Wed, 18 Jul 2007 09:16:47 GMT

Kelly Clarkson Admits Having Marijuana

Doing justice to the saying - When in Rome, do as the Romans do, Kelly Clarkson ate a marijuana cookie in Amsterdam, which is quite legal there.

Justifying her act in an interview to USA Weekend magazine, Kelly said,

It was in Amsterdam. It is legal there, and it is not legal here. I don’t ever do anything illegal here. I have never smoked anything in my life. I’ve never tried any drugs. I wouldn’t do anything that would cause holes in your brain or your nasal cavity. Call me Texan, but I don’t think of marijuana like that.

The singer explains that ever since the Amsterdam experiment, she has never had any drugs.

Elaborating on her tumultuous career, she also agreed that she did not get the expected response from her new record My December. The album, she explains is inspired by her breakup and the stress of a long tour plagued by illness. Adding to the emotional and physical trauma was her disagreement with RCA label head Clive Davis.

Despite the recent career related and personal problems, Clarkson is still feels confident and comfortable with her position. Concluding the interview, she said,

I used to live paycheck to paycheck. Now I am set for life.

Source Posted by: Nishtha      Read more     Source

Mon, 16 Jul 2007 02:44:17 GMT

Jessica Simpson goes to boot camp

The 'Dukes of Hazzard' star will undergo a gruelling physical training programme in preparation for her role as an out-of-work actress who joins the army in 'Major Movie Star'.

A source told the New York Daily News newspaper: "She left for Shreveport, Louisiana, on Wednesday. She's going to be in boot camp for two days to learn how to do army drills and salute properly and that sort of thing."

In the film, Jessica's character is left devastated after finding her boyfriend in bed with her hairdresser. It has been reported the 27-year-old's celebrity hairstylist friend Ken Paves could make a cameo appearance for the scene.

Jessica recently revealed she was prepared to train intensively for her new role.

She said: "I want to get really fit for this movie. I am aiming to be able to lift weights in my highest pair of heels!"

Meanwhile, Jessica has been allowed to keep the personal trainer she shared with on/off boyfriend John Mayer

She was introduced to trainer Harley Pasternak by John and while she is no longer seeing the music star, Jessica is still working out with Pasternak.

The singer-and-actress is said to have dropped at least two dress sizes and lost almost 20lbs in eight weeks.

Jessica visits the trainer five times a week and her routine includes step-ups, side bends, crunches, dumbbell rows and the occasional use of an exercise ball.

She is also on Pasternak's '5 Factor Diet', also favoured by other celebrities including Vanessa Williams, Katherine Heigl and Eva Mendes. Posted by: Melissa      Read more     Source

Sun, 15 Jul 2007 01:46:25 GMT

"Shake Your Shimmy!"

One of my favorite movies of all time is "The Color Purple." There are many components of this film which can be used to illustrate generational and spiritual issues. I love movies like that! To me they are like life impacting illustrations hung on a big screen paid for by someone with lots of money in Hollywood just waiting for someone like me to turn them into a testimony of what God's grace and mercy can do!

In The Color Purple, we find sad, homely Celie who is played by Whoopie Goldberg. One can't help but hurt for Celie! She has a husband who can't stand to look at her or even attempt to be nice and to top it all off, she has negative "0" self confidence. She is so down on herself she even tells her son to "beat" his wife into submission because abuse is all she knows. And furthermore, her darling husband keeps a photo of his "ideal woman," Shug Avery. Celie was compared to a measuring stick that existed only in a dime store photograph of a two bit saloon mistress and the imagination of a husband who promised to love and honor her. No wonder she had issues!
Enter Shug Avery. Yep, for those of you who have not seen the movie, Celie's husband brings home a pitifully drunk Shug Avery and basically leaves her to be catered to by his wife, Celie. (Ha! Try that in 2007- I believe only one woman would have been left standing on that front porch! ) Anyway, Shug takes one look at Celie and says, "You sure is ugly!" and then she breaks into laughter! Still, the ever insecure Celie helps her up the stairs (I would have helped her down!) and takes care of the woman who holds the secret to her husband's heart. A little later, Shug decides to help Celie out a little in the looks department, she dolls her up, yet Celie lacked the confidence that came so natural to Shug. So Shug looked at her and said, "Come on, shake your shimmy!"- Which brings me to the topic of this post! (See, I am going somewhere!)
This may not seem like some "powerful prophetic revelation," but really it is (thanks Pastor Ray for dropping this in my spirit a few weeks ago!). You see, God's given us all a "shimmy" to shake. Shaking your shimmy (in a spiritual sense) is walking confidently in who God has called you to be. It is unashamedly being obedient and fulfilling His destiny for your life.
The problem is, many of us ask more like Celie. We allow our past, our hurts, our insecurities, and fear to keep us shuffling our feet afraid to even lift our heads. We allow unrealistic expectations and the opinions of those who have their own issues to hold us back! Or many times, we hold our own selves back because we feel we lack the potential to have any sort of shimmy at all!
I want to challenge you today to lift up your head and shake your shimmy! Wear your potential proudly, and if it is awkward, still, keep it up and trust in Him. You'll grow into every bit of potential and ability He has placed within yo Posted by: Tara Sloa      Read more     Source

