The 17th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were handed out Sunday night (January 30), and awards-season favorites "The King's Speech" and "The Fighter" continued to nab hardware. The ceremony, which only focuses on acting achievements, was dominated by "Speech" and "The Fighter," which won two awards each. On the television side, HBO's "Boardwalk Empire" ran the night, also garnering two trophies. While Golden Globe and Critics' Choice winner Natalie Portman continued to collect statuettes for her "Black Swan" role, other hits like "The Social Network" and "Glee" were shut out.
Check out the full list:
Theatrical Motion Pictures
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
"The King's Speech"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Colin Firth, "The King's Speech"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Natalie Portman, "Black Swan"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale, "The Fighter"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Melissa Leo, "The Fighter"
Primetime Television
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
"Boardwalk Empire"
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
"Modern Family"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
Steve Buscemi, "Boardwalk Empire"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Julianna Margulies, "The Good Wife"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, "30 Rock"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Betty White, "Hot In Cleveland"
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Al Pacino, "You Don't Know Jack"
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Claire Danes, "Temple Grandin"
SAG Honors for Stunt Ensembles
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
"Inception"
Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
"True Blood"
My favorite looks of the night: Tina Fey, Sofia Vergara, Julia Stiles, and Mila Kunis
The 83rd Annual Oscar Nominations
By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Below is the list of the 83nd Annual Oscar Nominations, which were announced Tuesday morning:
BEST PICTURE
“Black Swan”
“The Fighter”
“Inception”
“The Kids Are All Right ”
“The King’s Speech”
“127 Hours”
“The Social Network”
“Toy Story 3″
“True Grit”
“Winter’s Bone”
BEST DIRECTION
Darren Aronofsky for “Black Swan”
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
David Fincher for “The Social Network”
Tom Hooper for “The King’s Speech”
David O. Russell for “The Fighter”
ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Javier Bardem in “Biutiful”
Jeff Bridges in “True Grit”
Jesse Eisenberg in “The Social Network”
James Franco in “127 Hours”
Colin Firth in “The King’s Speech”
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Annette Bening in “The Kids Are All Right”
Nicole Kidman in “Rabbit Hole”
Jennifer Lawrence in “Winter’s Bone”
Natalie Portman in “Black Swan”
Michelle Williams in “Blue Valentine”
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Christian Bale in “The Fighter”
John Hawkes in “Winter’s Bone”
Jeremy Renner in “The Town”
Mark Ruffalo in “The Kids Are All Right”
Geoffrey Rush in “The King’s Speech”
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Amy Adams in “The Fighter”
Helena Bonham Carter in “The King’s Speech”
Melissa Leo in “The Fighter”
Hailee Steinfeld in “True Grit”
Jacki Weaver in “Animal Kingdom”
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy for “127 Hours”
Aaron Sorkin for “The Social Network”
Michael Arndt, story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich for “Toy Story 3″
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for “True Grit”
Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini for “Winter’s Bone”
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Mike Leigh for “Another Year”
Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington and Paul Tamasy and Eric Johnson for “The Fighter”
Christopher Nolan for “Inception”
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Blumberg for “The Kids Are All Right”
David Seidler for “The King’s Speech”
ANIMATED FEATURE
“How to Train Your Dragon”
“The Illusionist”
“Toy Story 3″
ART DIRECTION
“Alice in Wonderland”: Robert Stromberg (Production Design), Karen O’Hara (Set Decoration)
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Stuart Craig (Production Design), Stephenie McMillan (Set Decoration)
“Inception”: Guy Hendrix Dyas (Production Design), Larry Dias and Doug Mowat (Set Decoration)
“The King’s Speech”: Eve Stewart (Production Design), Judy Farr (Set Decoration)
“True Grit”: Jess Gonchor (Production Design), Nancy Haigh (Set Decoration)
CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Black Swan”: Matthew Libatique
“Inception”: Wally Pfister
“The King’s Speech”: Danny Cohen
“The Social Network”: Jeff Cronenweth
“True Grit”: Roger Deakins
COSTUME DESIGN
“Alice in Wonderland”: Colleen Atwood
“I Am Love”: Antonella Cannarozzi
“The King’s Speech”: Jenny Beavan
“The Tempest”: Sandy Powell
