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31 Dec

Help Women in India and Be Fashionable, Too!

DharmaSmart has created a special bracelet to help non-profit organization Yoga Gives Back raise funds to support women in India with micro-financing and education. Yoga is a gift from ancient India, embraced by the West. Today, however 76% of India’s population-800 million people-live below the poverty line of $2.50 a day. Non-profit organization Yoga Gives Back has a mission to mobilize the global yoga community to empower women in India to build sustainable livelihoods. Inspired by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Dr. Muhammad Yunus’ revolutionary micro financing breakthrough, Yoga Gives Back supports micro credit programs in India which lend small loans to women in particular, who have no access to capital. Additionally, the organization developed “Sister Aid” programs where YGB directly funds education, vocational training and micro credit programs for struggling mothers, girls and orphans. Women are the best poverty fighters-the most effective return on investment for development dollars is an investment in women. With $25 a month, mothers can start their own businesses; girls and orphans can go to school. DharmaSmart.com is a new online store that serves the yoga community with “Purposeful Living Essentials.” The company has designed a special cuff bracelet for yoga practitioners to wear in support of the work that Yoga Gives Back is doing. The cuff retails for just $25 and $10 goes straight to Yoga Gives Back. The cuffs will be featured at the second annual Global Day of Support “Thank You Mother India” to be held on Saturday, September 29th in Malibu, California. For more information about the event, including sponsorship opportunities, visit this page: YogaGivesBack.org Those who want to contribute to Yoga Gives Back through the purchase of one of these original cuffs may find them online at: DharmaSmart.com

Here at CoffeyTalk we are big fans of what Yoga Gives Back is doing to help the women of India to build their own businesses and to educate their children. It is an honor to have this opportunity to give back to a country and culture that has given us so much valuable ancient wisdom.

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31 Dec

All Children are Our Children

All Children are Our Children

A study commissioned by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption showed that nearly 40% of American adults, or 81.5 million people, have considered adopting a child.  If just one in 500 of these adults decided to adopt, all of the 134,000 children in foster care waiting for adoption would have a permanent home.

I’ve written before about my experiences volunteering at a local group foster home.  It’s actually a residential treatment and crisis care center.  While there are many children who live there for varying amounts of time, I have been lucky enough to establish relationships with a handful of them.  I love these kids.  I feel like they are my children.  And in a very real sense, they are mine.  And they are yours.  They are a part of our community, and they are a part of ourselves.

When I first committed to this “job” I agreed to come in for two hours a week, for four weeks.  I’m now averaging four hours a day, five days a week, and I just was there for eleven days in a row.  I’m well into my sixth month, and I can’t imagine stopping ever.  Being a volunteer means that I am not paid, and spending this much time at the place actually costs me lots of money each week.  I can’t help but bring fresh fruit and books and things like that.  I make the time because this is important.  I spend the money because I would rather help these kids than save up to buy a designer purse.

More and more we are learning that we live in a global community.  We see how much of what happens in other communities, and other countries, has an affect on our own lives.  And because of the internet and ease of travel, it’s easier for us to reach out and help children not only in our hometowns, but around the world. 

I recently met Vivian Glyck, an amazing woman who has made a difference by following her vision.  She says that after becoming a mother, she developed “a keen sense that the world is so small, it is really just one community, and I realized that taking care of oneself means heeding one’s calling – without hesitation or deliberation.”  Vivian’s calling is helping children in Uganda.  Why?  Because 25 million Africans, many of whom are children, are infected with the HIV virus.  Every 30 seconds a child in Africa dies of malaria.  12 million children are already orphaned by AIDS.  Vivian travels to Africa and works with children personally, and she says they are “just like my child” which is why she named her organization “Just Like My Child.”  The mission is to alleviate the suffering of women, children, and families in rural Uganda by empowering communities to create their own long-term solutions to healthcare, education, and microenterprise.  Read more about Vivian’s story at: justlikemychild.org

