Adam Sandler, Gabourey Sidibe, Anna Kendrick newest Academy members

Adam Sandler

Adam Sandler, who stars in the movie Grown Ups, Zoe Saldana, who played Lt. Uhura in Star Trek and "Neytiri" in Avatar, and Anna Kendrick from Twilight, join James Gandolfini, Mo’Nique, Carey Mulligan, Gabourey Sidibe and 128 others as The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has announced that 135 entertainment industry luminaries have been invited to become members in the Academy.

The organization that presents the annual Oscars telecast has assembled a combination of stars
both young and old as well as public relations specialists, artists, executives, and others.

Within the list there are some surprises. Gabourey Sidibe is just the second actress in the 21st Century that within three years has went from not acting, to acting, to being an nominee for an Oscar, to becoming an Academy member.

Three years ago, Sidibe wasn't an actress. Then she was picked to play the title roll in Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, which became a hit last year. This year, Sidibe was honored with a nomination for the award of Best Actress in A Leading Roll, which eventually went to Academy-member Sandra Bullock.

Gabourey Sidibe

The only other actress to have enjoyed such a fast rise was Jennifer Hudson, who went from American Idol in 2004 to Dreamgirls in 2006, which landed her the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.

Academy allowed 135 members not the 180 maximum members

AMPAS policy is to extend membership invitations to as many as 180 people. This year, just 135 got the nod because, as the AMPAS press release reports "the several branch committees endorsed fewer candidates than were proposed to them." President Tom Sherak said "The work of these individuals has been appreciated by moviegoers all around the world. The Academy is proud to invite each and every one of them."

The new members will be welcomed into the Academy at an invitation-only reception at the Academy’s Fairbanks Center for Motion Picture Study in Beverly Hills in September 2010.

Academy Membership isn't a guessing game

How a person becomes an Academy member isn't a guessing game. From personal information, if a person is associated with a movie that's nominated for an award they get automatic consideration in a kind of spreadsheet, systemic format. Not just actors and actresses, but producers and cinematographers and animators. Here's the full list, below, with more blog posts to follow.

The New AMPAS Members

Actors
Tobin Bell – Saw, The Firm
Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air, The Departed
Miguel Ferrer – Traffic, RoboCop
James Gandolfini – In the Loop, Get Shorty
Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air, Twilight
Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire, Phat Girlz
Carey Mulligan – An Education, Public Enemies
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker, 28 Weeks Later
Ryan Reynolds – The Proposal, X-Men Origins: Wolverine
LaTanya Richardson Jackson – Mother and Child, Losing Isaiah
Peter Riegert – Traffic, Crossing Delancey
Sam Robards – A.I. Artificial Intelligence, American Beauty
Saoirse Ronan – The Lovely Bones, Atonement
Zoe Saldana – Avatar, Star Trek
Adam Sandler – Funny People, Punch-Drunk Love
Peter Sarsgaard – An Education, "Boys Don’t Cry"
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Shaun Toub – Iron Man, The Kite Runner
Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds
George Wyner – A Serious Man, American Pie 2

Animators
Ken Bielenberg – Monsters vs Aliens, Shrek
Peter de Seve – Ice Age Dawn of the Dinosaurs, Ratatouille
Steve Hickner – Bee Movie, "The Prince of Egypt"
Angus MacLane – Toy Story 3, WALL-E
Darragh O’Connell – Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty, Give Up Yer Aul Sins
Simon Otto – How to Train Your Dragon, Kung Fu Panda
Bob Pauley – Toy Story 3, Monsters, Inc.
Willem Thijssen – The Aroma of Tea, A Greek Tragedy"

Art Directors
Kim Sinclair – Avatar, Cast Away
Dave Warren – Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Bridget Jones’s Diary

At-Large
Darcy Antonellis
John Lowry

Casting Directors
Laura Rosenthal – The Messenger, I’m Not There

Cinematographers
Barry Ackroyd – The Hurt Locker, United 93
Christian Berger – The White Ribbon, Cache
Hagen Bogdanski – The Young Victoria, The Lives of Others
Shane Hurlbut – Terminator Salvation, We Are Marshall
Tom Hurwitz – Valentino The Last Emperor, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib
Dan Mindel – Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III
Tobias Schliessler – The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Hancock
Stephen Windon – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, House of Wax
Robert Yeoman – Get Him to the Greek, The Squid and the Whale