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:32:20 GMT

Anticipating Sunshine.

Sunshine doesn't open in the US for another 10 days, but a few reviews and some anticipatory press coverage are already coming in. "Like the films it grandly and unabashedly pays homage to, Sunshine is serious science fiction for those who prefer to think of space's real possibilities rather than escapist fantasies," writes Gabriel Shanks.

For the New York Times, Dennis Lim meets Danny Boyle, who tells him that he and screenwriter Alex Garland "embraced the idea that Sunshine, precisely because of the vastness of its subject, would be a space odyssey in the most interior sense: a head trip. 'It's like films about mountains,' he said. 'They're not about mountaineering. They're about the mind. Movies about space raise those questions of what we're doing here, and that inevitably introduces a spiritual dimension.'"

"[D]espite all that talent on display, Sunshine is a philosophical blank slate," writes Jeremiah Kipp at Slant.

Earlier: "Sunshine.," the UK run. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Thu, 12 Jul 2007 05:16:55 GMT

Can Rock and Roll Save the World?

Live Earth claims that American citizens average carbon footprint is 325 and that of Canada is 305. But maybe they forgot to calculate the carbon released due to the concert. Critics claim that Live Earth, an event which attracted more than 2 billion people, caused in the formation of about 31,500 tonnes of carbon which is 3,000 times the average Britons annual footprint.

Live Earth had also been accused of hypocrisy by bands including Arctic Monkeys, The Who and Muse, who dubbed it private jets for climate change

The act was also accused due to the unsupportive behavior shown by bands like Arctic Monkeys, The Who and Muse, who cared to show the courtesy of using their private jets to save the climate. One of the BBC2 Newsnights viewer complained online saying Would you hold a hog roast to promote vegetarianism?

The outcome of the act is yet unknown and obviously we wont be able to know it anytime sooner, which makes Live Earth Concerts look like Bushs War for Peace. Its a mere speculation but not many people around the globe are going to praise the act when they know about the carelessness shown by few bands.

Comedian Eddie Izzards foresight made him say A lot of stuff we tell you we have to do as well. We’re probably more guilty than anyone with all this flying around and stuff.

Shows opening host at Wembley, DJ Chris Moyles screamed Hello Wembley! It’s a nice, easy, simple question; can you help save the Earth? To Crowds unsatisfying reply he said We might be screwed if that’s the response.

The only question that Live Earth was facing since the beginning of the show was Can rock and roll save the world? Even Live Earths organizers admit that it will take longer than 24 hours to see results.

Source: Gaurdian
Image: Gaurdian Posted by: Musical-ecstasy      Read more     Source

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 00:49:05 GMT

LA CityBeat. Indie Film 2007.

"[Steve] Buscemi is pleased with Interview, he says, but the process of interrogation has not been made more inviting as a result of making this new film. He will continue to avoid being interviewed when he can." Nonetheless, Steve Appleford gets enough face time to warrant a cover story.

One click over in the LA CityBeat's "Indie Film 2007" package, Wade Major discovers that Patrice Leconte, whose new film, My Best Friend, "deconstruct[s] the very concept of friendship in ways both humorous and deeply disturbing," has an entirely different disposition: "I love meeting people."

Dances With Films, LA's festival of independent film opened yesterday and runs through July 12. Andy Klein introduces a few highlights with a conversation with cofounder/director Leslee Scallon, who tells him, "In general, there's no place for filmmakers who are cutting their teeth to get a platform to show their work because the industry seems to want people coming out of the gate at top speed. It's our mission to provide that platform." Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Mon, 09 Jul 2007 16:23:17 GMT

DVDs, 7/5.

