Funny Baby Pictures

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/nikki-reed-reveals-paul-mcdonalds-most-annoying-habit/1-a-403186?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Anikki-reed-reveals-paul-mcdonalds-most-annoying-habit-403186

Emmy Rossum Erica Leerhsen Erika Christensen Estella Warren Esther Cañadas

The Kindle Fire just started shipping, and Amazon is of course ready with some cases for you.  It seems that Amazon is seeing the Fire as a reader instead of a tablet, at least based on the selection of covers.  It seems most of them are sleeves or book-style covers and not stands.  The Verso [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGadgeteer/~3/t_eGNAHFI7Y/

Jamie Gunns Jamie Lynn Sigler Janet Jackson January Jones Jennie Finch

Small, homely and with excellent homemade brownies, Oxford’s first purpose-built picturehouse was 100 years old this year
? Check out our Google map and flickr group
? Tell us where to go next

On location: Tucked away in an east Oxford side street, the Grade II-listed Ultimate Picture Palace sits in the arty quarter ? an area more town than gown, despite its proximity to Oxford Brookes. While Oxford’s other arthouse cinema, the Phoenix, is situated deep in pricey hipster neighbourhood Jericho, the Cowley Road area is a vibrant hodgepodge of exotic food shops, restaurants, takeaways, pubs, music venues and independent retailers. The UPP looks more like a rundown amusement arcade from outside, while the inside has an inexplicably Blitzy feel.

Crowd scene: Mostly 20- and 30-somethings, many of them students. The UPP crowd tends not to chat or rustle, is happy to wait a few weeks to see the latest releases and appreciates the lack of adverts before the film.

Back story: The Oxford Picture Palace ? as it was first called ? opened in February 1911 but closed six years later when the manager was drafted. It was, for a time, used as a furniture warehouse. BBC Oxford radio presenter Bill Heine turned the building back into a cinema in 1976 and it reopened as the Penultimate Picture Palace, so named because Heine’s bank manager said his plan was “not quite the ultimate in bad ideas, but the penultimate”.

The PPP shut down in 1994 and Oxford Freedom Network briefly squatted the building, running it as a free cinema, before brothers Saied and Zaid Marham took over and spent £40,000 refurbishing it. Reborn as the Ultimate Picture Palace in 1997, it proceeded to change hands twice more. New owner Becky Hallsmith took over in April 2011. A devotee of the cinema, she has pledged not to make any major changes.

Noteworthy: Believed to be Oxford’s first purpose-built picturehouse, it’s one of the oldest working cinemas in Britain.

Show business: This may be a single-screen cinema, but there’s an impressively diverse programme taking in recent big-hitters (on a three-week delay), themed seasons and special events, which currently includes the Sound on Film season (think The Conversation and Singin’ in the Rain) and the Adventure film festival, while Friday-night Midnight Microplex screenings (which start before, not at midnight) include The Black Cat and The Blues Brothers. Up to four films a day.

Parental guidance: Saturday afternoon Kids’ Club screenings are for parents with three- to 12-year-olds ? tickets are £3 and each child can bring one adult free of charge (no unaccompanied grownups allowed). November’s offerings include Winnie the Pooh and How to Train Your Dragon. Parents with babies under one who want to take in the likes of Contagion and We Need to Talk About Kevin can attend Baby Club screenings on Thursday lunchtimes for £5 a ticket.

Senior service: Seniors (over-60 and retired) can buy concessionary tickets for £6, while a year’s concessionary membership costs £8 and includes one free ticket and a drink.

Tickets: Standard adult tickets are £8 and concessions are £6 ? those eligible also include under-18s, full-time students and benefits claimants, who can also purchase concessionary membership for £8 as above. Standard membership costs £20 for a year and includes two free tickets and one free drink, as well as a £2 discount on tickets.

Go on a Thursday afternoon and you can get a Teatime Thursdays ticket: £7 for standard adults, £5 for concessions and standard members, and £4 for concessionary members, while all members get into Midnight Multiplex screenings for £5. It’s worth noting that the cinema and box office open around half an hour before each film, closing about 15 minutes into the running time. The fact that the paper tickets you’re given are raffle tickets simply adds to the overall charm.

