Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
March 5th, 2010
by Julia H. Jackson
Well, it’s that time of year again: Oscar season. This Sunday, March 7, the Academy Awards will showcase the best films of 2009. The program, which will be hosted by 30 Rock’s Alec Baldwin and noted comedian and actor Steve Martin, will set a new record with the most films nominated for best picture. We thought it telling that some of the best films of the year were book adaptations that we reviewed last year. This is setting the bar high, even for an awards show, and so this year we at Eduify thought we’d help narrow the nominations down to this year’s very best.
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This year’s best picture nominations feature ten diverse and exciting films: James Cameron’s blockbuster Avatar, Quentin Tarantino’s World War II romp Inglourious Basterds , An Education , Peter Jackson’s District 9, A Serious Man by the Coen brothers, Precious (and adaptation of Sapphire’s novel Push), Pixar’s Up, Up in the Air starring George Clooney, The Blind Side with Sandra Bullock, and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker. Could there be a more diverse range, from 3D half-men half-alien avatar adventure flicks to corporate lackeys searching for human connection?
Although all of these films demonstrate Oscar-worthy talent, Eduify’s pick for Best Picture this year is The Hurt Locker. The film stars Jeremy Renner as Staff Sergeant James Williams, who heads a team of American soldiers whose job it is to find and disarm Improvised Explosive Devices (I.E.D.s), homemade bombs that are responsible for the deaths of countless soldiers serving in Iraq. Set in 2004, The Hurt Locker is one of the first seemingly objective films about the controversial Iraq war, and it delivers not only in intense action scenes, but also in the emotional complexity of its characters. Says New York Times film critic A.O. Scott, Kathryn Bigelow uses “hyperbolic realism, distills the psychological essence and moral complications of modern warfare into a series of brilliant, agonizing set pieces.”
Although Jeff Bridges may be best known as “The Dude” or “Duderino” in the Coen Brothers 1998 classic The Big Lebowski, he shows subtly and versatility in his role as aging country singer Bad Blake in Crazy Heart. The independent film follows Blake as he trucks across the American West, performing in out of the way venues and crossing paths with his protégé Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) and Jean, a journalist from New Mexico (Maggie Gyllenhall). Bridges’ acting performance is made even more powerful by the film’s score, which includes the song “The Weary Kind,” written by singer Ryan Bingham and sung by Bridges himself. The song is also nominated for Best Original Song.
Bridges is up against tough odds, though: this year’s Best Actor picks include George Clooney (Up in the Air), Colin Firth (A Single Man), Morgan Freeman (Invictus), and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker).
Director Lee Daniels saw something unique when he cast Gabourey Sidibe as Precious in his film adaptation of Sapphire’s novel Push. It takes a complex and compassionate reading of character to fully embody the role of the film’s protagonist, a young woman who as a teenager has been impregnated twice by her father and is emotionally abused by her mother. Sidibe’s greatest strength are her small, measured movements –shrugs, mumblings and stares—that communicate far more about the reality of this character’s life without melodrama.
The other actresses nominated for Best Actress this year are Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia), Carey Mulligan (An Education), and Helen Mirren (The Last Station).
2. Best Director: Kathryn Bigelow (The Hurt Locker)
Kathryn Bigelow is the fourth woman to be nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards, and if she won, she would be the first. That aside, this honor is well-deserved: not only does The Hurt Locker capture a tense yet important part of the Iraq war, but it does so by relying on a strong narrative and powerful cinematography, creating a psychological and complicated view of war. It’s worth mentioning that this is a big step for Bigelow, whose previous films (Point Break, Blue Steel, Strange Days) were interesting but not challenging in the sense that The Hurt Locker truly faces its spectators.
Bigelow is up against her ex-husband James Cameron (Avatar), as well as Quentin Tarantino (Inglorious Basterds), Lee Daniels (Precious), and Jason Reitman (Up in the Air).
1. Best Animated Feature Film: Coraline (Directed by Henry Selick)
In the year of exciting 3D films, Coraline takes the cake, not only because of its imaginative and slightly macabre animation, but because its plot and character journey are truly unique. Based on the graphic novel by Neil Gaiman, the story follows a young girl who discovers a portal to an alternate universe in her house. The film is ingenious in part because it borders that line between childhood playfulness and adult thriller, all in vivid color and eye-popping 3D. Its cast includes Dakota Fanning as the title character, Teri Hatcher, and comedian John Hodgman.
Other films in this category are Fantastic Mr. Fox (Wes Anderson), The Princess and the Frog (John Musker and Ron Clement), The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore), and Up (Pete Docter).