“True Grit”: Mary Zophres
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
“Exit through the Gift Shop”
“Gasland”
“Inside Job”
“Restrepo”
“Waste Land”
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT FEATURE)
“Killing in the Name”
“Poster Girl”
“Strangers No More”
“Sun Come Up”
“The Warriors of Qiugang”
FILM EDITING
“Black Swan”: Andrew Weisblum
“The Fighter”: Pamela Martin
“The King’s Speech”: Tariq Anwar
“127 Hours”: Jon Harris
“The Social Network”: Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Biutiful”: Mexico
“Dogtooth”: Greece
“In a Better World”: Denmark
“Incendies”: Canada
“Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi)”: Algeria
MAKEUP
“Barney’s Version”: Adrien Morot
“The Way Back”: Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
“The Wolfman”: Rick Baker and Dave Elsey
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“How to Train Your Dragon”: John Powell
“Inception”: Hans Zimmer
“The King’s Speech”: Alexandre Desplat
“127 Hours”: A.R. Rahman
“The Social Network”: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Coming Home” from “Country Strong” Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
“I See the Light” from “Tangled” Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
“If I Rise” from “127 Hours” Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
“We Belong Together” from “Toy Story 3″ Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
“Day & Night”: Teddy Newton
“The Gruffalo”: Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
“Let’s Pollute”: Geefwee Boedoe
“The Lost Thing”: Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
“Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary)”: Bastien Dubois
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
“The Confession”: Tanel Toom
“The Crush”: Michael Creagh
“God of Love”: Luke Matheny
“Na Wewe”: Ivan Goldschmidt
“Wish 143″: Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite
SOUND EDITING
“Inception”: Richard King
“Toy Story 3″: Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
“Tron: Legacy”: Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
“Unstoppable”: Mark P. Stoeckinger
SOUND MIXING
“Inception”: Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
“The King’s Speech”: Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
“Salt”: Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
“The Social Network”: Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
“True Grit”: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
VISUAL EFFECTS
“Alice in Wonderland”: Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1″: Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
“Hereafter”: Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
“Inception”: Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
“Iron Man 2″: Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick
If you prefer videos then you an watch the presentation of the nominations here. It may take a bit to load though.
The nomination I most disagree with: Nicola Peltz for worst supporting actress in The Last Airbender. Not because I think she was excellent, but this was her first movie. And considering how the entire project came out, she did what she could.
The nomination I most AGREE with: Kristen Stewart as worst actress. Hands down. She is a repeat offender. I hope she is present at the ceremony to receive the award. Also M. Night for directing The Last Airbender. He really, really messed it up I'm sorry to say and I wish he wouldn't have.
WORST PICTURE
The Bounty Hunter
The Last Airbender
Sex and the City 2
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Vampires Suck
WORST ACTOR
Jack Black / Gulliver’s Travels
Gerard Butler / The Bounty Hunter
Ashton Kutcher / Killers and Valentine’s Day
Taylor Lautner / Twilight Saga: Eclipse and Valentine’s Day
Robert Pattinson / Remember Me and Twilight Saga: Eclipse
WORST ACTRESS
Jennifer Aniston / The Bounty Hunter and The Switch
Mylie Cyrus / The Last Song
Sarah Jessica Parker, Kim Cattrall, Kristin Davis & Cynthia Nixon / Sex & the City 2
Megan Fox / Jonah Hex
Kristen Stewart / Twilight Saga: Eclipse
WORST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jessica Alba / The Killer Inside Me, Little Fockers, Machete and Valentine’s Day
Cher / Burlesque
Liza Minnelli / Sex & the City 2
Nicola Peltz / The Last Airbender
Barbra Streisand / Little Fockers
WORST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Billy Ray Cyrus / The Spy Next Door
George Lopez / Marmaduke, The Spy Next Door and Valentine’s Day
Dev Patel / The Last Airbender
Jackson Rathbone / The Last Airbender and Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Rob Schneider / Grown Ups
WORST EYE-GOUGING MIS-USE Of 3-D
Cats & Dogs 2: Revenge of Kitty Galore
Clash of the Titans
The Last Airbender
Nutcracker 3-D
Saw 3-D (aka Saw VII)
WORST SCREEN COUPLE / WORST SCREEN ENSEMBLE
Jennifer Aniston & Gerard Butler / The Bounty Hunter
Josh Brolin’s Face & Megan Fox’s Accent / Jonah Hex
