!i!Me n My lil World!i!

ne nach le

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 14:12:00 +0000

Improvin da blog

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 05:03:00 +0000

Iam tryin a new trick on my blog so lets see if it works!!! It's supposed to make da first letter bigger, you know but I am experiencing a prob.....Yup..I fixed da problem....thanx to "Dummies Guide to Blogger"

Zac Efron rules Teen Choice Awards - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:53:00 +0000

Zac Efron rules Teen Choice Awards - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

LOS ANGELES - Hollywood’s young stars turned out to shine at the Teen Choice awards on Sunday with television sensation “High School Musical 2” winning a top honor for best TV movie.
The Disney musical also won a special award for its recent smash debut on TV in front of an estimated 17 million viewers, and star Zac Efron was given the coveted title, “hottie.”
“‘High School Musical’ started two years ago’ and the only reason we’re up here today is because of you guys,” Efron said above the screams of girls in the packed audience.

The Teen Choice Awards annually are handed out to many of Hollywood’s up-and-coming stars, and they help gauge popularity among younger fans whom TV networks and movie studios target.
The nominees compete in a range of categories from the serious, such as best comedy or breakout actress, to the just plain funny, like best liplock and hissy fit. Winners are given a surfboard instead of a trophy or statuette.
The awards show, which aired on Sunday night on the Fox broadcast network, was co-hosted by actress-singer Hilary Duff, 19, and actor-comedian Nick Cannon, 26.
Duff, who shot to stardom in 2001 in the hit TV series “Lizzy McGuire,” is the only person who has hosted the show twice in it’s nine-year history.
The show featured songs from Kelly Clarkson, Fergie, Shop Boyz and Avril Lavigne. The only slip-up in the live TV broadcast was when Dane Cook, who was named best comedian, uttered an expletive onstage.
Fergie performed “Big Girls Don’t Cry” and was honored as this year’s Teen Choice female artist of the year.
“I have to say this award in particular means so much to me,” said Fergie, clutching her surfboard. “Because this award isn’t paid for ... it’s picked by you.”
Other winners included Ryan Seacrest for best hissy fit, in the comedy movie “Knocked Up,” and Steve Carell for choice scream, in the film “Evan Almighty.” Carell also was named best TV actor in a comedy for “The Office.”
Finally, Miley Cyrus won two awards for summer artist and for best TV actress in a comedy with “Hannah Montana.” That show also was named best comedy TV program.

Zac Efron rules Teen Choice Awards - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:50:00 +0000

Zac Efron rules Teen Choice Awards - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

Brangelina brings brood to Manhattan - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:49:00 +0000

Brangelina brings brood to Manhattan - Celebrity News - MSNBC.com

John Mayer and Cameron Diaz’s Flame Burns Brighter--Gossip Girls

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:01:00 +0000

Until this point, it was anyone’s guess if John Mayer and Cameron Diaz were more than just a fling. But after the weekend they had in New York City, it’s a definite “YES!”

The “No Such Thing” singer treated the “Shrek The Third” actress to an evening of drinks and overt flirting at the Bowery Hotel on Friday. And witnesses say that they looked cozy.

The 34-year-old hottie was enchanted by Mayer’s charm and sense of humor, says one source. “They were laughing and talking a lot.”

On their date at Indochine, a French-Vietnamese restaurant, again Cameron appeared mesmerized by John’s words. “It looked like a casual date,” said a source. “She was giggly. She was laughing and seemed happy.”

The final confirmation of romance comes from a friend of Mayer. When asked if the two were getting serious, he said, “Yes, it’s definitely true.” Case closed.

Enjoy the pictures of Cameron and John, both in NYC, but doing their best to avoid being photographed together here(August 20).

COURTESY GOSSIP GIRLS

David Beckham Hops Back Across The Pond--Gossip Girls

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:35:00 +0000

If you’re a celebrity spotter looking for David Beckham this week, you’d better hop on a flight to Heathrow. Becks has returned to Mother England for a match against Germany.

The Galaxy captain will be playing his 97th game against the Germans, and is looking forward to playing on proper pitch, rather than the artificial turf they use here in the States.

Though his team lost 5-4 against New York last Saturday, Becks was pleased that he was able to play the full 90 minutes. “My ankle took a pounding obviously. I’m not used to this (artificial) surface but it wasn’t bad. There were a couple instances where I rolled over on my ankle but we have to play on this surface. My ankle is more swollen than it was before the game but I’m sure it’ll be fine for the game.”

