Review: `Undefeated' inspires effortlessly (AP)

It seems impossibly feel-good, this tale of sacrifice and redemption, tragedy and triumph. It may also sound like the kind of uplifting football drama you've seen countless times before ? and comparisons to both "Friday Night Lights" and "The Blind Side" will be inevitable.

Still, the Oscar-nominated documentary "Undefeated" knocks you over with a power all its own; told in intimate, unadorned fashion, it comes from a pure place that's irresistible. It isn't trying too hard to inspire us ? and that's precisely why it does. Dan Lindsay and T.J. Martin, who directed, shot and edited the film, know well enough to get out of the way and let the story and the characters work their magic.

Their focus is the 2009 football team at Manassas High School in North Memphis, a predominately black school in a blighted part of town which hadn't won a playoff game in its 110-year history. The filmmakers show us the boarded-up houses that are all-too common in the neighborhood, the random guys drinking 40s out of paper bags in the middle of the day, but rather than depicting an urban stereotype, they reveal a vividly sad sense of place.

Coach Bill Courtney hopes that by working with these kids and developing their strengths on the field, they'll recognize the importance of being strong men off the field. Or as he puts it: football doesn't build character, football reveals character. A husband and father of four, he has devoted a ridiculous amount of hours over the past six-plus years to turning this team around from perennial cellar-dwellers to serious contenders in the division.

What's mind-boggling is that he's doing it all as a volunteer, which he can afford as the owner of a successful lumber company. Courtney also happens to be white, which is simply never an issue. He gets through to these kids through the sheer force of his personality; portly and boisterous, he can be charming and demanding in equal measure, and he ends up becoming the film's de facto star.

"Undefeated" also follows three of the Tigers' main players. When we first meet Montrail "Money" Brown, he's showing off his science fair project and humbly mentioning that he has a 3.8 grade point average. He lives in a modest house with his grandmother but has dreams of leaving town and going to college ? and as a small offensive lineman, he realizes it won't be football that gets him there.

The heavily recruited left tackle O.C. Brown, the team's star, is Money's opposite. With speed and size on his side, he's getting letters and visits from universities across the country. This endearing gentle giant knows enough to acknowledge: "I'm not the smartest kid in the world, so I think football is my way out." But the school's coaches hope to give O.C. a boost academically by having him receive tutoring and live part-time at one of their houses: a mansion in the wealthy part of town, which will call to mind a certain Sandra Bullock movie which also happened to be based on a true story.

Then there's the hotheaded Chavis Daniels, a talented but troubled linebacker who spent time in a youth penitentiary before returning to the team as a junior. He's prone to starting trouble even before the first snap, and his transformation from brawling hothead to unlikely leader might be the film's most rewarding.

But look out ? just when you think you know this story and know these types of figures, and just when it feels like the filmmakers zoom in a few times too many as Courtney's getting choked up during a big speech, "Undefeated" will sneak up on you emotionally with the power of a quarterback sack.

That happens a couple times, actually, so bring tissues. You've been warned. And you don't even have to be a sports fan to be moved.

"Undefeated," a Weinstein Co. release, is rated PG-13 for some language. Running time: 113 minutes. Three and a half stars out of four.

___

Motion Picture Association of America rating definitions:

G ? General audiences. All ages admitted.

PG ? Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 ? Special parental guidance strongly suggested for children under 13. Some material may be inappropriate for young children.

R ? Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.

NC-17 ? No one under 17 admitted.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/movies/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120215/ap_en_mo/us_film_review_undefeated

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Whitney Houston 'A Role Model' For Fergie

'I'd just dream that I could be on that stage like Whitney,' Black Eyed Peas songstress tells MTV News at the Grammys.
By James Dinh

Whitney Houston on ABC's "Good Morning America" in 2009
Photo: James Devaney/ WireImage

Whitney Houston's sudden death on the eve of the 54th Grammy Awards was on the tip of everyone's tongue on Sunday night (February 12), including three-time Grammy nominee Fergie, who opened up to MTV News about the late icon's profound influence on her career.