The Entire Cast of The Last Airbender
The Entire Cast of Sex & The City 2
The Entire Cast of Twilight Saga: Eclipse
WORST DIRECTOR
Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer / Vampires Suck
Michael Patrick King / Sex & The City 2
M. Night Shyamalan / The Last Airbender
David Slade / Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Sylvester Stallone / The Expendables
WORST SCREENPLAY
The Last Airbender, Written by M. Night Shyamalan, based on the TV series created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Brian Konietzko
Little Fockers, Written by John Hamburg and Larry Stuckey, based on Characters Created by Greg Glenna & Mary Roth Clarke
Sex & the City 2, Written by Michael Patrick King, Based on the TV Series Created by Darren Star
Twilight Saga: Eclipse, Screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, Based on the Novel by Stephenie Meyer
Vampires Suck, Written by Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer
WORST PREQUEL, REMAKE, RIP-OFF or SEQUEL
Clash Of The Titans
The Last Airbender
Sex & The City 2
Twilight Saga: Eclipse
Vampires Suck
This is a very student related article I found over at nytimes.com
Taking a test is not just a passive mechanism for assessing how much people know, according to new research. It actually helps people learn, and it works better than a number of other studying techniques.
The research, published online Thursday in the journal Science, found that students who read a passage, then took a test asking them to recall what they had read, retained about 50 percent more of the information a week later than students who used two other methods.
One of those methods — repeatedly studying the material — is familiar to legions of students who cram before exams. The other — having students draw detailed diagrams documenting what they are learning — is prized by many teachers because it forces students to make connections among facts.
These other methods not only are popular, the researchers reported; they also seem to give students the illusion that they know material better than they do.
In the experiments, the students were asked to predict how much they would remember a week after using one of the methods to learn the material. Those who took the test after reading the passage predicted they would remember less than the other students predicted — but the results were just the opposite.
“I think that learning is all about retrieving, all about reconstructing our knowledge,” said the lead author, Jeffrey Karpicke, an assistant professor of psychology at Purdue University. “I think that we’re tapping into something fundamental about how the mind works when we talk about retrieval.”
Several cognitive scientists and education experts said the results were striking.
The students who took the recall tests may “recognize some gaps in their knowledge,” said Marcia Linn, an education professor at the University of California, Berkeley, “and they might revisit the ideas in the back of their mind or the front of their mind.”
When they are later asked what they have learned, she went on, they can more easily “retrieve it and organize the knowledge that they have in a way that makes sense to them.” ...
Why retrieval testing helps is still unknown. Perhaps it is because by remembering information we are organizing it and creating cues and connections that our brains later recognize.
“When you’re retrieving something out of a computer’s memory, you don’t change anything — it’s simple playback,” said Robert Bjork, a psychologist at the University of California, Los Angeles, who was not involved with the study.
But “when we use our memories by retrieving things, we change our access” to that information, Dr. Bjork said. “What we recall becomes more recallable in the future. In a sense you are practicing what you are going to need to do later.”
It may also be that the struggle involved in recalling something helps reinforce it in our brains.
Maybe that is also why students who took retrieval practice tests were less confident about how they would perform a week later.
“The struggle helps you learn, but it makes you feel like you’re not learning,” said Nate Kornell, a psychologist at Williams College. “You feel like: ‘I don’t know it that well. This is hard and I’m having trouble coming up with this information.’ ”
By contrast, he said, when rereading texts and possibly even drawing diagrams, “you say: ‘Oh, this is easier. I read this already.’ ”
Look for a full-length trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon and these others during this years super bowl:
* Super 8
* Thor
* Captain America: The First Avenger
* Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
* Cowboys & Aliens
* Limitless
* Just Go With It
* Battle: Los Angeles
* Priest
* The Eagle
* Rango
* Kung Fu Panda 2
* Take Me Home Tonight
This is the start of some of my microbiology notes. Hopefully by typing and carefully trying to format it all correctly will help to cement these facts into my memory.