Becks told press it was his stubborn determination that kept him off the bench. “I was surprised to actually play 90 minutes. The manager and the coaching staff kept asking me if I wanted to come off. But I’m quite a stubborn person on and off the field.”

Enjoy the pictures of David in his match against the Red Bulls (August 18), arriving at Heathrow (August 20), and practicing on England’s training grounds later the same day.

COURTESY GOSSIP GIRLS

Cash Warren Upstaged For Jessica Alba’s Dogs--GOSSIP GIRLS

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:23:00 +0000

Whenever you break up with someone, there’ a period of mourning. And Jessica Alba’s coping mechanisms seem to be her cute and cuddly dogs.

The Dark Angel star has been seen everywhere with her furry pooches. She took them out for a walk this past weekend in Vancouver.

She was also spotted in the company of canines all over New York City recently, from Central Park to an East Village café.

In her recent cover/story of Animal Fair magazine, Jessica told the interviewer, “They just want to be loved, hugged and kissed. They’re great, as long as I give them attention.”

With this kind of companionship, who needs another boyfriend?

Enjoy the pictures of Jessica walking her dogs in Vancouver this past weekend.

Courtesy Gossip Girls

Seacrest to host Emmy awards show--BBC NEWS

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 09:12:00 +0000

American Idol host Ryan Seacrest will present America's prestigious Emmy TV Awards next month.

Hit mob drama The Sopranos is the most-nominated series with 15 bids, including the award for best drama.

Last year comedian Conan O'Brien hosted the awards, which attracted 16.1 million viewers - the second least-watched Emmy ceremony since 1991.

The prime time Emmy Awards ceremony will be broadcast on 16 September at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles.

As well as presenting American Idol, since it began in 2002, Seacrest also has his own radio shows.

In 2005 he was honoured with a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame for his achievements in radio broadcasting.

Best comedy

The made-for-TV movie, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, has the most nominations overall having been shortlisted for 17 prizes.

Several UK actors received nominations, including Ricky Gervais for Extras, Hugh Laurie for House, Dame Helen Mirren for Prime Suspect and Jim Broadbent for Longford.

As well as being nominated for best actor, Gervais could also pick up an award for his writing and directing.

Ugly Betty, which is up for 11 awards, will spar for the best comedy title along with Entourage and the US version of The Office.

The Emmy awards will be preceded on 8 September by a separate ceremony where guest actors and technical achievement will be recognised.

COURTESY BBC NEWS

Suri Cruise: Baby GAP Model--GossipGirls

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 16:40:00 +0000

There’s definitely a legacy that passes from parent to child in Hollywood. And at the Cruise household, Suri seems to be taking well to the camera, just like her parents.

The 16-month-old daugher of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes has been reportedly offered a lucrative modeling contract from Baby GAP. She will be fronting a new campaign later this year.

And it’s no wonder. After all, Suri is always looking her best, thanks to mom and dad’s stylists. But the constant limelight has caused the tot to spend many hours in the hairstylist’s chair.

Reportedly, Suri visits the salon every seven days to keep her dark locks looking their best. And when the shears come out, it’s all business.

According to one insider, “She (Suri) is always naked and no one’s allowed to talk around the baby.” Weird.

Enjoy the pictures of some of the cutest Suri moments over the past few months!

COURTESY GOSSIP GIRLS

Pakistan Marks Independence Day--Forbes

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Tue, 14 Aug 2007 11:59:00 +0000

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan marked the 60th anniversary of its independence from British rule Tuesday amid a political crisis facing the country's U.S.-allied president and surging militant violence.

Artillery guns boomed at daybreak in Islamabad, and military cadets held a changing of the guard ceremony at the mausoleum of Quaid-e-Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Pakistan's founder, in Karachi, the country's largest city. Flag-raising ceremonies and 21-gun salutes took place in the four provincial capitals.

Some 10 million people moved across borders in one of history's largest mass migrations as the princely states sewn together in 200 years of British rule were split into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu-majority India in 1947.

The subcontinent's partition saw some of the bloodiest fighting of the 20th century, violence that left between 200,000 and over 1 million people dead.

In recent years, Pakistan and India have engaged in a series of negotiations aimed at normalizing relations and settling a bitter dispute over the Himalayan region of Kashmir. The two nations have fought three wars since 1947 - two over Kashmir.

The 60th anniversary is being marked on Wednesday in India.

Pakistani President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, who was born in the Indian capital of New Delhi, recalled in a television talk-show appearance late Monday painful memories of his family's move to Pakistan during partition.

