A dogged Aussie collective lands at the Oscars

The Australian filmmaking collective Blue-Tongue Films runescape power leveling has been around since 1996, when a handful of friends made a short that turned out good enough to warrant persistence.
Next Sunday, they'll enjoy a moment in movies' biggest spotlight: the Academy Awards. Among the nominees of Hollywood veterans and glamorous movie stars is Jacki Weaver, whose supporting actress nod represents not just her fine, disarming performance in David Michod's crime film "Animal Kingdom," but the ascendance of Blue-Tongue films and its tenacious gang of mates.
"We'll all be watching it from wherever we are," says Nash Edgerton, one of the group's founders, speaking from Berlin. "It's a long shot, but awesome that it got that far."
It's been a remarkable year for the seven members of Blue-Tongue, which isn't a production company or a business arrangement of any kind, but a loose group of friends who look to each other for help and inspiration.
Edgerton, a 38-year-old seasoned stuntman of many blockbusters, formed Blue-Tongue with his actor brother, Joel, and Kieran Darcy-Smith — the two of whom had just finished drama school. Their ranks have grown to include Michod, Luke Doolan, Tony Lynch and Spencer Susser, the lone American among the Aussies.
Edgerton's gritty noir "The Square" came out last year to strong reviews. Doolan's short "Miracle Fish" was nominated rs power leveling at last year's Oscars. In April, Susser's "Hesher," a film starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Natalie Portman about a heavy-metal drifter that befriends a grieving boy, will be released. Darcy-Smith recently wrapped shooting on his feature directorial debut, "Say Nothing," a psychological thriller.
"It's an incredibly positive time," says Darcy-Smith, speaking from an editing bay in Australia. "There's been a lot of interest. It's opened wider and more international doors. There's a healthy kind of pressure that that brings."
The members of Blue-Tongue are typically scattered across the credits of their films. "Animal Kingdom" was written and directed by Michod, co-starred Joel Edgerton and Darcy-Smith, was edited by Doolan and includes special thanks to Nash Edgerton.
They aren't bound by any aesthetic mantra, but their films do share a gritty realism, particularly in suburban sprawl environs and genre movie templates. They constitute one of the most exciting, hard-earned movements runescape coin in years. Film Comment hailed them as "the Next New Wave."
In "Hesher," a father and son (Rainn Wilson and Devin Brochu) are shocked out of a stupor when a tattooed, often-shirtless maniac (Gordon-Levitt) moves in. Similarly, Blue-Tongue seems to be injecting a dose of energy into movies — a good, deserved smack in the mouth.
"I think the worst thing that anyone can ever say about your work is, `Eh, it was OK,'" says Susser, speaking from Los Angeles where he's prepping the film's release. "You want people to be passionate in one way or the other."
It all started with 1996's 8-minute "Loaded," which proved to the Edgertons and Darcy-Smith that they — despite having no film school training — could succeed.
"It just inspired us to keep playing, and we found that we played together well," says Darcy-Smith. "We were bouncing ideas off each other. There rs2 items was a great collaborative spirit. We're also all really good mates. ... We've become, really, family."
Shorts have remained the group's training ground, a way to get their names out there, prove themselves capable to investors and get familiarized with directing. Doolan and both Edgertons recently completed new shorts, including one by Nash, "Bear," that's a sequel to his darkly comic "Spider," which was paired theatricallywith "The Square."
"Everyone is continuing to keep it up, keep the ball in the air," says Edgerton, who's currently writing a script for a film he expects to be bigger in scope than "The Square."
More than anything, Blue-Tongue functions like a support system. They share each other's scripts, seeking constructive feedback. When one succeeds, it only makes the others more confident that they might, too.
"It was never something we talked about," says Susser. "It was this group of friends that liked making films — kind of our hobby."
Susser, 33, fell in with the Edgertons while they were all working on "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones." Though he grew up in California, he counts himself as a "wannabe Aussie." He filmed his short "I Love Sarah Jane" in Australia, and is working a script of a buy runescape gold feature-length adaptation.
Blue-Tongue's kinship is partly based on their shared interest in portraying emotional authenticity — whether it comes in a crime drama like "Animal Kingdom" or a Zombie film like "Sarah Jane."
"I really like stuff that's honest," says Susser. "Whether it's fantasy or crazy or really silly, I like stuff that feels grounded. I feel like we all have that in common."
It's an inspiring tale: a group of filmmakers, thousands of miles from Hollywood, striving for years to build themselves into feature film directors, many of them arriving with their first movies at once.
"After years and years and years of plugging away at home and getting into a lot of debt," says Darcy-Smith. "It's great now that it's finally come to what I always thought it would: a film."
With movies in the pipeline and scripts in the works, Blue-Tongue may be just getting started.
"I'm keen to see what everyone does with a little more money and doing something a little bit bigger," says Edgerton. "Now, at least, some cheap runescape gold people will return our call."

