"Saturday Night Live's" ratings have reaped the rewards

of a crazy and unpredictable political season, delivering

the show's biggest audience in eight years.
Yet any high fives over the NBC program's commerce -- with ratings most primetime shows
would envy -- should be mitigated by its art, which has lagged behind other satirical
showcases. By that measure, "SNL" has capitalized on this political moment without raising
its game creatively to meet it.
It's telling that the most-buzzed-about aspect of "SNL's" initial episodes has rightfully been a
temporary asset: Alec Baldwin's portrayal of Donald Trump, showcased in a series of opens
devoted to the presidential debates.
A gift from the comedy gods, those segments have been particularly funny because they were
as much reenactments as parody, with Kate McKinnon also shining in her role as Hillary
Clinton.
With these episodes timed to leverage the campaign, millions have turned to the franchise for
its take. Beyond that, though, the initial flurry of telecasts has been largely forgettable,
squandering the chance to set up "SNL" in a way that would stoke enthusiasm for what
comes once the election ends.
Admittedly, hand-wringing about "Saturday Night Live" not living up to the good ol' days
has become a popular sport through the years, and the show is still standing -- indeed,
thriving -- in its fifth decade.
Related: 'Saturday Night Live' takes on the final presidential debate
But the juxtaposition of last week's final debate-related episode with "SNL" alumnus Bill
Murray receiving the Mark Twain Prize for humor -- an event PBS will televise Oct. 28 --
feels like a referendum on the comedy plateau that the show isn't reaching, at least with any
regularity.
The trend on "SNL" has instead tilted toward the surreal, or the simply silly. Too many of the
early sketches feel like the kind of stuff viewers used to see in the last half-hour, while the
closing third has become especially weird -- witness the spoof of "Who's Afraid of Virginia
Woolf?" with hamsters during the Oct. 15 episode hosted by Emily Blunt.
Veteran host Tom Hanks upped the show's game a bit, including the very funny "Black
Jeopardy" sketch. And while there was a charming goofiness to the "haunted elevator" bit --
with the internet lighting up over Hanks' bizarrely clad David S. Pumpkins -- like so many of
even the better sketches, the idea was pretty well exhausted before it was over.
The show's other signature component, "Weekend Update," is in good hands with Michael
Che and Colin Jost. Still, even that has felt eclipsed by the election material peppered
throughout the week from Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Samantha Bee, Bill Maher and John
Oliver -- a programming expansion that "SNL" has weathered ratings-wise while looking
diminished creatively.
 Kim Kardashian west thieves “weren’t there for jewels”

(CNN)The concierge who was held at gunpoint with Kim Kardashian West has revealed
more details about the robbery.

The hotel employee who goes by Abdulrahman sat down with "Entertainment Tonight" to
share details about the daring heist on October 3 in Paris. A group of men surprised him and
the reality star, making off with millions of dollars' worth of jewelry from Kardashian West.
"They weren't there for jewels at first; they were there for money," Abdulrahman told the
show.
Kardashian West was bound on that terrifying night and has since greatly reduced her social
media presence and public outings.
Missing Kim Kardashian on social media
There had been speculation that a 20-carat diamond ring she showed off on her social media
accounts had prompted the heist.
But Abdulrahman said that for the robber communicating with them it "was just a ring I
think. He didn't stop asking for money."
"(The robber) ... doesn't understand English, and also she didn't understand French, and the
guy was asking for money, money, money," he said. "She believed that they were there for
her ring. She showed her hand ... there is no ring, and the guy is like, 'Where is the ring?' At
the moment she gave him her ring -- it was on a table close to the floor -- she gave her ring to
the guy ... and he put it in his pocket."
Pocketing the massive diamond didn't stop the thief from demanding money.
"He put the jewels in his (backpack) and he left the bag open, that is why he lost some jewels
and the gold in the hotel," Abdulrahman said.
Police continue to investigate, but there have been no arrests.
 Clinton campaign wages new war against James
Comey
(CNN)Hillary Clinton on Saturday questioned FBI Director James Comey's decision to write
to congressional leaders about emails uncovered in the bureau's probe into Anthony Weiner,
saying the timing of such a move was "unprecedented" and "deeply troubling."

