Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup, April 21

Music: Spring is finally here (yay!) and it's one of my favorite times of the year. Summer is now too darn hot and humid which makes it hard to enjoy and winter is too darn cold, snowy and icy which makes it hard to enjoy. So that leaves me with...what?...spring and autumn. Not a fan of endless grey skies, naked trees and rainy days, so I'll take spring, thank you. AND since it's spring, I'm determined to shove myself into a spring-y mood. Enough with the dreary weather and feeling down. I have been listening to Noah and The Whale's latest album, entitled Last Night On Earth and it's perfect for these spring sunny days. 

Noah and The Whale are an indie folk band, formed in 2006 in London, England. Last Night on Earth is their third album and it's different from their previous offerings. It reminds me of Tom Petty and 80s pop/rock, it's a laid back, breezy, feelgood type of record, perfect to play in your car or whatever. Make no mistake, it's not pop music. It's perfectly playable on AOR radio stations. Matter of fact, it's very radio-friendly, polished and upbeat, certainly marking a departure from their moody previous LP.

The first hit single from the new album is L.I.F.E.G.O.E.S.O.N which is still getting lots of airplay on UK radio and they've just released the video for their new single, Tonight's The Kind Of Night.

Movies: Hanna, starring Saoirse Ronan, Cate Blanchett and Eric Bana is definitely the one a lot of people/critics are talking about at the moment and if you like The Chemical Brothers, you are going to love the movie's original soundtrack. Here's a taste of what you can expect. And yes, I've been playing that track a lot lately. It's freakin addictive! Read more about Hanna, watch trailers and see photos.

Food: Last Sunday I woke up at 7 AM sharp, which almost never happens for me. It was weird. I don't do Sunday mornings...or, if I do, they don't start before 10-11 AM. I was well rested, so I decided to get out of bed and proceed with my day. I figured how hard can it be, right? I can be "normal" like other people, or at least I could try. What the heck do people do on a Sunday morning at 7 AM? Make breakfast? And by that I mean, prepare it from scratch? Probably. Not me though. I made a quick sandwich, had some fruit salad with one scoop of ice cream on the side to make it all unhealthy but fun, and ended up at my computer, browsing breakfast recipes: cereal, eggs, French toast, waffle, muffins and pancakes. Good enough, huh? I am hopeless, I know. I'll never be "normal", whatever that means. But hey, fruit salad is good for you, isn't it?

Anyway, here are some of the recipes (not just for breakfast) I came across and if any of these strike your fancy, let me know how they turn out: 

Coconut Crepes w/ Tropical Fruits & Banana Almond Cream

Apple & Cinnamon French Toast

Summer Pancakes

Pancakes with Sweet Berries and Bananas

Pasta with Cherry Tomatoes, Feta, Halloumi & Basil

Simple Spinach and Ricotta Frittata

Roasted New Potatoes with Lemon and Thyme

Perfume: I'm going to go with a classic oriental fragrance this week, since it's still chilly enough outside for this type of perfume. Once the weather gets too hot, it will be too heavy to wear during the warm season. So, Guerlain's Samsara it is, in Eau de Parfum concentration, which is a bit more woody and santal-oriented than the Eau de Toilette version (more jasmine-centered). There's also a Parfum version of Samsara (bottle pictured on the right) and it's very good and also very expensive.

Blast from the past: Lenny Kravitz - Again. By the way, he's releasing a new album soon.

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In other recent news: 

Beyonce is releasing her new single Run the World (Girls) on radio and iTunes today. The song features a heavy sample of Major Lazer's Pon de Floor single. The video, directed by Francis Lawrence, will drop soon and according to Lawrence: "It's one of the biggest Beyonce music videos ever done." A teaser for the video was released yesterday, but it doesn't tell me much, other than Beyonce knows how not to fall off a horse. Watch it here. 

Edited: The official version of the song has just premiered on US radio and you can listen to it here. 


LMFAO are getting a lot of spins on radio and in the clubs with their Party Rock Anthem. Check out the choreography in this 'making of' video.

While everyone is talking about Britney's new album and Gaga's new single, Jennifer Lopez is silently slaying, with a no.1 hit (On the Floor) in 20-plus countries, over 100 milion views on youtube and a record gone platinum in the US. Quite the comeback. Her new video, for the single I'm Into You will be released on May 2, according to reports, and she has just unlocked a new track on iTunes, called Papi, also from her upcoming album, Love?, dropping May 3.

Lady Gaga's new single is Judas and the reviews are mixed. Not her best effort at all.

Rihanna's new single is a ballad, called California King Bed, and the video is to be released soon. I imagine it's probably going to be Rihanna and some guy making out? Just a wild guess.

Foo Fighters finally score their first Billboard No.1 album with 'Wasting Light'. Took them long enough. They also have a new rockumentary out, called Back and Forth and it's currently being shown in select theaters wordwide. Watch the trailer here.