First round bids come in for Warner Music assets

Several parties have started runescape gold putting in bids for parts or all of Warner Music Group, the world's third largest music company, sources said on Tuesday.
The bidders, who have had a preliminary review of Warner Music's books, include private equity firms, investor groups and strategic bidders like music companies.
Names that have moved ahead in the process include private equity firm KKR through its BMG Music Rights joint venture with Bertelsmann. Others include billionaire Len Blavatnik, who already owns around 2 percent of Warner Music. Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony Corp's label group Sony Music Entertainment rs gold and its song publishing joint venture Sony/ATV Publishing are also said to have moved ahead in pursuing their interest.
More official bids are expected this week.
The bids for Warner Music come even as investors are watching out for the next move from Citigroup which took control of rival music company EMI Music last month and is expected to soon put it up for sale.
Most industry watchers see the possibility of both companies being up for sale as a competitive situation which could reduce the respective sellers' bargaining power.
Warner Music Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman is also keeping an runescape money eye on the EMI process with the view that his company might in fact end up buying assets of EMI. One scenario could see Warner Music sell its Warner/Chappell song publishing unit and raise enough cash to buy all of EMI.
"They're trying to move closer to pole position to get more financial flexibility to be able to compete with some of the private equity guys who are interested in EMI's assets," said Standard & Poor's Tuna Amobi.
Warner Music has more than $2 billion of debt on its balance sheet and has seen its operating income growth slow down significantly in recent quarters as runescape items music sales continue to shrink across the industry.
"The amount of additional leverage they would need to make a bid for all of EMI would be challenging," said Amobi.
But another scenario could see Warner Music's assets ending up being sold to whoever ends up buying EMI.
The number of possibilities highlights the overall weakness and runescape accounts upheaval in the music industry.

