Helicopter” perk to get away at nearly any wanted level.

4. Invest in the Money Hacking Perks as Early as You Can

After car hacking tricks, be sure to upgrade the ability to swipe more money from pedestrians, and also especially the perk that will automatically highlight big “whale” targets for you. This will get you very rich, very fast, as whales can bring you anywhere from $8,000 to $15,000 a hack. The earlier you do this, the more money you will have throughout the game.

5. Buy Guns, Not Cars

When you finally start having a little cash in your pocket, I would advise maybe buying one good bike, and one good car, and holding off on any others. While car delivery is cool in the open world, it doesn’t work at all in missions, which is where it would be the most useful. But in contrast, the best investment you can make with your money is to simply save until you can buy the best five star gun in your favorite class. As you will never, ever run out of ammo, it’s good to invest in one or two guns you will use a lot. I could beat any mission with just my silenced pistol and 5-star assault rifle, making me wonder why the game needed 30 different guns at all. Buying mid-tier guns just isn’t worth it as you will likely find most of those in the wild. And when you kill your first “heavy,” be sure to take his shotgun or LMG. The LMG specifically is in my eyes, the best weapon in the game with its 75-round magazine.

6. Audio Logs Will Enhance the Story

While most collectibles and side-missions have nothing to do with the main plot, audio logs flesh out the relatively sparse central story. You get to learn a lot more about all the characters (except yourself, ironically), and audio logs are what made Quinn and Iraq my favorite characters in the game. You should also find the map-highlighted audio logs of the assassin you capture in the opening in the game, who is held prisoner by Jordi for most of the story. Knowing his side of the story is important for the very end of the game.7. Don’t Forget About Secondary Items

While Watch Dogs Uses a weapon wheel like so many other games in the genre these days, it hides a lot of its secondary weapons within it. It’s a bit weird to me that IEDs, grenades, electronic distractions, blackouts, scans and pretty much every secondary thing you can craft is all assigned to the same slot, and often you’ll forget you even have these items. Explosives are often key to beating tough areas (including one boss fight which would literally be impossible without them), and hacking tools are a lot of fun when you actually remember to use them.

8. Utilize Bullet Time

It’s similarly easy to forget about the game’s slow-motion Focus mechanic. It seems rather out of place in Watch Dogs, but like, every single game must have one these days it seems, so here we are. This is key for lining up headshots (particularly with the silenced pistol) and timing takedowns while driving. I’m not sure the game needed this mechanic at all, but if you want to make things easier for yourself, use it.

9.  Stay Incognito

Though the game is surprisingly focused around gunplay, more so than I anticipated, do not run around with a weapon drawn. The game is at least a level of realistic where it will freak out anyone and everyone around you. This is particularly bad to do in a store, as it will send everyone fleeing and you’ll no longer be able to buy anything. You can, however, then raid the cash register for money, but that will net you “evil karma.” I’m still working on figuring on what exactly the karma system does, but from what I can tell, higher karma means pedestrians will be less likely to call the cops on you for committing crimes, which seems a bit ironic.

10. AVOID THE POLICE

I really can’t stress this enough, as in Watch Dogs, the police are absolute psychopaths. I’ve had a simple carjacking turn into a twenty minute long chase sequence because when you use takedowns to get away from the cops, it onlyincreases your wanted level since you’re wrecking their cars. While fighting cops and SWAT teams and tanks may be fun in rampage-happy GTA, it’s far less enjoyable here. Chases will almost always just end with a bunch of armored troopers removing your head with auto-shotguns, or a helicopter sniping at your car until it’s completely disabled. Usually the only way to get away is to use my water method or simply die. In short, unless a mission is specifically throwing cops at you, never, ever provoke them if you don’t have to.

‘Petals On The Wind’ Movie Spoilers: 9 Major Differences Between The 1980 Book And 2014 Lifetime Movie

Lifetime’s movie version of “Petals On The Wind,” the V.C. Andrews sequel to “Flowers In The Attic,” premiered on Monday, May 26. The book, which was originally published in 1980, told the story of the Dollanganger children’s life outside of the attic of Foxworth Hall – a place they were captive for years by their own mother and grandmother.

