Scientist Hawking ‘comfortable’ in hospital

Distinguished scientist Stephen Hawking was said to be in a "comfortable" condition Tuesday after spending the night in hospital, Cambridge University said in a statement. The 67-year-old, who suffers from a degenerative condition, was taken to Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge by ambulance in a “very ill” condition on Monday. “He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery,” the university, where Hawking is a professor of mathematics, said in a short statement.

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Spinal Tap takes off the wigs

Twenty-five years ago, America discovered "one of England’s loudest bands," courtesy of documentarian Marty DiBergi and his film, "This Is Spinal Tap." It was all parody — DiBergi was director Rob Reiner, and cohorts Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer played the heavy-metal musicians in Spinal Tap — but for a fictional band, Spinal Tap has had a long afterlife. The film gave birth to several catchphrases, including one — “up to 11” — that’s made it into the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. There are Web sites devoted to the Tap, including at least one, http://tap-albums.s5.com/, that offers a complete discography of the fictional band’s nonexistent albums.

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