"It was a train journey and my mother was very worried because dead bodies ... there were dead people who could be seen on platforms where the train would stop," Musharraf said.

Independence celebrations fall as Pakistan heads toward presidential and legislative elections.

Musharraf, a close ally of the U.S. in its war against terrorism, is seeking another term as the military head of state, but faces the toughest challenge to his rule since taking power in a bloodless coup in 1999.

Musharraf's bid earlier this year to remove the independent-minded Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry backfired, drawing street protests. The Supreme Court struck down Musharraf's move.

Musharraf also faces rising pressure from Washington to do more to fight al-Qaida and Taliban militants in Pakistan's northwest tribal region bordering Afghanistan, and a wave of suicide bombings and other violence that have killed more than 380 people since early July.

In a statement marking the anniversary, the president urged Pakistanis to reject extremism at the coming elections.

"I urge all Pakistani citizens to get involved in the electoral process and become the instruments of enlightened moderation in their beloved country," Musharraf said.

Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz told an anniversary gathering of hundreds of government officials, school children and others that Pakistan took pride in being the only Muslim country to have nuclear weapons.

"Our nuclear assets are symbols of our national honor and sovereignty," Aziz said. "The nation has always displayed solidarity and unity for them. And we will never tolerate that anyone should look with a dirty eye at our nuclear assets."

In an apparent reference to talk among U.S. officials about possible unilateral U.S. strikes against terrorists in Pakistan, Aziz said "we will never allow any foreign power to interfere in our frontiers."

He said Pakistan would show respect to its neighbors, an apparent reference to India.

On the eve of Independence Day, Pakistan sent home 134 Indian prisoners who had crossed the border illegally, as part of ceremonies marking the two countries' 60th anniversary. India was expected to return Pakistani prisoners on Tuesday.

COURTESY FORBES

Britney Spears's Ex-Husband Demands Full Custody over 2 Sons--NOVINITE

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 17:23:00 +0000

The former husband of the pop icon Britney Spears has officially demanded the full custody over their two sons.

Kevin Federline's lawyer sent a security expert to track down and subpoena Spears's assistant Alli Sims, who is also the singer's cousin.

Lawyer Mark Kaplan wants both celebrities to be questioned under oath about Spears's alleged erratic and even dangerous parenting skills. Last year, for example, she was caught driving with Sean in her lap instead of a carseat.

Although the singer was said to be furious after he saw the custody documents it didn't stop her from hitting LA hotspots over the weekend.

COURTESY NOVINITE

Angelina Jolie Pregnancy Rumors--GOSSIP GIRLS

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:13:00 +0000

They have a large brood of kids already, but Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie may be expecting a fifth one. At least that’s what the rumors are saying.

Apparently Ang was constantly touching her stomach at the super cool birthday party she threw for son Maddox last weekend. Combined with a recent weight gain, insiders are saying that she’s preggers.

This new child would be the latest in a long line of Pitt-Jolies. With three adopted children, Maddox, Pax, and Zahara, and one biological offspring, Shiloh, the new baby would be surrounded by a variety of siblings.

There’s nothing official yet, although there’s plenty of evidence to lead to this conclusion. But as soon as the happy parents announce the good news, we’ll have it first.

Enjoy the photos of Angelina in Chicago on Thursday (August 9). While her hubby was busy with jury duty, Ang took Zahara shopping for toys before heading to film some more scenes for her upcoming movie “Wanted”.

COURTESY GOSSIP GIRLS

Face of duality--THE STANDARD

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 11:01:00 +0000

Actor Matt Damon has the perfect look for a character torn and uses it to superb effect in the latest of the blockbuster Bourne trilogy, writes David Germain

Matt Damon's Jason Bourne seemingly never met a man whose neck he could not break. As the son of an academic specializing in nonviolent conflict resolution and the father of a year-old girl, Damon is selective about the sort of screen violence in which he'll participate, though.

Damon, 36, returns for his third go-round as the amnesiac former assassin in The Bourne Ultimatum, his character returning to his roots to find out how he became a killing machine so he can finally put that life behind him.

From his mother, a professor of early-childhood development, Damon was indoctrinated from an early age to look for ways to avoid the sort of altercations that are part of daily life for Bourne.

"Every role I took, there's always a special eye toward the violence," Damon said. "Violence is part of the human condition. The question is: are you desensitizing people to violence by what you're showing?