The Scientific Method
Observation
Hypothesis
Experiments to test Hypothesis
Interpretation of test results
Conclusion to prove or disprove the hypothesis
Anton van Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723)
First to see "animalcules" or protozoa in 1674
Reported existence of bacteria in 1674
Made his own microscopes for inspecting the cloth he bought and traded. He created the first microscope able to see microbes. Unfortunately he did not teach anyone his trade, so the method to make these microscopes died with him.
No link was made between "animalcules" and illness
Spontaneous Generation
Doctrine that lifeless substances give rise to living organisms (see Controversy over Spontaneous Generation
Scientists Redi, Needham, Spallanzani and Pasteur all dealt with this phenomena
First observations:
wheat bran + rags = mice
meat + time = maggots
Redi (1670)
Created experiment that proved that flies were required for the formation of maggots on meat by using lace to cover a jar of meat.
Needham (1748)
Used two cork flasks, one slightly heated, one not. He observed that after sitting for some time both still had microorganisms in them.
Problem: He did not heat the one enough to kill anything, and he did not know how many bacteria he started with in the first place.
Spallanzani (1767)
Used FOUR flasks with mutton boiled infusion.
One open to air
One corked
One heated slightly with cork
One boiled longer, sealed by melting the glass
He revealed that the 4th, boiled and sealed flask did not grow microorganisms.
Needham countered that because Spallanzani had sealed the flask he had deprived it of it's "life force" or oxygen so therefore of course it didn't grow anything.
Louis Pasteur (1870)
1. Disproved Spontaneous Generation with his neck flask experiment. Allowed air in but gravity prevented microorganisms from getting into the broth. Once tipped so that the broth touched the dip in the neck, microorganisms grew.
2. Thought of the Germ Theory of Disease
3. Proved that yeast makes wine with grapes
4. Developed a vaccine for rabies
5. Developed immunization techiniques
Robert Koch (1875) pronounced "coke"
1. Proved the Germ Theory of Disease
Created Koch's Postulates: (to prove a microbe is the cause of a disease)
1. Always observe organism in diseased animal
2. Isolate organism in pure culture
3. Inoculate healthy animal and re-create the disease
4. Re-isolate the organism from the experimentally infected animal
2. Developed Pure Culture Technique
Because of Hess, he adapted Agar, used by Hess to make jelly, as his solid culture medium.
Agar is a powder from seaweed; solid at room temp, and it will not be degraded by bacteria.
Finally practices were being used to reduce the transmission of infectious disease:
sterile practices in hospitals
pasteurization of dairy products
insect control
care in preparation of food
sanitation improvements
personal hygiene
I apologize for all the changing that has gone on with the layout lately. It should start being finalized. The problem with it is that I don't make my own layouts anymore. I change them too frequently to be spending so much time educating myself on how to make them right. So I have used a few premades. The issue with is that most of them are too narrow for some of the videos I have on the blog. But from now on I am going to post them no wider than 500px so that they will fit any template I use.
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR * Christian Bale, The Fighter
Michael Douglas, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps
Andrew Garfield, The Social Network
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Geoffrey Rush, The King's Speech
ACTRESS, DRAMA
Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Elisabeth Moss, Mad Men
Piper Perabo, Covert Affairs * Katey Sagal, Sons Of Anarchy
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer
BEST MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE * Carlos (Sundance Channel)
The Pacific (HBO) I wanted this to win
Pillars Of The Earth (STARZ)
Temple Grandin (HBO)
You Don't Know Jack (HBO)
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE, TV
Scott Caan, Hawaii Five-O * Chris Colfer, Glee What an awesome win!