Four months after the success of Lifetime’s remake of “Flowers In The Attic

,” the network adapted the second novel for the small screen. However, the movie and book have some major differences. Check out the big changes between V.C. Andrews’ 1980 book and Lifetime’s 2014 adaptation:

[WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD!]

1. Paul Sheffield

The “Petals on the Wind” novel began with the three remaining Dollanganger children on a bus to Florida. However their plan was derailed when Carrie’s health began to deteriorate from the arsenic poisoning. With little money in their pockets, Cathy and Chris didn’t know what to do. But fortunately a kind woman named Henny took them back to the house of the doctor she worked for – Paul Sheffield. Paul took the three children in, caring for them and financially supporting them as if they were his own.

Eventually the doctor developed a romantic relationship with Cathy. The pair was engaged to marry, but Cathy broke off their engagement after learning about Paul’s “horrific” past from his sister, Amanda.

Lifetime’s 2014 version of the book completely skipped out on Paul’s story line – which was interweaved throughout the entire 1980 novel. In order to avoid the character, the movie kicked off with the Dollanganger kids at a funeral 10 years after the events of “Flowers in the Attic.” The funeral was for Paul, who was acknowledged to be their guardian after they escaped Foxworth Hall.

2. Henny 

In the V.C. Andrews novel, Paul’s live-in help was Henny. Although not related, the pair considered each other family, with Henny even calling Paul her “doctor-son.” Unable to speak, Henny communicated with everyone through written notes.

The new movie chose to give Henny the ability to speak, but that wasn’t the only big change. In the books Henny passed away before Paul. However in the Lifetime movie she outlived Paul and continued to live with the Dollanganger kids at Paul’s home.

3. Julian And Cathy’s Dancing CareerFans of the series know that Cathy was always obsessed with dancing. In the books Paul enrolls Cathy in classes and helps Chris begin prepping for medical school. It’s while at her ballet classes that Cathy meets Julian, her teacher’s son and a dancer in New York. Since Cathy is in high school in the books, Julian takes the time to woo her and convince her to join him in New York. And although Cathy initially tells him no, she eventually caves and agrees that the only way to follow her dream is to go to New York.

The pair have an on and off relationship in the books – with Cathy falling madly in love with him while they dance, but hating him when they’re off the stage. As a team they achieved success in the dance world, and Cathy ultimately ended up marrying him after believing that Paul lied to her about his ex-wife. 

In the movie Cathy doesn’t meet Julian until after Paul dies. She doesn’t fight off his affection like she did in the books, and agrees almost immediately to follow him to New York to dance. However the movie doesn’t show their success in the dance world or their marriage. Instead viewers are treated to one performance of “Romeo and Juliet” in which Cathy only landed the role of Juliet to Julian’s Romeo when Julian slipped glass into Yolanda’s slipper.

4. Christopher And Cathy’s Relationship

Those who read “Flowers In The Attic” are familiar with Christopher and Cathy’s incestuous relationship. In the V.C. Andrews sequel Cathy fights Christopher off, telling him that she doesn’t have the same feelings that he has for her. That doesn’t stop Christopher from trying to make moves on her though. Throughout the book he tries to convince her to end her relationships with other men and run off with him to start their own family.

In the Lifetime movie Christopher’s actions are pretty spot on. However, Cathy is much more susceptible to his advances than in the book. The pair has sex after she returns from her first date with Julian, but Cathy breaks things off when she tells her brother that she’s moving to New York to dance with Julian.

5. Christopher’s Love Interest

While Cathy moves on romantically in the books, Christopher can’t overcome his obsession with his sister. Although he admitted to going on random dates with women – including Cathy’s arch nemesis, Yolanda – nothing serious ever developed.

That’s far from what happens in the movie though. While interning at a hospital, Christopher meets Sarah, the daughter of the doctor he’s shadowing. The pair ultimately became engaged to wed, but on the night before their wedding Sarah walked in on Christopher kissing Cathy. Her discovery lead to rumors being spread around town about their incestuous relationship.

6. Julian’s AccidentCathy was obsessed with getting revenge against her mother throughout the entire V.C. Andrews book. Her desire to destroy her mother’s perfect life ultimately ruined all her relationships, as it was the only thing she could focus on.

