The Tennessean from Nashville, Tennessee • A3

By JILL LAWLESS Associated Press LONDON weather is like the wrote the English humorist Jerome K. Jerome. in the The British Broadcasting Corp. is discovering the truth of that. In a nation whose fickle sky makes weather forecasts required viewing, national broadcaster proudly launched a new high-tech report this week and sailed into a storm of protest.

Too confusing, said some viewers about the graphics used several times a day on the domestic channels and BBC World international service. Too English, thundered a Scottish politician. Some viewers said the new graphics were too drab, others thought them too flashy. really need a second-rate PlayStation game telling me the wrote Paul Dixon, one of hundreds of disgruntled viewers who posted complaints on the BBC Weather Web site. want to look at my little spot of England, see a bright yellow sun or a fluffy white cloud, have a look at what the wind and pressure is doing and Another viewer complained about the rendering of Britain in a palette of browns.

green and pleasant land has been turned to sniffed John Midwinter on the BBC site. The new 3D graphics, developed by New Meteorological Service, replace the cartoonish yel- low suns and stylized storm clouds the BBC used for 20 years with computer-generated imagery designed to be more fluid and realistic. The camera sweeps over the country, beneath dark rain clouds and through showers of virtual- reality rain. new system will introduce more realism, movement and clarity to the said the lead weather presenter, Helen Young. the first time, viewers will be able to see the sun shine and the rain fall on the weather map.

Complex weather situations will be much clearer for the Many viewers begged to differ. By Tuesday, the BBC said it had received 240 phone calls opposing the new format and eight supporting it. Many others wrote to the Web site or national newspapers to express their dismay. are the isobars and fronts? What about wind speed and asked viewer Dominic Horne on the BBC Web site. why lose the tried and tested weather symbols? This seems to be dumbing down of the worst Some saw a political bias.

Angus MacNeil, a Scottish National Party lawmaker for the remote Western Isles, said the graphics, which show Britain from the south, made Scotland look far smaller than it is and rendered his constituency almost invisible. are well used to changeable weather, but this map is a change too MacNeil said. BBC needs to rethink their daft distorted map. They need to see Scotland as it The commercial rival, ITV, allowed itself a moment of schadenfreude. Program director Nigel Pickard told The Times newspaper that the broadcaster had rejected the New Zealand software because use of 3D graphics just left the viewer This is the second weather disaster in as many months.

Last month, producers of BBC Newsnight program decided to replace the daily stock market and currency roundup with a weather report. Many viewers were appalled. The gruff presenter, Jeremy Paxman, also seemed unimpressed, delivering increasingly terse forecasts such as: April. What do you The forecast was dropped after 10 days. 3 www.tennessean.com THE TENNESSEAN Friday, May 20, 2005 3A CYANMAGYELBLK TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 5 TennesseanBroadsheet Master TennesseanBroadsheet Master 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 5 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 WORLD Brad About You Brad Schmitt Check out column at www.tennessean.com.

Click on entertainment and then on celebrities. ONTHISDATEINHISTORY BIRTHDAYS You know their house will be just beautiful TLC While You Were Out hunky handyman Evan Farmer is marrying a Nashville woman and moving here, his future father-in-law confirmed yesterday. Evan is marrying Andrea Smith, 29, a Merrell Footwear executive he met in the lobby of the Hotel in New Orleans, said Randy Smith, daddy. Seems Andrea was down in New Orleans on business, and she was by herself in the hotel lobby lounge when Evan and his producer walked into the bar. The producer was talking to Evan but he kept staring at Andrea, so the producer left in a bit of a snit.

Evan asked Andrea if he could join her. That was in January. A mere 10 days later, Evan came here to meet dad, and Evan told him he would be asking his daughter to marry him. WOW! He indeed gave her a ring in March in California wine country. The couple plans to get a house here, and dad jokes that he plans to put house makeover skills to good use for himself.

have a condo in Green Randy said, it take him long to do Mazel tov to the happy couple, and welcome to Nashville, Evan. And if you can convert a Donelson home into, say, a mansion, gimme a call. rakes in big bucks on first night Moviegoers flocked to the dark side in droves, giving the final installment of George Lucas Star Wars tale a record- breaking midnight run. Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith raked in an estimated $16.5 million from 2,900 midnight screenings Thursday, according to box- office tracker Exhibitor Relations. double what the Oscar-winning film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took in during its midnight showings in 2003.