"Whitney was such an inspiration to me ever since I was a little girl," the pop songstress told our own Sway Calloway. "I used to watch the Grammys and I used to watch her walk up on that stage. She would belt out a song with such confidence, and I'd just dream that I could be on that stage like Whitney. She was a role model for me. She was an icon."

Dressed in an orange partially see-through Jean Paul Gaultier dress, the BEP songstress said of her ensemble, "I'm making Whitney proud. Loud and proud."

Check out photos from the Grammys red carpet 2012.

Just before breaking into an impromptu a cappella version of Houston's "How Will I Know," Fergie mentioned that she performed the late icon's music when she appeared on the 1980s children's TV show "Kids Incorporated."

Fergie also took home two Grammy Awards for her Kanye West collaboration "All of the Lights." "It's crazy. My mom and I were screaming in the car," she said of her wins.

Stick with MTV News for all the news on Whitney Houston's tribute, the Grammy red-carpet fashion, Grammy winners and more until the hangover wears off!

Share your condolences with Whitney's family and friends on our Facebook page.

Stick with MTV News all for all the Grammy red-carpet fashion, Grammy winners and Grammy news until the hangover wears off!

Related Videos

• 2012 Grammy Awards Red Carpet Highlights

Related Photos

• 2012 Grammys Red Carpet Photos

Related Artists

• Fergie
• Whitney Houston

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679082/grammy-awards-fergie-whitney-houston.jhtml

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Pest Control in Nashville: Harmful Effects of Do-It-Yourself Pest ...

Filed under Home Improvement by admin

Pest infestation is a problem in a lot of homes, properties and commercial and business establishments. It is one of the most common problems in the household that should be dealt with properly and in a timely manner. That is why it is important to call the right people to help you deal with it immediately. This is also one mater that a homeowner should not take lightly because it can cause a lot of problems not to mention its harmful effects on the person?s health. A homeowner should not take this lightly and should not take this for granted because it can cause them and their family health problems and diseases. This is one reason why it is important and crucial to contact professional pest control services before these pests can cause further damage on the property and the members of your household. Eliminating these pests can be a burdensome experience for you when you try to deal with these harmful pests yourself. Pest control in Nashville believes that it is important to contact pest control companies which can help you deal with this dilemma. Contacting these pest control companies can bring you more benefit than you actually think of.

Hiring pest control companies to deal with the pest infestation will be a lot more convenient for the homeowner and their family. It will be more hassle to find pesticides in the supermarket and apply them on your own. You may not even be sure if these pesticides you find in the supermarket are effective. This will cost you more money because you may have to buy a different kind of pesticide again. Pest control in Rogers believes that facing these harmful pests and bugs alone may not be very effective. It may also be dangerous for you or someone to do it without experience and knowledge of the harmful effects of pest control.

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Source: http://www.getittogethershow.com/home-family/home-improvement/pest-control-in-nashville-harmful-effects-of-do-it-yourself-pest-management

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Why some musicians are protesting this year?s Grammy Awards show

The Recording Academy has eliminated 31 categories of Grammy Awards, many of which are often won by minorities. A protest rally and alternative concert will be held on Sunday.

When they filter into Staples Center on Sunday night for the recording industry?s biggest night, many of music?s best-known names will be walking right by some of music?s other luminaries. Tony Bennett, Paul McCartney, and Taylor Swift ? Grammy winners all ? will squeeze through the doors, while two-time Grammy winner Oscar Hernandez and multiple nominees Bobby Sanabria and John Santos will remain outside in protest.

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The reason: Thirty-one categories of awards have been eliminated this year by the Recording Academy (also referred to as NARAS). Eliminated categories, which the academy announced last April, include Latin jazz, contemporary jazz, native American, zydeco, Cajun, classical, Hawaiian, polka, regional Mexican, and world music.

