While the message began its voyage to the cosmos--a 24, 000 year trip to M-13, a cluster of stars in the constellation Hercules, to be exact--visiting dignitaries listened over a loudspeaker while each bit played as a short, high-pitched tone.

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As reliably as autumn brings Orion to the night sky, spring each year sends a curious constellation to the multiplex: a minor cluster of romantic comedies and the couples who traipse through them, searching for love.

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