hollywood celebrities: August 2011

Wednesday 31 August 2011

Natalie Portman rejects First Post-Baby Role

Natalie Portman Rejects First Post-Baby Role

It has only been two months since Oscar-winning actress Natalie Portman gave birth to her first child Aleph Portman-Millepied. Is she ready to go back to work? Not really.

According to recent reports, Natalie was offered the lead role in the film Adaline where she will play the role of a woman who becomes ageless because of an accident. But then, years later she meets a man who makes her think about forsaking her immortality.

But it seems Natalie won’t be doing the role after all because she turned it down! According to reports Natalie wants to focus on being a Mom! In fact there are murmurs that she might give up acting totally in order to be a full-time Mom.

Natalie seems to want to follow Audrey Hepburn’s footsteps. She said in an interview back in May, “Audrey made some good choices in life… More and more I realize how unimportant it is to be in the history books or anything like that. Putting time and energy into your children – that’s valuable.”

I hope she’s not retiring yet. She can take more time off if she wants, but to retire? I think it’s too soon for that, do you agree?

Natalie Portman

Tuesday 30 August 2011

hairstyles-Is your hairstyle making you fat

It's not because they're habit-forming or carcinogenic or a gateway to more dangerous substances. It's because a woman who spent $60 and four (or eight) hours in the stylist's chair is not going to be eager to hit the gym and wreck her hair, and if you don't get that, well, you're probably a guy.

Surgeon General Regina Benjamin gets it. She is a doctor whose mother was a hairstylist. She knows high-maintenance hair can be an obstacle to exercise, especially for African-American women like herself. She's performing a huge public service by calling women out on it.

* Topics

* Physical Fitness and Exercise

* Minority Groups

* Weight

* See more topics »

o

X

Diseases and Illnesses

Human Body

African Americans

Obesity

Health and Medical Professionals

Heart and Circulatory System

The New York Times

Regina Benjamin

Breastfeeding

Skin

Google Inc.

Diabetes

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

High Blood Pressure

"Oftentimes you get women saying, 'I can't exercise today because I don't want to sweat my hair back or get my hair wet,'" Benjamin told The New York Times. "I hate to use the word 'excuse,' but that's one of them."

Earlier this month, Benjamin served as honorary judge for a "hair fitness competition" at a trade show that drew some 60,000 stylists in Atlanta. Contestants were asked to produce exercise-friendly hairstyles for low-, moderate- and high-impact workouts. The event was co-hosted by Bronner Bros., which specializes in hair and skin care for African-Americans, and insurance giant UnitedHealthcare. Grand prize was $5,000.

The focus was on black women, who have a higher obesity rate than any other demographic group. Half of African-American women over age 20 are obese, compared with 36 percent of all women and 34 percent of adults overall. In a study done by Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, one in three black women said concerns about their hair made them think twice about exercise.

But the phenomenon isn't limited to black women. Dedicated female jocks tend to have wash-and-wear hair to facilitate their regular visits to the gym, but for everyone else, the post-workout hair regimen is a lot like starting over. Sweat and water have a way of undoing the work of flattening irons, curling wands and blow dryers. Who has time to do all that again? And who wants to haul around all that gear — not to mention all that "product"? Let's not even mention the makeup thing.

Again, you get it or you don't. Jeff Stier, a senior fellow at the conservative National Center for Public Policy Research, doesn't. "The role of the surgeon general is traditionally and appropriately to take on big issues," he told the Times. "I don't know whether the surgeon general's role is to engage in smaller issues like this. It strikes me as bizarre."

Bizarre? What's bizarre about targeting behaviors that contribute to our nationwide obesity epidemic, and the heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure that go with it?

