81st Academy Awards and the Winners

"Slumdog Millionaire," a rags-to-riches tale set in Mumbai, India, took away eight Oscars at the 81st Academy Awards ceremony which took place at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles on Sunday. "Slumdog Millionaire" won Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Sound Mixing, Film Editing, Best Original Score and Best Original Song.

 

Hollywood actor Sean Penn won the best actor Oscar for his portrayal of a the first openly gay politician in the US in the movie "Milk," while Kate Winslet won the Oscar for Best Actress for her performance in "The Reader".

The Dark Knight star Heath Ledger today became the second person to win an Oscar posthumously after he was named the Best Supporting Actor. The 28-year-old Australian actor died in January last year of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs. Heath Ledger's mother Sally Bell, father Kim Ledger and sister Kate accepted the award.

Here is the complete list of 2009 Oscar Winners:

BEST PICTURE: Slumdog Millionaire

LEAD ACTOR: Sean Penn in Milk

LEAD ACTRESS: Kate Winslet in The Reader

DIRECTOR: Danny Boyle for Slumdog Millionaire

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Departures - Japan

SUPPORTING ACTOR: Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight

SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Penelope Cruz in Vicky Cristina Barcelona

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Dustin Lance Black for Milk

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Simon Beaufoy for Slumdog Millionaire

ANIMATED FEATURE: Andrew Stanton for WALL-E

ANIMATED SHORT FILM: Kunio Kato for La Maison en Petits Cubes

ART DIRECTION: Donald Graham Burt for art direction and Victor J. Zolfo for set decoration on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

COSTUME DESIGN: Michael O'Connor for The Duchess

MAKEUP: Greg Cannom for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

CINEMATOGRAPHY: Anthony Dod Mantle for Slumdog Millionaire

LIVE ACTION SHORT FIRM: Jochen Alexander Freydank for Spielzeugland (Toyland)

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: James Marsh and Simon Chinn for Man on Wire

DOCUMENTARY SHORT: Megan Mylan for Smile Pinki

VISUAL EFFECTS: Eric Barba, Steve Preeg, Burt Dalton and Craig Barron for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

SOUND EDITING: Richard King for The Dark Knight

SOUND MIXING: Ian Tapp, Richard Pryke and Resul Pookutty for Slumdog Millionaire

FILM EDITING: Chris Dickens for Slumdog Millionaire

ORIGINAL SCORE: A.R. Rahman for Slumdog Millionaire

ORIGINAL SONG: "Jai Ho" from Slumdog Millionaire

Cool Games for Apple platforms

I love to play solitaire games when I am free. Earlier I used to enjoy them on my PC. But, now I have a Mac and once again I want to play my old favorite games. So, I searched the Internet for Apple solitaire and found some cool games. In fact there are lots and lots of games for apple platforms. One of such game is Simply Solitaire, which I picked from macgamesandmore.com. It comes with many options for different backgrounds and cards. So, it looks interesting and always new!

During my search, I also found some other Mac games or games for Mac OS X computers. Most of them are good. Really good. I will probably download them later, as now I am busy with my favorite Mac Spider solitaire. On the other hand, I also need some cool iPhone games for mobile handset. For that, I will probably visit some mobile game sites.

Madonna's Nude Photo fetches $37,500 at auction

It is reported that a nude photo of Madonna (not the above one) has fetched $37,500 at an auction in New York. According to Christie's auction house, an European buyer purchased it for $37,500, which is more than double it's expected price. Earlier, Christie’s Auction House estimated that it would sell for as much as $15,000.

The black and white, full-frontal photograph was taken in 1979 by photographer Lee Friedlander. At that time, Madonna was just another dancer, struggling to make ends meet in New York. So, she responded to a classified ad by Lee Friedlander, seeking a nude model and the rest is history. That particular photo and six others from the shoot later appeared in Playboy magazine in 1985. It is reported that Madonna was paid just $25 for that photo session.

Cow Urine Soft Drink!

Soon India will get a brand new soft drink made from cow urine. What? Did I said cow urine? Yes, it is cow urine and in fact the product is in it's final stage of development. Thanks to Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the biggest and oldest Hindu nationalist group of India, who is behind this initiative.

According to the head of Cow Protection Department of RSS, Om Prakash, the drink - called "gau jal" or "cow water" - was undergoing lab tests and would be launched "very soon, maybe by the end of this year". The drink won't smell like urine and will be tasty too. "Its USP will be that it's going to be very healthy. It won't be like carbonated drinks and would be devoid of any toxins," Mr Prakash added.

Cow and bull worship was a common practice among Hindus and slaughtering them is illegal in most parts of India. The cow urine drink is the latest attempt by the RSS to cleanse India of foreign influence and promote its Hindu ideology. RSS claims that cow urine can cure ailments ranging from liver disease to obesity and even cancer.

So, what you think about this exotic soft drink? It really sounds weird, but I am sure that many people will actually drink it. Many people will drink it, as it will be branded as a "Hindu" product.