Lately, I've been wondering - and I've been sure I'm not alone - if the collective love beamed at the festival-friendly art film will turn sour in much the same way a long lost love for the "quirky" American indie did more than a few years ago. Turns out, this has been on Michael Atkinson's mind, too. "[Y]ou know the drill, the long static shots, the non-communicative acting, the oblique narratives, the attention to passing time and natural phenomena and what exactly we don't know about what's going on. But I sometimes grow suspicious; it seems so easy, doesn't it?" At any rate, the film at hand in his piece this week for IFC News is Nuri Bilge Ceylan's Climates: "Rather than a one-man Turkish new wave, Ceylan seems to be the Turkish representative in a global trend, inspired by Antonioni and guided by Kiarostami and Hou, and meant not just for local audiences but for the Earthly citizens of Cannes-istan."

"The Falls turns cinema into a puzzle or game - one that [Peter] Greenaway continues to play, with increasing indifference to the amusement of lesser minds." Nathan Lee surveys the oeuvre in the Voice. Posted by: dwhudson      Read more     Source

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:11:30 GMT

Universal Buys Struggling Sanctuary

Universal Music Group, the world largest music company, is on the verge of drafting paper to take full control of ailing London-based Sanctuary Group for $205 million.

Sanctuary’s board has accepted a 20 pence-per-share offer by Universal, which valued the company at $87.6 million and including debt cost of Sanctuary’s mounts to $205 million.

In a statement Universal chairman/CEO Doug Morris said that

The Sanctuary business will be a good strategic fit for us. We have a great opportunity to strengthen and advance Sanctuary’s position as a significant player in artist management, agency and merchandising, as consumers’ appetite for music grows worldwide. The union with Universal’s global strength and leadership will further develop Sanctuary and its talent on the international music stage

Music giant universal, which has a huge presence in the recording and music publishing division, attracted by Sanctuary’s lucrative live music industry. Although Sanctuary business is running into the backward trend, but its long list of signed stars like Beyonc Knowles, Joss Stone, Iron Maiden, James Blunt, Robert Plant, Tommy Lee, Mastodon, Elton John and scheduled 200 acts spell a lucrative saga.

Sanctuary once a stock market hot selling cake, but the poor strategy puts Sanctuary on the back foot. Music Companys mounting debt and huge pending of high-profile artists remuneration push music giants debt to unbearable high. Shares in Sanctuary collapsed from a high of nearly 10 in 2004 to 6p in December 2006.

In the past few years, Universal Music has experienced a steadily decline in CD sales due to the impact of online piracy and digital downloading, music majors are exploring different ways to make money from high-profile acts on their rosters, including live music and merchandising.

The transaction will have to approved by competition authorities, but industry observers do not believe there will be any objections, meaning the takeover should be completed within two months.

Via: IHT

Posted by: Rahulbhandari      Read more     Source

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 03:04:34 GMT

Katherine Heigl's Scrubs Clothing Line

‘Knocked Up’ star Katherine Heigl has partnered with a healthcare-clothing company to launch the Katherine Heigl Collection-a line of fashionable scrubs for healthcare professionals.

The actress who plays Dr. Izzie Stevens on the Golden Globe winning series ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ says of her new project:

“I have tremendous respect for women in the healthcare industry and I know that it is often a difficult and thankless job.

I wanted to create a line of scrubs that would allow women to infuse some of their personality and style into their work apparel. When you feel good about how you look, you are more confident, more motivated and it can lift your spirits.” Translation: I'm an opportunist and I suck. Buy my shit.

source, source Posted by: Joy A      Read more     Source

Fri, 22 Jun 2007 02:01:23 GMT

Suri Cruise Beach Pictures

Suri Cruise and the fam are on vacation in the south of France. The former alien baby is just too cute! It looks like she's learning how to walk too.Tom's rep also announced that Katie Holmes is not pregnant. I hesitate to report pregnancy rumors cause whenever a female celebrity wears something slightly lose, tabloids claim she's hiding a "baby bump." And whenever a female weighs more than 110 pounds, she's at least two months pregnant! Katie didn't respond to the rumors, she just showed up at the beach showing off her hot bod. Work it out now!

source, source Posted by: Joy A      Read more     Source