The movie differed in the fact that Cathy tried reaching out to her mother and became upset when Corrine failed to acknowledge her. Her real obsession for revenge came after Carrie’s death – leading her to seduce her mother’s husband, Bart.

9. The Grandmother

In the books Cathy wanted revenge on the grandmother just as much as Corrine. After learning that the grandmother couldn’t talk after a stroke, Cathy paid her a visit and turned the whip and wax (as substitute for tar) on her.

That was slightly altered in the movie. The grandmother was still able to speak, but her mind was not as it used to be. Focusing on moments from the past, the grandmother kept accusing Corrine of poisoning her children. And needless to say, Corrine wasn’t happy with her mother’s openness about their sinful actions.

‘The Normal Heart’ Review Roundup: Tragic Tale About Early Years Of AIDS

‘The Normal Heart’ aired on May 25 over Memorial Day weekend, and critics have been praising Ryan Murphy’s latest venture about the heartbreaking early years of AIDS in the 1980s. Read on for reviews! The Normal Heart, directed by Glee showrunner Ryan Murphy, is the story of Ned Weeks (Mark Ruffalo), a gay man in the 1980s whose friends are succumbing to a new, fatal illness — AIDS. Based on the play of the same name by Larry Kramer — who also wrote the screenplay — it has been receiving mostly rave reviews for its realistic portrayal of the AIDS crisis in America in the 1980s and how difficult it was to raise awareness and support when so many men were too afraid for their lives to even come out of the closet — including Ned’s lover, Felix Turner (Matt Bomer). Read on for reviews! Larry Kramer’s Ned Weeks is outspoken about the mysterious illness killing off gay men where many prefer to shy away from the media spotlight — that is, when the media even cares to cover the outbreak.A passionate activist, Ned seeks to gain attention from politicians and media alike to raise awareness about the virus infecting those closest to him. However, his passion is off-putting to many — gay and straight alike — who are simply too uncomfortable to face and deal with reality. Will you be seeing 'Normal Heart'?Yes, can't wait!Already saw it -- loved it!Already saw it -- not a fan.No, not my bag.VoteView Results Heartbreaking Story About A Problem That Still Persists Today It’s a heartbreaking story about a problem that still persists today, and is absolutely a must-see — not just because of the direly important subject matter, but because critics have been overwhelming in their praise. Here’s what they’ve been saying: Vulture:“The film doesn’t wonder. It says, ‘Yes, that’s pretty much what happened. And if you say otherwise, you’re naïve or lying.’ … If anger and suffering were all there were to The Normal Heart, watching it would be torture. Luckily, it has heart to match its guts. There’s always been a crackpot humanist sensibility in Murphy’s TV work, even when it was going for sadomasochistic violence or surreal kitsch.”“In its totality, this represents a powerful piece of work, with Ruffalo overcoming the prickly aspects of his character to convey his pain, and Jim Parsons delivering a wonderful supporting turn, including a sobering scene in which he talks about eulogizing fallen friends. … Perhaps foremost, HBO once again straddles the cinematic line, providing a character-oriented drama with theatrical talent and values that would face challenges finding much purchase at the modern-day multiplex.

Rachel Louise Carson commemorated in Google doodle

Google doodle today commemorates the 107th birth anniversary of Rachel Louise Carson, eminent scientist and author of Silent Spring, the book that launched a truly global environmental movement and led to the banning of pesticide DDT. Born on 27 May 1907, in Springdale, Pennsylvania, Carson was a nature lover, a keen reader and had developed a penchant for writing from an early age, documenting the living world around her. She read zoology at Johns Hopkins University, completing her MA in 1932 and later joined US fish  service as a marine biologist.

Besides her scientific work, she wrote pamphlets, articles and features on nature and conservation and in 1936 became editor-in-chief of all publications of USFWS, according to a biography by Linda Lear. 

But Carson's most acclaimed work came in 1962 with the publication of Silent Spring, a book about the unnatural quiet of countryside brought on by deaths of birds due to spraying of fields and farms with pesticides, chief among them DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane).in the  book, Carson catalogued the environmental impacts of indiscriminate DDT spraying in the US and challenged the logic of releasing large amounts of chemicals into the environment without proper understanding of their effects on ecology or human health.