Bruno Mars' new video for the single Lazy Song is out now.

Beastie Boys have released a new single, Make Some Noise.

Snoop Dogg teaming up with David Guetta for the dance version of the song Sweat was probably a good idea since it's getting a lot of airplay. 

Jessie J's new video is for the song called Nobody's Perfect.

Moby's new single is The Day, from the upcoming album Destroyed.

Jeff Bridges will release an album this summer. For more on his love of music, read his feature interview with Esquire magazine. 

U2's '360' tour is officially the most successful tour of all time.

Read about what happened during Beatles' last days here.  

Britney Spears has joined Tumblr.

Jay-Z launched a new lifestyle site, Life + Times, a "modern male manifesto" that covers fashion, technology, sports and music.

According to reports, Apple will release the new iPhone 5 in September. 

Conde Nast Traveller published their Hot 2011 List - the world's best new hotels.

Take a look at the movies that are going to be screened during this year's Cannes Film Festival. 

For movie updates and new trailers, check out the new category on this blog, movies 2011. (If you haven't visited in a while, there's also a new category for magazines.)

As far as fashion and beauty go, if you're a fan of Alexander McQueen, check out this Vogue US retrospective (to be published in the May 2011 issue). 

Angelina Jolie has a new jewelry line and you can check it out in this video.

If you're in Sydney, Australia, Burberry has opened a new store on 343 George Street and it looks like this:

Scarlett Johansson's ad for Dolce & Gabbana cosmetics campaign, summer 2011:

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup, March 6

Now that the awards season is over, we can resume whatever we were doing before the TSN vs.TKS showdown (that is, The Social Network vs. The King's Speech). Therefore, one of the things that's been M.I.A. on this blog, namely The Weekly Roundup, is now back in all its glory.

 
Music: A lot of nice singles have surfaced lately (scroll down for a list of recent releases), which is a good thing after all that January blah and the slow movement that we usually see at the beginning of a new year. The very talented Adele is having the time of her life right now: she hit no.1 in both UK singles and UK album charts and across the pond, where she has debuted at no.1 in the US album chart, how about that? Her current single, Someone Like You, became huge following her great performance at the BRIT Awards last month. It's a beautiful, stylish, goosebumps-inducing ballad and you can see the much-talked about live performance from the BRIT awards here or you can listen to the album version here, just to compare.

Movie: I'm going to go with Biutiful this week, still fresh from the awards season. Even if it was generally overlooked, it found its moment when it mattered the most: the Oscars. It was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film and Best Actor for Javier Bardem, which really made me happy because Bardem absolutely deserved this nomination. I happen to like Alejandro González Iñárritu's movies and Biutiful is no exception. Yes, it's a long movie (2 hours and a half), yes it's sad, it's in Spanish, it's not an easy watch, but boy did Javier Bardem make it totally worthwhile by giving one of the very best performances of his career. And if you're an Iñárritu fan, here's a link to a nice interview with him and longtime collaborator and friend Guillermo Del Toro. 

Perfume: I'm still rotating my "winter perfumes" because...it's STILL winter, darn it! Subzero temps and snow in March really push my buttons, but maybe if I ignore it, it will go away, right? So until I'm justified to take out my "spring stash", this is what you'll get. But for now, here's one that can actually be worn in warmer weather as well, if applied with a light hand. 

This week's choice comes from Maison Francis Kurkdjian, the amazingly talented perfumer who has previously created exquisite fragrances for both mainstream and niche brands: Guerlain, Jean Paul Gaultier, Narciso Rodriguez, Parfums MDCI, Indult. He launched his own line of perfumes in 2009 to rave reviews and this is one of the winners in that line: Lumiere Noire Pour Femme. It's a plush, sultry juice with notes of rose, pimento, narcissus and patchouli. It's not very floral (which is a good thing in my book, as I don't do overly floral perfumes) and the patchouli is very well blended so it doesn't bother me (as I often have issues with this note when it is too harsh and/or prominent).

Food/Dessert: For a quick and delicious chocolate fix, there's always Lindt and Ritter Sport as far as I'm concerned. Oh wait...I went straight for the dessert first. Nevermind. It's the best part anyway, at least for people like me whose sweet tooth takes the best of them. Let's carry on. I also found a little darling from Loacker (the Italian brand that makes those awesome wafers and other yummy chocolate specialities) at my local supermarket, which was precious because I rarely see Loacker products in my neck of woods anymore. When I saw it on the shelf,  I almost screamed (yes, their chocolate wafers are THAT good), so it was one of those "GIMME. THIS. NOW. GOTTA HAVE IT" moments for me. I grabbed 2 boxes and left the store in a state of utter delight. I am easily pleased if you let me loose in the chocolate aisle. As far as actual food goes, I came across this recipe yesterday - Baked Cheesy Chicken Penne - and it looks easy and yummy. You can easily adjust it to your own liking, by replacing some of the ingredients or adding to it.

