The longest solar eclipse of the 21st century was witnessed at the crack of dawn by millions of Indians. People gathered on rooftops, planetariums, riverbanks and open grounds to watch this celestial spectacle. A total eclipse occurs every 123 years, when the moon passes between the sun and the earth, completely covering the entire face of the sun. The eclipse was expected to be clearly visible in many places including Surat, Bhopal, Varanasi, Taregna near Patna, and Dibrugarh in Assam. However, in the end, it could only clearly be seen in Varanasi and Dibrugarh.

“It’s a rare moment; I never thought I would see this in my life,” said Apoorv Prakash, a college student who traveled to Varanasi all the way from Delhi to view the total solar eclipse.

“Vehicles in the city had to use headlights as darkness fell suddenly for three minutes and 48 seconds (the duration of the eclipse),” Prakash said. “People were mesmerized. They were so shocked that they hugged each other and cheered when the eclipse began.”

Anubhav Kumar, a resident of Mumbai who had booked his air ticket a month in advance to travel to Varanasi to view this wonder of science said, “It was a life time opportunity. I am incredibly lucky to have seen the sight of the century.”

But people like Nishant Sinha and Pratima Kulkarni who traveled all the way from Bangalore to Taregana village near Patna, were disappointed as cloudy skies prevented them from witnessing the rare phenomenon.

Incidentally, it was at Taregna where the ancient astronomer Aryabhatta (or Aryabhatha, 476-550 AD) made detailed and accurate projections about solar and lunar eclipses.

But while thick clouds and heavy rains in various parts of India prevented people from viewing the eclipse in its entirety, residents of Kolkata witnessed a near total eclipse. “The experience was indescribable. As suddenly as it had begun, my first total solar eclipse was over,” Sunny Basu said.

The total phase of the eclipse lasted for about 6 minutes and 44 seconds, making it the longest eclipse of the century.
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China’s crackdown on social-networking sites began in March when Web users in the country found they could no longer visit YouTube, shortly after video appeared on the site purporting to show Chinese security officials mistreating Tibetans.

The blockages continued through the 20th anniversary on June 4 of the Tiananmen Square demonstrations and the recent ethnic riots in Xinjiang, with homegrown and overseas microblogging and photo-sharing sites among those targeted.

Although cutting off access to sites can often be traced to a specific trigger - such as the Tiananmen anniversary - experts say the fact that the sites are not coming back online shows that the harsh measures are part of a long-term strategy to pare back the power of the Internet and silence some voices finding expression here.

“I am especially pessimistic about this fall and next spring,” said Wen Yunchao, a well-known blogger based in Guangzhou in southern China. “I expect they will be more and more restrictive, because they have yet to come up with a good way to manage the Internet. They are aware that it has this great power and they are afraid of it.”

Digu and Zuosa, two Chinese Web sites that offer microblogging services similar to Twitter, were shut down for maintenance yesterday, notices on their home pages said. A Digu spokeswoman who would give only her surname, Zhang, said Digu was offline and would be down at least a week so it could be moved to a new server.

“It’s a sensitive period, so we are not in a rush to reopen it,” Zhang said.

Some Digu users had recently tried to post politically sensitive material to the site, she said, and the company was having to censor such content. She would not give any specific examples.

Zuosa employees did not respond to an e-mail seeking comment about the site’s closure.

Having two sites close the same day indicates pressure from authorities for them to shut down, said Wen, the blogger from Guangzhou. He said the timing was probably related to today’s 10-year anniversary of the banning of the Falun Gong spiritual movement.

“Maybe the Chinese government is concerned that the Falun Gong will use the occasion to spread some rumors or organize some kind of event via the Internet,” he said.

Also yesterday, the technology channels of the popular Sina and Netease Web portals were shut for about six hours, apparently because they had posted news about a corruption probe without clearance from state censors.