Around the Web: Simple Steps to Happiness

There are plenty of spots around the rs power leveling web to turn to if you need a mood boost. Here are a few of our favorite websites that deal with happiness and how to find it.
Remember the pure, unadulterated joy of eating an ice-cream sundae oozing with hot fudge, chopped nuts, and fluffy clouds of whipped cream, with not one, but two Maraschino cherries on top?
Kids have such simple pleasures: Ice cream. A pony ride. The bumper cars at Six Flags. But as you get older, it takes a lot more to make you happy, and you start to wonder how to slip back into those innocent days before you’d ever heard of root canals or mortgages, when the most pressing matters on your mind were winning the Little League game and learning the multiplication table up to ten.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a time machine for you—but if happiness is what you’re after, there are plenty of spots around buying runescape gold the Internet to find tips on getting the most out of life.
Of course, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention ourselves here—after all, what could make you happier than receiving good news in your mailbox every morning?—but if you still want more, we’ll fill you in on a few great sites that specialize in positive thinking. Here are a few of our favorites.
The Happiness Project
If you read our article “Come On, Get Happy!” a couple of months ago, you already know what writer Gretchen Rubin’s been up to. But if not, you’ll want to check out her blog, The Happiness Project. Rubin has dedicated a full year of her life to following every last piece of advice on happiness that she can find and recording her successes and failures alike. A book about her happiness project was published in 2010, but you can find happiness-related life tips, quotes, and other bons mots on her site every day. Don’t miss her tip sheet on ways to boost your energy in just ten minutes or this beautiful quote on happiness from runescape coin the Dalai Lama.
Zen Habits
Another star of the blogosphere, Zen Habits is chock-full of great articles on achieving happiness, health, and productivity and simplifying your life. In the blog, Leo Baubauta, a married man with six children who lives in Guam, shares his insights into human behavior and self-improvement with well-written articles on topics such as “Unproductivity: 8 Ways to Make the Most of Your Laziest Days” or “75 Simple Pleasures to Brighten Your Day.” Be sure to stop in every Thursday, for the blog’s special happiness-themed articles—but it’s well worth making this valuable blog an everyday stop during your time online.
The Chief Happiness Officer
For some of us, it’s easy to be happy when we’re hanging out at home. But the horrors of work are another story. Fortunately, Alexander Kjerulf is here to change all that: Kjerulf is a master consultant in the field of bringing joy to the workplace and has a blog called The Chief Happiness Officer, where he shares his wisdom on getting rs2 items comfortable in the cubicle on a near-daily basis. For a few great tips on feeling good, check out Kjerulf’s advice on using teamwork to beat stress and his tips on how to find a job you’ll love. Follow his advice, and who knows? Soon you may find yourself looking forward to your morning commute.
A Few More Great Sites on HappinessThe University of Pennsylvania offers the world’s only Master of Applied Positive Psychology program, focusing on the science of feeling good. Check out the happiness questionnaires and other great resources on the program’s site.
If you’re in your middle years, you won’t want to miss all the great articles and resources at LifeTwo, a site that can help you avoid the dreaded midlife crisis and transition gracefully through the ages.
The blog may be called Dumb Little Man, but the advice is some of the wisest you’ll find. For tips on organization, productivity, and self-improvement cheapest runescape gold of all varieties, this is the place to look.

The 10 most irritating parenting tips ever

I have nothing against friends and family offering runescape gold advice when you come to them with a dilemma. It's the people who pipe up, unbidden, because they see you with a child and assume you have no idea what you're doing. Too often these people are elderly great-aunts. Fortunately those ladies are afraid of the Internet, so I can rail against them and they'll be none the wiser! Thanks, ladies.
1. "Sleep now, because once that baby comes you'll never sleep again." Technically this is a pregnancy tip, of course, but I'm shoving it in here anyway. Yes, Great-Aunt Hildy, I will sleep throughout my entire third trimester. Because I am part bear.
2. "Sleep when the baby sleeps." Everyone gives you runescape power leveling this one — annoying relatives, pediatricians, the cashier at the drugstorewhere you were buying newborn diapers. Are these people all robots, capable of instantly dropping off to sleep whenever their child is unconscious? Do they not have other things to do, like bathe, or simply relish the rare moments of silence you get when you have an infant?
3. "I think your baby's hungry." Whether you're nursing or bottle-feeding, everyone assumes you don't know how to feed your child. And every time your child cries, whines, grimaces, or squirms, they are going to assume you are starving your poor baby and you need reminders to feed it. Lest you forget! This advice is especially maddening when they turn out to be correct.
4. "Relish every moment of your baby's first years, because they'll be grown before you know it." You mean, time only moves forward? I had no idea! I thought we'd be like this forever and ever! This sort of advice, obvious and innocuous as it seems, always put me on cheap runescape money the defensive, as if I had just been carrying my baby under my arm like a football, muttering, "Grow up already, why don't you. Just GROW UP."
5. "I hope you're sleep training that child. Do you WANT him to be spoiled?" Oh, distant relative/person whose aisle I shared at the supermarket, I'm so glad you know exactly my child needs. And that you know, from your years of scientific research, that any child not allowed to cry it out will be a horrible waste of flesh! (See #6 for this parenting tip's counterpart.)
6. "I hope you're not doing that 'crying it out' thing. It's so barbaric. Enjoy your baby all through the night!" Again, kudos to you, whoever you rs power leveling are, for knowing what's best for our unique family situation! I will be calling you at 4 a.m., so you can enjoy our baby as well.
7. "Why are you bringing your child outside when it's so cold out?" It never ceased to amaze me that, no matter what my child's age, total strangers will express alarm and revulsion that I dared expose him to the elements. "And WHY ISN'T BE WEARING MITTENS? He's going to get consumption!"
8. "Your child isn't really sad/angry/injured. He's just manipulating you." There's no doubt that children can push our buttons as if they've had professional training in it, but the notion that my kid's authentic feelings are in fact manufactured to elicit a reaction really chaps my hide. If that were always true, he'd be a rs gold pint-sized sociopath. I'm pretty sure that's not the case.
9. "Schools are just glorified prisons. If you loved your child, you'd homeschool." Oh, if only I loved my child enough to abandon my livelihood, tear him away from the community he so enjoys, separate him from the professionals who have dedicated their careers to childhood education, and forced him to stay home all day with me, where we'd be at each other's throats for hours! If only! Please note: I am not opposed to homeschooling, at all — in fact I wish it would work for us, but it would not.
10. "If I were you, I'd just—" OH NO YOU DON'T. I know where this is going. Listen, unnamed distant acquaintance who last parented in the 19th century (it's true — I often get my unwanted advice from ghosts) you don't know diddly about my kid, and our relationship, and what runescape accounts works for us.