"The reason I'm allowed to do this movie and still have a relationship with my mother is because the character bears the responsibility for his actions in a way, and you see the price that he pays for the life he's chosen to lead."

Damon and his wife had a daughter in June 2006. Fatherhood has him thinking more about doing a film for children, something he could show his daughter, unlike the Bourne flicks, which he said

"she's not going to see for quite a while."

Becoming a parent also has reinforced the values that have guided Damon over choosing roles in general.

"Those are the kinds of things where I say, `Well, do I want my daughter exposed, knowing that her dad makes movies like this or that?"' Damon said.

"There are so many movies that drive my mom just totally crazy, because there are these thousands of acts of violence. The movies are rated PG-13 (special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13), but the toys are marketed to ages four and up. So you get these kids who are just getting pounded by this imagery from a very young age. I don't want to be a part of that."

With his boyish face, Damon did not seem a likely choice to play an action hero when he was cast as Robert Ludlum's memory-challenged terminator in 2002's The Bourne Identity.

Previously, Damon had done mostly drama, including All the Pretty Horses, Saving Private Ryan, Rounders and Good Will Hunting, which won him and buddy Ben Affleck an Academy Award for their screenplay.

Damon did the occasional thoughtful thriller such as The Rainmaker and The Talented Mr Ripley, and he has been one of the all-star gang on Ocean's Eleven and its two sequels. The chance to play Bourne came as a surprise.

"I kind of just react to whatever's out there, and this was definitely the best script that was out there," Damon said of The Bourne Identity. "It was this kind of movie that I hadn't really pictured myself being offered but had pictured myself doing, had hoped that I'd be able to do."

With Bourne Identity becoming a US$100 million (HK$780 million) hit, Damon's opportunities broadened, particularly after the 2004 follow-up The Bourne Supremacy also turned into a smash.

Damon had a plum role in the 2005 ensemble drama Syriana. Last fall, he starred as a crook who infiltrates the police force in Martin Scorsese' The Departed and as one of the masterminds who helped found the CIA in Robert De Niro's The Good Shepherd.

The Bourne Ultimatum was preceded this summer by Ocean's Thirteen, with Damon teaming again with director Steven Soderbergh and co-stars George Clooney and Brad Pitt for another casino caper.

"This is his time," said Paul Greengrass, who directed Bourne Supremacy and Bourne Ultimatum.

Greengrass said he could not have inherited a better actor to play Jason Bourne.

"He's got a particular skill set as an actor that makes him perfect for this," Greengrass said. "He's a brilliant actor of duality. He's done it on a number of films back from the beginning. Ripley's a classic example. Because he's got that open face, and yet it's capable of dark actions. It makes him very, very morally ambiguous.

"I think he's been at his best on the screen when he's explored that. Particularly so in Bourne, because the character itself is a duality, with the dark past and the renounced past."

Co-star Joan Allen, reprising her Bourne Supremacy role as a CIA spymaster sympathetic to Bourne, said Damon packs as much conflict into the character as the movie packs action.

"When I look at some of the moments that he has, I can't believe the number of things he has going on simultaneously," Allen said. "Here's a character that has these super powers, he's very smart, he doesn't really understand, he's confused and he's tortured. And sometimes, I see all that in Matt in just a look.

"I think he's also very sexy as he does it. Even though there's very little overt sexuality, these are very sexy films, and he is very sexy in them."

Damon said he senses he's done with the Bourne films, but he might be interested if Greengrass were to return to make another. Greengrass and Damon hope to collaborate on the Iraq war drama Imperial Life in the Emerald City, though Damon may be unable because of a scheduling conflict for Soderbergh's upcoming corporate whistleblower tale The Informant.

Amid his busy schedule, Damon also hopes to work with Affleck again at some point and follow his friend's lead by directing a movie. Affleck's directing debut, Gone Baby Gone, is due out this fall.

"I'm jealous that he got to do it first," Damon said.

Ludlum's Bourne books were set amid the Cold War, but Damon said the movie adaptations reflect our current world. Though the Iraq war is not explicitly mentioned, Bourne's actions and revelations serve as a commentary on those events, he said.

"I just love that he tries to atone for what he's done at the end of the second movie. It was a really nice thing in a kind of mainstream action movie. To have that be your final beat is something I had never seen before, and I liked what that said particularly at that time," Damon said.

"All of these movies are very much of the time that they were made, and at a time when we had gone into this war. To have this character aware of what he had done and try to take responsibility for his actions I thought was a really good thing."