Telling women to eat moderately and get in 150 minutes worth of cardio each week obviously isn't getting the job done. Give Benjamin credit for having the moxie to recognize one reason for that.

hairstyles

Monday 29 August 2011

amanda award, Norwegian film award

Amanda or AMANDA may refer to:

* Amanda (given name), a female given name, from the Latin meaning "worthy of love"

Contents

* 1 Fiction

* 2 Music

* 3 Places

* 4 AMANDA

* 5 Other uses

Fiction

* Amanda (novel), a 1984 novel by Candice F. Ransom

* Amanda Krueger, a character in the A Nightmare on Elm Street (franchise)

* Amanda (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

* Amanda (Highlander), a female immortal on Highlander: The Series

* Amanda (Star Fox), Slippy Toad's fiancée in the Star Fox series

* Amanda, a character in the 2010 Nikita (TV series)

* Amanda's, a short-lived situation comedy TV show based on Fawlty Towers

* The Amanda Show, a comedy/variety television program

* Amanda (film), a 2009 film by Steve Marra

Music

* Amanda (singer), Swedish pop singer

* "Amanda" (Boston song), a 1986 song by Boston

* "Amanda" (Don Williams song), a 1979 hit for Waylon Jennings and also popularized by Don Williams

Places

* Amanda Township, Allen County, Ohio

* Amanda Township, Fairfield County, Ohio

o Amanda, Ohio, a village in the township

* Amanda Township, Hancock County, Ohio

* 725 Amanda, an asteroid

AMANDA

* Antarctic Muon And Neutrino Detector Array

* Advanced Maryland Automatic Network Disk Archiver, Unix-based backup utility

Other uses

* Amanda (award), Norwegian film award

* Amanda (gastropod) a member of the nudibranch family Facelinidae

* Amanda (orchid), subgenus of Masdevallia orchids

* Cyclone Amanda (disambiguation)

* Operation Amanda, a 1994 United Nations Protection Force mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina

* USS Amanda (1856), a bark in the Union Navy during the American Civil War

amanda

amanda bynes actress, singer and fashion designer

Amanda Laura Bynes born April 3, 1986 is an American actress, singer and fashion designer. Bynes appeared in several successful television series, such as All That and The Amanda Show, on Nickelodeon in the mid to late 1990s and early 2000s, and in 2002, she starred in the TV series, What I Like About You. She transitioned to a film career, starring in several films aimed at teenage audiences, including What a Girl Wants (2003), Love Wrecked (2005), She's the Man (2006), Hairspray (2007), and Easy A (2010).

She was named one of Teen People's "25 Hottest Stars Under 25" in 2006, and in 2007, Forbes listed her as the fifth highest paid celebrity under 21, with earnings of $2.5 million.

Contents

* 1 Early life

* 2 Career

o 2.1 Acting

o 2.2 Fashion

* 3 Personal life

* 4 Filmography

* 5 Discography

* 6 Awards

* 7 References

* 8 External links

Early life

Bynes was born and raised in Thousand Oaks, California, USA, the daughter of Lynn (née Organ), a dental assistant and office manager, and Rick Bynes, a dentist who also practiced stand-up comedy. Bynes has two older siblings, Tommy (born 1973), a chiropractor, and Jillian (born 1983), who has a B.A. in History from UCLA and has also acted. Bynes' maternal grandparents are from Toronto, Ontario and her ancestors immigrated from Ireland, Poland, Russia, and Romania. Her father is Catholic and her mother is Jewish; Bynes has described herself as Jewish, and has also stated "I haven't decided yet [on a religion]. I don't know yet exactly what I believe".

Career

Acting

In 1993, Bynes attended a comedy camp, with guest-instructors including Arsenio Hall and Richard Pryor, and began professionally acting at the age of seven, appearing in a television advertisement for Buncha Crunch candies. During her childhood, she also appeared on stage in versions of Annie, The Secret Garden, The Music Man and The Sound of Music. After taking acting classes, Bynes became a regular cast member of Nickelodeon's Figure It Out and All That (both in 1996). Bynes remained a regular cast member on All That until its presumed cancellation in 2000, though she appeared in the sketches since shooting and preparing as the star of her own sketch show The Amanda Show, also on Nickelodeon.[citation needed] The Amanda Show features a combination of comical skits and sketches, including Amanda Bynes playing Judge Trudy, a character based on Judge Judy, and Penelope Taynt, an Amanda-obsessed fan.

amanda bynes

Saturday 27 August 2011

Taylor Swift American country pop singer-songwriter

Taylor Alison Swift born December 13, 1989 is an American country pop singer-songwriter, musician and actress.

