The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Obama awards arts medals to 24, including Star Wars’ Lucas Posted: 10 Jul 2013 07:32 PM PDT Citing the power of artistes and academics to open minds, President Barack Obama yesterday awarded 24 medals to people including "Star Wars" creator George Lucas and writer Joan Didion who he said touched his life and the lives of Americans. "They challenge us to think and to question and to discover, to seek that inward significance," Obama said, awarding the winners of the American National Medal of Arts and National Humanities Medal at a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, in Washington D.C. This year's winners included filmmaker George Lucas, creator of "Star Wars," whom Obama applauded for transforming movies. "I remember when I first saw 'Star Wars,'" Obama said. "There's a whole generation that thinks special effects always look like they do today. But it used to be you'd see, like, the string on the little model spaceships." Obama, known for his love of basketball and football, seemed particularly tickled to award a medal to Frank Deford, the legendary sportswriter who has spent 50 years at Sports Illustrated magazine. "Frank, I grew up reading Sports Illustrated, and I think it was very good for me," Obama said, to laughter. One of the most poignant moments of the ceremony came when Obama strode to the edge of the stage to meet author Joan Didion, 78, frail and elegant, carefully lifting the thick red ribbon holding the palm-sized humanities medal over her neck. "Today, decades into her career, she remains one of our sharpest and most respected observers of American politics and culture," Obama said, describing how Didion taught herself to read as her family moved frequently around the country with her father, who was an Army officer. He cited the courage shown by Ernest Gaines, the descendent of Louisiana sharecroppers, who writes about the lives of African Americans, and blues and jazz musician Allen Toussaint, who helped revive his native New Orleans with music after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. Other medal winners included Herb Alpert, who made Latin music popular in the 1960s and co-founded of A&M Records, soprano Renee Fleming, playwright Tony Kushner and comedian Elaine May. - Reuters, July 11, 2013. |
| ‘Downton Abbey’ cosmetics set for October launch Posted: 10 Jul 2013 07:19 PM PDT Modern women can now look and smell like "Downton Abbey's" Lady Mary (Michelle Dockery, pic  ) and Lady Edith (Laura Carmichael). An official line of "Downton Abbey" cosmetics will launch in October, coinciding with the drama's Season 4 premiere. With packaging that invokes Edwardian style and quotes from the series - Lady Mary's "Now stop talking and kiss me, before I get cross" appears on the lip gloss - the 10-line collection also includes lip balm, body lotion, soap and a fragrant candle, according to Fashionista. Despite having to quell a rising conflict between servants, class wars between your own family members or dealing with a stage in medicine when every sickness results in death, the women of "Downton Abbey" manage to stay fabulous. The show's producers are extremely concerned that every product lives up to the series' standards. "Every single product design comes to me for personal approval so we don't bastardise the brand," executive producer Gareth Neame told TheWrap. "We're selective about what we do. Fastidious. But it is a show for Middle America, for Middle Britain. It's not an opera or a Merchant Ivory film or something," he continued. "It's getting massive audiences around the world - and there is a market for people wanting to possess something of that identity." Eventually, the producers are planning to add clothing and furniture lines. - Reuters, July 11, 2013. |
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