PoP! Goes My Heart - Music and Lyrics

The Friday VicPick video: "You are gold and silvah-ah-ah!"

The above video is from the movie Music and Lyrics with Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant. The basic storyline is that Hugh is a former 80s pop star who pairs up to write a song for a modern star in order to revive his career. THe fictional 80s band he was in is called "Pop" and is very much inspired by Wham as one singer from Pop went on to be a household name (George Michael) and the other one didn't (the other guy from Wham). Hugh plays the other guy. As you can see, the video is very 80s-like, with a mixture of bad performance elements, and really bad over-acting. Hugh does all of his own singing, impressively enough, and the soundtrack is currently outselling the likes of Fergie, Gwen Stefani, and Justin Timberlake on iTunes. I saw the movie myself, and it was quite hilarious, Hugh's sardonic humor and 80s style singing/dancing performances are reason enough to check it out!

News!

Yes, if you're keeping track, sorry, I missed a post yesterday--but with good reason! I am getting ready to move into a great apartment out of state on the 17th! So, please bare with me as my posts become irregular over the next week or so--but I have a lot going on! Rest assured though, I will have lots of great posts to come about things like shopping at Ikea, using Craigslist for free furniture, tag sales, creative projects to turn junk into useful things for your home, and lots more!

Tips for your Finances

~Keeping Your Cool in a Shaky Market by Ben Stein: How to keep a good head when the financial waters aren't so sound.


~Five Ways to Grow Your Income by 20 Percent by David Bach: Some simple ideas on how to raise your income in a relatively short period of time.


~Why Women Need a Healthy Relationship with Money by Suze Orman: Millionaire and financial whiz Orman speaks specifically on issues women have with how they treat money, and how they can circumvent those problems.

Silly Snails

I couldn't help but laugh when I read this article, and I thought I would just share it with all of you. If you have ever thought that bargains were just for the big folks, then you obviously have never stopped to think about what snails can do to save. Well, according to this article, Snails Save Energy by Re-Using Mucus Trails, carefully re-tracing the paths left by previous snails in order to save on the tremendous amount of energy that they must expend in order to produce the mucus that they use to get around. Sure, to us its not a major concern to conserve on mucus, but I guess the point is that the quality and quantity of what you save is directly proportional to your size!

Celebrity Looks for Less: Oscar-worthy

Just like after the the Golden Globes, commercial fashion designers scrambled to create dresses similar to some of those worn by the lovely ladies at the Oscars last week. Just in time for the upcoming prom-season, these ultra-affordable replicas are definitely red-carpet worthy.



One of my picks for best-dressed at the Academy Awards, Helen Mirren's Christian Lacroix gown was specially designed just for her, and probably cost thousands. You can get edressme New York's version for only $325.


Jessica Biel's fuschia belted number was so popular, it was copied not only by edressme New York and Faviana. Edressme New York's version can be pre-ordered for $320 to be shipped starting April 10.


As seen on Access Hollywood, Faviana also created replicas of Kate Winslet's and Rachel Weisz's dresses, as well as Reese Witherspoon's dress, another one of my picks. Edressme New York also created two replicas of Jennifer Hudson's dress, in both regular and plus-sizes.

No cure for Mondays?

While everyone knows that Mondays can be a pain, it is also universally accepted that afternoons, any day of the week can be a struggle as well. It usually comes right after lunch, when your body is digesting food, it tends to make you sleepy, and not apt to move around. Little did we know, however, that the cure for these "afternoon slumps" is in what you eat. It seems just by adding a few specific items to your lunch or snack, you can help to fight off that tiredness, and stay the naturally perky and sweet self we all know you are!

Beyonce feat Shakira - Beautiful Liar

Friday VicPick video: Shakira, Shakira, Beyonce, Beyonce

Marking her second collaborative effort where the other person she is singing with opens the song by repeating her name, Shakira is being featured in a new duet with Beyonce. The song is called "Beautiful Liar" and the video for it was just released this week, after receiving a lot of preliminary buzz. The song is originally from Beyonce's album, B Day, and the re-recorded duet version with Shakira will be on the re-released version, as initial sales for the record were sluggish. The video marks a rarity in that not only are there two women singing the duet, but their characters actually team up as opposed to fight over a man. I also believe it is the first time there has been so much booty shaking crammed into 3 and a half minutes. I'm a big Shakira fan, so I think adding her to this song and the video are great, and kudos to Beyonce for coming up with the idea for the two to pair up. I had always thought that they shared things in common, both in dancing style as well as looks. For me, Beyonce had always particularly evoked Shakira in the "Baby Boy" music video with Sean Paul. The "Beautiful Liar" video purposely plays on these similarities, as you will find it is often hard to tell the two apart!