"It's pretty strange to put something like that out with such little information right before an
election," Clinton told supporters in Daytona Beach, Florida, where the crowd booed at the
mention of Comey's letter. "In fact, it's not just strange, it's unprecedented and it's deeply
troubling because voters deserve to get full and complete facts."
Clinton called on Comey to swiftly release more information, saying he must "explain
everything right away, put it all right on the table."
Clinton also swiped at Republican rival Donald Trump, saying he's "doing his best to
confuse, mislead and discourage the American people" over the issue.
"Of course, Donald Trump is already making up lies about this," Clinton said.
The Democratic nominee's comments here marked an escalation in the Clinton campaign's
full-out war against Comey in the final 10 days of the election.
Earlier in the day, just hours after Comey made the stunning announcement on Friday that the
FBI is examining newly unveiled emails that appear to be "pertinent" to the now-closed
investigation into Clinton's private server, top campaign officials unleashed a blistering attack
on the FBI director, accusing him of being irresponsibly "light on facts" and "heavy on
innuendo."
On a conference call with reporters, Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta accused
Comey of failing to be "forthcoming with the facts." Podesta blasted both the timing and
contents of the letter Comey sent to congressional leaders on Friday, summing the director's
actions as "providing selective information."
Campaign manager Robby Mook echoed Podesta's call for more information from Comey
and suggested that the FBI has now waded into political territory.
"The Justice Department's longstanding practice is: Don't do anything seen as trying to
influence an election," Mook said. "It's completely unfair to Secretary Clinton and it's really
unfair to the voters."
'Hillary's not going to be distracted'
The sharp criticism marked an extraordinary rebuke of the head of an agency historically
known for its political independence. And it guarantees that Comey -- already a polarizing
presence for his role in probing Clinton's email use as secretary of state -- will be a central
political figure in the election's final days.
As Clinton prepared to fly to Florida for a two-day swing through the battleground state,
Podesta was defiant: "We're not going to be distracted and Hillary's not going to be distracted
in the final days of this election over nothing."
Both Podesta and Mook emphasized the possibility that the emails that the FBI is now
examining -- uncovered as part of the bureau's investigation into Clinton aide Huma Abedin's
estranged husband, Anthony Weiner -- may not reveal new information.
"Reports indicate that many of these emails are likely to be duplicates," Podesta said. "It's in
fact entirely possible all the emails in question are just that -- duplicates."
Donald Trump continued to trumpet the news at a campaign stop in Golden, Colorado,
Saturday afternoon, wondering if Clinton would keep Abedin as an adviser.
"Huma's been a problem," Trump said. "I wonder if Huma's going to stay there. I hope they
haven't given Huma immunity because it seemed that everybody that walked down the
sidewalk got immunity. She knows the real story. She knows what's going on."
Abedin, one of Clinton's closest confidantes, regularly travels with Clinton and was with the
candidate on Friday when the FBI news broke. However, Abedin was notably absent on
Saturday as Clinton traveled to Florida.
Comey was sworn in as FBI director in 2013 for a 10-year term. That means if Clinton were
to win in November, Comey would serve under her administration unless she chose to
remove him.
A Clinton aide later said Saturday that Clinton took the FBI news "like a champ." The aide
added that Clinton and her top aides were well aware that the last two weeks of the campaign
would not be entirely smooth and that Clinton's reaction reflected that.
"She is in a good state of mind," the aide added.
Sudden turn
The new attacks on Comey are a sudden turn for Clinton's campaign, which sang the FBI
director's praises for his initial findings in the Clinton email case.
Clinton aides, in conversations with reporters and in statements, highlighted the fact that
Comey was a Republican known for his fierce independence, touting him -- and his
investigators -- as career professionals. Surrogates were told to highlight Comey's testimony
to Congress and note his political affiliation and track record.
In an interview on CNN's "Situation Room" in July, Clinton press secretary Brian Fallon
went after Republicans for criticizing Comey after the FBI concluded it would not press
criminal charges against Clinton.
"It seems they were disappointed with the outcome of the FBI investigation so they decided
to put the director in a hot seat and second-guess his decision," Fallon said at the time. "I
think it is a bad look for House Republicans to be second-guessing a career prosecutor who is
a registered Republican, No. 2 official at the Justice Department under George Bush and was
even deputy council on the committee investigating the Clintons in the 1990s."
Ironically, the Clinton campaign now finds itself voicing similar concerns as some
Republicans when it comes to the FBI's handling of emails uncovered in its Weiner
investigation.
Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, an outspoken Trump supporter, wrote on Twitter
Saturday: "If there are really more than 10,000 emails in the weiner-Abedin computer the FBI
should release all Monday. Americans have a right to know," he wrote.
Gingrich added: "We should not be forced to vote with ten thousand or more emails still
hidden by the FBI. John Podesta and Hillary Clinton are right."
 Microsoft goes after Apple users with sleek Surface