In Los Angeles Thursday, a group of 12 Latin jazz musicians delivered 23,000 signatures in support of the reinstatement of the categories. Via the Internet, other organizations have organized write-in campaigns against the academy and CBS, which is airing the show. Activists are organizing a protest rally outside Staples from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Sunday and will then hold a concert (?The Not Those Awards All-Star Latin Jazz Jam?) across town during the show.

?Without notifying any of the membership, NARAS set up a secret committee to cut back these categories,? says Robert Sax, a spokesman for Grammy Watch, a coalition of musicians that is fighting to reinstate the categories. At least 15 of the categories, he says, are usually won by people of color and by those with independent labels.

?At a time when the US is becoming more and more diverse musically, the Grammys should reflect that, but when you cut off the roots of ethnic categories, you are doing just the opposite of that,? he says.

The removal of such categories takes away one of the great tools for lesser-known musicians and labels, say Mr. Sax and others.

?Grammy Awards are incredibly useful in helping an artist build a career,? Sax says. ?Sales go up, bookings go up, and careers lift off with the aid of a Grammy recognition.?

In August of last year, four Latin jazz artists filed a lawsuit with the New York Supreme Court, claiming that the dropping of such categories had adversely affected their careers and that the academy was violating its ?contractual obligations? to its 21,000 members, who are musicians, producers, recording engineers, and other recording professionals. A jurisdictional issue has tied up the lawsuit for now.

RECOMMENDED:?Whitney Houston was the golden girl of the music industry

Academy president Neil Portnow has not responded to most press inquiries, but is quoted in Billboard Magazine as saying, ?For those who take a hard line with lawsuits and protests, that?s their choice. It wouldn?t be my preference as a way to work together.?

The academy, say industry observers and academics, is trying to tread a fine line between being a cheerleader to the industry and holding onto decent ratings for its annual show. To include too many categories can drag down the pace of the show.

?NARAS has likely made a decision that at this point in time, it cannot be, at least in terms of its highly watched television program, ?all things to all people,? ? says La Salle University communications professor Richard Goedkoop, in an e-mail.

?The proliferation of formats also gave rise concurrently to opportunities for newer artists, many of whom came out of a variety of ethnic communities, many of whom have enriched our culture substantially,? Professor Goedkoop adds. ?But, it is also true that some of those artists and newer musical categories are not fully accepted and bought by the majority of listeners ... or viewers of the Grammy Awards television program.?

Others are more candid.

?These awards are a money machine for television and the music industry,? says Ben Agger, director of the Center for Theory in the sociology department at the University of Texas at Arlington, in an e-mail. ?The Grammy decision to reduce the categories of music is a McDonaldization of music, and cultural banality will be the result."

Still others talk about the possibility of an obvious compromise.

?I understand the producer?s dilemma of figuring out how to keep the energy of the show moving with performances, without just announcing a bunch of names, which drags things right to a halt,? says Robert Thompson, founder of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture at Syracuse University in New York. ?It seems like the obvious answer is to tell people to visit [the academy?s] website, where they can see the winners? names and sample their music.?

Mr. Thompson also suggests the alternative of having a ?crawl? line during the show or ending credits.

Some involved in the dispute are open to the idea. ?Having the awards in these other categories off camera is not a problem to us,? says Sax.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/8L72uiBnf1U/Why-some-musicians-are-protesting-this-year-s-Grammy-Awards-show

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Internet Facsimile Service ? Is that this The Must-Have Service For ...

These days, a person notice a great deal concerning online as well as internet fax services, yet could it be a legitimate Must-Have must for every firm? May the existing traditional send device be enough on this modern-day laptop or computer era? All fascinating queries as well as quarrels can be created for both types of faxing, yet can through an Internet send service provide your business as well as company a hostile border? It is actually the priority as well as question which has staying responded right here.

