Slumdog Millionaire consolidated its Oscar nomination chances last week winning a slew of key awards and by being nominated in four Golden Globes categories including best film, best director (Danny Boyle), best adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy) and best original score (A R Rahman). Widely televised worldwide, the Globes are given by Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

Last week, the $15 million movie which has grossed nearly $6 million in North America in limited release in four weeks, was honored with two awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association including best direction and music, one from the New York Film Critics’ Circle, as well as six nominations for the Critics Choice Awards including best picture. It has been declared the year’s best by the National Board of Review. In London, where Slumdog also won best film at the British Independent Film Awards, also became a sentimental winner. ‘We are thrilled that we can hopefully bring some positive light to what has happened over there (the terrorist attacks in Mumbai) by honoring this film,’ board President Annie Schulhof said at the awards.  

Cristiano Ronaldo’s former girlfriend Leitizia Filippi has stripped to the bare nothing in a new calendar. The Italian beauty who briefly dated the winker in July has stripped naked for a series of shots. Ronaldo bombarded Letizia with texts after meeting her at a party on a yacht while he was with his then girlfriend, Spanish model Nereida Gallardo.

However the affair quickly fizzled out when Ronaldo spent a lengthy spell in Los Angeles recovering from ankle surgery. Despite reports Ronaldo is now dating Ukranian beauty Alyona Haynes, a friend has revealed Letizia is keen to rekindle her romance with the Portuguese star.

The writer of one of the most beloved children’s books series – Harry Potter, JK Rowling had stated clearly that she will not kowtow to international pressure and write another book about Harry, his friends and Hogwarts ever again. With the recently released Tales of Beedle The Bard, Rowling sticks, though barely by the skin of her teeth, to her determined statement. 

Rowling has provided an interesting blend of unusual story-lines and a folky flavour to these tales and makes it a point to retain the most essential feature of folk tales – a moral - which is overwhelming in some stories (‘The Wizard And The Hopping Pot’). This is presented in unique ways in others. True to the style she had adopted toward the end of her Harry Potter career, she makes at least one of these stories absolutely brutal.

Actress Kate Hudson insists on total honesty in her relationships. Katie, who was once married to Black Crowes rocker Chris Robinson also date cyclist Lance Armstrong and actor Owen Wilson. She told the media that she couldn’t be romantically involved with someone who kept secrets. Meanwhile, the 29-year-old mother of a four year old son also revealed she will be cutting back on spending this Christmas and is planning to make many of her own gifts.

She agreed that the recession had taken out the celebration mood and believed that everyone was feeling gloomy. She said that this season she was big time into knitting, something that she did not want to reveal much about. Well, that’s one crafty lady for sure!

A new study has shown that contraceptive methods can have a significant impact on women’s sexual pleasure and satisfaction. Research also proves that many women think condoms decrease their sexual pleasure. On the other hand, those who use both hormonal contraception and condoms report higher overall sexual satisfaction.  

During the study, women admitted condoms make sex less pleasurable, while those who used only hormonal methods — such as the birth control pills — were unlikely to associate their method with decreased sexual pleasure.  When asked about the effect of contraceptives on sexual enjoyment, women who used condoms either alone or with hormonal methods reported decreased sexual pleasure.

Severely obese patients have reportedly lost weight by changing their diet and exercises perhaps would be as successful as those who lost weight after bariatric surgery and then retaining it. Reports say that while weight loss and maintenance were comparable between the two approaches, patients who relied on non-surgical methods had to work harder over a longer duration to maintain their weight losses,.

Sources also say that behavioural modifications and lifestyle changes are critical components to long-term weight loss maintenance. The participants who were involved in this diet changing exercise managed to lose an average of 60 kg and had maintained their weight loss for an average of 5.5 years at the beginning of its two-year study.

Australian pop star Kylie Minogue is all set to croon a song for the Bollywood multi-starrer ‘Blue’ According to sources, the music will be composed by music maestro A R Rahman. Reportedly, Kylie will reach India by January 2009 to record the song and if reports are to be believed, the lady is charging a staggering amount of Rs five crores, i.e. $1 million for the song. It is also rumored that Minogue was not the first choice for this song. In fact, Madonna and the popular R&B singer Rihanna were on the wish list of the film’s producers for the song, but since nothing materialized, Minogue was approached.

Kylie will also shoot the song’s music video.

Some foods are recognized as mind-power foods: whole-wheat products, brown rice, oats, fruit and vegetables, low-fat dairy. Nuts and seeds also keep our minds in a state of harmony — they contain clusters of mood-enhancing Vitamin B and nerve-soothing nutrients like calcium, magnesium, zinc and chromium.

A few tips can be handy though:

Eat right — You may feel like skipping meals or you may not feel hungry, but your body still needs nutritious food. But emotional eating, which means eating as a way to suppress stress, anger, anxiety, boredom, sadness or loneliness can make you pack on the pounds.

Snack healthy — If you feel the urge to eat between meals, choose a low-fat, low-calorie food, such as fresh fruit, vegetables with fat-free dip or unbuttered popcorn. Or test low-fat, lower calorie versions of your favorite foods to see if they satisfy your cravings.

Try to eat at fairly regular intervals — Don’t skip breakfast. Include foods from the basic groups in your meals. Emphasise whole grains, vegetables and fruit, as well as low-fat dairy products and lean protein sources. When you fill up on the basics, you’re more likely to feel fuller for longer.

Most articles and information on the web speak of the appropriate attire whilst you reach office. If you really want to make the right impression at work, there are many who speak of grace as against trends.

It is always better to be graceful and wear what you can carry confidently and feel comfortable in at the same time. However, it is important to choose the right fit. Trends keep changing every season but what looks good on you will always make you feel confident about yourself. Besides deep necklines, hanging strings, loose harem pants and the like with high heels, and bags in gold and bright metallic give an impression of casual attire.

Officials say that organizations want employees who are emotionally engaged rather then just being physically present on all working days. So, we must learn to let go of the schoolboy-ish mentality, when we got rewarded for just being present. To put things in proper perspective — by all means recognize the seriousness of attendance however don’t be mentally overburdened by trying to prove a point to co-workers or other professional colleagues by not taking any breaks. Apparently the trend today is to earn brownie points for performance and not attendance say sources.

The report also mentions that every employee should keep their colleagues and subordinates informed about your break. A lot of managers take the vacation approvals from their seniors however do not inform their subordinates in advance. This creates a chaotic scenario in the team when the boss goes on a leave. So if you really want to perform well and have a decent appraisal, well, take a break!