Medium popcorn and soft drink: How about some homemade cake and a cuppa instead? Tuck into a chocolate brownie or slice of carrot and walnut cake for £1.50, washed down with a cup of coffee or tea (builder’s or herbal), also £1.50, served from the bar at the back of the screening room (which closes once the film starts). Bottles of Coke, lemonade and ginger beer are available for £2, while orange juice, apple juice and water go for £1.

Camera fodder: Also among the snacks on offer are Kettle Chips, Haribo sweets and nuts (£1), a selection of chocolate (£1.50 to £2.50) and locally-made ice cream (£2.10).

Alcohol: £3.50 for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc or Merlot, or buy the bottle for £12 (£14 if you want to splash out on some cava). Bottled offerings are Peroni (£3), Old Hooky (£3.50) and Westons Organic cider (£3.50), or get some mulled wine for £4.

Auditorium: Just the one screen, which seats 121 people. It can get a bit chilly in winter, so the regulars tend to come wrapped up. Resist the lure of the bobble hat, though ? it’s not a popular move given the one-level seating. Don’t expect reclining seats or a cup-holder, but it’s very comfortable with a generous amount of leg room.

Projection: Not really the kind of place you’d expect to see films in 3D. If that’s on your wishlist, you’re probably not the target audience.

Disabled access: While a ramp facilitates access to the cinema, the toilets (situated either side of the screen) are down a few steps, so the UPP has an arrangement for disabled customers to use the facilities next door.

Events: Festival screenings and the odd director Q&A, plus you can hire out the building ? available formats are 35mm, Blu-ray and DVD, and hire prices start from £100 an hour (members save 10%).

Toilets: Minimal (there’s just one ladies’ cubicle) but clean.

Staff: Dedicated, to say the least. Though you’ve got to wonder if the people who man the outside box office don’t get rather cold.

Pros: Good prices, a varied programme and no trailers or adverts ? the advertised start time really is when the film begins. Plus those chocolate brownies are superb.

Cons: Can be chilly, and the light-up toilet signs are a bit distracting.

Top tip: Bring cash, and a warm coat.

Add your photos to the Cine-files Flickr group

Post a photo of your local to our Flickr group. Here’s a selection of the finest so far.

? This article was amended on Tuesday 15 November 2011. The Ultimate Picture Palace does not show adverts before the main feature, but they do show trailers. Recent films arrive in the cinema three weeks after first release, not six as we said. These errors have been corrected.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/nov/15/cine-files-ultimate-picture-house-oxford

Jennifer Scholle Jennifer Sky Jenny McCarthy Jessica Alba Jessica Biel

Doing a little prenatal pampering, Hilary Duff enjoyed a two-hour spa session at Bellacures Salon in Studio City, California yesterday (November 15).

Showing off her burgeoning baby bump, the adorable mom-to-be dressed in a tight gray t-shirt, brown leggings and flip flops for her day of leisure.

As for her recent switch to more figure-hugging wardrobe, Hilary recently told press, “In the beginning [of my pregnancy] I was thinking, I’m going to wear really loose things, because you don’t really look pregnant at first — you just feel a little bigger than your normal self. And now that you start to show I think it’s better to wear tighter things, but it’s kind of a challenge to find things!”

Duff also divulged her current food cravings, explaining, “I want spicy food all day, every day. My husband was joking the other day, ‘Did you put any eggs in your hot sauce?’ There’s just tons of hot sauce everywhere!”

Source: http://celebrity-gossip.net/hilary-duff/hilary-duff-talks-figure-hugging-pregnancy-attire-562400

Alicia Keys Alicia Witt Amanda Bynes Amanda Detmer Amanda Marcum

Three of our iVoices: Brandi Jeter, Dwan Perrin and Amanda Rodriquez, who are crazy for Twilight, battle over Edward and Jacob and count down until the big premiere of Part 1 of the final installment of the Twilight saga.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/twilight-breaking-dawn-team-edward-team-jacob-ivoices-brandi-jeter-dwan-perrin-amanda-rodriguez/1-h-402937?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Atwilight-breaking-dawn-team-edward-team-jacob-ivoices-brandi-jeter-dwan-perrin-amanda-rodriguez-402937

