Nicki Minaj – On Top of the World

Nicki Minaj unleashes “old Nicki” on a new track that has leaked online titled, “On Top Of The World”. No weird voices. No gimmicks.

While dedicating the track to everyone on the come up, Nicki raps about finally making it over a beat reminiscent of Queen Pens, “Party Ain’t A Party”.

Anne Hathaway in a Purr-fect Role as Catwoman

Anne Hathaway has a new gig as Selina Kyle! Remember her? She’s the woman who became Catwoman in Batman. Anne will be portraying the same role in “The Dark Knight Rises” flick to be directed by Christopher Nolan. 

Anne will be starring alongside Christian Bale who will be the great Bruce Wayne a.k.a. Batman. I think would look great in the cat suit don’t you? But aside from just looking great, I’m sure Anne will be purr-fect and will portray the role well. With her acting skills and achievement, we only expect the best!

Anyway Direcot Nolan is very to be able to get Anne for the role. He said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work with Anne Hathaway. Who will be a fantastic addition to our ensemble as we complete out story.”

 

Other stars included in “The Dark Knight Rises” are Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Cane. However, the roster is still not complete but you can expect a huge stars lineup!

The Complaint: Anne Hathaway as Catwoman

Look, we want to see Anne Hathaway in a cat suit as much as the next guys — she's a wonderful, beautiful actress, and the Catwoman getup is second only to the Princess Leia bikini in the fantasy costume hall of fame. But we're afraid this is going to turn out to be one of those things that's better in theory, like chocolate beer, or sex on a beach, or Halle Berry in a cat suit. 

First off, Hathaway's got big — call 'em iconic — shoes to fill, namely Michelle Pfeiffer's kitten heels. And unlike Michelle Pfeiffer, who could star in a YouTube series if she cared to exist in this century, there's nothing particularly feline about Hathaway — not in the face or the gait or the intonation. Her intonation, as you will learn at the Oscars next month, is less villainous than vapid, more charming than disarming. And though she's proven her chops in a variety of genres (Anne Hathaway is a pharmaceutical rom-com pro if there ever one), there's this kind of lovable goofiness to her that's more doglike than catlike. And we mean that in the kindest possible way. 

But the real problem with this — because this is kind of a big deal — is the fantasy thing. Christopher Nolan, who'll be directing Hathaway in the third installment of his Batman series, The Dark Knight Rises, can't do sexy female characters, which Catwoman sorta has to be. His stories are cerebral parables about men and their choices. Women in his films tend to be butch or asexual (respectively, Hillary Swank in Insomnia and Ellen Paige in Inception). Nominally sexy characters, like Marion Cotillard in Inception or Scarlett Johansson in The Prestige, are treated almost as afterthoughts, plot necessities, or concessions to male viewers. They're gorgeous, but they're buttoned-up. Practically Victorian. You don't button up Scarlett Johansson, man. 

Maybe we're thinking about this all wrong. Three years ago, everyone pitied Heath Ledger for having to don Jack Nicholson's purple mantle. We would have called you nuts if you told us his Joker would become the definitive one. So, yeah, it's possible that Nolan will update and outdo Tim Burton once more. One thing's for sure: he'll again find a way to twist a ludicrous comic-book concept — a woman dresses like a drunk girl on Halloween to fight crime — into a relevant, piercing metaphor. A metaphor for what, though? How about for our unmeetable expectations when it comes to a catsuit? How about that?

Bubba Smith: Standing Tall and Talented

Bubba Smith's Police Academy character, Officer Hightower, was strong but silent. Hightower's gags peddled on a depiction of Smith's stunning 6'7", 265 pound frame as inhumanely powerful but inherently meek. In the first movie of the franchise, Hightower's graduation speech was a simple, laconic, "thank you." In a later film, he slam dunked a basketball so hard that it broke the blacktop beneath the hoop. Hightower was cipher. Did he derive his strength from his silence? Or was his silence a manifestation of his strength?

Officer Hightower was fierce but docile, an effective and trustworthy policeman who didn't need to make any funny noises to prove himself (i'm talking about you Jonesy!)

In real life, Bubba Smith was far more relatable than his Police Academy incarnation would suggest, but he was just as impressive physically, if not more.

As the first pick in the 1967 NFL draft, the Baltimore Colts took a freak of nature , a massive-but-quick defensive lineman, an end who could push people around, slither to the quarterback and even run down a speedy back trying to go outside, despite having the disadvantage of a higher center of gravity.

He appeared in two Super Bowls with the Colts, winning Super Bowl V. Though his NFL career lasted just nine seasons, Smith cut a figure that was never really replicated in the league before or since. Sure there have been huge, quick tall  guys -- Hall of Fame linebacker Ted Hendricks (6-7), John Matusak (6-8), Ed "Too Tall" Jones (6-9), Harold Carmichael (6-8) -- but none as immediately personable as Bubba Smith.