Sunday’s Academy Awards are sure to be quite the cinematic showdown. Who do you think should win? Download a ballot for this year’s awards and compete with your friends to see how accurate your predictions are!
March 2nd, 2010
Feed your brain! That’s right, brain food really does exist. Just like Popeye ate spinach to make himself strong, the rest of us can eat other foods to make our brains strong… sort of. The truth is that the foods we eat affect our bodies in certain ways, including helping us think clearer and focus better. When we don’t eat right, we become sluggish and unable to concentrate. The wrong kinds of sugars and fats can severely weigh us down, while the right kinds of sugar and acids can give our brains a boost of energy. Here are the five of most popular and easily accessible forms of brain food, though there are many more, they couldn’t all fit on this list.
Salmon
People used to think that tuna fish was the ultimate brain food, but some experts have found that the high content of Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon are what really juice up your brain by helping your brain matter, helping your arteries, and even improving your mood. Other fish contain great nutritional value for your brain, too, but salmon (particularly wild salmon) was the top pick for experts because there are less contaminants than farm bread fish (http://www.brainready.com/blog/thetop5brainhealthfoods.html).
Eggs
These are just another reason to eat a good breakfast in the morning. Eggs not only contain protein, but they are an amazingly common food that is great at providing your memory. Choline, which is found in egg yolks, is what help your brain cells continue building upon themselves (http://www.webmd.com/balance/brain-food-quiz-results?redirectUrl=brain-food-quiz-results&x=35&y=3).
Walnuts
You don’t have to be a squirrel to enjoy this healthy snack; it turns out that walnuts also contain a high amount of those Omega-3 fatty acids that improve your brain‘s strength. And, if you ever have a hard time remembering what they are good for, take a close look at the weird lines and shape of the walnut, and see if it doesn’t remind a little bit of the pictures you’ve seen of your brain in biology class.
Berries
The growing popularity of the acai berry is not without its merit, but we should not forget the blueberry, blackberry, or cranberry. It is interesting how much nutrition these little guys can hold. Full of antioxidants that help preserve brain cells over the years. But, these berries also contain the Omega-3 fatty acids, as well as the protein we have already mentioned the benefits of. These berries not only make a sweet treat, they may actually help your brain cells through your whole life.
Curry
It’s not just for spicy food, it may be the spice of life that keeps your brain in good health. Helping to clean away the plaque that tends to slow down our brains and cause the Alzheimer’s, curcumin is the chemical that acts as that cleaning agent for our brain. Just like drains need be clear of build up to run smoothly, our brains need to be clean to continue thinking clearly.
February 24th, 2010
The Web has a wealth of information about scholarships and once you are informed by the five useful resources below hopefully you will be able to use some of the informative wealth below to improve the bottom line of your student account. Award opportunities vary based on your country, state, and town. Awards can be offered based on very specific details and often times the are few applicants for an award so the odds of winning are very high. The best finders are usually the best hunters so if you use this blog post as the first step on your scholarship journey this will help you ensure your search will be a success! Many scholarships require that you write an essay, so we wrote one post about how to write a great scholarship essay and another post about tips for creating a great scholarship package.
Student Awards is a great resource for students hunting for scholarships.
Follow @winscholarships on Twitter and use ScholarshipPoints.com to have your name entered in a monthly draw for Scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000!
Deadline: Ongoing.
Soros Justice Fellowships
The Soros Justice Fellowships support outstanding individuals including lawyers, advocates, grassroots organizers, activist academics, journalists, and filmmakers to implement innovative projects that address one or more of the Open Society Institute’s criminal justice reform priorities.
Deadline: Wednesday, October 14, 2009 (11:59 p.m. EST)
Scholarship Information
The University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law (UDC-DCSL) will offer up to 20 three-year full-tuition Advocate for Justice Scholarships each year, beginning with members of the class entering in Fall 2008. The award of these scholarships will be based equally upon the Scholarship Selection Committee’s evaluation of applicants’ academic talent and their proven commitment as advocates for justice. Toward this end, the Committee will consider applicants’ undergraduate and graduate fields of study; grades; LSAT scores; publications; academic, personal and professional recommendations; as well as evidence of their professional experiences, community service and other pertinent information.
Due to UDC-DCSL’s emphasis on demonstrated commitment to working for justice, successful scholarship applicants may be more than a few years out of college, with “real world” experience. We strongly encourage second and third career applicants to apply. However, we also encourage applicants of all ages, including recent graduates who feel that their track record reveals a deep commitment to the social good.