My friend Lysa Heslov is also helping children with her foundation Children Mending Hearts.  Her mission is to give children worldwide the power to find and use their voices through creative expression.  This is a global arts exchange between at-risk children in America and children living in conflict zones around the world that educates, empowers and encourages all the participants.  People of various cultures connect the different projects, and learn and grow from their experiences with each other.  Lysa has traveled to the Congo and worked with children first hand.  And now her foundation is traveling around the United States to conduct art workshops.  For more information visit: childrenmendinghearts.org

My friend Joseph Curiale saw a news story on CNN which compelled him to start a foundation to help orphaned girls in India.  Right now there are four girls going to school on scholarships, who would otherwise be living in poverty in a government orphanage.  Joe has traveled back and forth to India 12 times to make sure that these children, whom he considers his own, are getting the support, and the love, that they need.  Joe is a testament to how one person can make a difference in this world.  The work he has done is remarkable.  Read more about his story at: josephcurialefoundation.com

Through organizations like Plan USA we can sponsor an individual child, and help that child’s family and community as well.  Sponsorship helps to provide vaccination and nutrition programs, community water systems and well construction, home and health clinic construction, school and teachers, and so much more.  As a sponsor you receive a photo of your child, a family profile to introduce you and provide information about the community, and regular updates on how everyone is doing.  You can send letters and small gifts, and you can even visit your child!  This sponsored child becomes your ambassador to a place and culture that you might otherwise never know.  I began sponsoring Swapna, a little girl in rural India, in 2005.  I’ve been able to see her grow and communicate through Plan USA’s field office volunteers.  We don’t speak the same language, and the geographical distance is great, but we are connected through our hearts.  She is a beautiful child, and I am grateful to be able to contribute to her life in some way.  If you’d like to sponsor a child, visit: planusa.org

All children are children of the world.  All children are our children.

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31 Dec

Buy Books!

I read a commentary yesterday from someone who said that bailing out the auto industry is like investing in CDs when the rest of the world has moved on to downloads and iPods.  It’s a waste of money.  What we should be investing in is alternative modes of energy and transportation.  I agree.  The auto makers got themselves into this mess why do we have to get them out?  We need a new dynamic, not more of the same problems that got us into this situation.

I’m a member of the Author’s Guild, and I got an e-mail from the Guild this morning that I would like to share with you.  It is interesting, though not surprising, how the financial crisis has hit every sector of business:

<"I've been talking to booksellers lately who report that times are hard. And local booksellers aren't known for vast reserves of capital, so a serious dip in sales can be devastating. Booksellers don't lose enough money, however, to receive congressional attention. A government bailout isn't in the cards. We don’t want bookstores to die. Authors need them, and so do neighborhoods. So let’s mount a book-buying splurge. Get your friends together, go to your local bookstore and have a book-buying party. Buy the rest of your Christmas presents, but that’s just for starters. Clear out the mysteries, wrap up the histories, beam up the science fiction! Round up the westerns, go crazy for self-help, say yes to the university press books! Get a load of those coffee-table books, fatten up on slim volumes of verse, and take a chance on romance! There will be birthdays in the next twelve months; books keep well; they’re easy to wrap: buy those books now. Buy replacements for any books looking raggedy on your shelves.  Stockpile children’s books as gifts for friends who look like they may eventually give birth. Hold off on the flat-screen TV and the GPS (they’ll be cheaper after Christmas) and buy many, many books. Then tell the grateful booksellers, who by this time will be hanging onto your legs begging you to stay and live with their cat in the stockroom: “Got to move on, folks. Got some books to write now. You see…we’re the Authors Guild.” Enjoy the holidays. Roy Blount Jr.
President
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31 Dec