China has the world’s largest population of Internet users, more than 298 million, and the world’s most extensive system of Web monitoring and censorship. Despite those controls, the Internet’s role as a platform for sharing unofficial news and opinions has expanded rapidly.
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The Democrats have their best ever chance of ousting Prime Minister Taro Aso’s Liberal Democratic Party, ending a half-century of nearly unbroken rule by the conservative pro-business party.

Following are some Democratic Party names seen by political analysts as possible candidates for finance minister and other leading minds behind its economic policy:

MASAHARU NAKAGAWA, 59:

Nakagawa is the party’s current finance spokesman but sources at the party say the current “shadow cabinet” is largely symbolic and title holders, including Nakagawa, may not be in the cabinet in a Democrat-led government.

Nakagawa has said Japan should avoid buying U.S. government bonds denominated in dollars because of currency risk, and a Democratic Party government would continue to buy U.S. government bonds only if they were denominated in yen. [ID:nT239417]

EISUKE SAKAKIBARA, 68:

Known as “Mr Yen” for spearheading intervention in currency markets as a top finance ministry official in the 1990s, Sakakibara has recently called for a change in government.

He says drastic reforms would require breaking away with vested interests which he says have come to thrive after five decades of almost unbroken rule by the ruling LDP.

The Democrats tapped him as their candidate for finance minister in the 2003 election, when he was a professor at Keio University. Some media reports said Sakakibara was involved in drafting policy proposals for former party leader Ichiro Ozawa last year.

KATSUYA OKADA, 55 (turns 56 on July 14):

Some party officials say the post of finance minister may go to a veteran lawmaker Katsuya Okada, a policy expert with a “Mr Clean” image and the secretary general of the party.

Okada, a former trade ministry official, has said he wants the party to discuss how to tackle fiscal reform, including an increase in consumption tax, unlike Hatoyama, who has said the party should abandon such debate for now.

NAOTO KAN, 62:

Naoto Kan is another party veteran who, together with Democratic Party leader Yukio Hatoyama, founded the party a decade ago.
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MMA

Mixed Marital Arts is the fastest growing sport in the world, and the UFC is definitely a major reason for the recent popularity growth. The sport has grown so much that each pay-per-view event gained the Ultimate Fighting Championship over $19 million last year.

Trying to cash out on MMA’s popularity, THQ released the massively successful UFC 2009: Undisputed, and soon after, EA announced their own MMA title called EA Sports MMA. UFC president Dana White does not seem too happy about the title one bit.

Rumors have surfaced that White is threatening UFC fighters who sign on with EA Sports MMA will have their UFC contracts immediately terminated. This isn’t the first time White has released fighters who have not cooperated with his video game demands, however, releasing Jon Fitch in November after Fitch was hesitant to sign a lifetime contract to use his name and likeness in all future UFC games.

In other news sure to piss Dana White off, former UFC superstars Tim Sylvia and Randy Couture have both signed deals with EA’s game, and have publicly bashed the UFC and its fighters.

No wonder people love Mixed Martial Arts; tons of fighting in and out of “The Octagon.”
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Officials with France’s accident investigation bureau told reporters Wednesday the teams will be dedicated to finding the plane’s flight recorders and analyzing the history of the plane. However, they said they are not confident about finding the flight recorders deep in the Atlantic.

The head of the agency, Paul-Louis Arslanian, says there are no signs so far that the plane had problems before takeoff.

Military planes from France and Brazil have been sent to the wreckage of Air France Flight 447, found Tuesday in the south Atlantic. The big Airbus A-330 disappeared from radar early Monday, about four hours after taking off from Rio de Janeiro Sunday night on its way to Paris.

Brazilian search planes spotted airplane seats, metal parts, and a jet fuel slick floating about 1,000 kilometers off Brazil’s northeast coast. There was no trace of any survivors.

French investigators say an initial report into the crash is due at the end of the month.

The cause of the crash remains a mystery. Before it vanished from radar, the plane transmitted automatic signals reporting multiple failures in its electric and pressurization systems. Air traffic controllers heard no distress call or any other unusual message from the pilots, however.

