Winter break 2009...so far

It started with Kim being unable to fly to New York because of the storm (well it was really pretty and I was so excited to see snow!) and they flew her all the way to Memphis, TN (again, I was actually a little bit excited because I've always wanted to go there, just to see where J was from)!! I mean, wth?! She wanted to go from Indiana to New York and they brought her to the south... She got stuck there for 11 hours before they flew her straight to San Francisco. At least she got there just fine and her friends picked her up.

A little bit late, but...

Ryan Giggs wins 2009 BBC Sports Personality award

Manchester United star Ryan Giggs was crowned 2009 BBC Sports Personality of the Year in Sunday's award ceremony.

The Welsh winger, 36, is the most decorated player in English football with a record 11th Premier League winners' medal secured this year.

Formula 1 champion Jenson Button was second with world heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis securing third spot.

Movies

Google Docs spreadsheet of the movies that I have on my hard drive or will download.


[Just thought I'd save the link somewhere...]

Giggs agrees new contract

Ryan Giggs has agreed a new contract which will tie him to United until at least June 2011.

The 36-year-old, a veteran of over 800 games for the Reds, has been in scintillating form this season and, according to Sir Alex Ferguson, fully merits the reward of his new deal.

“Ryan deserves a new contract and I am sure he will play for another two years," said the manager. "His form is fantastic at the moment and he is playing some of his best football.”

Giggs himself is very pleased, and is typically looking to the future.

“I am delighted that I have agreed one more year," said the winger.

"I am enjoying my football more than ever and I am looking forward to hopefully winning more trophies with United."

The new deal will extend Ryan's career beyond the 20th anniversary of his United debut.

source

20 years at the top of the game. Simply amazing.

Reds face Milan

United will meet Milan in the last 16 of the UEFA Champions League.

The Reds will travel to San Siro on Tuesday 16 February to face a side likely to include former Old Trafford star David Beckham. The second leg will be played in Manchester on Wednesday 10 March.

I sure have been blogging A LOT lately

and I think that's because I have absolutely nothing to do these days. Yes, it's finals week but technically I only have 1 final, CS314 on Monday the 21st. So since last Friday, I've had no classes and almost no work to do. I've watched a lot of TV shows, but the ones that are currently on air are taking their winter break and won't return until January/February.

Mad Men

So there's this channel that usually only shows movies--classic movies--and suddenly it's showing a TV show. A good one at that, too. Mad Men was rejected by HBO and then Showtime and it finally landed on AMC. I didn't even know this channel exists.

It won all these awards last season and I was just so upset that it beat my then favorite House! Not saying that I don't love House anymore (I mean, how could I ever not love Dr. Gregory House?!) but with that, and then Dexter and now this, I just have so many obsessions right now! These three are like the current top drama series. They're all nominated for the 2010 Golden Globes and I believe I would be fine if any of the three wins it.

Celebrity of the Decade

Over on Popeater, Justin is one of the top six celebrities nominated for “celebrity of the decade” award.

Justin Timberlake
In the year 2000, if someone said to you that Justin Timberlake — who at the time was the blond-dyed, curly-haired, Britney-dating, falsettoed leader of boy band *NSYNC — would be perhaps the top male pop artist in both sales and credibility at the end of the decade, you would have either laughed or cried.

Golden Globe Nominations

You can see the complete list here.

Last year, I knew who I wanted to win, Hugh Laurie for Best Actor Drama and House for Best TV Series Drama. But neither won, with Best Series going to Mad Men. And in the course of the year I have been hooked on Dexter and Mad Men. All three shows are nominated for Best Television Series, Drama, and their lead actors, Hugh Laurie (House), Michael C Hall (Dexter) and Jon Hamm (Mad Men) are all nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series, Drama. I can't decide who to root for!

I mean, how could you not love House?! Right now I can't stop thinking about Mad Men and how cool Don Draper is and what gentlemen they were back in the 60s... I just watched Dexter's season 4 finale and it's just plain amazing.

I do believe that Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, who plays Dex's sister Debra on the show, deserves a nod. She's been brilliant since the first season but has never been recognized! Hopefully, next year people realize how good she is...