Blast from the past: Rolling Stones - Love Is Strong. Because it's the Stones. And a great song. And the video was directed by David Fincher. So what if they won't give him the darn Oscar that he deserves? The fans will always appreciate him and buy tickets to see his movies. Same goes for you, Chris Nolan. Keep making smart, great movies. You are loved.

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What else has been happening recently?

In music: 

Jennifer Lopez has premiered the video for her new single, On The Floor and considering the fact that the song has hit no.1 on iTunes (knocking Lady Gaga off the top spot) and that she debuted at no.9 in this week's Billboard Hot 100, I would say it's a nice comeback. Plus she looks hot in the video. Way to go, Jen !

Arcade Fire, the band that surprised (almost) everyone by winning the Grammy for Album of the Year at last month's Grammy Awards, have a new single, called City with No Children that will be officially released on March, 13.

Katy Perry's new single is called E.T. and the single/video version features Kanye West. The song has already debuted at no.8 in the US this week and the video will premiere very soon. And she's kind of rocking the Cleopatra-esque look on the single cover.

Kings of Leon's new single off the album Come Around Sundown is called The Immortals.

Tiesto is back with a new single, finally entering the UK Top 40 and other charts across Europe. The song is called C'Mon (Catch'Em by Surprise) featuring rapper Busta Rhymes.

Kanye West has recently premiered his new video, All of the Lights, that features strobe-lit images of himself, Rihanna and Kid Cudi and visual references to Gaspar Noe's 2009 film Enter The Void. And since I mentioned Rihanna, she is featured in the new Nivea campaign "100 Years Skincare for Life", celebrating the centennial of the brand. I am not really a Rihanna fan, but I can sure appreciate beauty when I see it and I think this ad is a nice shot of her, showcasing her natural beauty. Much better than the overdone, cheap look that we see on her sometimes (sorry RiRi, but it's true).

Following their great performance at the Grammy Awards, English folk rock band, Mumford & Sons have released the video for their single The Cave and guess who's a fan? None other than Timbaland who wrote on his Twitter that he's been listening to their album and loving it.

Lady Gaga holds the no.1 spot on Billboard Hot 100 for a 3rd consecutive week with Born This Way.

Hurts, the British duo, premiered their new video for the song Sunday.

In movies/TV shows:

Tom Hanks was invited on Jimmy Kimmel last week and aside from being his awesome self, he also offered a sneak peek of his new movie, Larry Crowne (which he also directed).

We got to watch a second trailer for the movie Water for Elephants, the adaptation of Sara Gruen's novel, directed by Francis Lawrence. The movie stars Reese Witherspoon, Robert Pattinson and Cristopher Waltz (yep, that's right, the guy who won the Oscar for his performance in Inglorious Basterds).

The trailer and movie poster for Paul Giamatti's new film, Win Win have been released.
  
Avatar 2 is going to be set underwater.  

In case you missed Kate Winslet's lovely photos for Glamour Magazine, there's a link (excerpts from interview included). 

How I Met Your Mother has been renewed for two seasons.

Celebrities such as Penelope Cruz, Jeff Bridges, Olivia Wilde and Queen Latifah were photographed as Disney characters by the great Annie Leibovitz. 

The lovely Diane Lane has been cast in the new Superman movie.

In fashion:

Tom Ford has opened a new boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. In case you're in the neighborhood, do go in and take a look.

John Galliano has been fired from Dior.

Lady Gaga made her catwalk debut at Thierry Mugler's Fall 2011 fashion show and she bought the entire collection.

The new faces of Burberry are Tara Ferry, Bryan Ferry's son and Tali Lennox, the daughter of Annie Lennox.

Christina Hendricks (of Mad Men fame) is the face of Vivienne Westwood's new jewelry collection.

"We're gonna party like it's your birthday"

It actually was. And I can tell you that it was a lovely day, both inside and out. Outside the weather was kind of perfect (notice what I did there? :P), considering the standards of this season: not too gloomy, not too sunny ( I like sunny, but not TOO sunny...yeah I know, I'm weird, but I really want a dimmer switch for the sun so I can adjust it whenever I please), not too hot, not unbearably cold. No rain, no snow, none of that yuckiness that makes me think I'd rather eat paper than go outside. Don't get me wrong, I do like snow. One night a year only: Christmas night. Other than that, I like snow in pictures, not outside my window. So thank you weather.

Inside it was warm and nice, with familiar faces, smiles, glasses filled with Martini, good food, chocolate, phone calls, texts and lovely posts from both my real life and my online friends. All of this wrapped in a delicately fragrant trail of the Tom Ford perfume I was wearing. (Laugh all you want, but it's my thing: I always wear a Tom Ford perfume on my birthday and on New Year's night.) At the end of the day, my new age is not that bad. No, the first digit hasn't changed :P I'm still in the same decade, but this new number felt different...somehow. No worries, if it starts to play tricks on me, I can always ignore it, put on some music, turn it up, dance it off. Thank you all for being my friends! You are loved.