Costume Designers
Catherine Leterrier – Coco before Chanel, Avenue Montaigne
Janet Patterson – Bright Star, The Piano

Directors
Jacques Audiard – A Prophet, The Beat That My Heart Skipped
Juan Jose Campanella – The Secret in Their Eyes, "Son of the Bride"
Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, Shadowboxer
Claudia Llosa – The Milk of Sorrow, Madeinusa
Lone Scherfig – An Education, Italian for Beginners
Adam Shankman – Bedtime Stories, Hairspray

Documentary
Nancy Baker – Rehearsing a Dream, Born into Brothels
Rick Goldsmith – The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers, Tell the Truth and Run: George Seldes and the American Press
Davis Guggenheim – It Might Get Loud, An Inconvenient Truth
Tia Lessin – Capitalism: A Love Story, Trouble the Water
Cara Mertes – The Betrayal, My Country, My Country
Frazer Pennebaker – Al Franken: God Spoke, The War Room
Julia Reichert – The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant, Seeing Red
Morgan Spurlock – Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, Super Size Me

Executives
Christopher W. Aronson
Jim Berk
Philippe Dauman
Sheila DeLoach
Donald Peter Granger
Nathan Kahane
Andrew Karpen
Ryan Kavanaugh
David Kosse
David Andrew Spitz
Emma Watts

Film Editors
Robert Frazen – Synecdoche, New York, Smart People
Dana E. Glauberman – Up in the Air, Thank You for Smoking
Joe Klotz – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire, Grace Is Gone
Bob Murawski – The Hurt Locker, Spider-Man
John Refoua – Avatar, Reno 911!: Miami

Live Action Short Films
Joachim Back – The New Tenants
Gregg Helvey – Kavi, The Knife Grinder’s Tale

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Kris Evans – X-Men The Last Stand," Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
Jane Galli – Knight and Day, 3:10 to Yuma
Mindy Hall – Star Trek, World Trade Center
Joel Harlow – Star Trek, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Jenny Shircore – The Young Victoria, Elizabeth

Music
Christophe Beck – The Hangover, Bring It On
Bono – Gangs of New York, In the Name of the Father
T Bone Burnett – Crazy Heart, Cold Mountain
The Edge – Gangs of New York, "GoldenEye"
Brian Tyler – Fast & Furious, Aliens vs. Predator Requiem

Producers
Stephanie Allain – Black Snake Moan, Hustle & Flow
Gregory Jacobs – The Informant!, The Good German
Jon Landau – Avatar, Titanic
Marc Turtletaub – Away We Go, Little Miss Sunshine
Glenn Williamson – Sunshine Cleaning, Hollywoodland

Production Designers
Kirk M. Pertruccelli – The Incredible Hulk, The Patriot
Edward S. Verreaux – G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Jurassic Park III

Public Relations
Dwight Caines
Suzanne M. Cole
Tommy Gargotta
Sophie Gluck
Josh Greenstein
Pamela Levine
Wendy Lightbourn
Michele Robertson
Tony Sella

Set Decorators
Maggie Gray – The Young Victoria, Ella Enchanted
Douglas A. Mowat – Role Models, The Sixth Sense
Caroline Smith – The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, Match Point

Sound
Frank Eulner – Iron Man 2, Hellboy
Adam Jenkins – I Love You, Man, Crash
Tony Lamberti – Inglourious Basterds, Sideways
Dennis Leonard – Disney’s A Christmas Carol, The Polar Express
Tom Myers – Up, WALL-E
Paul N.J. Ottosson – The Hurt Locker, Spider-Man 3
Resul Pookutty – Ghajini, Slumdog Millionaire
Gary A. Rizzo – How to Train Your Dragon, The Dark Knight
Michael Silvers – Up, Ratatouille
Gwendolyn Yates Whittle – Avatar, The Simpsons Movie"=