The plane’s flight path took it across an equatorial zone where weather systems collide and often spawn severe thunderstorms. Modern airliners usually have no trouble passing through such weather conditions.

France is sending deep-diving, unmanned submarines to search for the jet’s flight data recorders. Estimates vary, but the ocean in the area where the plane went down is believed to be about 5,000 meters deep.
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The company today announced the ReachLocal Xchange, a platform that allows small business to advertise on a host of sitesrather than just major sites such as MSN, Yahoo and Google. As a result, different publishers will be able to compete for the $1,000 a month or so that ReachLocal’s thousands of advertisers each spend on average buying ad space online.

“There’s a flood of dollars moving online,” said Zorik Gordon, co-founder and CEO of ReachLocal. “This will cause an explosion of more ad opportunities for small businesses.”

He estimates that billions of dollars of local advertising are currently moving from the Yellow Pages and print publications to the online marketplace. ReachLocal will be able to help those advertise buy spots on sites such as Fox Audience Network and Ask Sponsored Listings, among 100 others.

“ReachLocal has done something potentially quite significant here, making local inventory more accessible to more marketers,” wrote Greg Sterling, founder of Sterling Market Intelligence, on his blog.

ReachLocal was launched in Encino of 2004 with the goal of making it easier for small businesses such as dentists, plumbers and car dealers to advertise online. Advertisers liked the idea — the business added 34 offices globally in 30 months. Venture capitalists liked it too: The company raised $55 million in a Series D round in 2007.
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In just about every major contaminated food scare, Minnesotans become sick by the dozens while few people in Kentucky and other states are counted among the ill.

Contaminated peanuts? Forty-two Minnesotans were reported sick compared with three Kentuckians. Jalapeño peppers last year? Thirty-one in Minnesota and two in Kentucky became ill. The different numbers arise because health officials in Kentucky and many other states fail to investigate many complaints of food-related sickness while those in Minnesota do so diligently, safeguarding not only Minnesotans but much of the rest of the country, as well.

Congress and the Obama administration have said that more inspections and new food production rules are needed to prevent food-related diseases, but far less attention has been paid to fixing the fractured system by which officials detect and stop ongoing outbreaks. Right now, uncovering which foods have been contaminated is left to a patchwork of more than 3,000 federal, state and local health departments that are, for the most part, poorly financed, poorly trained and disconnected, officials said.

The importance of a few epidemiologists in Minnesota demonstrates the problem. If not for the Minnesota Department of Health, the Peanut Corporation of America might still be selling salmonella-laced peanuts, Dole might still be selling contaminated lettuce, and ConAgra might still be selling dangerous Banquet brand pot pies — sickening hundreds or thousands more people.

In these and other cases, epidemiologists from Minnesota pinpointed the causes of food scares while officials in other states were barely aware that their residents were getting sick. From 1990 to 2006, Minnesota health officials uncovered 548 food-related illness outbreaks, while those in Kentucky found 18, according to an analysis of health records.

The surveillance system is vital because even with reforms intended to prevent outbreaks, food-related disease will remain among the most common sources of illness. One-quarter of the nation’s population is sickened every year by contaminated food, 300,000 are hospitalized and 5,000 die, and decades of steady improvements in the safety of the nation’s food supply have ended in recent years.

“The longer it takes you to nail an outbreak, the more people are going to get sick,” said Dr. David Acheson, associate commissioner for foods at the Food and Drug Administration. “And if it’s a pathogen that causes death, the more people are going to die.”

With states cutting back in the face of budget crises, disease surveillance is worsening, several officials said.

“Just $50 million spread over the entire country would make a huge difference,” said Dr. Timothy Jones, the state epidemiologist in Tennessee.

Take the case of Lauren Threlkeld, who went to a Kroger grocery store in Lexington, Ky., in August 2007 and bought a bag of Dole baby spinach contaminated with E. coli O157. She became violently ill with bloody diarrhea and was hospitalized for nearly a week.