desktop
Microsoft aims to lure designers away from Apple with
its new Surface desktop computer.
The company showed off a collection of shiny new tech products Wednesday
morning ahead of the holiday shopping season.
As expected, Microsoft (MSFT, Tech30) debuted an all-in-one Surface PC called
Surface Studio ($2,999), which has a strong focus on creativity. It's clear the
company wants users to start thinking of its products as more than just productivity
tools.
While the tech giant has launched tablets and laptops under the Surface branding,
this is the first time its landed on a desktop computer. Surface Studio includes a
hinge that lets you tinker with the display angle and supports touchscreen and
stylus capabilities -- similar to what's already standard for other Surface products.

Microsoft said its 28-inch display is the thinnest LCD monitor ever made at 12.5
mm. The computer comes with a powerful four-core i7 chip, 2TB hard drive, an
HD camera and 13.5 million pixels -- more than double that of a 4K TV. There's
also a built-in microphone that lets you talk to its voice-assistant software Cortana
from across the room.
Microsoft Studio will be available in limited quantities for the holidays, but the
company didn't specify a launch date.

Microsoft
's Surface Studio desktop
The news comes one day before Apple hosts its Mac-centric product launch in San
Francisco, where we'll likely see a new MacBook Pro and possibly an updated
iMac desktop.
To compliment the Surface Studio, Microsoft introduced an accessory called the
Surface Redial that "turns your desk into a studio." The circular device responds to
touch and works alongside the Surface Pen stylus. After tapping it, it's possible to
rewind your progress, whether it's typed text or a drawing, and adjust colors in real
time.
Meanwhile, in a surprise announcement, Microsoft also introduced the Surface
Book i7. The laptop comes with 30% more battery life than its previous Surface
Book -- about 16 hours of battery life on a single charge. The company says it has
three times the graphics performance of the 13-inch MacBook Pro. Priced at
$2,399, the device starts shipping in November.
But there's a lot more coming from Microsoft than just hardware. The company
also unveiled its next-generation Windows software -- called Windows 10 Creator
Update -- which has a greater focus on creativity. It also touts virtual reality,
augmented reality and 3D support.
The update will be available to all Windows users next year. According to the
company, more than 400 million people currently use Windows 10.
Related: Nintendo Switch console looks like the future of gaming
To start, it revealed an updated version of its iconic Microsoft Paint. Microsoft
Paint 3D lets you take photos of physical objects on your smartphone and upload it
to the platform. From there, you'll be able to customize the images in 3D and print
them out.
The company is also throwing a 3D option into PowerPoint, so you can spin
pictures of objects on screen during a presentation. An upgrade to the Microsoft
Edge browser will support 3D, too
 