The third film from director Peter Jackson trilogy rang up about $8 million domestically from 2,100 midnight shows. is extremely said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations. just says so much about how excited people are to see this film that they lined up at midnight and just got on board and went along for the After the debut, Revenge of the Sith widened to 3,661 theaters for daytime and evening screenings. The studio, 20th Century Fox, said box-office results for the first full day would be available today. Tell us what you thought of the movie.

Go to Tenness- ean.com and type STAR- WARS in Keyword Search. Grammy, shmammy: Norro hometown hero Yes, he has a Grammy award and dozens of other songwriter and producer awards. But writer Norro Wilson is most proud to be getting an award tomorrow from his small hometown of Scottsville, just over the Tennessee line. If you know name, you know his albums. Reba McEntire and Kenny Chesney are two artists who have used producer services.

Norro also wrote or co-wrote the Charlie Rich hit TheMost Beautiful Girl the George Neville hit Grand Tour the George Morgan hit Picture of Me Without You and billions of others. In recognition of this fine career and, I suspect, incredible sense of humor, Norro will be the first honoree of the Scottsville Hero Days. He be more thrilled. your hometown where ya grew up. as good as any Norro said.

also excited because some of his high-powered breakfast club buddies, including Watergate prosecutor James F. Neal Tennessean Chairman Emeritus John Seigenthaler and Realtor to the stars U.Grant Browning will be among 30 or so Nashvil- lians taking a bus trip up to Kentucky for the festivities. Mazel tov! Looks like gonna be cruel, cruel summer The Bridgestone in the District will announce some more acts today for this summer season, but got a little advance news. Hunker down! Here it comes. The Latium World Tour, featuring Frankie Baby Bash comes June 23.

Seether Crossfade are here July 14 and John Legend is here Aug. 4. that awesome? OK, I recognize any of those names, either. You will be glad to know, though, that the Neville Brothers are coming July Oh, boy. This might lift your spirits.

a new outdoor weekly summer series called the Miller Lite Cannery Row Revival, in the parking lot of the Mercy Lounge. And the highlight of that series comes June 25: MiniKISS a KISS tribute band composed entirely of little people. Uh, does anyone else miss River Stages? Morsels Goodlettsville native Jamie Denton Mike the plumber on Desperate Housewives, will be on Tony Danza show today, seen locally at 10 a.m. on Channel 4. Jamie plays at 8:30 tonight at a fund-raiser for the American Cancer Society.

A $15 donation at the door is requested. So be nice and pay In other Jamie news, do the anthem before Comcast Jeff Fisher Friends Celebrity Softball game at Greer Stadium. Book smarts triumph: Donald Trump selected Kendra Todd as his first female Apprentice handing her a job with his organization and a $250,000 salary at the close of the NBC reality live finale last night. Todd, 26, the real estate broker from Boynton Beach, bested entrepreneur and mother of two Tana Goertz of Des Moines, during the final boardroom battle. Love to hear from you.

how to find me: phone, 259-8073; fax, 259-8057; e-mail, address, 1100 Broadway, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. About contains information from Tennessean news services and Singer Joe Cocker 61. Singer-actress Cher 59. Actor-comedian Dave Thomas 56.

Rock musician Jane Wiedlin (The 47. Rapper Busta Rhymes 33. ASSOCIATED PRESS Today is Friday, May 20, the 140th day of 2005. On this date in: 1506 Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Spain. 1861 North Carolina voted to secede from the Union.

The capital of the Confederacy was moved from Montgomery, to Richmond, Va. 1902 The United States ended a three-year military presence in Cuba as the Republic of Cuba was established. 1927 Charles Lindbergh took off from Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on his historic solo flight to France. 1932 Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland for Ireland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

1961 A white mob attacked a busload of Freedom Riders in Montgomery, prompting the federal government to send in U.S. marshals to restore order. ASSOCIATED PRESS 3A BBC viewers reject flashy weather graphics Complaints mount after animated map replaces sun, cloud pictures BBC PHOTO Weather presenter Alex Deakin explains the new BBC weather map, which was introduced Monday. national broadcaster proudly launched a new high-tech report, but by Tuesday the BBC had received 240 phone calls opposing the new system and only eight calls in support of it. One lawmaker saw a political bias.

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