Visual Effects
Matt Aitken – District 9, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
Karen Ansel – Angels & Demons, Men in Black II
Richard Baneham – Avatar, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
Eric Barba – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Zodiac
Paul Debevec – Avatar, King Kong
Russell Earl – Star Trek, Transformers
Steve Galich – Date Night, "Transformers"
Andrew R. Jones – Avatar, I, Robot
Dan Kaufman – District 9, Ocean’s Thirteen
Derek Spears – The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, Superman Returns
Steve Sullivan – Avatar, Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith
Michael J. Wassel – Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Bourne Identity

Writers
Neill Blomkamp – District 9
Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker, In the Valley of Elah
Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire
Nick Hornby – An Education, Fever Pitch
Alex Kurtzman – Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III
Tom McCarthy – Up, The Visitor
Roberto Orci – Star Trek, Mission: Impossible III
Terri Tatchell – District 9

NBA Draft 2010: NBA Draft grade disparity reveals guessing game

You know guessing who had the best NBA Draft is a subjective process when you have AOL Fanhouse' Tom Ziller giving the Boston Celtics an "A", while The Bleacher Reports' Joe Slowik gives the Celtics a C-minus.

That kind of grading disparity shows that two reasonable people can disagree, but also shows the inexact nature of the NBA Draft or the NFL Draft for that matter.

We really don't know how great a player will be until that person in any sport actually plays the game. Before Le Bron James entered the NBA, he was called "The Golden Child" and "The Chosen One"; the man who would take any team to the NBA Finals. But after failing to reach the NBA Finals for the second year in a row, the man once called King James is now called "Queen James" by some.

It's all a guessing game. In drafting any player, the most likely success comes from picking someone who has enough training to be effective, is from a culture such that he can step in and learn, and has a background that indicates he will not cause trouble and can handle making a lot of money well. That's the template.

It's a template that produces a lot of great players, but even then one can't calculate how a person handles fame. Look at Tiger Woods. His rapid rise gave him the idea that he could do anything and have any woman as long as he could flash the cash. And he did. But it's impacted his game. Being outed for fooling around on his wife a whole bunch of times has changed him into someone who can't win Golf tournaments with the ease he once did.

It's hard to calculate how all of that will impact rookies in any sport. While it's fun to guess, a really good NBA Draft evaluation has to be done with time and research.

Stay tuned.

"Oprah riggs contest in favor of african american" is spam blog work

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Democrat Dodging Debates?

Probably only in Minnesota, home of the late, great Senator Paul Wellstone, could you find a story of an inexperienced candidate relying on money and ads rather than using debates to get his message and face out via free media coverage:

Minnesota Democrats have a real problem in their 2nd District: The party endorsed a candidate with no experience who is scared to debate before the primary. He dodged debate offers before the convention and it worked; delegates bought his slick, managed appearances as a sign he had substance. But if he's scared to confront a fellow Democrat before the primary what tool will he use to get the media and the voters to take him seriously?

While interviewing former state Representative Shelley Madore, cable TV host Alan Miller of "Access to Democracy" offered to moderate a debate between the two Democratic candidates in the upcoming Democratic Primary on August 10th - Madore and her opponent Dan Powers. Excerpts from the show will be available online in the next few days. 

Powers had dodged debate offers from the former state legislator prior to the early April convention, so it comes as little suprise that his campaign manager, Mary Breitenstein, has opted to decline on his behalf.  Her statement Thursday side-stepping the issue concluded with:

"Dan will be focusing his time on beating John Kline and bringing the people of CD 2  [Minnesota's Second Congressional District] the sort of representation they deserve."

Mary Breitenstein,

Campaign Manager

Whichever Democrat wins the primary and goes on to challenge incumbent Kline will want to draw contrasts between themselves and a well-known incumbent.  Logically it might seem an excellent opportunity to practice a skill Powers hasn't exercised, and create a little more buzz for the party, much the way the Obama-Clinton contest helped keep Democrats in the spotlight well after it became a foregone conclusion that McCain would garner the 2008 GOP presidential nomination.


So much for "practice makes perfect."

