Will Forte is leaving his gig as a “Saturday Night Live” castmember after bringing the laughs for eight seasons on NBC’s late-night sketch-comedy show. The comedian’s rep confirmed Forte’s exit to MTV News.

“After eight great seasons, Will has made the decision to move on from SNL to pursue new opportunities,” his rep said in a statement. “He is eternally grateful to [executive producer] Lorne [Michaels] and all of the incredible people he worked with over the years.”

Forte has played a host of characters throughout his “SNL” career and is perhaps best known for his bumbling action star MacGruber, a thinly veiled send-up of the ’80s action TV character MacGyver who came up with ingenious ways to slip out of sticky situations. A movie version of the popular sketch hit theaters in May and Forte told MTV News that he wasn’t sweating any pressure to live up to “SNL” sketch-turned-silver-screen smashes like “The Blues Brothers” or “Wayne’s World.”

“The ‘SNL’ track record is about the same as the movies-in-general track record,” Forte said. “There are a lot of crappy movies out there and a lot of great movies. Sure, there has been some ‘SNL’-based movies that have sucked; there have been some great ones.”

While Forte built upon the winning formula of MacGruber, he also said he wasn’t concerned with slavishly replicating the minutes-long sketch on the big screen. Instead, the former television producer and writer, who honed his comedic chops behind the scenes on shows such as “3rd Rock From the Sun,” was more focused on creating a hilarious experience for theatergoers.

“We weren’t worried about the ‘SNL’ aspect of the movie,” Forte said. “We just tried to make the best movie we could.”

What are some of your favorite memories of Will Forte on “SNL”? Let us know in the comments below!

will forte

Backpacks are available almost everywhere when the back to school shopping frenzy begins and you can find inexpensive backpacks in drugstores, supermarkets, discount stores and department stores. Sometimes you can even find them in craft stores, for decorating yourself. Sporting goods stores, luggage and leather stores also sell a lot of backpacks, but these are generally more expensive. You can get backpacks for as little as $10.00 all the way up to well over $200.00, this price range, is for backpacks that young children up to college level use for book bags. If you want packs for camping or serious hiking, you can expect to pay much more. Here we will deal with backpacks that are generally used by students of all ages. With very young children who don’t really need a backpack, but who want them because they’ve seen one with Spider Man or Barbie, or because their older sibling has one. Sometimes nursery schools will allow a child to bring a pack to school with their “lovey” in it, and others will not allow them. For this age and purpose an inexpensive character backpack would be fine, in fact this type of bag might even work through first grade. After that, you will need to find a bigger, sturdier backpack, that can hold textbooks, workbooks, papers, crayons, and pencils, plus whatever else your daughter decides to bring to school.   You can still find inexpensive backpacks for the older children. The question is, are they safe and back friendly?  Many America children above the 2nd grade level, carry backpacks that weigh as much as 1/4 of their body weight. Because of this, Pediatricians, Orthopedists and parents are seeing an increasing  number of  complaints about back, neck and shoulder pain as well as numbness in the arm and hands, which can not be attributed to anything other than too heavy, improperly worn backpacks. Some experts say that a child can safely carry 20% of their body weight, but most recommend no more than 10-15% of the child’s body weight. Doesn’t sound so bad does it? But for a 50 pound child that is 7and 1/2 pounds bouncing against her back, every day morning and evening, which can cause repetitive impact injury. Another problem is that narrow unpadded shoulder straps, can dig into the shoulder causing pain, numbness and tingling in the hands and arms. Can these problems be solved? Yes if you get your child the right backpack and insist that she wear it properly. At the very least you should get a backpack that has wide padded shoulder straps, padded back and a waist belt. This belt helps to stabilize the load and keeps the pack from bouncing against the back. These packs are more expensive than the ones most kids carry but well worth the extra money. You can get one from a well known reputable company, for about $60.00 which isn’t as bad as it sounds, These bags are made of very durable material, have the basic safe backpack features, and have a lifetime warranty. If a zipper breaks, you send it back and the company will replace or repair it. There are additional features on some backpacks that add to the price of the pack. Some of these bags come with chest and side straps that help in stabilizing the load and also distribute the weight of the load across the back and abdominal muscles, the two strongest muscle systems in the body. These added features can add significantly to the cost of the backpack. My advice is to get the best you can afford and definitely get one that has at least the waist strap. If you do a web search, you can  often find a wholesaler for these back packs, which can actually make this backpack inexpensive in reality.