Ana Beatriz Barros Ana Hickmann Ana Ivanovi Ana Paula Lemes Ananda Lewis

Apple has sent out their customer note to app developers that iTunes Connect, the web-based backend for managing app submission, updating, and reporting, will once again shut down for a week.

iTunes Connect will be temporarily shut down from Thursday, December 22 to Thursday, December 29 for the

…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/bIj80IhCGyM/story01.htm

Denise Richards Desiree Dymond Diane Kruger Dido Diora Baird

‘I was very flattered I was asked to do it,’ designer Carolina Herrera tells MTV News of Stephenie Meyer’s personal request.
By Kara Warner, with reporting by Josh Horowitz

Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in “Breaking Dawn – Part 1″
Photo: Summit

Of all the big reveals in “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ that don’t involve the words “sex” and “scene,” fans are dying to see Bella’s wedding dress.

It’s been one of the most closely guarded film secrets in recent memory, and rightly so, according to author Stephenie Meyer, who told us the key ingredient to the wedding scene was Kristen Stewart looking “gorgeous” and “unbelievable” in that dress. Thankfully, come Friday, the secret will officially be out.

MTV News was lucky enough to get a few details about said dress from legendary fashion designer Carolina Herrera at the film’s premiere Monday night, as she led us through the process for how she ended up with the coveted task. “I was called by Stephenie Meyer. We had to discuss a lot, but I was very inspired by her book and the description of the wedding,” Herrera said. “I was very flattered I was asked to do it; it’s a big scene for me.”

Herrera said she loves the romance and the idea of true love as depicted in the book and that she was happy to be a part of such a magical scene. She also spoke to the importance and delicacy in designing wedding dresses in general.

“Wedding dresses are different, because you have to know that it’s the most important day in the life of a woman,” she said. “You have to please the bride first of all, and it has to be a secret. I cannot talk about the dress before the groom sees it. I treated [Kristen Stewart's Bella] like every other bride,” she admitted. “I think [Stewart] was very moved when she tried it on. And that means a lot, because she felt that it was the right one.”

Given her pleasant experience with the film’s wedding dress, might Herrera consider designing something for Stewart in real life? “Why not? If she asked me, absolutely,” Herrera said with a smile, but added that Stewart doesn’t need to by styled by anyone. “She knows exactly what she wants to wear. … You can wear anything at21. You don’t need any advice. When you are Kristen Stewart, you can wear whatever you want.”

Check out everything we’ve got on “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1.”

For young Hollywood news, fashion and “Twilight” updates around the clock, visit HollywoodCrush.MTV.com.

Related Videos

• MTV Rough Cut: ‘Breaking Dawn – Part 1′
• Live From The ‘Twilight: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ Red Carpet

Related Photos

• ‘Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1′ Premiere
• ‘Breaking Dawn’ Premieres Around The World

Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1674448/breaking-dawn-wedding-dress-carolina-herrera.jhtml

Jamie Gunns Jamie Lynn Sigler Janet Jackson January Jones Jennie Finch

Every day, TiPb gets flooded with announcements for new and updated iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad apps and games. So every day we pick just a few of the most interesting, the most notable, and simply the most awesome to share with you! Tippers Mission: Catch a hope Travel…

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheIphoneBlog/~3/ZeY9r3gvQNA/story01.htm

Elena Lyons Elisabeth Röhm Elisha Cuthbert Eliza Dushku Emilie de Ravin

This laptop bag from Plaid Doctrine is easy on the environment and on your eyes.  The body of the Eco Laptop Tote is water- and stain-resistant high-performance fabric made from recycled bottles, and it’s trimmed with prime-grade vegetable-tanned leathers.  The main compartment holds a laptop with up to a 15.4″ screen, and the compartment is [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/TheGadgeteer/~3/3u4b_W9ggjg/

Zooey Deschanel Aaliyah Abbie Cornish Adriana Lima Adrianne Curry

The season 13 Dancing with the Stars semifinals were a topsy-turvy night of impressive highs and surprising lows for the four remaining contestants and their professional dancing partners.

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/ricki-lake-gets-perfect-score-dancing-stars/1-a-402809?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aricki-lake-gets-perfect-score-dancing-stars-402809

Amerie Amy Cobb Amy Smart Ana Beatriz Barros Ana Hickmann