Evidently Powers fears debating a fellow Democrat could outweigh the media exposure he'd get going into the primary. The only conclusion voters and pundits can draw is he worries that revealing how he handles himself in front of the media would convey significant advantage to Shelley Madore.

In this case, I agree with his fear despite her much greater name recognition; having spent time with both candidates I'm hard-pressed to see how he could possibly outshine Madore.  I've donated time and money to both campaigns, and I know it's much safer for Powers to rely on talking points and spend money on slick ads than it would be to engage in a debate. 

A debate would obviously reveal how relatively difficult it is for a rookie to talk issues, policy, and procedure on the same stage with a former legislator.

Still, I'd like the chance to see Powers fielding questions in an unscripted appearance, and see if he can think on his feet. As a voter in the District and the former elected party official I can't help but wonder if he's scared Shelley Madore might reveal something about him that Congressman Kline wouldn't. She's been taking the high road so far, and if there's one thing Minnesotans have learned about Kline's campaign style it's that he will research his opponents thoroughly, and attack relentlessly.

Thomas Hayes is an entrepreneur, journalist, political strategist, and photographer who contributes regularly to a host of web sites on topics ranging from economics and politics to culture and community. It is a matter of public record that he has donated to both candidates featured in this story, and recently accepted a staff position on the Madore For Congress campaign.

© All photographs in this story are copyright Thomas Hayes, 2010

Poker - Online vs. Live Play by Josh Grattan

Disclaimer: All of the following information, thoughts, and views I discuss below has been gathered over years of personal experience playing the game and being a fan of the WSOP.


(Photo Courtesy of Fulltilt.com)




Poker has become more than a game played amongst friends. Now there are tournaments with thousands of players and millions in prizes, and now with the addition of online poker, the game has changed forever. The game play of poker has always been a highly debated topic of whether it is mere luck or true skill. Luck doesn't explain why the huge event final tables always have the same players. As the years passed the game has evolved from poker nights in the basement, to huge live events with thousands of entrants and millions of dollars up for grabs. Poker transformed from a game into a sport, a live event now aired regularly on television, with millions of fans.


The skilled players are finally getting recognition for their talents and to some, their faces and names have become icons in the poker world. As poker continued to grow throughout the years, along with the Internet, the new world of online poker was born. Today there are quite a few different websites where anyone in the world can log online and play poker for real or play money with other people at any time. The two kingpins of this industry are Pokerstars and FullTilt.


With this new addition to poker the industry boomed. The online poker sites snagged up the poker pros for publicity and took over. Before all of this the largest tournament in the world was the World Series of Poker (WSOP), which is now referred to as the largest LIVE tournament in the world. With these online sites growing so popular there are now millions of people playing, and hundreds of thousands logging on daily. Now the largest tournament record is being broken regularly by Pokerstars, hosting tournaments with over a million players.


And now with poker constantly growing in popularity the websites are constantly coming up with new gimmicks and promotions to draw in more players, or keep players interested. Personally my favorite site is Full Tilt for many reasons but one of the largest is their huge draw of promotions. All the time they are hosting tournaments for no buy in with cash rewards and upgrading their site. Recently Full Tilt invented Rush Poker which has taken online game play by storm. Basically a way to play a cash game without ever waiting between hands. If you fold, you instantly move to a new table and get dealt a new hand with no delay, the speed of game play is remarkable.


There are now new poker pros, well known strictly for their online game play, and more and more frequently, middle class people are becoming millionaires overnight. Careers are being created and these sites are raking in profit by the millions... daily.


But one of the largest topics of debate now-a-day isn't just the creation of online poker, now that its been around for a few years the real debate is about the difference in game play between live poker and online poker.


Many people today believe that all forms of poker is luck. They insist that you win because you get lucky and the right cards hit at the right time, I wont go into deep discussion about this because arguing that would mean describing how the game works. And in both live and online play the game works the same. Two hole cards, round of betting, flop, round of betting, turn, round of betting, river, round of betting, and finally the showdown.