It's the crack of dawn as I am writing this. Bed and sweet dreams are awaiting. Hangover, be gentle.

Photos from flickr.

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup January 30

Music: Bruno Mars - Grenade Cute little pop song that has already hit no.1 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 Chart. I didn't jump on the Bruno Mars bandwagon immediately, but I like what he's been doing recently. Expect to hear this song everywhere in the next weeks. Bruno Mars is nominated for several Grammy Awards (to be held on February, 13).

Movie: The King's Speech Colin Firth is up for Best Actor Oscar next month and he'll probably get it. Not only because he's long overdue, but it's a fantastic performance and rumour has it that the Academy members LOVED The King's Speech. The movie also features great performances from Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter.

Food/Dessert: Now that I'm done with dieting after the Holidays binging, as I decided I have been starving long enough, I'm going back to the real food. Ha. I want this. Now: Italian baked chicken and pastina Followed by dessert, obviously. Since I have a thing for chocolate cake and my birthday is coming soon, I want to try this recipe.

Perfume: Tom Ford - Black Orchid. If you're looking for a va-va-voom type of perfume, that's also unique and won't break the bank, you could give this one a try. Approach with caution though, it is strong and lasts forever, so a little goes a long way.

Blast from the (recent) past: Coldplay - In My Place Still one of their finest songs to date.

Thingy: Remember friendship bracelets? Well, not all of them are cheesy and to be laughed at. These new designs from L.A.-based jewelry brand, Muses & Rebels are cute, using embroidery floss to gold- and silver-plated metals to created fabric links interspersing delicate metal chains.

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It happened this week-ish:

The nominees for the 83rd Academy Awards were announced earlier in the week.

Pink released a new video for the song F**kin Perfect, the second single taken from her Greatest Hits album.

Britney Spears' new single, called Hold It Against Me, is gaining momentum. I am not a fan of the song, but the reviews are generally favorable.

Jennifer Lopez has released a new song, called On the Floor, taken from her upcoming album, Love. The single samples Kaoma's hit Lambada and is featured on Jennifer Lopez' official website. And while you're at it, you can buy her new perfume, Love and Glamour.

Billboard magazine published the best bets for 2011 - album previews of this year's most anticipated releases.

If you're a Bon Jovi fan and own a smartphone, they have launched the new and free Bon Jovi application for iPhone, Android and Blackberry.

Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem are the happy parents of their newly born son. Congrats!

The Killers announce their return. The band, that is.

Rumour has it that Romania might be one of the filming locations for the next (and last) Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises. If it does happen, Chris Nolan will be one of the best things happening in this neck of woods in the recent years.

W Magazine has been offering all sorts of features related to the awards season: interviews, photo shoots, screen tests with some of the actors and actresses that gave us the best performances of 2010. You can watch Annette Bening, James Franco, Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Mark Ruffalo, Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem, Vincent Cassel, Julianne Moore, Jesse Eisenberg, Colin Firth and more answering the question "What movie made you cry?" if you follow this link. For more interviews click here. Below are some photos from the shoot.

 

 Photos from W Magazine.

The sea inside me

I've been tagged by the lovely Claudia in a little game where I have to choose one photo that sums up the entire year of 2010 for me. Here it is:

It's been a year of ups and downs, but after everything that's happened (part of which is mentioned here), I realized that the sea/ocean was a love affair that's meant for life as far as I'm concerned. I will never be able to stay away.  It's part of who I am and I can't change that...I don't even want to. So yes, I still jump for joy like a 10-year-old whenever I go to the beach...And the sea...it's joy and sorrow, it's peace and restlessness, it's all that and more. It's the one place that turns the inner me into a roller coaster of emotions and states of mind. It made me realize that I want all that "drama", because being emotionally numb is being lifeless. It helped me know myself better and, in many ways, it brings out that kid inside me and I'll always, always want to hang on to that.

I'm tagging the lovely Miruna next, hopefully she'll like this little game :)

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup January 10

Music: McFly feat. Taio Cruz - Shine A Light. As tempted as I might be to throw in some Pink Floyd at the moment, I'll try to get over the blah caused by the first days of the year and the dreary winter and go for a catchy little pop song. This is quite a radical change of sound for the British band McFly. Everybody wants a piece of Taio Cruz at the moment since he's one of the most successful UK exports in the recent years, so getting him to sing on your track is going to make it more popular. Start the year on a positive note....or something. Shine A Light, eh?

Movie: True Grit. The Coen brothers are back with another great movie. With great performances from Jeff Bridges, newcomer Hailee Steinfeld and Matt Damon, True Grit is a charming, tasteful combination of adventure, humor and melancholy. Critics loved it, so did the audiences and I'm no exception. In a time when western movies are almost an extinct species, the Coen brothers made a western that earned over $100 million at the box office so far. Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Perfume: Narciso Rodriguez - For Her. Hugely popular abroad, but almost nowhere to be found on the Romanian market - at least not the physical stores - this is truly a modern classic in its own right. Sexy - but not in that blunt, obvious way - and classy, NR For Her is an affordable fragrance that is perfectly suitable for everyday use. Why Romanian distributors failed to bring this little gem to the local stores is beyond my comprehension.

