Paula Zahn, one of my favorite newswomen in the prime time CNN slot, is leaving CNN and is expected to announce her departure today.

I am not a huge fan but I certainly do appreciate her work in the wake of the 9/11 and aftermath. When she moved to her own primetime slot and stood beside stalwarts like Larry King & Anderson Cooper on CNN a few years back, I felt she brought a much needed balance to the typical CNN evening - what with her different political & social perspectives, her personality and her great smile, not to mention those lovely ear rings she wears once in a while ;).

One of my personal favorites in her show, not that she never had her own tongue biters, was when she went to a marine base right before election day in 2004 to have the nation hear from the families of soldiers fighting in Iraq. Not that I wanted Bush to win or something, but it felt like that act brought a balance to an otherwise tilted CNN evening. It helped me hear from people that thought most of this country’s response to an attack on its home soil. Did I mention the ear rings ?

I donot know for now if it is CNN singing Dont leave me and Paula Zahn singing Walk away or vice versa yet. I hope the blogosphere will soon reveal.

Indian president Dr.Abdul kalam has put forth a question on yahoo answers .

rasing a question on terrorism ! check the link

Y! answers

Atleast this is what Y! answers page quotes, a promo

[tags]president,yahoo,answers[/tags]

On this Happy Women’s Day,
I hope it is appropriate to make all know about
Holy Mother SRI SARADA DEVI (1853-1920):
If the motherly love inhabiting the hearts of all the mothers
in the world were to be put together and churned,
the nectar that would issue forth would perhaps
approximate to Sri Sarada Devi. Sri Ramakrishna left her
in this world to uphold the ideal of universal motherhood.
Born of humble and pious parents at the village of Jayarambati
in West Bengal on the 22nd December 1853, Sri Sarada Devi
grew up practically like any other village girl of those days
with little schooling but plenty of work at home and in the fields.
Though united with Sri Ramakrishna in wedlock at the age
of hardly six, she lived with her

It is increasingly attrocious how the female body is being used to sell in today’s global market. To meet the ever-increasing competition in the market, even simple photo shoots of models are being tailored well beyond recognition!!

Check this out yourself !!
http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=14537

This web page tries to reach out to the countless teenagers who try to mimic these cover photos under the impression that they are genuine! If only they knew that in today’s cut-copy-paste world of software, anything is editable!!

Bottom line? you are beautiful,thats for sure, no matter what they say!

The first time I saw Sofia Coppola was in the movie Godfather part III, playing a role as the daughter of Michael Corleone( Al Pacino).
I knew her as the daughter of Francis Ford Coppola, who directed many movies including the Godfather series.

Being a director’s child dosen’t mean that directing a movie comes easy. Not everyone succeeds in this path as there’s a lot of effort, pressure and responsibility involved. The weight on the director’s shoulders is as unbearble as the energy prices these days !!

However, sofia did not start out as a director. In fact, she started acting in her father’s films as early as childhood days! She got more than a simple mention as the baby boy in the christening scene of Godfather and in Anna (1987).

However, most people remember her as ‘Mary Corleone’, the flamboyant daughter of Michael corleone in Godfather - part III.

Her performance, despite the fact that she stepped into that role in the last minute after winona Ryder backed out, drew heavy criticism. Everbody thought that role almost ended her film career.

Well, not quite. Building her passion for movies, Sofia decided to try her chance with direction. As the saying goes ‘Try and try till you succeed’ . So, she did…

Her first movie-The virgin Suicides(1999) won 3 awards & 9 nominations.
Won -
1. Best Casting for Feature Film, Independent(Artios-2000)
2. Best New Filmmaker(MTV Movie Award-2001)
3. Best Director (Young Hollywood Award-2001)

After that, she was silent for about 2 years. The silence raised questions about a one-time wonder. She hit right back with the big thunder!!

She came up with “Lost In Translation”, a comedy flick, starring Bill Murray as Bob Harris and Scarlett Johansson as Charlotte which released in 2003.

The story is about a guy Bob Harris, a middle-aged actor in town to film whiskey commercials, and Charlotte, the wife of the photographer (Giovanni Ribisi) who is always out on a shoot in Tokyo. So when the two meet in the hotel bar, they strike up an unusual friendship, one that provides an escape from their boredom and loneliness. No doubt, the movie was just good without any flaws.

The movie won an Oscar and another 67 wins & 50 nominations

A 34 yr old, Sofia Coppola was only the third (and the youngest!) woman ever to be nominated for Best Director and this was for her second film (following The Virgin Suicides (1999))

She was also nominated for a third Oscar for her film - Best Original Screenplay.

Definetly, she comes from a family where her father, a five-time winner and her grandfather, Carmine Coppola, won for musical score on The Godfather Part II (1974)) but she proved that she is the next generation coppola that the legacy should be truly proud of!

Sofia Coppola became the first American woman nominated for director and is the only female director to have been nominated for Best Picture and Best Director.

It is indeed surprising that even in a western country like the united states, it is hard to find women among the guild of directors and movie makers. In this hard-to-find genre of ‘thinking’ women who can combine art & thought into a worthy ride on the celluloid, Sofia coppola has definitely gotten her name carved in big bold letters!!

To me, sofia coppola means many things. Inspiration, Kinetic ability, but most importantly a symbol of “intellity” - an emphasis of female intellect over beauty.

Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems. No one can ought to do this for them. And all women are capable of doing it as any in the World. >>>>>Sri Sarada Devi