And how is Bourne Ultimatum of its time?

"It's this guy who has done these horrible things, but now we see he thought he was doing them for the right reasons at the time he did them, but he realizes he was sold a bill of goods," Damon said. "So that's very much a movie for today."

COURTESY THE STANDARD

And the MTV Nominees Are...TMZ.com

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 08 Aug 2007 05:24:00 +0000

Ah, the Music Video Awards ... the one time each year when MTV actually bothers to play videos.

MTV just released its list of 2007 nominees, and there are few surprises. Proving that what goes around comes around, Justin Timberlake and bootylicious Beyonce lead the VMA pack with seven nominations each. Also up for multiple nominations: Kanye West, Rihanna and rehabbing whiner, Amy Winehouse.

U2 and Green Day were nominated for Best Collaboration for "The Saints Are Coming," to benefit Hurricane Katrina victims. And Linkin Park -- remember them? -- picked up three nominations for Best Group, Director and Editing.

Biggest shocker? A Best Video nod for French electro duo Justice -- does the TRL tween set even know who the hell they are? Parlez vous Francais?

COURTESY TMZ.COM

Usher, Girlfriend Finally Marry--FOX NEWS

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:25:00 +0000

NEW YORK — Usher finally married his pregnant girlfriend on Friday.

"I exchanged vows with Tameka Foster in Atlanta on Friday and we are happily married," the R&B star tells Usmagazine.com in a story posted Monday.

According to the magazine, a small, private ceremony was held in the office of Usher's lawyer and his mother and former manager, Jonetta Patton, was in attendance.

On July 28, Usher and Foster's planned lavish wedding at music mogul L.A. Reid's 10,000-square-foot mansion in New York's Sagaponack, Long Island, was abruptly canceled.

It is believed the 70 to 100 guests, including Janet Jackson, Jermaine Dupri, Beyoncé and Jay-Z, were told just hours before the big event not to bother showing up, the New York Post said.

Several days after the canceled nuptials, Foster confirmed she had had a "pregnancy scare" for which she had to be hospitalized briefly.

Foster, a 37-year-old divorced mother of three, and Usher, 28, are expecting a child together in the fall.

COURTESY FOX NEWS

Damon's cash cow Bourne also critical hit--THE AGE

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:01:00 +0000

BEING Jason Bourne, the supercharged amnesiac special agent, has been Hollywood star Matt Damon's cash cow and a critical hit which has surprised the actor himself.

"The Bourne movies just changed my career completely," Damon said today in Sydney.

"They've made it possible to do all the movies that I basically want to do."

Damon isn't selling the Bourne films short. They have reached a rare status as films which have been both critically acclaimed and hits at the box office.

They have also shown him as a star capable of being a real action hero.

A modern adaptation on the late Robert Ludlum's best-selling Cold War novels, Bourne is introduced as a bullet ridden CIA-trained killer who despite his almost superhero level skills - both intellectual and physical - has no idea who he is.

In the Paul Greengrass-directed sequel, The Bourne Supremacy, he is out to avenge the death of his girlfriend.

In The Bourne Ultimatum, also helmed by Greengrass, Bourne is still wanted dead by those who made him a lethal killing machine and is still in search of his own truth.

The third film, set for mainstream release in Australia on August 22, has been hailed the best of the series.

"I've never seen anything like this," Damon says.

"These are the best reviews of any movie I've ever been on ... in terms of just uniformly being good. There are very few people who are slagging it which is you know ... maybe on the European tour."

However, he says while not ruling out a fourth film for the franchise, it's about as likely as industry rumours that he will play a young Captain Kirk in a new Star Trek film being true.

"I actually finally called JJ Abrams, who's directing (the new Star Trek film) and said 'Dude, what going on?' He's like, 'You're way too ... old, you're like 15 years too old to play Captain Kirk in this movie."

Damon openly admits that director Doug Liman took a risk casting him in the first Bourne, The Bourne Identity, given the actor had never played such a role.

Now on a whirlwind promotional tour for the new film, the affable star speaks with pleasant amazement at the success of a film franchise with a plot so skinny on the surface, but so engrossing to audiences as their conflicted agent faces his horrid past.

He also speaks with great career satisfaction, which he says can be largely attributed to being Bourne.

Between Bourne two and three Damon starred in Oceans 12 and 13 and three projects which he regarded as financially high-risk but as films he desperately wanted to do - Syriana, The Departed, and The Good Shepherd.