Food/Dessert: A little detox after all that Holiday binging can't hurt. So fruit salad it is. The nice thing about fruit salad is that you can always adjust it to your liking. If you love mango like I do, here's one for you. You can always add peaches/nectarines, pineapple and if you're not crazy about pomegranate, go with cranberries or blueberries instead.

Blast from the past: Actually this one isn't very old, but I loved it when it came out back in 2006, and I listened to it again the other day, so there you go: Red Hot Chilli Peppers - Snow (Hey Oh).

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In the news since 2011 began:

Tom Ford finally released a video from his spring 2011 womenswear collection. Accompanied by model/singer Karen Elson's song "Pretty Babies" (she also walked in the show), the video puts together backstage shots, runway clips of the celebrities and models who got to wear all those gorgeous clothes.

Emmanuelle Alt was named French Vogue's new editor-in-chief. 

Lady Gaga announced that the her new album, entitled Born This Way, is due to be released on May 23, 2011, preceded by the single's release on February 13, 2011.

Natalie Portman confirmed she is pregnant and engaged.

Harper's Bazaar revealed their February cover star and it is Nicole Kidman, looking great in a lovely photo shoot. 

George Lucas has announced that the Star Wars films are coming to Blu-Ray this fall.

Britney Spears' new single, Hold It Against Me, was released to radio and online.

People's Choice Awards were dominated by Katy Perry, Eminem and Rihanna. Glad to see House M.D. winning for drama, actor (Hugh Laurie) and actress (Lisa Edelstein).

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"Love is all that you can't leave behind"

"Time flies. Time waits for no man. Time heals all wounds. All any of us wants is more time. Time to stand up. Time to grow up. Time to let go. Time." (Grey's Anatomy, season 3, episode 1)

Yet another year flew by. Inevitably for me, there's a sense of nostalgia whenever another year comes to an end. I am never sure whether I want it to end but it is out of my hands so all I can really do is go with the flow. Smile. Drink champagne. Kiss someone at midnight. Make room for other feelings such as the anxiety and the excitement for something new...a new year, a new start. When I was a high school teenager and a college student afterward, the nostalgia was mixed with the feeling of being utterly annoyed by the fact that the holidays were ending, school was about to start, and more exams were knocking at my door. I can't say that I loved being in school back then, even though I always had good grades. I am now grateful and glad that I stuck with it but back then all I wanted was to be free and sometimes school felt as a form of confinement and not challenging enough to keep me interested. I wanted to experience life, travel the world, meet new people, listen to music, hang out with friends, read books, go to the beach and be a free spirit. I enjoyed learning about the stuff that I liked and was interested in. The rest, I'd just wing it. Not to brag, but I'm kind of smart :P - luckily I used to be able to go through the course material of an entire semester in just two or three days right before the exam and because it was about stuff that I really didn't like, I was just happy to get it done and put it behind me.

I don't really do New Year resolutions. I have an idea about what I'd like to do next but I'm not dead set on it. Things can change. I could find myself, 3 months later, wanting to do something different or enjoying something I never expected to. I don't plan stuff so far ahead, although I'm quite an organized person. So if you ask me about any big plans for 2011, I don't have a very specific or elaborate answer. I want to travel more. I want to smile more. I want to keep hanging on to the kid inside me - I have succeeded so far. I want to love chocolate less than I do, my pancreas and my kidneys must hate me. I want to make more friends and meet my internet friends in real life. I want to see fewer discriminating and intolerant people. I want to be able to swim in the ocean. I have an eternal fascination with the sea and the ocean, even though I almost drowned three times in my life. That's a pretty good sign I should probably stay away from deep waters, they freak me out. I am not a good swimmer but I can't hate the sea. I just can't. I feel drawn to it, and it shakes me to my core because of the conflicting emotions it triggers inside me: peaceful, restless, overwhelming, uplifting. It is the beginning and the end at the same time. But one day...I will swim in the ocean. At this point in time, it is not very likely to happen but it is not impossible. The dream of me swimming in the ocean is there. And that makes it a possibility. Until then, the best I can do is breathe and exhale. Enjoy now. Worry later. Maybe if I keep postponing worrying, I will eventually just stop doing it and forget all about it. Take the "Scarlett O'Hara approach": "I won't think about it now. I'll think about it tomorrow". Cross bridges when I get to them. Have a glass of wine, hug my loved ones, smile at the cute kitty I keep seeing around my building, write on my blog and thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read it.

What do I want for all of us? I want for all of us to be kinder, more patient, less hard on ourselves. Hang on to our dreams wherever we are. A new year means more time. More time is ultimately a gift. Enjoy it and make the best of it. "Walk on. What you got, they can't deny it, can't sell it or buy it".