Spanish Harlem Orchestra celebrates Grammys

When Spanish Harlem Orchestra runescape gold snagged its second Grammy award, it was a victory for the old school salsa sound over tough competition from Latin music's new guard.
Bandleader Oscar Hernandez — who has worked with such salsa greats as Ray Barretto and Cuban singer Celia Cruz — said Monday that the win venerates the traditional "salsa dura" sound that for years has taken a back seat to the more commercial "salsa romantica."
"The music speaks for itself," Hernandez said by telephone from Los Angeles. "It's high energy and high quality ... Some people consider it old guard or a museum piece. But other people relish it and rs power leveling see the beauty of it."
The album's name "Viva la Tradicion," says it all. By winning the best Latin tropical album category, it knocked out such heavyweights as Puerto Rico's El Gran Combo, Gilberto Santa Rosa and Dominican merengue star Juan Luis Guerra — who won album of the year at the Latin Grammys in November.
"I'm sure a lot of people will take notice and say 'Who are these guys?' We've built our fan base little by little, hopefully this will help it grow even more," said the 56-year-old Hernandez.
Actually, the decade-old New York-based band runescape items for sale had quite a run at the Grammys: Each of its four studio album have earned a Grammy nomination.
In 2005, the Spanish Harlem Orchestra beat out salsa superstar Marc Anthony to win what then best salsa/merengue album for "Across 110th Street," which included guest spots by Rueben Blades.
The 13-member band specializes in a hard-driving brand of salsa that reigned in the 1960s and '70s, but has since been displaced by crooners who sing a softer brand of salsa.
When Cruz and Tito Puente died, Hernandez said the big Latin radio stations had to rush out and buy their music so they could play it, because they didn't own copies of the old records anymore.
"I hope this could be an impetus to keep this kind of music alive," said Hernandez. "The salsa on commercial radio is not good music, it's not representative of what this music is. It's been forgotten over the last 15 years, and people have been latching on to reggaeton and pop salsa. It's runescape power leveling an uphill struggle."