Chris Noth, The Good Wife
Eric Stonestreet, Modern Family
David Strathairn, Temple Grandin
ACTOR, DRAMA *Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Bryan Cranston, Breaking Bad
Michael Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
TELEVISION, DRAMA * Boardwalk Empire (HBO) I guess I need to start watching this
Dexter (Showtime)
The Good Wife (CBS)
Mad Men (AMC)
The Walking Dead (AMC)
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
"Bound to You" from Burlesque
"Coming Home" from Country Strong
"I See the Light" from Tangled
"There's a Place for Us" from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader * "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from Burlesque
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Alexandre Desplat, The King's Speech
Danny Elfman, Alice in Wonderland
A.R. Rahmann, 127 Hours * Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, The Social Network The only one I didn't want to win
Hans Zimmer, Inception
BEST ANIMATED FILM
Despicable Me
How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Tangled * Toy Story 3 "The animated movie that beat with a human heart" Very true
BEST ACTRESS - MUSICAL OR COMEDY * Annette Bening (“The Kids Are All Right”)
Anne Hathaway (“Love and Other Drugs”)
Angelina Jolie (“The Tourist”)
Julianne Moore (“The Kids Are All Right”)
Emma Stone (“Easy A”)
ACTOR IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE
Idris Elba, Luther
Ian Mcshane, Pillars Of The Earth * Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Dennis Quaid, The Special Relationship
Edgar Ramirez, Carlos
ACTRESS IN A MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE
Hayley Atwell, Pillars Of The Earth * Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Judi Dench, Return To Cranford
Romola Garai, Emma
Jennifer Love Hewitt, The Client List
BEST SCREENPLAY
Danny Boyle and Simon Beaufoy, 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko and Stuart Bloomberg, The Kids are All Right
Christopher Nolan, Inception
David Seidler, The King's Speech * Aaron Sorkin, The Social Network
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE IN A SERIES, MINI-SERIES OR MOTION PICTURE, TV Hope Davis, The Special Relationship * Jane Lynch, Glee
Kelly Macdonald, Boardwalk Empire
Julia Stiles, Dexter
Sofia Vergara, Modern Family
BEST FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Biutiful
The Concert
The Edge
I am Love * In a Better World
ACTRESS, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Toni Collette, United States Of Tara
Edie Falco, Nurse Jackie
Tina Fey, 30 Rock * Laura Linney, The Big C
Lea Michele, Glee
ACTOR, COMEDY OR MUSICAL
Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Thomas Jane, Hung
Matthew Morrison, Glee * Jim Parsons, The Big Bang Theory
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams (“The Fighter”)
Helena Bonham Carter (“The King’s Speech”)
Mila Kunis (“Black Swan”) * Melissa Leo (“The Fighter”)
Jacki Weaver (“Animal Kingdom”)
BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky (“Black Swan”) * David Fincher (“The Social Network”)
Tom Hooper (“The King’s Speech”)
Christopher Nolan (“Inception”)
David O. Russell (“The Fighter”)
BEST COMEDY OR MUSICAL
30 Rock (NBC)
The Big Bang Theory (CBS)
The Big C (Showtime) * Glee (FOX)
Modern Family (ABC)
Nurse Jackie (Showtime)
BEST ACTOR - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Johnny Depp (“Alice in Wonderland”)
Johnny Depp (“The Tourist”) * Paul Giamatti (“Barney’s Version”)
Jake Gyllenhaal (“Love and Other Drugs”)
Kevin Spacey (“Casino Jack”)
BEST ACTRESS - DRAMA
Halle Berry (“Frankie and Alice”)
Nicole Kidman (“Rabbit Hole”)
Jennifer Lawrence (“Winter’s Bone”) * Natalie Portman (“Black Swan”) I loved her speech, knew she would win this.
Michelle Williams (“Blue Valentine”)
BEST PICTURE - MUSICAL OR COMEDY
“Alice in Wonderland” “Burlesque” * “The Kids Are All Right”
“Red”
“The Tourist”
BEST ACTOR - DRAMA
Jesse Eisenberg (“The Social Network”) * Colin Firth (“The King’s Speech”)
James Franco (“127 Hours”)
Ryan Gosling (“Blue Valentine”)
Mark Wahlberg (“The Fighter”)
BEST PICTURE – DRAMA
"The King's Speech" * "The Social Network" Well, I really didn't want this one to win. But it did. Man. Here's looking to you Academy, to pick something else.