Twitter is full of great scholarship resources.
Take this advice when you’re looking for scholarships on Twitter.
1. Search: Do a search on Twitter to find the most recent conversations about scholarships.
2. #scholarship: This hash tag will direct you to a wealth of tweets about scholarships.
3. Look for keywords: Search for keywords like deadline, www, application, and pdf.
4. Seek out links: Be sure to follow links from tweets about scholarships.
5. Look for scholarship deadlines: Search for scholarships with upcoming deadlines for fast money.
6. Look in your demographic and interests: Search for terms that include your demographics and interests.
7. Set up reminders: Subscribe to searches for specific scholarships so you’ll get reminders about deadlines and more.
10. Subscribe to useful searches: Use Google Reader to subscribe to searches that regularly produce results.
11. Network: Twitter is great for more than information gathering-you can network and connect with people who can help you land a scholarship.
February 19th, 2010
By: Garin Kilpatrick
As the curator of quotes for @EduifyQuotes on Twitter I have been scouring quotes websites across the internet in search of the very best literary quotes. As I have searched for the very best quotes I have encountered many quotes that are simply too provoking to tweet out without a warning first. You have heard this warning and decided to proceed.
I applaud your scandalous curiosity. Enjoy! 
Read the rest of this entry »
February 16th, 2010
by Julia H. Jackson
“Do not forget what’s left, because this is all we have, and you won’t found your roots online. We have no dances or chants if we have no history. Just rants—no roots, just tears. This is all I have of my family history that’s real. And now it’s yours.”
–from Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio’s “Kumulipo,” performed at the White House on May 12, 2009
Last spring, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama hosted an evening of poetry, music, and spoken word for students from Howard, American, Galluadet, and Georgetown Universities. Readers included Jamaica Heolimeleikalani Osorio, a Hawaiian poet who later represented her state on HBO’s Brave New Voices, and Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the Broadway musical “In the Heights.” There was something different about the way these readers shared their original poems; these were not recitations, nor were they readings in any traditional sense. These performers brought passion and theatricality to their words; theirs was a form of slam poetry. Today we examine The Roots of Slam Poetry.
Of all the words in the English language, “slam” and “poetry” don’t seem to naturally connect. And yet, the slam poetry movement has been growing strong ever since its birth in late 1980s Chicago, when construction-worker-turned-poet Marc Smith coined the term while performing at his favorite jazz club. In its essence, poetry is usually defined by its poet, but the slam poetry movement arose out of a desire to raise the stakes with local, regional, and eventually national competition.
In the introduction to his book, The Spoken Word Revolution: Slam, Hip Hop, and the Poetry of a New Generation, Smith states that in the 1990s, “poetry reared its motley head” all across America. Cafes and bars such as the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City, the Green Mill Jazz Club in Chicago, and Boston’s Cantab Lounge started hosting regular competitions in which poets were judged on their content, style, performance, and emotion.
Slam poets such as Saul Williams, Taylor Mali , Mayda del Valle helped publicize the burgeoning movement in the 1990s with their performances, both in their own communities, as well as televised competitions. Williams played the main character in the 1998 film Slam, which followed a young inmate who discovers his passion for poetry in a writing class in jail. Slam poetry teams and nonp
rofit organizations sprung up across the country, including the NYC-Urbana Slam Team, the Austin Slam Team, the nationwide program Youth Speaks , and Poetry Slam, Inc., the heart of the movement.
The slam movement picked up its pace in 2002, when television hip hop entrepenuer Russell Simmons began hosting Def Poetry Jam on HBO. The show followed a national competition every year until 2007. In 2008, the Def Poetry producers created Brave New Voices, a new poetry competition that spotlights teenage voices.
Why is slam poetry important? Well, think of it this way: slam poetry is a way to expose talented young writers by challenging them to recreate their inspirations on stage. Poets are judged not only by their command of language, but by the ferocity or subtlety with which they speak. Many slam competitions have paved the way for writers who might not normally be nationally recognized, perhaps because of the communities they represent, perhaps because of the content of their work. Either way, slam competitions act as a platform for writers of all backgrounds and ideologies to voice their opinions, aspirations, fears, and desires.
“However it begins, it’s gotta be loud
and then it’s gotta get a little bit louder.
Because this is how you write a political poem
and how you deliver it with power.
Mix current events with platitudes of empowerment.
Wrap up in rhyme or rhyme it up in rap until it sounds true.
Glare until it sinks in.”
–from Taylor Mali’s “How to Write a Political Poem”
tress: Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)