✔@LanceUlanoff
The operating system is also getting more social. It's adding a tool to make sharing
articles, pictures and messages easier. You'll be able to add your most important
contacts to your desktop, and Microsoft will filter your Mail and Skype messages
according to what it thinks you'll want first.
Microsoft also announced a new collection of VR headsets, starting at $299, from a
series of partners like HP (HPQ), Dell, Lenovo, Acer and Asus. Few details were
revealed about the products, but they'll be available next year.
The company spent an ample amount of time on stage highlighting its vision for
the future of gaming. As a part of Windows 10 Creator Update (via its Xbox app),
users will broadcast the games they're playing in real time -- a move that takes on
popular gaming network Twitch.
 20 boyfriends and 20 iPhones: How one Chinese woman
bought a house

Buying a house is generally seen as one of most costly purchases one can make. It's
especially true in China, where house prices continue to rise.

Given what a the challenge it can be to get on the property ladder in the country, it's probably
no surprise that Chinese social media was buzzing with one particular property story last
week.

It started when a blog was published on the popular blogging platform the Tian Ya Yi Du
forum, by a person writing under the pseudonym 'Proud Qiaoba'.

Proud Qiaoba penned a tale that, if we hadn't been able to verify it ourselves, would seem like
the plot of a pretty average airport romance novel.

The lead character in Proud Qiaoba's account is a colleague, whom Chinese media have
dubbed 'Xiaoli' (not her real name).

Xiaoli, a woman from the city of Shenzhen in southern China, asked each of her 20 current
boyfriends to buy her a newly launched iPhone 7. She then sold all of the phones to a mobile
phone recycling site called Hui Shou Bao for 115,010 Chinese yuan (about £14,000), and
used the money to put down a deposit on a house in the countryside.

Proud Qiaoba wrote in the blog post that when Xiaoli showed her new house to their group of
friends, they were all very surprised when she revealed how she had managed to obtain the
money for the deposit.

"Everyone in the office is talking about this now," wrote Proud Qiaoba, "Who knows what
her boyfriends think now this news has become public."

Proud Qiaoba added that Xiaoli "is not from a wealthy family. Her mum is a housewife and
her dad is a migrant worker, and she is the oldest daughter. Her parents are getting old and
she might be under a lot pressure hoping to buy them a house... But it's still unbelievable that
she could use this method!"
Many people on China's microblogging site Sina Weibo have been expressing their surprise
at Xiaoli's enterprise and quick work in convincing her 20 lovers to each buy her the latest in
Apple's mobile coterie - particularly since the iPhone 7 was only recently launched, on 16
September of this year,

A hashtag which translates as '20 mobiles for a house' quickly began to circulate on Weibo,
and became the country's top trend. It has now been used in excess of 13 million times.

Many social media users, like 'small sand is growing', have expressed admiration for Xiaoli.

"I can't even find one boyfriend. She can actually find 20 boyfriends at the same time and
even get them to buy her an iPhone 7. Just want to ask her to teach me such skills."

Another, 'TST' praised her enterprising nature, saying that she has "a bright future."

But others haven't been so complimentary.

'Little Bee' wrote that Xiaoli was "the most shameless person".

Others were suspicious and wondered if the whole story was an elaborate product placement
for Hui Shou Bao, the mobile phone recycling business.

BBC Trending approached Hui Shou Bao and a company spokesperson confirmed that they
had indeed purchased 20 iPhones from a female client at the beginning of October and paid
5,750 Chinese yuan (about £700) for each one.

We put in a request to interview Xiaoli through the company. They responded to our email
saying that they had asked their client if she would like to speak to us, but she had declined.

"Her day-to-day life has been affected (from the local media attention) and she doesn't want
the media to continue covering this story," they said, "so she has turned down your interview
request."
 Long associated with monsters and mad scientists, the
spooky ruins of Castle Frankenstein are home to one of
the country’s biggest Halloween parties.

Monsters, mad scientists and macabre experiments may be what’s evoked when someone
says “Frankenstein”, but the German name has a history stretching back centuries before
Mary Shelley wrote her famous novel.

