The Artist Shines at 84th Academy Awards

The envelope finally opens up and names imprinted in the golden letters goes into the book of cinematic history. It came as no surprise to anyone when France's Michel Hazanavicius won the Oscar for best director for silent movie The Artist, at the 84th Academy Awards ceremony, triumphing over veterans including Martin Scorsese and Woody Allen.

Giving France more reasons to celebrate, this black and white homage to the silent film era also bagged the Best Picture of the year, while Jean Dujardin took home the Oscar for the lead actor. The film topped a field that included "The Descendants," "Hugo," "The Help," "Moneyball," "War Horse," "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," "Midnight in Paris" and "The Tree of Life".

Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep, won the much awaited and well deserved Oscar for her tour de force portrayal of Margaret Thatcher, her third win third Oscar for lead actress, and her 17th overall nomination.

Christopher Plummer became the oldest acting winner ever at the 84th Academy Awards for his supporting performance in “Beginners,” while veteran bit player Octavia Spencer earned the supporting-actress prize for her breakout role in “The Help”.

Martin Scorsese’s Paris adventure “Hugo” set the ball rolling by winning first two prizes of the night, for cinematography and art direction. It also won for visual effects, sound mixing and sound editing.

Laughter soared inside the Kodak Theaters when TJ Martin one of the co-directors of “Undefeated”, in his excitement, uttered the F-Word after winning the Oscar for best documentary. Another with Oscar “Oops!” moments, we could say. 

-by Parmita Borah

North-East Through My Eyes 2012 , an Online Photo Contest

Eastern Fare Music Foundation in association with the North-East India community page on Facebook is organizing an online photo contest for the photographers of India - North-East Through My Eyes. The theme of the contest is North-East India.

The motive behind this contest is to promote the culture and the flora and fauna of North-East India and the region's photographers. According to the source the contest is open for all and will be from Feb 17, 2012 to Mar 20, 2012.

The judges for the contest are Tom Svensson from Sweden and Vikramjit Kakati from Assam, India.

More info about the contest can be found here.

- EFNI

Grammy Award-winning singer and actress Whitney Houston dies at 48

Grammy Award-winning singer and actress Whitney Houston has died at age 48.

Whitney Houston (1963-2012)

Houston's publicist, Kristen Foster, said Saturday that the singer had died at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, but the cause of her death was unknown. "Unfortunately it is true," the spokesman said. The time of death was called to be 3:55PM pacific standard time.

The singer was troubled by drug use and her majestic voice and regal image were ravaged by erratic behavior and a tumultuous marriage to singer Bobby Brown.

Born on August 9, 1963, and inspired by soul singers in her New Jersey family, Houston became one of the most celebrated female singers of all time, taking multiple Emmy, Grammy and Billboard Music awards.

Her popularity soared in the 1980s and 1990s with consecutive No. 1 hits including the smash single "I Will Always Love You," from the soundtrack of the feature film "The Bodyguard," in which she starred. The soundtrack won the 1994 Grammy for Album of the Year.

Google Working on Home Entertainment Center, WSJ says

Google hasn't given up on creating its own consumer electronics gear.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the company is working on a home entertainment device that would "stream music wirelessly throughout the home" and be marketed under Google's name.

A Google spokesman declined to comment.

According to the Journal, this would mark Google's first "full-fledged effort to design and market consumer electronics devices" under its own brand. That may be, but Google has dabbled with creating consumer products before and has met with mixed results.

Google TV was software intended to power smart TVs and other Web-connected devices and that effort has so far flopped. Then there was the Nexus One, the so-called Google Phone. The device was built by HTC and was also a commercial flop, but the Android operating system that powered the phone has been a huge hit for other carriers that offer the software in their handsets.

With the Nexus One and Google TV, the search company partnered with hardware makers. This time Google is doing it all, according to the Journal. It's not like Google doesn't know how to build hardware. Consider the company's innovative in-house server design, for example. The troubles for Google seem to come with consumer goods.

Last May, Google said it plans to put Android at the center of a host of electronically connected devices--everything from home lighting and irrigation systems to game controllers and keyboards.

The company also said at the Google I/O event that the plans include a small Android device called Project Tungsten, which would connect to speakers and home stereo systems to stream music from Google's new cloud-based music system.

It looks like Sonos and Bose, makers of a high-end home audio systems, have a big competitor coming. For years now, we've heard how nothing has replaced home stereo systems in the digital age. If you're younger than 30, you probably don't remember how high-fidelity stereo systems were once as common in people's homes as TV sets.

Once, people used to listen to albums with friends and family, but since the iPod debuted in 2001, we've stuck ear buds into our ears and listening has largely been a solitary experience. The question for this market segment is whether people still want to share music in this way.

(Via Crave)

Asom Sahitya Sabha - Biggest Literary Event of Assam

The 72nd convention of 'Asom Sahitya Sabha' begins at 'Ningrula Sammanay Khetra' in Lido, Tinsukia.

Photo - Jim Ankan Deka

The four days event starts on Feb 1 and ends on Feb 5, 2012. With many small and big events including the inauguration of 'Mamoni Raisom Goswami Tributary Book Fair Entrance', 'Book Release' events and discussions on literature with prominent litterateurs, the Sabha will emphasize on promoting culture and literature of Assam and its neighboring states.

The event will be presided by noted litterateur Rong Bong Terang who is also the present president of 'Asam Sahitya Sabha'. Delegates from all over India, as well as, some of the neighboring countries like Nepal and China will participate in the event.

Some of the prominent guests of the event are - Tarun Gogoi (Chief Minister, Assam), Dr Shurhozelie (Minister for Urban Development, Nagaland), Paban Singh Ghatowar (Union Minister), Sita Mademba (poet, Nepal), Goma Sharma (writer, Assam), Nalini Prava Deka (writer, Assam), Pinaki Thakur (poet, West Bengal), Damodar Mauzo (writer, Goa), Homen Borgohain (writer, Assam), Yese Dorjee Thongsi (writer, Assam), Dr. Rita Chowdhury (writer, Assam) etc.