And he parlayed that talent to the big screen and small, starting with a series of Miller Lite commercials. Although the commercials were equally as facile in their comedy as the Police Academy approach, ("I love the easy open cans," as he rips the entire top off of a can), they showcased Smith's manner of belying scale on camera. He looked like a nice guy, not some Beaumont, Texas-raised monster burying you on the football field.

Bubba Smith might not have been a talent like Paul Robeson, but he was a Renaissance man for the integration of black athletes in mainstream consciousness. In the decades before Michael Jordan redefined sports and race in America, Bubba Smith was a strong, huge, dark black man that white audiences weren't scared by.

The racial aspects of Smith's life story are certainly downplayed in many of his obituaries, but the history of integration in the college game is intrinsic to his journey from a Gulf coast Texan to a Hollywood star. And it all started in at Michigan State.

In 1963, then Michigan State football coach Duffy Daugherty recruited a handful of players from the south. It wasn't unheard of, but uncommon for black athletes from the south to play for Big Ten schools. Charles "Bubba" Smith was Duffy's top recruit, and the University fell in love with their big man, devising the simple chant "Kill, Bubba, Kill." By his senior year, he was drawing triple blockers and entire offensive schemes designed to avoid him.

At a school that revered their football heroes as much as any, Bubba Smith connected with Michigan State fans like no other. That kind of magnetism might have derived from his physical size and athletic prowess, but it was cemented by a kindness to match. Teammates boasted of his support on field and off.

Michigan State Wide Receiver Gene Washington, also from east Texas and competed against Smith in high school: "I also remember how supportive he was of my track career. During both the indoor and outdoor track seasons, I could count on ‘Bubba’ being there in the stands, cheering me on.”

Watch those Police Academy clips, they are funny and sweet. But remember that Bubba Smith, as much any athlete of his generation, moved the barriers of racial integration in sports and society as consistently as he moved hopeless offensive lineman.

Sweet Stacy Keibler as

Aki kaurismaki ariel online Are you ready for a vacation you will never forget? Do you like adventures in the sun, awesome local and international cuisine; or maybe you just want to relax on the beautiful carribean and enjoy the turquoise blue ocean, warm breeze and white sand? Whatever your pleasure, Playa Del Carmen is the place for you!

Shark Attack Victim Bethany Hamilton Helps Others Keep Positive Attitude

Bethany Hamilton is the latest celebrity to volunteer for “Extreme Makeover Home Edition.” If you’re not familiar with Hamilton’s story, she’s the professional surfer who, in 2003, at the age of 13, was attacked by a shark while surfing in Hawaii and lost her arm as a result.

The “EMHE” family being featured are Katrina and Mike Carr and their four adopted children, who are struggling in a house that is unsafe and too small to serve their needs, which include many physical challenges.

Their 3-year-old twin daughters Ryanne and Rina were born with Amniotic Band Syndrome, which caused Ryanne the amputation of her legs and one arm, and Rina the loss of a leg. Nine-year-old Nokolas was recently diagnosed with Sensory Integration Dysfunction, which causes an inability to organize information as it comes through the senses. And Mike Carr has undergone pancreas and kidney transplants over the past decade.

 

Like Hamilton, they remain upbeat through their personal challenges. Meeting the surfer, who literally rode in on a wave to greet them in Hawaii, was a highlight, but equally rewarding for Hamilton.

Bethany Hamilton - Kauai Hawaii Surfing

Hamilton went for a morning surf along Tunnels Beach, Kauai with friends Alana, Byron and Holt Blanchard. Around 7:30 a.m., she was lying sideways on her surfboard with her left arm dangling in the water, when a 15 ft tiger shark attacked her, ripping her left arm off just below the shoulder. If the shark had bitten 2 inches further in, the attack would have been fatal.

Bethany had lost almost 50% of her blood that morning. Her friends helped paddle her back to shore, and fashioned a tourniquet out of a surfboard leash around what was left of her arm before rushing her to Wilcox Memorial Hospital. Her dad was supposed to have a knee surgery that morning but she took his place in the operating room. She then spend six more days in recovery at the hospital.

Despite the trauma of the incident, Hamilton was determined to return to surfing. Three weeks after the incident, she returned to her board and went surfing again. Initially, she adopted a custom-made board that was longer and slightly thicker which made it easier to paddle. She has observed that she has to kick a lot more to make up for the loss of her left arm. After teaching herself to surf with one arm, she has again begun surfing competitively. She is now back to using competitive performance short-boards again..