"Black Swan"
"The Fighter"
"Inception"
I'm glad Natalie Portman won, and Christian Bale as well. Robert De Niro deserves all good things that come his way. Ricky Gervais was downright rude during the entire broadcast! I couldn't believe some of the things he said. Overall this was fun to watch. I'm looking forward to the Oscars, the nominations should be out in a couple of weeks.
My favorite looks of the Golden Globes this year. Hailee Steinfeld is absolutely stunning. It's a perfect look for the 14 year old who stars in True Grit.
My other favorites would be Olivia Wilde, Eva Longeria and Claire Danes.
I haven't ever thought much about Claire Danes, but her entire look here is beautiful! Her makeup, jewelery, hair, and dress are perfect.
Your Brain on Blueberries: Enhance Memory with the Right Foods
Chemical compounds common to berries, tofu, tea and other foods can shore up memory and boost brainpower
Emerging research suggests that compounds in blueberries known as flavonoids may improve memory, learning and general cognitive function, including reasoning skills, decision making, verbal comprehension and numerical ability. In addition, studies comparing dietary habits with cognitive function in adults hint that consuming flavonoids may help slow the decline in mental facility that is often seen with aging and might even provide protection against disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
Researchers once assumed that flavonoids worked in the brain as they do in the body—as antioxidants that protect cells from damage caused by ubiquitous unstable molecules known as free radicals. Now, however, new research demonstrates that the power of flavonoids to bolster cognition results mainly from interactions between flavonoids and proteins integral to brain-cell structure and function.
To date, scientists have identified more than 6,000 different flavonoids, which come in a variety of types. These compounds are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, cereal grains, cocoa, soy foods, tea and wine. Thus, overdosing on blueberries alone is not necessary to keep your mind in good shape.
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Memorable Diets
As powerful antioxidants, flavonoids protect us from the cellular damage caused by free radicals, which are formed by our bodies during metabolism, and are also spawned by pollution, cigarette smoke and radiation. As a result, researchers have for decades investigated the potential of these compounds for boosting immunity, staving off cancer and reducing excess inflammation; flavonoids also appear to help regulate blood flow and blood pressure.
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Brain-Cell Snacks
How might flavonoids influence cognition? By examining brain tissue from rats that ingested flavonoid-containing foods, researchers have shown within the past decade that some classes of flavonoids cross into the brain from the blood. Once in the brain, the compounds could influence cognition by acting as antioxidants, but recently scientists have questioned this theory. Data suggest that flavonoids are present in the brain in much smaller quantities than other antioxidants, such as vitamin C. Thus, compounds other than flavonoids are likely to be doing the bulk of free-radical scavenging there. Instead scientists have found that flavonoids change the chemistry of neurons in other ways.
Joseph and his colleagues discovered early on that four-month-old juvenile mice fed blueberry-enriched chow for eight months displayed higher levels of enzymes called kinases in their brain cells than did those who ate the standard chow. Although scientists do not know how flavonoids might spur kinase production, many types of kinases are essential to learning and memory; thus the additional enzyme could help boost cognition.
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Soy isoflavonesmay improve memory by acting like weak estrogens, binding to and stimulating estrogen receptors on neurons. Exciting these receptors is known to trigger changes in both neuronal shape and chemistry in the hippocampus, a structure involved in memory and whose function most likely diminishes with age. These changes may facilitate communication between neurons and thereby improve memory. Some flavonoids may even spur the growth of new nerve cells in the hippocampus.
Flavonoids may even defend neurons from damage and death and so combat neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Animal and cell culture data suggest that flavonoids may ameliorate the effects of neurotoxins such as glutamate—a neurotransmitter that at high concentrations damages neurons—by preventing these toxins from binding to their receptors on neurons. Flavonoids also may oppose the action of enzymes called secretases that are involved in the destruction of nerve cells and that may be elevated in neurodegenerative disorders.
The science does not yet reveal which flavonoid-containing foods have the greatest potential for enhancing learning and memory. But eating flavonoid-rich foods is probably better than taking supplements. Processing may destroy or reduce the actual flavonoid content of supplements, and intact fruits and vegetables are likely to contain the amounts and combinations of these compounds that are most beneficial to the brain. Following the current USDA dietary guidelines—which call for eating two cups of fruit and two and a half cups of vegetables every day—will ensure that you get a generous variety of these health-bestowing compounds. Indeed, taking such advice just might help you remember.