Celebrity Looks for Less: Madonna's Hair

This past weekend, we saw a lot of fabulous dresses, hair, and make-up for the Academy Awards, and likewise at the after parties. Madonna for one, looked stunning at the popular Vanity Fair party, and vamped it up old-style in a floor length clingy black Versace, and softly curled hair reminiscent of the Golden era of Hollywood. Now, I can't say for certain how she got her hair to look like that--odds are it took a team of people, with lots of special tools and products, or it might have even been specially grown in a magical land that only celebrities know about. In any case, I can tell you how to get your hair to look very similar to her's, and it won't cost you nearly as much as having a Hollywood hair stylist do it for you.

Me doing pin-curls on a friend (They're not as painful as they look.)

Pin curls are an old-fashioned way of curling your hair, and was a technique used often back in the day before we had curling irons and hot rollers. In order to do them, all you need is a bunch of bobby pins (approximately 2 per curl, the total number will vary greatly according to how many curls you want and how think your hair is). After washing and towel-drying your hair, carefully comb through it and simply take small, 1 inch sections of hair between your two fingers and wind them (not too tightly) around your fingers starting at the bottom and winding up towards your scalp. Use the two bobby pins to form an X as you pin them in place against your head. Repeat this all over your head until you have all your hair pinned up, then tie a scarf or wear a knit cap to hold everything in place. The best bet to do this style is to do it the night before you want your hair curled, or if you have all day to get ready, shower in the morning then spend the rest of the day with your hair pinned.

The picture to the right shows myself at a college ball where I used pin curls to curl my hair.

The point is that the pins should be left for several hours, allowing your hair to dry completely. When you are ready, take all the pins out and use your fingers to pull apart the curls and comb through them with your fingers. Turn your head upside to lightly spray the curls, but believe me when I say that they will stay very well on their own without any product. Just make sure you have your hair parted and arranged the way you want before you do spray them with anything.

In rich people news...

When you are wealthy enough to not have to worry about saving your money, and searching for bargains is more of a "fun activity" than an actual way of life, you are what us regular people would call, "rich". When you are "rich", I have been told one of the things you can do with your gobs and gobs of cash is to go to auctions and spend money on frivolous items like class American movie memorabilia, or baseball cards. Apparently there are a lot more of these "rich" people than I thought (and not all of them are celebrities), as a bunch of them did just that this week! It seems that a rare Honus Wagner baseball card that had been previously owned by Wayne Gretsky, was auctioned off for $2.3 million. For that much, you would have thought that there was a more famous baeball player on the card, because I have never heard of this guy. Apparently the reason why the card is so rare is because the cards were originally sold with tobacco, and Honus Wagner was against tobacco usage, even way back in the day.

That's pretty respectable, gotta say.


The other auction that made news this week featured Audrey Hepburn's infamous black gown from the opening of the classic movie Breakfast at Tiffany's. About $800,000 from the proceeds of the auction are being donated to help build schools in India.

That's pretty respectable too, gotta say.

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Excitement!

The (seemingly) long-awaited 2 hour premiere of cycle 8 of America's Next Top Model airs tonight at 8 on the CW network. As is my custom, I've studied the pics of the new contestants, and picked out my favorite girls, and they are as follows in descending order: Brittany, Samantha, and Jael. As a long -time fan of Top Model, I've watched since the very first cycle, getting numerous friends addicted to it along the way, though I have to admit that I have gotten worse at predicting finalists and the eventual winner as they have gone on. I also have become more of a fan of Tyra Banks, though many have seemed to dislike her more now that she is more than just a pretty face. In any case, I know I will be glued to my screen tonight, and I'm sure millions more fans like me will be doing the same!

*******SPOILER ALERT*************

A big heads up--this year, the girls will going to Australia for their international destination. Let's see if they can handle being fierce in the land down under!

Someone was bound to get him sooner or later

Over-famed blogger Perez Hilton is known for his cutting comments on celebrities of all sorts, coupled with pictures that sport paintworks style special effects, often making it appear as if celebrities have urine running down their leg, or coke dripping from their nose. Other, more subtle posts feature pictures with words scribbled over them, outing closeted celebrities, or just plain calling them names. He often makes it clear who his favorites are, as you will never find a disparaging post on his namesake, Paris Hilton, or “saint” Angelina Jolie, as he likewise makes up unflattering names for those not on his good side. Now one such celebrity is suing him for posting topless photos on his site. It seems that Universal City Studios Productions LLLP, on behalf of Jennifer Aniston, or as referred to on the site, “Maniston”, announced last week that they are suing Mario Lavandeira, otherwise known as Perez Hilton, for posting the photos taken from scenes that were edited out from the final version of the movie The Breakup. Read the full story here.

Hmm, that can't be good

Well now, I am no stock market expert, I don't own any stocks in anything, and I would have to say that my collective knowledge of the stock market would probably be equal to the average person's awareness of the cultural mores of Djibouti--yeah, that's about zero. In any case, its been widely reported today that the Dow plunged by more than 500 points in one day, though it did regain some ground before the bell, closing down at 3.29 percent, signaling the worst day for the market since September 11th. All that stuff I just said might make it seem like I know what I am talking about, but again, I don't, so your best bet would be to read the article on Yahoo through the above link.