"They were easily the best scripts I read but none of those movies on their face value would seem like they'd make a nickel at the box office," he said.

Even though the Martin Scorsese-directed The Departed didn't perform well, Damon said he and the star-studded cast were forced to cut their fee so it could be made.

"All three of those movies were cut your fee movies in order for them to be made," he said.

"I knew that those three movies wouldn't do particularly well at the box office but I knew I had The Bourne Ultimatum after them."

Damon's cash cow Bourne also critical hit--THE AGE

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Tue, 07 Aug 2007 04:01:00 +0000

JLo & Anthony to star together --The Times Of India

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 07:06:00 +0000

Pop star Jennifer Lopez is set to star with hubby singer-songwriter Marc Anthony in an upcoming flick El Cantante.

The film revolves around the life of ‘ King of Salsa’ , Hector Lavoe, which will be portrayed by Anthony, who is popular for his salsa music and salsa monga ballads.

JLo, who is also an executive producer for the film, will play Lavoe’s wife Puchi in the flick. Lopez, who will return to films after a gap of three years, revealed that her break from the showbiz helped her focus on her marriage. “Since I got married, the focus has really been on my marriage and my life.

It’s nice because I had a run there where I was working non-stop. My whole life was about work, so it was nice to get away from that for a little while,” a music website quoted Lopez, as saying.

“It was a conscious decision to pull away and find out a different way to live where I wasn’t on the cover of tabloids all the time,” she added.

COURTESY THE TIMES OF INDIA

Confused by Potter? Author sets record straight--MSNBC

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 07:09:00 +0000

Exclusive: J.K. Rowling explains the finer points of “Deathly Hallows”

By Jen Brown

TODAYShow.com contributor

Updated: 4:18 p.m. ET July 30, 2007

Spoiler alert: This story reveals some key plot points in the final Harry Potter book.

With the seemingly endless number of characters, plotlines and inventive words spread out across the seven Harry Potter novels, even the most avid Potter fan may have had a hard time keeping everything straight in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.” But who better to clear up any confusion than the woman who wrote the story herself?

In an exclusive interview, TODAY’s Meredith Vieira asked J.K. Rowling questions submitted by viewers about “Deathly Hallows.” Below you will find Rowling’s explanations of some of the finer points of her final Potter novel.

Why was Draco the true owner of the Elder Wand?
Voldemort thinks that he becomes the true owner of the Elder Wand by stealing it from Dumbledore’s grave, but in the end we learn that the true owner was really Draco Malfoy, that is until Harry defeated him and allegiance transferred to Harry. How did Draco become the true owner of the Elder Wand?

“To truly own the Elder Wand, which means to receive the full benefits, double-edged though it is, of all its power, you have to have conquered the previous owner,” explained Rowling.

At the end of Book 6, “Half-Blood Prince,” Draco disarmed Dumbledore before Snape killed Dumbledore.

“And that meant he conquered him, even though Dumbledore was very weak at the time, he was very ill. He was on the point of collapse when it happened,” Rowling said. “Dumbledore didn’t want to lose his wand at that point and Draco disarmed him. So that meant that the wand gave Draco its allegiance, even though Draco never knew it, even though Draco never touched it.

“From that moment on, that wand gave its allegiance to Draco, and it wouldn’t work as well for anyone but Draco.”

When Harry wrestles Draco’s “everyday” wand out of his hand at the Malfoy’s mansion, he conquers Draco, and therefore the Elder Wand — hidden in Dumbledore’s tomb at the time — transfers its allegiance to Harry.

Rowling said her American editor suggested the moment when Harry conquers Draco should be more dramatic.

“But, no, I really wanted, very consciously, for the history of the wizarding world to hinge on this moment where two teenage boys have a physical [fight]. They don’t even do it by magic,” Rowling said.

“That sort of puts all of Voldemort’s and Dumbledore’s grandiose plans in their place, doesn’t it? You just can’t plan that well, that something can go wrong and it went wrong … It went wrong because Harry managed to pull this wand out of Draco’s grip.

How did Neville get the Sword of Gryffindor?
In “Deathly Hallows,” Griphook the goblin claims that Godric Gryffindor stole his sword from the goblins and Griphook, in turn, steals the sword from Harry, Ron and Hermione in Gringotts. So how does Neville pull the sword from the Sorting Hat during the Battle of Hogwarts?

“Now we can reveal that Griphook was wrong,” Rowling said. The sword was truly Gryffindor’s and he didn’t steal it … Its first allegiance always was to a worthy Gryffindor, and it was going to come back when someone really, really needed it. And it came back to Neville.”