When Ms. Threlkeld finally went home to recuperate in Madisonville, Ky., a county health worker called only to verify that she had fallen ill in another county. No one asked about the foods she had eaten or what might have made her so ill, she said. Later efforts by her lawyer pinpointed the source of her illness — far too late to help others avoid similar fates.

Dr. William D. Hacker, the public health commissioner in Kentucky, blamed tight budgets. “We have had a historically poor record of reporting” food-borne illnesses, Dr. Hacker said. “We are working hard to change our culture even with limited resources.”

In Minnesota and a few other states, victims of food-related illnesses tell very different stories. Sarah Kirchner of Belle Plaine, Minn., said health workers called her three separate times and spent hours discussing her children’s diet almost immediately after a laboratory test verified that one had fallen ill with salmonella. Officials in Minnesota traced the outbreak to peanut butter in part because of Ms. Kirchner’s responses.

“There is no question that some states take this far more seriously than others,” Dr. Acheson said.

Even when county and state health departments investigate, their methods often differ so greatly that federal officials have difficulty uncovering patterns. This leads to terrible delays.

“Everybody does things differently, even within many states,” Dr. Acheson said. “It’s a huge challenge.”

Some delay is inevitable. Most people sickened by food do not bother to see a doctor. Many of those who do are not asked to provide a stool sample, and when asked, some refuse.

When patients are willing, laboratories may not be. In Utah, for instance, only 18 of the state’s 1,388 medical laboratories process stool tests, said Dr. Pat Luedtke, director of the Utah public health laboratory. Well-meaning doctors who wish to send stool samples sometimes must pay the postage because insurers often refuse to pay for a test that largely serves a public health function; many doctors do not bother.

By the time public health officials notice that a growing number of such samples carry the same genetic fingerprint — a clear sign that a popular food is contaminated — weeks have passed. By then, victims’ memories of what they ate have faded. So rapid and thorough responses by health officials, a rarity in many states, are crucial.

“I’ve learned in the last few months that the real secret to our success is that we have urgency,” said Dr. Kirk Smith, supervisor of the food-borne diseases unit for the Minnesota Department of Health.

Dr. Acheson of the F.D.A. said federal authorities had been meeting with state health officials to seek ways to improve the surveillance system, including standardizing menu questionnaires and improving response times. But he said more federal financing was crucial.

Dr. Robert Tauxe, deputy director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s division of food-borne diseases, said the agency planned immediate investments “to increase the capacity of several health departments.”

Ruth Ann Merrick of Somerset, Ky., said she was still bitter about how her case was handled. She went with friends to a local Chinese restaurant on June 26, 2004. Within 45 minutes, she was vomiting so violently that she passed out and her heart stopped. After her husband performed C.P.R., she was taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, where she remained in intensive care for four days.

Although four of the eight people in her party were sickened, the state never investigated, she said.

“I thought I was going to die,” Ms. Merrick said.

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New York’s higher property taxes are going to take a bite out of your wallet - even if you don’t own property.

State regulators recommended Tuesday that Con Edison be allowed to hike electric rates by roughly 7%, with more than half of the $785 million increase caused by higher property taxes and assessments.

At the same time, the Rent Guidelines Board released its new study of landlords’ operating costs, which said the biggest single factor was an 11.7% property tax jump.

New York raised property taxes 7.5% at the start of the year to help balance its budget.

At the same time, the city also raised the assessed value of property to take into account the real estate boom.

For Con Edison, which is New York’s single biggest taxpayer, the annual property tax bill is now $1.1 billion a year - which state regulators are required to pass along to the utility’s customers.

“In this economy, the idea of raising rates is very distasteful, and it’s going to be very difficult for people right now,” Public Service Commission Chairman Garry Brown said.

Other costs driving the hike were pension contributions and interest payments for borrowing money - in addition to the higher costs of running an electric system.

The commission had not yet voted on the proposed rate increase as of noon, but Brown said it was considering forcing Con Ed to trim $25 million in various expenses as an austerity measure.