Back from Australia

If Australia weren’t so far away I’d go there all the time.  It’s such a beautiful country, and the people are so warm and welcoming.  It’s just an arduous journey, 15 -16 hours getting there and about 13 coming back with a good wind.  Qantas has upgraded their entertainment system since the last time we flew – now they have movies on demand which is great.  But where I used to be able to stretch out with an empty seat beside me most flights, now we’re jammed in, not an empty seat in sight. My other gripes, the food, well… sucks.  No other word for it.  My hubby took a chance and ordered the vegan meal, but that was just weird, he ended up getting spinach for breakfast.  And all the airport hassle with the new security rules continues.  Going there from LAX we could buy a bottle of water once we got past security and keep it with us on the plane – but in Sydney they put a second security post right before the boarding area so we couldn’t take our own water and had to keep asking for some. But all that is besides the point.  We got there – and in one week we were able to close up my mother-in-law’s house.  It was me and Greg, and his sister Felicity and her son Jesper.  We all worked flat out, boxing, packing, sorting, shipping, and getting everything where it was to go. Amidst all of this activity Felicity planned a beautiful service, and Greg wrote a fitting tribute for his mum.  Felicity put together a beautiful program book, the photo on the cover was one of mum at our wedding, wearing one of her trademark hats, and the “Parti Sapphire” ring that she left me.  I wore a pair of her pearl earrings to the service, and in my talk I spoke about the qualities that mum had that I see now in her children and grandchildren. When we got back I had the instinct to go to the phone and call mum to tell her everything that happened.  She would had chuckled, and been so pleased with how the family came together.  I am going to miss our conversations.

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31 Dec

The Apprentice and The Bloody Nose!

Last night I’m watching The Apprentice – totally into it, second to last episode, it’s between Sean and Lee. And you know Sean is going to win because I have no clue how Lee got in the top two except by default. He’s a nice kid, but he’s a kid. The show is hilarious because all season we’ve seen these relationships develop and how that it’s down to the wire all the contestants are suddently best buddies trying to get on the last couple of teams. So, Lee picks Lenny, his good buddy of course, and Roxanne, and some guy named Pepe who got fired in episode 2. Sean picks Tammy, the love of his life – if these two don’t get married I’ll be surprised, they’re totally cute together – and Andrea, who proved herself when she hosted the car dealer retreat early on and impressed Sean, and Tarek, the Orlando Bloom look-alike. The teams seem a little unequal to me, but good luck to Lee anyway. Lee decides to run the celebrity hockey game in New York, and Sean gets to run the Bare Naked Ladies concert in Las Vegas. All the typical confusion comes through – but this is what I felt compelled about: Andrea freaks out because she gets a bloody nose! Okay, America – it’s time to learn some basic Ayurveda. Las Vegas is a very dry climate. Andrea and the team took a 5 hour flight from NY, and an airline is a very dry environment. They’re in a hotel, with air conditioning, which creates a cold and dry atmosphere. Andrea is a Vata – tall, skinny, you can see it a mile away. Vatas are very sensitive to dry air. Naturally, after subjecting her nose to all that dryness, it is bound to bleed. She was complaining that she was coughing up blood. What was actually happening is that her nose was bleeding down her throat and that’s the blood she was coughing up. Then she noticed it was coming out of her nose, too. Of course the show ends on this dramatic note – Andrea crying as she leaves the hotel, worried that something is terribly wrong with her. Sean and Tammy wringing their hands that something is terribly wrong with their friend Orlando, I mean, Tarek, the practical one, saying this is a bad time to be down a man with all this stuff they have to do. I can just see this turning into an epidemic – all the noses start bleeding and Andrea fears she’s contagious! This could have been such a simple fix! If I were there I would have calmed everyone down and given them some super simple solutions. To avoid all this drama, use a saline nasal spray on the plane. And use a mister on your skin to help keep you hydrated. At the hotel, fill up the bathtub in your room with water to humidify the room. Drink lots of water. Sniff sesame oil and even rub it in the nostrils to further lubricate the membranes. I would run down to the local drug store and get a cool air humidifier for the office they’re all working in. I’d also pick up some saline nasal spray and sesame oil. I’d have Andrea use both the spray and the sesame oil in her nostrils. A cotton swab helps apply the oil, and sniff up so the oil gets in higher up. If there were a health food store around you might be able to find some ayurvedic nasal spray which has oil in it and it much easier to reach up in those passages where the bleeding is. I’d also get her into a bathroom and run the shower with the hot water on to steam up the room and let her breathe in the warm, moist air. And there’s another technique where you see which side the nose is bleeding from, raise the opposite hand above the head and spread the fingers, that helps to stop the bleeding. Andrea should also take some of the sesame oil and rub it on her skin to help balance her Vata. And drinking some warm Vata tea would help, too. In about 15 or 20 minutes, Andrea would be ready to go back to work like nothing happened – wiser because she knows how to take care of herself.