Lifetime Achievement Award: Ramones

Sire Records Founder Seymour Stein cheap runescape powerleveling on 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award recipients Ramones and their pioneering punk rock
In addition to the GRAMMY Awards, The Recording Academy presents Special Merit Awards recognizing contributions of significance to the recording field, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Trustees Award and Technical GRAMMY Award. Each year, The Academy invites friends and colleagues of Special Merit Awards recipients to pay tribute to the honorees' career accomplishments, while also adding colorful anecdotes and personal accounts. In the days leading up to the 53rd Annual GRAMMY Awards, GRAMMY.com will present the tributes to the 12 Special Merit Awards recipients for 2011.
Being head of Sire Records, which turns 45 in 2011, I was responsible for all artists, and as hard as it was not to show favoritism, for the most part I succeeded. It was hardest with the Ramones, partly because soon after I signed them their manager Danny Fields asked my wife Linda to be his partner. It was harder rs gold still because I admired the band's total dedication to their music, despite the fact that selling millions of records eluded them throughout their career.
With Linda as their co-manager, the Ramones knew my every move. One Sunday within 10 minutes of returning from a 10-day trip to London, I received a call from Johnny. "Seymour, we got some great songs, ya know, we want you to hear 'em, ya know."
I said, "Great, just got home. Come in anytime you want on Tuesday."
"No, we want you to hear 'em live, ya know, and we know you're not doing anything Wednesday night, ya know, so we booked ourselves into CBGBs."
That evening proved monumental. The opening act was supposed to be the Shirts. I had seen them many times before and was standing outside the club with Lenny Kaye.
The opening act goes on and I hear a screeching voice: "When my love, stands next to your love…" and all of a sudden as I'm sucked into CBGBs, I say, "That's not the Shirts." Lenny says, "No, they got another gig, that's the Talking Heads."
Armed with the Ramones and Talking Heads, amid the buzz building around the Bowery and CBGB, Sire finally got the distribution deal I always wanted with runescape money Warner Bros. Records, where we have been for the past 35 years.
Thank you Johnny. Oh yes, and thank you Joey, thank you Tommy, and thank you Dee Dee.
Over the years I can't tell you how many artists were lured to Sire by the Ramones, and yes, also Talking Heads.
The Ramones made it seem easy and as such were an inspiration to bands as varied as U2, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Pearl Jam, the Offspring, Mot?rhead, Metallica, the Undertones, the Strokes, Bad Religion, Black Flag, Dead Kennedys, Sonic Youth, Bad Brains, and many others.
I remember when we first brought the Ramones to London back in 1976. Members of the Clash and Sex Pistols, both only semiprofessional at the time, attended the second show and it was said both bands turned pro right after that.
According to Danny Fields, Johnny Ramone asked the Clash's bass player Paul Simonon, "Are you in a band?" Paul said, "Well, we just rehearse. We call ourselves the Clash, but we are not good enough." Johnny said, "Wait 'til you see us. We stink, we're lousy, we can't play. Just get out there and do it."
Joey Ramone had the biggest heart ever and was always trying to help new acts. Last runescape items time we spoke, two weeks before he died, Joey called to tell me he had just sent a new band's CD.
Bono once said at a Madison Square Garden gig, "We love New York City…New York City has given us a lot of things, but the best thing it ever gave us was a punk rock group called the Ramones, without whom a lot of people would have never gotten started; certainly us!"
Eddie Vedder might have set a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame record by speaking for more than 20 minutes when he inducted the Ramones back in 2002. "The Ramones didn't need Mohawks to be punk. They're visually aggressive. They were four working-class, construction-worker delinquents from Forest Hills, Queens, who were armed with two-minute songs that they rattled off like machine-gun fire. And it was enough to change the Earth's revolution."
I've been to Beijing twice this past year to check out China's emerging punk music scene. There is a club called D-22, reminiscent of CBGB, and aspiring young bands like Carsick Cars, P.K. 14 and Rustic are carrying on the tradition, further proof the Ramones' music is truly global and will endure forever.
(As founder of Sire Records, Seymour Stein signed the Ramones, Talking Heads, Pretenders, Madonna — all of whom have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame — Depeche Mode, Echo And The Bunnymen, Ice-T, the Replacements, the Smiths, k.d. lang, Erasure, the Cult, the Cure, Seal, the Undertones, and Barenaked Ladies, among many others, to the label. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2005.)
The Lifetime Achievement Award, established in 1962, is presented by vote of The Recording Academy's National Trustees to performers who, during their lifetimes, have made creative contributions of outstanding artistic significance to the field of recording. To view a complete list of cheapest runescape gold Lifetime Achievement Award recipients, click here.

