Sunday, May 13, 2012

Grammy Award for Album of the Year

The Grammy Award for Album of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position." Album of the Year is the most prestigious award category at the Grammys having been presented since 1959. Although it was originally presented to the artist alone, the award is now presented to the main artist, the featured artist, the producer, the engineer and/or mixer and the mastering engineer. In 1962, the award name was extended to Album of the Year (other than classical) but, in 1965, the shorter name returned. It was not until 1968, 1969, 1999, and 2011 that the award was won by a rock, country, hip hop, or indie album respectively. As of 2012, classical albums are eligible for this award, with the award for Best Classical Album being discontinued.
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Saturday, May 12, 2012

Chatting with Evgeni Malkin about signing woman’s chest, Lionel Messi and beer called Giroux’s Tears

Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins saw what happened with countryman Alex Radulov and the Nashville Predators this postseason, when he was kept out for two games following a curfew violation.

Would this have happened on another team?

"It all depends on the team. But it is very difficult for me to discuss it because I have not spoken with Radulov and I don't know what is true and what is not. Maybe he was late, maybe he was a bit tipsy. Who knows? It's difficult for me to say anything on the subject," said Malkin to Pavel Lysenkov of SovSport in a recent interview.

"And if this was the case then he was wrong because this was during playoffs and he shouldn't have done that. But at the same time [the media] blows everything out of proportions especially if you cannot find your game and then you're late everything is then intensified in America. If a player is playing well and scoring goals no one cares where he goes and when, people will carry him around with their hands regardless. But if you're not playing late and break team rules then it becomes like a snowball."

Malkin is currently playing with Russia in the IIHF world championships. Here is the rest of Malkin's interview with Pavel Lysenkov, which spans from playoff MVP to Lionel Messi to a beer called "Giroux's Tears." Enjoy.
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Scientists Identify Neurotransmitters That Lead to Forgetting

While we often think of memory as a way of preserving the essential idea of who we are, little thought is given to the importance of forgetting to our wellbeing, whether what we forget belongs in the "horrible memories department" or just reflects the minutia of day-to-day living.
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WHY IS ZOOEY DESCHANEL NO. 12?

Zooey Deschanel may be TV's New Girl, but she’s not new to hipsters, who have had the She & Him frontwoman’s poster over their beds for years (ironically, of course).
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Quote: Zooey Deschanel

Women are won over by people who are sweet and respectful and pretty and kind and funny -- those are the things that win women over. And the mistake that anyone can make is not being themselves. You can only trick people for so long.
- Zooey Deschanel

List of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards

Eleven people have won all four major annual American entertainment awards, the Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony. Doing so may be abbreviated EGOT, or sometimes GATE ("A" for "Academy"). These awards honor outstanding achievements in, respectively, television, music or other audio recording, film, and theater. Winning all four awards has been referred to as winning the Grand Slam of show business. The acronym EGOT was invented by actor Philip Michael Thomas and was used as a plot device in several episodes of the TV series 30 Rock.
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Friday, May 11, 2012

First Listen: Best Coast, 'The Only Place'

For all its frothily primitive charm, Best Coast's 2010 debut Crazy for You isn't exactly ambitious: It's going for, well, frothily primitive charm, captured in deceptively simple sentiments like "When I'm with you, I have fun." Darkness stays mostly confined to the instrumental shading, and in the want-bordering-on-need that seeps into Bethany Cosentino's flat but approachable delivery.
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First Listen: Beach House, 'Bloom'

Few bands arrive as fully formed as Beach House, which hasn't strayed far from its musical calling card since its 2006 debut: frosty, dime-store analog keyboards, Alex Scally's swoony slide guitar and the alluring vocals of Victoria Legrand. Where many bands take their fans through wild stylistic shifts or incorporate flashy arrangements, deconstructed beats or bursts of cacophony, Beach House has remained constant in tone, evolving incrementally through precise refinements.
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Thursday, May 10, 2012

視点・論点 「シリーズ 私の子ども時代(1)」東京大学名誉教授 養老孟司

私の子ども時代から現在までには、ずいぶん大きな変化がありました。世間の考え方も変わったと思いますし、日常の生活がとくに違ってきました。大げさにいうと、人類史上つまり人間の歴史で、日常生活がいちばん変化した時代を、自分が経験してきたのではないか。そんなふうに思うことすらあります。
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Miri Yu (柳美里): 視点・論点「シリーズ 私の子ども時代(4)」作家

Miri Yu
子ども時代を振り返ると、嫌なことばかりだった気がします。
「バイキン」というあだ名をつけられ、「バイキンが伝染る」とクラスメイトたちは指で「エンガチョ」のバリアを張り、運動会の「ジェンカ」や「マイムマイム」や「オクラホマミキサー」などのフォークダンスでは、だれひとりわたしの手に触れる子はいませんでした。
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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Greater Purpose in Life May Protect Against Harmful Changes in the Brain Associated With Alzheimer’s Disease

Greater purpose in life may help stave off the harmful effects of plaques and tangles associated with Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center.

The study is published in the May issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.

"Our study showed that people who reported greater purpose in life exhibited better cognition than those with less purpose in life even as plaques and tangles accumulated in their brains," said Patricia A. Boyle, PhD.

"These findings suggest that purpose in life protects against the harmful effects of plaques and tangles on memory and other thinking abilities. This is encouraging and suggests that engaging in meaningful and purposeful activities promotes cognitive health in old age."
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Michael Schumacher claims Pirelli tyres are like 'driving on raw eggs'

Michael Schumacher is refusing to let Pirelli off the hook after launching another attack on the tyre manufacturer by claiming their rubber is like driving "on raw eggs".
Continue Reading on Guardian.co.uk

Hamilton's historic night ranks among best four-home run games

When Josh Hamilton hit four home runs against the Orioles on Tuesday, he became just the 16th man in baseball history to accomplish the feat. More men (21) have thrown perfect games. Hamilton's performance was even more impressive than that, however. When you factor in the fact that Hamilton went 5-for-5 on the night, mixing a double in among his four homers, it could be argued that his was one of the handful of best single-game hitting performances in major league history.
Continue Reading on SI.com