Is Snape good or evil?
After seven years at Hogwarts, we finally learn that Severus Snape, albeit somewhat grudgingly, has always been working to protect Harry. But is he really a good person?

“I don’t really see him as a hero,” Rowling said. “He’s not an unequivocally good character … He’s a complicated man.”

Rowling said Snape is bitter, spiteful and a bully, but he is also immensely brave and capable of love.

“As we know from the epilogue, Harry really sees the good in Snape ultimately … there’s redemption,” Rowling said. “I wanted there to be redemption and I wanted there to be forgiveness. And Harry forgives, even knowing that till the end Snape loathes him unjustifiably.”

Why 19 years later?
Of all the time in the Harry’s life that you could have chosen to set the epilogue, why 19 years later?

“I didn’t want some people to have children too young because I don’t think that’s good,” Rowling said. “So 19 years was just enough time for the next generation to have reached the point I wanted them to reach when the Hogwarts Express is departing.”

There is no significance to the number, no magical explanation. At the Battle of Hogwarts Ron and Hermione are 18 and Harry is 17, and Rowling said she wanted them to have some peaceful time before they started having children.

“I don’t want to encourage teenage pregnancies,” Rowling said, laughing. “It couldn’t be much earlier than 19.”

COURTESY MSNBC

Nicole Richie to Follow Paris to Jail--The Epoch Times

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 08:54:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES—Celebrity socialite Nicole Richie was sentenced on Friday to four days in jail for driving under the influence of drugs—following her TV co-star Paris Hilton for a stint behind bars this summer.

Richie, 25, the daughter of singer Lionel Richie and Hilton's co-star on the TV show "The Simple Life," was sentenced after a brief hearing in Glendale Superior Court at which she pleaded guilty to the charge.

Richie was stopped by police in December after she was seen driving the wrong way on a Los Angeles freeway. It was her second charge of driving under the influence in four years and Richie could have been sentenced to a maximum one year in jail under California law.

She was given a 96 hour jail sentence with credit for six hours for time served and told to serve her time by Sept. 28. She was also fined $2,048, given three years probation and will have to attend a court-ordered rehab program for second-time offenders.

Police have said that when they questioned Richie at the time of her arrest she failed a sobriety test and admitted that she had smoked marijuana and taken the painkiller Vicodin.

The alcohol reference was dropped as part of Friday's plea deal with authorities.

Richie, wearing a black shift dress, arrived at court holding hands with her boyfriend, Good Charlotte singer Joel Madden. Celebrity magazines say she is three months pregnant by Madden but the pregnancy has not been confirmed.

Richie, who was calm inside court, left the building without speaking to reporters after a hearing which lasted about 30 minutes.

Glendale Superior Court Commissioner Steven Lubell told Richie that if she violated the terms and conditions of her sentence, "You are going to go to county jail for up to one year. You need to understand that."

"Being under the influence of alcohol or drugs is extremely dangerous," Lubell added.

Hilton spent three weeks behind bars last month for violating probation in a drunken driving case. Hilton's sentence made headlines worldwide and sparked fierce debate over whether celebrities are treated more harshly or more leniently than other.

COURTESY THE EPOCH TIMES

ROWLING EXPLAINS CHANGING LAST WORD IN HARRY POTTER --MSNBC

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 08:45:00 +0000

Spoiler alert: If you haven't finished "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows," you may not want to read any further.

It was widely reported that the last word of the final Harry Potter book was "scar" and for years Rowling said that was true.

In the epilogue, which is set19 years after the defeat of Voldemort, Rowling paints a picture of Harry standing on platform 9 3/4, his nearest and dearest surrounding him. In her original draft, the last line was “Only those who he loved could see the lightning scar,’” ….or “something like” that, she told Meredith Vieira in an exclusive interview.

Ultimately, Rowling felt that line was too ambiguous, begging the question about whether the scar was still there or not. She said wanted a more concrete statement that Harry had won; Voldemort had been defeated. The scar was still there, but now it was only a scar.

“I wanted to say it’s over. It’s done.”

Rowling changed the last line to: “All was well.”

“That felt right,” she said.

COURTESY MSNBC AllDAY

'The Simpsons': Better than you think--YAHOO NEWS

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 04:19:00 +0000

By Robert Thompson

Syracuse, N.Y. - When "The Simpsons" debuted, many observers thought it would bring on the-end-of-civilization-as-we-know-it.