May we all have a peaceful, healthy and joyful 2011 !

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup December 23

Music: Eminem - Not Afraid. WHY? I am not necessarily an Eminem fan, but when this song came up on TV this morning - even though I had already listened to it a thousand times this year, as it's been heavily rotated and you couldn't really avoided if you tried - I found myself just sitting there on the couch thinking that, not only it's a good Eminem song (Lose Yourself is still arguably his best song and his most successful single to date), but this guy has somehow managed to rise from his own ashes yet again. He released a new album in 2010 - appropriately called "Recovery" - to huge commercial success and it's well deserved: it's a good record. Does the world really love Eminem so much? Yes. His fan base has been incredibly loyal throughout the years and all it takes is one good song and he's back to being ubiquitous. After all, this is what being a real fan means: sticking by your favorite artist despite all the ups and downs. And Eminem has had his own share of downs, culminating with prescription drugs/alcohol dependence and contemplating suicide. Read more about his struggle to stay alive, get sober and return to top of the charts in Eminem: The Billboard Cover Story. To summarize here's why this is my song choice for this week:

1. "Recovery" is the best selling album of 2010 and includes 2 number one hits: Not Afraid and Love the Way You Lie. I personally like Not Afraid better, simply because it's more relevant for who Eminem is.

2. Billboard magazine recently published their top 25 music moments of 2010 and Eminem's "Recovery" is at no.1.

3. Eminem has 10 (ten) Grammy nominations, more than any other artist this year.

4. With his sales and chart performances, Eminem is Billboard's artist of the decade. He hit no.1 with every album released in the last 10 years.

5. Time Magazine has recently chosen this Rolling Stone cover as the best magazine cover of 2010:

I can't say if it's the best of the year, as I haven't seen all of them, but it certainly is one fantastic cover. That's what I thought about it, when I first saw it 2 months ago (this was the cover for the November 2010 issue). One simple picture that tells more about Eminem than a 1000 words. Because, at the end of the day, what do we really know about Eminem? He (still) wears hoodies. He doesn't really like to talk about himself, although he accepted to talk openly about his "road back from hell" as Rolling Stone put it. But even when he does an interview, we feel we only get a glimpse of who he really is. He doesn't really care about fame, making headlines or being in the tabloids. He's more of a loner, keeps a lot to himself. The anger is still there but now it's channeled a bit differently, as he shows signs of maturity on "Recovery". The flashy, blonde Eminem is gone along with the cartoon-ish videos. Will he ever get back to that? Who knows? I personally like the dark-haired Eminem better. He's still got a lot of fight in him, most of which is probably against his own demons.
  
Movie: Rabbit Hole starring Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. Very good perfomance from Nicole Kidman in a touching movie. I'll post more about it in an upcoming brief review.

Food/Dessert: If you're plunging into the Holiday cooking/baking frenzy, here are more festive dessert ideas: for a color-coordinated dessert the Red Velvet Cake is a classic. If you're still not sure about your choice of chocolate cake, maybe give this Decadent Chocolate Cake a try. And for something completely different try this spectacular Chocolate Chestnut Charlotte.


Perfume: Parfumerie Generale - Cadjmere. Also known as No.18 from their collection. I chose this one because it smells like Christmas to me. It's an exotic but friendly woody concoction with just a touch of coconut, and it ultimately smells like Christmas trees and yummy desserts baking in the oven.


Blast from the past: Robbie Williams - Angels. His hugely popular hit is perfect for this time of the year. Simply beautiful and I'll always love it.


Random thought: Christmas carolers wake up way too early in the morning.


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In the news this week-ish:

The awards season is in full swing and I'm caught up in it not only because I love movies but because it's fun! The nominees for both the Golden Globes and the SAG Awards were announced last week and I'll write more on them in a separate post in January (before the actual ceremonies take place).

Leonardo Di Caprio tops Forbes highest-grossing Hollywood actors list of 2010. 

Avatar Is 2010's Most Pirated Film. Surprised?

Not only is Amy Adams Miss Cuteness, but she's a very talented actress who is back into the spotlight with her role in The Fighter, a movie that's generating a lot of Oscar buzz and might earn her another Oscar nomination. Here she is in a beautiful festive photo shoot for Parade magazine.

The poster and trailer to the highly anticipated Terrence Malick upcoming movie - Tree of Life - have surfaced and you can see them here.

Happy Holidays everyone !

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Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup December 13

Music: Tinie Tempah feat. Eric Turner - Written in the Stars. Britain's biggest breakthrough act of 2010, Tinie Tempah released this little number at the end of September, but it's still rocking 3 months later. If possible, please ignore the awfully cheesy single cover.

Movie: Going back to classics this week. Scent of a Woman starring the beloved Al Pacino is a great movie, in case you haven't seen it. Al Pacino's outstanding performance won him an Academy Award in 1993 and, as strange as it may be, it is the only Oscar Pacino ever won.