I kinda want Hugh Laurie to win because this is his sixth season and he's been performing well every single year. For the show, I want Dexter to win because it's just awesome! Not saying that the others aren't, but they definitely deserve to win something! Mad Men has had an amazing year last year so it's time for the others to win... (and for some reason I feel like all my favorites will get snubbed and some random show will win).

2010 Golden Globes Nominations Announcements

Justin was one of the people who made the announcements so for the first time I was actually interested in this thing.

He's just hilarious, I love him!!

Study: CT Scans Overused, Increase Cancer Risk

Found this here.

CT scans are one of the most popular tests in medicine, but two new studies raise concerns the tests are being overused and could increase the risk of cancer, Dr. Dave Hnida reports.

Now everything increases the risk of cancer, even one of the tests to see if you are sick... Am I just stupid for not worrying too much about these stuff? I mean, basically they say anything we have in today's world increases the risk of cancer. It just adds to our worries, as if this world isn't crazy enough already. I just don't think too much about these stuff. I do spend less time calling people on my cellphone, and I try to not eat microwaveable food too often (which is VERY hard when you're in college) but it's not like I'm gonna stay away from those things. Just in moderation...

Dexter season finale

Dexter's season finale aired on Sunday night, but since I was still finishing up Mad Men, I delayed watching it for a couple hours. It was kinda strange, after spending 3 days watching men in the 60s to a clash of two serial killers.

The show's creator and cast have been teasing us about the finale with "it will blow your head off" and they certainly delivered!

Throughout the episode, Dexter was so distracted because Trinity finally found him and that he might get to Rita and the kids. He made sure that they are away and safe so that he can get this over with. At the end of the episode, they killed off...

No Strings Attached: Decade's Top Album

According to Billboard.com, *NSYNC's No Strings Attached is the decade's best selling album. Only The Beatles' 1 sold more, but that was a compilation so it wasn't considered.

Eminem is US's best-selling artist of the decade

SOURCE

The Top Pop Artists of the Decade - 2000s

Popular music is tough to define, besides the obvious qualifications: Does the song have mass appeal? Are people talking about it? Is the track glossy and polished? Does your mom tap her feet to it? Answer "yes" to at least three of these and you've got yourself a pop song. As the 00's winds down, we're in a nostalgic mood and looking back at the decade's best pop artists, from Britney to Beyonce. When it came to the Top 40 set, this here was a great time to love music. Though we know you'll have serious problems with it, here now are our picks for the Best Pop Artists of the '00s

I <3 Lansten

Lance made a surprise appearance on The Jay Leno show on Tuesday because the girl from "Precious" (really, really sorry but her name is hard to read/pronounce so I'm not even gonna try to spell it) is a huge *NSYNC fan. Leno has a segment "Earn Your Plug" where celebrities have to do certain things before plugging whatever they're there for. And being a huge *NSYNC fan, she said that she'd be really good at *NSYNC trivia.

She missed 1 question, about Lance's weird superstition, which I guessed correctly. She said she's such a dork knowing all these "useless *NSYNC trivia" but for some reason I knew all the answers from the top of my head (except for that one, I guessed) and I got them all right! I have A LOT of useless *NSYNC knowledge that's eating the space in my brain!

Some MTV Vids

So while I was on MTV.com for my last post, I thought I'd just take a little look on Justin's page there. Found some vids from him back in his *NSYNC days:

Timbaland Says Justin Timberlake's 'Carry Out' Is His Favorite Shock Value II Track

Got this from here.

Justin Timberlake is featured on a track called "Carry Out" on Timbaland's new LP, Timbaland Presents Shock Value II, out Tuesday (December 8). And considering the magic the two have made in the past (particularly on Timberlake's FutureSex/LoveSounds LP), it's no surprise that even alongside collabos with Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry, the JT track stands out as a potential radio blockbuster.

Rolling Stone's All Time Greats

100 Best Songs of the Decade

100 Best Albums of the Decade

The most important music of the '00s as chosen by more than 100 artists, critics and industry insiders

Wolfsburg 1-3 Manchester United

[Owen celebrating his third goal]

Michael Owen, hat-trick hero! Mickey who turns 30 in 6 days gets an early birthday present as he gets to keep the match ball after scoring all three Manchester United goals.