For elementary and middle-school teachers, especially, Dec. 17, 1989, was a dark day. Before long, class clowns recited rude remarks attributed to the show's fourth-grade star: "Don't have a cow, man," "Eat my shorts," "I'm Bart Simpson, who the hell are you?"

Worse still, T-shirts emblazoned with Bart's life philosophy – "Underachiever and proud of it!" – undermined the very mission of the schools in which they were worn. By 1992, the president of the United States himself was framing domestic policy in terms of this dangerous TV cartoon. In January, he promised to help American families become "a lot more like the Waltons and a lot less like the Simpsons."

George H.W. Bush lost his bid for re-election later that year, and the threat to public health and morals ascribed to "The Simpsons" didn't pan out any more than it had with jazz or comic books.

Instead, something extraordinary happened. "The Simpsons" hit its stride, and the writers figured out that Homer, not Bart, was the narrative fulcrum of the show. Noble Homer would suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune in every episode, but, with the promise of nothing more than a doughnut, would always rise to fight another day.

COURTESY YAHOO NEWS

Da Vinci code 'cracked' by computer analyst--CNN-WIKIPEDIA

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 03:51:00 +0000

CNN

A COMPUTER analyst claimed to have found new images in Leonardo Da Vinci's The Last Supper, one of the world's best-loved religious paintings.

Slavisa Pesci said he found new images in the 15th mural in Milan's Santa Maria delle Grazie church by superimposing a reverse image on the original image.

When doing so, Pesci said the two figures on either end of the long table, for example, appear to become knights and another appears to hold an infant.

Experts, however, were sceptical of his claims.

____________________

WIKIPEDIA

Slavisa Pesci, "an information technologist and amateur scholar," superimposed Leonardo da Vinci's version of The Last Supper with its mirror image (with both images of Jesus lined up) and claimed that the resultant picture has:

a figure who looks like a Templar knight on the far left of the painting
another person (in orange) holding a small baby to the left of Jesus.
a goblet before Christ
illustrates when Christ blessed bread and wine at a supper with his disciples for the first Eucharist

____________________

CNN

New Da Vinci code wreaks Web havoc

MILAN, Italy (Reuters) -- A new theory that Leonardo's "Last Supper" might hide within it a depiction of Christ blessing the bread and wine has triggered so much interest that Web sites connected to the picture have crashed.

The famous fresco is already the focus of mythical speculation after author Dan Brown based his "The Da Vinci Code" book around the painting, arguing in the novel that Jesus married his follower, Mary Magdelene, and fathered a child.

Now Slavisa Pesci, an information technologist and amateur scholar, says superimposing the "Last Supper" with its mirror-image throws up another picture containing a figure who looks like a Templar knight and another holding a small baby.

"I came across it by accident, from some of the details you can infer that we are not talking about chance but about a precise calculation," Pesci told journalists when he unveiled the theory earlier this week.

Websites www.leonardodavinci.tv, www.codicedavinci.tv, www.cenacolo.biz and www.leonardo2007.com had 15 million hits on Thursday morning alone, organizers said, adding they were trying to provide a more powerful server for the sites.

In the superimposed version, a figure on Christ's left appears to be cradling a baby in its arms, Pesci said, but he made no suggestion this could be Christ's child.

Judas, whose imminent betrayal of Christ is the force breaking the right-hand line of the original fresco, appears in an empty space on the left in the reverse image version.

And Pesci also suggests that the superimposed version shows a goblet before Christ and illustrates when Christ blessed bread and wine at a supper with his disciples for the first Eucharist.

The original Da Vinci depicts Christ when he predicts that one among them will betray him.

Naomi Watts Gives Birth To A Baby Boy--CHANNEL NEWS ASIA

noreply@blogger.com («‹•H.J.K@Y@N!™•›») — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 02:55:00 +0000

LOS ANGELES : British-Australian actor and "King Kong" star Naomi Watts has given birth to a baby boy, her publicist said.

Born on Wednesday afternoon, the boy is named Alexander Peter Schreiber, Robin Baum told AFP late on Thursday.

It is the first child for the 38-year-old Watts and her partner of two years, US actor Liev Schreiber, who live in Los Angeles.

Watts first made her name in David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" and was nominated by the Academy Awards for best actress in 2004 for "21 grams" directed by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu. In 2006 Watts was named a special UN ambassador on HIV/AIDS. - AFP/il

COURTESY CHANNEL NEWS ASIA