“These are really, really tough times, but we need to consider doing something for consumers,” Brown said.

At the Rent Guidelines Board, staffers said landlords’ costs for rent-stabilized buildings rose an estimated 4% last year, with property taxes the largest factor.

The second-largest factor was utility rates - including electricity bills and water bills, which rose 14.5% last year and are scheduled to rise 14% this year.

The 4% overall cost increase is less than last year’s, which is likely to mean lower rent increases this year for rent-stabilized tenants.

A year ago, landlords’ costs were estimated to rise 7.8% - leading to rent hikes of 4.5% on one-year leases and 8.5% on two-year leases.

“If the board follows its patterns, it unfortunately means that rent increases are going to be less,” said Jack Freund of the Rent Stabilization Association landlord lobby.

“That’s unfortunate,” he added, “and it’s going to put a squeeze on owners.”

Tenant advocate Michael McKee of Tenants PAC countered that the board’s methodology was flawed, and that other data show landlords’ profit margins increased last year.

“It’s totally invalid,” McKee said. “Operating costs have gone up - there’s no question about it. But the rent has gone up faster.”

The rent board will vote by the end of June on increases to take effect in October.
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Testosterone propionate, after Testosterone cypionate and enanthate, is the third injectable testosterone ester that needs to be described in detail. This makes sense because, unlike cypionate and enanthate, both of which are widely used and well-spread in Europe, proprionate is little noticed by most athletes. The reader will now certainly pose the question of why the characteristics of an apparently rarely used substance are described in detail. At a first glance this might seem a little unusual but when looking at this substance more closely, there are several reasons that become clear. Testosterone propionate is used on so few occasions in weightlifting, powerlifting, and bodybuilding not because it is ineffective. On the contrary, most do not know about propionate and its application potential. One acts according to the mottos “what you don’t know won’t hurt you” and “If others don’t use, it can’t be any good.” We do not want to go this far and call propionate the most effective testosterone ester-, however, in certain applications it is superior to enanthate, cypionate, and also undecanoate because it has characteristics which the common test-osterones do not have.

The main difference between propionate, cypionate, and enanthate is the respective duration of effect. In contrast to the long-acting enanthate and cypionate depot steroids, propionate has a distinctly lower duration of effect. The reader learns how long this time is from the package insert of the German Jenapharm GmbH for their compound “Testosteron Jenapharm” (see list with trade ‘names): “Testosterone proprionate has a duration of effect of I to 2 days.” An eye-catching difference, however, is that the athlete “draws” distinctly less water with propionate and visibly lower water retention occurs. Since propionate is quickly effective, often after only one or two days, the athlete experiences an increase of his training energy, a better pump, an increased appe-tite, and a slight strength gain. As an initial dose most athletes pre-fer a 50-100 mg injection. This offers two options: First, because of the rapid initial effect of the propionate-ester one can initiate a sev-eral-weeklong steroid treatment with Testosterone enanthate. Those who cannot wait until the depot steroids become effective inject 250 mg of Testosterone enanthate and 50 mg of Testosterone propionate at the beginning of the treatment. After two days, when the effect of the propionates decreases, another 50 mg ampule is injected. Two days after that, the elevated testosterone level caused by the propi-onate begins to decrease. By that time, the effect of the enanthates in the body would be present; no further propionate injections would be necessary. Thus the athlete rapidly reaches and maintains a high testosterone level for a long time due to the depot testo. This, for example, is important for athletes who with Anadrol 50 over the six-week treatment have gained several pounds and would now like to switch to testosterone. Since Anadrol 50 begins its “breakdown” shortly after use of the compound is discontinued, a fast and el-evated testosterone level is desirable. The second option is to take propionate during the entire period of intake. This, however, requires a periodic injection every second day. Best results can be obtained with 50-100 mg per day or every sec-ond day. The athlete, as already mentioned, will experience visibly lower water retention than with the depot testosterones so that propionate is well-liked by bodybuilders who easily draw water with enanthate. A good stack for gaining muscle mass would be, for example, 100 mg Testosterone propionate every 2 days, 5p mg Winstrol Depot every 2 days, and 30 mg Dianabol/day. Propionate is mainly used in the preparation for a competition and used by female athletes. And in this phase, dieting is often combined with, testosterone to maintain muscle mass and muscle density at their maximum. Propionate has always proven effective in this regard since it fulfills these requirements while lowering possible water retention. This water retention can be tempered by using Nolvadex and Proviron. A combination of 100 mg Testosterone propionate every 2 days, either 50 mg Winstrol Depot/day or 76 mg Parabolan every 2 days, and 25 mg Oxandrolone/day help achieve this goal and are suitable for building up “quality muscles.”