The basics of the game have not changed, but the game play in itself has. When one plays a live tournament, they have a few advantages, they are able to stare down their opponent, and 'read' them. Meaning make betting or folding decisions based off their opponents reactions and subtle ticks. There are many other ways to read as well, such as betting technique and individual player's style. Seasoned players are better at reading, and at hiding reads, another thing that remains consistent in live game play is the odds. If you are trying to hit a club on the last card to make your flush, then you know for certainty that you have a one in four chance of hitting that card. A one in four shot. But with online play, these principles don't quite work the same.


When playing poker online you cannot see your opponent, you only see a fake name and a little avatar. Now you have to make your decisions based either on the odds or the betting style of your opponents. It gets so much more in depth to the betting style because you no longer have the ability the look at your opponents face and make decisions there. The big problem comes with the odds. Many people believe that the odds are the same, same deck of cards and same probabilities of hitting cards.


But still everyone whose played online enough has noticed how frequently there are bad beats, suck outs, and a total defiance of the odds. That is because contrary to popular believe it is IMPOSSIBLE to create a computer program that can randomly shuffle a deck of cards. What they do have is a program called RNG (random number generator) also known as PRNG (Pseudo-random number generator), because really the numbers are NOT random at all. And it is a very difficult concept to grasp for many. So when you are playing online, just throw the odds out the window. Your best chance to win is play your opponent not your cards, and go with your gut.


Online poker is an amazing new addition to the ever growing world of poker and will continue to expand as the years pass. One thing every new player needs to remember is that when you start playing online, it doesn't matter how many years of experience you have playing live games, its a whole new game here.


Today with online poker and live poker both growing in popularity anyone interested in taking a chance to make a lot of money has the opportunity, fortunes are won and lost faster than ever. But as long as you keep your head and don't get carried away, both styles are a fun game to play with a lot of reward for success.


Hope everyone enjoyed my first blog post! A big thanks to Nikky Raney for giving me the opportunity to write for Zennie62.com.

NBA Draft: John Wall: Kentucky player first of record five Wildcats in 1st round

John Wall

The NBA Draft 2010 has been a showcase for The University of Kentucky. Kentucky John Wall, the SEC player of the year in 2009-2010, was selected as the first pick in the 1st round of the NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards.

Wall is the first of what would turn out to be a record five Kentucky players to go in the 1st round of the NBA Draft. The others were DeMarcus Cousins to the Sacramento Kings, Patrick Patterson to the Houston Rockets, Eric Bledsoe to the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Daniel Orton to the Orlando Magic.

All of that for a team that didn't even when the NCAA Championship.

It reminds this blogger of the 2010 NFL Draft, when a record four players from the University of Oklahoma were the four of the first five players taken. That, too, was a record.

John Wall is expected to team with Gilbert Arenas and revive the Washington Wizards.

Ecuador one contract away from owning oil production and profits

Correa's moving to get more oil money 

While Amazon Watch and Steven Donziger yell and scream about American Chevron in an attempt to extort billions while claiming to represent Ecuador's "indigenous people," Ecuador President Rafael Correa is just one signed contract away from that country successfully nationalizing revenue from its oil industry.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Administration of Ecuador President Rafael Correa seeks to replace current oil production-sharing contracts with service contracts that would "see oil companies getting a production fee, while the government would own 100 percent of oil and gas produced."

In other words, Ecuador, which has 34 active oil contracts, would take more money from Italian, Brazilian, Canandian, Chinese, and European, and other oil companies, as Amazon Watch claims American Chevron's responsible for environmental damage from oil production (there are no large American oil producers as Ecuador has either taken over production or kicked them out of the country.)

It's Ecuador's effort to offset declining revenues from oil. Production has dropped 17 percent in one year.

The new service contract model law will have two different fees, one for production and the other for new investment to increase output. Nothing has been said about using the extra revenue for environmental cleanup.

The contracts are expected to be signed and implemented by August 2010. If the companies don't sign the contracts, they would be subject to state seizure of their oil assets.   This was done to American Occidental Petroleum in 2007, when Ecuador took everything from oil facilities to luxury cars, and had fist-fights over those.  In 1992, Chevron and Ecuador negotiated an agreement for Ecuador to take over Chevron's oil production.

Again, why doesn't Amazon Watch sue Ecuador?