By the way, if you were interested, I do know that Djibouti is a country located on the northeastern coast of Africa, right above Ethiopia. They are one of 35 countries where scouting exists, and they have a number of fish that have appeared on their postage stamps.

See that, I just gave you a new wrinkle in your brain.

You are welcome.

Flashback

Penelope Cruz landed herself on many best dressed lists at the Oscars this year in a beautiful and elegant blush colored Atelier Versace dress with a fitted bodice and oversized mermaid train with ruffles. While I thought the dress, and the actress in it, looked amazing, I couldn't help but be reminded of a dress Sarah Jessica Parker wore in the series finale of Sex and the City in 2004, which was also Versace couture.

Penelope's 2007 Oscar gown

Is Versace becoming too predictable?

Carrie Bradshaw's 2004 farewell

Some more Oscar fashions for you...

Not all of the best dressed peeps were Oscar winners, or presenters, or even guests at the actual event. Post-Oscar parties are a big deal in Hollywood, and going means that you might not necessarily have the goods to win the coveted award, but you're hot enough to trot into the biggest parties of the year. Below are my VicPicks for best Oscar party dresses.

Madonna in Dolce and Gabbana at the Vanity Fair party

Ellen Pompeo in Alexander McQueen at the Vanity Fair party


Victoria Beckham in Azzedine Alaïaat the Elton John AIDS Foundation party

Oscar Fashion Report

The 79th Annual Academy Awards were last night, and though on the whole it was rather eventless, as no one streaked or made brash political statements, no one showed up wearing anything unbearable to look at, and the host, first-timer Ellen DeGeneres was funny yet classy and unassuming, the biggest thing was how long the show actually went on for. Coming in at roughly 3 hours and 50 minutes, perhaps its a good thing that there were no major fashion disasters, as having to look at one for that long might permanently burn bad fashion into our brain.

Among the trends, navy was a common color, as Maggie Gyllenhal in Proenza Schouler, Reese Witherspoon in Nina Ricci, Jody Foster in Vera Wang, Emily Bunt in Calvin Klein, and Ellen's girlfriend, Portia De Rossi in Zac Posen, all wore it. There were a lot of strapless dresses with mermaid trains, as well as the Grecian-inspired one shoulder look. American Idol loser/Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson was disappointing in a brown Oscar de la Renta with pockets (which, in my opinion, have no business doing anything on an evening gown). Nicole Kidman struck an always impressively statuesque pose in bright red Balenciaga, but her demure facial expressions are becoming more awkward with the more Botox she uses, and it makes me sad. Anne Hathaway, who recently compared herself to Lindsay Lohan , seemed to learn little from her experiences shooting The Devil Wears Prada, and wore an ill-fitting white brocade strapless Valentino dress with an obnoxiously oversized bow on the bodice. Cameron Diaz could have done better in her white off-the-shoulder Valentino number, but Kirsten Dunst looked dreadful in a confusing silver short-sleeved Chanel Couture dress with feathered bottom.

For my top picks, I actually am going to be on the uneventful side as well, as I enjoyed Nicole's daring red dress, and as blue is my favorite color, I have to say that I liked Reese's and Emily's dresses as well. While some had her on their worst dressed list, I actually liked Gwyneth Paltrow's brick colored short sleeve Zac Posen number, with side-swept stick-straight hair (similar to Nicole Kidman's). Additionally, I thought Kate Winslet's seafoam green Valentino number and Isla Fisher (aka, Borat's girlfriend) looked wonderful as a red-head in an emerald dress by Monique Lhuillier. Cate Blanchette, in a silver one-shouldered Armani Privé dress, kept to her word, and played dress up yet again in an elegant and tasteful way.

I'd like to also give special props to the, ahem, older women at the event, as I felt that both Diane Keaton, a presenter for Best Picture, and Helen Mirren in Christian Lacroix, a winner for Best Actress, looked stunningly beautiful--a coup for women in Hollywood who refuse to do anything but age gracefully! Bravo!


Addendum: When you can't find it out yourself, you just have to find the right People to ask. As per the question posted here, I put in a question at People.com and they answered:

I have been searching everywhere for this! I thought that Diane Keaton looked absolutely beautiful presenting Best Picture, particularly in light of her past fashion faux-pas on the red carpet, but what designer was she wearing this year? – Victoria, CT

Keaton, who copresented the award for Best Picture with Jack Nicholson, wore a belted, long-sleeved Ralph Lauren gown. She dressed up the basic black dress with a sparkly large pendant by Neil Lane Jewelry.

FREE SAMPLE ALERT!

In case you were one of the two people in the world who didn't watch the Oscars last night, during one of the commercial breaks, the winner of the Dove Cream Oil commercial contest was announced. I entered the contest and didn't win (obviously), so because I'm a little bitter, I don't have the name of the girl who won or her comercial here for you. What I do have is a link to get a free sample of the product the commercial was for. Enjoy.

Britney Spears interview 1999