Despite being targeted by the chemical industry, Carson continued to speak out against the use of pesticides in agriculture. In 1963 she testified before the Congress and also provided her input in the development of US federal policies on environment and agriculture.

Silent Spring showed that DDT and other pesticides caused cancer, killed wildlife, especially birds, and had a devastating impact on both nature and humankind. The book resulted in a nation-wide public outcry in the US, leading eventually to a ban on using DDT in agriculture in 1972. 

A global ban followed later same year under the Stockholm Convention – a global treaty to protect human health and the  environment from use of chemicals.

Carson's work in awakening the world to the horrors of pesticides is cited by scientists as a major factor in bringing back some bird species from the brink of extinction, particularly, the bald eagle – US's national bird. Peregrine falcon is another bird of prey that has made a comeback largely due to the ban on DDT.

Her other books include The Sea Around Us (1952) and The Edge of the Sea (1955). Carson died of breast cancer in 1964, but remains one of the most eminent writer and scientist to have inspired a global environmental movement that questioned man's relation with nature. And in no small way, her work helped save millions of birds, giving spring back its song. 

Can Yacon Syrup Really Help You Lose Weight? An Objective Look

A sweet-tasting syrup that can help you lose weight? Seems almost too good to be true… But this is exactly what they’re saying about Yacon syrup, which recently became popular as a weight loss aid. In contrast to most weight loss supplements, it does have some actual human research to back up the claims. This article takes an objective look at Yacon syrup and the studies behind it. What is Yacon Syrup? Yacon syrup is extracted from the roots of the Yacon plant. The Yacon plant, also called Small.The juices from the roots are extracted, then filtered and evaporated in a chemical-free manufacturing process that resembles the way Maple syrup is made. A very natural process (2). The final product is a sweet-tasting syrup, with a dark color and a consistency similar to molasses. Yacon syrup recently became popular after it was featured by Dr. Mehmet Oz, a famous TV doctor in America. He called it a “metabolism game changer” and seemed very excited about it. You can watch the episode for free.

New US flag secured to sunken military ship The Associated Press

KEY WEST, Fla. -- A new American flag is floating in the waters over a former military ship sunk to create an artificial reef in the Florida Keys.Tuesday marks the fifth anniversary of the sinking of the Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg in waters about 7 miles off Key West International Airport.A group of Navy divers had installed an American flag soon after the wreck's dedication 60 feet below the surface. The Key West Citizen reports (http://bit.ly/1r9B7lu ) that a local Navy group donated a 6

LA Kings eliminate rival Anaheim Ducks, continue Game 7 mastery

Some people just know how to do this Game 7 thing.

The Los Angeles Kings eliminated the Anaheim Ducks in the seventh game of their Pacific Division final, 6-2, moving on to the conference final vs. Chicago and moving to 6-0 in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs in potential elimination games.

Every player who scored a goal for the Kings had never lost a Game 7, and are now a combined 27-0 in the Game 7s they’ve played in.

Which is fairly clutch.

The Anaheim Ducks, on the other hand, fell to 2-4 in franchise history in Game 7. Ryan Getzlaf andCorey Perry fell to a combined 2-6 in Game 7. Bruce Boudreau, the coach that’s never led a team to the conference final, still hasn’t, and is now 1-5 in career Game 7s, his last win coming in 2009.

Which is the opposite of clutch.

The Kings were dominant in Game 7, pouring 16 shots on rookie goalie John Gibson in the first period and putting three past in him the opening 15:12 of the game.

Justin Williams opened the scoring on the power plan, collecting a puck in front of Gibson and tucking home his sixth career Game 7 goal in six career Game 7s.

Jeff Carter has the Kings’ second goal, muscling past Hampus Lindholm at center ice and then scoring on Gibson on a delayed penalty, just 4:18 after Williams’ goal.

The Ducks had a chance to get back into the game with a Corey Perry penalty shot – on a play that saw his stick break before Drew Doughty allegedly broke it – but Jonathan Quick made the save.Mike Richards scored his second of the playoffs at 15:12 of the first, using a little give-and-go withDwight King to tip the puck past Gibson.