Food/Dessert: The Holidays are here and I believe in desserts. I'm also a firm believer that, while money can't buy you happiness, it sure can buy you dessert. I also think that happiness comes in many forms, one of which is dessert. So there you go. Money can buy you portions of yummy happiness. And isn't happiness supposed to taste sweet anyway? Everybody loves chocolate cake...well, almost everybody. A classic one to try is the Devil's Food Cake or if you want something a bit different, here's an equally tempting Chocolate Panna Cotta Layer Cake. If you're a peppermint fan, you can go for a festive Peppermint Meringue Cake with Chocolate Buttercream or, if you love the chocolate-orange combination, an Orange-Scented Bittersweet Chocolate Cake might be up your alley.

Random thought: I'm going to be late with my Christmas shopping this year. Why am I not surprised?

Perfume: Tom Ford - Tobacco Vanille is one of the very best (pipe) tobacco/vanilla fragrances money can buy. It is wonderfully crafted, well balanced and it smells good on both men and women.

Blast from the past: A-Ha - Crying in the Rain. One of the most beautiful songs ever recorded.

Thingy: Completely random, but I came across this cool globe chandelier and just wanted to share. It's one of the light pieces created by Benoit Vieubled. This would have been such an awesome thing to own as a kid, but it's never too late, I guess :)

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In the news this week-ish:

Billboard published their year-end charts and the Hot 100 Song of the Year is Ke$ha's hugely successful Tik Tok. Ke$ha is also Billboard's Hot 100 Artist and Top New Artist, while Lady Gaga is Top Artist, which is basically Artist of the Year. Here you can take a look at all the other year-end chart categories.

Time Magazine compiled their own Top 10 lists for 2010, for song, album, movie, TV show, magazine cover and just about every other thing you can think of. You can see them all here.

Yoko Ono gave an interview for Esquire magazine, to be published in their January 2011 issue, entitled :"What I've learned about John Lennon, 30 years on". Here you can read excerpts of it.

Jennifer Lopez revealed her new, over the top album cover. Still no word on the official release date, but it looks like the album will drop in early 2011.

Photos from Flickr, Fragrantica and Black Eiffel.

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup December 6

Music: Adele - Rolling in the Deep. It has been playing obsessively in my mind since I first heard it a short while ago and it is going to do the same on UK radio and TV. This is the first single taken from "21", the upcoming album by the very talented British singer Adele.

Food/Dessert: Tyropites rocked my week. They are Greek Cheese Pies with phyllo dough. You can also use spinach and they become Spanakopita. They freeze well, are easy to pack and take with you for a lunch snack on those hectic days. As far as dessert goes, brownies are always a yay for me.

Movies: I watched The Kids Are All Right again last night. I think it should make the final list of 10 nominees for the Best Picture Oscar and it most likely will. All actors give great performances here, especially Annette Bening, already tipped for an Oscar nomination (I felt that she really let her guard down in front of the camera in a way that she never has before) and Julianne Moore who is the fantastic actress she has always been. A notable mention for Mia Wasikowska who did a great job playing Joni, one of "The Kids". This is an honest, witty, stripped-down movie (no pun intended), where no one is preoccupied with looking good on camera. Matter of fact, it's exactly the opposite. It's raw emotion, with likable characters - flaws and all - simply because they become so relatable on an emotional level as the movie unfolds. By the end, it turns into something different from what it looked like at the beginning. It plays very much like a slice-of-life movie and the last 25 minutes or so are the best.

Perfume: If you like leather/suede perfumes, a nice one to try is Cuir Cordoba by Keiko Mecheri. It can be worn by both men and women. Smooth and velvety, it is one of her best creations.

Blast from the past: Depeche Mode - Enjoy the Silence. I admit that I have never been a huge Depeche Mode fan, I mostly appreciated them...from a distance. But this is one DM song I have always loved. One of the best of the '90s and one of the best of their entire career. If you want to see the real power of this song, check this live performance in Milan, Italy, where it's basically the crowd singing and Dave Gahan listening and not the other way around.
 
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It happened this week-ish:

The Grammy nominees were announced last Thursday, with a few surprises and a few snubs...as usual. I'll take a more detailed look at the list and possible winners in February, before the actual ceremony will take place. In the meantime, here is the link to the full list of nominees.

Coldplay released their new video to the song Christmas Lights.

Arcade Fire's new single is The Suburbs.

For the clubber in you: Far East Movement - Like A G6 is still played like crazy on the radio and TV.

Ciara proves once again what an amazing dancer she is. Check out her new video, Gimme Dat. This is some of the best executed choreography I have seen in quite a while. The song leaves a lot to be desired, to put it mildly, but with those moves and that body, who cares?

  
Pink's Raise Your Glass is the new U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No.1 song. (and she's filming the video for her next single).