United needed only one point to make sure they come out on top of the group. It is an amazing win looking at the injuries that United has suffered. Starting the match with just one natural defender in Patrice Evra, United has never looked more weaker. The starting XI included eight midfielders, with Darren Fletcher and Michael Carrick partnering Evra in a three-man defense. Paul Scholes leads the midfield alongside Anderson and Darron Gibson. Ji Sung Park mans the right wing, while Nani goes down the left. With Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov also unfit, Michael Owen and Danny Welbeck leads United's attack. Wolfsburg seems to have a very big chance of getting points here.

20 Classic TV Shows: The Season We Pick As Each Show's Peak

Another list from EW.com

What if you could only watch one season of ''Lost,'' ''Survivor,'' ''30 Rock,'' or ''Buffy''? See our picks, then tell us why we got it right or wrong

• THE SIMPSONS Season 4 (1992-1993)
• ALIAS Season 1 (2001-2002)
And so it began: The glam era of espionage drama, anchored by Jennifer Garner's Sydney Bristow, a grad student who pretended to toil at a bank while working undercover for the CIA at a criminal enterprise that pretended to be the CIA. (What? Spy stuff is complicated.) Season 1 was a white-knuckled, globe-spanning thrill ride, as Sydney tried to hide her secret identity from her friends and her double-agent status from the nefarious SD-6 while rocking cool disguises and clocking bad guys. All that, plus family intrigue! (The Man is...Mom?)
• LOST Season 1 (2004-2005)
• BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Season 2 (1997-1998)
• TWIN PEAKS Season 1 (1990-1991)
• DEADWOOD Season 3 (2006)
• ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT Season 2 (2004-2005)
• THE SOPRANOS Season 4 (2002)
• BATTLESTAR GALACTICA Season 1 (2004-2005)
• THE WIRE Season 4 (2006)
• MAD MEN Season 2 (2008)
• SURVIVOR Season 1 (2000)
• SEX AND THE CITY Season 3 (2000)
• VERONICA MARS Season 1 (2004-2005)
• THE OFFICE Season 2 (2005-2006)
• THE SHIELD Season 5 (2006)
• 30 ROCK Season 2 (2007-2008)
• WISEGUY Season 1 (1987-1988)
• THE WEST WING Season 2 (2000-2001)
• THE TWILIGHT ZONE Season 3 (1961-1962)

Hotties of the Decade: The Stars Who Made Us Sweat

From ScarJo to McDreamy, we pick the sexiest stars of the last 10 years

• Beyonce
• Josh Holloway
• Scarlett Johansson
• Justin Timberlake
Justin Timberlake brought sexy back, and proved in the process that boy band breakouts could be pop A-listers. He created a wardrobe malfunction, cried us a river, and he, uh, cut a hole in that box — and looked damn good doing it.
• Eva Longoria
• Johnny Depp
• Kate Winslet
• Patrick Dempsey
• Brad Pitt
• Halle Berry

Injury problems deepen

United are facing an injury crisis of epic proportions, and not just in defence, with Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov joining an ever-increasing list of players on the treatment table.

There was a further blow to the Reds' rearguard with news that John O'Shea and Jonny Evans will both be out until the New Year.

Sir Alex took a depleted Reds squad to Germany for United's final Group B game with Wolfsburg - a 19-man group containing 13 midfielders.

Meet the new boys

The travelling party which left Manchester Airport for Wolfsburg on Monday morning contained a handful of faces unfamiliar to most United fans - Reserves and Academy devotees apart. So, who are the not-so-famous five who could feature against the Bundesliga champions?


42. Magnus Eikrem
43. Matty James
45. Oliver Gill
46. Cameron Stewart
47. Oliver Norwood

source

These guys are all younger than me!!

Billboard's Best of the 2000s

All No. 1 Albums

4/8/00
8 wks
No Strings Attached
'N Sync

8/11/01
1 wks
Celebrity
'N Sync

9/30/06
2 wks
FutureSex/LoveSounds
Justin Timberlake

All No. 1 Songs

7/29/00
2 wks
It's Gonna Be Me
'N Sync

9/9/06
7 wks
SexyBack
Justin Timberlake

11/11/06
3 wks
My Love
Justin Timberlake Featuring T.I.