(Yes, three ex-Flyers scoring against Bruce Boudreau, who lost his first Game 7 against the Flyers in Washington.)

Gibson returned for the start of the second period, but lasted only 2:02. A center ice turnover by the Ducks led to a 2-on-1 with Anze Kopitar and Dwight King, with Kopitar beating him for his fifth of the playoffs.

With that, the rookie sensation was sent to the bench.

Marian Gaborik scored his NHL-leading ninth goal on the power play at 14:08 against Jonas Hiller to make it 5-0.

The Ducks began a mini-comeback with a Kyle Palmieri goal that snuck inside Quick’s pad near the post at 17:02 of the second. Corey Perry made it 5-2 with his fourth of the playoffs, scored 4-on-4 at 3:42 of the third. Getzlaf nearly cut the lead again on the next shift, but Quick made a key save.

After that, the Ducks took a pair of minor penalties and Quick was up to the task. Tanner Pearson’s goal at 13:54 of the third capped the scoring for the Kings.

The game marked the end of Teemu Selanne’s magical NHL career, as the Ducks legend vowed this would be his last season in the League. Selanne skated 14:02 for the game and was a minus-1 with three shots on goal. He finished the postseason with two goals in 11 games.

With five minutes left, the Los Angeles Kings fans visiting the Honda Center sang “Na Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye.” They won three games in Anaheim in the Freeway Faceoff. Now, they carry California hockey’s flag into the Western Conference Final against the Chicago Blackhawks, beginning on Sunday.

FA Cup final: Arsenal's Aaron Ramsey denies Hull City with late winner

The FA Cup final is on a roll. This was another engrossing game and enthralling occasion, and if there was no fairytale ending this time at least the less fancied side gave a great account of themselves. Arsenal's nine-year trophy drought is at an end while Hull's 110-year wait for major silverware goes on, though you would never have guessed watching a memorable final that there was such a disparity between the aspirations and achievements of the two sides.

Strictly speaking Arsène Wenger is no longer a specialist in failure, though his team still look a long way short of the Arsenal of old and it is debatable whether being pushed all the way by Wigan in the semi and now Hull in the final amounts to the sort of success that can be crowed about.

There are still questions that need to be answered, though as Yaya Sanogo tweeted before the game Arsenal have at least managed to win more than Chelsea, even if it was the 19th minute of extra time before Aaron Ramsey finally put the Gunners in front, applying a snappy first-time finish to Olivier Giroud's clever back-heel pass. Giroud had hit the bar from Ramsey's cross in the first period of extra time so Hull probably knew they had it coming. They had defended doggedly for much of the game to give themselves a chance of a penalty shoot out, but had no answer to the fresh legs Wenger was able to introduce for the final 15 minutes of extra time.

By astutely keeping back jackWilshere and Tomas Rosicky until the break in extra time, Wenger added some much-needed energy and invention and, though the pair were not directly involved in the winning goal, their arrival seemed to daunt their opponents. For all that, penalties might still have been needed had not Arsenal survived a last-gasp scare when Lukasz Fabianski came out of his area and failed to stop a run from Sone Aluka, whose shot from a narrow angle missed only by inches. With the same player bringing a save from Fabianski right at the death the drama at the end was intense.

Two and a half hours earlier the game had got off to the brightest of starts, with Hull taking the lead from virtually their first attack. Ahmed Elmohamady won a corner on the right, Stephen Quinn hit it long to pick out Tom Huddlestone loitering just outside the area for a volley and, though the execution was imperfect and the shot was missing the target, James Chester managed a back-heel deflection on the way through to leave Fabianski wrong-footed.

If that was encouraging for Steve Bruce's side, the Tigers were in dreamland four minutes later when Hull doubled their lead. This time Fabianski was not quite so blameless. He should have dealt better with a tame header from Alex Bruce from a Quinn cross rather than letting it bounce off his left post, allowing Curtis Davies to joyfully snaffle the rebound. The reason so many Hull defenders were in forward positions was that they had just come up for a free-kick that Arsenal only half-cleared.

As one of the major questions about Hull's ability to contest this final was whether they would score a goal at all, with Shane Long injured and Nikica Jelavic ineligible, scoring twice in the opening eight minutes was an entirely unexpected boost.