Laptop backpacks are very practical and functional carriers.  They are the perfect option for business people who travel extensively, researchers, employees and students. Backpacks offer greater versatility and more storage facilities.  Also, they are available in different shapes, colors and designs to choose from.  Since, lot of money is spent on buying laptops, enough care should be taken while carrying them.  Laptop backpacks are the ideal solution, as it is the best way of carrying a laptop.  The most important aspect while selecting a laptop backpack is the comfort factor.  If the backpack makes it easy and comfortable to carry a laptop, the people may not care about other features of the backpack.  Look for the backpack manufacturer who has taken comfort as an important consideration like providing variety of choices in wearing the straps etc.The next important thing about the backpack is the padding.  Since the back pack carries valuable laptop it should to some extent guard the laptop in it.  Accidents are possible since the laptops in backpacks are subject to mobility and portability.  The purchaser should be sure enough to get a backpack which has enough padding material to protect the laptop from accidents.Apart from the comfort and protection offered by the backpacks, it should be in a position to handle wear and tear for a longer period of time.  The workmanship of the backpack is also very important as it has to be carried anywhere and everywhere.There are lots of changes happening everyday, so are the changes in the accessories of the laptops.  The backpack manufacturers should keep the changes happening in mind and produce backpacks with extra pockets or compartments so that it becomes easy to carry the laptops along with their accessories.Due to the great demand for laptop backpacks, manufacturers are taking their business seriously and are trying to satisfy the needs of the customers by introducing various varieties of backpacks.  Now there are back packs which are made up of water resistant outer cover, also there are back packs which can withstand shock by forwarding shock absorption padding.A back pack is good only if it fits properly.  An ill fitting backpack can cause pain and injury to the back of the person carrying it, which can be short term or long term.  Some tips for proper fit are given below:While buying a back pack, make sure that it has wide and padded shoulder straps as thinner straps can be less comfortable.  Also the straps need to be a little long incase the person carrying it is very tall.  The weight carried in the back pack should not exceed 15% of the weight of the person, as the posture of the person can change owing to extra load resulting in a back pain or injury.  The back packs should not be worn very high on the back as it can increase the neck and shoulder pain.  Also care has to be taken so that the backpack rests correctly above the hip bones. A hip belt reduces the bounce and keeps it in a comfortable position. It also distributes the weight load evenly.  Both the shoulder straps should be used for comfortability.

Toyota is recalling 1.1 million Corollas and Corolla Matrixes sold in North America because improperly manufactured electronic control modules could, in limited instances, cause the engines to stall while the cars are moving.

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Laurent Belsie

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Here are six things owners should know about the latest Toyota recall:

1. What cars are affected?

The Toyota recall involves Corollas and Corolla Matrixes from the 2005-08 years. The company has not yet released which vehicle identification numbers (VINs) are affected.

2. What’s wrong?

Certain electronic control modules, which make up the car’s computer, can develop a crack along solder points or on the component itself. In most instances, the worst that would occur would be a check-engine warning light, harsh shifting conditions, or an engine that wouldn’t start, the company said in a release.

More worrying is that sometimes the engine can stall, the company warned. “In limited instances, if cracking occurs on particular solder points or varistors, the engine could stop while the vehicle is being driven.”

Usually, the check-engine light or harsh shifting will warn drivers before an engine-stall happens, but not necessarily always, Toyota said. The defect allegedly has led to at least three unconfirmed accidents, one of which involved a minor injury.

3. When will the recall start?

In mid-September, Toyota will begin sending letters to owners about the problem. But replacement parts aren’t yet available. When they are, the company will send another letter notifying owners to schedule a trip to the dealer.

4. What if I’m having that trouble with my car now?

Toyota suggests contacting your local dealer or Toyota customer service at 800-331-4331.

5. How long will the actual repair take and will it cost me?

The repair should take about 40 minutes. It is free.

6. How many vehicles has Toyota recalled in the past year?

With this latest action, the automaker has recalled about 11 million vehicles worldwide since November, when Toyota determined that floor-mats were causing accelerators to stick.

toyota recall

Were you thinking of flying somewhere for the holidays? If you were, you may have changed your mind as soon as you looked up the airfare for the trip. While holiday travel is always expensive, this year it has completely gone through the roof.It’s a combination of factors that have caused the problem. Part of it is high gas prices. Another part of it is that the airlines are struggling in tough economic times and therefore increasing fees and making cuts anywhere they can.If you are like a lot of people, this may have priced you right out of a ticket, or so you thought. This is when you need to get better acquainted with the best airline mile credit cards.Airline mile credit cards are literally cards that offer rewards in the form of miles on airlines. Once you get to a certain number of miles, you can redeem them for a free flight.While you may be thinking there is no way you would have enough time to sign up and save up enough miles to get a flight for the holidays, you need to have faith. Many of the best airline mile credit cards have great incentives to start using them. Some offer first time users 10,000 miles or more just for signing up. Others offer bonuses to purchase items through their partner vendors and almost all of them offer bonus points for booking a flight through them.Once you start using the card, you may be amazed at how quickly the miles can add up.Learn the PerksThe best way to see those free tickets come faster from the best airline mile credit cards is to know how to get bonus miles. All airline mile credit cards have bonus mile offerings. It could be from using their partner companies, taking advantage of special offers or any of a number of other things. Don’t spend where you don’t need to, but if there are things you were going to purchase that you could get extra miles by using the card, use it.Partial Free FaresIf you get closer to the holidays and have not been able to rack up enough miles for a complete free trip, see if you can still get a partial discount. Many airline mile credit cards will allow you to cash in miles for one half of a trip and then you can pay for the other half. This could cut your travel costs in half.