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31 Dec

Elemental Consciousness in the aftermath of Katrina

I‘ve been struggling with what to say, or write, with all the tragedy that has been going on in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. It seems too big for words, too difficult to comprehend the enormity of it all, including the impact that it will have on generations. Today I was e-mailed this article, which I think is something interesting to think about. I’m copying it in its entirety: AWAKENING ELEMENTAL CONSCIOUSNESS A Star Elders Message through Aluna Joy Yaxk’in Recent events are a signpost that another step toward your evolution, empowerment and awakening has been taken. Because of this, it is time to share with you a message about the elements. With the recent floods in the USA, the tsunami waves in Asia, increased volcano and earthquake activity, and even increased terrorist attacks, it is time to understand your part in all of this, and what you can do about it as a co-creator. It is time for you to understand that everything happens for a reason. Everything is in a divine plan for perfection even though, outwardly, it might look otherwise. Everything has a cause. That cause is found in levels of consciousness. We well know about your Japanese scientist, Dr. Masaru Emoto, who has proven that when water is blessed, it reacts and changes its molecular structure into a more harmonious state. It is equally provable that negative energy could effect water also. YES? Because you now know this fact, it has opened a whole new dimension in your world. You can now direct the consciousness of water! But we want to tell you that it is much more than this. In fact, the other forces of nature (fire, earth and air) will now all become more alive with consciousness just as the water has. These elements have always had consciousness, but now you can direct this potential. The more you are aware of this fact, the more alive the elements will become. The gateway in evolution to making the 4 elements directable conscious has been opened. This changes everything. What this means is that these natural elemental forces are now able to react to your consciousness. Negative energy or positive; It is up to you. What we what to talk about is the projection of negative energy, as this is what’s up on your planet right now. We want to show you what you can do about it. We want to show you why in the long run, this is a very good thing! Example . . . Negative projections, sent from one person to another, can effect the receiving person in a negative way, since their body is made up with a great deal of water. But it can only effect them in areas that are vulnerable. Thus making the receiver aware of a physical, emotional or spiritual weakness. This gives the receiver a unique opportunity to heal that area of their life. Once negative energy is sent out, it wants to find a place that feels like home. Like energy is attracted to like energy. The one who sent the negative energy in the first place has now compromised their energy field and is now vulnerable to attack. The more negative energy they dish out the more that will come back to them. So you do pay a heavy price for using negative energy. This creates a looping effect where negatives keep circumnavigating over and over. This is why some people can’t seem to get out of the negative patterns they are in, since they keep attracting the same issue over and over until they become aware that they can shift it. This is evolution! This makes sense to you, yes? “Your every thought, feeling, perception, spoken word, and performed action reverberates into the universe.” — Swami Muktananda Now what if one country directs negative energy to another country? What would happen? The receiving country would be effected in its geographically/energetically vulnerable locations by the universal law of attraction. Also, sensitive ones in those countries would be effected. Again . . . like energy attracts like energy. Energetically vulnerable locations are places on the earth where land has low vibrations, or where it has suffered misuse due to crime, misuse of drugs, violence, lower chakra energy, and general misuse like pollution. It might be a place that feels depressed, or you might feel tired or heavy while there. There are also natural occurring geographically vulnerable places on Earth . These can be near active volcanoes and fault lines, and land that is near or below sea level. When negative energy is directed to an entire land mass or country, these geographically and energetically vulnerable locations will be the first places that the consciously directed elements will go. These locations are susceptible to what we might perceive as negative events or conscious elemental upheaval. If an area is both geographically and energetically vulnerable at the same time, the elements will clear this area first. For example … In New Orleans, all 4 elements came into play as the land was both geographically and energetically compromised. The wind blew, the water rose, the earth gave way and the fire burned. Directed natural elemental forces rose up to clean up energetic disharmony at that location. Many who endured this event learned hard lessons. Not listening to the warnings of the elements and compromising your life to protect material