The only nagging doubt at the back of Hull minds would have been whether the goals had come too early. They had caught Arsenal off guard but Wenger's side did have recognised goalscorers and as long as they did not panic still had more than 80 minutes to play themselves back into the match.

Those fears began to take shape when Santi Cazorla arrowed a shot direct from a free-kick into Allan McGregor's top-left corner after Bruce had fouled him a couple of yards outside the area. Sumptuous as the strike was, there was not much bend or dip on the shot, and the goalkeeper had a clear enough sight of it to be disappointed when it flew past him.

Arsenal were dominating the game by the end of the first half, rarely allowing Hull the opportunity to cross the halfway line, and could have been level had Ramsey been able to supply a finish when Mesut Özil rolled a ball invitingly across the Hull goal. Bruce had seen a header cleared off the line by Aaron Gibbs from a corner, but if Hull were only threatening from set pieces and Arsenal were successfully pinning them in their own half, McGregor's goal was always likely to be the one under threat. When Matty Fryatt managed a rare breakaway just past the half-hour, he looked up from an advanced position on the left and found precisely no one in the middle awaiting a cross or a pass. Huddlestone sent a shot over Fabianski's bar a couple of minutes later to raise an optimistic cheer from the Hull end, though it was from 30 yards out and Arsenal were comfortable with goal attempts from that sort of distance.

Özil pulled another inviting ball back across the Hull goal at the start of the second half but found Lukas Podolski unable to take advantage, before Huddlestone sent another harmless shot over Fabianski's bar merely as a more elegant way of timewasting than some of his team-mates had already been managing. By the hour stage, with Arsenal coming no closer to a goal than a desperately hopeful tumble by Giroud in the hope of a penalty after the slightest of touches by Huddlestone, Wenger sent on Yaya Sanogo to show his pre match tweet was not merely wish fulthinking

With Laurent Koscielny putting a header wide from a corner, however, Arsenal needed a goal to make history and make José Mourinho reconsider his words. As the game entered its final 20 minutes, with the Hull goal far from under siege, Arsenal looked the team under pressure and hopes of a Tiger feat began to grow. So it was slightly cruel when Arsenal equalised, not with a flash of brilliance from Ozil or Ramsey but through a scruffy goal at a set piece. Cazorla's corner was played back towards McGregor's goal by a couple of ricochets from Hull defenders, to allow Koscielny, standing in front of the goalkeeper, to turn and scuff the ball across the line. For the Arsenal fans at that end the goal was a thing of beauty. For the Hull support at the other end of the pitch the disappointment will only increase when they see on television that McGregor was correct in protesting that the corner should never have been awarded in the first place.

Gibbs had the best chance of securing a result in normal time when he produced one of the great Wembley misses from the six-yard line but Ramsey was more deadly when his extra time opportunity arrived. Arsenal's celebrations at the end were almost as heartfelt and joyous as Wigan's last year but, even as Wenger soaked up the champagne, the bookies were quoting his side odds-on to win no trophies next year. For Arsenal this was a huge relief but not quite a fairytale.

Box Office: 'Godzilla' Scores $38.5M Friday, Could Reach $100M

Godzilla earned a surprising $38.5 million on its opening day, including $9.3m in Thursday showings and $6.2m in IMAX alone. How I love it when the tracking is wrong. As a box office pundit, there are few things more enjoyable than a happy box office surprise, when a film vastly over-performs its tracking and expectations. Such is the case Godzilla. It was perhaps reasonable to wonder how front-loaded Godzilla was coming off of its robust Thursday numbers, but last night’s totals solidify that it’s basically playing like a general audiences blockbuster. This one is pulling in moviegoers far outside the “geek crowd”. The film earned about $1m less than Captain America: The Winter Soldier did on Thursday yet earned $2m more on Friday while earning about $3m more than The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($35m). It is beyond cliche to refer to a Godzilla film as a “box office monster”, but if the shoe fits… The only question now is whether it ends up in the $90m range or whether it ends up over $100m for the weekend.Going off a $38.5 million Friday, a mere 2.59x multiplier gets it over the nine-figure mark. So while that’s a pretty strong multiplier for a monster movie, it’s not completely impossible. $100m wouldn’t surprise me, but I also don’t want to get anyone thinking that $95m is somehow now disappointing. Fueled by kid-powered matinee business, Warner Bros. (a division of Time Warner is surely looking at a debut weekend of $93-$98m, barring unexpected frontloading. That’s right in the wheelhouse of The Amazing Spider-Man 2 ($91m) and Captain America: The Winter Soldier ($95m). And unlike Amazing Spider-Man 2 (which is still dropping hard and won’t clear $175m by Sunday), Godzilla didn’t cost $250m to produce.