With “Frank” being an ancient Germanic tribe and “Stein” meaning stone, many places in
Germany share this moniker. But the place most associated with Shelley’s novel is Castle
Frankenstein, seated 400m above the Rhine Valley within the Odenwald, a tree-lined
mountain range in southern Germany. Overlooking the city of Darmstadt, the 13th-century
hilltop castle has long been shrouded in folklore and myth.

Shrouded in folklore, the Castle Frankenstein overlooks the city of Darmstadt (Credit: allOver
images / Alamy Stock Photo)

Alchemy and anatomy at work

No resident was more notorious than Johann Conrad Dippel. Born in the castle in 1673, he
eventually became its official alchemist. Dippel dabbled in elixirs and experiments seeking
the secret to immortality. Frequently experimenting with animal cadavers, he created
“Dippel’s Oil” made of a distillation of horns, blood, leather and ivory. He claimed the
black concoction was the “elixir of life” and could be used to cure everything from epilepsy
to the common cold.

After falling into ruin in the 1700s, the castle was restored in the mid-19th Century (Credit:
Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

While there’s no evidence that he actually performed Frankenstein-like experiments on

human cadavers, Dippel had a strong interest in anatomy and he wrote about his belief in the
ability to transfer the soul from one corpse to another with the use of a funnel, hose and
lubricant.  

Dippel died of a stroke in 1734 (just one year after publishing a claim he would live to 135),
but many speculate he was poisoned, a punishment for his unpopularity with the locals.
The medieval castle maintains a Gothic architecture look (Credit: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via
Getty Images)

The ruins behind the literary legend

Rumours persist that the Brothers Grimm shared Dippel’s dark history with Shelley’s
stepmother, who was an English translator of fairy tales. Shelley herself was travelling
through the Rhine region near the castle in 1814, four years before Frankenstein was
published, but she never claimed the castle or Dippel as a direct inspiration.

Castle Frankenstein annually hosts events leading up to, during and after Halloween (Credit:
STOCKFOLIO® / Alamy Stock Photo)
This hasn’t stopped visitors to the castle from immersing themselves in the legend. The
castle fell into ruin in the 1700s, but was restored (if historically inaccurately) in the mid-
19th Century, with the two prominent pointed towers taking on a Romantic-inspired Gothic
architecture look that was popular at the time. Still, the stones of the lower walls and parts
of the original drawbridge remain intact, and the well-marked forest trails around the ruin
provide plenty of fodder for folklore.

A haunted American import

Finding a fright at Castle Frankenstein gets a little bit easier every October, when the
spooky ruins host one of Germany’s biggest Halloween parties.

This year the party will honour the 200th anniversary of Mary Shelley’s completion of
Frankenstein (Credit: dpa picture alliance / Alamy Stock Photo)

After World War II, US troops were stationed at the nearby Rhein Mein Air Base. After
their annual Halloween celebrations became a bit too rowdy for the barracks, in 1978 the
soldiers moved their party to Castle Frankenstein – and the tradition has stuck ever since.
The festival has grown over the years to be one of Europe’s largest Halloween celebrations,
especially as Germany hasn’t traditionally celebrated the event.

To mark the 200th anniversary of Shelley’s finishing her manuscript of her famous monster,
the castle has chosen the classic Frankenstein story as its theme this year, complete with
mad scientists, grave robbing and creepy experiments. Ticketsare available from 21
October through 6 November.
Although open to the public, the castle is relatively quiet aside from Halloween (Credit: Boris
Stroujko / Alamy Stock Photo)

The rest of the year, the medieval castle remains a relatively quiet place to visit, accessible
by a tree-lined, windy road. Open to the public, admission and parking are free, and an on-
site restaurant (open from March to December) offers German classics like
schnitzel alongside more contemporary options like vegan bratwurst – as well as
regular Horror Dinners for those who prefer their Frankenstein with a scare on the side.

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