goods, is not worth the price paid. Once negative energy has been sent out, it can’t be reversed. It is like when you say something hurtful to someone, you can’t take it back. It has been said. The elements will and do act out directed energy. But here is the good news. Now that you know this, you have the ability to direct the elements, and the elements will work for you quickly and efficiently. Many countries in your world have incurred much negative karma creating energetically vulnerable areas by the use of atom bombs, terrorist attacks, and unjust wars, and a general and continual misuse of power. This has created thousands, even millions, of enemies that send out negative projections by their thoughts. Many countries are being bombarded with negative energy on a daily basis, and sensitive ones out there are feeling the pressure of this. This energy does and will clear out geographically and energetically vulnerable areas. Isn’t this GREAT! The elements will and are cleaning up the planet. It is all in divine order and within a universal plan for life to evolve past a dualistic world. But now comes the responsibility that goes with this new step in evolution. Now it is time to take action. Drop the remote, get out of the chair, quit watching the world, and be a part of it once again. Remember that you are a powerful creator within this world. The powers at be know how to use your guilt, shame and fears to take control of you, so you won’t clean up the world. When you are grieving losses and are in shock, you can be used. Don’t let your sadness make you weak. Don’t let fear quiet your voice at this most powerful time. It is time to take action . . . in a POSITIVE WAY. Ancients have known this for some time . . . but now is the time to bring this truth into your time and world in which you live. You are already working with water to clear the planet of its disharmony. Now take this a step further. Work with the AIR, EARTH, FIRE and WATER. All elements are at your direction . . . not just water. Here is the hitch that you might have perceived in this plan. Remember . . . like energy attracts like energy. This is still true. When you send out positive energy to the elements, it will go again to places that feel like home . . . positive places. If wonderful and harmonious energy is sent out, it will reach places that are already harmonious and will be impacted with gentle harmonious elements. A gentle rain, a cool breeze, a gentle sun and an abundant Earth. So how do you heal the negative areas of your planet, and help ones in need? First you must maintain positive places on the Earth, Gardens of Eden if you wish, to give home to those ready to break their patterns of negativity and help them maintain a higher frequency. This way they will quit being vulnerable to negative projections. The more that we all evolve in this way, the less places that the directed elements have to clean up. Those many Gardens of Eden, that you will anchor, will grow and grow, and spread across the planet. This will reduce the environments which may be vulnerable to the elemental fury we are beginning to see. To shift negative areas of your Earth directly is tricky. Going into any kind of battle with the negatives in your area will not attract the desired results. There is another way, and here is how. You must be aware of the area of negativity to be cleared, but at the same time not give the negative any energy. You must dream/imagine the place or person into perfection. See the water pure, the air clear, the earth radiant and the fire righteous. If you see the negative in a place or person and try to heal that negative, you can only project negative laced with judgment and some good intentions. You will just neutralize your energy making it ineffective and a waste of your time. This is why praying or doing affirmations are not working for you anymore. Quit wanting, quit hoping. You must SEE IT ALL in a perfected state. You must become blind to the negative, and only see perfection in its place. You need to control your consciousness as a master does. But be forewarned . . . the necessary clearing of Earth will only be accelerated by your work. This is why global peace prayers seem to activate some violence afterwards. If you don’t believe us, look at your history. And remember that your participation in the clearing of Earth and humanity is a part of the divine plan. Your are already living in a higher frequency, even if it doesn’t feel like it right now. It is not a time to hold back, or slow down the process. It is a time to take positive action. Soon . . . only one negative being will be left standing, and his/her last negative thought will be their undoing . . . And this our friends and family of Earth . . . This IS the Shift of the Ages. Aluna Joy Yaxk’in is an internationally known author, guide and modern mystic. Aluna Joy Yaxk’in, PO Box 1988, Sedona AZ 86339 Ph: 928-282-6292 Webpage: www.AlunaJoy.com – E-mail alunajoy@kachina.net Copyright © 2005 – Permission is granted to copy and redistribute this article on the condition that the content remains complete, full credit is given to the author(s), and that it is distributed freely. Center of the SUN – Aluna Joy Yaxk’in, PO Box 1988 Sedona, AZ 86339 USA Ph:520-282-6292 Ph/Fax:520-282-4622 Email: alunajoy@1spirit.com website: www.AlunaJoy.com