Women especially like propionate since, when applied properly, an-drogenic-caused side effects can be avoided more easily The trick is to increase the time intervals between the various injections so that the testosterone level can fall again and so there is an accumulation of androgens in the female organism. Women therefore take propi-onate only every 5-7 days and obtain remarkable results with it. The, androgenic effect included in the propionate allows better regeneration without virilization symptoms for hard-training women. The dosage is usually 25-50 mg/injection. Higher dosages and more frequent intervals of intake would certainly show even better re-sults but are not recommended for women. The duration of intake should not exceed 8-10 weeks and can be supplemented by taking mild and mostly anabolic steroids such as, for example, Primobolan, Durabolin, and Anadur in order to promote the synthesis of pro-tein. Men who do not fear the intake of testosterone or the possible side effects should go ahead and give propionate a try. The side ef-fects of propionate are usually less frequent and are less pronounced. The reason is that the weekly dose of propionate is usually much lower than with depot testosterones. A daily injection of 50 mg amounts to a weekly dose of 350 mg while several depot injections easily launch the milligram content of testosterone into the fourfigure range. When compared with enanthate and cypionate, propionate is also a “milder” substance and thus better tolerated in the body. Those who are convinced that they need daily testosterone injections should consider taking propionate. The key to success with propionate lies in the regular intake of relatively small quantities (50-100 mg every 1-2 days.)

Although the side effects of propionate are similar to the ones of enanthate and cypionate these, as already mentioned, occur less frequently. However, if there is a predisposition and very high dosages are taken, the known androgenic-linked side effects such as acne vulgaris, accelerated hair loss, and increased growth of body hair and deep voice can occur. An increased libido is common both in men and women with the use of propionate. Despite the high conversion rate of propionate into estrogen gynecomastia is less common than with other testosterones. The same is true for possible water retention since the retention of electrolytes and water is less pronounced. The administration of testosterone-stimulating compounds such as HCG and Clomid can, however, also be advised with propionate use since it has a strong influence on the hypothalamohypophysial testicular axis, suppressing the endogenous hormone production. The toxic influence on the liver is minimal so that a liver damage is unlikely (see also Testosterone enanthate). What athletes dislike most about propionate are the frequent injections that are necessary.

As for frequent injections: The Testosterone Berco Suppositories by the German company Funke can help. This is quite an unusual testosterone compound since these are suppositories. The suppositories contain 40 mg Testosterone propionate and are introduced into the body through the rectum. This form of intake also has an additional advantage. The substance Testosterone propionate is reabsorbed very rapidly through the intestine. For a package with 18 suppositories the price on the black market is about $35.

