TheTodayNews.com

The newest hit movie from a book series will probably be “Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief”, to be released February 12.

We’re guessing the movie will create a resurgence of interest in the old Greek Olympian gods. (Zeus, Apollo, etc.)

Who is our favorite Olympian god? That would be Hermes (aka Mercury). As the patron of travelers, wit, athletics and cunning, he pretty much fits TheTodayNews.com staff to a tee!

Todays winner, er loser, in the “I Waited Too Long” category is Charlize Theron’s longtime boyfriend Stuart Townsend.

After nine years of dating with only a “commitment ring” (whatever that is) to show for it, Charlize dumped the Irish actor following a Christmas vacation in Mexico.

Fans of the 1980’s Japanese anime series “Star Blazers” will be happy to hear there is a live-action movie scheduled for release titled “Space Battleship Yamato”. Takuya Kimura will play Susumu Kodai (aka Derek Wildstar) in the 2010 movie.

Click on this link for the teaser movie trailer.

Better brush up on your Japanese to get the full enjoyment though, as it is a Japanese production properly titled “Uchû Senkan Yamato”. Expect a version with English subtitles to at least appear on DVD.

Television chef Jamie Oliver broke down in tears of frustration while filming his new series “Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution USA”, which aims to reform the eating habits of America’s fattest city, Huntington, West Virginia.

The residents of Huntington, over 50% of whom are obese, were blatantly uninterested in the chef’s healthy eating tips, and some residents were outwardly hostile to some of his suggestions.

When local schoolchildren were shown tomatoes hanging on a vine, they were unable to correctly identify the food.

Did they consider “tomater” a correct answer?

Makeup does wonders! This shot of 28-year-old pop superstar Brittney Spears sans makeup was taken after a workout at the Spectrum Sports Club in Thousand Oaks, California yesterday.

Conan O’Brien announced he would not participate in “The Tonight Show” franchise if the program is pushed back to a 12:05 time slot to accommodate Jay Leno’s questionable return to a 11:35 half-hour comedy show.

This presumably means Conan will jump to the Fox Network and host a late-night show in the traditional 11:35 time slot following local news.

O’Brien is no stranger to Fox; he was a writer and producer for “The Simpsons” from 1991-1993 during which time he wrote the classic episode “Marge vs. The Monorail”.

Will Conan take this opportunity to move back to New York as well?

Simon Cowell has announced he is leaving “American Idol” after this season to launch the American version of his musical reality talent show “X-Factor”.

Cowell, who already has judging duties on Britain’s “X-Factor” and “Britain’s Got Talent”, says he would have been stretched too thin if he tried to add the American “X-Factor” to his current continent-hopping workload which includes “American Idol”.

Fortunately, we at TheTodayNews.com don’t have to worry about getting Simon withdrawal; we’ll continue to get berated by a virtual Simon every time we sing on the Wii “American Idol” game!

Don’t let Matthew McConaughey’s romantic comedy movie roles fool you. As this photo of McConaughey chugging a Miller Lite during a 2010 BCS Championship tailgate party shows, he is a regular guy just like you or me. Except he has 6-pack abs. And he is a multimillionaire. OK, other than that he is a normal guy just like you and me…

A two-million-dollar anti-whaling activist boat, resembling The Bat-mobile and part of a fleet named after former The Price is Right host Bob Barker, decided that ramming a Japanese fishing boat twenty times it’s size (and made of metal as opposed to Bat-fiberglass) was a good way to draw attention to its cause.

The tactic apparently worked, as the video of the Bat-mobile smashing against the whaling boat like an egg thrown against the pavement has received international news coverage. But has the costly and dangerous stunt brought any new supporters to their cause? Probably not.