Train's 'Soul Sister' gets some early Grammy love

Train, who had one of the year's top runescape gold songs with "Soul Sister" but found themselves shut out of contention for song or album of the year, got a major consolation prize Sunday as they took home a trophy for best pop performance by a duo or group with vocals for the live version of their ubiquitous song.
"Thanks Justin Bieber for not being a duo or group," said joked frontman Pat Monahan in the trio's acceptance speech. "Soul Sister" was ineligible for contention in other categories because it had been released in advance of the eligibility requirements.
The award was sandwiched between two over-the-top performances — a tribute to an ailing diva and a gay-pride statement by a new one.
Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride, best new artist nominee Florence Welch of Florence and the Machine, and gospel singer Yolanda Adams gave their soulful, riffing best in an ear-popping tribute to a recovering Aretha Franklin that kicked off the show.
The Queen of Soul, who had surgery for an undisclosed ailment late last year, made her first televised appearance before a national audience. Dressed in white, a healthy looking Franklin thanked well-wishers for their prayers and cards in a taped segment: "I wish that I could have been with you all tonight, but since I couldn't, next year."
That performance was followed shortly afterward by a typically over-the-top runescape money one by Lady Gaga. She debuted her new anthem "Born This Way" by being "born": She appeared out of an "Alien"-looking cocoon and seemed to transform into Madonna, circa 1987, as she pranced through the uptempo song, the first off her upcoming album.
With the performance-heavy show, it was easy to forget that actual awards were being given out. Jay-Z and John Legend were the early leaders, as both were awarded three trophies each during the show's pre-telecast ceremony, where the bulk of the 109 Grammy trophies were given out.
Other multiple winners included Usher, Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Jeff Beck and the Black Keys, who all won two apiece.
Eminem was the leading nominee with 10, but his chance of a huge Grammy sweep was diminished as he lost five of the awards in the pre-telecast ceremony. He still picked up one — best rap solo performance, for "Not Afraid."
Gospel legend Mavis Staples was a tearful winner as she picked up the first Grammy of her career, for best Americana album, for "You Are Not Alone."
"That was the shock of my life. My runescape accounts goodness. It's been a long time, a long time coming," she said, breaking into tears.
Neil Young also won his first musical Grammy (he had won for best boxed box set in 2009). "I'm not Mavis, but I'm close," he joked, as he held his trophy for best rock song for "Angry World."
Other notable early winners included Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Cee Lo Green and Danger Mouse, who won producer of the year.
Eminem still had a chance to win the top awards of the evening, including the elusive (for him) album of the year category. But the gifted and twisted rapper might get tripped up by some fierce competition, including a song that rivals him for coarseness — Green's "(Expletive) You," which is in competition with Eminem's "Love The Way You Lie," featuring Rihanna, in the record and song of the year categories.
Eminem's "Recovery" was 2010's best-selling album and a favorite to win in the album category. It marked a major comeback for the rapper, considered one of the greatest but who had been addled by a prescription drug addiction and critical malaise in recent years. It is the third time he's been nominated for album of the year; he's lost twice before.
But he also faces tough competition in the category, from the likes of Arcade Fire's "The Suburbs" and Lady Gaga's "The Fame Monster." Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" and Lady Antebellum's "Need You Now" are also nominated.
The live telecast will feature the top nominees, like record of the year. "Need You Now" is nominated in both song and the record of the year categories. Other nominees for record of the year include Jay-Z's "Empire State of Mind," the New York native's anthem for his city featuring Alicia Keys, and rapper B.o.B's "Nothin' On You," with a runescape money melodious hook courtesy of Bruno Mars.