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At $160 million, the film is set to earn back its budget domestically by the end of next weekend and possibly top it worldwide by tomorrow depending on the overseas numbers. It earned $22.3m overseas on Friday and has now earned $43m overseas since Thursday and $81m worldwide thus far. To paraphrase the tagline from the last Godzilla film, “budget does matter.” This is Legendary Picture’s last production with Warner Bros. (Legendary put up about 75% of the budget), and they will clearly be missed. But the opening figure itself is a marketing triumph by the DREAm Factory, as this is the second new frachise that Warner Bros. has launched just this year after the $460 million-grossing THE LEGE Movie. When I talk about how Warner Bros. doesn’t “need” a multi-film DC Cinematic Universe, this is what I mean.The film screened early enough to build strong critical buzz and the review embargo dropped early enough to let audiences know that they’d presumably like what they saw. The teasers and trailers promised a grand-scale and dead-serious monster film, with an emphasis on human characters (Bryan Cranston’s crazed scientist and ken watanabe’s tormented scientist specifically) and just enough creature footage and destructo-carnage to wet appetites without giving away the store. It’s no secret I liked the film less than many of my peers, but there are plenty of moments that will make audiences gasp and 85% of those moments were not in the marketing campaign.

Gareth Edwards delivered the monster-mash goods and Warner Bros.’ marketing did the rest. This was a film that pretty much everyone I knew, film nerds and “regular folk”, wanted to see or were at least curious about. These numbers indicate that quite a few merely curious moviegoers took the plunge last night and will presumably continue to take the plunge over weekend. I can’t exactly pretend that a big-budget remake of Godzilla scoring huge is “good for the industry” in any serious fashion, but again I’m always happy to see a well-marketed movie over-perform the pre-release expectations. It keeps this game fun and I’d much rather write about surprise hits than surprise flops. We’ll see how it holds up over the weekend, but even a somewhat front-loaded $85m weekend is a massive win for Godzilla.

The only other new release was Walt Disney’s Million Dollar Arm, which starsJon Hamm as a sports manager who recruits kids from India to play American baseball. Disney attempted the old-school counter-programming route, but the reviews weren’t there and there are enough films of all stripes and sizes to get most moviegoers going elsewhere. The film earned $3.46 million on Friday, setting the stage for a $11m debut. Walt Disney is mostly getting out of the non-franchise game, and this film’s sad debut implies they may be right. Still, kudos to theMouse House for offering at least the occasional non-franchise centric flick amid the Marvel movies and animated blockbusters. Next up on that scale is The Hundred-Foot Journey in August. There is much to be discussed about how Jon Hamm couldn’t translate his starring role on a cult television show (Mad Men is one of thebest vision shows ever aired, but it’s not a ratings blockbuster) into mainstream movie stardom, but that’s for another day.

There isn’t much holdover news that can’t wait until tomorrow. Universal’s (a division of ComcastNeighbors earned $8.4 million yesterday and has now grossed $73.93m. The crowdpleasing Seth rogen/Rose Byrne/Zac Efron comedy should finish the weekend with $26 million (-45%, thanks Godzilla!) and a $91m domestic cume. The Amazing Spider-Man 2earned another $4.5m, and Sony projects a $16.5m weekend and a $171m 17-day domestic cume. It’s also racing towards $600m worldwide. Jon Favreau‘sChef expanded to 72 screens and earned another $200k. The film should top $1m by tomorrow. The Other Woman earned $2m for a $67m cume. In the meantime, if you’re going to see Godzilla, splurge for the IMAX tickets. The 3D is fine and it’s worth it for the sheer size of the IMAX screen.