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Source: http://bogotaflyer.com/?p=606

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The Wildlife World | Reference and Education ... - Posterous

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Source: http://ivilomto.posterous.com/the-wildlife-world-reference-and-education

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Teen weight loss program shows some benefit (Reuters)

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ? A low-key, long term approach to teen weight loss produced modest benefits in a clinical trial, Australian researchers report, though a version of the program that added texts and emails didn't help kids slim down any further.

The study, by Binh Nguyen at the University of Sydney and colleagues, included 151 teenagers in a 24-month program called Loozit, based on group behavior-modification sessions for teens and their parents.

At the 12-month mark, 40 percent of the teens had reduced their body mass by at least five percent and a quarter had reduced by at least 10 percent, though most remained overweight.

Despite the small effect on weight, Elissa Jelalian of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, said the results are promising because the program was less intensive than other weight loss efforts, and yet had nearly the same impact.

"I think it's certainly worthy of further investigation," Jelalian, who was not involved in the new work, told Reuters Health.

During the first two months of Loozit, the kids, who were between 13 and 16 years old, participated in seven weekly group sessions that focused on healthy eating habits, increasing physical activity, decreasing time spent in front of a screen and improving self esteem.

They also spent some time exercising and preparing and tasting foods during the sessions.

Parents, too, attended weekly group sessions where lifestyle-modification was discussed.

For the next 22 months, teens and parents went to booster sessions every three months.

The study's results, published in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent, only include outcomes from the first 12 months of the program, which 124 kids completed.

Jelalian said other weight loss programs for kids have relied on group interventions, "which I think can be helpful. They try to mobilize other kids their age who are dealing with similar challenges and to create a peer group."

The differences between Loozit and other programs is that the kids only go through 14 sessions over two years, compared to about 20 in other cases, and the discussions are held in community locations rather than in academic or hospital settings.

Most studies of teen weight-loss approaches have centered on more intensive and heavily monitored interventions, sometimes in in-patient settings, the researchers note.

The other thing Nguyen's group did differently is that half of the kids also received text messages, emails and phone calls to follow up and coach them through the program.

"That's the direction a lot of people are going. And it makes sense, teens are plugged in," said Jelalian, who was not involved in this study. "Unfortunately, it didn't look like that added anything to their findings."

After the 12 months there were no differences in weight loss, cholesterol levels, mental health and behavioral measures between the two groups.

"It is possible that the (additional contact) provided was too mild and that participants could have benefited from more frequent, intensive contact," Nguyen wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

She added that the results don't prove that coaching through texts or emails is ineffective, and future research should look at whether more frequent contact could help make a difference.

There were positive differences between where the teens started out and where they ended up, the researchers point out.

The kids had lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels at the end of the year as well as higher scores on measures of self worth, academic and athletic abilities, and social acceptance.

On average, the kids actually gained weight -- which isn't necessarily surprising, given that they grew more than an inch during the study period.

To account for this, the researchers looked at changes in the kids' body mass index (BMI), a measure of weight relative to height.

After adjusting for a child's age and sex, the researchers found a slight drop in BMI after 12 months, indicating that the kids were shifting toward a more normal body size, although they were still overweight.

Jelalian said it's important to try new approaches to getting overweight and obese kids to lose weight, because research has typically focused on adults or younger children.

"There are some developmental considerations for adolescents that are unique," she said, such as the onset of puberty and a growing independence from parents.

"There are few other programs for this age group and that are sustainable in community-based settings," Nguyen said. "We know of no others in Australia that have been tested in research studies."

She said she would definitely recommend Loozit for overweight teens. And that her team is following up with a study on the results of the full 24 months of the trial.

So far, "These findings highlight the potential benefits of a low intensity weight management program targeted at adolescents that is sustainable in community settings," Nguyen and her colleagues write in their report.

SOURCE: http://bit.ly/yuGsmr Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, February 2012.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/health/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120209/hl_nm/us_teen_weight

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