3/3/07
1wks
What Goes Around...Comes Around
Justin Timberlake

4/21/07
2wks
Give It To Me
Timbaland Featuring Nelly Furtado & Justin Timberlake

Neurotic TV Characters We Love

With this week's series finale of "Monk," we said good-bye to one of the most beloved neurotic characters ever. After eight seasons, Tony Shalhoub has hung up his detective hat and his 312 phobias, including panic induced by harmonicas, ladybugs, mushrooms, and milk. We think this laundry list of fears, as well as his germophobia, anxiety disorder, and obsessive attention to detail have made Monk the most "decorated" crazy character in the history of television. But he certainly was not the first and won't be the last. So in honor of Adrian Monk, we give you our favorite neurotics on TV, past and present.

Carry Out

I'm obsessed with this song!! I've probably listened to it 25 times these 3 days (and I spent most of yesterday listening to *NSYNC's Home for Christmas). It's Timbaland and Justin Timberlake's new song, Carry Out. It's supposed to be on Timbaland's second album, Shock Value II, which I'm waiting for. I guess I could be just missing Justin so much since he hasn't come up with new music for a while now and he sang most of the song... And..I just got hooked to this!

West Ham 0-4 Manchester United

To be honest, I was a bit nervous going into this match because West Ham is never an easy team to play against, especially on their turf. But we ended up with a comfortable win, and kept a clean sheet, which is remarkable having literally no central defender, and ended up playing with 7 midfielders.

Ditto

Stolen from here.

I love Chris and Joey!

They don't remember the lyrics very well but ... I LOVE *NSYNC!! (and the Backstreet Boys of course!)

EW.com's Best of the Decade

EW.com picked pick the standout stars, bold thinkers and big ideas that defined entertainment over the last 10 years.

Music: 10 Best Albums of the '00s
Our picks for the must-haves from the past 10 years, from Cat Power to Dixie Chicks to Jay-Z -- and our choice for album of the decade
9. FutureSex/LoveSounds, Justin Timberlake, (2006)
The onetime boy-bander teamed up with left-field rap maestro Timbaland to create an album that redefined pop's cutting edge. The rest of the music world is still playing catch-up.

So why is it not higher up on the list?!

2010 World Cup Draw

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France
Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, Korea Republic, Greece
Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia
Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana,
Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameroon
Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia
Group G: Brazil, Korea DPR, Côte d'Ivoire, Portugal
Group H: Spain, Switzerland, Honduras, Chile

England seems to have an easy group. I really hope this is their year!

The Top Pop Albums of the Decade 2000s

As the decade nears its end, one thing that will be missed is the music. Remember those albums we left on repeat because they really were worth listening to? From the catchy dance tracks to the political rock records that defined the 2000s, we saw artists like Justin Timberlake and Amy Winehouse grow up and deliver pinnacle records we never saw coming. When it came to the Top 40 set, this was a great time to love music. Here are our picks for the Top 10 Pop albums of the '00s:

Grammy Nominations

The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards will be held on Justin's 29th birthday, January 31st 2010. And he's up for 3 categories:

Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals
(For a collaborative performance, with vocals, by artists who do not normally perform together. Singles or Tracks only.)
Love Sex Magic
Ciara & Justin Timberlake
Track from: Fantasy Ride
[LaFace Records]

Best Rap/Sung Collaboration
(For a Rap/Sung collaborative performance by artists who do not normally perform together. Singles or Tracks only.)
Dead And Gone
T.I. & Justin Timberlake
Track from: Paper Trail
[Grand Hustle/Atlantic]

Best Rap Song
(A Songwriter(s) Award. For Song Eligibility Guidelines see Category #3. (Artist names appear in parentheses.) Singles or Tracks only.)
Dead And Gone
C. Harris, R. Tadross & J. Timberlake, songwriters (T.I. & Justin Timberlake)
Track from: Paper Trail
[Grand Hustle/Atlantic; Publishers: Crown Club Publishing/Warner-Tamerlane Publishing/Tenman Tunes/Universal Z Tunes/Cleopatra's Sons Music/EMI April Music.]