Substance: Testosterone Propionate

Trade Names:
Agovirin inj. 25 mg/ml; Leciva CZ
Androfort-Richt. 10, 25 mg/ml; Gedeon Richter HU
Androlan (o.c.) 50, 100 mg/ml; Lannett U.S.
Hybolin Imp. (o.c.) 25, 50 mg/ml; Hyrex U.S.
Neo-Hombreol 50 mg/ml; Organon NL
Testex (o.c.) 50, 100 mg/ml; Pasadena U.S.
Testex Leo 25 mg/ml; Leo ES
Testosteron 5, 10 mg/ml; Galenika YU; Hemofarm YU
Testosteron 25, 50 mg/ml; Galenika YU; Hemofarm YU
Testosteron 10 mg/ml; Sopharma BG
T Berco Suppositorien 40 mg/S; Funke G
T-Prop. Disp. 10, 20 mg/ml; Disperga A
T Jenapharm (o.c.) 25 mg/ml; Jenapharm G
T Streuli 5, 10, 25, 50 mg/ml; Streuli & CO.AG A
Tprop. Eifelfango 10, 25 mg/ml; Eifelfango G
Tprop. Eifelfango 50 mg/ml; Eifelfango G
T Vitis (o.c.) 10, 25 mg/ml; Neopharma G
T propionicurn 10, 25 mg/ml; Polfa PL
Testosterone Prop. (o.c.) 50 mg/ml; Quad U.S., Lilly U.S.
Testosterone Prop. 100 mg/ml; Steris U.S.
Testoviron 10, 25 mg/ml; Schering 1, ES
Testoviron 50 mg/ml; 5chering 1, GR
Testovis 50, 100 mg/ml; SIT I
Testovis Deposit. 5 0, 100 mg1ml; SIT I
Triolandren 20 mg/ml; Ciba Geigy CH
Virormone 25, 50 mg/ml; Paines & Byrne GB
Virormone Veterinary: 100 mg/ml; Paines & Byrne GB
Ara-Test 25 mg/ml, 10 ml; Aranda Laboratories Mexico Testogan 25 mg/ml, 50 ml; Laguinsa Costa. Rica, Nicaragua, Panama, Guatemala
Testosterona 50 5 0 mg/ml, 10 ml; Brovel Mexico

“I’d be the most boring Twitter-er,” he says with a laugh over breakfast. “I’d be like: ‘At home. Again. Walking my dog. Again.’ ”

The biggest thrill in McKenzie’s life? His new series, Southland, which premieres tonight (10 ET/PT). The NBC midseason replacement is a far cry from The OC, in which McKenzie played Ryan Atwood, a troubled teen in Orange County, Calif., who was given a second chance.

REVIEW: ‘Southland,’ ‘Unusuals’ don’t make the grade

In this new role, he’s Los Angeles Police Department rookie cop Ben Sherman, who goes head-to-head with a by-the-books boss. It’s a different twist on the procedural cop show, because there’s not a crime being solved every week. It’s a raw and uncensored look inside the police unit, but the series also shows the home life of the police, the criminals and the victims.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: California | Orange County | University of Virginia | Los Angeles Police Department | Southland | McKenzie | Cops | Unusuals | Ryan Atwood | Ben Sherman

“I always felt like I was a little out of place on The OC because I was a little bit older and I’d been to college,” says McKenzie, 30, who graduated from the University of Virginia. “Yet, I was doing this show that I was very grateful for and had a great time making, but it didn’t come naturally.

“The thing that’s strange about doing Southland is how bizarrely comfortable it is. I can finally breathe and relax. I’m not so much playing myself, but in a way this character is much closer to myself.”

And stylistically, McKenzie liked that the show’s creators wanted to try something new. The series has a reality-show quality, in the same vein of Cops.

“It doesn’t do any good to try to look backward and duplicate what’s been done before on television. You have to count that people’s tastes have changed, their attention spans have shortened. And you really need to provide them with the immediacy of watching a scripted show that looks more like a real live series of events,” he says.

“Hopefully we can get both the emotional payout of the drama with the authenticity of a cop show.”

McKenzie is single, and taking his time: “It’s more of a concern for my parents. I’m like, ‘First of all, you don’t really want to have a grandkid by me right now. There’s a few steps in that process. You want me to have the girlfriend first, right? Then the wife? Then the kids?’ ” He says he hopes the OC faithfuls follow him to his new series.

“What I really like about the character I’m playing now is that he’s ambitious. He’s a very focused guy who expects a lot out of himself,” McKenzie says, polishing off his breakfast salad. “He’s going to take it and succeed or he’s going to die trying. And I sympathize with that point of view.”
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