What does this mean? They give the bottom line:
* Compounds in blueberries known as flavonoids may improve memory, learning and general cognitive function—and could slow age-related decline in mental function.
* Scientists have identified more than 6,000 different flavonoids. These chemicals are widely distributed in fruits and vegetables, cereal grains, cocoa, soy foods, tea and wine.
* Researchers now believe flavonoids affect cognition by interacting with proteins that are integral to brain-cell structure and function.
Young Justice premiered last Friday on Cartoon Network after an hour-long preview in November. But something seems to have gone amiss with next week’s episode: the last son of Krypton has been replaced with… Coco?
A month ago, Conan O’Brien did a segment on DC Comics’ animation department at Warner Bros. Studios. In between poking fun at some less-than-intimidating classic DC characters like Space Ranger and Captain Boomerang, Conan and DC legend Bruce Timm designed a new superhero fashioned after O’Brien himself. After Timm’s initial sketch and some coloring, “The Flaming C” was ready for action. A non-traditional superhero, Coco’s alter-ego sports such accessories as a blackberry belt clip, loafers, an oven mitt and fishnet stockings.
To the delight of both O’Brien and late-night audiences, DC Animation decided to send a special present to the Conan show: an exclusive clip of Young Justice‘s second episode, featuring none other than The Flaming C. Those who watched the sneak peek will recognize the final scene: after defeating Cadmus’ minions, Superboy, Robin, Aqualad and Kid Flash must face the music as the Justice League arrives on the scene for clean-up.
In the altered clip, we see The Flaming C take Superman’s part and Batman’s voice, chastising the sidekicks for their brash actions. The new vigilante takes center stage among slightly more established heroes like Batman, Aquaman, Green Lantern and The Flash.
I haven't been watching Conan much, but every time I catch a video like this I'm reminded how funny he really is.
The holy grail of brain training is something that does transfer, and here there are three good candidates. The first is physical exercise. Simple aerobic exercise, such as walking 45 minutes a day three times a week, improves episodic memory and executive-control functions by about 20 percent, finds Art Kramer of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His studies have mostly been done in older adults, so it’s possible the results apply only to people whose brain physiology has begun to deteriorate—except that that happens starting in our 20s. Exercise gooses the creation of new neurons in the region of the hippocampus that files away experiences and new knowledge. It also stimulates the production of neuron fertilizers such as BDNF, as well as of the neurotransmitters that carry brain signals, and of gray matter in the prefrontal cortex. Exercise stimulates the production of new synapses, the connections that constitute functional circuits and whose capacity and efficiency underlie superior intelligence. Kramer finds that a year of exercise can give a 70-year-old the connectivity of a 30-year-old, improving memory, planning, dealing with ambiguity, and multitasking. “You can think of fitness training as changing the molecular and cellular building blocks that underlie many cognitive skills,” he says. “It thus provides more generalizable benefits than specifically training memory or decision making.”
The second form of overall mental training is meditation, which can increase the thickness of regions that control attention and process sensory signals from the outside world. In a program that neuroscientist Amishi Jha of the University of Miami calls mindfulness-based mind-fitness training, participants build concentration by focusing on one object, such as a particular body sensation. The training, she says, has shown success in enhancing mental agility and attention “by changing brain structure and function so that brain processes are more efficient,” the quality associated with higher intelligence.
Finally, some videogames might improve general mental agility. Stern has trained older adults to play a complex computer-based action game called Space Fortress, which requires players to shoot missiles and destroy the fortress while protecting their spaceship against missiles and mines. “It requires motor control, visual search, working memory, long-term memory, and decision making,” he says. It also requires that elixir of neuroplasticity: attention, specifically the ability to control and switch attention among different tasks. “People get better on tests of memory, motor speed, visual-spatial skills, and tasks requiring cognitive flexibility,” says Stern. Kramer, too, finds that the strategy-heavy videogame Rise of Nations improves executive-control functions such as task switching, working memory, visual short-term memory, and reasoning in older adults.
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