In 2006, she released her debut single "Tim McGraw", then her self-titled debut album, which was subsequently certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. In November 2008, Swift released her second album, Fearless, and the recording earned Swift four Grammy Awards, including the Album of the Year, at the 52nd Grammy Awards. Fearless and Taylor Swift finished 2008 at number-three and number-six respectively, with sales of 2.1 and 1.5 million. Fearless topped the Billboard 200 for 11 non-consecutive weeks. Swift was named Artist of the Year by Billboard Magazine in 2009. Swift released her third album Speak Now on October 25, 2010 which sold 1,047,000 copies in its first week.

In 2008, her albums sold a combined four million copies, making her the best-selling musician of the year in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Forbes ranked Swift 2009's 69th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $18 million, 2010's 12th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million and 2011's 7th-most powerful celebrity with earnings of $45 million, too. Swift was ranked the 38th Best Artist of the 2000–10 decade by Billboard. In January 2010 Nielsen SoundScan listed Swift as the most successful digital artist in music history with over 34.3 million digital tracks sold. On June 2011, renowned site The Boot named Swift and Carrie Underwood The Country Royalty, as they were the only female country artists to be ranked on Rolling Stone's Queens of Pop list. As of March 2011[update], she has sold over 20 million albums and 34.3 million singles worldwide.

Contents

* 1 Early life

* 2 Music career

o 2.1 2000–05: Musical beginnings

o 2.2 2006–08: Taylor Swift

o 2.3 2008–2010: Fearless and MTV VMA incident

o 2.4 2010–present: Speak Now

* 3 Songwriting style

* 4 Other work

o 4.1 Acting

o 4.2 Cover model and recognition

o 4.3 Merchandise

o 4.4 Philanthropy

* 5 Personal life

* 6 Filmography

* 7 Discography

* 8 Awards and nominations

* 9 Tours

* 10 References

* 11 External links

Early life

Swift was born on December 13, 1989 in Wyomissing, Pennsylvania. She is the daughter of Andrea Gardner (née Finlay), a homemaker, and Scott Kingsley Swift, a stockbroker. Her maternal grandmother, Marjorie Finlay, was an opera singer. Swift has a younger brother, Austin.

When Swift was in fourth grade, she won a national poetry contest with a three-page poem, "Monster In My Closet". At the age of ten, a computer repairman showed her how to play three chords on a guitar, sparking her interest in learning the instrument. Afterwards, Swift wrote her first song, "Lucky You". When Swift was 12, she devoted an entire summer to writing a 350-page novel, which remains unpublished. She began writing songs regularly and used it as an outlet to help her with her pain from not fitting in at school. Swift was a victim of bullying, and spent her time writing songs to express her emotions. She also started performing at local karaoke contests, festivals, and fairs.

Swift began to regularly visit Nashville, Tennessee, and work with local songwriters. When she was 14, her family relocated to Nashville. Her first major show was a well-received performance at the Bloomsburg Fair.In Tennessee, Swift attended Hendersonville High School, but was subsequently homeschooled for her junior and senior years. In 2008, she earned her high school diploma.

Swift's greatest musical influence is Shania Twain. Her other influences include LeAnn Rimes, Tina Turner, Dolly Parton, and Swift's grandmother. Although her grandmother was a professional opera singer,Swift's tastes always leaned more toward country music. In her younger years, she developed a love for Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton. She also credits the Dixie Chicks for demonstrating the impact that one can have by "stretching boundaries"

Taylor Swift