Lady Gaga confirmed that her new single from the album "Born This Way" will be released in February.  

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I have kindly been asked by a friend to list the recent DVD releases and with the Holiday season coming up, you might consider these as possible gifts for your addicted-to-movies friends:

*new DVD launches in Romania: Inception, Salt, Knight and Day, Up in the Air, Shutter Island, It's Complicated, Robin Hood, Avatar-Extended Collector's Edition, Step Up 3, Toy Story 3, The Back-Up Plan, Sex and the City 2, The Book of Eli, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse.

 
Photos from Flickr, Fragrantica.

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup November 30

Music: Nelly - Just a Dream. Best Nelly song since his 2005 smash hit Over and Over featuring Tim McGraw. Yep. 

Movie/TV Show: Robin Hood with Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett is finally out on DVD in Romania. I got my copy 2 days ago. This is the hardcore Robin Hood movie (as opposed to the romanticized 1991 version with Kevin Costner).


Random thought: I'm already tired of snow. 



Food/Dessert: I have had an inexplicable craving for oranges this week (Not that cravings are necessarily there to be explained). That was the healthy part. This is the not so healthy one: Chocolate Orbit Cake. Just click the link and start drooling!

Perfume: By Kilian - Cruel Intentions. Unique and unusual, this will catch you off guard, because it probably is like nothing else you've smelled before. At least that is what happened to me. I still can't figure out this perfume most of the times.

Blast from the past: Pearl Jam - Alive. Oh, the long gone high school years. I still heart Eddie Vedder. Below is one of my favorite photos of him. On a side note: if you have never listened to Pearl Jam's Ten album from 1991, you need to, it's a classic. And while you're at it, get Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to the movie Into the Wild. Goose bumps guaranteed. The good kind.

Place: I have never been to Costa Rica, but my friends who went there keep telling me how beautiful it is. Check out the photos below and feel free to daydream :) 

Photos from : Fragrantica, Flickr

Little Things That Count - The Weekly Roundup November 21

Music: Marina and the Diamonds - I Am Not A Robot. Probably one of the most played songs in my house this year. It's addictive, relatable and I keep coming back to it, I think it's because it relaxes me or something :D Nice video too. This girl is interesting, talented (she writes most of her songs) and can really sing. I'd like to hear what she has to offer on her next album. If you want to compare the studio version with a live one, here's her much-praised performance from BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.

Fact: Marina and the Diamonds is the stage name of Marina Diamandis, a 25-year-old solo artist born in Wales to a Greek father and Welsh mother. "The Diamonds" refers to us, the listeners. She often says: "I am Marina. You are the Diamonds."

P.S. - Don't let these photos fool you, she's actually a much more colorful person, I just happen to like black and white images.

Movie/TV Show:  I was in the mood for older movies, re-watched Babel, The Departed and The Hours. You're probably thinking: "Wow, what a bunch of "happy" movies", but it's all for a purpose: a post on Oscar movies of the last decade. By the way, the 3 movies mentioned above are among my favorites (of the last 10 years)....I do like happy movies too though!

Perfume: Byredo - Gypsy Water. This perfume is pretty much a no-brainer. Easy to wear, likable and overall one of those go-to perfumes when you want to smell nice and "uncomplicated".

Random thought: Why don't we know the Oscar host(s) already? Last year they made the announcement on November 3. It's November 21 and we still don't know, even though the Oscars for 2010 are going to be held a week earlier than last year's. If they don't announce it come December 1, I'm going to assume that :

A. they are going with a big surprise and want to build up the anticipation.
B. they have several options and can't make up their minds.
C. they can't find anyone willing to do it.

As far as I'm concerned, I'm okay with any of the following : Jon Stewart again, Tina Fey (alone or with Steve Martin or anyone else), Ricky Gervais (I thought he did a good job at the Golden Globes), Jerry Seinfeld (even though he said he was never going to do it). I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting someone, but these are the names that come to mind right now. 


Food/Dessert: Lindt Dark Chocolate Truffles are evil. Can't stop eating.


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It's been an eventful week, here's some stories that made the news:

The Beatles are finally on iTunes (yay!)

Ryan Reynolds is People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive (nay)

Daniel Day-Lewis will play President Lincoln in the upcoming Steven Spielberg biopic (yay!)

Pink confirms she is pregnant on Ellen's show. Ellen De Generes, that is. Yay, Pink's happy, I'm happy for her! Congratulations to the beautiful soon to be mommy!

Baz Luhrmann chooses Carey Mulligan to play Daisy in his adaptation of The Great Gatsby (considering the previous options, Carey's a yay for me).

Tom Ford is back and I am over the moon! We got a sneak peek of the highy-anticipated Tom Ford women's wear collection this week and it looks amazing. For more details, pick up the French and U.S. issues of December Vogue. He also confirmed he was working on a new movie and it is going to be a comedy.

Photos from Flickr, Fragrantica and Fashionista