Preakness 2014: The race always goes on, but will Chrome?

As the legendary Barbara Fritchie, a Maryland civil war heroine, might have said if she had lived a lot longer and taken a fancy to a colt named california chrome‘Shoot if you must this old gray head. But one damned musket ball or anything else ain’t gonna stop this Preakness.’’

It’s the same message strongly repeated by a corporal’s guard of state police to a 23-year-old drunk named Lee Chang Ferrell, during a preliminary race one Preakness day.

He had hurdled a restraining fence and taken a position facing an onrushing army of thoroughbreds. He took a half-step left and swung a wild haymaker at the race’s leader, Artex.

He missed.

The state cops didn’t.

The Preakness went on as scheduled.

Of course it did. Two years earlier, track-wide power stage cut into the betting, but the race went on.

And so it will be today. Thursday, when the huge favorite California Chrome coughed in his stall, chalk players all over America choked on their morning coffee.

But one equine throat tickle can’t stop this path to the second jewel of the Triple Crown any more than Lee Chang Ferrell looping right hand could. Yesterday morning, California Chrome’s throat was swapped with a glycerene throat wash. And God bless the miracle of better things for better living through chemistry. The colt’s throat is so clear now that any moment you could expect him to sing a snappy chorus of "Tomorrow," since that’s when the odds-makers are sure he will be two-thirds of the way toward the Triple Crown.

For the record, William G. "Cowboy Billy" Gowan, the man who trains Ride On Curlin, does not necessarily disagree, but this is horse racing, and without a little bit of skepticism, he would surely be drummed out of the lodge. So yesterday, when asked about California Chrome’s invincibility, Billy responded with:

"He (CC) is a beautiful horse, but if you are asking me what I want to see, I’d hope my horse gets a great trip and then see them together at the head of the stretch, and we can find out what each of them is made of."

Until post time, who is to say he’s wrong?

Certainly, in this shorter-than-the-Derby race (1 and 3/16ths miles) there will be speed to burn not counting whatever path California Chrome chooses to follow. Bayern,social inclusion, Pablo del Monte and General Rod are each capable of trying to steal this thing. How Chrome’s jockey, Victor Espinoza, deals with this strategy will be interesting to see, particularly in view of a new shooter, Dynamic Impact, who won the Illinois Derby with the best Beyer (speed) number of the entire field at 102.

Add to these the traditional closers, Ride On Curlin and Kid Cruz (the only horse that has won a race over this track), and no matter what happens, if they hold form, we have a hell of a clambake.

Which brings us to the mystery lady of these proceedings. Her name is Ria Antonia. She is the only filly who has dared to come out and play with the boys this year. Calvin Borel once rode another filly in the Preakness, and you should recall her name was Rachel Alexandra, because she is the only filly ever to win it.

"I know Calvin’s confidence is very strong after yesterday’s work," said Tom Amoss, who trains the filly. "And that’s what I like — a rider who buckles his chin trap and says, ‘I’m going to win this race,’ and I know that’s how Calvin feels."

She is a nice filly, although she never had much of a chance in the Kentucky Oaks, but going against this opposition reminds me of a Pimlico racing story about what appeared to be an over-reaching filly at Pimlico.

There once was a tough-as-nails combination trainer and farm director named Sonny Simm, who stunned his peers by announcing he would send a filly named The Very One against a pretty good field colts in the Dixie Handicap.

They questioned the number of cards in his deck, to which he responded "We’ll see, we’ll see."

Whereupon, he went out to the farm with a very large jar, located a mare in heat and filled the jar with her urine. He told nobody. In the paddock that afternoon when they called "riders up" it wasn’t all that went up. Simms lifted his bottle, dumped and smeared all of its contents on the hind quarters of his filly.

When they came out of the gate, a strange thing happened.

All the colts fell behind The Very One, jostled for position but wouldn’t pass her. It was the first single-file horse race in history.

Barring that, I don’t expect Ria Antonia to win this thing.

I like California Chrome to win, but to get better value, I really like a boxed four-horse trifecta with CC, Social Inclusion, Ride on Curlin and Kid Cruz even better.