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31 Dec

Saturday Oct 9, 2004

I wonder how many people work at home on Saturdays… Probably lots! It’s a great day for me to get things done, because the phone isn’t ringing as much, and I don’t have to drive my son to school and activities – and my soap operas aren’t on to distract me! Share/Bookmark]]>

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31 Dec
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31 Dec

Critics Choice Movie Awards Nominees

The Critics Choice Movie Awards hosted by Aisha Tyler will air live for the second year on the CW network January 16th.  Additionally the BFCA and L.A.’s House Of Blues are teaming up to present a “Celebration Of Black Cinema” on January 7th .

Here’s the complete list of today’s nominees:

BEST PICTURE
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Saving Mr. Banks
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ACTOR
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost

BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Judi Dench – Philomena
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Meryl Streep – August: Osage County
Emma Thompson – Saving Mr. Banks

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Barkhad Abdi – Captain Phillips
Daniel Bruhl – Rush
Bradley Cooper – American Hustle
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Scarlett Johansson – Her
Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts – August: Osage County
June Squibb – Nebraska
Oprah Winfrey – Lee Daniels’ The Butler

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game
Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue Is the Warmest Color
Liam James – The Way Way Back
Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief
Tye Sheridan – Mud

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
American Hustle
August: Osage County
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Nebraska
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST DIRECTOR
Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity
Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips
Spike Jonze – Her
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell – American Hustle
Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Eric Singer and David O. Russell – American Hustle
Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine
Spike Jonze – Her
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis
Bob Nelson – Nebraska

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Tracy Letts – August: Osage County
Richard Linklater & Julie Delpy & Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight
Billy Ray – Captain Phillips
Steve Coogan and Jeff Pope – Philomena
John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki – Gravity
Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis
Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska
Roger Deakins – Prisoners
Sean Bobbitt – 12 Years a Slave

BEST ART DIRECTION
Andy Nicholson (Production Designer), Rosie Goodwin (Set Decorator) – Gravity
Catherine Martin (Production Designer), Beverley Dunn (Set Decorator) – The Great Gatsby
K.K. Barrett (Production Designer), Gene Serdena (Set Decorator) – Her
Dan Hennah (Production Designer), Ra Vincent (Set Decorator) – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Adam Stockhausen (Production Designer), Alice Baker (Set Decorator) – 12 Years a Slave

BEST EDITING
Alan Baumgarten, Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers – American Hustle
Christopher Rouse – Captain Phillips
Alfonso Cuar�n, Mark Sanger – Gravity
Daniel P. Hanley, Mike Hill – Rush
Joe Walker – 12 Years a Slave
Thelma Schoonmaker – The Wolf of Wall Street

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Michael Wilkinson – American Hustle
Catherine Martin – The Great Gatsby
Bob Buck, Lesley Burkes-Harding, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Daniel Orlandi – Saving Mr. Banks
Patricia Norris – 12 Years a Slave

BEST MAKEUP
American Hustle
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Lee Daniels’ The Butler
Rush
12 Years a Slave

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
The Croods
Despicable Me 2
Frozen
Monsters University
The Wind Rises

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Iron Man 3
Lone Survivor
Rush
Star Trek into Darkness

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Henry Cavill – Man of Steel
Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man 3
Brad Pitt – World War Z
Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Sandra Bullock – Gravity
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Evangeline Lilly – The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Gwyneth Paltrow – Iron Man 3

