TV Minute - The Golden Globes Awards Recap

Last night, the 69th Annual Golden Globes awards were telecast live on NBC.  The Golden Globes are a celebration of the best in film and television and are nominated by the Hollywood Foreign Press.  The HFPA, which is made up of journalists representing international press outlets, remains a canny predictor in the acting categories for the Oscars.  


The unpredictable Ricky Gervais was tapped to host the show for the third time in a row.  Last time he hosted the show, it was riddled with controversy and many doubted he would be asked back as a host! He rubbed many A-listers the wrong way!  His comedic style is rather brash. No celebrity is safe when it comes to Ricky's delivery. He's not known to brown nose celebrities but simply attack the over priviledged bunch - sometimes deservedly so. Last night, he was true to form but seemed rather tame in my opinion.


The stars did come out in droves dressed in their best  duds.  The mood at these award show is usually rather casual and alcohol consumption is allowed.


There were many great films and TV shows nominated this year.  The Help was favored to win in all the categories they received a nod for but only got the Best Supporting Actress in a motion picture that went to Octavia Spencer.  She truly shined in her role on The Help.  Viola Davis who took the Screen Actors Guild Award just last week for Best Actress in a motion picture for the same movie was favored to win - but Merryl Streep took home the Golden Globe for her role as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.  She seemed very surprised to have won.  She always slays the competition in every category she's nominated in so no surprise there.


A list of winners is below;


Best Actor, Drama: George Clooney, "The Descendants"

Best Actress, Drama: Meryl Streep, "The Iron Lady"

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Jean Dujardin, “The Artist”

Best Director: Martin Scorsese, “Hugo.”

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Michelle Williams, “My Week With Marilyn.”

Best Supporting Actor: Christopher Plummer, “Beginners.”

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, “The Help.”

Best Foreign Language Film: “A Separation.”

Best Animated Film: “The Adventures of Tintin.”

Best Screenplay: Woody Allen, “Midnight in Paris.”

Best Original Score: Ludovic Bource, “The Artist.”

Best Original Song: “Masterpiece” (music and lyrics by Madonna, Julie Frost, Jimmy Harry), “W.E.”

TELEVISION

Best Series, Drama: “Homeland,” Showtime.

Best Series, Musical or Comedy: “Modern Family,” ABC.

Best Actor, Drama: Kelsey Grammer, “Boss.”

Best Actress, Drama: Claire Danes, “Homeland.”

Best Actress, Musical or Comedy: Laura Dern, “Enlightened.”

Best Actor, Musical or Comedy: Matt LeBlanc, “Episodes.”

Best Miniseries or Movie: “Downton Abbey (Masterpiece),” PBS.

Best Actress, Miniseries or Movie: Kate Winslet, “Mildred Pierce.”

Best Actor, Miniseries or Movie: Idris Elba, “Luther.”

Best Supporting Actress, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Jessica Lange, “American Horror Story.”

Best Supporting Actor, Series, Miniseries or Movie: Peter Dinklage, “Game of Thrones.”

To see who rocked the carpet and who fizzled, 

click here

The Golden Globes Awards lead up to the prestigious Academy Awards that will be held later next month on February 26th at the Kodak Theatre.  The 84th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at 5:30 a.m.

New Year, new found wisdom

Happy New Year everyone!  I hope you haven't already broken the resolutions you so steadfastly made just three days ago!  I stopped making resolutions for that very reason! I never keep em'!  I'm lucky if I last 20 days in...  Instead of focussing on making resolutions, I have opted to have aspirations instead.  There is far less pressure this way. I did however find this piece of advice that I plan to live by;

Start focusing on the possibility of positive outcomes. – The mind must believe it CAN do something before it is capable of actually doing it.  The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.  Listen to your self-talk and replace negative thoughts with positive ones.  Regardless of how a situation seems, focus on what you DO WANT to happen, and then take the next positive step forward.  No, you can’t control everything that happens to you, but you can control how you react to things.  Everyone’s life has positive and negative aspects – whether or not you’re happy and successful in the long run depends greatly on which aspects you focus on.


No pressure right?  Just the power of positive thinking.  As you start yet another year filled with uncertainties, I wish you the very best of health, success and happiness in 2012!!

Happy Halloween!!

Happy Halloween everyone!! I just love this day so very much!  I especially love the costume parties! This is the only day dressing up slutty outside of the bedroom is actually excused! How can I not love that?! Jk!! This coming from someone who once considered Halloween a very dark and evil time and I refused to play part in any activities that hailed the devil! Ignorance is NOT bliss!! I was obviously mistaken and was limiting myself from the fun!

