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Recreation and leisure

Smithsonian reopening in DC, no major storm damage
The Smithsonian Institution's museums and National Zoo are reopening in Washington after shutting their doors for two days because of superstorm Sandy
Man with bionic leg to climb Chicago skyscraper
Zac Vawter considers himself a test pilot. After losing his right leg in a motorcycle accident, the 31-year-old software engineer signed up to become ...
Review: 'Wreck-It' casts a wide and beguiling net
Guided by executive producer John Lasseter, Walt Disney Animation Studios has clearly devoted significant resources and talent to "Wreck-It Ralph," ...
Founding Father featured in popular new video game
Wars and video games seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly. But those games usually involve tanks and machine guns and Tet offensives; not ...
Coastal areas bear brunt of Sandy's damaging wrath
A string of New Jersey's barrier islands got cut off from the mainland by storm surges. Crashing waves shattered part of a landmark fishing pier in ...
Holiday gadgets: Microsoft phones, Google gadgets
Microsoft launched its new Windows phone system and Google unveiled new devices under its Nexus brand. Both part of an effort to grab more of ...
San Francisco gets ready for Giants' parade
For the second time in three years, San Francisco is gearing up for a ticker-tape parade to celebrate a World Series victory for the Giants. Plans for ...
Thousands gather at City Hall to celebrate Giants
They came from all corners of the region and screamed louder with each strike and every out in the bottom of the 10th inning as the San Francisco ...
Warsaw museum to celebrate Jewish life in Poland
The box-like glass building rises from soil marked by tragedy in the heart of Warsaw's former Jewish district. At certain angles, its luminous facade ...
Rock hall of fame in Cleveland honors Chuck Berry
Still rockin' at 86, music legend Chuck Berry promised a comeback Saturday with six new songs, some written 16 years ago. "And as soon as I can get ...
Amid dire forecast, Sandy a hurricane again
With much of the Eastern Seaboard in the path of a rare behemoth storm, residents of the nation's most densely populated corridor contemplated whether ...
'Fearless Felix' comes home to Austria
Supersonic skydiver Felix Baumgartner has finally come home after his death-defying, record-breaking leap from the edge of space. The Austrian former ...
GameStop to open seasonal stores for kids
GameStop plans to open about 80 holiday stores aimed at younger kids. The company said Friday that the GameStop Kids stores will open inside malls ...
Holiday gadgets: Microsoft phone, Google events
It's been a big week for tech gadgets. Microsoft started selling its Windows 8 operating system and Surface tablet computer. Apple announced new iPads ...
Early Inness work uncovered at Dallas art museum
An unsigned painting that has been in the Dallas Museum of Art's collection for more than eight decades and was long-believed to have been composed ...
Vast Broadway costume collection on display in Fla
Box by box they arrived, the once glittering costumes of Broadway legends and theatre memorabilia, now dirty, tattered and forgotten. There were ...
US returns 4,000 archaeological relics to Mexico
More than 4,000 archaeological artifacts looted from Mexico and seized in the U.S. have been returned to Mexican authorities in what experts say is ...
Looters strip Bulgaria of ancient treasures
On the banks of the Danube, in the northwest corner of Bulgaria, lie the remnants of an ancient Roman settlement called Ratiaria, host to a priceless ...
Soundtrack to history: 1878 Edison audio unveiled
It's scratchy, lasts only 78 seconds and features the world's first recorded blooper. The modern masses can now listen to what experts say is the ...
Clarkson grand marshal for pre-Fat Tues. parade
Pop star Kelly Clarkson will ride as celebrity grand marshal when the Krewe of Endymion parade rolls the Saturday before Fat Tuesday in 2013.
Voodoo adds tent camping to festival experience
The Voodoo Music + Arts Experience is bringing a European music festival experience to New Orleans with overnight tent camping and more ...
Holiday gadgets: Samsung launches Note II phone
Samsung Electronics Co. has been running ads touting its Galaxy S III phone as its "next big thing." Now it has something bigger. The S III released ...
Google cameras map Grand Canyon trails
Google and its street-view cameras already have taken users to narrow cobblestone alleys in Spain using a tricycle, inside the Smithsonian with a push ...
PSY and UN secretary-general praise each other
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says he is jealous of South Korean rapper PSY. The U.N. chief joked during a meeting with the rapper that he felt ...
Nintendo trims red ink, lowers forecast for year
Nintendo Co. narrowed its losses in the fiscal first half, but the Japanese game maker lowered its sales and profit forecasts for the full year ahead ...