BEST COMEDY
American Hustle
Enough Said
The Heat
This Is the End
The Way Way Back
The World’s End

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale – American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio – The Wolf of Wall Street
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Simon Pegg – The World’s End
Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Amy Adams – American Hustle
Sandra Bullock – The Heat
Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha
Julia Louis-Dreyfus – Enough Said
Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
The Conjuring
Gravity
Star Trek into Darkness
World War Z

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Blue Is the Warmest Color
The Great Beauty
The Hunt
The Past
Wadjda

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
The Act of Killing
Blackfish
Stories We Tell
Tim’s Vermeer
20 Feet from Stardom

BEST SONG
Atlas – Coldplay – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire
Happy – Pharrell Williams – Despicable Me 2
Let It Go – Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez – Frozen
Ordinary Love – U2 – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom
Please Mr. Kennedy – Justin Timberlake/Oscar Isaac/Adam Driver – Inside Llewyn Davis
Young and Beautiful – Lana Del Rey – The Great Gatsby

BEST SCORE
Steven Price – Gravity
Arcade Fire – Her
Thomas Newman – Saving Mr. Banks
Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

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31 Dec

Killing Buddha

Why Killing Buddha? (Excerpt from OmTimes article)

Laughter is the best medicine in hard times and Killing Buddha is first and foremost a comedy. And the title is politically correct! (It’s inspired from a quote from one of Buddhism’s most famous philosopher monks, Linji, the 9th century founder of Chán Buddhism.)

But the film also has a serious message and we have already attached three world superheroes of the New Age: Deepak Chopra, Barbara Marx Hubbard and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev.

While distributing “What The Bleep Do We Know?! ” I was honored to be able to travel the world to speak about my experience making “Bleep”. The most common question was “how did a girl like me, one who had never uttered the words Quantum Physics- end up making such a film?”

Sometimes it takes the most unlikely of people in the most unusual circumstances to create something that touches the world like “Bleep” did. The story I told had a resonance with so many, which I decided to, write a film about it: “Killing Buddha”
Crowd funding is a great way to get involved in the making of a film. Anyone who participates in this campaign will not only get them some cool perk (a t-shirt, a dvd or even a part in the film!)

By participating in this project at any level you’re invited to join a special group – come along as we make the film via a special website just for you! Watch videos from the set, see behind the scenes footage, chat online with the cast and the film makers and so much more! Once you join in the funding you’re a part of the team! Brief Synopsis:
Killing Buddha is loosely based on the life and experiences of Betsy Chasse and what happens when the least spiritual person on the planet gets hired to make a movie about spirituality.

Business flagging, dumped by her boyfriend, car repossessed and the bank eyeing her heavily mortgaged home, disenchanted ex-Hollywood film producer Sara Wells desperately wants change. Convinced by her agent to go to a yoga class, there she receives some simple advice: make a list of what you want and let the universe provide. Confident in her list-making abilities, uncertain about the universe and nostalgic for her Hollywood days, Sara tops her Wish List with a request for a movie to produce—a meaningful film that will change her life. Within hours, Sara is offered the script for Killing Buddha, a privately funded documentary about the modern Western spirituality movement. Sara’s deepest insight into spirituality is that God is dog spelled backwards. But she is intrigued by the coincidence with her list and drawn by the possibility of learning the ultimate recipe for instant happiness and success. Sara takes the project against the advice of her agent, setting out on a hilarious road trip with a bickering mismatched film crew of believers, cynics and seekers: Jason Stroud, born-again cameraman, Brin Halloway, bitterly disillusioned New Age consultant, Catholic editor and sound man Fabio Martinez, and wet-behind-the-ears African American PA, debutant and socialite, Michelle Kandell. Think “Bridget Jones seeks enlightenment while shooting a documentary about God”� a brilliant way of hiding great teachings in a funny, personable movie with a great female protagonist.
You can learn more about the film and her campaign at www.killingbuddhathemovie.com

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