The purpose of Halloween was originally to mark the end of summer and the harvest, the beginning of winter and to commemorate the passing of the dead.
Halloween (or Hallowe'en), a contraction of All-Hallows-Eve ("evening"), is an annual holiday observed on October 31, and common activities include guising/trick-or-treating, attending costume parties, carving jack-o'-lanterns, lighting bonfires, apple bobbing, visiting haunted attractions, playing pranks, telling scary stories, and watching horror films. Source: Wikipedia

So as you can see, there is no harm in it!! I am glad I eventually saw the light and decided to embrace this day because it has turned to be one of my favorite festivities!  Just this past weekend, yours truly was in the running for the best costume (Foxxy Cleopatra/Pam Grier) at a venue I visited! The cash prize was $1000!! Moolah baby! I needed it too! I lost to some guy in a somewhat lame superhero costume but I was gracious in my loss because it was a lot of fun to participate.

I look forward to seeing the neighborhood kids in their cute, funny or scary costumes when they get to my door for candy this evening.  In the meantime, please enjoy the spectacular display of lights set to LMFAO's "Party Rock Athem" song below! Pretty cool!!

BREAST CANCER AWARENESS

October is National Breast Cancer Awareness month. It is a month dedicated to increasing awareness of the importance of early breast cancer detection. 

Earlier today, my favorite entertainment news reporter, Giuliana Rancic of the E channel announced she has breast cancer! It is incredibly sad.  She has struggled with infertility in the recent years and now faces this diagnosis!
This should be a reminder to all of us ladies to make our health a priority!! Get checked regularly and regular self-breast exams must be done.  The earlier you catch something amiss, the better the chances of recovery.


Best wishes G!! I hope you pull through and continue to raise awareness on the disease.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

RIP STEVE JOBS

Late last evening I learnt via Twitter that Steve Jobs had died.  He had lost the long battle with pancreatic cancer - a disease he battled since 2004.  Jobs had recently stepped down from his position as CEO of Apple.  This is incredibly sad!  The world has lost a genious, a visionary but his legacy will live on for years to come.


President Obama mourned Jobs passing, saying he exemplified American ingenuity and innovation "Brave enough to think differently, bold enough to believe he could change the world and talented enough to do it"


I LOVE Apple products and I can't be more grateful to Mr. Jobs for creating products that have made my life easier.  The iPad2 is my favorite to date!

RIP Steve Jobs. You have made your mark and shall be greatly missed.  Thank you for inspiring me to soar to great heights!!

Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week 2011

The Mercedes Benz New York Fashion Week is currently underway! It is one of the major fashion weeks held around the world along with Paris, London & Milan. Many top-name designers have been showing their collections at various venues in New York City to an audience that includes editors and buyers. The event draws celebs, athletes, models, etc who want a piece of the fashion or to have a chance to be photographed in the latest designer duds while sitting front row. 
Thanks to YouTube, I too can enjoy the display on the catwalk from the comfort of my house!  For the Live Fashion coverage click here.


Supermodel Iman has been making the rounds at these shows.  I have a soft spot for Iman. She never dissapoints! What a classic beauty!!

The current Ms. Africa-USA, Nyasha Zimucha, was also spotted at the Akoo event. Is it me or does she need some lessons in poise?

The much-anticipated launch of a new collaborative line between Italian designer Missoni and Target caused the megaretailer's website to crash several times Tuesday - according to CNN. 

"Target.com is seeing greater item demand than we do on a typical Black Friday, and the excitement for this limited-time designer collection is unprecedented," the store said in a statement. "We are slowly bringing the site back online to ensure we can provide a positive shopping experience to our guests."

Ms. Selita E Banks wearing the new Missoni for Target line

I totally understand why they got an overwhelming response! I LOVE the bold prints and can't wait to get my hands on a thing or two from the collection.  Click here for a preview of the line.

Here are some more pics from the fashion week;

I can't wait to take in all the sights and fashions from NY's Fashion Week!

African Pride - Miss Universe 2011

Extra! Extra!! We have a new Ms. Universe and she hails from Angola!!  The beautiful Ms. Leila Lopes who was a crowd/fan favorite from early on was impressive in all the categories.  She mainly shined during the Q&A session that top five finalists must face.  Beauty & brains in a wonderful package!  She beat out 88 other contestants to be crowned the winner! Congratulations Ms. Angola! Enjoy the run as Miss Universe 2011!  Yaay for Africa!